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Player reportPremier League 2026

Kobbie Mainoo

Man Utd
Ball-winning 6 (destroyer) DM
18.6 defensive actions/90
Capability Analysis
Breaking Pressure
no action recorded in any high-press match yet
Progression44%vs 23 defensive mids
"Can he move the team forward with a pass, not just recycle it sideways?"
Progressive passes /903.0530%
Line-breaking passes /901.0922%
Threat added by passing /900.89xT35%
Pass accuracy89.76%87%
Ball-Winning37%vs 23 defensive mids
"How actively does he win the ball back?"
Interceptions /901.0539%
Ball recoveries /905.6678%
Tackles /901.8422%
Duels won /900.669%
defensive midtempo controllerpress resistancescreening
465
minutes
6 apps
362
passes
93% completed
93%
pass completion
362 passes
18
progressive passes
3.5/90
96
defensive actions
18.6/90
18
tackles + interceptions
55% tackle win
50
recoveries
9.7/90
17
line-breaking passes
3.3/90
Overview

The player

Who he is and how he compares with his peers.

01

What Patterns Define Him?

His repeatable signature. A step only appears if its reliability score (sample size × match coverage) reaches at least Medium confidence — pattern mining, not anecdotes.

RECEIVE
drop between the centre-backs — mostly in the middle third (65% of his 362 passes)
93% completion · 362× in 6/6 matches
↓
ESCAPE PRESSURE
turn out of a tight central area
77% won · 13× in 5/6 matches
↓
PROGRESS CENTRAL
break a line through the middle
3.5 prog/90 · 17× in 6/6 matches
↓
SCREEN / WIN BALL
protect the back four
13.2 ball-wins/90 · 68× in 6/6 matches
↓
RECYCLE / PROGRESS
keep it ticking, feed the final third
7.7 f3-entries/90 · 40× in 6/6 matches
Signature: drop to receive → escape the press on the turn → progress centrally or recycle → screen the counter. Block the central lane and press his first touch to force him backwards.
17

Where is he influential — vs where is he merely present?

Red fill = raw touch territory. Gold rings = zones where his influence (xT added, progression, line-breaks, key passes) outweighs how often he's actually there — one combined map instead of two separate maps to compare by eye. Red with no ring: present but not dangerous. A ring on faint red: rare touches, outsized impact.

own goal left, attacking →
60
passes / match
18.6
def actions / 90
31–77
pass range (matches)
3
clearances
Pass range = his fewest and most passes in any single match this season (31 at the low end, 77 at the high) — a measure of match-to-match involvement, not pass distance.
In possession

In possession

What he does with the ball: build-up, progression, creation, carrying and finishing.

10

How dangerous are his carries?

Real ball-carries

118 tracked carries (22.8/90, 33 progressive, 1216m total) — the ball moving with his touches, a different signal from dribbles below (beating an opponent 1v1). even a player who rarely dribbles past a man can still carry the ball forward constantly in build-up; this is that.

1%6%4%6%8%17%23%1%2%14%12%7%
progressivelateral/short% of his 118 carries originating in each zone · own goal left, attacking →
Every carry, exact path — median 8m, longest 34m
By zone — where the carry started → where it ended
6Outside → Inside
98Inside → Inside
9Outside → Outside
5Inside → Outside
First (39)Second (37)Third (27)Fourth (15)grouped by carry pattern (start + end position), largest group first
startendown goal left, attacking →

Beaten in the tackle

How often an attacker gets past him in a 1v1 defensive duel — the closest signal the data has to "dribbled past" (no attacker-beat-defender field exists directly, so this counts tackles he attempted and lost).

11
tackle duels
6
won
5
beaten · 45%
brighter band = more tackle duels · own goal left, attacking →
INSIDE 45%
OUTSIDE 55%
Tackle-duel location — 5 inside · 6 outside
Right Wing
2 · 18%
Right Half-Space
2 · 18%
Central
2 · 18%
Left Half-Space
1 · 9%
Left Wing
4 · 36%
Vision AI beaten in 5 of 11 tackle duels (45% loss rate) — a real defensive leak worth flagging.
Every tackle duel, exact location
wonlost — dribbled pastown goal left, attacking →

Dribbles (1v1s)

Can he escape pressure on the ball? His carries/dribbles in tight central areas, by channel. Season rate: 2.52 dribbles attempted /90.

brighter band = more dribbles · own goal left, attacking →
INSIDE 69%
OUTSIDE 31%
Dribble location — 9 inside · 4 outside
Right Wing
2 · 15%
Right Half-Space
2 · 15%
Central
4 · 31%
Left Half-Space
3 · 23%
Left Wing
2 · 15%
Vision AI 69% of his carries are central — he receives and turns in congested midfield zones rather than out wide.
02

How does he build & move the ball?

How does he escape the first line?

10%
vertical passes
14×
3%
switches
5×
42%
carries
61×
45%
short circulation
66×
Answer: he escapes the press primarily through carrying — stepping out with the ball.

How he moves the ball — his 4 busiest progression routes, not where every pass starts and ends separately. Arrow width = how often, colour = xT gained, dashed = switch of play. The full breakdown is in the lane matrix below.

own goal left, attacking →
Lane transition matrix — when he receives in a lane, where does it go?
TO →RWRHSCLHSLWRW1145%545%59%1RHS5317%943%2340%21C1337%920%2636%4826%3511%15LHS1093%36%734%3727%2930%33LW326%234%1159%19FROM
Rows normalised: each row sums to 100% of that lane's completed passes. Grey number = passes from that lane.

Primary route: the left half-space in the middle third → the left half-space in the middle third — 2 progressive passes (8% of his progression) at 0.014 xT each. He keeps it in the same lane.

His progression is inward: 48% of progressive passes move the ball toward the middle versus 4% going wider — he cuts in rather than holding width.

Only 5% of his passes switch play, so his threat is same-side — contain the flank he occupies and the route closes.

Quality behind the volume: 14 line-breaking passes and 40 final-third entries, 3.1 total xT added.

Origin and destination are measured on the same event row — no receiver inference. Receiver identity is not recoverable from this data source.
All passes — origin zone share
Filter: from to
1%2%5%6%1%0%1%6%15%18%9%1%4%8%14%8%1%
completedincomplete362 passes · any zone → any zone · own goal left, attacking →
362
passes
93%
completed
24
lost
Vision AIIn line with his 93% season completion rate.
04

How does he progress play?

How much he drives the ball forward. Progressive = completed pass advancing ≥15 toward goal.

18
progressive · 3.5/90
40
final-third entries · 7.7/90
2
box entries · 0.39/90
28
progression index /90
Progression index: one composite number — progressive passes + progressive carries + 2% of total distance progressed + 8× positive xT added, all per 90. Weights VOLUME and THREAT together rather than counting progressive actions alone.
11

How does he create chances?

6 key passes (1.16/90), 0 of them assists — where his chance creation specifically comes from, 18 zones (6×3), showing his share of key passes originating there.

Chance creation — key pass origin zone share
Filter:
33%33%17%17%
chance creation (6)assist (0)% of the selected group's key passes originating in each zone
06

Where does he become vulnerable?

27 times he gave the ball away. For a defender the danger is where — a loss in his own third can turn into a chance against; higher up it costs little.

5
attacking third (cheap)
14
middle third
8
own third (dangerous)
Vision AI 19% of losses are in the attacking third — a notable share happen deeper, which invites transitions.
Mistake danger (proxy): 2.15 danger-index/90 · 0.411 avg/turnover. Weights each loss by threat conceded at that location. True xT-conceded needs the opponent possession model; positional proxy.
05

What is his passing profile?

362
passes attempted
44%
mostly sideways
64%
mostly short
Direction
Forward
143 · 40%
Sideways
158 · 44%
Backward
61 · 17%
Length (completed)
Short (<15m)
216 · 64%
Medium
109 · 32%
Long (>30m)
13 · 4%
07

Preferred Progression Routes — xT-weighted

His progressive passes as zone→zone routes, weighted by expected threat (xT) added — arrow width and the number are the total xT generated on each route, not just how often he plays it. This is where he actually moves the needle.

0.270.210.150.130.100.09
own goal left, attacking →
Highest-value routes (xT)
0.27
Left Half-Space Att third → Right Half-Space Att third
1 passes
0.21
Left Half-Space Att third → Left Half-Space Att third
1 passes
0.15
Left Half-Space Mid third → Right Half-Space Att third
1 passes · 1 to a shot
0.13
Central Att third → Central Att third
1 passes
0.10
Central Def third → Right Wing Mid third
1 passes
0.09
Right Half-Space Mid third → Right Wing Att third
1 passes
08

Where Does He Receive?

The zones where Kobbie Mainoo gets on the ball — his top three ball-collection areas highlighted (gold = primary). Reception is proxied by where his on-ball actions begin (no explicit receiver is recorded).

123
1 = primary, 2 = secondary, 3 = third · own goal left, attacking →
His collection zones
26%
Primary
Central, Middle third
21%
Secondary
Left Half-Space, Middle third
11%
Third
Right Half-Space, Middle third
These are the zones where he collected the ball most.
09

Where Does He Operate? — Every Zone

Every on-ball touch (pass, dribble, shot) binned into a 6×3 grid — raw counts of where Kobbie Mainoo actually gets on the ball. Hover any zone for its breakdown by action type, its share of all touches, and the exact coordinate range it covers.

Filter:
5162952303222596636248182252
own goal left, attacking → · brighter + higher number = more touches

Passes only — completed vs incomplete, by zone

Same zone grid, restricted to passes so completed/incomplete and match filters actually mean something — a shot or a dribble has no "completed" in the pass sense.

1%2%5%6%1%0%1%6%15%18%9%1%4%8%14%8%1%
own goal left, attacking →
12

Every Pass This Season — completed vs incomplete

Every pass this season, plotted individually — green = completed, grey (dashed) = incomplete, gold = key pass. Filter by outcome or isolate one match below.

6Key pass
1Cross
18Progressive
17Long ball
12Switch
By zone — where the pass started → where it landed
19Outside → Inside
226Inside → Inside
24Outside → Outside
69Inside → Outside
By direction
143Forward
61Backward
158Sideways
own goal left, attacking →
03

Tactical patterns — how his football actually looks

Three clustered sequence diagrams from his own event data — his three busiest routes: the way he progresses, the pattern behind his chances, and where a turnover turns dangerous.

own goal left, attacking →
Where do his chances come from?
Of 6 key passes, his busiest route is a delivery where he switches it out from the central to the left hs in the final third — 2 times. The receiver isn't identifiable in this data, only where the pass started and ended.
Where does he lose the ball most?
This is a RATE, not a raw count — the share of his touches in each zone that end in a turnover, so a zone he simply plays in more often doesn't automatically look riskier. His weakest zone is the left wing in the defensive third: 44% of his 9 touches there are lost (4 times).
—3 touches · too few0%0/11 lost16%3/19 lost7%1/15 lost44%4/9 lost20%2/10 lost11%4/38 lost1%1/96 lost7%5/75 lost0%0/18 lost—1 touch · too few11%1/9 lost0%0/22 lost4%1/26 lost10%1/10 lostRWRHSCLHSLWDEFMIDATT
Out of possession

Out of possession

Where and how he defends and presses.

13

How & where does he defend?

96 defensive actions across the season (18.6/90). Where he wins the ball, and how — the core question for a defender. Aerial duels are not recorded for this competition, so aerial dominance is not measured here.

click a card to isolate that action type · own goal left, attacking →
11
tackles · 55% won
7
interceptions · 1.4/90
50
recoveries · 9.7/90
3
clearances · 0.6/90
5
blocks
38
avg action height
9
won high (att 3rd)
49
middle third
38
own third
Vision AI A mid-block defender. He wins the ball mainly by stepping in — tackles, interceptions & recoveries outweigh clearances. 68 proactive ball-wins (13.2/90), tackle success 55%. He defends mostly around the middle third.
14

Can he play under pressure?

Split by how hard the opponent pressed (opponent PPDA — lower = more intense press). Can Kobbie Mainoo still play out when the opponent presses high? His build-up quality split by press intensity — the key question for a ball-playing defender. Tiers of ~2-2 matches — directional evidence, not proof.

press tier
completion
prog /90
line-breaks /90
xT /90
High press (PPDA 4.3, 2m)
95%
3.5
2.0
1.17
Mid press (PPDA 5.4, 2m)
94%
4.1
3.1
1.13
Low press (PPDA 7.3, 2m)
91%
2.5
5.8
1.93
Team

Team context

How much of the team runs through him, and what changes without him.

15

Impact on the Team

Man Utd's output per match with Kobbie Mainoo (6 matches) versus without him (2 matches). Insufficient evidence — the without-sample is only 2 matches; treat every Δ below as noise until more games exist. What his own defending should move — goals conceded and results — leads; attacking output (largely out of a defender's hands) is shown after, for context. A proper on-off model needs many more minutes.

WITH (6)
WITHOUT (2)
Δ
goals against /match
1.50
2.00
-0.50
points /match
1.00
0.50
+0.50
goals for /match
1.50
0.50
+1.00
xG for /match
1.77
0.00
+1.77
16

His Share of the Team

Of everything Man Utd produced this season, the categories where the biggest share ran through Kobbie Mainoo specifically — his share of the team total, not a per-90 rate.

category
share
him / team
zone-14 entries
11%
55 / 520
successful take-ons
8%
29 / 343
ball recoveries
7%
145 / 2056
Recruitment

Style and verdict

Style profile, closest comparables, and the summary.

18

Playing-Style Profile

Not raw event counts — football style scores: weighted models scored 0–100 against the 258 defensive mids in the pool (min 450 min). This is what separates players who post similar numbers but play differently. Proxy dimensions are inferred from on-ball data; true off-ball running / under-pressure context is not measured.

Tempo controller79%Deep-lying playmaker76%Ball-winning 651%
Why Tempo controller 79%: a weighted blend of retention 86 (weight 35%) + build-up 57 (weight 30%) + press resistance 83 (weight 20%) + progression 66 (weight 15%). The score reflects how distinctively his profile SHAPE matches this archetype vs his peers.
Elite
receiving zones, carrying, retention
Strong
dribbling, press resistance, creativity, transition
Average
progression, final-third threat, build-up, line-breaking, crossing, ball-winning, box threat, territory (wide vs central), defensive aggression
Weak
passing directness, through-balls
Unknown
aerial ability, marking, off-ball running — not in event data
Receiving zones
95
Carrying
95
Retention
86
Dribbling
85
Press resistance ~proxy
83
Creativity
80
Transition ~proxy
76
Progression
66
Final-third threat
60
Build-up
57
Line-breaking
53
Crossing
51
Ball-winning
45
Box threat
42
Territory (wide vs central)
42
Defensive aggression
41
Passing directness
39
Through-balls ~proxy
25
19

Similar Players — in style space

Closest comparables measured on the style scores above, within the same position family — so it separates how players are alike, not just how much they touch the ball. Each line explains the shared strength and the divergent mechanism. A light physical-profile term (height / weight; this player: 184 cm / 72 kg) is included at a quarter of one style axis's weight — enough to break ties between stylistic twins, not to override style. Scope: pooled across the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A, percentiled within each player's own league before comparing — a match from another league is marked with its league name.

Style, not quality: a high match here means two players tend to produce the ball in similar ways — it is not a ranking, a scouting recommendation, or a claim that they are equally good.

Iván Martín Racing Santander · La Liga · 178 cm / 70 kg
83%
Driven by: carrying (21%), press resistance (13%), dribbling (12%). Different mechanism — Mainoo more via retention, receiving zones; Martín more via territory (wide vs central).
Pape Matar Sarr Juventus · Serie A · 185 cm / 80 kg
82%
Driven by: carrying (18%), receiving zones (17%), press resistance (16%). Different mechanism — Sarr more via defensive aggression, box threat.
Xaver Schlager Nottingham Forest · 174 cm / 78 kg
80%
Driven by: press resistance (20%), carrying (16%), dribbling (14%). Different mechanism — Mainoo more via territory (wide vs central), receiving zones; Schlager more via box threat, passing directness.
Thomas Partey Villarreal · La Liga 25/26 · 185 cm / 77 kg
78%
Driven by: receiving zones (18%), carrying (16%), press resistance (16%). Different mechanism — Mainoo more via territory (wide vs central), retention; Partey more via box threat, through-balls.
Nicolò Rovella Lazio · Serie A · 179 cm / 66 kg
74%
Driven by: press resistance (17%), retention (14%), receiving zones (14%). Different mechanism — Mainoo more via box threat; Rovella more via through-balls, line-breaking.
Leon Goretzka Aston Villa · 189 cm / 82 kg
72%
Driven by: receiving zones (18%), press resistance (16%), carrying (16%). Different mechanism — Mainoo more via territory (wide vs central); Goretzka more via box threat, through-balls.
20

Summary

Kobbie Mainoo is a tempo controller / deep-lying playmaker: 93% completion, 17 line-breaks and 3.5 progressive passes /90, resisting pressure with 77% dribble success. A central controller. [Off-ball screening position and scanning need tracking data.]

Based on 6 matches (465 minutes) — an early read, treat with caution until more minutes are logged. He profiles as a tempo controller / deep-lying playmaker — best used in a system built around that identity. His biggest room for growth is build-up — even a modest improvement there would meaningfully lift his overall tempo controller profile.
✨ This report is interactive

Click any stat card to filter its map, hover a dot for the exact match, and use the dropdowns to slice passes zone-to-zone. Nothing here is static.

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