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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
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Borninthe80ts said:
The people mocking and disparaging comparisons to Bellingham should go back to the Jude forum. It wasn’t but 6 months ago that it felt a good few people were doubting his talent. Saying they don’t see it. Now his the best in the world! How things change quickly…

Progression can be rapid. Apart from the saviour line, can people state genuine reasons why they wouldn’t want to play him when fit?
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The point is, he’s not even a fixture in the team yet, has no PL experience and is coming into a chaotic setup from a massively underperforming team. He could be the next Bryan Robson for all we know, but at least give him time to settle and perform before heaping untold pressures and expectations upon him.

Touted players enter professional football with sky high reputations all the time (see Greenwood for ourselves), and Mainoo is no different, but at the same time it can be a flip of the coin how they’ll cope in the adult game, not just in terms of raw ability, but also the rapid rise to stardom and the circus that follows. That’s why there is logic in erring on the side of cautious optimism over thinking there’s a sure thing there.

Many of us are looking forward to seeing what he can do, but feel the thread’s gotten out of control in terms of the way he’s being talked about - even if he is a massive success it won’t be a case of told you so, but what if he struggles and has growing pains like so many youngsters do? Perceived mocking is mostly going to be there to bring balance and a sense of reason to a thread that was getting more than a tad out of control.
 
Borninthe80ts said:
The people mocking and disparaging comparisons to Bellingham should go back to the Jude forum. It wasn’t but 6 months ago that it felt a good few people were doubting his talent. Saying they don’t see it. Now his the best in the world! How things change quickly…

Progression can be rapid. Apart from the saviour line, can people state genuine reasons why they wouldn’t want to play him when fit?
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Would wager the majority of people getting carried away have only ever seen him play in pre season friendlies for us.

Januzaj, Macheda, Wilson all looked like they’d be world class based off their debuts. It’s silly to get carried away.
 
He's a young midfield talent that you should be excited about. He alone can't improve our fortunes because that's going to take a collective effort. But if you're like me and are focused on seeing systems develop over the mid to long-term, then you should look forward to seeing how this young player potentially improves our midfield over time.

Erik ten Hag has seemingly decided that he's good enough to contribute in the team and we will now see how Mainoo develops and performs in our midfield.

 
I really want this kid to make it to the very top. Seems like an eternity since we had a world class midfield academy graduate.
 
I think a lot of people are more interested in being ‘right’ than supporting a young player who looks like a special talent
 
Fortitude said:
The point is, he’s not even a fixture in the team yet, has no PL experience and is coming into a chaotic setup from a massively underperforming team. He could be the next Bryan Robson for all we know, but at least give him time to settle and perform before heaping untold pressures and expectations upon him.

Touted players enter professional football with sky high reputations all the time (see Greenwood for ourselves), and Mainoo is no different, but at the same time it can be a flip of the coin how they’ll cope in the adult game, not just in terms of raw ability, but also the rapid rise to stardom and the circus that follows. That’s why there is logic in erring on the side of cautious optimism over thinking there’s a sure thing there.

Many of us are looking forward to seeing what he can do, but feel the thread’s gotten out of control in terms of the way he’s being talked about - even if he is a massive success it won’t be a case of told you so, but what if he struggles and has growing pains like so many youngsters do? Perceived mocking is mostly going to be there to bring balance and a sense of reason to a thread that was getting more than a tad out of control.
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See I fully agree with the rationale and I’m a cautiously optimistic person by nature. In all the youth threads I comment in I stress the need to balance expectations against reality too. What I would say is for those that it applies, you taking the time to give context is much more beneficial. As all my posts in relation to this has been about him earning his place amongst a host of internationals, I’m assuming it’s clear I’m looking long term with him.

I can see why some would try to guard against over and undue pressure as we have seen the negative effect it can have on some careers and lives, from Gazza to Ravel and supporters do play a part in that. Especially in the era of social media and celebrity. I’m patient enough to know that as highly as I rate him we can’t predict what will happen so for me he is ahead of schedule and I’m just enjoying seeing him perform. The key word was expectations though.

For me the young players coming through and enjoying that is especially prevalent in testing times like these, as much as it’s not the best situation for them. Also I can see a few posters have maybe gone a bit far but most I would say see the potential pit falls for him too. For me it’s never about got ya moments either. We can all be wrong . I try to bring perspective and reason to everything I do and get frustrations but mocking just leads to more of the same generally.
 
Bwuk said:
Would wager the majority of people getting carried away have only ever seen him play in pre season friendlies for us.

Januzaj, Macheda, Wilson all looked like they’d be world class based off their debuts. It’s silly to get carried away.
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Yeah I feel that’s a trait that many have with football and life. Casting opinions without based on limited info or second hand opinions. Fortunately I’ve seen him break through at 15 but there’s always different perspectives on players.

Not to be contrary but those players you listed weren’t necessarily world class potential for me at debut. All had great potential, Adnan for sure, but there are levels for me.
 
Borninthe80ts said:
See I fully agree with the rationale and I’m a cautiously optimistic person by nature. In all the youth threads I comment in I stress the need to balance expectations against reality too. What I would say is for those that it applies, you taking the time to give context is much more beneficial. As all my posts in relation to this has been about him earning his place amongst a host of internationals, I’m assuming it’s clear I’m looking long term with him.

I can see why some would try to guard against over and undue pressure as we have seen the negative effect it can have on some careers and lives, from Gazza to Ravel and supporters do play a part in that. Especially in the era of social media and celebrity. I’m patient enough to know that as highly as I rate him we can’t predict what will happen so for me he is ahead of schedule and I’m just enjoying seeing him perform. The key word was expectations though.

For me the young players coming through and enjoying that is especially prevalent in testing times like these, as much as it’s not the best situation for them. Also I can see a few posters have maybe gone a bit far but most I would say see the potential pit falls for him too. For me it’s never about got ya moments either. We can all be wrong . I try to bring perspective and reason to everything I do and get frustrations but mocking just leads to more of the same generally.
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Try not to take it too seriously - there’s clearly a feeling he’s a special player who might be destined for a storied career and I don’t think it would be seen as a surprise if he has the kind of trajectory others who were previously billed as ones to watch did. For all the caution, the truly special talents do tend to live up to the billing of coming through and making waves in the professional game: Evans, Pique, Rossi, Pogba and Greenwood are of the same cloth in terms of prodigious talent and Mainoo is seen as such, too, so like any of them, it won’t be revelatory for him to take his chance and run with it.

Having said that, I don’t recall any of the above except Greenwood - and the constant comparisons to Van Persie’s ball striking - being directly compared to already established players, let alone world stars, which Bellingham clearly is at the moment, and that’s where banter enters the fray, just to keep a cap on expectations and also not to set the kid up to fail.

All in all, it’s nothing serious - we’re all here to see what he can do and how far he can go.
 
Fortitude said:
Try not to take it too seriously - there’s clearly a feeling he’s a special player who might be destined for a storied career and I don’t think it would be seen as a surprise if he has the kind of trajectory others who were previously billed as ones to watch did. For all the caution, the truly special talents do tend to live up to the billing of coming through and making waves in the professional game: Evans, Pique, Rossi, Pogba and Greenwood are of the same cloth in terms of prodigious talent and Mainoo is seen as such, too, so like any of them, it won’t be revelatory for him to take his chance and run with it.

Having said that, I don’t recall any of the above except Greenwood - and the constant comparisons to Van Persie’s ball striking - being directly compared to already established players, let alone world stars, which Bellingham clearly is at the moment, and that’s where banter enters the fray, just to keep a cap on expectations and also not to set the kid up to fail.

All in all, it’s nothing serious - we’re all here to see what he can do and how far he can go.
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Not sure if by serious you mean whether youngsters make it or peoples responses but I’m bless either way mate. I’ve got a pretty balanced view on results and whether players do well or not. I don’t really get mad as it’s just football for me. As to peoples responses, it was more confusing than offence taken. Maybe I feel there’s a bit of generalising but it’s a forum so it is what it is.

As you say there are talents who are special and all you can do is hope they get the fortune to reach close to their ceiling and that it benefits United. Even if for the player if nothing else. Nobody can predict what will happen.

I think young players coming through will always be compared to those before and I agree anyone expecting similar outcomes may set themselves up for disappointment. However for me I’d hope I’m capable of holding a convo where I can say I’m excited without being viewed as deluded or a hype machine. Maybe I am!
 
DanClancy said:
You're delusional, nothing you've seen can suggest that as he's only played one premier league game.
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Your lack of faith on our best youngster in years baffles me. You need to look no further at how Barca playing their 17-18 years old youngsters like no others.

Guiu - just scored a winning goal for Barca on his La Liga debut at age 17
Yamal - already played 12 games for Barca in La Liga and CL this season, also capped for Spain and scored, he is only 16
Pedri - already key player for Barca and Spain at age 18
Gavi - Played 42 last season for Barca, and capped regular for Spain, at age 18

And don't tell me they are all far better than Mainoo at same age. I really think they are on similar level of talent/maturity at the very least.
 
Bwuk said:
Would wager the majority of people getting carried away have only ever seen him play in pre season friendlies for us.

Januzaj, Macheda, Wilson all looked like they’d be world class based off their debuts. It’s silly to get carried away.
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Not for me. I see nothing special in them all along. Macheda has great debut but he is nothing footballer, while Wilson, always thought he has no future here. And I am one of very few people here who would criticise Januzaj during his early hype and would point out some major flaws of his back then.

But I see something very special with Mainoo, I think he has this level of talent and maturity rarely seen from any of our youngsters over past 1 or 2 decade or so.
 
Apparently he’s in the U19’s squad today for their UEFA Youth League match. Probably a good one to gently ease him back to playing competitive football
 
Thiagoal said:
Apparently he’s in the U19’s squad today for their UEFA Youth League match. Probably a good one to gently ease him back to playing competitive football
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Copenhagen are a very, very good side at that level so would be a challenging return for him.
 
AltiUn said:
Copenhagen are a very, very good side at that level so would be a challenging return for him.
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Agreed but I meant more that the result and performance isn’t all that important so playing against kids his own age seems a sensible first step back! Hopefully he has a tough game to get some match sharpness back
 
Hojlund and this kid developing are the two things I’m excited about this season
 
Do we actually believe he will be getting significant minutes this year, rather than the occasional cameo and maybe 1 or 2 cup game starts if we are drawn against lower league opposition?

The legend around him has built up quite a bit during his absence.
 
Having Mainoo and Amrabat fit and available just takes the reliance off Casemiro a bit and he doesn't need to play every minute of every game.

But that is all I'm expecting from Mainoo...10-15 minutes at the end of games.
 
In the starting lineup (along with Dan Gore) for the U19s vs Copenhagen. Kick-off at 2pm on TNT.
 
Can’t wait till we can regularly see this guys silky skills and composure in the first team!

 
Didn't the U19s lose last night with Mainoo in midfield?

What suggests that Mainoo, as promising as he is, will improve the first team currently?
 
Champ said:
Didn't the U19s lose last night with Mainoo in midfield?

What suggests that Mainoo, as promising as he is, will improve the first team currently?
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I mean you’re not using that result as a slight on him are you? That would be ridiculous
 
TheReligion said:
I mean you’re not using that result as a slight on him are you? That would be ridiculous
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No, the guys just come back from injury, but hard to see where he'd improve our senior team currently as there's better players than him already ahead of him.
 
Champ said:
Didn't the U19s lose last night with Mainoo in midfield?

What suggests that Mainoo, as promising as he is, will improve the first team currently?
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May be he will maybe he won't but what ever we are doing currently with first team midfield has not been working for sure , So what do we have to lose by giving chance to a highly talented youngster to showcase what he can bring to the table Isn't that used to be One of United's strength .
 
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