Michael Carrick should consider starting Kobbie Mainoo in central midfield vs Hull City, despite him not starting any of Manchester United's pre-season campaign.
Manchester United return to Premier League action in less than a week as they face newly promoted Hull City in the first game of the season.
Michael Carrick has most of his squad to choose from, although some injury issues remain ahead of the last week of summer training.
Several players played their most minutes of pre-season against AC Milan on Saturday afternoon, including new signing Youri Tielemans, who started alongside fellow new addition Andrey Santos.
Mason Mount did not feature against Leeds United or AC Milan, after his injury issues against Paris Saint-Germain, which could point towards the two new signings starting together behind Bruno Fernandes.
But Kobbie Mainoo should not be left out of the consideration, either.
Michael Carrick should consider Mainoo start
Mainoo played 29 minutes from the bench in Manchester United's 4-2 defeat to AC Milan, alongside Lisandro Martínez and Marcus Rashford. The trio returned to training earlier this week after their World Cup breaks.
In his half hour of play, Mainoo showed that his lack of game time at the World Cup has not got him too down. He made 17/18 of his passes, while playing one into the final third and one long ball – something which has been seen as a weakness of his game in the past.
The 21-year-old also completed a successful dribble, but also impressed without the ball. Three recoveries, one interception and one duel won are a solid contribution in a tiring United side.
Andrey Santos was forced to pick up much of the defensive work when playing alongside Youri Tielemans, with the Belgian struggling in his first start for his new side.
Perhaps Mainoo would offer a more balanced midfield if he played next to Santos, allowing Tielemans more time to settle into life in Manchester before he is flung into regular action.
Michael Carrick to make several changes vs Hull City
While the final pre-season match can often be a guide to what a manager picks for the first competitive game of the campaign, Manchester United's performance against AC Milan could see Michael Carrick make several changes.
"We were disappointed with today. We did not play well today. There are reasons for that. We need to learn from it and improve," Carrick said after the match. "We have a good squad. We've had a good week's training to get some more work in.
"We'll be ready for next week."
Bryan Mbeumo seems likely to come back into the starting lineup after his impressive pre-season and Matheus Cunha's poor performance against Milan. He could be joined by Amad and Dorgu in the frontline, although Marcus Rashford will also be hoping for a starting spot, even if his number has not been decided just yet.
Diogo Dalot was the favourite at right-back last term, but Noussair Mazraoui started in the in Poland. Leny Yoro has also impressed in that position in pre-season.
Michael Carrick has a big week of decisions ahead of him – decisions that must be correct if Manchester United want the best start possible to the Premier League.
