Michael Carrick has delivered the perfect advice for Kobbie Mainoo after his struggles at Manchester United last season.
Manchester United endured a dreadful campaign last season, with many players falling short of expectations under Ruben Amorim’s management.
Kobbie Mainoo, who was one of the standouts in the season beforehand, was limited to just five minutes in the Europa League final defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in Bilbao. It was a bitter end to a disappointing season.
It was a stark contrast to the previous year, when the young midfielder was named Man of the Match at Wembley after netting the winner in the FA Cup final against Manchester City.
Mainoo had burst onto the scene under Erik ten Hag, impressing with his composure and maturity in a side that often lacked cohesion.
But the past year has proven far more difficult. Questions are now being asked about his place under Amorim after those initial struggles under the Portuguese coach.
Carrick delivers the perfect advice for Mainoo
Michael Carrick is one of the best midfield players to grace the Old Trafford pitch and he has provided some important advice to Mainoo amidst these difficulties.
While a lot of talk is about solutions – changing roles, styles, improving specifics in his game – Carrick believes that the struggles Mainoo has experienced are simply a normal part of being a player.
The ex-Middlesborough manager spoke to Rio Ferdinand about the 20-year-old on his podcast and explained how he thinks the ‘scrutinising’ nature of the modern day would’ve made things more difficult for older players.
Instead of focusing on all of the different factors, Carrick simply believes that Mainoo should acknowledge that his difficulties are a normal part of a career and to have the stubbornness to keep believing that he can overcome them.
“Honestly I think it’s pretty normal,” Carrick said of Mainoo’s difficulties. “I think as a young player, you go back to when we were coming through, there are times when if it was as scrutinising and as extreme as it is now, we wouldn’t be nowhere near as good or would struggle, it’s a different world now.
“I think as a young player, in your first two, three, four years; you’re gonna have a time in that spell where it hits you and it doesn’t quite go to plan but that doesn’t mean that you don’t get there.
“Your ability, keep doing the right things, your talent… if you’ve got it, you’ve got it and he’s shown that he’s got it and he’s shown that he’s a breath of fresh air. The way he takes the ball and plays forward and commits people and can dribble, can pass.
“That doesn’t leave you and I think there’s just waves where it can come and go at times. I had it in my third year at West Ham, I was terrible. I came out the England squad. I just couldn’t put it together.
“I’m not saying he’s terrible, by the way, I think it’s a little bit different for him but so many players can have that.
“You need a little bit of stubbornness, to keep believing, It’s tough at times and I think you need people to stick with you, believe in you as well and trust you.
“I think we’re quite quick to from season to season or six months to six months to say, ‘ah, he’s good enough’ or ‘he’s not good enough’… we were given a lot more time and it was a bit more spread out.”
United’s struggles made things harder for Mainoo
Carrick hits the nail on the head. The problem at Old Trafford is not just down to the new-age of social media, however, even though it plays a huge role.
One big issue is that United as a team are underperforming. Youngsters like Mainoo should not be relied on so much when they are still developing as players but that is the situation the club has been in.
That means that his poor form has been highlighted more often since the club as a whole is not succeeding. It’s unfair that Mainoo has had to come into that kind of environment.
But as Carrick said, there is no doubt about Mainoo’s talents and he will manage to turn things around. There are very few players at the top level who haven’t gone through similar difficulties. It’s just that most of them aren’t in the spotlight at Manchester United.
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