I knew as the tournament went on and he got his chances, he would end up as a starter.
He is guaranteed to start that final now.
He is guaranteed to start that final now.
37
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 13
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 5
Holland made changes at half time to shut down Englands centre, they realized Mainoo was running the show. Hence they crowded the midfield and forced Englad to play less central
His movement to make space, his touch, awareness and weight of pass are on a different level.
Agree with some other posters that stamina over 90 minutes is his only real weakness and that will naturally come as he gets older, fitter and stronger.
Great talent.
Agree with some other posters that stamina over 90 minutes is his only real weakness and that will naturally come as he gets older, fitter and stronger.
Great talent.
Lads, we have a world class midfielder in our ranks. Phenomenal performance in a WC semi-final, at 19!! wow.
It's not a WC.
Stones and Bellingham
He is the truth. What a fecking player. I'm so happy he's ours, just go and buy him a CM with loads of energy and let him do what he does.
Carrington has been the saving grace of the past decade
Bellingham definitely. I get a weird vibe
I made this point in the previous Mainoo thread and I think it’s an important one because if you watch him, he makes a lot of runs into space only to be ignored by those who have no confidence in their ability to hit the mark and it clearly frustrates him.
Not only does he tire, due to his suboptimal stamina, but he also is dissuaded from continually attempting to make space, given he feels he’ll be bypassed anyway. I wonder if it’s chicken or egg though - as he physically tires, it probably becomes a lot harder to find the desire to keep making short runs and sprints into open spaces.
Absolutely.
I think even Southgate understands the means to an end Mainoo provides now. He’s the catalyst to a lot of opportunities, and in Southgate’s binary thinking, that’s a plus. Mainoo has also shown more of his defensive nous as the tournament has gone on, so that will earn brownie points in Southgate world.
He should come out with a few statements stating he fears Mainoo being targeted for rough treatment…. That would be very useful.
First half last night he was easily the best England player on the pitch along with Foden.
Second half Koeman clogged up the midfield to stifle him and Foden and it worked.
He's had a great tournament, Utd just need to find the right partner for him in midfield to let him do his thing. This kid has all the talent to be one of the best midfielders in the world.
Second half Koeman clogged up the midfield to stifle him and Foden and it worked.
He's had a great tournament, Utd just need to find the right partner for him in midfield to let him do his thing. This kid has all the talent to be one of the best midfielders in the world.
If the unamed wasn’t a lunatic deviant and others didn’t ruin it in some way, the academy produced/supplemented team we would have now is actually stellar and would have saved us 100’s of millions.
Such an annoying turn of events.
Yes thats correct, which is why I dont think its a stamina issue. I suspect this is going to be a recurring theme for Kobbie though going forward.
He has changed my life.
It probably is a bit of both, i think that he sometimes also underestimates how small the spaces are and how difficult it is to reach him.
Intrigued to see how he and Licha can find eachother this season. Licha is one of the best around with these squeezethroughtightchannels type of passes.
This only exists in the minds of people who don't understand that the words 'It's coming home!' Are lyrics to a song that are firmly tongue in cheek.
We don't think we're the best, 58 years of hurt will do that.
At what point do people start talking about him needing a better partner then Declan Rice.
Rice was poor yesterday, giving the ball away and looking completely amped up. Really disappointed in his performances since the first game, where I thought he played well.
I don't know if Wharton would bring more tbh, but would have been nice to see him get some time.
He's incredible and only just turned 19. Can't imagine how much he would cost right now if we were trying to buy him off another club.
His mentality is one of his best attributes. He doesn't seem to be affected by any occasion and can continue to show his abilities. This is great news for England in the final.
Like every good player he will need to adapt as he is gaining attention and special treatment. I remember when they started doubling Ronaldo, he also had to adjust and find new ways
I’m going to go as far as saying Mainoo’s performances in the Euros eclipses every other English midfielder’s performances in international tournaments since Euro 96.
Such consistency in decision making and finesse.
Mind blowing this is only his first season as Manchester United first team player.
Give whoever signed him to the academy a lifetime contract and a raise.
I was very critical of ETH but he deserves tons of credit for putting his trust in Mainoo and Garnacho at such young age, and how he handled their development.
Such consistency in decision making and finesse.
Mind blowing this is only his first season as Manchester United first team player.
Give whoever signed him to the academy a lifetime contract and a raise.
I was very critical of ETH but he deserves tons of credit for putting his trust in Mainoo and Garnacho at such young age, and how he handled their development.
Another good point. Futsal players have futsal positioning and technique to mind more often than not and they expect others to be as technically able as they are because that’s how you chain in futsal. Messi is infamous for it with his walking pace football where he’d barely move between players and still expect balls to be threaded to him because he knew the situation would be advantageous to him on the half turn. Fortunately for him, the players he was playing with could hit their mark with their eyes closed. Mainoo is always up for those rapid, short, futsal-esque chains and has given England their best moments this tournament when others met his bar for that.
But aside from that, I still think he often makes open space runs any competent PL standard midfielder should be able to find him in, so it’s not the futsal aspect that is the bone of contention, rather, basic fundamental requirements not being met.
Twisted irony given it was Mainoo who was supposed to be coming into the team and proving he could meet the bar Rice and Bellingham set.
It's a bit of both, I think. But it's nice to read this because I've been thinking this sort of thing watching him for England but I didn't have any words to describe it (don't know a thing about futsal, for starters). He wants to be passed to in a totally different way to England's other midfielders. He often wants to receive the ball in tight spaces because he identifies that the player pressing him isn't supported from behind and so is vulnerable to being turned. His teammates just see that he's not in acres of space and are too nervous to pass to him.
Nah the superiority complex is real - it’s been a golden generation of players for the past 2 decades!
The fans and the media like to speak big for a country which has one singular win in competitions which was almost 60 years ago.
I get some of it is tongue in cheek but there is a lot of deluded fans out there.
Genuinely not the case. Living here I can assure you that most fans are used to being disappointed and don't expect to win tournaments. But that doesn't stop us dreaming at the start and why should it.
I think this 'English air of superiority' is mostly imagined and down, to a large extent, to the view of England as a country that still believes it has the same influence as it once did during our (shameful) colonial past. Most people here don't think that.
If England win it, it would be a consolation that Mainoo will get his hands on that trophy having played a big part in it.
He's an awesome talent. One of those that just exude footballing intelligence, awareness and composure - love watching that type of player.
He's an awesome talent. One of those that just exude footballing intelligence, awareness and composure - love watching that type of player.
I do agree it causes a disconnect because futsal is tight pass, turn, tight pass, move rhythmically intensive, which results in those beautiful passing carousels we see from time to time involving 2, 3 and even 4 players harmonising and becoming an almost impossible unit to contain.
Imagine this sped up to the level of elite professionals.
When Mainoo passes, he’s nearly always spins and sprints into a pocket of space ready and waiting for the ball so he can receive it to pass it on. He attempts this with England and is more often than not either passed to and then unsupported (nobody willing to engage in a rapid chain) or bypassed for not being ‘open enough’ and there is a fissure in this regard.
These are micro actions, however; he is still ignored when making more basic, inviting runs that don’t have futsal mindset behind them.
That and how far he's actually from the player with the ball. The whole futsal arguement doesn't make sense because a futsal pitch is naturally much smaller.
But if you want the ball in tight spaces, you need to be much closer to the ball-player than the way Mainoo currently positions himself. The more time the ball has to travel to the pass receiver, the bigger advantage the defender has to disrupt the pass.
And frankly, they often turn out to be hospital passes - it's how you often see players getting injured if a defender drills a ball into his own player in traffic, and then get ploughed over by the marker.
Do we think he will keep number 37 for the upcoming season? or will he change? (thinking about buying a shirt)
Mainoo positions to receive and be reactionary to what occurs off the ball - we’ve seen him chain a few times with Kane, Foden and Palmer, but not with the actual midfield because they don’t move or think like passing and moving players do. Rice is supposed to play in to Mainoo and close in behind his own pass, thus shortening the distance and potentially initiating the chain.
The smaller pitches of futsal make it much easier for those players to transfer to larger pitches with slower thinkers, or players not drilled in those movements, so always playing catchup.
Nah it’s not like that at all, but there is a frustration at English players playing for big and successful clubs yet not turning it on internationally. That’s what “golden generation” refers to. Gerrard, Lampard, Beckham, Rio, Terry, Ashley Cole, etc. These weren’t just squad players at their club, they were the star players of teams that won the league and reached (and won) champions league finals. It’s a cry of “these players are top players for their club, they should do better on the international stage”. English teams of the 90’s were not stacked with such decorated players at a club level. I think you’re really misunderstanding what is meant by golden generation.
Never imagined to see him develop so fast and play like that at this level. Absolutely incredible.
96% passing accuracy this tournament. The highest there’s ever been at a European competition. Insane!
Some context that he also has amongst the lowest forward pass rates, so he's playing a lot more safer passes than other players as well.
I wouldn't put it past Southgate to look at Spain's midfield, worry about how England are going to nullify them, and decide that Conor Gallagher is a better option.
If he dropped Mainoo and lost he wouldn't hear the last of it.
This is what I was thinking, first Iniesta then Goetze now it's Mainoo's turn to score a winner in a big final.