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There are very, very few 18 year old who are so good you can say with 100% certainty they'll make it to the top. Mainoo is not one of them, and I don't understand the desperation to overhype him. He's good for his age and has plenty of potential. We've had a few of those who have ended up out the door a few years later.
I recently read someone on the caf that he increases England's chances at the Euros
So who does make your shortlist?
We don't have any, I love Kobbie but no, he is not the same level or anywhere near city players.
Sure. But the reason why other talented kids went away was because they couldn’t bring the most crucial element a Manchester United player needs to survive playing for us - consistency.
If we are being honest we only have Hojlund , Martinez, Dalot, Mainoo, Amad ,Shaw, Onana currently who have basic attributes to to even part of City's squad at stretch , with rest City wouldn't even bother even if available on free and that just sums up shambles of our recruitment post Sir Alex's Retirement .
Exactly, some of our players may have basic attributes to be excellent, and do not get me wrong, I love Hojlund, Mainoo & Garnacho, but they are just too young to be as good as any of City players, Amad too, I like Martinez, Dalot & Shaw, but I can't say they are as good as City players, you say it perfectly, it really sums up our horrendous player recruitment post SAF
Your logic is incredibly flawed.
Your optimism is admirable but I wouldn't hold my breathYour logic is incredibly flawed.
First of all, some of our players aren't good enough to play for City, because they are too young? Rico Lewis played a big part in City's success last season, at 18 years old. If Pep had Mainoo, he would be getting significant game time there as well, no doubts about that. If you watch him play, and actually understand what you're watching, you'll know how good he is, despite playing in a shit team. And I don't see how you can just dismiss the performances he's shown at United with "well, he's 18, not 22, so he's too young to be as good as a City player"
The only difference for City is that they don't need to rely on 18-20 year olds to be difference makers, like we do, because of the quality of their squad. They can wait for their Lewises, Bobbs, Fodens, etc. to be 20-21 before they play 50-60 games a season. But the ability for obvious future stars like Mainoo is there already. He'd probably get 20-30 games per season for them right now, but not down to his ability, but due to the things I've just listed: basically they can afford to manage them better.
You also don't also realize that most of City's players aren't demigods, they are just quality players put in the best possible tactical setup and environment, where their weaknesses are masked and they are surrounded by other great players.
That's why I listed two examples: switching Mainoo with one of their midfielders, and/or the two goalkeepers yesterday wouldn't have changed anything. Onana or Mainoo would've performed well for City yesterday, and would do so week in week out, whilst Ederson or Rodri/Bernardo etc. wouldn't be able to carry this United team on their own, maybe other than De Bruyne. But even De Bruyne would look worse if you just put him in our team and made no other changes.
Such an obvious thing that's easy to understand, except on RedCafe where the general consensus is always that we have 3 or 4 good players at best, which should have us finishing around 15th every season, but sure, keep ignoring reality that this team as a whole, is actually way less that the sum of its parts.
I don't think it's optimism to claim we have 10-15 players who would each do well if they were suddenly transferred to a City / Arsenal and became part of a functional tactical system and a cohesive unit. Of course it would be to varying degrees, and I'm not saying that McTominay or Hannibal are as valuable as Mainoo, Hojlund, or Martínez, but there's a lot of players who could at least play a role for a good team, and a few of them could be potential key players too.
Oh I meant optimism that they'll watch him play and understand what they're watching. He's of course talented enough to chip in with some goal contributions, but his biggest contribution to the side will be doing things that require a little more of a nuanced understanding of the game. Recycling possession under pressure, always being available for the ball by anticipating space, passes that lead to dangerous attacks in the opposition's final third, breaking up play and covering for full backs out wide, etc...
Sorry, I didn't notice that you bolded that part
Don't think he needs a break, I think it's just that 2nd midfielder role that Ten Hag uses and the way he asks them to play. Ten Hag is asking Casemiro to be the deep playmaker and Bruno is the focal guy and creator in attack. Mainoo is just used as little bits here and there, like Mount was, like McTominay was, and so on. It's a system thing and that 2nd mid never gets on the ball much for ten hag.
Are you mad? Casemiro literally could not find a teammate with a pass in the first 60 minutes. How is Mainoo, a possession midfielder, meant to do anything about that?
Mainoo hasn't really shown the passing range for what Ten Hag wants which is those whipped passes over the top for the runners from the deep midfield role. Generally he has not been a particularly progressive passer so far, what he is is composed and calm on the ball, with the ability to work his way out of difficult situations and retain the ball. Retaining the ball is not a priority for Ten Hag, so his key skills are not being utilized other than in flashes.
I normally don’t like these types of videos but this one nailed it.
No idea why we’re making Casemiro the deepest midfielder when playing out from the back. Mainoo is far more suited to playing that De Jong role for Ten Hag. The midfield set up is a mess.
Because Ten Hag's football is built on first strike hoof the ball over the top to runners long ball shit. Mainoo has not shown to have that pass as yet.
He certainly has it in him.
