Needs to take more risks on the ball and pass forward more. Other than thaat, he is excellent. Nailed on starter at 18 in a PL side is not bad at all.
Is Mainoo the real deal?
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
We must be watching a different game. For instance, I can remember in the game, 2 nil down, Onana gave him a hospital pass with 3 Villa players around him. He controlled it, took it back a step then nutmegged the Villa player to put the ball going forward.
Anyone else remember what I'm on about?
Keeping the ball is now "playing it safe" to some people.
If only half our players did this!
Roy Keane, albeit playing in a great side, insisted on passing forwards to nullify the opposition's midfield, and he still maintained high passing stats all the while.
I think Kobbie has to take a leaf out of the same book. It was a bit sideways and backwards today, but the ability is there.
I think Kobbie has to take a leaf out of the same book. It was a bit sideways and backwards today, but the ability is there.
Knew we'd win mate was never in doubt btw
Dude is an arsenal fan who's only here to poo on Hojlund and Mainoo. So weird.Are your other 9 posts like this?
After his error in the last game, perhaps he was always gonna be a little cautious tonight. Give the kid a little time.
No he doesnt. Thats what Eriksen and Bruno are in the team for. His job is to keep us ticking us over.
I think bar 4-5 really good moments in the whole game where he dealt with some hospital balls and/or put himself in a tight situation with a loose touch, most of his passes were relatively straightforward 5-10 yarders. High volume amounts, which again I like considering his age/position but I thought there was a few moments where he could have played passes between the lines. I'm nitpicking but it's not a massive complaint for me.
Roy Keane was playing for Cobh Ramblers at Mainoo's age.
He's a kid playing his 5th career game of football.
It's not just nitpicking at this point
He reminds me of Xavi when I first saw him play, and Fabregas/Scholes. It can be stupid to draw comparisons but that's the way I feel. Hope he continues his upward trajectory.
There were at least 3 or 4 times that he could have put Rashford in himself but chose to turn round and pass it backwards. That is what I mean. Sometimes he can make that pass himself instead of just trying on Eriksen or Bruno.
Very important perspective. He needs to come in and out of the team and build season on season until his performances (hopefully) make him undroppable.
Are you for real? The kid is the most calm and collected in tight spaces. He won 5 aerial duels but lacks physical qualities. Deary me.
Thought he made the right decision those few times, personally. Remember Rashford getting frustrated, but we aren't playing Oleball now.
Nah, you’re right. Especially in the first half, he could’ve sent Rashford through but hesitated.
without question this kid should start every match
He's a brilliant talent and the good thing is that we are still only seeing a fraction of what he's capable of.
I don't mean to sound overly critical and I want us to start him and show faith through setbacks, which are bound to come along as for any talented young player. Like I said, he clearly has ability, and it's a fair point that as he got caught out in the previous game, he's bound to be more cautious.
I just think unncessary sideways and backwards passes is not what we are about as a football club. We pass forward, we get the ball out wide, and we play at a high tempo. Obviously, there are times to slow it down but we are at our worst when we are playing methodically across the backline because it invites pressures. There needs to be a bit more urgency in our play for us to tick.
Fair play to Mainoo, he's played a part today and he will continue to grow into the role.
He’s quality. “ he just keeps the ball” yet somehow most of our high paid midfielders can’t bloody do it. Well done lad
I like his attitude and really hope he develops into an important player for us but there’s a lot of developing to do IMO. I was very underwhelmed by his passing today. He could have played Rashford through on numerous occasions but decided not to. Also, I can’t quite wrap my head around how he manages to look so slow. Can’t remember seeing anything like it from such a young player to be honest.
The kid anchored a midfield age 18 against a team in form and second in the EPL. Put some respect on his name. Today it wasn't his job to play in our forwards. It was to keep us ticking over and carry Eriksen defensively. The kid did both.
He's a kid playing his 5th career game of football.
It's not just nitpicking at this point
He reminds me of Xavi when I first saw him play, and Fabregas/Scholes. It can be stupid to draw comparisons but that's the way I feel. Hope he continues his upward trajectory.
I'm not sure what you want me to say. Check my posts in this thread or others about him. I've nearly always been complimentary.
So it's not fine for me to make an observation about this one game because he's young but then you're comparing him to past legends. Got it.
I'm wasn't even talking about these instances because those would be more speculative through ball/balls in behind, which I don't expect our deepest midfielder to play. I'm talking about instances where he had the ball on the half way line and he could have taken another touch and perhaps zipped it to someone's feet between the lines. After the West Ham game, I totally understand the more cautious approach of course.
I think he’s been bannedAre your other 9 posts like this?
He's 18 and he's the nuts. Needs to start. Only complaint was losing his man for the second goal. I can let him away with that.
Honestly, you're probably right in that he should/could get the ball through a bit more often and I remember the moment you're speaking of specifically, but I am not going to have a go at him for not playing it, he didn't lose the ball after all. I'm just sort of vaguely amused at the level you expect him to be playing at. Realise that it then of course leaves me open to be ridiculed for drawing comparisons with Xavi/Fabregas but the thing is I remember -their- debuts and feeling the exact same way - I think Xavi for Barcelona at Old Trafford in 1999 and Fabregas at The Milennium Stadium in 2004, and they just had a very similar composure on the ball.
I wasn't having a dig, you're not wrong really, but that's an extreme level of standard for a guy playing his 5th game of football ever, and again it's stupid of the likes of me to be going on the other end of the spectrum too.
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He was the most composed 13 year old I have ever seen.
2004 sorry, stand corrected.
There was a moment in the second half where he challenged for the ball head first... literally stuck his head in and could have got a boot to his face!
Proper bravery on the pitch from him.
Well done. Good performance tonight.
Proper bravery on the pitch from him.
Well done. Good performance tonight.
The way he hyped up the crowd! 
No worries.
Also it was the Millennium Stadium as Wembley had been knocked down.
I'll stop now.
Just what we need with our depleted squad and strange buys. Touch of the Bellingham about him with his maturity at a young age.
Hopefully ETH realizes we need two quality mids.
Hopefully ETH realizes we need two quality mids.
Maybe he sees Bruno give it away constantly and thinks twice before he makes a risky pass.
Much of what I was thinking. I love his composure and toughness. I'd really love it if he develops more of an offensive game. Something like how Casemiro can make that devastating pass and score from distance. Be a reason teams have to push out to you. Right now, much of what he does on the ball is purely the safe play and a little too frequently backwards. If he can start hitting some of those long diagonal balls to the wings, I think it takes pressure off the rest of the central mids.
Totally agree but as fans we mustn’t put too much pressure on this kid, if United was a settled well run, well oiled machine he would maybe get 5 or 6 games this season as I see it now, he’ll probably badly play 15-20 games this season. And as well as he does he’ll make mistakes as he’s so young.
He's great, but let's give him a break when he has the inevitable poor game or even a full period of poor form and remember he's still basically a kid. There's no questioning his ability or mentality though. Hopefully he develops properly here.
Didn't think he was as good as some are saying, but was impressed he made the mistake last game and didn't seem to let it affect his performance in this one.
He was still constantly wanting to take the ball and dropping bsck to make sure he was available. Had to deal with some absolutely ridiculoys hospital balls amd didnt panic. The only player we have other than Casemiro who does this.
He was still constantly wanting to take the ball and dropping bsck to make sure he was available. Had to deal with some absolutely ridiculoys hospital balls amd didnt panic. The only player we have other than Casemiro who does this.
He should shoot as soon as he crosses into the opposition half
Things people should be raving about:
- the opponents and names Mainoo is out there competing against
- He's got 5 games under his belt as a professional, but he plays so well people critique him like he's been a pro for years and has arrived here as a key young signing.
- His teammates trust him with the ball at all times. Often when a youngster enters a team, they are ignored or played around a fair few times per half, this never happens to Mainoo. He has team deference at 18, with 5 games under his belt.
- He has shown his constitution is that of an aged pro - he makes a big mistake that ultimately cost a goal in the last game yet goes back out there and is un-phased, still playing with and showing for the ball. Aged pros sometimes shirk responsibility and lose confidence for a while after a big mistake. Mainoo just goes about the next game with the same certainty of purpose and resolve.
- He's only just stepped up to a level of football that is a multitude of order harder than the unders and yet he's able to find space and time in the same way he did playing against massively inferior opponents just last season. To put this into perspective: even some quality pros who go on to be special players in the PL take 6 months to a year of adjustment before they can find their feet in the way Mainoo has literally picked up instantaneously. This is a quality I feel posters don't comprehend the significance of, in fact, Mainoo is so seamless with it that what he's doing in this regard is taken for granted, unwittingly.
- He is 18, being given one of the biggest and hardest responsibilities and roles on the pitch. Youngsters usually come through and are immediately dropped into flank positions on the pitch; you can count the number of teenagers playing dead centre of the pitch for big clubs on your fingers.
I don't feel the need to post about him often because to me, he's a given and it's a matter of supplementing him with players on his level or above, but I do find the comments about him and how he is somewhat taken for granted already, to be intriguing enough to lurk his threads. United have a 4 or 5 carat diamond on their hands and some still think they're looking at a cubic zirconia.
- the opponents and names Mainoo is out there competing against
- He's got 5 games under his belt as a professional, but he plays so well people critique him like he's been a pro for years and has arrived here as a key young signing.
- His teammates trust him with the ball at all times. Often when a youngster enters a team, they are ignored or played around a fair few times per half, this never happens to Mainoo. He has team deference at 18, with 5 games under his belt.
- He has shown his constitution is that of an aged pro - he makes a big mistake that ultimately cost a goal in the last game yet goes back out there and is un-phased, still playing with and showing for the ball. Aged pros sometimes shirk responsibility and lose confidence for a while after a big mistake. Mainoo just goes about the next game with the same certainty of purpose and resolve.
- He's only just stepped up to a level of football that is a multitude of order harder than the unders and yet he's able to find space and time in the same way he did playing against massively inferior opponents just last season. To put this into perspective: even some quality pros who go on to be special players in the PL take 6 months to a year of adjustment before they can find their feet in the way Mainoo has literally picked up instantaneously. This is a quality I feel posters don't comprehend the significance of, in fact, Mainoo is so seamless with it that what he's doing in this regard is taken for granted, unwittingly.
- He is 18, being given one of the biggest and hardest responsibilities and roles on the pitch. Youngsters usually come through and are immediately dropped into flank positions on the pitch; you can count the number of teenagers playing dead centre of the pitch for big clubs on your fingers.
I don't feel the need to post about him often because to me, he's a given and it's a matter of supplementing him with players on his level or above, but I do find the comments about him and how he is somewhat taken for granted already, to be intriguing enough to lurk his threads. United have a 4 or 5 carat diamond on their hands and some still think they're looking at a cubic zirconia.
Outstanding.