Kobbie Mainoo told where he's 'still got work to do' following excellent performance for Man Utd vs Liverpool

Micah Richards has urged Kobbie Mainoo to work on the defensive side of his game in order to become a complete midfielder.

Mainoo was outstanding once again on Sunday as Manchester United progressed into the FA Cup semi-finals with a dramatic 4-3 win over Liverpool. Erik ten Hag's side were 2-1 and 3-2 down but saw extra-time goals from Marcus Rashford and Amad Diallo turn the tie on its head on an incredible day at Old Trafford.

Amid all the chaos of the 80 minutes he was on the pitch, Mainoo kept a cool head and earned huge praise for appearing to be one of the most experienced players, despite being just 18. The midfielder's quality in possession is now well-known but former Manchester City defender Richards has pointed out an area still to be improved.

“How good was Kobbie Mainoo?,” Richards told The Rest Is Football podcast. “Oh my word, he just gets better and better and better.  We analysed him when he first played for Man United and we talked about how calm he was on the ball, but it’s not just that. He runs forward, he’s got great feet, his passing range looks good. I think he still got work to do on the tactical side of things in terms of protecting his back-four a little bit more, but what a performance that was. He was amazing today, really.”

Since making his Premier League debut in the 3-0 win at Everton in November, Mainoo has been almost ever-present in the heart of United's midfield, starting 13 of the 15 Premier League games since. His place in the starting line-up on Sunday came ahead of the on-loan Sofyan Amrabat and a move further forward has often come ahead of the likes of Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen.

Such has been Mainoo's form that there was genuine clamour for a call-up to the England squad when Gareth Southgate picked his final pre-European Championships camp last week. Instead, the Reds academy graduate earned his first promotion to the under-21s and will likely feature against Azerbaijan or Luxembourg over the next fortnight.