Ruben's caf account?
Kobbie Mainoo
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1 signed, just 3 to go, at the least…
There’s the cherry on top of the good news cake for me
Just goes to prove Managers set in their ways are ruining football. You build a team around what you have available and not around an ideology.
Mainoo still has a long way to go. But as a midfield pivot and his aggression he’s shown as a supporting box to box midfielder, he’s an asset we almost lost because of a fantasy Ideology that was used as a constant “light at the end of a tunnel” prick of a stubborn manager who was more interested in saving face than getting results
Mainoo still has a long way to go. But as a midfield pivot and his aggression he’s shown as a supporting box to box midfielder, he’s an asset we almost lost because of a fantasy Ideology that was used as a constant “light at the end of a tunnel” prick of a stubborn manager who was more interested in saving face than getting results
Good stuff.
He is still young and raw. He will get there.
2nd top left must be Casemiros son
2nd bottom left is Wan Bissaka Regen.
In defence of Amorim, he'd largely experienced uninterrupted success early in his managerial career, so I think it's understandable that he was wedded to the system that had served him well. Hopefully he might have learnt from the experience as I'm sure he can come again.
As for Mainoo, he's bulked up a bit in recent years and is probably only just beginning to grow into his new frame. Needs to be part of a strong, versatile midfield unit next season, probably with a rest every third game or so. Just a pity his passing isn't more versatile - would be worth insane amounts of money if so.
As for Mainoo, he's bulked up a bit in recent years and is probably only just beginning to grow into his new frame. Needs to be part of a strong, versatile midfield unit next season, probably with a rest every third game or so. Just a pity his passing isn't more versatile - would be worth insane amounts of money if so.
He’s far from raw
Not to go off topic, but since the managerial change, Mainoo has gained from it, but Amad and Mbeumo have, in some ways, lost from it.
Different managers, systems, and players will all fit better in some setups than others.
I just hope Carrick or the next manager can find a way to get the best out of all the young players...but it's easier said than done.
Different managers, systems, and players will all fit better in some setups than others.
I just hope Carrick or the next manager can find a way to get the best out of all the young players...but it's easier said than done.
I'm pretty sure there some of Marouane Fellaini's relatives in there
Care to elaborate?
A promising young player on low enough wages who we would otherwise lose on a free and plays in an area where we already need three players.
Such a disappointment.
I don't think he's good enough, nor do I see the potential in him for the required improvement to become good enough.
This becomes a greater problem because if players like Kobbie stay, they almost certainly start. Their status within the media and within the club demands it and most coaches will usually acquiesce.
So that is the source of my dissapointment - the comitment to a midfield featuring Kobbie and the circus that would inevitably come should a manager ever decide to not select him for any length of time.
I think passing the ball over 30 yards with proper drive is the next string he needs to add to his bow.
Are you actually a football fan?
Whether he's good enough only time will tell, but not seeing any potential IMO is nonsense
AFCON is a factor there.
He's definitely has potential, but there is a massive amount for praise for both our midfielders when we lose the midfield battle every match. Are ever going to win the midfield battle consistently with him?
I expect a record number of red cards for teams playing against them
This is the most negative take I think I've ever heard about a young player. He's 21 and already played for his country and doesn't look massively out of place in United's midfield. He's also improving under Carrick since he's got back in the team after he seemed to stagnate a bit under Amorim.
You're aware that he's got 4 or 5 years of development before he's in his prime as a midfielder? That's the majority of the length of this new contract. He might not end up being good enough but it'd be madness to let him go for peanuts at this stage.
As for managers usually starting academy graduates just because they're academy graduates, that's clearly nonsense. Most leave the club and are sold without any kind of "circus".
I’ve always liked him. feck Amorim.
There’s also huge amount of praise for the midfielder of a team in a relegation battle, and who is rumoured to go for c. £100m
Hear hear
What is your point exactly? I get that we can't judge them by the whole midfield outcome, but if both our main midfielders are playing so well, we should be winning midfield battles not losing them.
We have to stop treating factually wrong takes like the one you quoted as differing opinions. Nobody has a crystal ball that’s true, but to say he doesn’t have the required potential isn’t in the eyes of the beholder. It’s just black and white wrong.
Nope, because without the ball, you can’t have only one of them eating up the ground. Weirdly on Monday, Jensen, Damsgard, Casemiro and Kobbie all arguably had 8/10 game on the ball.
I always feel our midfielders don’t play close enough together and let other midfielders come through the middle too easily when they should be sending them wider.
Recall Rio or one of the 08 team saying that the day we played Barca at home, Queiroz took the starting 11 out on the pitch with gym mats and the placed them where he wanted everybody to be as a general rule without the ball.
Carrick and Scholes mats were the only two touching one another with the big message - do not let them run down the middle. Probably sounds basic in 2026 but I always feel like our CMs are way too far apart at times.
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If someone doesn’t understand what a defensive double pivot is supposed to do they’ll always think we’re losing the midfield battle the way we’re having to play to end the season. If you look at the profile of midfielder we’re interested in for the summer, what they all have in common is the ability to defend the middle third horizontally, which you need if you want to play a more aggressive press. Mainoo and Case at this stage in his career are better defenders in and around the box, which is how they’re being deployed. These tripes about “losing the midfield battle” are just under informed clishes at this point. The bottom line is Mainoo is by distances and miles good enough for any club ran by people with a functioning brain right now in 2026 to build a midfield that allows him to play to his strengths, both with and without the ball. There’s absolutely no debate there, and that’s not even “building around him”, it’s operating under the hard reality that we have a midfielder with the potential to do A and B at a world class level, and we now need a midfielder that can do X and Y at a world class level.
You could have said the exact same thing about Declan Rice, and by the same standards of “winning the midfield battle”, Rodri at Atleti.
Good post, agree with all of that.
Just to clarify, when I referenced players like Kobbie, I wasn’t simply referring to academy graduates, because, yes, most do leave without much fuss.
What I wrote is the definition of an opinion, you're obviously free to disagree with it, I certainly hope to be proved wrong.
Not necessarily. Two players can both play well but not compliment each other very well, or not provide the requisite balance with the attributes and weaknesses of other players who are playing ahead of, behind, or alongside them. It’s just another demonstration of how our team isn’t very balanced, even though we have quite a few strong elements.
That's a fair point, so assuming we buy an athletic midfielder that balances Mainoo, you would expect a big change?
If we had a midfielder with some defensive nous who has the pace and stamina to cover more ground more quickly (both vertically and horizontally), then we could well look less exposed in midfield. I think the technical floor and physical floor of our whole team needs to improve to really help dominate games though - the midfield can only do so much without proper support from our CBs, FBs and attackers.
If we had a midfielder with some defensive nous who has the pace and stamina to cover more ground more quickly (both vertically and horizontally),
We do. We should be playing Heaven as a number 6. We need a fit De Ligt and Yoro and Kukoni to step up or get a new Left Centre Back
We do. We should be playing Heaven as a number 6. We need a fit De Ligt and Yoro and Kukoni to step up or get a new Left Centre Back
There was talk that Heaven left Arsenal partly because he was seeking more chances in midfield, so I would have thought he might be worth a go there - certainly whenever you've secured champions league football next season. The lad is athletic at the very least and has enough composure to suggest he'd do alright. He's not guaranteed a place at centre-back as yet, so I think he should also be tried in midfield as another string to his bow.
That maybe true but our midfield does very little to help get control.