Ryan Giggs Praises Kobbie Mainoo's Potential Despite Loss
Ryan Giggs sees something special in Kobbie Mainoo – even on a day when almost nothing went right for Manchester United.
The teenager started and finished a gruelling 90 minutes in United’s 1-0 defeat to 10-man Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday, a game that again exposed the gulf between the neighbours. Yet amid the frustration, Giggs locked onto one player who refused to wilt.
Speaking on Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel, the former United winger broke down Mainoo’s display with the eye of someone who has seen world-class midfielders up close.
“It’s not pace, it’s acceleration,” Giggs said, homing in on the detail. “So, he’s not quick-quick, but he has got that acceleration, and he’s, you know, strong physically. He’s a very, very good player.”
That first burst, that snap over a few yards, is what caught Giggs’ attention. Not raw speed, but the kind of sharp movement that gets a midfielder out of trouble, away from a press, into space. In a match where City’s midfield machine kept tightening the screw, Mainoo still tried to carry the ball, still demanded it, still drove into traffic.
Giggs went a step further with his praise, drawing the most demanding of comparisons for any United midfielder: Paul Scholes.
He highlighted Mainoo’s vision and suggested that, with time, the youngster can grow into the kind of player who sees and executes the big passes that defined Scholes’ game.
Asked outright if Mainoo could reach Scholes’ level of vision, Giggs didn’t hesitate.
“Yeah, I mean, that should be the first pass a midfielder looks at really, you know, ball in behind that 30-yard switch potentially,” he explained. “That ball forward should be the first pass that you think about. So, if he adds that to his game, as well as the dribbling as well as the short passing, then who knows?”
The message was clear: the foundations are already there. The short game, the composure, the ability to dribble out of tight areas. Add that ruthless, forward-first passing mentality, and Mainoo’s ceiling suddenly looks very high.
What impressed Giggs just as much was the teenager’s stamina of spirit, if not of legs, in a draining derby midfield battle.
“I felt sorry for the last 10 minutes because he was still trying to do [too much],” Giggs admitted. “He got the ball taken off him because he was still trying to do the right thing, and he just didn’t have the energy to do it.”
That image – a young midfielder still demanding responsibility in the closing stages, still trying to make things happen while his legs fade – resonated with the former Wales international. It spoke of mentality, not just talent.
Giggs framed it as part of a brutal but invaluable education.
“As a... central midfielder for Man Utd, he’s still young, he’s still learning the game, and he’s having to learn on the job.”
Learning on the job, in a derby, against City’s midfield, with Old Trafford restless and the scoreboard against you. It is a harsh classroom. But it is also where United’s next generation will either shrink or grow.
Giggs is in no doubt which path Mainoo is on.
