England have a huge issue if Thomas Tuchel does not select unused World Cup star

Ben Foster believes that if Kobbie Mainoo doesn’t feature in the third-place play-off, then there is a big problem.

The Manchester United star is yet to feature at the World Cup for England.

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He was selected as one of four central midfielders by Thomas Tuchel, yet even with Jordan Henderson’s injury, he didn’t appear for the Three Lions.

But after crashing out in the semi-finals to Argentina, England have one more game to play – the third-place play-off against France.

Given it is a lower-stakes fixture, Foster believes Mainoo deserves an opportunity to play.

Yet if he remains sidelined again, Foster fears there may be a larger issue between the midfielder and Tuchel.

Speaking on talkSPORT Breakfast with Jeff Stelling and Sean Dyche, Stelling asked Foster about Mainoo.

He said: “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?”

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.”

Dyche then added: “The thing with Mainoo is that he’s a young player.

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“He should want to play, but some of the older players won’t.”

Foster chimed in again: “This might be the worst game of all time.

“It is mental torture because you’ve got to do it all properly, but you really don’t want to.”

And Dyche said: “I am not making excuses for them, but it has been a long tournament.

“The players will be gutted they’ve been knocked out because they’ve got to hang around for days, eat well and prepare.

“It’s different for the younger players because it’s a chance to play at a World Cup, so you put the shirt on and go about your business properly.”

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Behind-scenes concerns

A report in the Daily Mail claims that Mainoo was set to get his chance in the group game against Ghana.

This was due to fitness concerns over Declan Rice.

However, the 21-year-old didn’t impress in training, and Tuchel opted to go in a different direction.

Mainoo made a late break into the England squad after an excellent second half of the season for Manchester United and was sure to thank Red Devils boss Michael Carrick for helping him make it.

He said: “I told him that I was very grateful.

“Because if he hadn’t put me on the pitch, then I wouldn’t have been here so, I’m always grateful to him for that.”

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But as of yet, he has had a watching brief.

Mainoo’s gesture

He might have not featured on the pitch yet, but he made a huge contribution away from it having helped a fan with a terminal illness secure a ticket to the semi-final.

Jordan Adams ran the London Marathon with a fridge strapped to his back to help raise awareness for dementia.

Adams has tragically lost 12 members of his family to the disease, including his mother, Geraldine.

The strain of dementia that she died from is frontotemporal dementia (FTD), which is extremely likely in people who carry the MAPT mutation.

Jordan and his brother Cian have been diagnosed with the mutation, so they’ve joined forces to raise nearly £2million for dementia research.

Adams jumped on a plane to Atlanta to watch the semi-final against Argentina, but he didn’t have a ticket.

But Mainoo commented on the Instagram post with: “I’ve got you brother.”

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He then received a message from the England midfielder, who sorted him out a ticket.

Speaking about Mainoo, he said: “I’ve finally arrived in Atlanta ahead of the World Cup semi-final and I’m glad to say I have got a ticket.

“None other than Kobbie Mainoo reached out and offered me a ticket to the game. To be quite honest, I’m quite speechless.

“I can’t believe a current England player in the squad at the World Cup would show that level of kindness. That is unbelievable.”