He is 18.
Playing with men.
Let him bulk up, be faster.
I think he will be better playing offensive than defensive midfielder.
37
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 31
- Goals
- 4
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 3
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Playing with men.
Let him bulk up, be faster.
I think he will be better playing offensive than defensive midfielder.
This was very obvious for their first goal last night. Obviously Casemiro was mostly at fault for diving in and taking himself out of the game, but Mainoo really should have been able to put in a tackle rather than just helplessly jogging behind Olise like he did.
He’s already a unit, have you seen the size of the lad ? He must be challenging Shaw for that bench press record already.
With some Plyometrics/power training he might increase his speed marginally but there isn’t going to be some massive gain. Think we just need to realise much like Cesc Fabregas he might just look like he is towing a caravan around the pitch. Doesn’t mean he won’t be a great player.
He has shown he has other exceptional gifts and with the right signing we can cover that lack of pace and allow him to improve on stuff he already is gifted at.
It is a shame mind because if he had speed on top of the gifts he already has what a player he could be
I've said it before. The lad's got talent and he should be impacting games. His performances are getting worse the longer the season goes on. I'm asking myself - was he on the pitch yesterday? He needs to look at little Harvey Elliot and the way he puts himself about and impacts games. Mainoo doesn't "put himself about" He isn't hungry enough and he looks like he doesn't want it bad enough. Feck his age this needs to be addressed pronto!
To call him that, he has to show the output, killer passes or quality of a Cesc. You're otherwise sacrificing a lot of the midfield for just a tidy player who lacks dynamism.
Cesc at 17 was a different animal. Just look at the passing range, technique and killer passes.
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8th game in 35 days is too much even for fit professional that plays for years in Premier league, let alone kid who hasn't started playing serious football up until January.
I find it amazing that people can't see he doesn't look fresh at all like he looked earlier in the season.
I find it amazing that people can't see he doesn't look fresh at all like he looked earlier in the season.
Think he will thrive under a proper manager and a viable system.
Is Mainoo better suited to be the advanced player in a midfield 3?
How much better was football back then? Nowadays teams all just park the bus and overload midfields.
Fabregas really was special.
The only comparison I’m making is that Cesc was slow. Still succeeded in being a great player.
I'm not really seeing anything there that's beyond Mainoo or that Mainoo hasn't already shown.
Maybe being on the ball more in general. Which obviously is important in itself.
I hate to say this about the pizza throwing twat, but what a player.
Now put 17 year old Cesc in the utter chaos that is the 2023/24 Manchester United midfield and see how he gets on. For Mainoo to look even half as good as he has done as part of such a deeply flawed set up is remarkable.
I think he can play that role well. Those who have watched him coming through the youth ranks would say he can be quite effective in the final third of the pitch.
He's shown glimpses for the first team this season with his goals and nimble footwork.
Hopefully his last few performances will stop fans and pundits pidgeonholing him into somewhat of an out and out defensive midfielder.
The boy is a bit more than that, he can do a bit of everything in midfield.
Let him grow in that midfield role whether it be from deep, box to box or a no.8/no.10 AMF.
He's still a teenager. He only just broke into the first team in November. Patience.
Man Utd 0:1 Arsenal
New
Such a quality player
The future is bright
The future is bright
Pretty good game, the only one of our midfield that did
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Probably the one game he should have been subbed when he went down 
Really really hope we get some good reinforcements / signings that can play with him
Really really hope we get some good reinforcements / signings that can play with him
Love this kid
SelectiveStatsDave strikes again.
Mainoo was good in possession. However, he is lacking in terms of physicality. He only won 6/16 ground duels and was dribbled past 3 times.
If he has a physical, mobile DM beside him next season then his weaknesses won't be exposed too often. You see plenty of not-so-physical 8s excel when they have a proper 6 next to them. Alas, he currently has an immobile Amrabat next to him and an invisible Mctominay in front of him.
I would agree with that.
He'll need to play more forward passes though. He can be a bit crab like at times.
I don't like StatmanDave. How he cherry picks stats instead of painting the full picture.
He’s 19 ffs give the kid a break he was excellent today.
Yeah decent game, no complaints.
The best thing to come from this season… can’t criticise ETH for giving youth a chance. I also like that young CB. Made a crunching tackle today after coming of the bench.
Boy is a gem.
I fear burnout if we’re not careful
Didn't see much of the game, and not saying he had a poor one but it has really surprised me how slow he looks in tracking back. He might be the slowest Ghanaian I've seen in terms of his sprint speed.
Could be that he is consistently fatigued, or out of position and never really has the desire or chance to actually win the ball back. But couldnt remember this in the academy.
Looks much faster with the ball than without it.
Could be that he is consistently fatigued, or out of position and never really has the desire or chance to actually win the ball back. But couldnt remember this in the academy.
Looks much faster with the ball than without it.
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Man Utd 3:2 Newcastle
New
Took his goal well and helped compete for the ball in midfield
Very good goal today
Good in the first half, disappeared a bit in the second half.
he looks a bit tired lately so not too surprised about him being subbed off regularly
he looks a bit tired lately so not too surprised about him being subbed off regularly
Instant chemistry with DIallo, their ability to manipulate the ball in tight areas compliments each other.
It’s nice to watch footballers that are talented and want to actually play football instead of just run and kick it. Was the first thing that drew me to young Martial when he was in those craps teams around him.
The link-up play between Mainoo and Amad was like watching Anderson and Cleverly all over again.
I liked seeing him play further forward at times, he has that killer composure in the final third. Would be nice to see him in a proper midfield three with licence like that on a consistent basis
Yeah, that was a fun run!
It’s pretty clear he shouldn’t be playing as the deepest midfielder. He’s looked much better next to Amrabat than with Eriksen, Mount, McTominay or whoever.
That bit where he bought down the long ball with his chest, so much quality on the ball.
That bit where he bought down the long ball with his chest, so much quality on the ball.
Cleverson were the original McFred
He's a baller, but needs to impact the game so much more as a midfielder. Not a criticism, just pointing out he's got ample areas of growth ahead of him