Nicky Butt Says Kobbie Mainoo Star Should Boycott England vs France

Kobbie Mainoo has endured a frustrating World Cup. The Manchester United midfielder didn’t feature in any of England's seven matches before the Three Lions came up short to Argentina in the semi-finals.

According to David Ornstein, Mainoo's disappointment has been visible for all to see, with the 21-year-old often spotted leaving stadiums before his teammates, headphones on and alone.

There had been genuine hope of Mainoo being involved, with him training in midfield alongside Elliot Anderson ahead of the group game against Ghana, only for Thomas Tuchel to reportedly not like what he saw from the player in that session.

Now, with England set to play in Saturday's third-place play-off against France, Nicky Butt has offered a strong opinion on what Mainoo should do next.

Butt Tells Mainoo to Fake Injury Rather Than Play

The Manchester United legend was blunt in his words when discussing Mainoo's situation. Per The Sun, he said: "I do not know what is going on there, there’s something not quite right with it."

“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."

Many fans and pundits believe a third-place playoff is totally meaningless. Whichever sides play in the fixture saw their World Cup fall short, just one step away from the biggest game in football, so to think a further fixture then has to be played, purely to determine who finishes third, is hardly a reward.

For that reason, many nations who find themselves in this position turn to some of their lesser-used players to feature, such as Mainoo, giving their first-choice names a well-earned rest and settling the nerves of their club managers in the process.

Butt Calls for Tuchel to be Sacked After Semi-Final Exit

Butt didn't stop at Mainoo's treatment, also demanding Tuchel's dismissal following England's negative approach in their semi-final defeat to Argentina.

"Not a cat in hell’s chance after that. 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."

Butt believes Tuchel himself will be ready to walk away regardless of what the FA decides. "He's an unbelievable club manager, so just let him go," he added. "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'. 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."

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