Kobbie Mainoo shows true colours with nine-word comment about Erik ten Hag's last season

While Kobbie Mainoo would've been happy winning an FA Cup in his inaugural season as a professional footballer, he knows Manchester United should not have been content after finishing in eighth

Kobbie Mainoo has said that Erik ten Hag failed to make the 2023/24 season a success for Manchester United – despite winning the FA Cup.

A product of the United youth academy, the 19-year-old midfielder enjoyed a breakthrough season with the Red Devils last term – racking up 24 appearances in the league, six in the FA Cup and two in the coveted Champions League. And while the Old Trafford elite were able to claim the FA Cup in May with a shock 2-1 win over local rivals Manchester City – in which Mainoo scored the winning goal – he was not content with Ten Hag's offering over the course of the season.

Speaking with GQ, Mainoo admitted that the FA Cup triumph certainly instilled hope in the players and fans of the club, "but it definitely didn't make the season a success". He further explained: "I won’t say it made the season a success for us as a team, but we definitely needed it.

"We couldn’t go into the summer with nothing, just finishing where we finished in the table." Elsewhere in the interview, Mainoo noted how he is incredibly thankful that the club gave him a chance at such a young age, explaining: "I feel like at United it’s very much in the history that they play young players, going all the way back to the Busby Babes.

"There’s big writing up on the wall [at Carrington, the training ground] saying, ‘If they’re good enough, they’re old enough'." The midfield maestro, who was also a staple part of Gareth Southgate's England side at Euro 2024, also explained that nobody expected the Red Devils to win the FA Cup against Premier League champions City.

He added: "I remember just the feeling around it was like, no one expects us to win. They’ve just written us off. I used that as motivation." While winning the FA Cup is a huge achievement in itself, nonetheless beating Pep Guardiola's Cityzens in the final, United suffered a lacklustre Premier League campaign across 2023/24.

With a record of 18-6-14 to show for their endeavours, United finished a record-low eighth in the Premier League standings, with a wealth of concern pertaining to if Ten Hag was the right man for the job. The former Ajax manager knew what he was up against in taking the job back in 2022, with no manager since the great Sir Alex Ferguson able to achieve league glory for United.

David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had all tried and failed to bring feel good fever back to Old Trafford, and Ten Hag's stint with the club ended in bitter fashion earlier this month. The mastermind was given a two-year contract extension over the summer as INEOS put their faith in him once more, but he only lasted three months before he was given the boot.

United currently languish in 13th place in the table with 11 games played, achieving just four wins, three draws and four defeats in the 2024/25 campaign thus far. Ruud van Nistelrooy stepped in as interim manager in the wake of Ten Hag's dismissal after a 2-1 defeat to West Ham last month, turning the tide slightly with a 3-0 win over Leicester and a 1-1 draw with an in-form Chelsea, as well as Carabao Cup and Europa League victories at Old Trafford.

New head coach Ruben Amorim will take charge of the side for the first time come Sunday afternoon, when United travel to Portman Road to take on a struggling Ipswich Town. The 39-year-old joins the Old Trafford elite after a four-year stint with Sporting CP, in which he managed two Primeira Liga and Taca da Liga titles a-piece. It will be interesting to see if Amorim is the man to bring success back to the north west outfit.

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