Nicky Butt Urges Kobbie Mainoo to Refuse Third-Place Play-Off

Nicky Butt has lit a fuse under England’s World Cup fallout, urging Kobbie Mainoo to snub a first start for his country and calling for Thomas Tuchel to be sacked in the wake of the semi-final defeat to Argentina.

The former Manchester United midfielder, who coached Mainoo in the club’s academy, did not hold back. For him, the 21-year-old has been disrespected all summer. A token outing against France on Saturday night? Not worth the risk.

“I’d just refuse to play”

Mainoo muscled his way into Tuchel’s final World Cup squad on the back of a superb second half of the season at Old Trafford, sparked by Michael Carrick’s arrival as interim manager. He came into the tournament as one of England’s most exciting young midfielders.

He leaves it, so far, without a single minute on the pitch.

Seven matches. Seven times on the bench. No involvement in a run that ended in heartbreak against Argentina on Wednesday evening.

Now, with England consigned to the third-place play-off, Tuchel is expected to rotate heavily against France in the late 10pm BST kick-off, with Mainoo tipped to finally start. Butt thinks the youngster should want no part of it.

“I do not know what is going on there, there’s something not quite right with it,” Butt said.

“Now they’re going to play the bomb squad in the stupid third-place game.

“I’d just refuse to play if I was Kobbie Mainoo. I’d say I was injured. 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.”

For Butt, the logic is simple. Mainoo’s season at Manchester United is too important to jeopardise in what he views as a glorified exhibition, especially after being overlooked when it really mattered.

“No way he can stay on”

Butt’s frustration is not limited to Mainoo’s situation. It extends directly to the man in charge.

Tuchel, appointed to drag England over the line at a major tournament, now finds his position under fierce scrutiny after the semi-final loss. Butt believes the Football Association should act decisively.

“There’s no way he [Tuchel] can stay on. Not a cat in hell’s chance after that,” he said.

“If he stays on, John McDermott [the FA’s technical director] needs to be sacked as well.

“There’s no way you can keep him now. He’s not a Sir Bobby Robson or Kevin Keegan, someone that the nation loves.

“You’re talking about a manager that’s come in and played negative football, crazy negative football, in the semi-final against a beatable Argentina team.

“And it shouldn’t really matter, but people will go against him because he’s German as well, so he’s going to have a nightmare.

“He’s an unbelievable club manager, so just let him go. He won’t want to stay. He might say he does, but deep down he’ll be thinking, ‘pay up, I’m out of here’.”

The criticism cuts at both style and substance. Butt’s accusation is clear: England went into a winnable semi-final and shrank, suffocated by what he sees as Tuchel’s caution.

Howe, Pochettino… but not yet Pep

So what next? Butt has a very specific shortlist.

“If we were nine months down the line, I’d definitely be going for Pep Guardiola. But Pep can’t leave Man City a month ago, saying he needs a rest from football, and then go straight back in. He can’t do that.”

With Guardiola off the table, Butt turns to two names he believes fit the England job better than Tuchel.

“Eddie Howe would be brilliant. I’d love him to go in, it’d be great.

“Mauricio Pochettino’s got an unbelievable relationship with John McDermott. When McDermott was the academy manager at Tottenham, Pochettino was the manager, and they had a really, really good relationship.

“I was in and around it with the Manchester United academy, we would do training camps there so I’ve seen it first hand.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened and I wouldn’t be against it at all. He’s a very, very good manager. A likeable person, plays good football everywhere he goes.

“But we all said the same about Tuchel, yet when they go into that England dynamic, they just change, it’s crazy. I can’t put my finger on why.”

Howe represents, in Butt’s eyes, a progressive English coach with a clear identity. Pochettino brings international experience, a track record with young players and, crucially, an existing bond with McDermott inside the FA structure.

The backdrop to all of this is a third-place play-off that Butt sees as meaningless, a manager he believes has lost the dressing room and the public, and a young midfielder standing at a crossroads between duty and self-preservation.

If Mainoo does start against France, he will do so under a cloud of debate ignited by one of United’s most forthright voices. If he doesn’t, the questions around Tuchel’s handling of him – and of this England squad – will only grow louder.