Give this lad a game.
37
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 27
- Goals
- 3
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 3
Yes Erik keep playing that brilliant midfield comp you have because we scraped a few wins.
Can't be any worse than Mctominay in midfield and could actually grow into something good. So nah just keep playing Mctominay in midfield EtH we look so great with him there
I believe he was our most natural player to replace Eriksen when he came off injured. Neither Mount, Bruno nor McTominay can control a game, and it showed in the second half, despite getting the goal.
Surely he isn't fully fit. What good can come out of it to throw him in at this moment?
Was certainly a game for him Luton didn't put no pressure on the midfielders, Eriksen coming off could have seen him come on. It's not necessarily a criticism because the team won but in the upcoming fixtures against better opposition where does he get the game time ? Even with injury potentially to Eriksen Amrabat will come in.
This manager doesn't trust young players outside of Garnacho (and even then barely).
Should ask for a loan in January and hopefully by the time he's back in the summer there's a new manager in charge.
Should ask for a loan in January and hopefully by the time he's back in the summer there's a new manager in charge.
I think I remember Ajax fans saying the same when he hired him
The team is crying out for an actual midfielder. Hopefully we give this guy a chance at some point
Yeah same.
He’s been back for over a month now and played two full 90 minutes. If he’s still not fit then there’s something very wrong!
He must be match ready because he’s on bench today.
ETH is simply under way too much pressure to give the kid a chance
Mainoo played 90 minutes on Wednesday. And I think, coming back from injury and being young, it is a good idea to phase him in slowly. I would have loved some participation today but I guess, the game was too tense in 2nd half to do that. Hopefully well see more from him after the break. Insistence of the manager on Eriksen is more than weird... and has suprisingly resulted in another injury.
It seems he has abandoned all his principles to survive. We played much better last season before the Carabao cup.
Against some stronger side maybe, it was Luton at home ffs. They brought on Chong. Surely Mainoo could out play Chongy.
If we had taken the earlier chances he probably would have come on today.
On the one hand I think it’s smart not chucking him in and pinning our hopes on an 18 year old, then I remember we started him against fecking Real Madrid.
Hard to blood youngsters in when you’re never more than a goal up though.
Hard to blood youngsters in when you’re never more than a goal up though.
In a friendly? Wouldn’t mean anything if we started Mr Blobby.
It’s a sign he trusts him and has high hopes for him at least. Did we see many other kids in pre-season?
Kind of weird considering the amount of minutes he gave Frenkie, Donny, de Ligt, Gravenbech, Timber, Schuurs, Dest, Rench, Taylor and Gravenberch at a young age. Some of them just teenagers.
Trust me I agree with you. I am just trying to see things from his perspective. When push comes to shove, a manager will always revert to what feels safer
He's a safety first manager who is also fighting for survival. Was the same at Ajax apparently, will only give a youngster a chance if he has no other options.
No manager who is at the risk of getting fired is going to risk his job by giving a young player a chance.
I haven't seem a minute of this boy. I wonder if he knows how much hope he carries with him.
Exactly that, people complain that we brought in Casemiro and it being a short term move but why would he risk it any other way? Not a criticism of EtH at all, its the world we live in and the nature of football now,
A manager with balls and conviction in his principles would. If that's what they believed in.
Wishfull thinking. I dont think any manager in the world would bring on a young kid central midfielder in a must win game at 1-0. Even SAF played experienced defenders in midfield over one of the highest rated midfield talents (Pogba) at the time.
There is enough to complain about ETH and enough other things to use a stick to beat him with but not playing a young player in this situation isnt one of those things. Central midfield or defensive midfield is also one of the most risky positions to play a young player. One mistake and its a big chance for the opponent. It is really just not realistic to expect playing time for Mainoo in this situation.
Let's not let the facts get in the way of a good narrative.
Given the, at best, average, at worst leaden and witless football we've been generally playing since god knows how long now, plus the fact that playing (high calibre) youngsters tends to buy you more leeway with the fans, i'd say the bigger 'risk' is him not giving the likes of Mainoo any real game time.
Doubly so if he wants to prove he can 'maximize; his resources in light of prospective new SD/part owner oversight( and the questions that have been raised about spending) rather than being bought 'ready-made' players - the majority of whom haven't exactly set things alight either. It's not even like Mourinho grinding his way to 2nd place with mostly old guard; win or not today, the football hasn't even been particularly clinical, and he could well finish 6th or 7th at best and be sacked without anything much to show for the whole reign except a league cup.
Barca managers -whether they're club legends or not - are under tremendous pressure to be top of the pile, but Xavi has still either brought through or given increased game time to a number of youngsters in his relatively short-tenure: I'm not saying Mainoo is Pedri or Gavi-levels, but equally, he might be the closest we have. But he'll keep playing a MCT that hides from the ball except if it's bobbling in the box or up in the air to be attacked, a physically declining Eriksen (or Casemiro), or an Amrabat that largely just recycles the ball and is almost as slow as Eriksen but without the intent or forward angles.
I agree, but much easier to blood players in a league with lots of cannon fodder! To be fair though Luton should have been cannon fodder for us too if we were in form but sadly not
I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said and am certainly not arguing in favour of keeping a player like Mainoo on the bench, I’m trying to frame it from our managers perspective. Whichever way you look at it, it’s a risk to play a young lad vs buying/playing a seasoned player like Casemiro/Varane.
Obviously much easier to bed in youngsters as part of a winning team in a dominant position in their league. We’re scrabbling desperately for every point we can. It couldn’t be a worse situation to try and bring through a kid like Mainoo.
They Media and a lot of the the fan base is baying for ETH's head on a platter. It is difficult times and to suggest gambles at this stage, however noble, is just silly. Main is a good player and in my opinion should get playing time but my job isn't on the line.
A lot of the reason why is because there's no evidence of a long term vision. It's the same old shit we've seen before. I imagine a lot of fans would be on board with taking a step back to take strides forwards and would back him if their were signs of progress towards a vision. Playing the same underperforming players and refusing to make bold decisions in terms of personnale and playstyle does him no favours re support.
I’m not suggesting we tank the rest of our matches and risk relegation, but if we can’t or should I say refuse to develop our promising young players this season we can forget about ever developing them.
Just an opinion, but I hold the view that Mainoo will prove to be a significant upgrade on McTominay. Maybe not, but we will never know unless we actually give him a proper chance. Giving promising young players a proper chance is a massive part of the heritage of this great club.
Yes because that’s how football works…
He’ll get minutes when, if it ever happens, we have a bit of a cushion in game. Our midfield is like the Black Knight in Monty Python, it looks fecked, it barely functions but somehow it keeps going. It’s no place to thrust a kid into when we’re 1-0 up.
Tis but a scratch.
Just a flesh wound, reallyTis but a scratch.
Feels like our season could be dependent on whether this kid can hit the ground running, especially with the injuries in midfield for our December fixtures.
Ridiculous expectations etc etc I know
Ridiculous expectations etc etc I know