Kobbie Mainoo has had a breakthrough season for Manchester United with the youngster fast becoming an integral part of the team from midseason onwards.
After 24 impressive Premier League appearances the youngster seems to have proved himself as the central midfielder player Manchester United has been searching for for many years.
Kobbie Mainoo among the best already
There is a reason that there are comparisons to Sergio Busquets, even by Manchester United’s own ex-player Louis Saha.
Delving deeply into his data it becomes clear that this is one of the best young English talents for many years.
Comparing him to other world class midfielders in his team like Casemiro and Christian Eriksen he has impressive data, especially for a player of his age.
According to FB Ref he is incredibly useful with the ball with the best dribbles completed data compared to the two veterans.
Also, despite playing in a deep role for the team he has the second best “Through Balls per 90” in the squad and has the fifth best goal creating action per 90 of all Manchester United players.
Mainoo evades the press
But arguably the most value Kobbie Mainoo brings to the team is his ability to make and break play. Manchester United had problems with pressing last season.
The team were tenth for PPDA, a pressing measure, and were tenth in the league for high turnovers.
The midfielder was able to improve things for the team as he had 3.22 “Tackles and Interceptions” per 90 and puts him as one of the top performing regulars in the team.
Kobbie Mainoo’s pressing ability is arguably the best in the team with the best “Attacking 3rd Tackles” made per 90 of players with more than 10 appearances made this season.
In fact, his data of “Attacking 3rd Tackles” is so impressive he is in the top six per cent of midfielders in Europe’s top 5 leagues.
Tactically Mainoo is wise beyond his years too. He spots important patterns of play in-game and often finds the perfect pass to progress the ball.
He is able to beat the press and progress the attack of the team, enabling the team to work their way into the attacking third.
Worry over Kobbie Mainoo game time
One worry that has come to the fore in the mind of many Manchester United fans is the fact that Mainoo has already had a “long term” injury so early on in his career.
During the preseason of the 2023/24 he was ruled out with an ankle injury that saw him miss 23 games.
However, the good news is that after this extended time out he has been able to recover with no re-injury.
The biggest concern when a player is out for an extended period is either a direct re-injury or a connected injury that can see them struggle to maintain fitness. But this has not been the case.
Also he has already shown significant resilience this season with knocks and niggles through the campaign but has managed to keep these under control and play through them.
The most important thing now is the club needs to future proof the player. Manchester United need to ensure a good pre-season for the player.
This enhances fitness and also works towards injury prevention. This is vitally important as he missed this preparative work last season due to this ankle injury.
Beyond this season the club will have to protect him from overplaying. A case in point is Pedri who was overplayed by Barcelona and it has led to injury issues.
FIFPro explained in a 2023 report about the dangers of overexposing players that Pedri was put at risk as “playing in 78 matches over a period of 12 months with virtually no opportunities for prolonged rest in-between… highlights the necessity for mandatory safeguards and enforcement mechanisms to protect the well-being”.
If Manchester United want to protect the talent of Mainoo they must ensure that his load management is properly taken care of.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/s3C6qwT