Mainoo told to ‘be careful’ of picking up habits from lazy Man Utd teammate as ‘more energy’ demanded

Kobbie Mainoo, Jamie Redknapp

Jamie Redknapp has told Kobbie Mainoo he needs to “be careful” not to be “dragged into” the lazy habits shown by Casemiro at Manchester United, as he feels the youngster needs to have “more energy.”

It’s been a breakout season for 18-year-old Mainoo, whose surge to the top has been aided by injury troubles for Casemiro. The former Real Madrid man spent 13 Premier Leagues on the sidelines beginning in October, and Mainoo played seven of the games the Brazilian was absent for, and has now not missed any of the last 16 league games for United.

He’s shown a lot of maturity in his performances, and two United goals and an England call-up highlight just how useful the youngster has been.

Yet former Premier League midfielder Redknapp feels Mainoo should be wary of Casemiro – who he has often played alongside after the 32-year-old recovered from his injury – rubbing off on him in the wrong way, after the pundit felt the Brazilian was being lazy when Bournemouth scored their second in the 2-2 draw last time out.

“It’s a culture at the club, I see players, multiple Champions League winners, at times walking around the pitch like they don’t care and you can’t have that,” Redknapp said on Sky Sports.

“You look at the second goal that they conceded by [Justin] Kluivert, he’s [Bruno Fernandes] trying to get his team up the pitch and he sees Casemiro walking around and jogging.

“Kobbie Mainoo has got to be careful, he doesn’t want to get dragged into that as well, I want to see more energy from him.”

Indeed, Redknapp feels Casemiro could set a great example for Mainoo given his experience – which includes five Champions League medals – but he’s not showing the youngster the right things.

“This is my point with Kobbie Mainoo, he’s got everything, the world at his feet, but you need great role models to get to the top, you need people who you’re going to look up to and aspire to be like,” Redknapp added.

“And at the moment, he’s [Casemiro] not setting the right examples to the young players around him. Like I said, I’m a massive fan, but that isn’t good enough, if you’re sprinting you could’ve stopped that.”

Mainoo is clearly a fantastic talent, and with the right direction, he could become one of the world’s best in his position, and watching Casemiro up close, if he was at the top of his game, would be a great way to learn the ropes.