Kobbie Mainoo struck in his culture war with Ruben Amorim, even if Manchester United seem intent on backing a struggling manager and his incompatible system.<\/p>\n
The League Cup second round is over, the weird draw for the third round has been made and the majority of players brought in can be expected to rotate back out again when the Premier League returns at the weekend.<\/p>\n
But some stated their case to keep their place by taking that Carabao chance. Others completely messed up and that is on them<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Harrison Reed (Fulham)<\/strong><\/p>\n From a second-minute overhead kick onwards, there was never a sense that Reed was going to let his first appearance of the season \u2013 and first start since February \u2013 go by without incident.<\/p>\n The midfielder did not start a single Premier League game in 2024\/25 due to injury and form but is still trusted by Marco Silva and showed why across 90 quietly efficient minutes.<\/p>\n A clever corner to set up Raul Jimenez\u2019s goal in probably the most secure midfield partnership imaginable alongside Tom Cairney was just reward, although it inevitably did not stop Silva pleading for new signings once more after the game.<\/p>\n They are stuck in a difficult transfer spot<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Stefanos Tzimas (Brighton)<\/strong><\/p>\n There is an inherent irony in the youngest manager in Premier League history not wanting to rush through the development of an inexperienced player.<\/p>\n Fabian Hurzeler is not wrong to take his time with the pair of teenage Greek strikers bestowed upon him for \u00a350m or so this year, but the longer their Premier League goal problems<\/strong><\/a> continue the more glaring that dichotomy will become.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are different demands in a Premier League game than the game today,\u201d he pointed out after Tzimas\u2019 two goals helped dispatch Oxford in a 6-0 thrashing.<\/p>\n \u201cHe came into a game where it was already 3-0 so it\u2019s not the intensity you can expect in a Premier League game,\u201d Hurzeler added.<\/p>\n But Tzimas, a \u00a320.8m January signing who spent the rest of the season on loan at Nuremberg, is \u201ccloser\u201d to a proper first-team breakthrough, even if Hurzeler will not budge from taking things \u201cstep by step\u201d.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United)<\/strong><\/p>\n Perhaps Manchester United should go all 2000 FA Cup and withdraw from the League Cup the next time they\u2019re consigned to the second round, even if that means facing the ire of Caprice, Darren Day and Falklands hero Simon Weston.<\/p>\n It\u2019s clearly more trouble than it\u2019s worth, with managers \u201cgetting sacked in the morning\u201d and all players involved being tainted<\/strong><\/a> to the point of either never featuring again or immediately sold.<\/p>\n Mainoo tried his utmost to keep the Grimsby stink off him and in truth his performance was nothing close to special. The England international was competent but in this curious ongoing culture war with the entirely inept Ruben Amorim, that was enough to strike another blow.<\/p>\n The assist for Bryan Mbeumo\u2019s goal was good and his penalty among the many converted, but Amorim\u2019s bizarre stance on the future of a gifted Manchester United academy product \u2013 and the club\u2019s inexplicable decision to back a drowning manager and his incompatible system over said player \u2013 meant the result was a personal win for Mainoo in any case.<\/p>\n MORE ON MISERABLE MANCHESTER UNITED \u00a0<\/p>\n Harrison Armstrong (Everton)<\/strong><\/p>\n There might well have been designs on sending Armstrong out for a second loan after the success of his half-season spell at Derby. And having taken to the Championship so seamlessly at 18, his performance against League One opposition perhaps should not surprise.<\/p>\n But there is reason to believe that Armstrong is better off being kept on Merseyside and nurtured instead of being sent elsewhere.<\/p>\n Everton have depth in midfield but not so much as to completely stifle a promising teenager\u2019s opportunities. A cup run \u2013 although such a thing is never guaranteed for the Toffees \u2013 and controlled drip-feed of Premier League minutes could be more beneficial than another few months elsewhere.<\/p>\n And the level of technical quality in that squad could see him thrive. Only Dwight McNeil has more assists for Everton since the start of last season than Armstrong, whose three have come in 273 minutes.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Jackson Tchatchoua (Wolves)<\/strong><\/p>\n The late strike partnership of\u00a0Jorgen Strand Larsen and Sasa Kalajdzic could either feed generations or cost an increasingly panicky Newcastle a small fortune<\/strong><\/a>, but any big lad is nothing without the right service.<\/p>\n Tchatchoua provided it more effectively than anyone in his 20 minutes on the Molineux pitch. A sublime touch out of the sky preceded Strand Larsen\u2019s first and the cross for the second to complete the comeback was stunning.<\/p>\n It might seem a little rudimentary to run really fast and put the ball in the box but it is an approach worth trying for Wolves, who remain without a goal in the Premier League this season.<\/p>\n One of their genuinely impressive number of \u00a310m-\u00a320m signings could well provide a solution and\u00a0Tchatchoua guaranteed that his opportunity will come soon.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Kyle Walker-Peters (West Ham)<\/strong><\/p>\n It could be suggested that Graham Potter has a couple of questions more pressing than picking which double-barrelled right-back he prefers in any given week. When, for example, should he kick off his out-of-work podcast rounds with some High Performance across from\u00a0Jake Humphrey?<\/p>\n But it might be time to try something different if indeed he is afforded the chance. Aaron Wan-Bissaka\u2019s performance against Chelsea<\/strong><\/a> basically demanded it.<\/p>\n Walker-Peters would have had to excavate to the centre of the Earth to retrieve the bar set by that display and being absolutely fine \u2013 lovely assist, mind \u2013 even in defeat was a considerable improvement.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Frank Onyeka (Brentford)<\/strong><\/p>\n
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