Kobbie Mainoo has seen a meteoric rise at Manchester United but the young midfielder has massively struggled to cope with the new tactics and formation laid down by Ruben Amorim.
Under Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system, Mainoo has been forced to play in a CDM role, something that’s been really challenging for him. He’s been constantly bullied off the ball and in the previous couple of matches, the 19-year-old has been chasing shadows.
Against FCSB, Ruben Amorim changed a few things, including using Kobbie Mainoo in the No. 10 role. This small switch worked wonders for the youngster because he was beaming with confidence. Now, his manager has hinted that going forward, this could be a new role for him.
Amorim has told the press: “Everyone in England sees him as a very, very good player. He went to the Euro finals. It’s more the position, he’s not comfortable. The key point is the position.
“Against FCSB, in No. 10, Kobbie felt more happy to play. I felt it watching him, he was so happy on the pitch, and that is important for me, because if the players are happy they play better.”
“The Kobbie position today, we need time to understand the players, he was struggling a lot defending as a midfielder.
“Now more as a ten you can feel that he was so free, playing the ball near the box is really good, the small connections. We need time to work with the players and understand the best positions for them.”
Is Kobbie Mainoo set to play as an attacking midfielder?
On Thursday night, Mainoo played alongside Eriksen in the more advanced role and the youngster thrived in this newly allotted duty. He scored one and assisted the other goal for United along with a passing accuracy of 91%.
Since the start of the new year, the midfielder has been massively struggling to find his feet and at one point, it seemed like his future at the club was in doubt.
It’s hardly surprising that Kobbie Mainoo has found success further up the pitch, as he is a finesse player who enjoys carrying the ball forward and making intricate passes. Sitting deep and winning the ball off opponents is simply not his game.
The No. 10 role suits him perfectly because even when he was playing in the Premier League 2, Mainoo was a very attack-minded midfielder. During the 2022/23 season, he played 20 games for the academy out of which, only 4 were as a CDM.
Hopefully, this is the way forward for Manchester United, as Antony has left the club and Rashford has been frozen out. This creates an opportunity to deploy Kobbie Mainoo in a more advanced role for the remainder of the season.
Where will Bruno Fernandes play if Mainoo occupies the No. 10 role?
Bruno Fernandes has been an automatic selection in that No. 10 role for Ruben Amorim but if Kobbie Mainoo continues to shine there’s a fair chance that the manager will push Bruno further down the pitch.
Fernandes is a relentless runner who won’t mind sitting deep to support his defenders. Additionally, with the Portuguese international playing in central midfield, Manchester United will have a creative spark in the middle of the pitch—something that will be highly beneficial for quick counters and transitions.
Kobbie Mainoo as the AM with Bruno featuring alongside Ugarte might help solve a lot of problems for Ruben Amorim but we think the Manchester United manager will still try a few more combinations from now until the end of the season just to see which players perfectly fit into his system. And which ones need to be sold in the summer.
