Since Michael Carrick took over as manager of Manchester United, academy graduate Kobbie Mainoo has immediately come back into the starting XI. 

The 20-year old was substituted in stoppage time over the win over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday to help run the clock down. Those two or three minutes are the only minutes he has missed since Carrick's introduction. 

So, not only is Mainoo starting games, but he is playing full games. There is no unnecessary sub after an hour or so for the sake of making a change, or anything like that. He is being trusted to play the 90 minutes each time. 

Incredibly, the midfielder has already played more minutes under Carrick than he had all season under Ruben Amorim, which makes everyone once again ask the question: what on earth was that guy doing? 

Well, one other person asking that question is former Everton and Barcelona striker Gary Lineker, who has launched a scathing attack on Amorim, when speaking on  The Rest Is Football | Podcast on Spotify; "Do you know what? If I were Kobbie Mainoo, and I say this in jest, I'd be thinking about whether I should sue him (Amorim) or not. 

He's taken a year out of that kid's career. This kid is a wonderful footballer. God, he makes it look so easy. He wants the ball, he receives it with no one around him, and he turns, always makes the right decisions, and he's grateful. 

I mean, come on! He's been absolutely detrimental to his career. If he doesn't make the World Cup squad [...], and I sense he probably will, if he can stay fit and if he keeps playing, because he's just a seriously good footballer." 

Some very strong comments on Amorim, though it is hard to disagree with them. As for Mainoo, some very high praise from someone who has been there and done it at the highest level of the game for many years. 

It's just crazy, isn't it? United fans could see it, the wider footballing world can see it, yet the only person, at the time, who could do anything about it, wasn't doing so. It doesn't even feel like Carrick is doing anything genius. He's doing all of the simple things that everyone was screaming out for.

Back four, Bruno Fernandes in the number ten role, Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot as full backs, Mainoo next to Casemiro. Of course, he is still doing a great job, undeniably so, but it is just crazy that his predecessor was unable to spot all of these things.

Well, it's all in the past now, and Mainoo is only looking forward from here. In fact, it was recently reported that the 20-year-old now has a "very good chance" of going to the World Cup this summer. The March "send off series" squad for friendlies with Uruguay and Japan will certainly be interesting to see if he is picked or not. You would imagine he will be at this rate.  

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