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2023-24 Performances


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6.2 Season Average Rating
Appearances
32
Goals
5
Assists
1
Yellow cards
4
Status
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I think it's more ridiculous how some people can't handle criticism of United players by journalists, and label it as hate, like it's some personal attack on the lad when it isn't
Saying he "lacks nous" means he permanently lacks that trait. Its absolute bullshit. Maybe he lacked a little in that game, but he has demonstrated plenty of nous.

Journalists an absolute waste of space.
 
lets play some four four fookin two, lads.

Men behind the ball, hit 'em on t'counter

Seriously English football has a major brainrot about players and 'responsibility' either to a rigid position or to man to man with set pieces. Back-in-my daymaxxing.

How about the responsibility of the coaches to organise the rest defence? How about the responsibility of senior players to win defensive duels? How about responsibility of your goalkeeper to not throw one on the fecking net?

No, its politically easy to make lazy gibes, instead of looking at the senior personnel
 
Mainoo will become a wonderful player for England no doubt, but a natural number 6 in a double pivot he most definitely is not. He just doesn’t have the defensive mind set, and the sixth sense to sniff out danger. The way he let Iceland run straight through his channel for their goal was terrible, and it’s not like it came from broken play or a turnover, it was all there in front of him from a build up perspective. I’m not sure whether Gallagher would be better, or TAA or Wharton, or maybe Mainoo will take this on board that his primary role is not fancy one touch passing, but providing a shield for the defence on that side. Whatever happens though, every team in the tournament that will face England, will be watching the tape of an extremely limited Iceland play through England’s right sided midfield like it wasn’t even there, and they’ll be licking their collective lips at the thought.
 
Not that there's a whiff of a problem yet, but someone needs to make sure that what happened to Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood does not happen to Kobbie Mainoo. The boy needs to be looked after.
“Kobbie can you do your best to not hit women ?” It wouldn’t be great for your career :rolleyes:
 
Not his usual United self but not sure how he gets picked out for his performance or the Iceland goal (think the RB was on the halfway line)


The big question here is on Jason Burt, who has obviously seen Mainoo play and knows he's not a number 6. Classic case of English media looking for a scapegoat. The whole team were shite last night yet I don't see him writing about whether Southgate has the tactical know how to win a tournament. It's diabolical that the media have basically let Southgate off the hook over recent years because of a couple of lucky draws in competitions. The fact he's wasting arguably the best depth of attacking talent in any national team in the world right now apparently isn't enough to be critical. Nah let's call out United's new kid on the block in what his 3rd cap? Cannot stand the media in this country.
 
Let the pile on begin, I say.

It’s starting even a little late by the England ‘great Hope’ standards.

He’s found out, washed up etc. can’t raise his game to this level.

he just can’t roll with the cut and thrust of a meaningless pre-tournament, early summer friendly in front of his schoolmates.

Fair assessment of the performance last night.

He's a young player and is still learning, not sure what people are expecting?!
 
Fair assessment of the performance last night.

He's a young player and is still learning, not sure what people are expecting?!

I think it's the fact he's insinuated that Mainoo's performance somehow exonerated Rice of his, despite Rice being the senior player who cost Arsenal something like £105m. Also, blaming him for the goal is a bit unfair, lots of players were caught out of position for that one.

The Sky ratings seemed a lot more balanced. They went in harder on the senior player's like Walker and Kane whilst praising the newcomers, such as Mainoo, Gordon and Palmer, for their endeavour.
 
Saying he "lacks nous" means he permanently lacks that trait. Its absolute bullshit. Maybe he lacked a little in that game, but he has demonstrated plenty of nous.

Journalists an absolute waste of space.

Had plenty of nous on that same pitch a couple of weeks ago against the team that had just won 4 league titles in a row. Steinberg has a short memory.
 
I love him as a player but I thought he looked lost in the system for large parts of the game yesterday. In his defence the whole centre of the pitch was incredibly congested making it tough for anyone in there, but he needs to improve his ability to get on the ball. In moments you can still see his top qualities like that through pass to Foden but we don’t always see him get on it enough.
 
He isn't strong defensively, in my opinion. If England fans, journalists or Southgate had watched him for season they would see that is his weakness and opposition coaches try to exploit it.

He did fine against City because of how compact we were as a unit, but when we try to play on the front foot, we were exploited similarly (not just because of Mainoo). The problem is, this shows that even with a great partner like Rice, it's still unbalanced. And we were hoping a signing like Rice would be the key for us.

I think he's a great young player with bags of talent, but tactically we (United) might need to make some provisions for him.
 
He isn't strong defensively, in my opinion. If England fans, journalists or Southgate had watched him for season they would see that is his weakness and opposition coaches try to exploit it.

He did fine against City because of how compact we were as a unit, but when we try to play on the front foot, we were exploited similarly (not just because of Mainoo). The problem is, this shows that even with a great partner like Rice, it's still unbalanced. And we were hoping a signing like Rice would be the key for us.

I think he's a great young player with bags of talent, but tactically we (United) might need to make some provisions for him.
He's the type of player that would be the first name on the team sheet if he was Spanish or Portuguese. But for some reason, these type of players always seem to be a problem for England.
 
Mainoo has mostly played in flashes this season, incredibly promising flashes but he hasn't really been a constant factor in games. Expecting him to go and control games as a starter in the Euros is putting too much on him at this stage. Ideally he would be a back up getting the experience of a major tournament with the expectation that he is fully integrated by the time the WC rolls around, but the problem is the alternatives aren't great, Gallagher is a workhorse with technical deficiencies, Wharton is another kid, Bellingham is better higher up, Trent is erratic in that role.

Really hope this tournament doesn't negatively impact Mainoo's development.
 
He isn't strong defensively, in my opinion. If England fans, journalists or Southgate had watched him for season they would see that is his weakness and opposition coaches try to exploit it.

He did fine against City because of how compact we were as a unit, but when we try to play on the front foot, we were exploited similarly (not just because of Mainoo). The problem is, this shows that even with a great partner like Rice, it's still unbalanced. And we were hoping a signing like Rice would be the key for us.

I think he's a great young player with bags of talent, but tactically we (United) might need to make some provisions for him.
I don’t think he’s weak defensively, he just lacks running power. Rice was awful last night btw, he was far more culpable than Mainoo.
 
Mainoo has mostly played in flashes this season, incredibly promising flashes but he hasn't really been a constant factor in games. Expecting him to go and control games as a starter in the Euros is putting too much on him at this stage. Ideally he would be a back up getting the experience of a major tournament with the expectation that he is fully integrated by the time the WC rolls around, but the problem is the alternatives aren't great, Gallagher is a workhorse with technical deficiencies, Wharton is another kid, Bellingham is better higher up, Trent is erratic in that role.

Really hope this tournament doesn't negatively impact Mainoo's development.
I’d agree with this. I do think for England there’s balance to be found in a Rice, Mainoo, Bellingham midfield but it relies on good tactics (which we won’t get under Southgate). Fundamentally my issue with this current England squad and the reason I don’t buy the hype is that we don’t actually have a balanced team. It’s full of fantastic individuals doing great things at club level, but there are very few relationships on the pitch. There’s no surprise that we did our best work in the last few tournaments with some existing relationships (Rashford-Shaw, Maguire-Stones, Walker-Sterling etc). I don’t think he’s picked a very well balanced squad which I expect will lead to huge disappointment.
 
Mainoo has mostly played in flashes this season, incredibly promising flashes but he hasn't really been a constant factor in games. Expecting him to go and control games as a starter in the Euros is putting too much on him at this stage. Ideally he would be a back up getting the experience of a major tournament with the expectation that he is fully integrated by the time the WC rolls around, but the problem is the alternatives aren't great, Gallagher is a workhorse with technical deficiencies, Wharton is another kid, Bellingham is better higher up, Trent is erratic in that role.

Really hope this tournament doesn't negatively impact Mainoo's development.

Bellingham needs to play deeper. I don't care what kind of season he's had at no. 10, Palmer and Foden have also had great seasons there. Real paid £100m for a guy who'd been playing almost exclusively at no 8. For the sake of the team he can do that job again. Problem is Southgate is going to have to experiment with it in the tournament itself now because this preparation has been a bit shambolic.
 
Hang on, isn’t Rice supposed to be a 6? Why on earth would Mainoo, who has never been classed as a 6, be the one who’s position is being questioned. Rice is supposed to be the more defensive of the 2. Typical anti united media soon again yeah. Morons the lot of them
 
Hang on, isn’t Rice supposed to be a 6? Why on earth would Mainoo, who has never been classed as a 6, be the one who’s position is being questioned. Rice is supposed to be the more defensive of the 2. Typical anti united media soon again yeah. Morons the lot of them
I missed most the game but if the pair started it wouldn't surprise me if Southgate threw mainoo in a 6 for bants.
 
I missed most the game but if the pair started it wouldn't surprise me if Southgate threw mainoo in a 6 for bants.

To break it down, the back 4 were all over the place, not even close to being in line with each other. Rice was out of position meaning Kobbie (more noticeably) had to chase their player back. Stones didn’t put a foot in and let the attacker shoot through his legs, Ramsdale let a saveable shot go in at the near post. Also if Kane and Palmer score easy chances then this goal wouldn’t be highlighted. That result is on Southgate. Nobody else.
 
To break it down, the back 4 were all over the place, not even close to being in line with each other. Rice was out of position meaning Kobbie (more noticeably) had to chase their player back. Stones didn’t put a foot in and let the attacker shoot through his legs, Ramsdale let a saveable shot go in at the near post. Also if Kane and Palmer score easy chances then this goal wouldn’t be highlighted. That result is on Southgate. Nobody else.

And Stones, Kane, Foden, Walker...the senior players. feck knows what business Ramsdale had starting that game though. He wasn't good when he was actually playing for his club, never mind now he's not.

I'm no great fan of Henderson but he won his place at Palace towards the end of the season and is a better keeper than Ramsdale, "great lad" or not.
 
England's chance was a few tournaments ago, what they have now is a inflated opinion of themselves because Bellingham is doing stuff in Madrid.

Last night Foden/Rice/Kane did nothing of note, yet it's Saka and Mainoo (on his 2nd appearance) that gets the stick? Classic over-reaction from the media as per fecking usual.

It was a boring friendly and means feck all.
 
England's chance was a few tournaments ago, what they have now is a inflated opinion of themselves because Bellingham is doing stuff in Madrid.

Last night Foden/Rice/Kane did nothing of note, yet it's Saka and Mainoo (on his 2nd appearance) that gets the stick? Classic over-reaction from the media as per fecking usual.

It was a boring friendly and means feck all.
Think I agree with this, hoping I’m wrong but feel like this England side is a little overrated and won’t win the entire thing!
 
Yup, ultimately that’s where we will fall down.
Hope you’re wrong, and I think Southgate gets way more flack than he deserves, but he isn’t amazing by any means.

Squad wise, i think it is the second or third best in the tournament. With a very good manager, you can win a tournament like this without having 11 world class players on every position. Otherwise France would win it every time.

However, Southgate for me is just a complete liability. France, Portugal and Germany (home advantage helps) are ahead for me and ultimately, England will lose in the knockouts as soon as they play one of them.
 
Mainoo will become a wonderful player for England no doubt, but a natural number 6 in a double pivot he most definitely is not. He just doesn’t have the defensive mind set, and the sixth sense to sniff out danger. The way he let Iceland run straight through his channel for their goal was terrible, and it’s not like it came from broken play or a turnover, it was all there in front of him from a build up perspective. I’m not sure whether Gallagher would be better, or TAA or Wharton, or maybe Mainoo will take this on board that his primary role is not fancy one touch passing, but providing a shield for the defence on that side. Whatever happens though, every team in the tournament that will face England, will be watching the tape of an extremely limited Iceland play through England’s right sided midfield like it wasn’t even there, and they’ll be licking their collective lips at the thought.
Jason Burt, is that you??

I don’t know how anyone can watch that goal and go “yeah, that’s Mainoos fault”.

The Icelandic player with light hair is in his own box, several yards further back than Rice.. watch that lad and Rice, and say Rice wasn’t completely useless. Rice CAN clearly see what’s there, the lads right in front of him and runs past him, Rice moves a few yards.

Also watch Foden, not only does he dive in and get nowhere, that same player runs past Foden too who doesn’t follow him. That’s two England players who are yards from that lad and with a little run and a 1-2, he’s suddenly several yards past Rice AND Foden who have done the sum total of feck all.

Mainoo could have moved a few yards yes but that player doesn’t then skin Mainoo and Mainoo doesnt stop running (like the other two did), the lad simply passes out wide where Stones is right by him… he’s Stones man but the best English CH allows this lad to cut in and shoot. Meanwhile Ramsdale gets done at his near post.

And it’s apparently just Mainoos fault?

 
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Jason Burt, is that you??

I don’t know how anyone can watch that goal and go “yeah, that’s Mainoos fault”.

The Icelandic player with light hair is in his own box, several yards further back than Rice.. watch that lad and Rice, and say Rice wasn’t completely useless. Rice CAN clearly see what’s there, the lads right in front of him and runs past him, Rice moves a few yards.

Also watch Foden, not only does he dive in and get nowhere, that same player runs past Foden too who doesn’t follow him. That’s two England players who are yards from that lad and with a little run and a 1-2, he’s suddenly several yards past Rice AND Foden who have done the sum total of feck all.

That player doesn’t then skin Mainoo, he simply passes out wide where Stones is right by him… he’s Stones man but the best English CH allows this lad to cut in and shoot. Meanwhile Ramsdale gets done at his near post.

And it’s Mainoos fault?



I think it was a complete failure on the goal from the whole team. Iceland played out from the back and not one England player was close to stop it. Every single one of them is to be blamed, from front to GK
 
He was fine, actually one of the more consistent on the pitch. Guilty of what the entire team were - not playing an effective game plan to turn acres of possession into much real threat. That comes down to the manager. I didn't see anything to change my relatively high opinion of the ability of this group of players, including Mainoo. But without a better plan, they won't get far.
 
I’d agree with this. I do think for England there’s balance to be found in a Rice, Mainoo, Bellingham midfield but it relies on good tactics (which we won’t get under Southgate). Fundamentally my issue with this current England squad and the reason I don’t buy the hype is that we don’t actually have a balanced team. It’s full of fantastic individuals doing great things at club level, but there are very few relationships on the pitch. There’s no surprise that we did our best work in the last few tournaments with some existing relationships (Rashford-Shaw, Maguire-Stones, Walker-Sterling etc). I don’t think he’s picked a very well balanced squad which I expect will lead to huge disappointment.

Agree on two parts, Bellingham shouldn't have been enlisted as a forward, I think Rice, Mainoo and Bellingham works as a three across those spaces in the midfield because of their distinctive profiles as players.

Secondly, I don't like Gordon as the only natural outlet on the left. Feel he lacks substance and pedigree, not a bad player in anyway but absolutely not one you throw your hat on in place of options like Grealish or Rashford who despite club form can perform when it matters for nationals.

Southgate has undoubtedly taken an unbalanced squad and he's turned one of England's strongest positions in the forwards to a much less significant factor with how he's utilized some players in their positions.
 
Twitter is a cesspit:

"You know what you attempted to do" - Like it's some sort of Pre-meditated attack on a young lad, which it was not.

 
I don’t think he’s weak defensively, he just lacks running power. Rice was awful last night btw, he was far more culpable than Mainoo.

Positionally he is too. Teams focused on him by putting an extra man in the space behind him, knowing he would get pulled out of position and leave huge spaces. And like you said he lacks the pace to recover.
 
All this drama for a friendly game before actual tournament, a game where players don't give their all to save themselves from injuries.
 
Positionally he is too. Teams focused on him by putting an extra man in the space behind him, knowing he would get pulled out of position and leave huge spaces. And like you said he lacks the pace to recover.

But...Rice is the DM next to him. Surely his job is to sit and Kobbie goes forward. In fairness Rice did press well but...he's a DM. Possibly even a CB to my mind still. There's only a huge space behind him if Rice isn't there. Tactically it's dumb if he really is supposed to be the one sitting in on his own. After years of having 2 boring DMs in there and no creativity he decides to take the shackles off? Weird if so. Particularly as his attack is not that good since he's managed to drop all his good left wingers. Honestly I'd play Sterling there over Gordon, never mind Rashford or Grealish.

He finally decides to pick a team based on form but it's pretty much only on the basis of bad form of his good players rather than good form of the replacements. And it also seems like at LB and CB his picks have nothing to do with form, it's only left wing where he's decided to gamble on the average players.
 
Can’t wait to see how he develops next season. We need a solid DM to compliment him.
 
Looking at Kobbie's highlights seemed like he had a normal game for him.
Exactly. Dont know what the fuss is about. I watched the full 90 and I thought he was fine. That's how he normally plays and I love it. When there are no options ahead, he recycles the ball and retains possession. If there are options, he takes the risk and passes it forward. It looks boring but that's what a central/defensive midfielder is supposed to look like. Retain possession and control tempo and take the odd risk when necessary.

Only thing missing from Mainoo's game is the passing range. Every other thing is already at a high level.
 
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