Sure, if Bruno drops turds off to bench he goes until further notice. Same with Lammens or Cunha. Beckham was benched here and there for performance reasons as well as off-pitch reasons. We dropped Onana on account of outrageously poor performances. Yoro was arguably dropped for poor performances, but I think he might have a had an injury issue as well. King Harry was famously stripped of his armband due to poor performances. We all get that.
But the point here is that Mainoo has done nothing to suggest we need an upgrade at his position. Not only has Mainoo not performed poorly, he's been brilliant and that is not an idiosyncratic other otherwise wild take. He has been universally praised (except by some here) for his outstanding play since Carrick released him from Amorim's prison. In light of his brilliant performances, United have extended and enriched Kobbie's contract. It's not hard to find praise for Kobbie's performances since Carrick took over but I'll just paste one snippet --
Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo delivered another jaw-dropping performance, this time to help his side to a 1-0 victory over Everton. Actually, I'll go with a second:
Kobbie Mainoo performed exactly as he needed to against Manchester City. Kobbie controlled the midfield alongside Casemiro, dominating an area of the pitch that was also occupied by former Ballon D'Or winner Rodri and former PFA Player of the Year Phil Foden.
We absolutely do need to be two deep at every position, obviously to have a backup plan in case of injury but also to keep competitive pressure on the regular starters, including Bruno and Mainoo, without any doubt United's two best players now that Casemiro has left although an argument for Lammens would be reasonable. Since Mainoo has been recalled to duty his performances have been "jaw-dropping" and although I completely agree we need cover for him we do not need an upgrade on him.
But it would be criminally insane -- Section 5150* insane for those of you who live in California -- to bench Kobbie Mainoo for Ederson or Mateus Fernandes.
*Section 5150 refers to a provision in the
California Welfare and Institutions Code that allows authorized individuals to involuntarily detain someone experiencing a mental health crisis for a 72-hour psychiatric evaluation and treatment
Your post is strange, almost delusional. The feed makes a good, reasonable and valid point: and that is there is no guarantee that Mainoo should start, if we were to buy Mateus Fernandes, alongside Ederson. Why should he? Because Kobie Mainoo is better than those two? Is he?
I have stated so many times, Mainoo is good , a talent, he can drop a shoulder and pass the ball neatly, which are great attributes. But Mainoo is not this complete, elite player some seem to suggest. And there is nothing wrong with that, because he is young.
But Manchester United have no time for sympathy, the squad are competing with other teams, with good talented players. Mainoo is good, but he suffers from too much hype. It was only the last two or three games of last season where I thought he actually looked fitter, showed a little (little) more ambition as a Man Utd Central Midfielder. Mainoo doesn't create much at all, these interventions are rare. He is certainly not a goalscorer. He isn't a physical powerhouse, tackling like Kante, or Gattuso etc. He doesn't get on the ball and get us playing (Rabiot, Modric, Wharton, Rodri,Vitinha etc..), and there isn'y anything wrong with that either. He is a good player, settled on the ball, but he isn't some dominant force. Mainoo can go long periods and you're not quite sure what he is
doing. Elite Man Utd midfielders have always, always been able to stamp their charcater, talent on a game, regardless of their game attributes. And this is where Kobie Mainoo needs to step up.
England were not great under Gareth Southgate. No club wants him as a Manager, and Euro 2024 was no great tournament in terms of England's play. I sometimes wonder what games people are watching. Passing the ball square against average international players is not the sign of an elite midfielder. It is not. Spain battered England in the final, after losing their best midfielder at half-time. So let's keep things in perspective.
Mainoo is a quality young talent, but he isn't the best we can do, and we should always should be looking to improve the squad. Carrick should and INEOS should. And fans should not feel that saying so is some terrible thing.
Casimero and Bruno Fernandes were by some margin, our standout midfielders last season. Let's see if Mainoo can step up. But he will have competition and that's a healthy thing in my opinion.
