Gilmour is doing stellar things for a side who finished in Europe last season and are currently 8th. Injuries curtailed his career at Chelsea but it's hardly like he's a completely busted flush hype job. If Mainoo ends up in Gilmour's position 4 years down the line, he's still had [having] a very good career.
37
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 32
- Goals
- 5
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 4
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
That must be some molding because his game doesn’t resemble Pogba at all apart from the ability to dribble in midfield.
Pogba dawdles too long on the ball and he’s too reliant on his athleticism to bail him out of presses.
Mainoo on the other hand plays like he knows what he’s going to do next even before the ball arrives at him.
Sure? I wasn't suggesting otherwise!
keeps everything simple and makes it look effortless, great traits to have as a centre mid. Loved the way he busted a gut to get back and makes blocks, he give away 2 corners in a row as he slid into to block crosses. To see that desire and energy is refreshing, for too long now this season we've been used to Eriksen, McT and Casemiro causally stroll back as the opposition counters us.Early days of course, but signs look good. He still needs help though in there, especially against better quality teams. Him and a Casemiro from the middle of last season would be great to watch.
Hence my point about Mainoo's composure - many of the youngsters we have are quite skillful on the ball and hardworking off it. It's not uncommon to see them get a shot and run around trying too hard to impress. Mainoo's composure however, is and has always been different class.
His style reminds me a little of Jack Wilshere back when he was breaking through.
He’s a kid who had a good debut amongst a very very poor bunch. We need Case to partner him consistently and then we need to judge Mainoo after 15/20 games. He could be just another flash in the pan who knows it’s a tiny sample size.
Won't let me embed but before people get carried away..
https://x.com/StatmanDave/status/1706759405167861915?s=20
https://x.com/StatmanDave/status/1706759405167861915?s=20
Simply having a player who can receive the ball on the half turn from the defence, then either carry it forward or find an attacker with a central pass, is bound make an outsized impact, given the complete lack of players who can do that in the squad right now. So irrespective of exactly how good he ends up being, his style of play will get him plenty of opportunities this season.
One thing though, is that physically he's still quite slight. No criticism there when he's aged 18, and from the look of his frame he look's like he'll fill out fine. But he's not going to be playing 3 times a week til the end of the season, even if his form is excellent. So ETH needs to figure out the best way to use him.
One thing though, is that physically he's still quite slight. No criticism there when he's aged 18, and from the look of his frame he look's like he'll fill out fine. But he's not going to be playing 3 times a week til the end of the season, even if his form is excellent. So ETH needs to figure out the best way to use him.
There is a reason people were hyped before he even played for first team.
Hope ETH keeps giving him games, I love seeing our own youngsters succeed.
Aye, standard 6/10 performance for a midfielder
Think Amarabat, Mainoo, Bruno is the midfield we should have going forward.
It's been a horror season so far, let people get carried away at some hope!
like Januzaj 13-14, Martial/Rashford 15-16
Yeah he was far more like a Scholes than Carrick IMO. Better defensive covering and more physical naturally, obviously nowhere near that level of passing and remains to be seen how his vision can be, but in terms of understanding space, consistency in touch and movement to receive the ball deep, being able to take the ball on the half turn and evade pressure and carry it a bit before playing the smart pass out wherever... That was all very Scholes-esque.
His movement was fantastic for that clearance. Spotting the danger, anticipating the shot, getting into position. He did that a few times today and it made a massive difference, including when he was on the ball himself. And he's 18 ffs! If he's got that intelligence and composure so early in his career then who knows what level he'll be at his peak.
He's our Anakin Skywalker. We better not feck this up
I think what’s really important to note is that it’s us fans and pundits cooing whilst for Mainoo, it looked like a stroll in the park; completely unphased and playing like it was his 200th game rather than his full pro debut. I don’t know what registers in his own head as a great performance, but for him, this looked like nothing he wentHis movement was fantastic for that clearance. Spotting the danger, anticipating the shot, getting into position. He did that a few times today and it made a massive difference, including when he was on the ball himself. And he's 18 ffs! If he's got that intelligence and composure so early in his career then who knows what level he'll be at his peak.
He's our Anakin Skywalker. We better not feck this up
when he got off the pitch.he’s got some much better midfields coming than what Everton served up, and it’s going to be really interesting to see if that flusters him in any way, shape or form.
This is it for me. So some people in this thread are being optimistic - What's wrong with that? Our thoughts on the player have absolutely zero effect on what can and will happen. It's not like we're all in a submarine, with the red warning lights going off, but we've decided to stop fixing a leak to have a party because someone got the microwave working again.
Enjoy the positives from time to time for fecks sake. Embrace the joy for a few seconds and stop being so gloomy all of the time. Or at the very least stop trying to poison everyone else with your negativity. Otherwise why are you even bothering with football in the first place?
I agree it wasn't an 8/10, but it was at least a 7 if not 7.5. Probably the latter due to clearing the ball off the line and the defensive block a few minutes later.
If Scott gave that same performance I would say it was probably the best actual midfield performance he's had since Spurs a couple years ago. Even when Scott plays well it's normally only on the individual level, rather than doing much to help the team function like a midfielder is supposed to. It's why while everyone else talks about that Leeds performance, I most fondly remember the Spurs match the same season where he actually controlled the team around well that day.
I just rewatched his highlights and considering the circumstances that was one hell of a debut.
Mainoo made his debut, just returned from injury, in a team whose midfield has been terrible this season,away from home and against a strong opponent with a point to prove.
Looked super composed on the ball and almost always retained possession, strong defensively and good physical attributes. It actually surprised me considering he isn't the tallest but he actually competed aerially pretty well.
Early days for sure but looks like a top tier talent.
Mainoo made his debut, just returned from injury, in a team whose midfield has been terrible this season,away from home and against a strong opponent with a point to prove.
Looked super composed on the ball and almost always retained possession, strong defensively and good physical attributes. It actually surprised me considering he isn't the tallest but he actually competed aerially pretty well.
Early days for sure but looks like a top tier talent.
Weird analogy of the week for me - loved it!
Hopefully, in 4 years time Mainoo will be at the level of current de Jong or Tchouameni, not Gilmour
The lad reads the game so well for someone of his age. The atmosphere didn't bother him one bit from the first minute he wanted the ball and in tight areas.
He looks like he could be a real player. He's going to need time and patience of course.
He looks like he could be a real player. He's going to need time and patience of course.
Always write about your own experiences, I always say.
Exactly. They actually complement each other too. Casemiro traditionally starts up in the middle and drops back, Kobbie can pick up the ball deep and drive forward.
Also Casemiro is a very significant attacking threat, and he could utilize these skills more if there is an able DM (or defensively aware DLP for that matter) behind
Totally agree. I hope he gets a number of games this season, but overplaying a lad at 18 is a very distinct possibility, so I hope Ten Hag does the best for him, and the club's future, and also the caf doesn't go overboard on him playing every week.
I would like to think that this is the sort of player that a team could be built around in time, but yes, it is early days, but the signs are good.
Fabregas was who came straight to my mind as well.
It was far from an easy game to make a first start in either, but we were able to build play through the middle at a good tempo against an Everton side that are usually pretty good at stopping teams from doing exactly that.
Of course he’s going to at some point get the ball nicked off him and concede a goal due a defensive error.
But the talent is there to see. Let’s hope he applies it, works hard and grow on the promise he’s shown so far up to date - from a standout youth player to a very promising debut in an extremely aggressive ground.
Hope he starts the next game too!
But the talent is there to see. Let’s hope he applies it, works hard and grow on the promise he’s shown so far up to date - from a standout youth player to a very promising debut in an extremely aggressive ground.
Hope he starts the next game too!
My impression of Hannibal is that he plays quite differently depending on what role he's in. When he's played further forward (which is how we've used him this season) he is much like you say, more just a ball of unlimited energy but he rushes things a bit too much at the expense of some quality. However when he plays deeper he seems more calm and collected, and looks to dominate more with his positioning and passing rather than his physicality. Admittedly that's based on a relatively small sample size, but it's the impression I've got from him so far.
I'd love to see Mainoo and Hannibal played together in a deeper role at some stage, but ETH does seem adamant he only wants one midfielder sitting this season and the others both getting forward a lot.
Which game are you talking about?
I'd say stylistically there's similarities between Mainoo and a young Thiago Alcantara. EtH is utilising Mainoo as the single pivot in midfield currently but I think going forward Mainoo is best utilised as the #6/#8 hybrid who will drop deep in the build up phase and advance forward in a deeper roaming playmaker role. I think we should sign a long-term holding midfielder who has the ability to resist/evade the opponent's press in possession along with being physically and athletically capable.
In the youth teams there's a number of young players who are natural playmakers in central midfield and they're young players who are being coached to play with courage in possession and want to get on the ball even under pressure. And it starts with the GK (Harrison) who is very accomplished on the ball for his age. I expect to see at least a few more young midfielders knocking on the door in the next year or two.
I still maintain it was crazy to watch Januzaj and think he'd be a great player. Rashford has had a good career including multiple excellent seasons. Martial's legacy is just soured by the last few seasons when he should have been sold, he was good/great to varying degrees in the earlier part of his time here.
True but with every reason to be. He looked like one of the most experienced and older players.
Exactly this. Its not a League or FA cup game at home, this was an away PL game against a crowd who were really up for it, coming back from injury.
It was a brilliant display considering the above. Sometimes you can tell a player by how much time they have on the ball, its not like a forward who scored on debut but didn't do much else.
There's always one
That's the most obvious thing about his game just after 5mins of watching him
wtf?