I still think he will end up our best central midfielder in the long run.
Andrey Santos | 2026/27 Performances
- Thread starter MyOnlySolskjaer
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It's good to see a poster on the caf refuse to criminally underrate Mainoo.
As for optimal pairings, we need to see more than one match to come to any firm conclusions but Tielemans and Santos was hardly an auspicious outing. It really comes down to who pairs best with Mainoo...Santos or Baleba? It's almost a wash for me as Santos is somewhat better on the ball, whereas Baleba is somewhat better off the ball.
Most clubs -- say below the top 8 -- know how to unzip United: a low-block and set pieces. And in those circumstances I'd lean toward Santos. But against opponents like Liverpool who will have a go at us, probably Baleba is the better partner for Mainoo.
How long will that be then?
Only kidding but last weekend was very poor, I expected much better. Felt he was hiding and totally scared
It's funny. We had Mainoo who is incredibly talented but a slow and struggles in transitions, and we've just added two more midfielders who share similar weaknesses. Hopefully Santos is better in this regard and show it over time, because Tielemans has always been a bit of a turtle. He's like Eriksen but the actual CM (not converted AM) version.
I felt he had way to much to cover himself because Tielemanns seemed to have an off day and Bruno was playing way to high
This is wild. He was always getting into space and snowing his hands out for the ball. And he continued to look for forward passes too.
The impact of his midfield partner putting up an absolute stinker technically and physically shouldn't be undervalued here.
Had a nice cameo with a few short passing moves linking up with Tielemans and Bruno. This was also the case in the buildup for the Mbeumo goal. A nice combination between Santos and Tielemans, onto Bruno who put Mbeumo in to finish
Encouraging after his last couple of performances asking some questions
Encouraging after his last couple of performances asking some questions
He likes to play with the pitch in front of him so it was interesting seeing how he positioned himself when he came. With Martinez as our de facto playmaker at the back dictating when and where the phases of passes should start and go, Santos found himself in awkward situations (where he can't receive in more safe spaces) i.e with his back to goal. That is something he's going to have to learn fast and develop more variety in his game along with more intensity. He has good positional sense and passing ability even if it is high risk but will have to tie everything better, faster and cleaner if he's going to improve.
Really? I thought he looked proper shaky especially when receiving the ball deep in our own half
He will be great. And frankly Tielemans was way worse than him in the first game which was lost by Carricks tactics. At a home game like today though, Tielemans was a better choice, but I could see Santos have a good game as well.
Let's see how that goes but I bet we'll see him dominating games from no6 even this season. We have a good competition and its getting only more tight at CM with Baleba coming back from injury.
Let's see how that goes but I bet we'll see him dominating games from no6 even this season. We have a good competition and its getting only more tight at CM with Baleba coming back from injury.
He is still a developing player. Talent is there though.
I thought he looked good, very tidy.
He hit two very bad passes and nearly gave a goal away I noticed. Not that that matters much but seems odd to say he had a good cameo.
Looked sharp I think.
Watch again. Calm and composed short passing moves with Bruno and Tielemans. Mainoo was outstanding but Santos came on and right away we had something a bit different with his passing.
He had some nice moments, but the other poster is right - he also had a couple of shaky moments losing possession with a couple of sloppy passes.
13 of 14 passes were accurate 93%
Dispossessed 0 times, 0 unsafe touches
Won 3/5 ground duels 60%
Rewatch the end of the game. He played a couple of sloppy passes. I don't care if the stats didn't register one of them - I watched them with my own eyes about twenty minutes ago!
The one thing I appreciate is that I didn't feel the level drop when he came on, his passing and defending were of high quality, yes it's a tired and a defeated Ipswich but I still appreciate it, don't want to hate on Ugarte who's injured but this was Ugarte's issue, the level drops when comes on, so with Santos, Baleba, Mainoo and Tielemans, the level will not drop badly
Yeah, 2 if I remeber correctly, both were the blind sided passes on the turn to full backs. One was received, one intercepted.
It's okay though, need to build on performances. I like how we have different profiles available to play in midfield though, each with their own special skillset.
Just that alone will make us better this season. Actually being able to rotate and rest the midfield without the quality taking a massive nosedive.
Very good point about Ugarte. We couldn’t make subs because last season he just stunk the place out. We have players we can trust.
The genuine competition will push all 3 of the young lads, Tielemans might feel like an old man and not want the challenge for his position haha.
But I have very high hopes for Santos, he can become a mix of Mainoo and Baleba.
But I have very high hopes for Santos, he can become a mix of Mainoo and Baleba.
One thing we’ve really struggled with over the years is asserting more control on a chaotic game. This is something I think Santos will help with massively especially as he gets older. He can come off the bench to slow down the pace of the game and ensure more passing.
A situation where we need to protect a lead we could bring him on to sit in front of the back four alongside Tielemans and Mainoo and with Martinez we can just take the sting out of the game with controlled possession.
I think he’ll continue to be an underrated player but his value in doing the dirty work and making the right decisions at the right time will make a big difference to us.
A situation where we need to protect a lead we could bring him on to sit in front of the back four alongside Tielemans and Mainoo and with Martinez we can just take the sting out of the game with controlled possession.
I think he’ll continue to be an underrated player but his value in doing the dirty work and making the right decisions at the right time will make a big difference to us.
I think him and Mainoo would work fantastically well together, still think he’ll end up as our signing of the season, Screams like a Carrick to me where a lot of people are underwhelmed when he signed but he oozes class.
I think if Bruno is coming to an end of his time here, A 3 of Santos Mainoo and Baleba would be interesting.
I think if Bruno is coming to an end of his time here, A 3 of Santos Mainoo and Baleba would be interesting.
I disagree. Considering he’s 1 year older than Mainoo and mainoo right now is undroppable. I can see Barca/madrid coming in for big money for Mainoo at some point. The guys levels above our other midfielders. Not including Bruno obviously. If he’s this good at 21 he’s going to be a world beater in a few years.
Yeah. Hard to see him becomes a better footballer than Mainoo. But he can be a better player on his own role. Modric is a better footballer than Rodri, but Rodri is a better DM than Modric and people can appreciate that also.
And no. THis is not comparing Zidane to Titus Bramble
ID have more faith in Zidane figuring out the Riemann Hypothesis than Titus Bramble putting in a good defensive effort.Yeah. Hard to see him becomes a better footballer than Mainoo. But he can be a better player on his own role. Modric is a better footballer than Rodri, but Rodri is a better DM than Modric and people can appreciate that also.
And no. THis is not comparing Zidane to Titus Bramble
Ha.. The argument was, Titus Bramble is a better CB than Zidane would ever be.
Hmm, I would gamble on Zidanes IQ getting him over the line in defense over Bramble. Still insane to think he has over 200 appearances between playing for Newcastle and Wigan.
Played like a Donkey on drugs.
Seeing that no.17 in midfield is giving me ptsd.
Would’ve preferred Hackney
Not sure what he's supposed to be good at.
Early days but he reminds me a shit Fred. And I thought the original Fred was shit enough.
And as everyone expected he's not very good. Chelsea don't let go of players to direct rivals if they were. Yet another player that doesn't want the ball and would rather hoof it down the pitch. Not a single United fan wanted him at the start of the summer. We paid a decent amount of money for someone supposedly ready for the Premier League and wouldn't need a bedding in period. It's always our players that need months to get up to scratch, other teams players just get on with it. Early days but it's not looking good.
Early days yet and things can change if he is given more minutes , but a foreboding feeling that Chelsea have yet again got one over us on transfers.
But Carrick obviously does not fancy him right now , he is the one who had no world cup and had a full pre season , yet so far is only a bit part player in a struggling team.
But Carrick obviously does not fancy him right now , he is the one who had no world cup and had a full pre season , yet so far is only a bit part player in a struggling team.
Hardly 10 mins on the pitch so difficult to judge. But he is not that good anyway.
Hackney makes Santos look like Iron Man in terms of mobility and physicality. People always want what they don’t have!
Mainoo + Tielemans starting over for him doesn't make him nor good, those two are just very good. Santos is a good player and anyone writing him off is making a mistake.
To be honest, I haven't seen much of either, but Hackney looked very good today. No doubt I'm knee-jerking due to another disappointment...