Kobbie Mainoo doesn’t get flustered, whether on the pitch or off it.
That much was clear as he faced the written media before the FA Cup final tomorrow (Saturday). This was the first long interview Mainoo has conducted since breaking into the Manchester United first team last December at age 18, but he answered our questions with the same cool-headed approach he uses every weekend when wearing the United shirt.
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Asked at the end of this interview whether he ever gets fazed, the 19-year-old was to the point: “I just try to take it all in my stride.”
Staying calm with a challenging weekend on the horizon is impressive.
Saturday’s final offers United a chance to reclaim some lost pride after a difficult season. A win would see them qualify for the 2024-25 Europa League despite finishing just eighth domestically, but he and his team-mates will surely have to be at their best to compete with four-in-a-row title winners and current FA Cup holders Manchester City.
It’s a task many outsiders treat as a forgone conclusion, but Mainoo, team-mate Diogo Dalot, and others speak of a belief around Carrington that United could surprise their neighbours at Wembley.
“It’s been tough (this season),” Mainoo says. “(But) The last couple of games, we have taken some good results and we have to take that into the final. We have a good team spirit, players who can lead the team and bring real energy. In a final, anything can happen, and with the fans we have, we can give ourselves a real chance.
“We are not coming to take part, we are coming to win. We know they (City) are doing amazing, but we have to prepare as best we can.”
Since being introduced to the starting line-up for the first time against Everton on November 26, Mainoo has become one of the most valued members of Erik ten Hag’s squad. The hype machine around the Stockport-born academy graduate has grown with every impressive performance.
Before then, though, Mainoo had to battle against badly-timed adversity. An ankle injury during the club’s pre-season tour in the United States last summer meant he had to wait a few months longer for his planned introduction to senior football, but his self-belief never wavered.
“It was a tough one to take and took me a few days, but once I’d got my head around it, it was just about focusing on getting fit,” says Mainoo. “There was nothing I could do about it, I couldn’t go back and change it, so it was just about focusing on my recovery.
“I have good family around me who were supporting and helping me after surgery, so I was focused on getting back fit and in the manager’s mind.”
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Spanish lessons over Zoom were his extracurricular hobby of choice during the physical rehabilitation.
Mainoo says he was “nervous” going into that game at Goodison Park, but once he understood he was in the starting lineup, he focused on giving the best account of himself: “Play my way. I’ve played my way through the academy and I’ve not changed for the occasion. If I do get nervous and stuff, you start to change.”
When talking to Mainoo, it becomes apparent how he can compartmentalise the expectations.
He sits calmly, with his arms crossed and a broad smile. Mainoo idolised Wayne Rooney as a boy, even if his friends said he resembled another United striker, Danny Welbeck, due to a high-top fade haircut.
Just two years on, he looks different from the player who helped United win the FA Youth Cup trophy in 2022. He has had a growth spurt this season and now stands around 6ft (182cm). His upper body has broadened, and his arms are better equipped to fend off opposition players who try to rob him of the ball in Premier League games.
Success or not, he is not one to get carried away by individual moments. His descriptions of the goals he scored against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool speak for that.
“Wolves: when I got the ball, I just saw the defender coming out, so I just wanted to ’meg him,” he explains. “Once I got the ’meg, I felt it had opened up and Omari (Forson) had made the run, so it was just on to get the shot on. So that was a nice first Premier League goal.
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The art of the nutmeg
7. Kobbie Mainoo v Wolves pic.twitter.com/ccjACOaiPQ
— Premier League (@premierleague) May 23, 2024
“Liverpool: when the ball came to me, I wanted the touch to go there, so I could have a lot of options on what to do. But when it fell the way it did, the shot was on, so I took it.”
How did he know the shot was on when he had his back to the target? Mainoo smiles and offers a small shrug.
“The goal doesn’t move. You know where the goal is, so when the touch went there, I knew it was on. There were a lot of players, so the ‘keeper couldn’t see a lot.”
A spectacular strike 💫
This Kobbie Mainoo special has been voted our April Goal of the Month 👏#MUFC pic.twitter.com/Qh8GyYby51
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 3, 2024
Mainoo’s mother and cousin were in attendance at Old Trafford for that goal against Liverpool last month.
He repeatedly mentions his family. His parents have attended nearly every game he has played this season for United and England. He is very much the same boy, raised in the Cheadle Hulme area of Stockport, just south from Manchester, and developed in the local youth team of Cheadle & Gatley.
“Obviously, on the pitch, a lot has changed — a lot more people know my name now — but at home, with the family I have around me, they keep me grounded and nothing changes. When I try to go to the corner shop, I get a bit more attention but, other than that…
“With the family I have around me, they’re very much keeping me level-headed. I’m just trying to take every game as it comes and it’s good we have a busy schedule, we have a lot of games. I’m not really focused on anything else other than the football.
“When I’m at home, I’m home. But when I’m at the club, I’m fully focused.”
His composure on the ball across his 31 senior appearances this season has been a bright spot in a difficult campaign for United. He has quickly become their best midfielder for receiving possession under pressure.
“I always liked time on the ball when I was younger and I played futsal and stuff,” Mainoo explains. “I always liked the ball at my feet and dribbling and stuff. I got comfortable doing that. I started to take joy from running at players or shielding the ball from players.”
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He’s a shrewd passer, working as the connective tissue between the back four and front four. There are questions about his best position but his answer is succinct: “Anywhere on the pitch for Manchester United, I don’t mind.”
Mainoo is not yet the finished article but there is hope that he, along with Rasmus Hojlund, 21, and 19-year-old Alejandro Garnacho, will be part of United’s next rebuilding process. The photograph of the trio celebrating Garnacho’s goal against West Ham United in February highlighted the promising talent within the squad.
“I always ask ‘Garna’ before the game what the celebration’s going to be if he scores,” says Mainoo of that photo. “And he said he wasn’t going to tell me.
“I saw him jump up on the advertising board when he scored, and me and Rasmus just jumped up there with him.”
The trio — along with forward Amad, also 21 — have grown close throughout this season.
The next one will come with new challenges as opposition scouts pay more attention to his strengths and weaknesses. Premier League teams have already sent more physical players after Mainoo to bully him off the ball, limiting his effectiveness. He knows his emergence has been welcomed as there have been so many other issues elsewhere in the team and relishes the opportunity to help try to put things right for United.
“This early in my career, I just want to help us win,” Mainoo says. “As long as I’ve given everything to the club, then however my career ends, I’ll be happy.”
Although the sailing has been choppy in his debut season, Mainoo has made it through.
He will be needed to help steer United towards a better tomorrow in the years to come.
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Diogo Dalot on becoming vital for Man Utd: 'Erik showed me that I could do it'
(Top photo: Manchester United)
