On Sunday, Manchester United and Liverpool put on yet another excellent show with a 2-2 draw, now one player has been praised for his display.
In the game, Erik ten Hag watched his side once again drop points late on, as is becoming customary for the club lately.
Manchester United came back from 1-0 down thanks to a pair of spectacular goals from Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo.
But late on, Liverpool were handed a soft penalty with Aaron Wan-Bissaka silly to dive in, although Harvey Elliot was already on his way down.
This saw the game end 2-2, in yet another high-scoring outing for United.
But despite another good performance, BBC’s pundit Troy Deeney says one Old Trafford ace will only get better once one thing happens.
Troy Deeney on Manchester United talent Kobbie Mainoo
On Sunday night during Match of the Day 2, Deeney was speaking about Mainoo after yet another goal-scoring display.
He began by raving about the goal.
“I really like this player I think he’s a really good talent, every touch is forward and he’s trying to be proactive for Man United.
“But from a coaching position, this position he gets in [where he received the ball before shooting], is excellent, he takes it on the back foot and what a hit that is, it’s sensational.
“This is just technique, for any young player, concentrate on the technique. It’s a fantastic finish from a special, special footballer.”
Continuing, Deeney explained that the style of football United are playing now isn’t allowing Mainoo to look as talented as he will when the club improves.
“He’s only going to get better and when United get better, he’ll get better.
“At the minute it’s quite a transitional team, he does a lot of running, he gets tired and he’s blowing up towards the end of the game that’s why he’s always bringing him off but as United get better, he will get better.”
Mainoo may need Erik ten Hag to leave to reach his world-class potential
With this in mind, it could be that in order for Mainoo to get to his ultimate potential, Ten Hag will need to be replaced.
This is because this whole season, the Dutchman has played a style of football which sees the midfield non-existent in structure.
For example, under a manager like Julian Nagelsmann, Mainoo would have a far more enjoyable midfield position and wouldn’t be left struggling from all the needless running.
It seems a pretty simple problem to solve for Ten Hag, but he seems either too stubborn to do so or simply doesn’t see a problem.
But either way, these performances, conceding so many shots, won’t be going down well in Sir Jim Ratcliffe‘s decision-making.