Is Mainoo the real deal?

[Samid]

Early signs (including pre season) are that he looks calm and composed.

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We've been severely bereft of technically proficient and well-rounded midfielders. For that reason alone it doesn't take much to get fans and fellow players excited. Just the slightest hint of talent often gets massively overhyped at this club. Is the praise he is receiving slightly over the the top? Or is he simply the real deal?

 

[RedDevil@84]

Thank you Gary for your kind words.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Hope so, it's been awhile.

 

[Lash]

I don't think any of the praise has been over the top. To debut like that, away from home, against a hostile and hurting Everton crowd - can't ask for more. Even impressed Roy, which takes some doing.

Let's just say if he was playing for Brighton, people would be demanding we throw 100m at them for him.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

He's so polished but things I want to see more from him over the next years is improvement to his passing range and some really purposeful forward passing. I love his ball-carrying, so refreshing to see.

 

[Conor]

I think it's the usual Utd youngster hype, mixed in with the fact that what he does is what we glaringly need in midfield, and those qualities are very hard to find.

He's going to have some serious pressure put on him because of this. He has looked very good in pre-season and yesterday's game, though.

 

[DWelbz19]

I think he has a lot of the fundamentals you want in a good central midfielder. So, the platform is there.

He just needs things to go the right way. It's mostly things like the manager giving him game time even when seasoned professionals are fully fit, and him staying fully fit himself. And as of recent for us, off-field activity being minimised.

 

[Remember the geese]

Yes. Yes he is.

 

[Fortitude]

Both Sky and BBC reserved a section of their respective post-game shows to Mainoo paying homage to his game with ex-pros on both channels, including Keane, offering the highest of praise.

It doesn't matter whether fans on forums appear hyperbolic; those in the game see him as a big deal.

 

[AngeloHenriquez]

I watched a podcast that looked at so many youngsters and the hype that surrounded them against their end position and the trajectory their career ended up taking and so much was clearly based off mental attributes to the point that the narrator who was involved in the industry speculated that 60% is mentality, 30% is ability and 10% is luck, team mates, injuries etc

He needs to do the right things, learn from his mistakes and push his own boundaries and be driven and focused, something so many youngsters don't learn until it's too late.

 

[zapp]

He's had a promising start and has all the tools to make it. Let's see how he deals with the pressure going forward, especially with teams becoming more aware of his skillset. Too small of a sample size so far.

Being extra hopeful I'm going to say yes he's going to be a mainstay.

 

[Oranges038]

Needs to go out on loan to Norwich, bulk up and have his bubble burst.

 

[Ace of Spades]

He is talented, just calm down. We have some very good talents in the academy, but no one knows the future.

The important part is that he gets the right guidance, playing time, and luck with injuries and hopefully that results in him becoming a top player in the future.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Andy Mitten has met his dad a few times and says he is an extremely grounded, good bloke. Which bodes well for Mainoo's future. With a lot of these prodigies it's the environment they spend time in away from the pitch that ends up being the most influential to their outcome.

 

[MrBest]

Needs a 5 year deal at 350k now.

 

[bond19821982]

Let the kid grow. How many 18 year old midfielders actually has taken the limelight? The position he plays is a very demanding and critical position and I hope he gets enough time to prove himself.

 

[AndySmith1990]

We have a tendency to build up young players and set unrealistic expectations after a few games. Let's just wait and see

 

[Rozay]

He has the tools to be. As a prospect, he’s definitely the real deal. The potential factors that could stop him are currently unknown though, so never a guarantee.

 

[Betson]

Only time will tell , doing it consistently is what matters at this level.

 

[Ali Dia]

I think fergie would use him very sparingly this season. No huge hype or contract until he’s an important player and he’s earned his way into the team by being professional off the pitch. We give too much power to the young players post Fergie. We expect them to act like fully mature grown ups when they are 21 which is pretty crazy. We also use them as saviours because the clubs recruitment has been so poor. It’s a crazy situation. Then again. If you’re young and gifted and you back yourself it’s probably easier to get into the Utd team than any other that’s paying the kind of money we do.

Technically like greenwood he’s just different. You can see it a mile off. He’s gifted with the ball and is a very good athlete. The sky is the limit.

 

[horsechoker]

Needs to bulk up

 

[amolbhatia50k]

As far as natural talent goes - yes he is. The rest depends on his ethic and some luck.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Trust Neville to make it about City or Liverpool

 

[Woodzy]

Let’s be honest he looked a level above any of our midfielders have in years within the first 10 minutes yesterday.

 

[Gupz]

Will turn the tables for EtH. He will become the Frenkie de Jong that he was longing for to play TenHag ball

 

[amolbhatia50k]

It also must be said that he’s looked like such an anomaly in his few appearances because he was so unbelievably poor at what he is good at. Still, his natural tools are exceptional even if it’s very early days. Martial is the most naturally gifted young player I’ve seen at United since SAF retired and look how he’s turned out. In that first season he looked as dead cert a talent as you’d see.

 

[GreatDane]

No Ballon d'Or yet? Smells like foul play, make that 116 cases against City.

 

[Plant0x84]

@Samid gone to early. Classic Caf jinx. He’ll turn into a poor mans Schneiderlin and it’ll all be your fault.

 

[antsmithmk]

We need to manage expectations. Manage his workload. Make sure he is a good boy off the pitch. Don't put too much pressure on him too soon. Let's not feck it up.

 

[Plant0x84]

We need to manage expectations. Manage his workload. Make sure he is a good boy off the pitch. Don't put too much pressure on him too soon. Let's not feck it up.

Yep, let’s just keep the pressure off and let the lad enjoy his football.

 

[gantherbale]

It also must be said that he’s looked like such an anomaly in his few appearances because he was so snaptube vidmate unbelievably poor at what he is good at. Still, his natural tools are exceptional even if it’s very early days. Martial is the most naturally gifted young player I’ve seen at United since SAF retired and look how he’s turned out. In that first season he looked as dead cert a talent as you’d see.

That's right his physical build is amazing

 

[Fortitude]

We need to manage expectations. Manage his workload. Make sure he is a good boy off the pitch. Don't put too much pressure on him too soon. Let's not feck it up.

Your problem here is he isn’t a secret anymore and England are absolutely desperate for a player with his attributes. He’s not only a player of interest for clubs; he’ll soon have eyes on him in relation to the NT as well. His style of play and the profile he’ll get for being at United mean attention will be absolutely unavoidable if he’s constantly as good as he was during his debut.

Not only that, we’re on to some of the most highly awaited/anticipated games of the season, which will have more hype and buildup to them than the lowly teams we’ve faced thus far.

 

[gerdm07]

Let’s be honest he looked a level above any of our midfielders have in years within the first 10 minutes yesterday.

Yep, and that is not a compliment to the club. We've played with an inferior midfield since Carrick left and not one buy has been really good for a consistent period. IMO this is the number one reason for all of our struggles. On the other hand, Liverpool realized their midfield was aging last year, bought a few, and now they are fighting for a title.

 

[SouthMancRed]

Lee Dixon on comms was very impressed by him. Said he could tell right away he can play. Coming from a City supporting ex-Arsenal mouthpiece like Dixon on top of what I saw I'd tend to think the positivity is right.

 

[noodlehair]

His ability is obvious in every u21, u18 etc. game, so that wasn't really a surprise.

The impressive part was the composure, positioning and awareness, and just how comfortable he looked with all of it. Its hard to read that sort of thing at under age levels as the games can be a bit of a mess, but he just oozed that sort of effortlessness that the really good midfield players have where the only time an opponent gets close is when he decides he wants to draw them in, where as off the ball he seems to know where the opposition are going to play the ball before they do.

That said, it was 60 minutes against Everton. If he is the real deal it will be years before he gets there, so lets just be patient and see what happens. The main plus point is that he basically has to get more chances after that.

 

[Trequarista10]

He's a great prospect but it's still early days. He reminds me a little of McEachran or Gilmour who both looked impressive at 18 but to varying extents didn't fulfil that promise (or in Gilmour's case, hasn't yet).

If we had a quality, functional midfield in place then I'd say he'd be best suited going on loan for a year or two to gain first team experience, but given we don't have any midfielders who can actually do all of things that midfielders are meant to do he might end up getting enough playing time here. Which could work in his favour, or could backfire if too much pressure is put on him. He doesn't need to become an elite level midfielder to establish himself here, if he can even prove to be decent then the position is his for the taking.

 

[mintyred]

If he's like our other youth players, he'll rely on his talent alone and stagnate due to no one teaching him how to improve his game.

 

[T00lsh3d]

He’s guaranteed. Best to put all our stock into him then shit down his throat the moment he has a bad game

 

[Redplane]

He’s guaranteed. Best to put all our stock into him then shit down his throat the moment he has a bad game

This is the way

 

[Ekeke]

Keep him away from booze, grannies, wannabe gangsters and teach him how to respect women please. Bonus points if Rashford helps him give back to others