Thomas Tuchel Parkir Kobbie Mainoo Sepanjang Piala Dunia 2026

Gelandang muda Manchester United, Kobbie Mainoo, secara mengejutkan belum pernah dimainkan oleh pelatih timnas Inggris, Thomas Tuchel, sepanjang turnamen Piala Dunia 2026 di Amerika Serikat dan Meksiko.

Hingga menjelang laga semifinal melawan Argentina pada Rabu malam, Mainoo menjadi salah satu dari tiga pemain luar kiper Inggris yang belum merasakan menit bermain bersama Trevoh Chalobah dan Ivan Toney.

Situasi ini memicu perdebatan di kalangan pengamat sepak bola, terlebih setelah Tuchel lebih memilih memainkan Jordan Henderson yang berusia 36 tahun dan bek kanan Reece James untuk mengisi lini tengah saat Declan Rice mengalami kendala kebugaran.

Legenda Liverpool dan Inggris, Michael Owen, menilai Mainoo masih memiliki peluang untuk menjadi pahlawan tak terduga bagi skuad Tiga Singa seperti kisah Geoff Hurst pada Piala Dunia 1966.

"I do a little bit, because I think he's definitely got the ability to play a role in the World Cup. And who knows? Things change, you get unlikely heroes." ujar Michael Owen kepada GOAL.

Owen menambahkan bahwa momen terbaik Inggris saat menjuarai Piala Dunia di masa lalu juga diwarnai oleh kejutan masuknya Hurst yang menggantikan striker utama Jimmy Greaves akibat cedera.

"Our greatest moment ever in this country, winning the World Cup, who would have thought Geoff Hurst would have been playing? Jimmy Greaves was the best thing since sliced bread. My dad just raves about Jimmy Greaves.

When anyone's talking about the best England XI and things like that, my dad's like, ‘Jimmy Greaves’ straight away. He was insanely good. Now, things happen, and all of a sudden, Geoff Hurst plays, and look what happens." kata Owen menjelaskan heroisme masa lalu.

Owen meyakini kejutan serupa masih bisa terjadi pada babak gugur yang krusial, di mana laga melawan Argentina akan menjadi tantangan sesungguhnya bagi Inggris.

"There will be, or there could be, a surprise. And it could be Mainoo, you can't switch off. Really, what we've done so far, if we had been knocked out, there would have been a huge inquest. I mean, nobody should be really in our league." kata Owen menambahkan analisisnya.

Mantan striker Real Madrid itu menegaskan bahwa laga-laga sebelumnya melawan tim seperti Norwegia seharusnya memang bisa dimenangkan dengan mudah oleh Inggris.

"We've built it up as if Mexico was the hardest game of all time, but come on. Norway, if we played Norway at a neutral ground, let's say we play Norway in Spain tomorrow, people would expect us to beat them two or 3-0. So when you look back, we should be beating every single team." tutur Owen.

Owen memprediksi laga semifinal melawan Argentina akan menyajikan banyak drama dan melahirkan sosok penyelamat baru di luar Harry Kane atau Jude Bellingham.

"This [Argentina] is now the first game, this is a proper game, this is one that is a toss of a coin, this is one that's going to challenge us. But everything so far has been what you would expect from England, surely." ucap Owen.

Menurutnya, perjalanan menuju tangga juara selalu membutuhkan kerja sama tim yang tidak terduga, dan Mainoo berpotensi masuk dalam skenario tersebut.

"We will see, but if we're going to win it, there are going to be so many twists and turns and so many heroes that we won't even be thinking at the moment. And Mainoo could be one of them." ujar Owen memungkasi wawancaranya.

Di sisi lain, mantan gelandang Manchester United, Paul Scholes dan Nicky Butt, justru berharap Mainoo tidak diturunkan pada laga krusial semifinal karena dikhawatirkan belum siap akibat absen bertanding terlalu lama.

"It seems like it’s anybody but Kobbie Mainoo for Thomas Tuchel." kata Paul Scholes dalam podcast The Good, The Bad & The Football.

Scholes menduga keputusan tersebut sepenuhnya merupakan hak subjektif pelatih dalam memilih pemain favoritnya di dalam skuad.

"Only Tuchel will know why. I can’t imagine Kobbie being a problem in the camp. Every manager has their favourites." tutur Scholes.

Scholes menambahkan bahwa situasi psikologis Mainoo yang belum menyentuh bola di laga kompetitif dapat memengaruhi performanya jika dipaksakan tampil di semifinal.

"I actually hope Kobbie Mainoo doesn’t come on now because he’s probably so down, he’s not played and he’s not kicked a football in a real game. He’s been training, obviously, but if he goes in now the only thing he can do is bad." ucap Scholes khawatir.

Pendapat senada juga diutarakan Nicky Butt yang menilai keputusan memainkan Reece James yang baru pulih dari cedera otot paha belakang menunjukkan keengganan Tuchel memakai jasa Mainoo.

"It seems like it’s anybody but Kobbie Mainoo for Thomas Tuchel at the minute." kata Nicky Butt pada acara podcast yang sama.

Butt heran dengan pemilihan pemain pengganti oleh Tuchel yang terkesan menghindari gelandang muda Setan Merah tersebut.

"He’s bringing Reece James on who hasn’t played for three weeks because of a hamstring injury. Only Tuchel will know why, I can’t imagine Kobbie being a problem in the camp." ujar Butt kebingungan.

Butt menegaskan bahwa setiap pelatih memang memiliki preferensi taktik sendiri yang tidak bisa diganggu gugat.

"But every manager has their favourites, of course they do." kata Butt menambahkan.

Ia juga menegaskan kekhawatirannya jika Mainoo dipaksakan tampil tanpa menit bermain pemanasan di laga berisiko tinggi.

"Do you know something? I actually hope Kobbie Mainoo doesn’t come on now." kata Butt menegaskan sikapnya.

Butt khawatir minimnya ritme pertandingan kompetitif akan membuat penampilan Mainoo di bawah standar semifinal Piala Dunia.

"Because he’s probably so down, he’s not played and he’s not kicked a football in a real game. He’s been training, obviously, but if he goes in now, the only thing he can do is bad." jelas Butt mengenai argumennya.

Butt menilai intensitas pertandingan semifinal sangat berbeda dengan latihan biasa, sehingga risiko bagi pemain sangat besar.

"He’s not going to be at the level to go and play at that level in a semi-final. I hope he doesn’t come on." kata Butt menambahkan.

Menurut Butt, situasi yang dialami Mainoo bukanlah hal baru dalam sejarah turnamen besar.

"It’s anybody but Kobbie for Tuchel. He won’t be the first one to go to a World Cup and not play a minute, there’s a few players who have done that." tutur Butt menutup pernyataannya.

Meskipun demikian, mantan bek Inggris Stephen Warnock menilai sebaliknya dan lebih memilih melihat Mainoo bermain sejak awal untuk memberikan kreativitas ekstra di lini tengah Inggris.

"In midfield against Argentina, it will be Elliot Anderson and Jude Bellingham, then I think Thomas Tuchel will go with Declan Rice." kata Stephen Warnock kepada betTOM.

Warnock mengkritik gaya bermain Declan Rice yang dinilai kurang progresif dalam mengalirkan bola melewati garis pertahanan lawan.

"However, just given the way Rice has played so far – and I’ll get a lot of criticism for this – I think he’s got to be a lot more progressive with his passing through the lines." kritik Warnock.

Warnock menyarankan agar Tuchel berani melakukan perubahan dengan memasang Mainoo sebagai starter melawan Argentina.

"I would personally prefer to see Kobbie Mainoo in there. He’s a different type of player, who can also play on the edge in a big game. I’d like to see him start, but I think Tuchel will stick with Rice." ujar Warnock memprediksi pilihan Tuchel.

Thomas Tuchel sendiri sempat memberikan penjelasan mengenai keputusannya memasukkan Reece James ke lini tengah saat menundukkan Norwegia di perempat final.

"Very good [on the subs], Reece James was excellent, Morgan Rogers was fantastic today, Ebs [Eze] grew into the game, Djed grew into the game." kata Thomas Tuchel kepada media pascapertandingan.

Pelatih asal Jerman tersebut mengakui anak asuhnya sedikit beruntung dan menuntut peningkatan performa di laga berikutnya.

"Full credit to them. But overall yeah, we got lucky today. It's about quality.

We need to play better. We will get better." kata Tuchel menambahkan.

Dalam kesempatan terpisah setelah pengumuman skuad, Tuchel juga sempat memaparkan peran James yang digeser ke posisi nomor enam demi memberikan kebebasan bagi gelandang serang Inggris.

"We put in [Reece] James as a six, which freed up Elliot Anderson at the eight, and Jude back on the 10" jelas Tuchel mengenai pergeseran taktik tersebut.

Bagi Mainoo, meski harus memendam kekecewaan karena belum tampil, ia tetap bersyukur atas kesempatan berada di timnas senior setelah melewati masa-masa sulit di level klub bersama Manchester United sebelum ditangani Michael Carrick.

"I mean, obviously there were difficult times. But I tried to keep my focus on what was in front of me, take things day by day and just keep working my craft, keep working hard for the team, and I hoped the rest would come. Thankfully it has." ungkap Kobbie Mainoo saat diwawancarai di Amerika Serikat.

Mainoo juga menyampaikan apresiasi besar kepada Michael Carrick yang telah memberikannya kepercayaan bermain secara reguler di klub sehingga ia bisa dipanggil masuk skuad Piala Dunia.

"Definitely, and 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." ujar Mainoo memungkasi.