Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that Kobbie Mainoo picked up a back injury the day before England's third-place play-off against France. The 21-year-old Manchester United midfielder watched from the bench throughout the World Cup but missed out on making his first appearance at the tournament as the Three Lions won a 6-4 thriller in Miami.
Tuchel reveals training injury
Tuchel made seven changes to his starting line-up and even gave Trevoh Chalobah, the only other outfielder in his 26-man squad not to have featured, a cameo in the closing stages. But injury struck at the cruellest time for Mainoo, who forced his way back into the England squad after a strong second half of the season for Manchester United.
"Kobbie was injured in the last training session yesterday morning," Tuchel revealed following Saturday's win. "He had a sharp pain in the back within the training and he was not ready to play."
Concern for Manchester United
Mainoo's injury also gives United a concern, although he was not expected to link back up with his team-mates for a number of weeks. The midfielder's absence at the World Cup has been a talking point since England were beaten 2-1 in the semi-finals by Argentina, with many pundits arguing that Mainoo should have come on as a substitute to help see the game out before Argentina's comeback.
Pundits weigh in
Former United captain Gary Neville claimed on the Stick to Football podcast: "Honestly, we were absolutely dead out on our feet. We couldn't get out of the box. We literally get pushed back, and then the midfield players sag back onto you because their legs have gone. You look at today, Declan definitely, he's not been right since day one, has he? That's a big problem for us. Him not having the energy and the speed to get to the ball. Kobbie Mainoo would be asking a question, wouldn't he?"
Meanwhile, ex-United midfielder Nicky Butt suggested that Mainoo should have 'refused' to play in the third-place play-off. "I'd just refuse to play if I was Kobbie Mainoo. I'd say I was injured," Butt said on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast. "It's a nonsense game, especially when you've been treated like that. He's not played a minute of football, now to go and start this pointless jumped-up friendly and potentially get injured for the whole season… no."
