Kobbie Mainoo followed Erik ten Hag’s message perfectly during Manchester United vs Wigan

Kobbie Mainoo put in another monstrous performance in a United shirt last night against Wigan Athletic and once again showed maturity beyond his years as Ten Hag entrusted him to control the game.

Manchester United are through to the fourth round of the FA Cup following a comfortable 2-0 away victory at Wigan Athletic. One of the stars of last night’s game was once again Kobbie Mainoo, whose performance was heavily praised by both his teammates and the opposition.

The 18-year-old has been a regular in Erik ten Hag’s squads this season and his shift in the midfield against the League One side was immense, and it cemented the Englishman as one of the best players on the pitch.

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Former United striker Danny Webber noted how Ten Hag nurtured Mainoo’s dominance in the middle of the park, saying to MUTV:

“I saw Ten Hag pull over Kobbie Mainoo after we scored and have a word in his ear to say, ‘keep your discipline, be professional’, and that’s great.”

United’s No. 37 did exactly what his manager asked, boasting the joint second-highest amount of touches for the Reds (86), tied with Bruno Fernandes and only beaten by Raphaël Varane, but he wasn’t just getting on the ball he was effective when he had it.

The youngster could be forgiven if he was used to Premier League standard pitches, however, the slightly substandard (being polite) DW Stadium didn’t seem to faze him as he completed 61/68 passes which is a staggering, 90% success rate.

Mainoo relished his defensive duties as the deeper midfielder, winning his tackles 75% of the time (6/8), as well as being a nuisance for The Tics in his ground duels by coming out on top 10/13 times. Kobbie Mainoo did all of this and only committed one foul in the full 90 minutes!

Wigan Athletic’s starting 11 are probably grateful that this is the only time they will face the Red Devils this season as Kobbie Mainoo ran everybody ragged and proved that United midfield should be built with him as the anchor.