The lad is quality. Best midfielder on the pitch today
Is Mainoo the real deal?
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
Even has some Zidane in him 
Own goal. Shit. Sell him
Great dribbling and passing, but we are just completely open in midfield with him and McTominay. If he goes forward, which he should be given license to seeing the quality he has, surely we have to have a plan to cover for him? Liverpool just have free reign over the area behind our midfield and in front of our defense.
Have you been watching us? We've been open all season. We're trying to play a high press with a low block and key players missing... with no plan B.
Mainoo is the main plus point from the whole season. He is a breath of fresh air for us and a player we should cherish and build a midfield around.
The fact that Casemiro no longer has the legs and Amrabat is obviously not showing enough in training to merit a starting place isn't on him.
He can't carry the whole team.
Incredible talent - he was leaving defenders in knots at times on that left side.
However we need to add two midfielders that compliment and support him. It’s a mess right now.
However we need to add two midfielders that compliment and support him. It’s a mess right now.
We have our very own Cesc. A barca level talent.
He should be Brunos replacement, not the saviour in a deeper two.
We'll know he's the real deal when he becomes Real's captain
I don't see how that differs from what I have said. I'm not blaming just Mainoo for us being dangerously open. If he is going to go up the field, someone should be instructed to cover for him and that isn't occuring. We are saying that our midfielders' legs are not there, but prime Kante would look out to sea trying to defend the spaces we are leaving for our number 6. I get pressing like this for short spells and when down a goal, but continuing to do it when we are already up is just suicidal.
Reported!
He should be one of our two #8's in front of a proper #6. There is no space for Bruno or Casemiro for that matter in our next team.
And a coach who doesn't ask him to cover this:
the way we play football is hilarious, we might as well be an NBA team
Doesn't matter the players you have, the coaching is vital. Ours is trash.
Having to play with Bruno and McT, he's basically doing the job of 3 players right now. Incredible stuff against a team like Liverpool
Lee Dixon is an utterly joyless twat
A couple of amazing runs and put in a good shift trying to be proactive winning the ball in midfield. Couldnt really ask for more from an 18 year old and really deserved a bit more support from McTom and Fernandes who didnt track back well.
Embarrassing that we have only one midfielder who can keep the ball but a bloody good one.
You can't be asking for more than 60 mins from him.
You can't be asking for more than 60 mins from him.
Who voted no? The 1,8% community
He is the real deal already, at 18!.
Yes yes yes
This fan base is just shit. McTominay comes away with a goal and a lovely assist against Liverpool. Bruno plays in about 5 different positions, limping around to stay on the pitch to keep us at 11 men. Yet we have to slate them both in order to praise Mainoo, who wasn’t even on the pitch when 3 of the 4 goals went in. Maybe you were joking, in which case I took the bait.
Anyway. Mainoo is brilliant.
He has a long way to go physically, but his quality level is insane, England just don't produce genuine midfielders who can do the stuff that is so natural to him. Players are going to stop pressing for fear of being clowned as he gets stronger.
imagine an England midfield of
Rice Mainoo
Bellingham
Rice Mainoo
Bellingham
He's absolute class. Imagine him in a functional midfield with less defensive responsibility.
he was definitely gassed 60 odd mins in like a few others, thought we needed to take him off, but he still dug deeper and managed to stick in a few key moments despite being cooked before he came off, going to be an absolute star
he'd be an entire summers budget if we had to buy him from another club, great today
Also people keep talking about "physically" he's shown more physically than some of bigger minds and forwards since his first game, complete non issue
Would be the strongest midfield of the EUROs. Hope Southgate takes him, he's ready and the only English player that could do the job he does is Bellingham. If Bellingham will play higher up the pitch, it's a no brainer to take Kobbie and he should probably start. If Bellingham will play at #8 alongside Rice, then you can still take Mainoo and put him on the bench as an incredible option.
His stamina is quite low at the moment, not helped in hiding it by the space he is being asked to cover. Physical maturation and a solid pre season without injury should bring him along rightly.
Knowing Southgate he'll probably play Henderson (who incidentally has been useless at Ajax) instead of Mainoo
I'm not entirely sure about that, although it wouldn't surprise me.
Oozes quality whenever he gets the ball.
Never flustered and has such quick feet.
Sky is the limit.
Never flustered and has such quick feet.
Sky is the limit.
Lisan al gaib
I've not been as excited about one of our youngsters in a long long time. A midfielder too!
I don't disagree at all, the point you make is quiet clear and not to be unexpected at his age/stage of development
I have mates crying when eth has taken him off during games but he needs managed, you can see he fades in some games and that's no issue for a kid.
But it's credit to him today that he was clearly nearly out on his feet early in the second half today, and yet he still managed to plug a few key efforts winning the ball before he got withdrawn
People put physicality as a negative against him but I'm not referencing stamina (as I'm sure they aren't either) but he gets stuck in, challenges and wins more 50/50s that one would expect at first glance, that's the physical point of view I'm referencing
You realize I posted that in about the 60th minute right? Get a grip
(also nothing I said was wrong, he was doing the job of 3 players today)
Must be half decent if he has foreign commentators creaming themselves on air
18-21 will see his stamina and physicality increase. I just hope we can keep him agile and skillful. Not like Shaw, Valencia weight training and lose their edge.
City players are all pretty ripped but not stocky with it. It was very apparent last year in the cup final. They look to be in top shape for the demands and skill retention. We need to be top class in this area under Ineos.
City players are all pretty ripped but not stocky with it. It was very apparent last year in the cup final. They look to be in top shape for the demands and skill retention. We need to be top class in this area under Ineos.
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