Kobbie Mainoo is a role model for any young talent in the Man United academy hoping to progress at Carrington.
The addition of Kobbie Mainoo’s name to the squad at Anfield actually brings peace of mind to Manchester United fans.
Mainoo has a mature personality and ability to handle situations. This 18-year-old player starts at Goodison Park, not afraid of the harsh noise at Galatasaray and the pressured atmosphere at Anfield. Mainoo passed all three tests.
Although Mainoo’s appearance in the match against Bayern Munich in the final round of the Champions League group stage this season was a failure for Man Utd, it was also a warm-up for the second match on Merseyside in many months.
Mainoo is one of the youngest players on the field but plays the ball wisely. Mainoo made a sharp pass to Alejandro Garnacho, unfortunately there was no goal. The 18-year-old young talent should have had the first assist of his career.
“He looks like a Manchester City player,” Gary Neville said after Mainoo’s man-of-the-match performance against Everton last month. If a Man United fan can put aside their ego, they will take it as a compliment.
Manchester Evening News affirms that Mainoo is to Man United what Pedri is to Barcelona and Frenkie de Jong is to Ajax. It’s clear that Man United has lacked a midfielder who knows how to move the ball since Michael Carrick retired.
Christian Eriksen is only a short-term solution. In Mainoo, Ten Hag has a long-term solution. Mainoo could have contributed more to Man Utd, if he had not suffered a serious injury at the beginning of the season.
If Casemiro is considered to represent the past, with the old transfer policy at Man United, then Mainoo is the present and the future. The development of this player is the plan that Man Utd wants for budding talented young players to really have a chance in the first team.
Eriksen is back in training and remains an invaluable option in midfield. He has 18 months left on his contract and is the ideal player to mentor Mainoo like Carrick did with James Garner.
At Anfield, the referee penalized Mainoo for fouling Wataru Endo in the 27th minute. Quite calmly, Mainoo did not allow another foul throughout the entire match, before giving way to Hannibal Mejbri in the 82nd minute.
The image of Mainoo describing the sudden conflict within the Liverpool midfield is a beautiful moment. It can be seen that Mainoo’s performance is really promising. This player must definitely be on the starting lineup list again when Man Utd faces West Ham in round 18 of the Premier League.