Kobbie Mainoo’s comeback under Michael Carrick has been the biggest story of Man Utd’s season, but it’s still missing a key detail.
The way Kobbie Mainoo has come back into the starting XI after Michael Carrick’s appointment has made Ruben Amorim look very silly.
So impressive has he been that he made a successful late run into the England squad, where he played alongside Elliot Anderson.
The current version of Mainoo is already brilliant, but it’s still missing a key detail that put him on the path to superstardom when he broke out at Old Trafford.
Kobbie Mainoo tackles Joao Palhinha
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The greatest comparison Kobbie Mainoo will ever receive
THIS is a player Manchester United must build around!
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Kobbie Mainoo can be a final-third threat
Mainoo’s debut season was special for the maturity with which he held together the United midfield.
However, the memorable moments from that season are the goals he scored to win United games that they had no right to win.
Mainoo’s final-third abilities went under the radar due to his impressive skills on the ball, as he perfected dropping his shoulder in the left half-space and curling a ball inside the far post.
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The goal against Wolves comes to mind, which is why it’s mind-boggling to know that Mainoo’s last goal came against Lyon in the mad game at Old Trafford last season.
He came alive in the box in that game as well, jinking his way past a couple of challenges before placing the ball into the goal.
It is after this goal that he dropped an iconic quote, where he said that “a yard feels like a mile” when the ball drops to you in the box.
He said he just keeps calm and slots it in, which is the kind of composure and understanding you expect from a seasoned striker, not a young midfielder.
He clearly has all the tools to become a 10-goal-a-season player; Carrick must unleash him.
Michael Carrick must unleash Mainoo as a goal threat
Carrick deserves credit for restoring Mainoo to the United XI, and the player has repaid that trust, but it’s time to kick on now.
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Seedorf/Mainoo
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The comeback tour is over, and the development tour begins now, starting with recapturing the goalscoring form he showed early in his career.
Carrick can take the first step towards it by allowing Mainoo to roam further forward, on the edge of the attacking box when United are on offense.
By using a lopsided full-back system, Carrick already uses a back three to keep transitions in check, so there’s no reason why Mainoo can’t fly forward.
Carrick can even use Mazraoui as an inverted left-back and Dalot at right-back to fortify the midfield when United have the ball, allowing Mainoo to leave his position and smell the ball in the final third.
His “smell” for the goal is highly underrated, and it’s a guarantee that he will help himself to a goal or two every few games if he finds himself in those areas.
This is the same player who Amorim thought had a future as one of his No. 10s, more than as a deeper midfielder.
In a 4-2-3-1 under Carrick, he can unleash the best of both worlds for Mainoo.
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