4 hours Ago By [email protected] (Jacob Leeks)
Ruben Amorim has hinted that Kobbie Mainoo's future lies in one of the No.10 roles in his Manchester United system. Mainoo had been one of the few bright points of the final months of Erik ten Hag's reign as manager, after breaking into the first team over the second half of last season.
But the midfielder has struggled for game-time under Amorim. The 19-year-old had completed 90 minutes just three times since the Portuguese coach's arrival heading into Thursday's trip to FCSB. But he was handed the chance to impress from No.
10, which he took from both hands. He scored once and provided the assist for another on what was his first major European start for United, a feat that only Wayne Rooney has achieved since 2004. Mainoo's impressive performance certainly caught the eye of Amorim.
"The Kobbie position today, we need time to understand the players, he was struggling a lot defending as a midfielder," he said. "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.
Kobbie Mainoo played in a different position, with more freedom, more near the box. He’s so technical, he can change the game there. "So, I think it’s a good position for him, we will see.
But I’m happy to see Kobbie enjoy the game more. Sometimes, he’s worrying about the recovery [runs], trying to defend and I know that he’s trying. Today, I felt Kobbie enjoyed the game more and I am happy for that.
” United's 2-0 win sent them automatically through to the last 16 of this year's Europa League . And Amorim was quick to praise Mainoo for his link up play as the game progressed. “We played quite well but a bit more slowly, also the opposition were really close in the first half and they covered all the spaces.
They pressed the three defenders with just one player but we’ve managed to create some chances," he added. "We didn’t score but then, in the second half, you can see the opponents getting tired and slower when covering the space. We had more space with Kobbie between the lines and one-on-one with Amad and the pace of Alejandro Garnacho.
"I think it helped an awful lot. We managed to score two and we should score more. We had positions, sometimes four v two, and we have to do more with this kind of play.
"It’s really massive for us. We are in the next stage, we are going to prepare for the next stage, but the most important thing now is to recover. Sunday, we have a game with our fans and we have to be ready for that.
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