“Definitely helped me a lot”: United fan favourite pinpoints what made him such an electric player

Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo has experienced a rollercoaster of a season. Out in the cold Mainoo began the season by requesting a loan move away from the club due to Ruben Amorim’s refusal to start him. The Portuguese head coach clearly had little faith in Mainoo, as he rarely gave him opportunities to shine. Consequently, Napoli became extremely interested in securing a deal for the young midfielder. Michael Carrick factor At the start of January, Ruben Amorim was sacked by the club and interim manager Darren Fletcher immediately reinstated Mainoo to the starting eleven. Michael Carrick also kept Mainoo in the team, and the Englishman repaid his faith with a series of outstanding performances, capped by a winning goal against Liverpool at Old Trafford. Mainoo’s form has also seen him welcomed back into England’s World Cup squad, and he is currently in the United States ahead of the Three Lions’ first match against Croatia. Skills Speaking to the club’s official website, Mainoo discussed how he worked on his skills as a young boy. Commenting on his love of emulating skills, he said, “obviously watching United, I’d say Rooney [caught my attention early on], and then I used to watch YouTube a lot, skills and stuff, it was always Ronaldinho, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar, people like that.” Mainoo added, “that’s always what I found myself doing in my spare time, searching skills videos, waiting for new ones to come out and just follow all the players from there.” The young midfielder then explained that he would try to put the new skills he saw into practice. He went on, “I’d watch these things on YouTube and then there was a field right next to my house, so then say if I watched them the night before… I’d get my boots and my kit ready, lay it out at the foot of my bed. Then, as soon as I woke up, jump out of bed and go to the field and practice. Try and drag someone with me, anyone – [as] a mannequin, my dad, my sister, anyone!” Mainoo also asserted that this routine “definitely helped me a lot” in his development as a young player before turning professional. Featured image by Molly Darlington/Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.