‘It’s totally unfair’ – Ex-Premier League boss criticises Thomas Tuchel over treatment of Kobbie Mainoo

Neil Warnock believes that Thomas Tuchel has been out of line over his treatment of Kobbie Mainoo at the World Cup this summer.

England face France in Miami for the tournament’s Bronze match showdown this weekend following their respective semi-final defeats to Argentina and Spain.

The third-place playoff is deemed one of the more pointless matches at the tournament.

Conversely, it gives players a chance to earn World Cup minutes, with Mainoo one of those hoping to feature for the first time in North America this summer.

He should have featured sooner, however, according to former Sheffield United and Crystal Palace boss Warnock.

Speaking on the Weekend Sports Breakfast with Will Gavin and Tony Cascarino on Saturday morning, Warnock believes that Mainoo was exactly the midfielder Thomas Tuchel required to see out the eventual 2-1 loss to Argentina.

“It will be interesting to see if he picks Mainoo,” Warnock began.

“He was the type of lad that you needed in that last 25 minutes because he’s got the legs, he can hold it up, he can run with the ball.”

Warnock criticises Tuchel

It’s been reported that Tuchel was unhappy with what he saw from Mainoo in training ahead of the Ghana group game, which was why he didn’t play the drab 0-0 draw with the African powerhouse.

Warnock went on to criticise Tuchel for the way with which he handled the situation with the Manchester United man, continuing: “He’s commented about his training not being very good.

“You don’t say that to the press. You tell the player. You put an arm around the player and say: ‘Look, you’re not training so good son, can you lift your percentage up?’

“It’s totally unfair. Things like that should be kept inside the camp that it should be one-on-one with the player.

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“Will he play him now, and then he has a fantastic game and make Tuchel look stupid?

“Or does he just not bother playing in case he has a good game?

“I don’t think he’ll play him but listen he should do now. He should give everybody a game shouldn’t he?”

Mainoo was a surprise call-up to the England 2026 World Cup squad.

The United star was given the nod ahead of Crystal Palace star Adam Wharton and Everton midfielder James Garner.

‘There’s been a massive problem’

Former England goalkeeper Ben Foster believes there has been a ‘massive problem’ if Tuchel overlooks Mainoo for the game against France.

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Speaking on talkSPORT Breakfast with Jeff Stelling and Sean Dyche, Stelling asked Foster: “If you are Kobbie Mainoo, and he hasn’t put you in for a minute of World Cup action, and he puts you in for the third-place play-off, how are you feeling?”

To which Foster replied: “The problem will come if he doesn’t put him in. He definitely doesn’t put him in for this game, there has been a massive rift or massive problem.

“I think Thomas Tuchel has got to be a bit careful with this game.

“If we change our team completely, and they absolutely pump us, then that’s a really bad look because that speaks to the players potentially downing tools a little bit.”

England’s game against France kicks off at 10pm [UK Time] on Saturday night.