Graeme Souness has insisted Kobbie Mainoo ‘doesn’t know his position’ as he outlined why he believes Thomas Tuchel refused to turn to the Man United midfielder during England’s World Cup semi-final exit to Argentina.
Tuchel has faced significant criticism over his defensive substitutions in England’s 2-1 defeat by Argentina in Atlanta.
England had taken the lead via Anthony Gordon but succumbed after a series of game-changing defensive substitutions saw the initiative handed over to their opponents, who progressed to the final thanks to goals from Enzo Fernandez and a stoppage-time winner from Lautaro Martinez.
The Three Lions had proved unable to retain possession after taking the lead, an issue heightened by the decision to replace Gordon with Ezri Konsa and move to a back five.
In the 10-minute spell between Konsa’s arrival and the next double change, when Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly replaced Reece James and Declan Rice, England’s possession dropped to just nine per cent
Speaking on World Cup Uncensored, Souness suggested Tuchel was culpable due to his selection of Mainoo in the squad, with his lack of trust in the midfielder giving him no choice to make more defensive changes to try to hold onto the 1-0 lead.
Graeme Souness has insisted Kobbie Mainoo ‘doesn’t know his position’ as he outlined why he believes England boss Thomas Tuchel overlooked the Man United midfielder
Souness stressed he does not have a bias against Mainoo, but believes he ’empties the midfield’
‘He will have looked at his bench and gone ‘I’ve got to make a change here’,’ Souness said.
‘And this is where he is culpable, he has looked at his bench and gone ‘Kobbie Mainoo, I’m going to put him on?’
‘He’s panicked and he’s loaded it up because he is now thinking ‘I’ve got a whole lot of the game, I can’t get the game back and I’ve now got to nick the game by defending properly like we did in Mexico’.
Mainoo and Trevoh Chalobah are the only England outfield players to have yet to earn minutes at the tournament ahead of Saturday’s third placed play-off.
The former’s lack of game time has come despite Declan Rice’s struggles with illness and injury and Jordan Henderson being unavailable having broken his wrist after falling over the advertising hoardings after the win against Mexico.
Tuchel had even preferred to move Reece James into central midfield during the tournament.
Souness denied having a bias against Mainoo when questioned by Simon Jordan about the Man United midfielder.
‘He’s [Tuchel] lost the midfield, the game has gone, what do you do? You have to bring someone on to do it, who are you bringing on?’ Souness asked Jordan.
Mainoo is one of just two England outfield players yet to feature at this summer’s World Cup
Souness believes Tuchel was culpable for England losing control of the midfield against Argentina due to selecting Mainoo but then not trusting him
Jordan replied: ‘I know you are not a big fan of Kobbie Mainoo because you have got a bias and you have never liked him because you spoke about him two or three years ago.
‘Explain the bias, you can’t throw that at me,’ Souness responded, to which Jordan claimed ‘Because you don’t like Kobbie Mainoo’.
‘When did I say I don’t like Kobbie Mainoo?’ Souness said. ‘Kobbie Mainoo is a young man who is really good with the ball, but does not know the position.
‘He doesn’t know the position of trying to get that game back on side, he empties the midfield too soon.
‘That’s my dislike of Kobbie Mainoo at this moment in time.’
Souness had previously expressed his reservations around Mainoo’s defensive awareness in a column for Daily Mail Sport in February 2025.
The former Liverpool and Scotland midfielder said that Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton had a ‘far better understanding of the defensive duties in the role than Mainoo’.
‘Mainoo catches the eye because he’s so good on the ball, drifts around, pops up on the left and the right, but he’s not got any sense of danger yet, and empties the midfield area too readily,’ Souness wrote.
Tuchel has come under fire for defensive substitutions in the defeat, but Souness suggested he gave himself no choice but to try to nick a victory
‘Mainoo doesn’t yet understand all the disciplines of the position but he’s only 19. He can develop, with the proper guidance and instruction.’
Souness had reiterated that view later in the year when Mainoo had been frozen out by then Man United boss Ruben Amorim.
‘If you look at [Adam] Wharton, there’s no comparison. Wharton understands that position. He understands when you haven’t got the ball what you have to do.
‘Whereas Mainoo is a complete off-the-cuff player. Better on the ball, possibly, than Wharton. He’s got a trick and a cute pass, and he looks like he’s got the technique, but he doesn’t understand that central midfield position.
‘If Paul Scholes were to have played against Mainoo, he would’ve had him on toast because he would never be where he should have been when Man United are out of possession.
‘It looks like he’s never been coached to play as a central midfield player when you don’t have the ball. That’s what he looks like to me.’
