he's a better footballer than Kante. Kante was better defensively. But Kobbie has time on his side, he could develop that
Is Mainoo the real deal?
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
I hope so but I've seen this movie far too many times.
You could not have picked a more different player FFS
You could not have picked a more different player FFS
weird choiceKobbie Mainoo is here to save us. Save us all
Mainoonited.
So original...
So original...
He’ll save us a feck ton of money too judging by what that type of midfielder is going for when they start approaching their prime
I don’t want to raise my hopes because we have been here before with Macheda, Januzaj and Wilson. But this kid? At Goodison and Anfield away he showed great temperament. He is so composed under pressure, his technique is so clean and he doesn’t get physically dominated.
His ability to shine in such a dysfunctional team in a testament to his quality.
In addition, the fact that he is not a forward player means he will not have the pressure of goals and assists. From his close control, you can tell he was a bit too slow to be a winger but he has the capability to dribble through the middle. He has similarities to Makelele in this regard.
In a strange way, the injury worked in his favour as he may have been scapegoated for our poor form. I still think he should not be thrown into the deep end just yet as a starter and for the sale of his development his minutes need to be increased gradually.
I think his future is a #6 but he is not ready to play this position alone and should have a more experienced player holding his hand
so to speak. The problem is that no other midfielder has ball-carrying abilities like his (Hannibal’s confidence is seemingly on the floor). In the absence of ball progression capabilities through the middle, we might have no choice but to throw this kid in at a deep end.
His ability to shine in such a dysfunctional team in a testament to his quality.
In addition, the fact that he is not a forward player means he will not have the pressure of goals and assists. From his close control, you can tell he was a bit too slow to be a winger but he has the capability to dribble through the middle. He has similarities to Makelele in this regard.
In a strange way, the injury worked in his favour as he may have been scapegoated for our poor form. I still think he should not be thrown into the deep end just yet as a starter and for the sale of his development his minutes need to be increased gradually.
I think his future is a #6 but he is not ready to play this position alone and should have a more experienced player holding his hand
so to speak. The problem is that no other midfielder has ball-carrying abilities like his (Hannibal’s confidence is seemingly on the floor). In the absence of ball progression capabilities through the middle, we might have no choice but to throw this kid in at a deep end.
He's great.
Is he better than Rico Lewis?
Is he better than Rico Lewis?
Pretty much priceless honestly. As evidenced by our embarrassing FDJ pursuit, progressive DM's that can also carry the ball are impossible to find
He looks really promising, his peformances at Goodison and Anfield have been impressive and he's shown maturity at such a young age, and there's definitely opportunities for him to get a lot of games given the lack of quality of our other midfielders. As others have said it's very early to tell yet, he hasn't played much at all, and his impressive performances have been in games where we've not tried to control possession and have given up a lot of shots. We still have to see how he deals with us having to take the initiative and what his best role is in such games.
Would any of you sell him if Real came knocking with a ludicrous offer? If he keeps these sorts of performances up in the next couple of seasons, I can't see him staying here.
If he is then EtH is one lucky bastard or a brilliant coach because it's exactly what he needs.
As bad as we've been for the last decade, we haven't really had an issue with keeping players so I wouldn't sell. Our issues are getting rid of some of his current teammates.
At least give me some credits for promoting him in the first place.
Too bad we won’t see him til January because of minutes.
He was average at Anfield and thats being kind. If that's the level of performance you call good then Utd are worse than even I thought.
He's a good prospect nothing more. That Newcastle midfielder miley who's younger has far far more to his game and dominated Mainoo a few weeks back.
Stop overhyping Utd players
He's a good prospect nothing more. That Newcastle midfielder miley who's younger has far far more to his game and dominated Mainoo a few weeks back.
Stop overhyping Utd players
Young Xavi
tidy
tidy
In the context of his age, appearances and state of the current United team - ‘average and that’s being kind’ is clearly a pretty ridiculous assessment.
General consensus from neutral journo’s is obviously far more positive than that - and with good reason.
I guess someone has to stand out with the contrary opinion though.
This post makes a good point. Mainoo looks like he can play, for sure and he will need time, he has earned that. But let's keep things in perspective.. he's playing in a side playing poorly, and isn't surrounded by the most inspiring players. I stated in a seperate post that I would like Mainoo to use his youthful energy and get amongst the opposition... close them down, win the ball back, hit tackles, take command of the game and want to be that type of player. I don't want (yet) another preening, precocious young midfielder who does a nice pass, a nutmeg, and just passes the ball square for the rest of the gme, while foolish, excitable pundits get off on such basics.
Mainoo is good enough to play in our first XI and he needs to embrace that.
You're going to be popular here, I can feel it.
It's very evident that you have never watched Mainoo properly. Mainoo has a lot more to his game than you realise. He appears to be pigeonholed as some plucky little DM by those who are uninformed. How about the game at Goodison where it was clear that Mainoo was Man of the Match, while Miley's Newcastle went there and got a pasting?
It's not so much the "what" he does, its the "how" he does it. He's entirely aware of his surroundings at all times and has the composure and quality to execute technically.
Some young players stand out early on because they are physical standouts. That's still to develop with Mainoo. The special part is the part you can't really teach to a world-class standard - the awareness, the vision, the composure.
If you can't see an incredibly special talent in Mainoo then, as another poster said, this sports probably not for you.
That being said - that does not mean he will become a world-class player. Adnan Janujaz and Mason Greenwood were both equally as talented at 18...and both have essentially wasted their talent.
Some young players stand out early on because they are physical standouts. That's still to develop with Mainoo. The special part is the part you can't really teach to a world-class standard - the awareness, the vision, the composure.
If you can't see an incredibly special talent in Mainoo then, as another poster said, this sports probably not for you.
That being said - that does not mean he will become a world-class player. Adnan Janujaz and Mason Greenwood were both equally as talented at 18...and both have essentially wasted their talent.
Where have you been hiding?
OOOOHHHH look at me I'm gonna be edgy and be arrogant about a Utd player and talk down to the Utd fans!
It was a great performance in context, extremely mature and composed. He also played 60mn on a yellow card, never overcommitted, always extremely well positioned. The fact Liverpool didn't have much luck building through the middle was mainly due to his excellent positioning and closing passing channels.
In no universe was that an "average" performance.
He had a few injuries last season and a big one in pre-season, hopefully he can stay fit, continue to develop and stay grounded...
I'll stand by on what I said at the end of the 2021/2022 uner 18's season. He has the potential to be a good player for the first team.
I'll stand by on what I said at the end of the 2021/2022 uner 18's season. He has the potential to be a good player for the first team.
This is the danger, we need to get him in better company at OT if we want even a chance to hold on to him.
Who knows where we’ll be in two seasons. If he keeps up these performances we will be a much better team by design.
Kante was a very underrated passer tbf
He was nothing special. Just kept things simple. He had no real range, vision or creativity. Pretty limited really. Mainoo is much more talented in possession.
What a train wreck of a post, good job.
You just called an 18 year old midfielder with less than 10 senior games under his belt average. Do you know how high of a praise that is??? The mere fact that he can be average is reason to be excited. And as for Miley, he is also an exciting young player who will go far if all goes well. Him being very good takes nothing from Mainoo's showing.
Mainoo and Casemiro is the way moving forward.
At this stage of his career that would put him amongst the very best to ever play the game. That's a ridiculous expectation for a teenage midfielder to be honest.
You forget. Bar Saka, Arsenal have produced zero talent since Wenger.
They have a habit of destroying any potential gems they stumble across or utterly mismanage them into the abyss.
I wouldn’t trust an Arsenal fans judgement on anything of this nature.
There was a time past when I would have (did) urge the club to 'break the bank' for Kante. However it never came to be, not even sure if we tried to land him?
I think you're not giving Kante enough credit here. It was very difficult to take the ball off him and his passing was always on point.
Besides I haven't seen much creativity and vision from Mainoo either. He's also really good in possession and keeping things simple. He has potential to be more than that though I agree.