Erik ten Hag – and anyone else who has watched on in awe as one of the Premier League’s breakout talents goes from strength to strength at Manchester United – will not have been taken aback by what they witnessed on Tuesday night.
There is a growing consensus that you could probably bundle the Carrington graduate into a time machine, zap him back to 1966, and install him at the heart of Sir Alf Ramsey’s midfield for England’s World Cup final clash with West Germany, and he would still go about his business with barely a bead of sweat forming on his forehead.
Kobbie Mainoo, only five months on from his Manchester United debut, marked his first England start against Belgium in midweek. And the 18-year-old now has a Man of the Match award to remember the occasion by, all-but guaranteeing himself a seat on the plane to Germany for this summer’s European Championships with the sort of swaggering display we are becoming increasingly used to.
Ten Hag delighted by Kobbie Mainoo’s England bow
“I thought (Maioo’s performance vs Belgium) was very good,” Ten Hag tells the Manchester Evening News. “But we are not surprised. We know what he is capable of, he can very quickly adapt to high levels.
“It looks very natural, and we are very happy for him.”
Mainoo, during only a few months of first-team football, has not once displayed even a shred of nerves. He was Man United’s stand-out performer during December’s draw at Anfield – thriving where his far more experienced team-mates collapsed earlier that very same year – and was arguably even better in the recent FA Cup quarter-final triumph over those very same opponents.
Mainoo has barely missed a game since that long-awaited debut against Everton before Christmas. The teenager will be one of the first names on Ten Hag’s team sheet, too, when Man United travel to Brentford on Saturday night.
“Of course, we are also very (proud of him). It’s great for the academy of Manchester United to bring up a player so young going into the national team,” Ten Hag adds. “It’s a big compliment for the whole club.
“For himself, because he did it, but also all the ones who worked with him during his time in the academy. It’s very good news for Manchester United. So far, he handles it very well. And if he crosses the line, of course, I as a manager, we as coaches, will interfere.”
Manchester United face Brentford tomorrow
For all the criticism that has come Ten Hag’s way during a difficult season second at the helm, his handling of Mainoo – and fellow teenager Alejandro Garnacho – has been pretty much impeccable. Mainoo’s remarkable mature mentality has made Ten Hag’s job that little bit easier, of course, with the 18-year-old as composed and grounded off the pitch as he is on it.
“He wants to play football, he wants to win, he wants to give his best every day because he wants to improve,” the Dutchman smiles. “He just wants to have fun on the pitch.
“Fun for him is to play dominant, to dictate the game and win the game.”
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