People on this site are so overwhelmingly critical of these two without considering things like this. Or that playing three games in a week (two vs Liverpool and Arsenal) where one goes to extra time and you have off days like today. Mistakes happen when you’re tired, and learning a new system. The hive mind on here thinks we’ll just easily find two more 19, 20 year old starters for $30 mil each who will fit right in and never make any mistakes. That also already know this system and can take on the physicality of the EPL with no problem. I’d love to hear who we can get so easily that ticks all these boxes.
37
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 19
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 6
Yeah he couldn't get into the game at all. Fatigued I think.
Some in here are forgetting how good he was just a few games ago at Anfield. Still a top talent. Needs to be rotated a bit more.
Some in here are forgetting how good he was just a few games ago at Anfield. Still a top talent. Needs to be rotated a bit more.
I think it's pretty important we stop calling him a huge talent. He's a young midfielder who isn't good enough to be a regular starter.
I'd hope another midfield signing is being lined up for next season, because we aren't going to get anywhere playing kids who aren't ready.
I'd hope another midfield signing is being lined up for next season, because we aren't going to get anywhere playing kids who aren't ready.
The overreactions here are hilarious. Had really good games against the big teams, everyone saying him and Ugarte are first names on the team sheet and today he's worse than Casemiro.
Jesus guys, he's still a kid, he will have games like this, especially after tough games against the big guns. Not worried at all, I'm sure Amorim will make him work on his fitness and rotating with a new CM after the summer will only improve his game.
Jesus guys, he's still a kid, he will have games like this, especially after tough games against the big guns. Not worried at all, I'm sure Amorim will make him work on his fitness and rotating with a new CM after the summer will only improve his game.
The Academy is doing a lot of heavy lifting because the recruitment has been so poor.
Kobbie and Garnacho shouldn’t be starters (yet). It’s hurting their Developement. We signed players worth over 60m in both positions and somehow these kids are starting (Sancho, Antony, Casemiro).
PS. A clear sign of exhaustion in a runner is the way their focus starts to slip, causing their head to sway as they struggle to maintain a straight line. Kobbie Mainoo often looks like this when tracking back after the first 30 minutes of a game —head swaying, focused solely on putting one foot in front of the other, and pushing through on sheer willpower.
Kobbie and Garnacho shouldn’t be starters (yet). It’s hurting their Developement. We signed players worth over 60m in both positions and somehow these kids are starting (Sancho, Antony, Casemiro).
PS. A clear sign of exhaustion in a runner is the way their focus starts to slip, causing their head to sway as they struggle to maintain a straight line. Kobbie Mainoo often looks like this when tracking back after the first 30 minutes of a game —head swaying, focused solely on putting one foot in front of the other, and pushing through on sheer willpower.
Yamal is 17 only, please stop saying they are too young to play few games a week. It would be ok to limit their play time but if we had real starters. In situation like now they need to step up and show everyone they are WC players, especially after asking for WC paychecks.
Yamal is hardly the norm. And we've also seen the likes of Pedri who got overplayed at young age and it resulted in a continuous string of injuries (looks like he's finally past it*... 3 or 4 years later?).
Edit:
* his injury-ridden spell
Absurd expectation. Players like Yamal, or Rooney or Messi before him, are not the norm but the massive exception. What Mainoo has already showed in the past couple of years is already ahead of the curve, maturity wise, but he needs to be managed properly, in terms of coaching, minutes played, conditioning, etc. Or he'll be burnt out by 24/25.
Gotta hope the physicality comes soon. Normally energy is the last issue for a kid like him, but he's probably the least intense runner on the pitch.
All the talent in the world won't matter if he can't put in >10km per match at an intense level.
If we had a better base perhaps you could start him as one of the attacking two, but any future in the middle requires so much more running.
All the talent in the world won't matter if he can't put in >10km per match at an intense level.
If we had a better base perhaps you could start him as one of the attacking two, but any future in the middle requires so much more running.
He's a good player but he has a long way to go to be great. His positioning is poor and it's like he isn't aware of what's happening around him. He's easy to get past and he never seems to be in the right position to block a pass in behind him.
The idea of a player with Kobbie Mainoo’s passing range (lack thereof) as a no.10 is quite an assuming thought.
No it doesn’t?
I hope so too, but it's entirely possible that it never does. We shouldn't be giving out vast contracts until we know.
Don't think it is. Obviously right now it is too early to tell but we as a club have to stop lie to ourselves about what a player can or can not do and which positions suit them and which positions don't. I hope he will develop into a rounded CM but if (!!!) lack of dynamism and intensity keeps a part of his game, we have to react. And I think, the most plausible measure would be to place him further forward. Its traditional 10s that had (have) to have a good passing range but in this day and age, the role descriptions have changed and you don't have to be Bruno to be a 10. Maybe Kobbie could also develop into something similar to Bellingham, but way too early to tell. I actually expect him to develop a good level of passing. Doesn't make sense to me, that he reached such a good level of technique but then shouldn't be able to improve his passing.
Past his injury issues I mean?
As in, back to his physical best and playing consistently.
Even in those performances he was really weak in areas.
His passing range is quite concerning. And looks slow as well. Still a long way to go for him. Showing signs of inconsistency which is expected considering his age. I would not panic yet as he has shown that he is the real deal. Just needs to improve as CM you cant have players who are being carried by other players
Oh
sorry — I thought you mean past it as in Pedri’s shite now!! Sorry. Very early Friday commute fog reading from meHe was definitely not "really good" against either Liverpool or Arsenal. Don't know what you were watching. The only good spell i've seen him have this season was against Newcastle when he came one after we had gone 2-0 down and he was good because he was playng in a midfield 3. He has yet to put together a complete good game under Amorim.
Similar to Garnacho in that our recruitment is so shit they've been relied upon way more than they should be and arent allowed to be inconsistent, which is super normal at that age.. Add Amad to the list as well.
His passing is quite surprising. He had shown much better passing ability last season and, even more so, on the youth level, so it’s not like he’s technically incapable of making those passes. He probably won’t ever be as expansive with his passing as he was in academy games (understandably so) but he should be able to make those short and mid range passes consistently… the only issue last season was that he doesn’t get the ball enough and as a result the volume of his passes wasn’t that great. Nowadays he’s genuinely poor.
Not sure what’s up. Is that fatigue that, subsequently, means that he has less time on the ball without any pressure? Or is it some mental thing.
Not sure what’s up. Is that fatigue that, subsequently, means that he has less time on the ball without any pressure? Or is it some mental thing.
Yeah, I figured that you’ve misread it that way, edited my post a little bit to evade any further confusion. The “past it” phrase does have certain connotations.Oh
Bellingham type no.10? Bellingham is a blood and thunder, up and down, box-crashing type. Mainoo lacks the intensity to be that type of no.10.
I do get what you're saying though; Mainoo operates well in half spaces, generally very press-resistant, and when he wants to can show some excellent technique. These traits illustrate some level of desire for a no.10 role. But my other worries still exist -- does he have penetrative passing ability? Is he enough of a goal threat? Can he take defenders on in one v one isolations (as opposed to the excellent ball carrying he does in the middle of the field)? etc.
I think Mainoo is a strange player. He's young with a lot of time to go and continue to develop, but just as he has some phenomenal fundamental traits to his game, I just worry he's a bit positionally ambiguous.
He was great against Arsenal just 4 days ago. Stop with the overreacting, everybody was crap last night, even Amad was crap up till the first goal.
I love Kobbie, but I worry about his acceleration & pace. He seems like he's stuck in the mud a lot of time, he's as our slowest player along with Casemiro.
Will him to do well, he is clearly talented but looks overweight and tired. Maybe speculation not helping. In the premier league you need mobility in the midfield.
I cant see him in a 2, we need Hjulmand to come in and play with Ugarte, with Collier /Mainoo/Eriksen as back up options
Obvious for me Hjulmand, Gyokeres, Dibbling and Cunha in
Out- Antony, rashford, Garnacho, Casemiro, Malacia,
I cant see him in a 2, we need Hjulmand to come in and play with Ugarte, with Collier /Mainoo/Eriksen as back up options
Obvious for me Hjulmand, Gyokeres, Dibbling and Cunha in
Out- Antony, rashford, Garnacho, Casemiro, Malacia,
I think this is my biggest issue with him -- the physicality/intensity of his running etc. is whatever; the best passers and technically tight midfielders have hardly ever been sprinters.
Last season Mainoo was a very low volume and very low progressive passer. This season he's a mid-level volume (around 48th percentile) and a low progressive (around 33rd). Getting better, but still not enough. The good news is it is a gradual increase -- so here's hoping he continues to progress in that area!
Anyone who has read my posts know that I don’t care about pace.
Mainoo is a little slow, especially without the ball. He can’t track runners, and his recovery pace is abysmal. He is quite quick with the ball though, able to skip past players.
Now, the PL has always been action packed and pacy compared to other leagues. Carrick, Scholes, Lampard, Xabi Alonso, Fabregas from the PL were amongst the best but all quite slow. Kroos, Busquets, Pirlo, Xavi were all slow but world class.
As a CM you can definitely get by without being very quick, but you still needs intensity and a good reading of the game. Mainoo lacks both more than he lacks pace. Both can be learnt/added to his game.
Mainoo is a little slow, especially without the ball. He can’t track runners, and his recovery pace is abysmal. He is quite quick with the ball though, able to skip past players.
Now, the PL has always been action packed and pacy compared to other leagues. Carrick, Scholes, Lampard, Xabi Alonso, Fabregas from the PL were amongst the best but all quite slow. Kroos, Busquets, Pirlo, Xavi were all slow but world class.
As a CM you can definitely get by without being very quick, but you still needs intensity and a good reading of the game. Mainoo lacks both more than he lacks pace. Both can be learnt/added to his game.
Yeah the blood and thunder part is probably nothing for Kobbie but him arriving in the box after some quick feet? But yeah, I don't know too much about Bellingham, maybe the comparison doesn't make sense.
Good question. I think, his first season made it at least look like it. But how this ends up is obviously unknown.
I agree. This year, I always have this feeling whether he might develop into some Pogba figure, a player of great skill and capabilities but also weaknesses that makes it difficult to find a role in a side. Not saying he is that but I have the feeling he could become that. We really have to be careful with him, I certainly am worried about him seeing how much pressure is already on him from the clubs (and fans perspective). I really think it is essential to add a first teamer in midfield to partner Ugarte. With Amorims rotation, there would still be more than enough room for him.
Well they are expecting paycheck like they are Yamal, Messi or Rooney and are not playing like them. Wouldn't say a thing if they are quite and playing, using the situation in this club to improve. If they showed up when our midfield was Scholes, Keane, Giggs and Becks they would never play for the first team and would be sold probably.
To be fair he’s looked like that since he broke into the team so I think working in his stamina/ endurance has to be his priority.
I totally agree though it’s not fair to judge him or Garnacho as a lot has been asked of them in one of our poorest ever performing teams. They should be used as squad players, to come in do a job and learn this position.
As all modern leaders know that’s exactly how you get your staff to perform - tell them to step up! How hard can it be?
Also, you totally nailed it with Yamal, great example! Case closed
Absolutely zero perspective in this thread.
He's so young, it's almost like complaining that Amad wasn't the finished product at 19 back with Ole. I do think he shouldn't be a starter at this stage of his career, though, would love for us to get a proper technical midfielder to partner up with Ugarte
You're not helping the rest of us newbies with takes like this
This is a brilliant post, although it really shouldn't be, this should be the general consensus amongst United fans.
I don't know what is happening with this fanbase, it's really unrecognizable to what it was just a few years ago. People have truly lost what it means to support a club.
Sorry but that's just completely off the mark. He's pretty mature for a 19 year old, and is most certainly one of the biggest U20 talents in the world in his position.
He's also easily good enough to be a regular starter. The only reason he arguably shouldn't start all the time is that we don't want him to get burned out too early. I'd go as far as to say he would start for almost every single Premier League team, even for the likes of Arsenal, City and Liverpool.
There's one thing I really hate that has happened to every one of our best players in the last 10+ years: Their base level is much higher than most other players' so the expectations around them subconsciously increases in the eyes of most fans.
Mainoo has had some great performances this season for us, and even just in the previous 3 games: excellent against both Arsenal and Liverpool (two of the 5 best teams in the world), and his cameo vs Newcastle was also by far the biggest positive in that game. And yet just 1 week later there's discourse about how he's not good enough and not even a big talent. And throughout the season as well there's been talk that he's "dropped off" compared to last season justbecause he's had a few bad games, mostly in games where the whole team was collectively abysmal.
What I've described has happened to Bruno, Rashford, Maguire, Pogba, Shaw, now Mainoo, and I might be forgetting some players too.
He looks slower than last season he broke out and also heavier..His legs too heavy for him.
I don't know who advices players to bulk up unnecessary and he looks like Lukaku in midfield.
I don't know who advices players to bulk up unnecessary and he looks like Lukaku in midfield.
Half the caf give this ridiculous advice
It's insane