Man Utd’s ‘homegrown’ player continuously proves his ability and it is not an exaggeration to say that Mainoo is what Ten Hag is looking for.
Manchester United spent much of Erik ten Hag’s first summer in charge trying to sign Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona. The new boss has nurtured the midfielder’s development at Ajax and sees him as key to implementing the style of play he wants United to implement.
De Jong’s ability to receive the ball from the defense and quickly go forward, overcoming pressure with composure, has made Ten Hag very desirable. United are prepared to pay Barca 85 million euros ($93 million/£73 million) for him. And when they learned De Jong was not interested in leaving Catalunya for Manchester, they continued to try to convince him for more than a month. Finally, they gave up at the end of August and signed Casemiro, a great player, but with a very different style than De Jong.
Until Casemiro’s worrying drop in form this season, he had lifted United’s competitive spirit and brought more strength and tenacity to the midfield, but their style of play remained much the same as before. They still lack someone like De Jong who can lead their transition into a team that wants to play flexibly, but last summer they decided not to go for a mobile defensive midfielder like the Dutchman. Lan.
The reason is because they know they have a midfielder of their own, a boy named Kobbie Mainoo, who has had the opportunity to play first team football and is ready to play more. After recovering from a bizarre ankle injury that delayed his progression into the first team by four months, Mainoo finally made his full Premier League debut against Everton on Sunday, and the 18-year-old age looks like the most comfortable player on the field.
After just 72 minutes of play, it appeared United had found the player they were looking for when they began their unsuccessful quest to sign De Jong. Mainoo may be young and inexperienced, but he has the ability to change the Red Devils’ style of play and save their season.
It has been more than 10 months since Mainoo’s last appearance for United in a Carabao Cup tie against Charlton Athletic and in that match, just 17 years old at the time, the young man was still finding his way to the game. He has the added advantages that United are flying high, playing at Old Trafford and facing a team two divisions below.
Sunday’s match had a completely different atmosphere, with Everton fans protesting the 10-point drop and their team playing with determination. It was not a match for the faint of heart, but Mainoo became a model of calm.
“He came on at Goodison Park, in what could have been one of the most ferocious atmospheres for many years in a hostile environment, and he looked absolutely brilliant,” said former United captain Gary Neville said on Sky Sports. “We know he’s excellent, we know he has talent, but he looks outstanding in that environment. I always evaluate players when it’s the most difficult part of the game. When Manchester United struggled the most in the first half, just before the break, for about 20 minutes, I think he was the only player who appeared, the only player who still looked like himself.”
Mainoo led United’s attacking build-up from the back of the field, regularly claiming the ball from defenders and scanning the surrounding area before receiving the ball, helping The Red Devils retain the ball for long periods and prevent Everton attacks.
He finished the match with the highest pass completion rate (82 percent) of all United players on the field, completing 38 passes, just four behind Diogo Dalot, who finished top of the table. for the away team but played 20 more minutes than his teenage teammate.
Only Bruno Fernandes, the only attacking midfielder or striker, played more passes than Mainoo. If he can repeat his performance at Goodison, United could be a completely different team to what we have seen throughout this season, winning hard-fought against the weakest opponents in the division. and were outperformed by Brighton, Manchester City and Tottenham.
Ten Hag admits that Mainoo could open the door to a completely new style of play, different from the reactive approach United have adopted during his time in charge. “Sometimes you have to adjust and be more flexible. But if we have the players on the field, we can fill the positions with the players available, I know that we can play very good football ,” he said at Goodison.
“We want to be comfortable and play from the back of the field – with the first three goals and the third we saw that. We want to show initiative both with the ball and without the ball.”