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Think people might be shocked when Mainoo is the one most likely to be dropped for Ugarte and there will be a lot of anger about that. It does make sense though, provided we see more of the Casemiro we got against Fulham rather than the one we got today.
Don’t be daft. Ugarte and Casemiro would be a brutal midfield on the ball. Mainoo will need resting though and we don’t have a replacement.
I note and appreciate that. I think I’m just lamenting more generally. The longer we play like this, the more we’ll start rubbing it out of his game.
In theory it makes for a more defensively solid foundation and Casemiro attempts more of the defense splitting key passes than Mainoo does. Guess we'll see but I won't be surprised to see that combo starting.
Have said this all summer, and the top priority of the entire window for me was about complementing his game and also buying someone who could directly rotate with him, but we’ve done neither and are instead focusing on midfielders who are nowhere near his level nor able to play with the skill and interplay he does. Unless something is lined up for the winter window, Mainoo is going to be running on fumes halfway through the season, that after having little rest and recovery post-euros. The handling of this issue has been really bad and it will come back to bite us. There’s also the issue of contingency should the worst happen and he be injured for any extensive period of time; I’ll guess Bruno or Mount slot in if that happens, but neither can do what Mainoo does and it would be apparent rather quickly.
That’d be awful. Really uncohesive unit with no link up ability, I think.
It’ll be a big part of ten Hag’s undoing and ultimate demise. So weird how an Ajax manager has such little regard for midfield control.
To have a workhorse or donkey midfield, you need other parts of the team be exceptional in lieu of the things that kind of unit lack. Liverpool are the easiest team to cite (even though Henderson was a universe better at that deep midfield distribution than our lot) given their backline took care of so much of the distribution (VVD and TAA) and yard carriage (Robertson constantly thundering down the left). They also had elite flanks on both sides and a central focal point that dependably allowed the whole attack to orbit and/or overlap. In other words the donkeys in the middle had finesse all around them doing their roles to perfection, which meant they could go about their jobs with collective control whilst never being exposed or overextended.
I think what is even more bothersome is how much work he wants the midfield to do on both sides of the ball. Great sides with great coaches pick a lane and facilitate it and make rest defence just as important as their primary objective. You can’t go like the clappers both sides of the ball without consequences and it’s no surprise we rarely see out games with the midfield fresh and intact. Cumulatively, you either need a massive squad to stave off exhaustion, or you’re just going to be wrecked earlier than most, particularly those using their midfields properly.
Ten Hag doesn't want any of his players to dictate a game though to be fair. He wants this chaotic, end-to-end transition football.
This is the fundamental problem. We don't have any interest in playing a brand of football that plays to Mainoo's strengths.
Hes a teenager
I think your right unfortunately but it shows more about the manager rather than the player.
He's a Man City player, this current iteration of United isn't about technical quality and looking after the ball.
It's a struggle to take in - if you're going for a poor technical unit, they should at least be faster, stronger and just plain frightening in terms of rabid, concerted pressing. Moving as a bloc; a rabid pack of terriers; a plague of locusts; a murder of crows; an unkindness of ravens; a quiver of cobras; a crash of rhinoceros... a something, something that denotes being a threat to all who come into contact...
there's nothing impressive in a Casemiro-Ugarte-Bruno midfield. Nothing they excel at collectively or that overcomes their failings, I feel. Put Ugarte with Fred and someone like Collyer behind them and you at least filled the terrier and aggression remit, even it's still not very good and lacking fundamentals of what makes a midfield unit impressive.... given we don't have Fred, Mount in his place, but ugh, alll the combinations look like trash to me, very substandard for the PL and this team given our attack is bad, and not near special enough to take on the load the midfield doesn't have the quality to produce.Yep, he needs more help both on the pitch and from the manager.
The sustainability aspect is massive. It's easier to count the games our midfield look fine at the end of game than it is to count the amount of times it's gassed and flailing, playing poor football and having lapses in concentration.
