Kobbie Mainoo | 2026/27 Performances

Mainoo was the standout player in the 1st half.

If a few more players were matching his level from the 1st half, we would have wrapped up the game in the 1st half.

I wonder how close the board was to actually selling him to appease Amorim. It would have been disastrous.
 
Ekeke said:
Its because so many posters don't care about whats actually happening on the pitch. They just made an opinion a while ago and no evidence to the contrary that keeps proving them wrong changes the opinion. They want to be right more than they want the team and our players to do well. They arent really supporters because they don't really support.

I do see some posts from people who were doubting him thinking hes improved so its not all of them. But the above posters are really depressing to see on this forum. We have a great win and they're mad spreading their agenda.
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It really is mad how narratives get burrowed in like the ticks who bury their mouthparts deep into the tissue to feed on blood and can stay firmly anchored for days. I'm probably guilty of it myself at times (there was that one time Onana had a great game for us but I couldn't allow myself to admit it) but there's something particularly absurd about the underrating of Mainoo here over the years. It's as if Amorim had performed hypnosis on caf posters and they still can't snap out of it.
 
Yagami said:
Anyone still having Santos over him? Couldn't believe United fans were still saying he wasn't in our strongest 11 coming into the season.
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macheda14 said:
Mainoo is an absolute star. And he’s 100% ahead of Santos (I think they would work really well together) But he’s not in our 11 for every game. He’s in our strongest 11 when we are going to be the protagonists, but he might not be if we’re playing CL away against a big team. That might be Baleba and Tielemans.

I think the hope is in a few years when Bruno is hanging up his boots. Mainoo, Santos and Baleba as a midfield 3 could really work. Santos at the base, Baleba and Mainoo as the 8s.
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For me, it’s about what version of his play he can put out.

For me, Mainoo under Ten Hag mostly was a wounderful talent and a good player.

Mainoo under Amorim was a wonderful talent with clear weaknesses and a medium minus player.

Mainoo under Carrick was for a good few games the Ten Hag version again, and then wuite suddenly something clicked, and he was a wonderful talent and a brilliant player.

I’ve been qurious to what extent he has turned a corner and raised his level, and to what extent he is fluctuating, particuarily wondering what he showed on the training ground in the England camp.

For me, if he plays like today, he starts every game, against anybody. For me, that was a worldclass midfield performance, albeit against lesser opposition.

I don’t expect a 21 year old MF to play like that every week for a whole season, so I expect him not to start quite a few games, particularily looking at the options we have now. But on that form, we don’t have anything better in that position, not for any game.
 
He is an absolute gem. The best first touch and spatial awareness I have seen since Scholes. The third goal seems so simple but it is conjured from nothing like a magician.

Don't run him into the ground and by 25 the sky is the limit.
 
comfortably the best midfielder at the club, he starts and the second one should rotate.
 
Ole'sgunnarwin said:
How about forming your own opinion rather than relying on BBC ratings?
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BBC had Rashford ahead of him and Maguire 2 marks clear which is laughably shit rating. :lol: I don't think whoever did their ratings watched the match.

Mainoo was a solid 8 today, Bruno a 9. The rest of the team was a mish mash of 6s and 7s with Shaw probably a 5.
 
Bruno will get the plaudits for hat trick but mainoo was another level for me.. he ran the midifeld today. You can see how it helped tielemans having mainoo in this kind of mood.

If Baleba can play close to his potential we saw season before last, we have a great CM pairing for years to come.
 
Pleased that Carrick gave him the praise. Such a mature, rounded performance with his typical quality levels.

He's going from strength to strength now in a Utd shirt. This is absolutely no shade on Tielemans who I rate a lot and is just finding his sharpness but for a player of that quality and experience to often look for Mainoo as the "leader" in the midfield either when in trouble or just to set the tone speaks volumes.
 
Stickz said:
BBC had Rashford ahead of him and Maguire 2 marks clear which is laughably shit rating. :lol: I don't think whoever did their ratings watched the match.

Mainoo was a solid 8 today, Bruno a 9. The rest of the team was a mish mash of 6s and 7s with Shaw probably a 5.
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I had Mainoo at 9, Bruno at 8.
 
Eddy_JukeZ said:
Mainoo was the standout player in the 1st half.

If a few more players were matching his level from the 1st half, we would have wrapped up the game in the 1st half.

I wonder how close the board was to actually selling him to appease Amorim. It would have been disastrous.
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If somebody offered 40-50 million, they would have sold him. Imagine that. I think I’d stop watching football.
 
Donut said:
If somebody offered 40-50 million, they would have sold him. Imagine that. I think I’d stop watching football.
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He was dead right to ask for a loan.

In competition with Bruno ffs :lol:
 
The BBC rating him six out of ten just shows you what a lot of old bollocks sports journalism is. Utterly pointless.
 
Jeffthered said:
Yes, he really was. What did he do?

The problem with some, some fans of Kobie Mainoo is that they cannot seem to accept his current levels. Mainoo is a good talent, very good... and being very good, is good! Howver, he is not great and he has to get better.. do i think he can, of course. If not, he will not make the team.. he isn't as good as Tielemans and we wait to see Baleba, so it is good competition. But to suggest that today was some monumental performance.. come on. Who was he playing against? He played for over half an hour last week against Hull City and did nothing.. like everyone else. So can we just calm down?

Or do some really, really want to say ' I told you so....' because he played ok, at home, against Ipswich Town? That's the benchmark now, right? We're Manchester United, who finished third last season. I expected a win and performance against Ipswich Town, and so we should.

So rather than just embellish his performance, let's just see him against the better teams and better players who will be running at him. That's when you judge a top player. Week in, week out. Not easy games, at home, sorry to say. That's football.
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This post is idiotic. You act like he is some flat track bully when he has a body of work which clearly disproves that. Have a look at who his goals have come against. If anything he plays better against the better teams.
 
IncyWincySpider said:
The BBC rating him six out of ten just shows you what a lot of old bollocks sports journalism is. Utterly pointless.
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Anyone rating him 7 or below is on crack or their mom was on crack during pregnancy.

He was the best player on the pitch. Rooney and Carrick both said he was phenomenal. A lesson for the G/A fanatics out there, football is not just about the stats.
 
The people that don’t really rate him can come across a bit irate when he plays well.
 
Jeffthered said:
Yes, he really was. What did he do?

The problem with some, some fans of Kobie Mainoo is that they cannot seem to accept his current levels. Mainoo is a good talent, very good... and being very good, is good! Howver, he is not great and he has to get better.. do i think he can, of course. If not, he will not make the team.. he isn't as good as Tielemans and we wait to see Baleba, so it is good competition. But to suggest that today was some monumental performance.. come on. Who was he playing against? He played for over half an hour last week against Hull City and did nothing.. like everyone else. So can we just calm down?

Or do some really, really want to say ' I told you so....' because he played ok, at home, against Ipswich Town? That's the benchmark now, right? We're Manchester United, who finished third last season. I expected a win and performance against Ipswich Town, and so we should.

So rather than just embellish his performance, let's just see him against the better teams and better players who will be running at him. That's when you judge a top player. Week in, week out. Not easy games, at home, sorry to say. That's football.
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Lets see him against better teams? If only we all did that in his ManUtd career. Also he played ok against Ipswich? If that's ok level for Mainoo then he must be GOAT level CM i guess.
 
saik said:
So good today. Best player on the pitch for me. Bruno will take the plaudits for his goals as he should be but Mainoo didn't put a foot wrong. So much maturity. We all knew about how press resistant he is but he was showing up with some great passing as well today.

England fans should be protesting to get Tuchel fired. Actively held you lot back. Not taking Hall, Palmer and playing fecking Henderson over Mainoo. Just absurd.
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Great post
 
Kobbie was on steroids. Loved that performance. He will control games going forward.

Kobbie was able to get out of this 50-50 tight spaces on 2-3 occasions, which was a treat to watch.

Baleba and Kobbie are the right pairing. We have good options in the midfield now.
 
roonster09 said:
Lets see him against better teams? If only we all did that in his ManUtd career. Also he played ok against Ipswich? If that's ok level for Mainoo then he must be GOAT level CM i guess.
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Let's wait until he's shown it in meaningful games like finals or for England too, while we're at it
 
Yagami said:
First half he had 42 touches (joint 2nd most in the game with Shaw, with Martinez being 1st), one dribble, 2nd most passes in the game behind Martinez, 2 tackles (joint 2nd most in the game with Rashford behind Shaw) and 1 interception (joint 2nd most in the game with a bunch of others with only Tielemans having more). That's including the Ipswich players.

Whether you think he was poor or not is a different story but he was far from quiet as you say. He was one the busiest players on the field for both teams.
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Best player in the first half was Enciso for Ipswich Town, quite easily. He was busy, effective, causing us problems, creating chances, having shots.

People lose their minds of Kobie Mainoo. Someone said that he is 'enabling' other players. Do me a favour. He is playing as a decent midfield player. Yesterday, second half he was v good, against a v v limited team. Mainoo came into his own when man-of-the-match Bruno was destroying them and Ipswich suffered a dreadful VAR call. This is just reality.

If some wish to use Mainoo's second half performance as justification for some of the most hyped comments I have seen for some time on RedCafe, then that's fine.

Bruno Fernandes is the elite talent out there. As Gary Neville said, the man is s star. Consistently superb, over months and months and months. Not average and a few v good moments.

Mainoo is a super talent, he most certainly is, but he is still some way from being the complete midfielder that many claim he is. Mainoo needs to impose himself upon football matches, week in, week outt, far more than he has done. He must. Hype will not help him. I am actually surprised when I read that so many think he is this sensational player. He is not. Yet. And there's nothing wrong with that. Imo, he needs to be more demanding, more defining, influence games, dictate the tempo of the game, not 15 mins, or 30 mins, or one half... a whole game. Be the best player on the park, not best looking player. That's what I expect from our midfielders. I expect this from Tielemans and I will expect this from Baleba.
Fernandes has done this. Maguire has done this. Lammens has done this. Mbumo has done this. Cunha has done this, all have finished games where they have been the outstanding player, influential player on the pitch.

Kobie Mainoo? This is what I want to see, go dominate a few matches against top teams, difficult matches. I want more than moments, especially against Ipswich Town!

Tielemans is a better footballer, has more to his game and overalll gives us more on the park.
 
Jeffthered said:
Yes, he really was. What did he do?

The problem with some, some fans of Kobie Mainoo is that they cannot seem to accept his current levels. Mainoo is a good talent, very good... and being very good, is good! Howver, he is not great and he has to get better.. do i think he can, of course. If not, he will not make the team.. he isn't as good as Tielemans and we wait to see Baleba, so it is good competition. But to suggest that today was some monumental performance.. come on. Who was he playing against? He played for over half an hour last week against Hull City and did nothing.. like everyone else. So can we just calm down?

Or do some really, really want to say ' I told you so....' because he played ok, at home, against Ipswich Town? That's the benchmark now, right? We're Manchester United, who finished third last season. I expected a win and performance against Ipswich Town, and so we should.

So rather than just embellish his performance, let's just see him against the better teams and better players who will be running at him. That's when you judge a top player. Week in, week out. Not easy games, at home, sorry to say. That's football.
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Can’t be serious. A 20 year old having already played several incredible games against top opposition, in the euros, in United’s finals, even scoring the winner in one isn’t about as impressive as it can get?

Genuinely can’t win with some people. I’ve noticed the negativity brigade are rock hard this year, give it a break man
 
Ekeke said:


Makes this midfield lark look easy
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The way he glides across the pitch and controls the ball. Passing also on point, even some long diagonal balls. He is growing at a very fast pace.
England manager messed up big time btw
 
Jeffthered said:
Best player in the first half was Enciso for Ipswich Town, quite easily. He was busy, effective, causing us problems, creating chances, having shots.

People lose their minds of Kobie Mainoo. Someone said that he is 'enabling' other players. Do me a favour. He is playing as a decent midfield player. Yesterday, second half he was v good, against a v v limited team. Mainoo came into his own when man-of-the-match Bruno was destroying them and Ipswich suffered a dreadful VAR call. This is just reality.

If some wish to use Mainoo's second half performance as justification for some of the most hyped comments I have seen for some time on RedCafe, then that's fine.

Bruno Fernandes is the elite talent out there. As Gary Neville said, the man is s star. Consistently superb, over months and months and months. Not average and a few v good moments.

Mainoo is a super talent, he most certainly is, but he is still some way from being the complete midfielder that many claim he is. Mainoo needs to impose himself upon football matches, week in, week outt, far more than he has done. He must. Hype will not help him. I am actually surprised when I read that so many think he is this sensational player. He is not. Yet. And there's nothing wrong with that. Imo, he needs to be more demanding, more defining, influence games, dictate the tempo of the game, not 15 mins, or 30 mins, or one half... a whole game. Be the best player on the park, not best looking player. That's what I expect from our midfielders. I expect this from Tielemans and I will expect this from Baleba.
Fernandes has done this. Maguire has done this. Lammens has done this. Mbumo has done this. Cunha has done this, all have finished games where they have been the outstanding player, influential player on the pitch.

Kobie Mainoo? This is what I want to see, go dominate a few matches against top teams, difficult matches. I want more than moments, especially against Ipswich Town!

Tielemans is a better footballer, has more to his game and overalll gives us more on the park.
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This is crazy. Tielemans has played 2 games for us, and Mainoo was better than him in both, yet he already gives us more than Mainoo? Also, it wasn't about him being the "best player" in the first half. You said he was "quiet" and he wasn't. He was involved all over.

Have you also forgotten some of his performances against the leagues best teams? Was MOTM in the FA Cup final not too long ago. He also scored the winner in our last game against Liverpool. You keep glossing over this because it doesn't suit your agenda I've noticed.

You point to Gary Neville singling out Bruno. What about Rooney and Carrick - the manager himself - singling out Mainoo yesterday?

I don't think you get Manchester United. Hyping up a local academy graduate who's done what he's done so far his part and parcel. It will happen with the next academy graduate that scores the winner and puts in a MOTM performance in a cup final against City, too. On top of all the other brilliant games he's had.
 
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hellhunter said:
Let's wait until he's shown it in meaningful games like finals or for England too, while we're at it
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If someone who never watched ManUtd read the posts, they might think Mainoo is playing his first season and played couple of games.

Cup finals, league games vs City, Liverpool and other big clubs, last min winners, goal against Lyon to equalise in the last min, MOTM performance for England in Euro. For a 20-21 year old CM, he has lot of memorable games.
 
Ekeke said:


Makes this midfield lark look easy
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What’s really amazing about that is it’s not an all touches compilation. There’s good stuff he did that didn’t make the cut. For example in the first half I remember him nicking the ball off Enciso just as he was about to get into the left side of our box. So there must be other positive contributions that also aren’t on there.
 
Is it just me, or he looks a bit quicker?
Mainoo’s ball carrying ability and quick feet being a yard or two quicker is a massive problem for the opposition.

roonster09 said:
If someone who never watched ManUtd read the posts, they might think Mainoo is playing his first season and played couple of games.

Cup finals, league games vs City, Liverpool and other big clubs, last min winners, goal against Lyon to equalise in the last min, MOTM performance for England in Euro. For a 20-21 year old CM, he has lot of memorable games.
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Seriously, I can’t believe there are question marks over Mainoo’s performance in big games.
He was the best player on the pitch in the FA Cup final vs City when he was 19.
 
Buckfast in the Park said:
Is it just me, or he looks a bit quicker?
Mainoo’s ball carrying ability and quick feet being a yard or two quicker is a massive problem for the opposition.


Seriously, I can’t believe there are question marks over Mainoo’s performance in big games.
He was the best player on the pitch in the FA Cup final vs City when he was 19.
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He looks quicker, also taller and stronger. He has grown since his debut, he looks like a proper unit.
 
Kobbie can be a phenomenal player but he isnt yet. It's fine to state it. His game will mature. This is also ok to state.
He isnt prime Pirlo or Modric or Zidane at this point. but he can grow to be something special.

I'm happy we have 4 players now who can play the CM role so he can get time and competition. That's about it. I'm not sure why people are going crazy about this.

And he had another excellent game.
 
Someone will have to remind me if we’ve tried it much before but I’d like to see him given a chance further forward if we ever actually rest Bruno. He’s got great skill in tight areas and an eye for a through ball. He’s done some outrageous things when he’s found himself further up the pitch where losing the ball is less of a risk.

Can’t fault him playing where he is though. He’s doing a great job.
 
Jack-C20 said:
Someone will have to remind me if we’ve tried it much before but I’d like to see him given a chance further forward if we ever actually rest Bruno. He’s got great skill in tight areas and an eye for a through ball. He’s done some outrageous things when he’s found himself further up the pitch where losing the ball is less of a risk.

Can’t fault him playing where he is though. He’s doing a great job.
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Amorim tried him as one of his number 10s at one point. He actually played really well. But followed that up with a not great performance (in a team that was generally stinking the place up) and that was pretty much the end of him under that manager.
 
He was absolutely brilliant in every way, carrying, passing, interceptions, keeping possession, creativity

This is the best I have seen him play.

And I bet he can get even better
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Amorim tried him as one of his number 10s at one point. He actually played really well. But followed that up with a not great performance (in a team that was generally stinking the place up) and that was pretty much the end of him under that manager.
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He also played him as CF, if memory serves
 
roonster09 said:
He looks quicker, also taller and stronger. He has grown since his debut, he looks like a proper unit.
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I think so too, his skills have never been in question as far as I am concerned. This was what impressed me most about his performance yesterday.
 
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