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Kobbie Mainoo England flag

2023-24 Performances

View full 2023-24 profile

6.2 Season Average Rating
Appearances
32
Goals
5
Assists
1
Yellow cards
4
Status
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He will be fine.
Have to remember he’s been playing in a non existent “midfield “ his whole Utd career.
Expecting an 18 year old to cover for a pensioner in eriksen against a rampant palace is too much.
Put a system and a plan in place and he’ll shine.
 
Again it is another example of the insanity of Ten Hag. This midfield set up, he moved towards it with the expectation that Mainoo would be part of it, but if you look where Mainoo is right now, physically he has no chance of covering the space this set up expects him to do, if you play him deep he is left to defend by himself, push him into the Mount/McT position and he is trying to run to box to box and doesn't have the legs for it and his ball playing skills are wasted.

Compact midfield set up, partnerships and his ability shines, his best performance this season has been playing for England, in an actual fecking midfield.
 
I do think there's some valid points to be made about his lack of physicality but if he was in a better system and he had someone like a prime Ince or Keane beside him he'd be absolutely fine.

The annoying thing is, like Hojlund, he should be alternating with an experienced player for his position, but apparently Amrabat is so terrible and a complete waste of a loan that this kid has to play all the time. It's not a good situation for the club or player.
 
He has enough potential to play for one of the elite clubs, so I wouldn't blame him if he is on the lookout for a step up. Crucial years for his development ahead and he needs a good manager and system to have a chance at realising it.
 
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Bobski said:
Again it is another example of the insanity of Ten Hag. This midfield set up, he moved towards it with the expectation that Mainoo would be part of it, but if you look where Mainoo is right now, physically he has no chance of covering the space this set up expects him to do, if you play him deep he is left to defend by himself, push him into the Mount/McT position and he is trying to run to box to box and doesn't have the legs for it and his ball playing skills are wasted.

Compact midfield set up, partnerships and his ability shines, his best performance this season has been playing for England, in an actual fecking midfield.
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The bolded is true but then we don’t really have any other players other than Casemiro and Eriksen that could do that, and neither of them have any legs for it so then the midfield again just gets bypassed/ran through.

Whatever happens he needs legs around him in the future, because he isn’t magically going to get faster or make a massive improvement in that.
 
Irwin99 said:
I do think there's some valid points to be made about his lack of physicality but if he was in a better system and he had someone like a prime Ince or Keane beside him he'd be absolutely fine.

The annoying thing is, like Hojlund, he should be alternating with an experienced player for his position, but apparently Amrabat is so terrible and a complete waste of a loan that this kid has to play all the time. It's not a good situation for the club or player.
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Anyone would be fine next to a prime Ince or Keane.

It is worrying to me his mobility. It forces us to basically have a runner in the midfield next to him.
 
He needs to be managed better, it's painfully obvious. He's being asked to cover way too much, and playing him alongside someone as immobile as Eriksen was always going to be a mess.
 
SilentWitness said:
I think his opponent last night is better... (Wharton)...
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Mainoo has only half a season of first team experience and played alongside eriksen. Since Liverpool away he has played every single game including two for England (where he was class). He's being mismanaged by Eth out of desperation. He's 19 and will be inconsistent, but it is clear to everyone he's very talented. He's just not capable of covering an entire midfield on his own and badly needs a rest.
 
SilentWitness said:
What's Mainoo better at? I think he's good but he has a lot more to work on as a player. He's promising but still lacks in key areas, notably his physicality.
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Dribbling, passing, vision, composure. Just more naturally talented. At times, Mainoo has been made to look worse than he is due to the poor tactical structure. His teammates haven't done much to help him either.
 
Remember the geese said:
Dribbling, passing, vision, composure. Just more naturally talented. At times, Mainoo has been made to look worse than he is due to the poor tactical structure. His teammates haven't done much to help him either.
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I only agree he's better at the bolded. The others Wharton is a level above currently for me. Just look at the pass for the third goal. Exceptional.

Also Wharton is playing alongside Will fecking Hughes! :lol:
 
SilentWitness said:
What's Mainoo better at? I think he's good but he has a lot more to work on as a player. He's promising but still lacks in key areas, notably his physicality.
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Well yeah he's 18.

Saying an 18 year old has stuff to work on, particularly physicality, is like saying water is wet.
 
SilentWitness said:
I think his opponent last night is better... (Wharton)...
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Whether he's better overall I cant say as i've seen very little of him, but he did look very good Wharton. That said, its possibly unfair to compare given the circumstances of the club and how dysfunctional we currently are.
 
KjaAnd said:
Unfair to play him next to Eriksen and expect him to hold the midfield on his own. He doesn't have the experience or mobility to that and he was exposed several times tonight - even if he also had his moments.

The combination of Eriksen, Mainoo, Evans and Casemiro may be the slowest "spine" ever fielded.
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I thought this too. And then we added Amrabat for good measure.
 
SilentWitness said:
Yeah? The same can be said of Wharton though so not sure what your point is.
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Absolutely the same can be said of Wharton and in fact 99.9% of teenagers.

It's a meaningless statement. Means nothing. They will obviously improve with age.
 
SilentWitness said:
Yeah? The same can be said of Wharton though so not sure what your point is.
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Think the point is you're trying to be a dick, you might be a mod but looks like you're going fishing to me.
 
Ten Hag's midfield combinations make very little sense. If you've no fit CBs and the one CB you have on the pitch didn't pass a fitness test - at least pack the midfield. At the very least have people with legs in the midfield. Moreover, our best defensive performance this season came against LIverpool (A) when we had Amrabat- Mainoo. A combination we've not seen since.
 
AltiUn said:
Think the point is you're trying to be a dick, you might be a mod but looks like you're going fishing to me.
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Or perhaps I'm just discussing him in comparison to his peers which is the point of a forum?
 
SilentWitness said:
He's 19 and Wharton is 20.
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I agree Wharton is good. But he's also in a much more balanced side in terms of physical and technical profiles around him. Someone like Hughes looked good last night- he's a useful player generally, in a Herrera kind of way - but would probably look desperately average transplanted into this United side, barring other changes. Combination of tactics injuries (to varying degrees) and general squad composition means that this united side has terrible chemistry a lot of the time. Mainoo's game is slightly different to Wharton but stick him in that Palace side with Hughes to do his tackling, proper full-back overlaps, and Olise, Eze & Mateda making runs to the ball and stretching defences, and you'd likely see an 8/10 performance there.
 
pacifictheme said:
Ignored my response which was pretty well reasoned which does suggests maybe you aren't after that.
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Didn't see it originally. I agree he's talented and looked good for England in those cameos and his start but still think Wharton has impressed me more in his time for Palace and at Blackburn. It would also worry me a tad that he's already in need of resting so much.

Baxquux said:
I agree Wharton is good. But he's also in a much more balanced side in terms of physical and technical profiles around him. Someone like Hughes looked good last night- he's a useful player generally, in a Herrera kind of way - but would probably look desperately average transplanted into this United side, barring other changes. Combination of tactics injuries (to varying degrees) and general squad composition means that this united side has terrible chemistry a lot of the time. Mainoo's game is slightly different to Wharton but stick him in that Palace side with Hughes to do his tackling, proper full-back overlaps, and Olise, Eze & Mateda making runs to the ball and stretching defences, and you'd likely see an 8/10 performance there.
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That is a fair assessment. I do think individually Wharton has stepped into the side individually with some excellent performances though. To me he is a bit like Gallagher in that he's all over the pitch but he has a better expansive passing range. I actually think he and Mainoo would make an excellent pairing and England should be excited about it. Both should really be called up for the Euros and if it weren't for the cameo by Mainoo for England already I'd have Wharton edging him currently for a starting spot.
 
The pressure people are putting on a kid is unreal. He’s played about 6 months worth of football and yes he lacks upper body strength…

I’m still unsure whether he’s found his actual position yet he’s that young. Could become a more attacking player or a deep lying playmaker. Who knows.
 
I don’t really like criticising the manager but what was he thinking partnering Mainoo alongside Christian Eriksen who can barely run and lasts for 30 minutes? I had a glimmer of hope before the match but i knew we would 100% lose when i saw the lineup
 
SilentWitness said:
Didn't see it originally. I agree he's talented and looked good for England in those cameos and his start but still think Wharton has impressed me more in his time for Palace and at Blackburn. It would also worry me a tad that he's already in need of resting so much.



That is a fair assessment. I do think individually Wharton has stepped into the side individually with some excellent performances though. To me he is a bit like Gallagher in that he's all over the pitch but he has a better expansive passing range. I actually think he and Mainoo would make an excellent pairing and England should be excited about it. Both should really be called up for the Euros and if it weren't for the cameo by Mainoo for England already I'd have Wharton edging him currently for a starting spot.
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It's pretty normal for young players to come in and out of a team. In fact it's recommended for development and to avoid burnout no? He basically went from zero first team football to guaranteed starter for united. That's quite a big jump for a then 18 year old. Not sure it's outrageous after six months straight of football for club and country to need a rest at his age. Especially playing in our fecking team :lol:
 
pacifictheme said:
It's pretty normal for young players to come in and out of a team. In fact it's recommended for development and to avoid burnout no? He basically went from zero first team football to guaranteed starter for united. That's quite a big jump for a then 18 year old. Not sure it's outrageous after six months straight of football for club and country to need a rest at his age. Especially playing in our fecking team :lol:
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Would argue he's getting a bit of rest though and not being flogged? He's only played 11 full 90s. Seems to be subbed with roughly 10-20 minutes to go quite often.
 
SilentWitness said:
Would argue he's getting a bit of rest though and not being flogged? He's only played 11 full 90s. Seems to be subbed with roughly 10-20 minutes to go quite often.
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Yeah but he's often asked to cover the midfield alone. He's being badly used in my opinion, being asked to do way too much in a deeply dysfunction team.
 
pacifictheme said:
Yeah but he's often asked to cover the midfield alone. He's being badly used in my opinion, being asked to do way too much in a deeply dysfunction team.
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That's fair, I expect when he plays with Rice and Bellingham at the Euros it will give a better assessment as to where he is really at.
 
I think he can be a bit casual at times in possession when maybe we need a bit more directness/passing through the lines.
He should use his ability to beat players and pass forward more.
When Amrabat came on yesterday he took the ball off the centre backs and carried it around until a good pass opened up. Mainoo has the ability to do that.
But yes, the system isn’t doing him any favours.
 
SilentWitness said:
That's fair, I expect when he plays with Rice and Bellingham at the Euros it will give a better assessment as to where he is really at.
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Yeah, he was fantastic in the friendlies in there. You could see rice played a huge part in that.
 
What the heck can you do as a teenager in a PL midfield alongside pensioners. It's not going to allow you to be at your best. I can't think of many experienced players I could throw next to Eriksen and this version of Casemiro and they'd look at their best. Especially under this manager's tactics. We've got the cart before the horse - we're asking a baby to be the main man when others should be leading him.

So for me he gets a massive pass for the poor games at this stage.
 
Another thread where the truth of the situation is probably somewhere in the middle of the extremes expressed here.

That being that he is an incredibly talented lad, especially with the ball at his feet, and will have plenty to offer for years to come.

But he does look to be pretty slow to cover the ground, especially in transition. And for me, even at 19, I think we can a pretty safely assume that this isn't going to drastically improve.

So he is unlikely to be suited to a role in set up that requires him to cover expansive spaces in midfield defensively.... especially not in ETH's suicidal 4-1------ 41 shape.
 
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