The next Kobbie: Manchester United’s newest magical midfielder is at heart of club’s resurgence

It was like Kobbie Mainoo knew. The right place and the right time to pinch the goal that secured the FA Cup title for Manchester United and the season on a bright note. How he reached the right place at the right time tells you all you want to know about the 18-year-old first-seasoner with the vision and intelligence of a battle-hardened professional.

The move began with Marcus Rashford, a few yards past the half-line, twisting a precise crossfield pass to Alejandro Garnacho on the outside right. Mainoo was ambling on the opposite flank. In front of him were three City shirts, whose sole ambition seemed to be stopping Bruno Fernandes slicing through the middle. Rashford made a perfect dummy run, luring away John Stones, providing Fernandes the space to caress the pass from Garnacho towards Mainoo, lurking invisibly. The youngster, spinning away from Kyle Walker, his quasi-marker, stabbed the ball past goalkeeper Stephen Ortega.

The City backline wore a forlorn look. They stared at each other, wondering how they left Mainoo untracked, how he roved unspotted. He was not supposed to do what he did. He is a midfielder tasked to win the ball back, designed to provide, deputed to repel attacks. Yet, he was where a winger should have been, and scoring a goal like a striker would have. But Mainoo sensed the moment, before he seized the moment. He saw the goal even before he scored the goal. He carves his space, he charts his path, with that rare gift of intuition, that separates the greats from the best. He is not great yet, far from it, just in his first season. But every time he finds the ball, or the ball finds him, he conveys, in an impulse, that he is someone destined to scale heights.

The praises have been overflowing. Paul Scholes, his legendary predecessor, admits Mainoo is ten times better than he was at 18. His first touch has blown over another former player Paul Merson. “He makes sure that the first touch gets the ball into the right place to set up the next pass. It looks like he has time because he does not need two or three touches, he has set it up with one. That saves those milliseconds when people are pressing him,” the Sky Sports pundit explained.

How has Bruno Fernandes seen Kobbie Mainoo here!? 🤯#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/0Kc6ky3quZ

— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) May 26, 2024

He always seems to possess those milliseconds, be it when he is intercepting, tackling, passing or winning a duel. You don’t often see him lunge into a tackle, or clatter onto the head of an opponent, or mistime a pass. He could be a dream for the launderers of the club. For, he gets the dirty job done without getting his shirt soiled. The numbers he has racked up are impressive—five goals in 39 games, one each against City and Liverpool, third most successful tackles and interceptions in the league (behind Conor Gallagher and Declan Rice), more duels won than Arsenal virtuoso Rice. In no time, he made his England debut, and manager Gareth Southgate could not ignore him for the Euros the next month.

His graph has soared dramatically fast, but he was always touted to succeed. He was four when his father, an immigrant from Ghana, enrolled at Cheadle & Gatley’s Junior Football Club, near his hometown Cheadle Hulme in Stockport. In little time, the coaches had to make rules for him, that he should shoot only with the weaker foot, should only assist and not score goals, and so and so forth. He was then slotted with older buys, and one day a coach told his father “he can’t challenge his son any more” and that he should put him in a bigger club. And soon he got into Failsworth Dynamos, based in the birthplace of United part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and where scouts of both managers sniff around. He began training with both academies, but in the end chose United. One of his childhood coaches Paul Newton told The Athletic: “Any time we went anywhere — I am not joking — if I turned right, I had eight scouts walking towards me. If I turned left, I had another eight coming. I didn’t know which way to go.”

In the early days, he was a forward, often on the right wing or as a centre forward. But the coaches of United’s youth team saw virtues that would better suit a midfielder, “because he always made good decisions”, as Nick Cox, United’s academy director, once said. He didn’t have the build of a robust box-to-box midfielder, but he has not only muscled up in the last few years but also made up for it with his vision and technical brilliance.

When he first broke into the senior team—after Erik Ten Hag felt he was too comfortable for the U21s—the manager felt he was hesitant to demand the ball and pressing with intensity. “But he is someone who listens, is willing to learn and works really hard. He is almost progressing from game to game. It’s wonderful to see and I hope he stays calm and humble like he is. He is determined,” the manager recently observed.

It’s little exaggeration to say that Mainoo was the lone ray of light in a season of gloom. He scored the goal that offered hope of renewal for a fallen giant, tossing and turning in the waves of uncertainty. That goal changed the mood of United’s season. It could change the club’s fortunes too. And the goal scorer could be at the heart of United’s resurgence.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.