8 months ago
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KOBBIE MAINOO is very calm and collected on the pitch and can cope with his newly-found Three Lions fame off it.
Manchester United’s prodigy is the talk of English football after he delivered a man-of-the-match display in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw with Belgium at Wembley.
EPAThe 18-year-old midfielder had only made his debut as a substitute against Brazil just three days earlier.
But Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag will come down hard on his teen star if Mainoo loses any focus in the countdown to the Euro 2024 finals.
Ten Hag said: “So far, he handles it very well.
“And if he crosses the line, I as a manager, we as coaches, will interfere but so far it is not necessary because just he wants to play football.
“He wants to win, improve, have fun on the pitch, be dominant, dictate the game and win the game.
“Everything that we’ve seen with his club he reproduced in an England shirt which isn’t always the case.
“He’s very calm, receives the ball so well under pressure, strong, and the benefits with the ball were clear to see.
“You can see he is taking everything in, talking to him tactically he seems able to take all those concepts on — you can see his comfort with the ball and receiving in tight areas.
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“We are happy we have a player like him in our squad.
“He can really contribute and be the player who can make us play the way we want.”
Mainoo’s name was already a buzzword within Old Trafford before he was called up from the England Under-21 squad by Three Lions head coach Gareth Southgate.
The midfielder missed United training on Thursday through illness but Ten Hag is optimistic he will be fit for tonight’s clash at Brentford.
And he seems a cert to get a seat on the plane for this summer’s tournament in Germany.
The teenage sensation was praised as “hugely exciting” by Southgate as he was paired with Arsenal’s Declan Rice in a joint holding midfield role despite having still made only 15 Prem appearances for United.
Ten Hag says nobody has batted an eyelid at Mainoo’s stand-out performances this season.
The Dutchman added: “We are not surprised. He was very good but we know what he is capable of, how he can very quickly adapt to high levels.
“It looks very natural, we are very happy for him and are proud because it’s a great compliment and good news for the academy to bring up a player so young going into the national team.”
Ten Hag revealed he told Mainoo he was taking him to stardom THIRTEEN months ago, during the club’s Carabao Cup celebrations at Wembley.
The United boss revealed: “I remember what I said, ‘Your day will come. We are going to win trophies together and your day is coming when you will be part of it on the pitch.
“We are going there together with this club and we are in the process to develop and we are here to win titles.
“So take this moment, take that experience, and now you know where you are fighting for.”
While Mainoo is flying, striker Marcus Rashford is under pressure to make Southgate’s squad.
It followed a cameo appearance against Brazil, while he failed to get off the bench versus Belgium.
But Ten Hag is confident Rashford can produce a big finish to the season.
He said: “The final decision is up to the manager of England and there is a lot of competition in his position, of course.
“But he will have a lot of credit because he contributed so many times fantastically for England and he wants to be there.
“He wants to win with us, to win trophies and to be in the Champions League.
“Absolutely, he wants to contribute and he wants to perform.”
Reuters
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