Will be back in the first team when Amoron’s sacked in a few weeks.

comment by Darren The King Fletcher (U10026)
posted 37 seconds ago
Will be back in the first team when Amoron’s sacked in a few weeks.
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Maybe but if that doesn’t happen I fear for Kobbie.

Yeah, I suspect he’ll push for a loan in January if he’s not getting game time by that point.

comment by Darren The King Fletcher (U10026)
posted 7 minutes ago
Yeah, I suspect he’ll push for a loan in January if he’s not getting game time by that point.
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Agreed. I get that he’s only 20 but at the same time he’s too good not to be playing at all. It took 2 injuries to give him 45 mins against Burnley and he was on the bench vs City even with those 2 players still out.

Yeah I think it’s a good thing if he wants to go on loan as it shows he still wants to stay at the club but is prioritising match time.

Regardless of what happens with the manager it may not be a bad idea to do this anyway and bring in a central midfielder. As much as I like Mainoo, he’s just not at the level we really need in the middle of the pitch right now.

He still has plenty of time to develop to reach that level, so a loan and a new cm could be a good solution at the moment and then see where he’s at when he comes back.

I agree. The only way Mainoo works in this system is if he has a far better version of Ugarte beside him.

I haven’t seen enough of Baleba to make that call.

I don’t think he’s at the level even in a properly set up midfield either. Understandably, given his age, he’s got flaws in his game and isn’t consistent enough with the things he’s good at to impact the midfield enough. I thought this the season he broke through under ETH, as midfield was still a major problem back then when he was playing much better than the last couple of seasons.

comment by The Process (U20671)
posted 1 hour, 8 minutes ago
I agree. The only way Mainoo works in this system is if he has a far better version of Ugarte beside him.

I haven’t seen enough of Baleba to make that call.
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Overrated. Mainoo playing at Brighton would be who we would be chasing now.

comment by Darren The King Fletcher (U10026)
posted 5 hours, 52 minutes ago
Will be back in the first team when Amoron’s sacked in a few weeks.
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Im sorry we delayed your salvation Daz

I have said for some time that Mainoo's lack of pace will stop him from fulfilling his potential.

I read somewhere last week that Amorim says this is why he is not getting the game time at the moment.

We've had two weekends in a row Amorim could've moved Bruno into the 10 role and played Mainoo, as Cunha was injured and Amad is in poor form.

I don't really understand the reluctance.

comment by The Process (U20671)
posted 15 hours, 56 minutes ago
I agree. The only way Mainoo works in this system is if he has a far better version of Ugarte beside him.
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I agree, but the truth is that goes for Bruno too.

We really need a player like Rodri, Mcallister, Caicedo, Tonali....

comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 8 minutes ago
I have said for some time that Mainoo's lack of pace will stop him from fulfilling his potential.

I read somewhere last week that Amorim says this is why he is not getting the game time at the moment.


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that would make some sense until you see Casemiro lumbering around the midfield. Bruno is hardly linford christie either.

comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 17 minutes ago
I have said for some time that Mainoo's lack of pace will stop him from fulfilling his potential.

I read somewhere last week that Amorim says this is why he is not getting the game time at the moment.


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Re the second part, you could apply that to all of our midfield except Ugarte but he's by far the worst footballer of the lot.

Yes, but Mainoo is particularly slow.

With the right positioning and anticipation it shouldn't matter too much though. He isn't the best at getting box to box though, and he seems to drift (so does Bruno).

Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick weren't quick either. Very quick with their thinking and passing though of course.

In an alternative universe we could be lining up this season in a 433 with Baleba, Mainoo and Bruno just ahead of them. Genuinely think that midfield 3 would have got us very close to the final CL spot come the spring.

I'll be furious if we end up losing him just to keep a manager who is constantly going to be 4-5 games away from the sack anyway such has been his poor start as boss and how football goes these days.

I see way more potential in Mainoo than I do Amorim sadly.

I will be the first one to admit that I wanted to see something new (the 343) but in hindsight I just don't think it suits us and if we're to stick with it we need to buy at least another 6-7 players across the squad to make it work fairly well. Where as in a 433 I don't think we're as far away.

I *hope* that Amorim has a plan to raise Mainoo to the level he wants, and we're seeing some of the tough love that Fergie used to dish out to players whose talent he recognised but wanted to push further. Right now it seems like he might just not fancy Mainoo over other options, and recognises that we're currently desperate for points, so he's looking very short term rather than thinking about squad development. I'd certainly give Mainoo a lot more minutes, but that could be my academy product bias talking. When we consider the players getting minutes instead of him, Bruno has superior progressive passing and while not that fast, works his socks off out of possession. Casemiro isn't quicker than Mainoo, but he's a good tackler, a bit more canny about when to step in, also has better long passing (at the moment) and is a greater aerial asset in both boxes. Ugarte is more useful OOP.

The big question is really why we don't try Bruno as a 10, especially in Cunha's absence. Seems like Amorim really wants dribblers as 10s, and doesn't think we have enough ball progression in midfield without Bruno there.

I hope that in the kinder run of fixtures we have ahead of us, we accumulate enough points and confidence that he starts to give Mainoo opportunities.

comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 32 minutes ago
I have said for some time that Mainoo's lack of pace will stop him from fulfilling his potential.

I read somewhere last week that Amorim says this is why he is not getting the game time at the moment.


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And Casemiro is a road runner.

It seems Amorim makes his mind up about certain players very quickly and doesn't budge. Just like his tactics, he can't think creatively to leverage each players strengths.

Casemiro's saving grace for his lack of pace and clumsiness on the ball is that he's one of our best attacking options in and around the box. He's got the knack of getting into great areas and pinching a goal. Not enough to label him a good signing by any means but at least it's something.

I haven't seen anything from Ugarte so far. I don't think he's particularly good at anything. Even defensively he doesn't really stand out for me.

And yes, he should have been allowed to go out on loan when he requested it. In a WC year, his hopes of making the team are now pretty much 0.

I like Mainoo and I hope he has a great future at United but is this version of him really good enough to start every week? I don't think it is. I think he benefitted from standing out in a poor team (no tittering at the back) under Ten Hag more than anything.

He is only 20 though and for those of us that laud Paul Scholes we need to remember he too wasn't always the first name on the team sheet. Indeed Nicky Butt, a fine player of course, would start quite a few games instead of him in midfield in the early part of his career.

It's a long season though and chances will come. Mainoo will just have to be patient IMO. If Amorim gets the back three right in terms of them being far more aggressive etc then perhaps the two in the middle isn't a major issue and Mainoo will get some game time there. It's up to him to show he can do it.

comment by Onana_banana_fi_fa_fofana (U20611)
posted 5 minutes ago
And yes, he should have been allowed to go out on loan when he requested it. In a WC year, his hopes of making the team are now pretty much 0.
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How on earth can we afford to loan him out though? We'd be one injury away from playing the same 2 players in every single game. Even without European football that's not enough players.

It's very unfortunate for him though that the system is essentially giving him very few opportunities.

Still can't fathom why anyone would think Bruno Fernandes is better in CM either. He blatantly isn't. Even at the weekend his best moments came from being in very attacking positions, including his goal.

Crazy that we're putting an extra defender in ahead of Mainoo and still conceding lots of goals anyway. It ain't working.

comment by Onana_banana_fi_fa_fofana (U20611)
posted 10 minutes ago
And yes, he should have been allowed to go out on loan when he requested it. In a WC year, his hopes of making the team are now pretty much 0.
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I can clearly see why it's in the player's interest, but it would have been reckless from the club's point of view, unless we'd bought a CM. In preseason, Amorim typically played either Bruno + Casemiro or Mainoo + Ugarte. I think those represent the first choice and second choice for the respective destructive/creative roles in midfield. Mainoo isn't getting minutes because he's understudy to the player who always plays. But in the event of Bruno breaking his leg, not having Mainoo would be madness.

I like Mainoo and I hope he has a great future at United but is this version of him really good enough to start every week?

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Could literally say that about 5 other players who DO regularly start for us.

Does Dorgu deserve to start on the evidence of his performances? No. Does Bayindir? Does Luke Shaw? Does Casemiro/Ugarte? Nope!

If Amorim was sacked next week and we appointed a 433 coach again, Mainoo would walk back into this team for me. I'd be amazed if he didn't.

comment by Onana_banana_fi_fa_fofana (U20611)
posted 25 minutes ago

It seems Amorim makes his mind up about certain players very quickly and doesn't budge.
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I'm not sure there's much evidence to support this. He played Mainoo quite a lot last season. Maybe you've made up your mind about the manager very quickly?