How Ruben Amorim made the biggest mistake of Man Utd career before Bournemouth thriller

Christmas is the time for getting the family together with someone always making a bit of a show of themselves.

There was an early preview of that sort of cringey embarrassment at Old Trafford on Monday night during Manchester United’s pulsating 4-4 draw with Bournemouth. With Kobbie Mainoo at the centre of a storm that has left his club future hanging in the balance, the midfielder’s brother Jordan Mainoo-Hames was spotted pitch-side, conveniently in front of cameras, wearing a shirt bearing the message ‘Free Kobbie Mainoo.’

It will do little to calm the ongoing stand-off between Mainoo and his employers while United will be sick to the back teeth of seeing the siblings of their young stars adding fuel to the fire having only just got shot of Alejandro Garnacho and co.

But the furore around Mainoo has helped serve up one of the biggest errors Amorim has made in Manchester.

Mainoo’s lack of game time this season has been almost a weekly topic of conversation at Carrington. The midfielder, who started for England in the Euro 2024 final against Spain having helped United win the FA Cup the same year, can no longer get a look in, failing to start a single Premier League game this season.

Lisandro Martinez is the only regular squad member to manage less game time – the Argentine is only just back after eight months out with a serious knee injury.

Amorim had a healthy record of promoting youth from within during his time at Sporting CP, handing 27 players their debuts including now-established figures Nuno Mendes and Chelsea-bound Geovany Quenda.

Harry Amass and Chido Obi were among those to make their first team bow under his watch last season. But in an unexpected development this week, the pair were targeted by Amorim in his latest attempt to clarify his position on Mainoo which has only only heightened concerns over his commitment to the club’s revered academy.

In trying to defend his use of young players, Amorim reminded reporters that Obi, perhaps the club’s best young striker outside of the first-team, is ‘not always a starter’ for United’s Under-21s’ while commenting Amass has ‘struggled’ on loan at Sheffield Wednesday. It was later clarified Amorim’s comments related more to Wednesday’s administration woes rather than Amass’ performances but the damage was already done. Both Amass and Obi both later shared pointed updates on social media – while since deleted, the message was clear.

Amorim’s point was he will always pick players he feels are right for the job at hand regardless of age. But on a topic that is sensitive to all United supporters, he got it badly wrong, creating more worry over one of their most sacred traditions.

Since 1937, United have included at least one academy graduate in their match day squad, a record stretching back 88 years and over 4,300 games.

Even amid the troubled spells at Old Trafford over the last decade, it has been a point of pride with no other Premier League side within touching distance of replicating that sort of run.

United’s devotion to youth development has been part of the club’s make-up throughout their history, from the Busby Babes to the Class of 92. It had been hoped Mainoo would lead the latest generation of players to uphold that tradition. The sight of Mainoo and Garnacho scoring the goals that won United the FA Cup in 2024 suggested the record was in very safe hands.

With Garnacho gone, following the likes of Scott McTominay, Marcus Rashford and Jonny Evans out the door, Mainoo’s departure in January would leave it hanging by a thread.

Centre-half Tyler Fredricson was named on the bench on Monday night, another youngster handed his debut by Amorim last season. But his inclusion against Bournemouth only came with both Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt out injured with Noussair Mazraoui departing for AFCON duty.

18-year-old winger Shea Lacey was named in the four matchday squads prior to the Bournemouth game and has been tipped by Amorim to have a role to play in the absences of Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo while they are on international duty. But barring a sensational introduction to the first-team in the coming weeks, where does he fit in once everyone is back and accounted for?

Jack Fletcher, club of son legend Darren, also made the squad as an unused sub seven times last season, but is still waiting for his debut.

The presence of 39-year-old Tom Heaton could provide the loophole to keep the run going, but in a manner that would certainly not be in the spirit of tradition. The shot stopper left the club in 2010 without making his senior United debut and is currently third choice having played just three times since returning in 2021.  

Amorim described the academy record as ‘bulletproof’ in November and in reality, United will surely always find a way to maintain it. But if it were to become a mere box-ticking exercise, the real merit and meaning behind it will be lost.

While a daft t-shirt can be overlooked, an exit for Mainoo in January could be symbolic of an chapter closing.