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He was good but for me not excellent. I do feel that he take sometimes risks which happened 2-3 times yesterday when he was so close to lose it in dangerous position. He is still young kid. He will learn.
Gore is the next talent that will break through, slightly behind mainoo is his development but plays similar, both dovetail brilliantly together. If Gore and Mainoo could play a season or two with Casamiro they could develop into brilliant players.
From the little I've seen of Gore the only concern I have is whether he can handle the physicality.
Wow... that is a high bar... hope you are close
Amass too.
I still think it's too soon for him. Lots of experienced players ahead of him. I can see him making squads next year but not making the squad for Euro 24.
I don't think he lacks speed. He's quick enough.
Yeah he's no slower than guys like Enzo, Scholes, Xavi etc. The way he plays, it's not a big deal him not having a great burst at all. He will rarely need to really stretch his legs in a sprint. His partner should be quicker though.
He doesn’t have the athleticism of Belingham, really different kind of player. Hopefully he’ll be our Frenkie De Jong.
It’s not about experience over skillset; he offers something rarely seen in English midfielders; collecting off centre-backs and being able to turn and drive into the play elevating the fluidity of the whole midfield as well as the speed at which play can be transitioned. Even Southgate will appreciate the value of that.
For the life of me I can't understand why we make those short passes to the guy right in front of the goalkeeper, the player almost always looks under massive pressure, and it often ends up back with the goalkeeper, it seems very high risk for minimal gain.
Tbf England do have another midfielder that can do that in Phil Foden. I just don't think Southgate is anywhere near brave enough for that midfield.
Foden isn't a natural in deep areas and doesn't have the defensive nous for that, he's an attacker. Mainoo is good defensively, physically strong, but his press resistance and intelligence of how to play in deep areas to open up and receive a pass, keep the play ticking along/progress the ball is not something that any England midfielder has had since Scholes.
Draw out the forward press and break the first line, if the midfielder can turn it makes it much easier to play through midfield and its tailor made for a player like Mainoo.
Foden is for further up the pitch, not taking the ball off of CB’s and turning out to drive up with it; Foden would be the Iniesta to Mainoo’s Xavi, if it wasn’t for Bellingham. If Southgate was bold enough, he could have Foden off the left in the same team as the other two, but yeah, that’s not happening on his watch.
Being under massive pressure is the point. 2 or 3 guys closing one player down is how you make space. If you've a good enough player it's not high risk.
I think I'm still scarred from watching us trying to do this last season.
I'd have him and Angel Gomes in the squad purely for that reason.
I say this half in jest: would be a miracle for Southgate to give Angel Gomes a fair crack at earning a spot.
Southgate mentioned Gomes in a press conference fairly recently. He stated how he wasn't really in his plans because he is looking at players who can play as the deepest midfielder all on their own (like Rice) as opposed to a playmaker alongside a dedicated DM. Pretty limited view.
Exactly. City play it all the time. Beat the first press and you are right through it.
There aren't two or three games a week though.
Most of the time it's to draw the opposition to that player, who then plays a easy sideway ball to a fullback who is now in plenty of space to bring the ball forward. Alternatively sometimes the first recipient can turn and play it forward himself, although that's a bit more dangerous and requires the player to be good at dealing with a press (Mainoo appears to be someone who could do this, but not sure about any of our other midfielders). There's only been a couple of times that it's ended in a dangerous situation, and only the once I remember where it actually cost us (and that was because Onana's pass to Casemiro against Galatasaray was utterly mis-hit, rather than the player not being able to get out of a bad position).
It can be seen that he is quick enough because he is so clever in his positioning. Lot of times he is step infront his opponent. What he shown until now. One on one, I don't think he can't outpace lot of players. But neither could a player like Scholes. And if he can get even close to his level, although not same position, we should be very happy.
Hello there
Hes nothing like Bellingham though.
We're on one game a week until the end of the season, he should be fine.
It isn't. Outside of Rice and Phillips England has no one who can protect a defence ar an elite level, which is dangerous. England has a whole host of 8s and 10s with combative or playmaking orientations incomparison
I'd wager he'd be better off studying Xavi and Busquets. He learns to master control of games and position himself like that. With his skill set he could reach a Modric's level and possibly beyond.
I'm talking about a deep-lying playmaker alongside a 6. Not an 8 or a 10. This is something that Southgate isn't interested in and that is very short-sighted.
No chance I can include Phillips in that these days. It’s been 3 years since he was an impact player.
