We don't want to exhaust him, and I think he needs someone with real quality next to him. He did well with Amrabat - it would be interesting to see him paired next to an in-form Casemiro and Bruno in front. That could be a great trio.
Is Mainoo the real deal?
- Thread starter Samid
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He’s great. But I do hope we don’t build him up too much. We have a habit of developing entitled brats.
He has such a high ceiling and if he was playing in the Spanish, German or Italian league his transfer fee would be around 60 million. He would be dominating the Dutch and French league and a would be a starter every week.
Every league game i.e about one game a week is perfect for a lad his age.
Give the lad time. Looks a decent prospect who can tackle and see a pass. Doesn't seem to have any pace, but that doesn't have to be an issue if his intelligence continues to develop.
Exhaust him?! We have 3 games left this year and then just the 1 league game in the whole of January.
I think most professional footballers can handle 4 games in 6 weeks.
The best thing about the Garnacho chance wasn't the pass (which was a peach) but the confidence and composure he showed to pivot under pressure in the middle of park creating the time needed to play it
For almost everyone else yesterday the ball was a hot potato but not this kid, tremendous performance given his age and especially the opponent and their relentless press
Very encouraging indeed
For almost everyone else yesterday the ball was a hot potato but not this kid, tremendous performance given his age and especially the opponent and their relentless press
Very encouraging indeed
Not exactly, it still depends on many things. I think we are having a very harsh example from Barcelona, who outplayed Ansu Fati, then Pedri, and now maybe Gavi in men's football at a very young age and at some length, they all have suffered from injuries, you have to take notice that all these players are rather slim built and still growing. Saying a 190cm+ 80kg+ 17/18 year old central defender coming up from youth football to the main team is more physically prepared than some smaller guys.
If you are good enough then you are old enough. Foden was starting games at his age. He turns 19 in a few months and barely has half a dozen appearances. Ten hag need to stop holding him back.
Missed the game yesterday and generally haven’t seen enough of him to tell
Is he a defensive midfielder? Didn’t he play more advanced for the youth teams?
Is he a defensive midfielder? Didn’t he play more advanced for the youth teams?
I really like the look of him. Got calmness and guile by the bucket load.
His lack of athleticism in the modern game is a concern though. Needs a midfields partner, ideally one with legs… unfortunately we don’t have any midfields capable of playing deep with that quality currently.
I’m excited about seeing him alongside Casemiro though. Two players comfortable taking the ball on the half turn from the defence, who want to play penetrating forward passes.
A 4231 with those two as the base and Bruno given his free role has promise.
Come on Erik, make it happen!
His lack of athleticism in the modern game is a concern though. Needs a midfields partner, ideally one with legs… unfortunately we don’t have any midfields capable of playing deep with that quality currently.
I’m excited about seeing him alongside Casemiro though. Two players comfortable taking the ball on the half turn from the defence, who want to play penetrating forward passes.
A 4231 with those two as the base and Bruno given his free role has promise.
Come on Erik, make it happen!
He is a generational talent in my opinion. People should stop being overly protective and have more faith on him on his current ability.
If he was at Barca he would have 50+ games under his belt already. We are slowing his development. Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappe, Haaland, Bellingham are all first team starters/regulars/key players at his age.
If he was at Barca he would have 50+ games under his belt already. We are slowing his development. Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappe, Haaland, Bellingham are all first team starters/regulars/key players at his age.
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Based on his performance yesterday he has everything he needs to be a great player. He's still young and his form will be up and down but yeah I think he's a great talent.
Worth his weight in gold. Sign up a top long term Casemiro replacement for him to play alongside.
I want to be excited and put my hopes in him but all players I put my hopes into turned out to be failures so I wont do that, instead I suggest us to sell him when his stocks is still high next transfer window to maximize profit. He is one of the players I dont trust will make it at United, at all.
He’s doing well. Great ability on the ball and composure beyond his years, and he’s demonstrated great maturity in ‘cauldrons’ such as St James, Anfield and Goodison.
He certainly should start for us regularly now as he offers so much more than Amrabat and McTominay. We shouldn’t be too concerned about burnout either, given our now heavily reduced schedule. I’m sceptical of going overboard and I’m very surprised at some of the ‘generational talent’ remarks. We’ve seen how many times young talents fail to meet their hype - everywhere that is, but especially at United.
He certainly should start for us regularly now as he offers so much more than Amrabat and McTominay. We shouldn’t be too concerned about burnout either, given our now heavily reduced schedule. I’m sceptical of going overboard and I’m very surprised at some of the ‘generational talent’ remarks. We’ve seen how many times young talents fail to meet their hype - everywhere that is, but especially at United.
He's ready to be, at minimum, a squad rotation player and has every right to be impatient otherwise.
He’s not a defensive midfielder but more of a playmaking CM who operates fairly deep and has a good tackle on him. His natural technical ability, composure and decision making really stand out.
I mean he was injured just after featuring prominently in pre-season. You don't start him against Liverpool if you want to hold him back. I hate Ten Hags favorism towards some players but I think he really rates Mainoo.
We will see if he starts him vs. West Ham. There is a full week until the next game, but I have a sneaky feeling ETH will find a way to leave him out. Based on his quality and performances, he should absolutely start.
Foden started 3 league games and played around 300 league mins when he was 18.
When he was 19 he started 9 league games. Good chance Mainoo will start more league games at 18 than Foden at 19.
Also Foden should be example for a player who was introduced very slowly, everyone lost their shit saying how Pep is ruining him.
Also Mainoo has barely any appearance as he was injured for months and came back recently. He has started vs Newcastle, Everton, Liverpool and all away games.
How many game per week were they playing though?
I'm not advocating Mainoo going 2/3 games a week for the rest of the season.
It's one game a week max. Maybe even less if he's subbed off here or there.
That has to be managedable.
Silly to suggest EtH is holding him back after giving him starts in some of our most important fixtures. Let’s see how he kicks on from here - especially as more “senior” midfielders become fit. We’re desperate for a savior, I get it, but I think he’s been well managed, especially after that unfortunate injury during preseason.
His ability to play a creative vertical pass is gold dust. As it stands Bruno, an only Bruno, is capable of playing those passes which makes us predictable and easy to defend against. Having two points of attack willl make such a massive difference.
Can't win can he. Criticized for overplaying players yet when he tries to manage the game time of one of our younger ones he's "holding him back".
I like the fact he doesn’t seem to pass the ball for the sake of passing the ball.
We’ve had some real stinkers in midfield for years and you’d hope his recent introduction to the team is a sign of things to come instead of a false dawn. I do feel like you can see it more with midfielders. I can’t ever remember watching McTominay and thinking this guy is a really good ball player, but he had that engine and bravery we missed at the time.
We’ve had some real stinkers in midfield for years and you’d hope his recent introduction to the team is a sign of things to come instead of a false dawn. I do feel like you can see it more with midfielders. I can’t ever remember watching McTominay and thinking this guy is a really good ball player, but he had that engine and bravery we missed at the time.
If your good enough your old enough. He stands out as our best player when hes on the pitch. Hes ready to step up.
Yeah. Was an odd take but I guess it’s the general mood surrounding the club and EtH in particular - he can do no right and some just want him gone, so he’ll be criticised for the slightest thing. Anyway, excited to see more of Mainoo. Love his composure in the middle of the park.
Looks a top prospect, lacks a bit of pace that when played next to Amrabat, who looks slower than Maguire by the way, could make us vulnerable but you can see he’s a top talent.
Looking forward to seeing him next to a fully fit Cas.
Looking forward to seeing him next to a fully fit Cas.
Very excited by him, but have been burnt many times before. I thought Brandon Williams was going to be one of our best players, so trying not to get too carried away.
Seems to have grown a foot in height since pre season as well, must be eating his greens.
Seems to have grown a foot in height since pre season as well, must be eating his greens.
Yikes! He never had anywhere near this level of talent.
Williams wasn’t as talented as this kid, not a chance.
What’s you on about?
But ETH could be starting Mainoo more frequently given his performances
He should be given starts in the games against the Bournemouth’s et al. It’s a bit of a pisstake that he’s called upon at Goodison, St. James’ & Anfield but tripe like Amrabat gets to stink up the show against what should be cannon fodder.
This season should be used to bed him in, nowt much else going for it.
This season should be used to bed him in, nowt much else going for it.
Seems to be our only press resistant midfielder, and this is in a time where every team presses like crazy.
We need 3 Mainoo's
We need 3 Mainoo's
18 years old and went toe to toe with Pool away, and never looked worried.
I think going forward we need to pair him with Casemiro or Amrabat. It brings so much more balance and stability to the team.
That leaves us, when the team are fully fit, as picking 1 from Bruno, Mount, Eriksen and McTominay unless one of them ships out to the right.
The pass to Garnacho for that chance was pure class.
That leaves us, when the team are fully fit, as picking 1 from Bruno, Mount, Eriksen and McTominay unless one of them ships out to the right.
The pass to Garnacho for that chance was pure class.
He’s being eased into first team football, after recently returning from a fairly big injury. He’s young, he’ll be fine. We’ve seen the pros and cons from either thrusting youngsters in too early and/or depending on them and putting that sort of responsibility on their shoulders as well. I don’t really see it as an issue at this point.
We’d all like to see him get more minutes but he’s appeared in our biggest matches recently - which clearly shows the manager rating him. So how’s that “holding him back?” as per the poster I replied to?
Still needs some presence and physique/athleticism, but that comes with age. Cant really blame him for that at age 18. Does everything he can right.
Always passes it on the ground which a lot of players could learn from to create stable patterns of play. Looking at you McTominay.
Always passes it on the ground which a lot of players could learn from to create stable patterns of play. Looking at you McTominay.