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Kobbie Mainoo England flag

2024-25 Performances

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5.4 Season Average Rating
Appearances
13
Goals
0
Assists
0
Yellow cards
5
It is sad that we didnt get some players that are on the same wavelength as him in the middle. That whole midfield needs a revamp.
If Ugarte hits the ground running, that leaves us with Ugarte and Mainoo there.
So that leaves Eriksen, Casemiro (both who we got two years ago but need replacing), Bruno (who needs replacing soon), Mount (who we got over a year ago and weve hardly seen him play),.
Thats not good at all.
 
There’s something that people in Spain and others know that people in England don’t. Midfield play is is not about G/A. I’ve been watching Barça play this season with a 17 year old Bernal and Pedri in a double pivot and the way they make the game so simple is a sight to behold. No unnecessary flicks and tricks in dangerous positions. They stay central, dominate the football and coordinate play.

Mainoo has so much talent but needs to be taught how to play midfield. When to do what, and where to do it. If he’s schooled properly, he can become like a Modric. A midfielder that’s ball dominant is able to knit things together. Not this all action midfielder that English football is so obsessed with.

No wonder the English NT has never had a competent midfield despite all the individual talent they’ve produced.
 
Totally agree. I was thinking yesterday if we're not careful he will turn out to be a worse version of Pogba.
Just because you have the skills it doesn't mean you have to use them all the time.
Our 'system' is not helping him as the player on the ball is always too isolated, but it seems like he thinks he has to beat a player everytime he touches the ball.
That's not how the best midfielders play.
 
He's going to hate football very soon. The joy will be sucked out of him under ten Hag.

Also the number 10 shouts are a bit wild, nowhere near creative enough to be a number 10 in adult football.
 
gajender said:
Can't predict whether Mainoo would start as advanced midfielder or not here in future , but can confidently say Bruno is done here most probably he would be moved on next season or at worst he won't be a starter .

Like Ten Hag extension Bruno's contract renewal seems an attempt to buy bit more time to get things in order before going absolutely nuclear from Ineos .
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We already had Bruno on a 2+1 contract. There was absolutely no need to secure him for longer (frankly they should have been brave and cashed in this summer). This is a Woodward move of "preserving value" but really it just means we're stuck with a player on huge wages for more years than we want.

Ten Hag extension is a debatable one but I believe the idea is when a manager's out of contract at the end of the season it can undermine him to the players who think he'll be gone anyway. I'm not sure how legitimate that is but there's some logic behind it.
 
Dominos said:
We already had Bruno on a 2+1 contract. There was absolutely no need to secure him for longer (frankly they should have been brave and cashed in this summer). This is a Woodward move of "preserving value" but really it just means we're stuck with a player on huge wages for more years than we want.

Ten Hag extension is a debatable one but I believe the idea is when a manager's out of contract at the end of the season it can undermine him to the players who think he'll be gone anyway. I'm not sure how legitimate that is but there's some logic behind it.
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I believe Ineos didn't want too much upheaval in their first summer in charge and while Bruno's extension maybe construed as continuation of Woodward's Era's value preservation strategy it strikes me more as temporary compromise for the time being to placate a player who was starting to make noise .

Ideally I would have sold Bruno this season but I am pretty confident Ineos have just bought bit of time and this would be done next season .
 
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Pogue Mahone said:
It’s so funny the way everyone defending Casemiro says he’s having to play as a one man central midfield. And now the Mainoo defenders are doing the same. How many fecking central midfielders should we be putting on the pitch?!
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One example: There shouldn't be a tactical instruction that tells Mainoo or any central midfielder to press the opposition full back so high, together with 2 or 3 teammates, that if they bypass the press, there's just 1 midfielder left and acres of free space to run into, often in a man advantage situation, which makes it a basketball game basically, except that it's only us who do that. Although it's not as bad as it was last season, but definitely occured in the Liverpool game several times.
 
Rojofiam said:
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glad to see this. It was a good performance despite a few comments here, with one mistake that unfortunately led to the goal.
There's purely a lot of focus on the midfielders right now due to the way ETH has set us up, they're so exposed and it's not the fault of Mainoo nor Cas for that matter. ETH is exposing their flaws.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
It’s so funny the way everyone defending Casemiro says he’s having to play as a one man central midfield. And now the Mainoo defenders are doing the same. How many fecking central midfielders should we be putting on the pitch?!
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Doesnt surprise me because Mainoo took over Casemiro's role in the second half, as the lone pivot, with Collyer pushing up(similar to how Mainoo was pushing up in the first half).

Whoever plays that #6 role for us is usually isolated defensively a bit, and needs to be very press resistant to bring the ball out. Its not an easy task. Ugarte will run into the same problem very soon too.
 
I think he needs a rest. He played a lot of football with England, and then got thrown straight back in against City.

Who’ve we got next? Can we have Casemiro and Ugarte, with Mainoo as a potential sub?
 
I'd like to see him pull out of the England squad and have a few days off.

Played a lot of games for us in the run in and didn't have much rest in the summer and he's looked a touch off the pace so far. Albeit he set a high bar last season
 
kolli said:
Totally agree. I was thinking yesterday if we're not careful he will turn out to be a worse version of Pogba.
Just because you have the skills it doesn't mean you have to use them all the time.
Our 'system' is not helping him as the player on the ball is always too isolated, but it seems like he thinks he has to beat a player everytime he touches the ball.
That's not how the best midfielders play.
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Watch all his touches against Liverpool and see how many times he seems to think he has to beat a player everytime he touches the ball. 3 times out of 30 or something?
Rojofiam said:
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He didn’t play a perfect game by far, but he was quite good on the ball, and took mostly good decision, fairly quick and with few mistakes. Some people’s impression is clouded by the one situation where he doesn’t hardly get a touch before he is barged to the ground with a ‘shoulder-to-shoulder/back’ that would have given (and gave) free kicks to Liverpool several times before and after for similar physical contact.

His weak parts of the game for me were in defensive positioning, judging how high to be on the pitch and when to fall off on several occasions.
 
Averaged 6.4 tackles and interceptions in his 3 matches so far this season

Ugarte was 5.8 for PSG

Mainoo is our main ball winner so far this season

Also for the talk about him taking players on... Its because hes being pressed. Thats what Liverpool do and what we're known to be weak against. As soon as Mainoo gets the ball theres players closing in on him, so hes backing himself to move out of the pressure before playing a pass thats not under duress. He had some less than perfect moments against Liverpool but thats why he is and will continue to be our best player at receiving the ball from our defenders. He will make better decisions and learn to use his body to shield the ball better with age and experience
 
Grande said:
Some people’s impression is clouded by the one situation where he doesn’t hardly get a touch before he is barged to the ground with a ‘shoulder-to-shoulder/back’ that would have given (and gave) free kicks to Liverpool several times before and after for similar physical contact.
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Why did I have to read so far to see this - it was clearly a foul. He was in close control of the ball, he put his body between Mac Allistar and the ball and was barged over by a shove in the back. The mistake was by the ref, not Kobee.
 
Surrounded by ugarte and mount in midfield is the only way I see to get the best out of mount. Both high intensity pressing midfielders who don't lose the ball, they will allow mainoo to thrive.

As good as bruno is at his best, he's not great for the teams structure and ability to control games
 
Lentwood said:
Results are one thing but the main reason I want EtH out NOW is because he's going to ruin Mainoo and that absolutely cannot be allowed to happen
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FrankDrebin said:
ETH going to ruin him.
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On what basis do we believe Ten Hag will ruin Mainoo?

Did he ruin him last season when he brought him into the team (and planned to earlier barring injury)?

Has he got a track record of ruining young players?

Maybe I'm imagining it but he's been very good for young players at all of his clubs from my perspective.
 
zenith said:
Surrounded by ugarte and mount in midfield is the only way I see to get the best out of mount. Both high intensity pressing midfielders who don't lose the ball, they will allow mainoo to thrive.

As good as bruno is at his best, he's not great for the teams structure and ability to control games
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Would like to see this yes. Midfield of Mainoo, Ugarte, Mount - push Bruno wide in place of Rashford - Amad/Garnacho on other side and Zirkzee/Hojlund as a striker.
 
SamYourEye said:
On what basis do we believe Ten Hag will ruin Mainoo?

Did he ruin him last season when he brought him into the team (and planned to earlier barring injury)?

Has he got a track record of ruining young players?

Maybe I'm imagining it but he's been very good for young players at all of his clubs from my perspective.
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On the basis that Mainoo is at a crucial stage in his development and EtH doesn't seem to know what a central midfielder is / does.

I'm giving EtH no credit for Mainoo's development by the way, he's been with the club since the age of six.
 
Lentwood said:
On the basis that Mainoo is at a crucial stage in his development and EtH doesn't seem to know what a central midfielder is / does.

I'm giving EtH no credit for Mainoo's development by the way, he's been with the club since the age of six.
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Ok, what about other players that he's developed then? De Jong - no credit, De Ligt - no credit, Garnacho - no credit, Dalot's improvement, etc. etc.

I think people are rightly frustrated and have every right to question whether he's the right man for the job, but we need to show some sense of realism too.

He clearly has a good record of developing players across a career spanning several years.

Yes - we are currently a bit crap, and yes, we had another shocking result against a rival (and team who have been consistently better than us for a decade more or less) but that doesn't erase all positives.

Balance
 
He's a very fine player and least of our problems, but i feel he slows the play down too much, plus sometimes he wants to get into physical battles against very strong players and mostly he's able to do alright, it was only on sunday that the ball was taken away from him in such manner, plus his both CM options (Bruno and Collyer) were at least 20 yards away, which was down to poor tactics and structure. Onwards and upwards for him. I wish we had signed Rabiot so we can replace him around 60 mins each match or use him as a sub in league cup matches so he can get proper rest.
 
Lentwood said:
On the basis that Mainoo is at a crucial stage in his development and EtH doesn't seem to know what a central midfielder is / does.

I'm giving EtH no credit for Mainoo's development by the way, he's been with the club since the age of six.
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He seems to know what a DM does and Mainoo is doing a great job as one this season
 
SamYourEye said:
Ok, what about other players that he's developed then? De Jong - no credit, De Ligt - no credit, Garnacho - no credit, Dalot's improvement, etc. etc.

I think people are rightly frustrated and have every right to question whether he's the right man for the job, but we need to show some sense of realism too.

He clearly has a good record of developing players across a career spanning several years.

Yes - we are currently a bit crap, and yes, we had another shocking result against a rival (and team who have been consistently better than us for a decade more or less) but that doesn't erase all positives.

Balance
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I don't know FDJs backstory, I know De Ligt had one season with EtH and I also know Garnacho was already a first team player prior to EtHs appointment. My fear with Mainoo is he's incredibly naturally gifted and EtH has got him chasing all over the park like a headless chicken - what good is that for him?

I'll give EtH credit for developing young players when those young players improve beyond the level they were at when they arrived in the first team and start winning trophies.
 
SamYourEye said:
Ok, what about other players that he's developed then? De Jong - no credit, De Ligt - no credit, Garnacho - no credit, Dalot's improvement, etc. etc.

I think people are rightly frustrated and have every right to question whether he's the right man for the job, but we need to show some sense of realism too.

He clearly has a good record of developing players across a career spanning several years.

Yes - we are currently a bit crap, and yes, we had another shocking result against a rival (and team who have been consistently better than us for a decade more or less) but that doesn't erase all positives.

Balance
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Dalot is really the only player he has developed while at Utd.

The likes of Garnacho and Mainoo have been given a lot of gametime which is great in the short-term (although both of them actually got too much), but just being played a lot isn't the same as development for the long-term.

The most obvious example is the Ole years. From memory we had the youngest team in the league, and a lot of those players in their early 20's had their best ever season in Ole's first full year here. They had the faith of the manager, they were playing a lot, their confidence was sky-high...it all came together for some brilliant stuff at times. Ole was good at giving those young players a platform to showcase what they could do right then. But not a single one of those players developed any further, and ultimately every single one of them actually declined. To some extent injuries certainly played their part, but it was also clear that those players simply weren't being given the platform to develop into the players they potentially could.

Up to now at least, that is exactly what I'm seeing with the current group as well. The way we are using both Garnacho and Mainoo, and the way that the team is set-up to play, isn't conducive to long-term improvement in their games. In fact I'd say it's the opposite, that the way we're using them is basically ignoring the things we need them to improve on, and if we do that for too long it risks them losing the most important developmental years of their career and never becoming the players they potentially could have.
 
Lentwood said:
I don't know FDJs backstory, I know De Ligt had one season with EtH and I also know Garnacho was already a first team player prior to EtHs appointment. My fear with Mainoo is he's incredibly naturally gifted and EtH has got him chasing all over the park like a headless chicken - what good is that for him?

I'll give EtH credit for developing young players when those young players improve beyond the level they were at when they arrived in the first team and start winning trophies.
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Lentwood said:
I don't know FDJs backstory, I know De Ligt had one season with EtH and I also know Garnacho was already a first team player prior to EtHs appointment. My fear with Mainoo is he's incredibly naturally gifted and EtH has got him chasing all over the park like a headless chicken - what good is that for him?

I'll give EtH credit for developing young players when those young players improve beyond the level they were at when they arrived in the first team and start winning trophies.
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If you can’t see that Garnacho has improved his overall play, particularly defensively, then you can’t be watching the same thing as me. He’s come on leaps and bounds.

He was also far from an established first team player.

Feels like we’re happy to criticise everything but won’t give any credit where it’s due.
 
MadDogg said:
Dalot is really the only player he has developed while at Utd.

The likes of Garnacho and Mainoo have been given a lot of gametime which is great in the short-term (although both of them actually got too much), but just being played a lot isn't the same as development for the long-term.

The most obvious example is the Ole years. From memory we had the youngest team in the league, and a lot of those players in their early 20's had their best ever season in Ole's first full year here. They had the faith of the manager, they were playing a lot, their confidence was sky-high...it all came together for some brilliant stuff at times. Ole was good at giving those young players a platform to showcase what they could do right then. But not a single one of those players developed any further, and ultimately every single one of them actually declined. To some extent injuries certainly played their part, but it was also clear that those players simply weren't being given the platform to develop into the players they potentially could.

Up to now at least, that is exactly what I'm seeing with the current group as well. The way we are using both Garnacho and Mainoo, and the way that the team is set-up to play, isn't conducive to long-term improvement in their games. In fact I'd say it's the opposite, that the way we're using them is basically ignoring the things we need them to improve on, and if we do that for too long it risks them losing the most important developmental years of their career and never becoming the players they potentially could have.
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I respectfully disagree regarding Garnacho.

He has clearly demonstrated improvement across a broad range of skills.

Again, I’m not trying to say the man is perfect - far from it - I just think things are toxic to the extent that people are refusing to acknowledge any positives
 
He's arguably ETH most important midfielder. He isn't going to catch a break anytime soon.
 
FrankDrebin said:
He's arguably ETH most important midfielder. He isn't going to catch a break anytime soon.
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Oh, if he keeps being played at this rate he will catch a break, just the one everyone involved with developing him should be actively working to prevent.
 
Much like for United, there was flashes, but the game largely passed him by for me

He’s played way too much football since the start of last season and looks leggy and laboured to me.
 
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