Nick Cox is the head of Man United's academy and he spoke to the MEN about Kobbie Mainoo ahead of the Euro 2024 final.
When Nick Cox thinks about Kobbie Mainoo , he doesn't picture the young man impressing for England or the goals he scored for Manchester United last season.
Mainoo's journey from kicking a ball around at the Cliff to becoming a key player for England at Euro 2024 has been nothing short of extraordinary. The youngster was always considered the leading light of his age group in the academy but his progress has been special. "Evidently, Kobbie made sure it wasn’t as big of a setback as it could have been because his season was a highly successful one, but it was definitely a setback," said Cox.
Mainoo enjoyed a wonderful season for United and ended the campaign by scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup final against Manchester City. The midfielder went to both United and City's academies when he was a child and could have worn blue if things had been different. "Our job here is to ensure players are developing at the rate they should do. We do our very best to ensure their head isn’t turned, that they’re in love with the programme, the club, coaches and that they feel like they’re being challenged and developed - I think Kobbie has always felt like that.
"I would suggest his character – and he has many qualities – is one of his super strengths. In my time working with footballers, character is the non-negotiable ingredient that ties together all the top players I have ever seen break through into regular first-team football. "That is not to say he doesn’t feel nerves or these occasions don’t impact upon him but he has the ability to cope with big moments that come his way. This season alone he has ticked off landmarks that usually take young players five or six seasons.
"Is it a surprise what Kobbie is doing and achieving? Maybe it is happening a bit quicker than we thought but what we are seeing is fairly typical of what we saw along the way." He also made a heartwarming gesture when inviting a supporter and his son to Old Trafford, following the loss of a family member, whose last game watching United before passing away was against Wolves when he scored the late match-winning goal.
"But in keeping with our programme and remembering they are just children and the longer we can maintain that love for it the better they will be for it in the long run. "Much as he was there to try to inspire and do a Q&A, actually what happened is he just joined in and we couldn’t get him off the pitch. He treated it like the World Cup final and is there nutmegging eight-year-olds. I’m not sure how that went down but that’s him! That’s him all over."
"The formal education as well. Ultimately, he’s got a wonderful family who are as grounded and humble as he is and surrounds himself with really good people and his friends and agent. "It never is. Sometimes there’s this false perception superstars just get there easily. They don’t. It’s been really hard. And he knows - and we know - he hasn’t arrived yet.
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