[devilish]

You might be right about the 2 v. 3 midfield thing, but I’m not sure I understand why it should matter that much. We very often have one of the CBs step up into midfield both in build-up and in defensive transition. We might not be good enough at it in established play, but it shouldn’t be that different from playing in a 2 ahead of the DM. Besides, it’s his playmaking I’ve found to be suffering the most.

It matters more then you believe. Let's take defense as an example. Maguire was meah in a 2 CB system but is amazing in a 3. Why? Cause his lack of speed is being covered by 2 others which in turn allow him to focus on what he does best. Same in CM. In a 3 CM you can have a destroyer (ex Ugarte), a creative outlet in Bruno and someone who sits between the middle helping the two without actually committing himself too much in either. That's were Mainoo shines. He can defend but he lacks physicality and he can create a lot but he hasn't matured to a point to be a Bruno. In a 2 CM however, the load is much bigger and there's less room for mistakes. If the no 8 stays up then he leaves the no 6 on his own. If he doesn't move forward when he needs to then we create a gap between CM and the forward line.

If we insist on Amorim then Mainoo's future is at no 10. I'd say keep Cunha and Bruno should be first teamers, Amad, Mainoo and Mount (we won't sell the guy) as cover. We should sell the rest and then use the money for a specialized RWB and a CM (2 if Casemiro leaves). Zirkzee can remain as a forward, Hojlund should be sold and we need a top top striker.

 

[Fortitude]

I think he's excellent in a 3 men CM and might do the job as a no 10. However he lacks the physicality to play in a 2 men CM in an Amorim system. This constant switching of tactics needs to stop. Players who were taught from an early age to play in a certain way are now told to play a different way at a crucial time of their development. That isn't helping their development.

Good post and spot on. People don’t realise how damaging all this upheaval is for young players. It’s not just Mainoo affected, but him being the most athletically poor, it exposes him more to the sides of the game he likely needs years of experience to learn how to cope with.

If we’re not in a 3, or the midfield set up doesn’t get much more composed and tight knit, Mainoo is starting from a position well behind others because he needs a running network around him to stop him having to do the majority of the heavy lifting himself.

His stamina under duress is appalling and that could be his biggest obstacle to overcome in his career if preseasons can’t improve him in this vital aspect of being a midfielder.

 

[NinjaZombie]

Not sure if he can play the cm role in Amorim's 2 man midfield. Doesn't cover enough ground. Isn't intense enough. Doesn't take enough responsibility for creating chances or making progressive passes.

In a 3 man midfield you can get away having a limited heat map whilst being neat and tidy and moving the ball around. Not in a 2. Bruno has adjusted to playing in midfield in this system, Kobe has not. In fairness, he's been injured and out of the team for a while now so might need time.

 

[Ekeke]

Slower pace, very little pressing in most games and he has the quality to tear teams apart when given time on the ball.

When has he ever done that?

Italian teams dont like to press? News to me. Doesnt matter though because Mainoo is fine at it and a pretty good ball winner for his age. He might suit an Italian team in the same way McTominay does, someone who you pick in midfield but is allowed to get forward, get around and in the box to have some shots. They do like to crowd the midfield like that and then at certain times have a player gamble to try and get a goal

 

[Brightonian]

I think we know plenty about him conclusively now. His lack of pace and athleticism aren’t going to significantly change: he’s physically quite well developed, got some muscle on him and not an ounce of fat. He’s not still growing into an adult body, he’s had that all season. He just isn’t explosive or fast, and those are qualities players already have at this age.

I think we can also argue he’s unlikely to develop passing range as a key element of his game now. He did have it, more so, in the youth sides but it’s so visibly not in his locker at this level that it would be a very outside bet he suddenly rediscovers it.

I don’t agree with a poster previously who said we have failed by not knowing what his best position is at this point in his career. We do know his best position - it’s as part of a three-man central midfield, responsible for helping to control possession and for breaking the lines with ball carrying and connective passing. The problem is that position doesn’t exist under this manager.

He’s obviously extremely talented in other areas, and those are also very clear already. So for me what we should be doing with him is pretty clear:

• Don’t plan for him to be a first choice starter in any position, but rather a tactical sub/alternate
• Continue to work on the best way to use him as above. I suggest either coming into CM when we have dominated a game in order to consolidate that dominance with his secure possession play, or coming into AM when we have created chances but need a cool head to turn one of them into a goal, or when trying to unpick a low block.
• Accept any bid above £50m, unlikely but not impossible because to a team playing the right formation he could be worth that and more (and who knows, that might be us in the future anyway).
• Consider a bid of £40m or so if it directly enables us to address a key first team need in the same transfer window (i.e. if it meant getting Gyokeres instead of Delap this summer).

 

[Ekeke]

For me he has 3 or so years before we need to make a decision on him. He's 20. For a 20 year old his ball winning numbers are very good and hes shown in moments that he has good composure, dribbling and can score a goal. He just isnt good enough to be starting which should be no surprise... He's a 20 year old midfielder. Not many of them are starting for their teams.

He does have areas that we need to see improvement if hes going to be a mainstay starter at the club. He needs to learn to let the ball do the work and quickly release it with a progressive pass far more often. For now he dwells on it like Pogba did and we see a good long ranged pass from him about as often as McTominay... Which wasnt enough. On Wissa's goal Damsgaard is goalside of him and he's jogging back. Damsgaard visibly asks for the ball from Mbeumo who picks him out and then Damsgaard puts in Kayode who crosses for Wissa. This is a direct result of Mainoo not tracking back/running enough, usually there arent too many clear examples but we have this one. We did have a line of 5 players against Brentford's 5 including Damsgaard receiving the ball, but considering we were playing kids he should have been working hard to get back to help.

Now if we have no money because of the takeover and now wanting a new stadium... Yeah sometimes you have to part with a good player and spend the money on a few prospects. My concern there would be that we always spend money poorly so chances are we'd replace him with someone worse

 

[MaxZorin]

Selling Mainoo to finance Gyokeres?

No thanks.

However, he clearly isn't ready to be a first team regular. Passing range isn't there nor is the mentality, but he's talented enough to justify keeping.

Injury record is a huge detraction, though. We need reliable staff. It's harsh but we can't base the squad around players missing for a third of the season.

So, keep, but with caveats.

 

[Jippy]

Good post and spot on. People don’t realise how damaging all this upheaval is for young players. It’s not just Mainoo affected, but him being the most athletically poor, it exposes him more to the sides of the game he likely needs years of experience to learn how to cope with.

If we’re not in a 3, or the midfield set up doesn’t get much more composed and tight knit, Mainoo is starting from a position well behind others because he needs a running network around him to stop him having to do the majority of the heavy lifting himself.

His stamina under duress is appalling and that could be his biggest obstacle to overcome in his career if preseasons can’t improve him in this vital aspect of being a midfielder.

It does feel odd his stamina is so weak, given he's fairly lithe and not carrying much weight. Not sure how much you can build that into him, surely he'd already be athletic at 20 if that's ever going to be in his make up?

 

[Ekeke]

It does feel odd his stamina is so weak, given he's fairly lithe and not carrying much weight. Not sure how much you can build that into him, surely he'd already be athletic at 20 if that's ever going to be in his make up?

Nah endurance/distance covered will come from constantly playing and running while playing, improving cardio and muscle endurance in his legs. I think 20 is too early to even discount speed or a big leap, although given he isnt very fast at the moment he would probably need to be training hard on it for some time to look start to look quick.

 

[Andrei Kanspellthis]

Nah endurance/distance covered will come from constantly playing and running while playing, improving cardio and muscle endurance in his legs. I think 20 is too early to even discount speed or a big leap, although given he isnt very fast at the moment he would probably need to be training hard on it for some time to look start to look quick.

Could be a case of him lacking tenacity and intensity then? He appears to be in good shape, based on appearance alone, so I think it's a case of not exerting himself to the full capacity of his fitness? That seems the case with others too, but with him, when we are under pressure, it's very apparent that his intensity drops along with his body language. Very depressing to watch sometimes when I expect youthful vigour and hunger, and an attitude of ''I'm not accepting this' toward whichever opposition. That said, he has shown great touches and passing for England as well as us.

 

[Jippy]

Nah endurance/distance covered will come from constantly playing and running while playing, improving cardio and muscle endurance in his legs. I think 20 is too early to even discount speed or a big leap, although given he isnt very fast at the moment he would probably need to be training hard on it for some time to look start to look quick.

Hope so, but struggling to remember players having significant improvements in speed during their career.

 

[Fortitude]

It does feel odd his stamina is so weak, given he's fairly lithe and not carrying much weight. Not sure how much you can build that into him, surely he'd already be athletic at 20 if that's ever going to be in his make up?

I'm not sure how it works for Kobbie in a professional setup as he will have many strength and short distance targets to meet, but if he were an amateur or guy off the street looking to considerably improve his cardio, it would be intensive, long-distance programme, and over the course of a summer a person can make phenomenal gains to their stamina if they hammer the cardio studiously.

As I say, it's different for someone like him (I assume) because he won't be solely focused on that kind of cardio, and more importantly, won't get the rest and recovery you do when solely focused on one aspect. If he's working intensively with weights and sprints, or even pitch distance drills, he will have to have a dedicated recovery set baked in, which is not conducive to hammering yourself repeatedly on longer distance drills.

Even if the longer distance cardio is cut in half, I would think he can make considerable improvements over a preseason.

What would suck for Kobbie is that his diet would have to be on point from an early stage - Cristiano-like discipline - if he is to make optimal gains. Some pros are fine with that, but I wonder how it'd go for your average young, professional teen.

 

[Kostov]

Not sure if he can play the cm role in Amorim's 2 man midfield. Doesn't cover enough ground. Isn't intense enough. Doesn't take enough responsibility for creating chances or making progressive passes.

In a 3 man midfield you can get away having a limited heat map whilst being neat and tidy and moving the ball around. Not in a 2. Bruno has adjusted to playing in midfield in this system, Kobe has not. In fairness, he's been injured and out of the team for a while now so might need time.

A serious question, who can play in Amorim's 2 man midfield? We have been dominated in the middle in 90% of the games we have played with Amorim here.

 

[Insanity]

Not sure if he can play the cm role in Amorim's 2 man midfield. Doesn't cover enough ground. Isn't intense enough. Doesn't take enough responsibility for creating chances or making progressive passes.

In a 3 man midfield you can get away having a limited heat map whilst being neat and tidy and moving the ball around. Not in a 2. Bruno has adjusted to playing in midfield in this system, Kobe has not. In fairness, he's been injured and out of the team for a while now so might need time.

I don't think he can play the CM role in any two man midfield effectively, yet. He'll have to work on his passing range and his agility to play CM for a good team. I think his best position right now is as one of the #10's. He has the close control and skills needed to play in an advanced role.

 

[Olecurls99]

If we sell him, we will definitely regret it, in the same way we did when we sold Elanga and bought Antony; or selling McTominay.

A young player with a passion for the club with a unique skill set - not an easy combination to come by.

I really don't regret selling McTominay, Elanga or Antony. I don't want any of them back despite the desperate windup articles in the press.

 

[DWelbz19]

Good post and spot on. People don’t realise how damaging all this upheaval is for young players. It’s not just Mainoo affected, but him being the most athletically poor, it exposes him more to the sides of the game he likely needs years of experience to learn how to cope with.

Not sure I agree, actually. The younger the player the less set in their ways they are, and it should be easier to mould them with specific tactics. I would expect someone like Mainoo, in his second season of professional football, to learn the automatisms Amorim wants of him much quicker than I’d have expected a guy who has won everything and long in the tooth like Casemiro, for example.

As I’ve said I like Mainoo a lot and feel he has enough credit in the bank to discount enough of this year as second season syndrome and not having a true position, but at the same time… a lot of the basic necessities you want in a good level midfielder aren’t showing in his game right now.

 

[FrankDrebin]

What type of player was he in the youth teams and where did he operate?

 

[DWelbz19]

A serious question, who can play in Amorim's 2 man midfield? We have been dominated in the middle in 90% of the games we have played with Amorim here.

It’s a weird one, I don’t really think Amorim is bothered to win the midfield battle. I think in his perfect system image — he is content with his two midfielders being up and down two way runners to help squeeze up pressure. First and middle phase buildup is more relied upon by his wide CBs rather than a midfielder dropping deep. Guys like Hjulmund and Palhinha seem his ideal prototype.

Aside: I’d be interested to hear the thoughts of @Yagami on this point — he and I share similar ideas on ideal midfielder profiles, and I raised early on that it looked nervy to me that Amorim had a similar ignorance over the central midfield that ten Hag did.

 

[Fortitude]

Not sure I agree, actually. The younger the player the less set in their ways they are, and it should be easier to mould them with specific tactics. I would expect someone like Mainoo, in his second season of professional football, to learn the automatisms Amorim wants of him much quicker than I’d have expected a guy who has won everything and long in the tooth like Casemiro, for example.

As I’ve said I like Mainoo a lot and feel he has enough credit in the bank to discount enough of this year as second season syndrome and not having a true position, but at the same time… a lot of the basic necessities you want in a good level midfielder aren’t showing in his game right now.

But we're talking about an academy product he has known a set way to play the game for years and has been lauded for it, who would more than likely go straight back to being *that* player in a set up that extracted his schooling from him in some manner.

Amorim wants something different from him and doesn't care about what has Kobbie thrive - he's got to get to grips with not just a new way of playing but also in forcing interjection rather than being used - and looked for - as a/the conduit or component that knits areas of the pitch with one another. Amorim doesn't even care about that, and it's 95% of Kobbie's identity, so he's having to find his niche in a new vision whilst also flagging and struggling badly with the athletic demands put on him. I'd say he's never been more out of his comfort zone than now - even under ETH's stupid midfield set up, Kobbie could perform well, just not for very long. I've yet to see him have even a half of a game under Amorim where he's looked comfortable and in his element - it's all moments now; scrambling for a snapshot, which is a world away from Kobbie's natural game.

I think a lot of issues with his fundamentals are tied in to the fitness issues, personally. He doesn't move well and it doesn't take long before the pace of the game has gotten away from him. Once you start playing catch-up, you really are on a hiding to nothing, and that's when he starts looking aimless and rather lost out there most of the time.

When you talk about malleablility, it's usually reserved for those who are already rounded and comfortable within their fitness. The only thing such folk have to do is focus on the new instructions given, not whether they can last a half or cope physically. It's interesting you mention Casemiro, actually, because he exemplifies this; revert back to ETH's lunatic midfield and Casemiro would be absolutely screwed and doing all the haphazard things people were saying he is cooked from. He knew he couldn't handle the athletic brief so had to try preemptive positioning/tackling/running, and when you get that wrong you look like an absolute amateur. Put him back in a setup he is comfortable with and he's capable of being one of best players.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Not sure if he can play the cm role in Amorim's 2 man midfield. Doesn't cover enough ground. Isn't intense enough. Doesn't take enough responsibility for creating chances or making progressive passes.

In a 3 man midfield you can get away having a limited heat map whilst being neat and tidy and moving the ball around. Not in a 2. Bruno has adjusted to playing in midfield in this system, Kobe has not. In fairness, he's been injured and out of the team for a while now so might need time.

Casemiro seems to be coping with the cm role under Amorim just fine. And wasn’t his own lack of intensity and inability to cover ground given as a reason for him struggling under ETH?

So many of you love to complicate things and bring every issue back to systems and formations. Players form can come and go for loads of intangible reasons, most of which are in their own head. Kobbie’s a young, inexperienced player who’s having a difficult second season in a struggling side. One of a few young players finding it tough. There doesn’t need to be any more to it than that.

 

[Jippy]

I'm not sure how it works for Kobbie in a professional setup as he will have many strength and short distance targets to meet, but if he were an amateur or guy off the street looking to considerably improve his cardio, it would be intensive, long-distance programme, and over the course of a summer a person can make phenomenal gains to their stamina if they hammer the cardio studiously.

As I say, it's different for someone like him (I assume) because he won't be solely focused on that kind of cardio, and more importantly, won't get the rest and recovery you do when solely focused on one aspect. If he's working intensively with weights and sprints, or even pitch distance drills, he will have to have a dedicated recovery set baked in, which is not conducive to hammering yourself repeatedly on longer distance drills.

Even if the longer distance cardio is cut in half, I would think he can make considerable improvements over a preseason.

What would suck for Kobbie is that his diet would have to be on point from an early stage - Cristiano-like discipline - if he is to make optimal gains. Some pros are fine with that, but I wonder how it'd go for your average young, professional teen.

Thanks- interesting how you balance that long distance stamina building with the rapid turnaround needed as a footballer. Hopefully he can get a longer preseason after being with England last summer.

 

[Ekeke]

Could be a case of him lacking tenacity and intensity then? He appears to be in good shape, based on appearance alone, so I think it's a case of not exerting himself to the full capacity of his fitness? That seems the case with others too, but with him, when we are under pressure, it's very apparent that his intensity drops along with his body language. Very depressing to watch sometimes when I expect youthful vigour and hunger, and an attitude of ''I'm not accepting this' toward whichever opposition. That said, he has shown great touches and passing for England as well as us.

Yes. Could also be a negative from his calm and composed demeanour on the ball. He may be complacent and too calm and not alert enough at times when we dont have the ball

 

[Ollie Derbyshire]

Pre season is going to be make or break for him in my opinion. He really needs to do whatever in takes to build his stamina and ability to cover ground quicker. He’s not going to be able to dominate in the PL without it.

He has the quick feet in tight spaces but at the moment that’s about it. It’s a sad sight seeing him running back looking like he’s running in quick sand, and that’s in the first 20mins of games.

To be fair I think he’s done amazing making it this far with his limitations so there is hope.

 

[Tosicsleftpeg]

Yesterday he's had an absolute shocker of a game but let's not jump the gun too early. He's had some fantastic performances and incredible moments in important games. He's only just out of his teens and people saying sell him for 40 million are absolutely mad. If he was at any other club producing examples of quality like he has done then he would be going for 80+ million because he has huge potential.

Not been a great season for him but I definitely would not sell him. I think the same as Garnacho, within 2 years he will have come on massively.

 

[Cathy Ferguson]

Yesterday he's had an absolute shocker of a game but let's not jump the gun too early. He's had some fantastic performances and incredible moments in important games. He's only just out of his teens and people saying sell him for 40 million are absolutely mad. If he was at any other club producing examples of quality like he has done then he would be going for 80+ million because he has huge potential.

Not been a great season for him but I definitely would not sell him. I think the same as Garnacho, within 2 years he will have come on massively.

80m for such a slow player is madness. He is ill suited for the PL. Might thrive in Italy but they lack money.

 

[Marwood]

Looks like your classic second season syndrome to me. We've seen it so many times with young players.

A young player breaks through and everything is just instinct.

Second season, with some expectation now, they start overthinking everything.

That's exactly how Mainoo looks now. A head full of thoughts so everything is done slower.

 

[CM]

It’s a weird one, I don’t really think Amorim is bothered to win the midfield battle. I think in his perfect system image — he is content with his two midfielders being up and down two way runners to help squeeze up pressure. First and middle phase buildup is more relied upon by his wide CBs rather than a midfielder dropping deep. Guys like Hjulmund and Palhinha seem his ideal prototype.

Aside: I’d be interested to hear the thoughts of @Yagami on this point — he and I share similar ideas on ideal midfielder profiles, and I raised early on that it looked nervy to me that Amorim had a similar ignorance over the central midfield that ten Hag did.

Agreed. I think the fact that Amorim has been so effusive in his praise for a player like Mason Mount further demonstrates the point. He's primarily concerned with finding players who run hard, their ability on the ball appears very much secondary to him.

The mechanics of Amorim's system aren't designed to get his midfielders on the ball with any real regularity. It's one of a few reasons why I can't see myself being keen on the product next season once he gets more of his own players in. I think Mainoo will continue to be pushed into the 'left 10' role in this system and probably won't see many starts if/when we sign Cunha.

 

[Quagmaguire]

Mainoo only has a future here as a ball winner.

I've always thought his defensive ability is very underrated.

However the problem is he is constantly used as a player to dribble with the ball forward or pass to more othrr players higher areas of the pitch.

When he is moving around all over the pitch his stamina & energy really sticks out as a weakness.

If he plays as the deepest defender all he needs to do is add strength and physicality and focus on defensive positioning waiting for the attack to come to him rather than him chase a tackle like Ugarte.

 

[Mike Smalling]

Selling Mainoo to finance Gyokeres?

No thanks.

That would be such a no-brainer, if we could get even just 60-70% of the Gyokeres transfer fee by selling Mainoo. Would improve the team massively.

 

[Fortitude]

Thanks- interesting how you balance that long distance stamina building with the rapid turnaround needed as a footballer. Hopefully he can get a longer preseason after being with England last summer.

Because of the Euros, Mainoo didn't get to have the kind of preseason where there's a leap in athletic improvement. I'd bet the majority of his time off was set up with recovery in mind, or at the least, certainly not the strenuous/arduous training needed to be transformative, plus he got injured, so his prep has not been the type a player already behind the line needed.

I really hope he remains injury free throughout preseason and gets to have an optimal camp, whatever that looks like for him. If that happens, I would expect we see the fruits of that labour in some capacity. For me personally, would be really pleased if he can see out the 90 comfortably. That would be a great foundation to build from.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

Where do people genuinely think he fits in Amorim's system? Doesn't seem to have the physicality for a midfield two, and doesn't seem to have the pace for the wide 10.
Looks perfect for a 3-man midfield really.

It's a conundrum. Sell for moolah, or somehow shoe-horn him into a position where we have to hope that he develops attributes for.

 

[daba]

I also don’t understand the calls for him at 10. He faces the exact same issues.

What’s a comparable (successful) 10 that plays like Kobbie with his current limitations?

Yeah for me he still lacks attacking intensity to play as a 10 in this system either. You either need to be a hard working AM or a winger with an eye for a pass and/or goal.

I’m still hanging my hat on him being a deeper 8 or 6 long term. His Everton debut was beautiful and maybe we just need to sit down with him and give him assurances over where we see him in this system. Then do individual and tactical training to become that player.

He’s being thrown in to various roles this year without any consistency, which I’m sure he’s not happy about. In Amorim’s defence his lack of availability has made it difficult to build the system with him in mind.

Looks like your classic second season syndrome to me. We've seen it so many times with young players.

A young player breaks through and everything is just instinct.

Second season, with some expectation now, they start overthinking everything.

That's exactly how Mainoo looks now. A head full of thoughts so everything is done slower.

As I mention above, we need him to be that profile he showed on his debut. A composer, game dictator from deep with good defensive instincts and positioning. We seem to have strayed so far away from that debut, and I don’t know who is at fault for that.

I’m too lazy to think, but are there many examples of players overcoming second season syndrome?

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

It's simple: He's going to have to really improve his expansiveness on the ball if he wants to make it as a CM in this league. I have no doubt he's talented enough to do so, but right now in his current form he just doesn't offer much as an 8 in a midfield pair. He's a good dueler and great dribbler, but his athleticism is lacking and you have to constantly shuttle back and forth in this system. And his passing isn't progressive enought to make up for it.

 

[daba]

He seems like he’s filled out a bit this season and his movement seems far less fluid at the same time, could be linked. May just be a case of growing into his frame a bit, but there’s no getting away from the lack of athleticism he has. At his age he should be fine in this aspect, so the fact he’s not tells me he’s probably never going to be either. I can’t recall ever seeing a player suddenly develop speed, agility or a good engine.

It’s weird. With the ball he still has his quick feet and ability to jink to get out of awkward/tight situations, but across the rest of his game everything feels so… heavy.

Hopefully we have a chat with him at the end of the season with a proper plan or where we see him playing next season to give him a confidence boost. Then over the summer Kobbie needs to get to pre-season sharper and faster than anyone.

If he does the work and claims a starting spot in the team then he can get his new contract next summer.

 

[Olecurls99]

Where do people genuinely think he fits in Amorim's system? Doesn't seem to have the physicality for a midfield two, and doesn't seem to have the pace for the wide 10.
Looks perfect for a 3-man midfield really.

It's a conundrum. Sell for moolah, or somehow shoe-horn him into a position where we have to hope that he develops attributes for.

Some people have said it already but regardless of formation he has great attributes for certain situations.

He's like an attack minded Casemiro. He's best in tight spaces where his lack of coverage is minimised.

Left 10 or midfield against a packed defence is definitely his wheelhouse. Midfield if we're sitting deep is also good for him. Which is why his best performances have been against Liverpool and City.

I really think his ground coverage could be easily improved though and then we really would have a proper midfielder.

 

[flameinthesun]

If I was Mainoo I'd probably look to move in the summer. This formation and style doesn't suit him, which is a shame as in the right 3 man midfield I think he is a potential world class player despite his current flaws. It is a shame from a United perspective that we have 3 good youngsters in Amad, Mainoo and Garnacho and are playing a negative formation/tactic that doesn't suit them.

 

[Mickeza]

Casemiro seems to be coping with the cm role under Amorim just fine. And wasn’t his own lack of intensity and inability to cover ground given as a reason for him struggling under ETH?

Is Casemiro coping just fine in the league? I’m not convinced he is. I don’t think any of our players are outside of Bruno hence why we’re likely to finish 17th.

 

[Bobski]

For me he has 3 or so years before we need to make a decision on him. He's 20. For a 20 year old his ball winning numbers are very good and hes shown in moments that he has good composure, dribbling and can score a goal. He just isnt good enough to be starting which should be no surprise... He's a 20 year old midfielder. Not many of them are starting for their teams.

He does have areas that we need to see improvement if hes going to be a mainstay starter at the club. He needs to learn to let the ball do the work and quickly release it with a progressive pass far more often. For now he dwells on it like Pogba did and we see a good long ranged pass from him about as often as McTominay... Which wasnt enough. On Wissa's goal Damsgaard is goalside of him and he's jogging back. Damsgaard visibly asks for the ball from Mbeumo who picks him out and then Damsgaard puts in Kayode who crosses for Wissa. This is a direct result of Mainoo not tracking back/running enough, usually there arent too many clear examples but we have this one. We did have a line of 5 players against Brentford's 5 including Damsgaard receiving the ball, but considering we were playing kids he should have been working hard to get back to help.

Now if we have no money because of the takeover and now wanting a new stadium... Yeah sometimes you have to part with a good player and spend the money on a few prospects. My concern there would be that we always spend money poorly so chances are we'd replace him with someone worse

Much less actually. If we look at McT in the years he was playing deeper and expected to get on the ball, so say 2019-22 he was completing about 43 passes per 90 mins played of which 4-5 were considered long. Kobbie is averaging 37 passes per 90 with an average of 1.57 of them being long as a Utd player. It was a fairly obvious issue with his game even last year and it why the Mainoo-Ugarte midfield looked a mismatch from the start.

Ugarte is averaging about 40 passes per 90 and 3.26 completed long passes btw so as a pair very little progression.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Is Casemiro coping just fine in the league? I’m not convinced he is. I don’t think any of our players are outside of Bruno hence why we’re likely to finish 17th.

Casemiro’s been as good in the league, recently, as he has been in Europe. He was definitely struggling, earlier in the season, under ETH and seems to have taken a while to win over the new manager but he’s been one of our best players, in all competitions, for the last few weeks.

 

[pocco]

There’s no comparison between Casemiro in ETHs system last season vs this. Playing with 3CBs behind him and a midfield partner has definitely brought out the best in him over the last couple of months. And you can see the confidence is back now too, his passing game has been on point and he’s really taking control of games now.