[DownRiver]

That is for sure his worst game since his debut.

 

[Bobski]

Some great stuff then the legs start to fade, Ten Hag will overplay him to a fault.

 

[AltiUn]

He can't do 90 minutes, he's chasing shadows by the 70th minute, Ten Hag needs to start subbing him when this happens because it's leaving us a man short.

 

[christy87]

He needs a better manager to hone his talent and exuberance

 

[harms]

He's 5'10-11 at best. He's not taller than Ten Hag whos 5'11 himself.

He's 184 cm tall in regular shoes, they've measured him on camera during the Euros.

 

[pratyush_utd]

Collyer should have come on for him at the end..

 

[Martial'sEmergingSmile]

He's stepped up defensively this season. 2 tackles, 5 interceptions today to add to 3 and 5 last week.

Kante in his best ever season for Chelsea averaged 3.7tkl/2.5int.

 

[kouroux]

That is for sure his worst game since his debut.

I wouldn't say that but yeah he wasn't good

 

[Mickeza]

No idea why Bruno came off instead of him. He was completely done from the 70th minute onwards.

 

[BarryWinks]

Needs a rest. Lad hasn't rested properly all summer and gets thrown into the mix already this season. Also doesn't help that we never have controlled possession and the team is in constant state of chaos with and without the ball.

Could have used a extra leg in there today when it was obvious Baleba was winning their physical duels.

 

[DWelbz19]

He's stepped up defensively this season. 2 tackles, 5 interceptions today to add to 3 and 5 last week.

Kante in his best ever season for Chelsea averaged 3.7tkl/2.5int.

Those numbers are good, but we should instead see him averaging 70+ passes of a football and a few chances created a game. It’s a shame.

 

[90 + 5min]

Needs a rest and hiding from media

 

[luke511]

Those numbers are good, but we should instead see him averaging 70+ passes of a football and a few chances created a game. It’s a shame.

Whilst we’re playing with a 10, he’ll always have to play deeper. It was a very encouraging performance from him, as good as any defensively really.

 

[Remember the geese]

I actually thought that he got through loads of defensive work today.

 

[pascell]

He can't do 90 minutes, he's chasing shadows by the 70th minute, Ten Hag needs to start subbing him when this happens because it's leaving us a man short.

This is the main issue with him, his fitness levels are poor, we just have to hope he increases his stamina as he gets older.

 

[Okey]

No idea why Bruno came off instead of him. He was completely done from the 70th minute onwards.

A lot of the time it's like Ten Hag is watching a different game. Baffling stuff.

 

[V.O.]

We need Ugarte in, and we should be using Collyer more as well. Both Mainoo and Casemiro are absolutely fecked beyond about the 70 min mark.

 

[Beachryan]

Not every player - even at this level - is a physical monster. He needs to start playing within himself if he wants to be a 90 minute player. Whatever he's doing at the moment means he's utterly gassed after the 65th minute or so, and that's not really good enough for such a crucial position.

 

[lex talionis]

Outstanding again but he does fade away late in matches.

 

[criticalanalysis]

I don't mind Ugarte coming in to replace him in the starting line up. Yes I said it. The issue isn't Mainoo's quality and issues his stamina towards the end of the game but the fact is that he simply can't play to his strengths (and mitigate his weaknesses) in an ETH team. I'd shore up the middle with a Ugarte + Casemiro double pivot to then let Mainoo come in once we've settled as a team to influence fresh off the bench for a few games and then go from there. Heck, I'd prefer him to even play ahead of that duo but let's be honest there's no way he's dropping Bruno and Mount.

 

[Joel Miller]

That was about as bad as I’ve seen him. But all players have off days really.

 

[MDFC Manager]

Needs a technically sound midfield partner(s). Else he'll have more off days like these.

 

[Ekeke]

Up and down performance but overall a strong involvement with good defending and it was on the ball he made some poor decisions

Casemiro made 5 tackles, 0 interceptions, Mainoo made 2 tackles and 5 interceptions. Mainoo had a great sliding tackle for one of them as well

 

[Giggsyking]

is he unfit? his worst performance since he started for us last season.

 

[IrishRedDevil]

Looks leggy.
Not sure why he stayed on over Bruno.

 

[kiristao]

I thought he was decent. Faded towards the latter stages but till 70 odd minutes he was making a decent amount of interceptions and tackles. Made some good short forward passes as well. Did give the ball away a few times but it was generally when he received the ball under a lot of pressure and was still trying make a forward pass.

 

[Malone_Post]

The difference in technique between Mainoo & virtually every other player in the squad is staggering. One of the only players we have who doesn’t treat the ball like a hot potato.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I think he’s getting fitter. Good to see him last a little longer than usual before getting gassed.

 

[Ekeke]

Those numbers are good, but we should instead see him averaging 70+ passes of a football and a few chances created a game. It’s a shame.

Maybe thats not what he wants to be.

He doesnt call for the ball a lot or come towards it trying to get involved. He mostly waits for teammates to decide where to go and casually looks for a pass. He does not look like he wants the ball played into him everytime he's open and wants to be a metronome dominating the ball with passing. In fact often he's looking for a dribble before he looks for a pass.

 

[Minkaro]

I was surprised when he came in against City. He looks like he needs a rest. Hopefully if we can get Ugarte in we’ll be able to give him a break.

 

[DWelbz19]

Maybe thats not what he wants to be.

He doesnt call for the ball a lot or come towards it trying to get involved. He mostly waits for teammates to decide where to go and casually looks for a pass. He does not look like he wants the ball played into him everytime he's open and wants to be a metronome dominating the ball with passing. In fact often he's looking for a dribble before he looks for a pass.

He’s a 19 year old midfielder, it shouldn’t matter what he wants to be. He’s at the most formative age of his career where his coach should be looking at big picture and pushing him to grow in those areas.

If we just want him to be a successful take-on player who isn’t particularly expansive with his passing range, that’s great. We’ve got Moussa Dembele’s regen. But he could be so much more than that and that’s what we should be looking at.

 

[golden_blunder]

Ten Hag is going to overplay him and burn him out

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

I struggle to criticize him much because he basically does Casemiro's job better than him, along with also receiving countless hospital passes under pressure from the back and being asked to make something out of it. He also played some really nice forward passes today.

Bottom line is it's a terrible platform for any midfielder to thrive in with this sort of style, unless the entire team is fully clicking and cohesive.

 

[Ollie Derbyshire]

Definitely needs subbing after the 60min mark, he has the energy and strength to be a real asset until then but as I keep saying a midfield of him and Casemiro isn’t going to work, we need get Ugarte in and use the 3 of them plus Mount to keep the energy high so we can actually dominate teams.

Rotating and subbing between those four should help control games. If we get Ugarte in we’d have a good core group of midfielders with Bruno and Zirkzee rotating the 10.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

I’m definitely leaning towards him playing more as a 10 currently. His defensive approach is admirable and he does get through some work, but physically he’s not at a premier league level currently and it exposes is in the middle where it really hurts. Get him up the pitch where he can use his press resistance and dribbling to hurt opposition.

 

[sullydnl]

He needs to keep developing physically, and he needs to round out his game more.

Which isn't criticism of him, as that's what you'd expect from a very talented 19 year old midfielder. It's just why we shouldn't be relying on him to start every week at this point in his career.

There was a report in The Athletic over the summer that one of the issues Wilcox had discussed with ETH was the likes of Garnacho and Mainoo being relied on to play too many minutes last season. In Mainoo's case in particular, I very much see that danger.

 

[Ekeke]

He’s a 19 year old midfielder, it shouldn’t matter what he wants to be. He’s at the most formative age of his career where his coach should be looking at big picture and pushing him to grow in those areas.

If we just want him to be a successful take-on player who isn’t particularly expansive with his passing range, that’s great. We’ve got Moussa Dembele’s regen. But he could be so much more than that and that’s what we should be looking at.

Maybe the coaches dont know how to make a kid into a player who controls the game with his passing. It would explain why we dont have a senior player doing it either. Its not in the tactics or in our coaches skillsets.

And Mainoo like any player is going to put more effort and passion into doing what he wants to do and less into what he's being told to do but doesn't want to. Its the same for anyone doing anything. So he should be encouraged to be the player he wants to be and do the things he most naturally does.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Hoping this isn’t second season syndrome.

 

[DWelbz19]

So he should be encouraged to be the player he wants to be and do the things he most naturally does.

No elite manager worth his salt thinks or acts like this, but sure.

 

[Amar__]

Those numbers are good, but we should instead see him averaging 70+ passes of a football and a few chances created a game. It’s a shame.

He cannot do something that we as a team aren't even aiming at. Even like this he is playing totally different games than other 10 players on the pitch who play gung ho football with lof of wild and one touch passes, and he is the only one who is calm and play more smart football instead of passing it to first player he sees in front of him.