Kobbie Mainoo might be struggling for playing time, but his situation at Manchester United isn’t as gloomy as many are painting it.
The 20-year-old lost his starting spot since the arrival of Ruben Amorim last November. Earlier this season, the Portuguese tactician explained that Mainoo will have to fight for a starting place against Bruno Fernandes.
Needless to say, this duel was never going to favour the England star, who has only made three appearances in the Premier League this season, all coming off the bench.
Kobbie Mainoo has already won over Amorim & Co
The youngster had already requested a loan move last August after realising that his chances of earning a starting spot had shrunk following the arrival of three new forwards, which resulted in a deeper role for Bruno.
Therefore, some sources in the British media expect Mainoo to try to slip away from the door once in January, especially if Amorim is still at the helm. His main suitors in the summer were Napoli, Real Madrid.
Nevertheless, Manchester United journalist Sully insists that the England international can still play an instrumental role in the current regime.
In his latest update on the Centre Devils, the Carrington insider reveals that Mainoo has left quite an impression on Amorim and his staff with his great professionalism and overall attitude. The Man Utd coaches are said to be ‘extremely impressed’ by the young player.
Mainoo’s potential new role could be key to Starting XI return
Sully adds that the midfielder is highly regarded at the club, and is now considered a role model for every United youngster who aspires to rise through the ranks and break into the first team.
In recent days, it has been revealed that the technical staff have been working on transforming Mainoo into a number 6. This manoeuvre would allow him to earn more playing time, as he’d be competing with the less-than-inspiring Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte, rather than Bruno.
But if this plan doesn’t bear its fruits, and the youngster fails to regain a starting spot, then a January move would well become a genuine possibility.
Amorim, Portuguese tactician? He is so tactically bereft of ideas a traffic cone could replace him.
If Amorin reverts to 4*3*3 or 4*3*1*2, Kobbie Mainoo will thrive. He will now play alongside other two midfielders, then he will play as one of the holding midfielders.
Whenever Amorim & his team say they want to try something new to fit into their useless system that is an indicaton of a bigger disaster. Mainoo is very good in a number of things but his ability and range of passing is at best less then 5% of Casemiro. So replacing Casemiro means there will be zero creativity in midfield. Move Bruno to a number 10 and play Mainoo along side Casemiro. Be bold enough to admit that a big mistake was made in wasting money buying 2 number 10s.
The system is useless, the gaffer is stubbornly rigid. Kobbie should just find valuable game time elsewhere in January if his talents are not appreciated. He is too good a player to sit on the bench.
Absolutely. Nothing remotely strategic about buying 2 no. 10s. in a club that already had a dominant creative player in Bruno. Add a fairly competent Zerkzee, and then Amad, also a useful 10. So wasteful.
I think amorin must go am a Kenyan must go is not big deal in kenya
Mainoo is a central or box to box midfielder and trying to change him to a number 6 defensive midfielder will not get the best from him. I will say again that both Mainoo and Fernandes would serve better in a 3 man midfield.
Casemiro as DF – Mainoo as Box to Box and- Fernandes as attacking midfield. If we played with 3 in midfield. We could climb that table faster than you could imagine.
We have the players to play a 4-3-3 but Amorim is just too stubborn to give in and INEOS are stupid enough to go along with this.
The problem is not amorim but the players.his system is simple,when his players loose the ball to the opponent’s they should recover it quickly.Another thing is covering the spaces left by overlapping wingbacks.anyway it’s a total football simply but technically
You forget three of our defenders are too slow if the ball is played overhead. Shaw, De Ligt and Maguire cannot recover quick enough for such balls. Kobbie is suited for box to box and has a few times played well in this role with his captain.
You can not put five defenders in the pitch and you expect to win amorim should get serious or go away