I think he scores on Sunday.
37
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 13
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 5
His first half was brilliant, all over the pitch and dictating play. Second half was disappointing and seemed like he disappeared, though I think a lot of that would be down to Southgate's tactics (only 13 passes in second half, compared to 29 in first half).
And yet I can still think of several great forward passes yesterday when he could have had 1 or two assists.
Scenes when Trent starts ahead of him
That was down to the Netherlands tactics. Not much place in the middle third between the lines
He will be a world class footballer. Our most valuable asset
Or he is playing lot of passes in final third, where even cut backs are considered as backpasses.
He isn't playing as deeper player, he is among top 15% when it comes to touches in the final third and top 10% when it comes to touches in penalty box. That tells why his forward passes are lower even though he played some good passes.
He's fine when the balls moved into the final third of the pitch.
His problem is the first third of the build up. He doesn't make himself available to his CBs enough. And that is a massive shame because, he's got the touch, control, intelligence and short passing ability to move the ball efficiently into the final third.
He should be getting 80+ touches a game and you're not going to do that, if you're not taking the ball off your CBs. I keep seeing how the passers are at fault for not giving him the ball, but that's always a terrible pass to make because he's too far away from the ball. If he dropped in a bit closer to the passer, the passing distance is shorter and then that pass becomes on even if he's marked.
Never heard that proverb before, it's not that punchy is it!
He can’t be in two places at once. First receiver is not his brief in this team, especially with how the movement ahead of him if he doesn’t link is dire. It would be valid criticism if he was shirking on his own brief, but he’s the central hub, not the guy tasked with going so deep to collect. In fact, England have been using CB’s to progress the ball because Rice won’t do it.
Very ancient; hidden scroll.
Pretty sure the Spanish team has stopping Mainoo as their top priority for the final.
The best thing about watching Mainoo is that the players around him look electric also.
Foden and Saka have been much better in the knockout stages, and I think a large part of that is down to Mainoo knitting play together down that right channel for them.
Foden got a lot more plaudits last night because he was picking the ball up higher and had those few chances, but Depay getting injured was a blessing for the Dutch and when Veerman came on, it was Mainno he was straight onto, because he was actually fully controlling the game around that 30 minute mark.
It was incredible to watch. It was actually a first half performance you'd be accustomed to seeing from the likes of Rodri or Kroos.
The second half was a bit disappointing, but I thought we saw another side to Mainoo's game, with the way he blocked off passing lanes and tracked runners for the entire half. He was much less influential, but that was by design from the Dutch and it was interesting to see him have to play a different type of game too.
Foden and Saka have been much better in the knockout stages, and I think a large part of that is down to Mainoo knitting play together down that right channel for them.
Foden got a lot more plaudits last night because he was picking the ball up higher and had those few chances, but Depay getting injured was a blessing for the Dutch and when Veerman came on, it was Mainno he was straight onto, because he was actually fully controlling the game around that 30 minute mark.
It was incredible to watch. It was actually a first half performance you'd be accustomed to seeing from the likes of Rodri or Kroos.
The second half was a bit disappointing, but I thought we saw another side to Mainoo's game, with the way he blocked off passing lanes and tracked runners for the entire half. He was much less influential, but that was by design from the Dutch and it was interesting to see him have to play a different type of game too.
Correct, he's playing more of a pure 8 role like Pedri for Spain. Most his good work is done when collecting in the middle third and carrying into the final third.
He can play both roles, but he can't do both roles. The final will be fascinating to compare your last point, because I see very similar midfield set ups. Rice / Rodri, Ruiz / Mainoo and Foden / Olmo as the direct comparisons. If England can play through the lines into Mainoo, Foden and Bellingham, they will get joy because the Spanish will not pack the midfield to the same extent the Dutch did.
However, Rice and Stones can't do that to the level that Rodri and Laporte will for Spain.
And it’s a really big problem because you see the hesitancy etched through the team in regards to who will do what to initiate the build up - the whole offensive end of the team stand like statues because there’s nothing for them to do at that moment in time until at least the first phase is complete. Mainoo is where he’s supposed to be and comes alive every time the ball enters his area of the pitch. He also doesn’t have license to roam; that’s Bellingham’s brief, and Foden’s, to a lesser degree… and even Kane’s… as daft as the system is.
Hopefully United can bring in World Class Midfielders to play alongside him.
His game will elevate to another level if we do.
At the moment let's be honest it's not good enough. England's Midfield is better.
His game will elevate to another level if we do.
At the moment let's be honest it's not good enough. England's Midfield is better.
You're absolutely spot on. That's exactly how I see his role tactically in the current England team.
I'm just curious to see how our other young midfielders will develop in the coming seasons along with Mainoo. Players like Collyer, Fitzgerald, MacAllister along with AMs like Fletcher and Ibraghimov. I believe the midfield talent pool looks particularly strong at the club and it'll be interesting to see if one or two more midfielders can reach first team standards at the club.
I’m still of the opinion Dan Gore has one of the highest ceilings at the club
I completely forgot about him.
You're correct, it'll be interesting to see how he develops as well. There's also Jack Moorhouse who imo was the best midfielder at carrying the ball in the youth team, and he unfortunately has been very unlucky with injuries which has disrupted his development.
Hopefully we can keep hold of him for years to come. Absolutely unreal.
0 concerns about that, he'll be here for as long as the club wants him. My guess is he's our future captain by the time he's 25, and possibly sooner.
We play much slicker, intricate football in the unders, and so many more of those players are reared in a style of play the first team itself isn’t comfortable with - for the most part it won’t be technical competence that will determine how well these guys do, but rather their physical limitations and mentalities as well as positioning and being able to cope with the pace, strength/power, aggression and reduced processing/decision making time of the adult game.
I’m really hopeful that we get some players through, but I think if we really bolster the squad, they’re going to have to be exceptional to get a sniff.
Looking forward to preseason to see who looks ready to make the step up, if any. You fancy anyone to make the leap?
Agreed. The academy has a uniformed style of play where the teams from the under 18s down have been coached to play a proactive attacking and defensive style. It's taken a few years, but the mess David Gill left the academy in has been fixed to a large degree in comparison to the standards set at both City and Chelsea. The coaching, the scouting and all round modernisation of the academy is now of a much higher quality compared to how it was in 2013 imo.
I don't know what the club is looking to do with the midfield, but the player we've been linked with, isn't a disciplined holding midfielder in Ugarte. Ugarte is someone
who likes to chase the ball, but isn't a holding midfielder eventhough many seem to be convincing themselves that he is.
I'd say the one position where I think ten Hag will give a young player a opportunity is in the deeper midfield position as a potential sitting midfielder. And that player imo is going to be 20 year old Toby Collyer. Whether he will be of the requisite standards for the first team remains to be seen, but as far his profile is concerned, he fits the role of a deeper lying playmaker who is comfortable at receiving passes with his back to goal.
Forgot to mention Pickford too. The Dutch didn't play that much, but Verbruggen was miles ahead in terms of some of the passes he played out from the back. Pickford would give you the jitters when the ball is at his feet.
He’s certainly the one with the most hype behind him currently. Would be fantastic for us if he is ready to contribute.
Gore, just mentioned, is probably the other who has a serious chance in terms of contention, for me. But it’s an exciting preseason just to see how much Gore has kicked on as well as seeing Collyer with the first team.
Onana would be a great partner IMO
And apart from the midfielders we have some other really interesting young players who could make their mark over preseason. And Harry Amass is definitely one to look out for in that regard and I'm personally hoping to see Radek Vitek get a game in goal to see how he fares.
So it'll be interesting to see how things shape up in the next few weeks.
I don't think you understand what a golden generation means contextually
It's genuinely so funny when people don't understand sarcasm. It's actually funnier than when they do understand sarcasm.
For most of the last 30 years no one rates England teams and managers more harshly than England fans. It's coming home is a bloody song and now sometimes used as a joke because we know it seems to rile some people up for whatever reason.
what’s funny is I have now had four separate posters trying to get their view across all mentioning the song, of which I didn’t mention once.
I am English, I live here so why you lot continue to speak to me as though I’m not god knows.
on forums the fans may well be a little more realistic in their views, in the pubs… certainly not.
Yeah you say something silly and a lot of people will point it out. That's not a particularly unique phenomenon.
Because you talk about England fans with a similar derision as a lot of opposition fans.
If you're English and over the age of 25 and don't know that England fans are hyper critical of the national team then maybe you are talking to a few many people who are half cut. Not sure what to tell you. There is no superiority complex, if anything the opposite.
We really need to kick on and seriously challenge for titles. If not, surely he’ll be tempted by Madrid/Barca/Bayern etc sooner or later.
With the emergence of Mainoo, we might be closer to challenging than we think. Need a couple of our summer signings to hit the ground running and Shaw to remain fit.
and Mason Mount too. Casemiro and Eriksen need replacing soon.
It's quite unlikely Gore has kicked on at all given his injuries.
Meh, England's midfield has not been that great. They have their individual moments but they're quite disjointed a lot of the times. Bellingham becomes invisible for long periods. Rice blows hot and cold. Trent was not doing well in the group stages and got replaced. Gallagher is okay, but nothing special.
We don't need many midfielders tbh. What is obvious from the last few months is that Mainoo is not a #6, but he's at least an #8 if not a #10. He's a goal threat, he can dribble and he likes to be around the edge of the opponents box. Also ETH seems to want to play with one sitting #6 and two #8's. So Mainoo is competing for one of the two #8 spots in the starting XI along with Fernandes, Mount and McTominay. The latter is quite poor but he is 4th option and he's at least useful as an impact sub. The other are 3 very good players competing for 2 positions. That area doesn't need improvement.
All we need is a good sitting DM sorted, so we don't have rely on Casemiro being a starter. But if we sell Casemiro, then ok yes, we'll need two DMs. Though I somehow don't see that happening.
Would love to see him wear 18 once Casemiro leaves