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2025-26 Performances

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IRN-BRUno

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Full Name: Kobbie Mainoo
Date of Birth: Apr 19, 2005
Nationality: England
Other Nationalities: Ghana
Height: 180cm
Squad Number: 37
Position: Midfield - Central Midfield
Foot: Right
Player Agent: CAA Stellar
Contract expires: Jun 30, 2027
Contract option: Club option 1 year​
 
Really big year for him this season. Obviously not his best last year but we all know how talented he is.

The question for me, especially without Europe, will be game time. Will he play enough? Can he adapt to play as a partner for Bruno?
 
It will be interesting to see where he will feature this season. With Cunha and Mbuemo, chances in attacking 2 behind striker will be limited for him. And with Bruno as partner in CM, i feel he will struggle.
 
What is he? He might be talented, but he's 20 now - time to get the feck on with it. If he's going to play in a midfield 2 then just play him and let him learn. If he's not, move him on.
 
Camilo said:
What is he? He might be talented, but he's 20 now - time to get the feck on with it. If he's going to play in a midfield 2 then just play him and let him learn. If he's not, move him on.
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We can't play him in a midfield 2 because we keep shoehorning Bruno. I actually think Mainoo would be fine but we need a better CM next to him that compliments him. If you could somehow buy someone who is a mix of Bruno and Ugarte then Mainoo would be fine because he can connect all three levels well. But Bruno and Ugarte are missing attributes from each other. Honestly the best choice would be a young version of Casemiro. A young Casemiro and Mainoo would be the perfect pairing for this system
 
pratyush_utd said:
It will be interesting to see where he will feature this season. With Cunha and Mbuemo, chances in attacking 2 behind striker will be limited for him. And with Bruno as partner in CM, i feel he will struggle.
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Probably needs to play with Ugarte who has more legs and defensively sounder. If Mainoo can get back to his first season form that could be a decent partnership.
 
Hoping this is a sign that he finally about to improve his athleticism to go with his massive talent.
 
Kobbie is naturally talented, but it always feels like Amorim is shoehorning him into the team because obviously Bruno is indispensable, Mainoo and Ugarte is arguably the most functional midfield pairing we have but Bruno is clearly the main man in the middle for the manager.

I just hope the £100M we could have potentially strengthened the midfield with from the sale of Bruno doesn't come back to haunt us further down the line.
 
BarstoolProphet said:
Hoping this is a sign that he finally about to improve his athleticism to go with his massive talent.
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I'm not sure how much that can improve tbh. You can improve stamina, and to a degree even acceleration, but the kind of jump in athleticism that you're perhaps wishing for is unlikely. Split seconds faster perhaps, but anything else is biomechanically improbable.
 
Camilo said:
What is he? He might be talented, but he's 20 now - time to get the feck on with it. If he's going to play in a midfield 2 then just play him and let him learn. If he's not, move him on.
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The only only two we can play him with are Case and Ugarte. That would mean we bench Bruno. Who we just turned almost 100 million down for
 
Thought he had some very loose touches which conceded possession on a few occasions today.

There's a player there but unless he improves his athleticism, there's only a spot for him as a no.10.
 
It feels like the focus on athleticism and physicality is only starting to stick now because Amorim keeps banging on about it. But let’s not rewrite history — this is the same Mainoo who played as a box-to-box 8 against top-tier sides like Liverpool and City, and was arguably the best player on the pitch in both games.

The real issue is that Amorim doesn’t seem to know how to use him properly, and the same can be said for several players in the squad. It’s less about the players lacking attributes and more about a manager failing to maximise what he has.
 
Our midfield is going to be a huge issue next season - Kone and Mainoo are the big hopes
 
Only us..a broke club, at the lowest ebb yet in the modern era, could essentially turn down 100m for a 30 year old, and in the process block the game time of a talented 20 year old... whilst desperately needing the likes of 70m for a more suitable centre midfield signing.

Next year we'll be lucky to get 50m offer for Bruno. It was a one off opportunity centred around unveiling him at the CWC.

Opportunity knocked, opportunity lost, wonder why we're penniless.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
It feels like the focus on athleticism and physicality is only starting to stick now because Amorim keeps banging on about it. But let’s not rewrite history — this is the same Mainoo who played as a box-to-box 8 against top-tier sides like Liverpool and City, and was arguably the best player on the pitch in both games.

The real issue is that Amorim doesn’t seem to know how to use him properly, and the same can be said for several players in the squad. It’s less about the players lacking attributes and more about a manager failing to maximise what he has.
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It's not to shit on Mainoo or anything, he's clearly a talented player. But when we talk about his good breakout season it's worth remembering that he was actually a part of a midfield in a team conceding 20 shots a game.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
It feels like the focus on athleticism and physicality is only starting to stick now because Amorim keeps banging on about it. But let’s not rewrite history — this is the same Mainoo who played as a box-to-box 8 against top-tier sides like Liverpool and City, and was arguably the best player on the pitch in both games.

The real issue is that Amorim doesn’t seem to know how to use him properly, and the same can be said for several players in the squad. It’s less about the players lacking attributes and more about a manager failing to maximise what he has.
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His drop off was already firmly established pre-Amorim though?

I think the most common explanation is probably true here, he over performed initially but he's still growing and young so he's struggled to replicate it so far. Nothing wrong with that at all but he has enough fundamentals to be useful in time.
 
Camilo said:
What is he? He might be talented, but he's 20 now - time to get the feck on with it. If he's going to play in a midfield 2 then just play him and let him learn. If he's not, move him on.
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He'll have a longer career at United than the 3-4-3 system IMO so I'm not that worried that he doesn't fit it too well
 
Maagge said:
It's not to shit on Mainoo or anything, he's clearly a talented player. But when we talk about his good breakout season it's worth remembering that he was actually a part of a midfield in a team conceding 20 shots a game.
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It’s also important to remember that these issues occurred with or without Mainoo on the pitch — which clearly pointed to a systemic problem. That said, Mainoo has already proven that when we adopt a more reserved, disciplined approach, he’s more than capable of holding his own and getting stuck in.
 
Camilo said:
What is he? He might be talented, but he's 20 now - time to get the feck on with it. If he's going to play in a midfield 2 then just play him and let him learn. If he's not, move him on.
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I'd like to see him in a midfield three with a deep-lying playmaker (Wharton) and a box to box midfielder (Baleba).

Dream midfield but clearly not realistic, especially at this stage.

Mainoo - Baleba
Wharton
 
People backing Mainoo I understand but backing him to replace one of our best player post Fergie is wild. He's had some outstanding moments and a few great games but Bruno is quality and has been for years. I think Mainoo will be a good player for us but there's no need to sell our captain only to force Mainoo to start every week, he's 20 and still not had a full injury free season yet he has plenty of time to step into the role without selling Bruno.
 
Schmeichel=God said:
Only us..a broke club, at the lowest ebb yet in the modern era, could essentially turn down 100m for a 30 year old, and in the process block the game time of a talented 20 year old... whilst desperately needing the likes of 70m for a more suitable centre midfield signing.

Next year we'll be lucky to get 50m offer for Bruno. It was a one off opportunity centred around unveiling him at the CWC.

Opportunity knocked, opportunity lost, wonder why we're penniless.
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True.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
I'd like to see him in a midfield three with a deep-lying playmaker (Wharton) and a box to box midfielder (Baleba).

Dream midfield but clearly not realistic, especially at this stage.

Mainoo - Baleba
Wharton
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A 3 men midfield would be transformative
 
Schmeichel=God said:
Only us..a broke club, at the lowest ebb yet in the modern era, could essentially turn down 100m for a 30 year old, and in the process block the game time of a talented 20 year old... whilst desperately needing the likes of 70m for a more suitable centre midfield signing.

Next year we'll be lucky to get 50m offer for Bruno. It was a one off opportunity centred around unveiling him at the CWC.

Opportunity knocked, opportunity lost, wonder why we're penniless.
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This was mentioned but a lot of people at that time were emotional with Bruno leaving. It was always a better to option to sell Bruno than ask him to play as CM.

Amorim will be sacked by October if he persists with playing Bruno in CM. He is just not consistent enough to play that role. You need reliability and calmness in that position which I dont think are Bruno’s main attribute

And for Mainoo, at least with what we have seen till now, playing with Bruno is not a good fit.

We make some ridiculous decisions by being emotional and then wonder why we get stuck with players with high salary.

Hoping Mainoo is given chances with more defensive option or we will lose him by the end of next season.
 
Camilo said:
What is he? He might be talented, but he's 20 now - time to get the feck on with it. If he's going to play in a midfield 2 then just play him and let him learn. If he's not, move him on.
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Is 20 the new 30?
Feck me people have lost all sense of reality.

Midfielders are late bloomers, you rarely see a midfielder being the finished article, especially in terms of positioning before they turn 25. Deeming a talented 20yo should be moved because we’re not sure of his best role yet would be delirious.
 
Zed is not dead said:
Is 20 the new 30?
Feck me people have lost all sense of reality.

Midfielders are late bloomers, you rarely see a midfielder being the finished article, especially in terms of positioning before they turn 25. Deeming a talented 20yo should be moved because we’re not sure of his best role yet would be delirious.
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Fully agreed. Give him time.

This forum is on one this summer
 
Our most talented midfielder for me and who I’d look to build around for the future. Midfield is all about balance and once we find it, good players main attributes will come to the fore.

I think the physical aspect of his game can be improved but all players have areas to work on. For me it was a case of experience and him learning how to use his frame rather than any major deficiencies.

Hope the chat about selling him was just that and this season he can establish himself in the spine of the team .
 
Hit a couple of long range passes. Apparently him and Yoro worked with pogba over the summer so maybe he picked up some tips.
Come to think of it, so did Yoro.
 
Zed is not dead said:
Is 20 the new 30?
Feck me people have lost all sense of reality.

Midfielders are late bloomers, you rarely see a midfielder being the finished article, especially in terms of positioning before they turn 25. Deeming a talented 20yo should be moved because we’re not sure of his best role yet would be delirious.
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I mean…obviously yes. Have you not been reading the football forum over the last couple of years?
 
I would like Kobbie to play a part in all the pre season games…ideally in the same position.

Then give him 6-10 games at the start of the season with a clear role and instruction.



*Having Bruno in CM makes it harder to balance and having spent 130M on attackers you can’t bench them when they get shuffled…but that is a squad problem not a Mainoo problem.
 
Encouraging to see him show some nice range to his passing. That was one of my main concerns about him as CM. With his dribbling ability, adding a passing range and some more athleticism to his locker really sets him up for success.
 
Schmeichel=God said:
Only us..a broke club, at the lowest ebb yet in the modern era, could essentially turn down 100m for a 30 year old, and in the process block the game time of a talented 20 year old... whilst desperately needing the likes of 70m for a more suitable centre midfield signing.

Next year we'll be lucky to get 50m offer for Bruno. It was a one off opportunity centred around unveiling him at the CWC.

Opportunity knocked, opportunity lost, wonder why we're penniless.
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Yeah, I sort of agree with this, as much as i like Bruno and respect him. It was an opportunity lost - not even forcing Bruno out, as he literally gave the club the opportunity to make the decision for him - it wouldn't have been an issue of "forcing" him out.

If we weren't planning on continuing with Bruno as a 10 in this formation, we should definitely have cashed in and we'd have had enough of a cashflow injection to sign a replacement in CM, plus a CF and a GK (over and above signing Cunha and Mbeumo). Now there's a huge hope (or expectation) of Bruno putting in an entire season at CM, consistently and waiting on deals for our unwanted players to try and sort out the other positions - most notably CF.

I guess the hope is Mainoo kicks on, Bruno shows some mastery of the CM position and Ugarte builds some second season form...
 
I thought he looked really sharp against Leeds. Seemed like he wanted to play at a quicker tempo with less touches on the ball and his passing looked alot more varied.
Promising signs.
 
FrankDrebin said:
I thought he looked really sharp against Leeds. Seemed like he wanted to play at a quicker tempo with less touches on the ball and his passing looked alot more varied.
Promising signs.
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Noticed this as well. I see no reason why he can’t be capable or spreading the ball further around the pitch. He definitely has the ability.
 
He'll never be a regular starter under Amorim. He's just not the right profile at all. We already knew it, but then the "lack of pace in midfield" (or whatever the exact words were) kind of hammered it home. He wants his CMs to he quick and aggressive. Mainoo is neither. And we've just signed 2 #10s..
 
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