Kobbie Mainoo

I rate the type of player Kobbie is but he lacks pace, lacks the tenacity needed in defence. He lacks long range passing. At the moment he’s got the attributes of being able to play in tight spaces and short passing, but he doesn’t bring any fear to his opponents in an attacking sense or defensive sense. I love me a technical player aswell but I don’t see it with Kobbie as a starter eventually.
 
If his long range passing never really develops, I think that's fine. Ideally you pair him with a DM who can pass. That being said, for him to excel in this all action box to box type player, he needs to get quicker. Quicker movement, quicker with the ball, quicker covering the pitch.

All well and good being very good on the ball and press resistant but if it doesn't help put the team in positions they can benefit from, it's ultimately pointless.

Far too early to give up on him though, most midfielders aren't able to consistently deliver at that age unless you're an anomaly ala Pedri
 
I rate the type of player Kobbie is but he lacks pace, lacks the tenacity needed in defence. He lacks long range passing. At the moment he’s got the attributes of being able to play in tight spaces and short passing, but he doesn’t bring any fear to his opponents in an attacking sense or defensive sense. I love me a technical player aswell but I don’t see it with Kobbie as a starter eventually.
Verve is what he lacks, mate. Verve.

It’s all well and good pirouetting around but at the end of the day you gotta do something with it and show a bit more vision, tenacity but above all… verve is what he needs.
 
It is about the same, but they broke through in much better sides. I don't think Mainoo has shown that same level of talent they did, so I think he'll end up in a tier or so below the very top - would love to be proven wrong.

He isn't, so Mainoo like even the very best needs time to mature, it isn't only about games played. Kobbie is a small lad who will also need time to physically mature.
 
I personally dont mind him currently playing it safe and not trying too much with his passing. When you share a midfield with Bruno and Case someone has to at least be safe and recycle possession.
 
He had a poor game yesterday but some of the comments I’ve read calling him a 5-a-side player and only good enough for paralympics… beggars belief the lengths some of our so-called supporters go on to write off our academy product this early in his career just because of that.
And the flipside is he shouldn’t get an easy ride because he’s an academy product, not sure why you brought that part up
 
If his long range passing never really develops, I think that's fine. Ideally you pair him with a DM who can pass. That being said, for him to excel in this all action box to box type player, he needs to get quicker. Quicker movement, quicker with the ball, quicker covering the pitch.

All well and good being very good on the ball and press resistant but if it doesn't help put the team in positions they can benefit from, it's ultimately pointless.

Far too early to give up on him though, most midfielders aren't able to consistently deliver at that age unless you're an anomaly ala Pedri
This is one of the main things for me, and that’s why he looked so good against City and Arsenal.

Forward mindset, doing the nice things he does and advancing the team up the pitch will see him a much more effective player than spinning to evade the press which is easy on the eye but pointless if he just passes the ball to Shaw who’s stood 50 yards from goal letting the opposition get back in position while he’s thinking about whether to pass the ball to Maguire or Casemiro.

Very much a coaching issue as well to identify this as well but if the coach says ”be free and express yourselves” and that is the way he expresses himself he’s not gonna be very successful.
 
It's worth remembering that he barely played under Amorim. At that age, game time is key for development.
He started the majority of PL games he was fit for last season, and quite frankly he was poor for most of them. As he was for ETH at the beginning of the season as well, so it's not like it was just a drop in form from Amorim's tactics. Amorim did move him around a few different positions, but it felt like Amorim was trying to find how to get the best out of him.

It was only this season that his gametime massively dried up (so half a season). Which to some extent was perfectly understandable as his performances didn't warrant a lot of gametime, although Amorim did go overboard with it as he certainly should have got more than he did.
 
He started the majority of PL games he was fit for last season, and quite frankly he was poor for most of them. As he was for ETH at the beginning of the season as well, so it's not like it was just a drop in form from Amorim's tactics. Amorim did move him around a few different positions, but it felt like Amorim was trying to find how to get the best out of him.

It was only this season that his gametime massively dried up (so half a season). Which to some extent was perfectly understandable as his performances didn't warrant a lot of gametime, although Amorim did go overboard with it as he certainly should have got more than he did.
I meant to say this season in my post, will edit it. I think gametime is key for development but how that gametime is managed is also key. I don't think that's something which has been managed well in his career thus far. He's been expected to solve a problem so he's played most of the time and then when he's been poor with Amorim he's then been dropped before being shot into the lineup again under Carrick. It feels like he's not getting the gametime to learn his role and his body well, it's just gametime because United need to fix an issue and he's seen as someone who could potentially do so.
 
Casemiro is a legend and rightly so, but his weaknesses ie lack of pace, inability to track runners is the same as Mainoo's. Both are struggling of late, our mid is constantly overrun, even against 10 men at times. Either player would massively benefit from playing alongside an energetic, strong runner. The club knew that preseason, hence the lame attempt to sign Baleba. We've seen Mainoo in his breakout season star for England alongside Rice, a player who one of strengths ie tracking runners compliment his. I'd be reluctant to write off Mainoo at his age until we see him in a more balanced midfield.
 
I am not really sure what Mainoo is (in terms of player) , he does not seem to fit any mold, I cannot really think of any similar players, I believe that the majority of his better, more memorable moments for Utd and England have come in a more advanced position, I still think we are waiting for Mainoo to become whatever he is going to be, and that probably Carrick is a good manager to help him achieve his best.

However in the meantime I think we would benefit from somebody more rounded and experienced in midfield
 
I am not really sure what Mainoo is (in terms of player) , he does not seem to fit any mold, I cannot really think of any similar players, I believe that the majority of his better, more memorable moments for Utd and England have come in a more advanced position, I still think we are waiting for Mainoo to become whatever he is going to be, and that probably Carrick is a good manager to help him achieve his best.

However in the meantime I think we would benefit from somebody more rounded and experienced in midfield
Van de Beek? Kobbie is an Ajax type of system player.
 
Thought of a new song for Kobbie.

Stealers Wheel - Stuck In The Middle With You

"Now I know why we've come here tonight
Under Ruben, something weren't right
He was so scared to get him out of his chair
But Michael Carrick, he plays him instead
Cunha to the left of him, Amad to the right. He's a Manc
Stuck in the middle Mainoo
He's f*ck*ng Kobbie Mainoo
There's nothing else he can't do"
 
New contract on the way for Kobbie, according to MC... and at 120k/week, significantly less than the 300k that some claimed he was after 6 months back.

He's ours and hopefully he's staying ours.
 
He needs competition to push him to put consistently good performances in and improve his overall skillset. At the moment, I think he’s lacking something that makes him really standout. He can’t just be Mr. Does The Basics Well, otherwise he’s destined to be squad rotation material.