Erik ten Hag still values Kobbie Mainoo as a first-choice player, but the Man United prospect is already balancing a ban this year.
Kobbie Mainoo has already been booked three times this season. (Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Erik ten Hag has an increasing number of alternatives in the midfield with Manuel Ugarte available, Christian Eriksen regaining his form during the week, and Kobbie Mainoo being Kobbie Mainoo. It should come as no surprise that Casemiro was benched for last weekend’s match against Southampton.
More questions will now be raised about the middle of the park following a visit to Crystal Palace and the reappearance of one of the most eerie sights from the previous season. That time, Michael Olise was cruising through the middle of the pitch against Manchester United with no opposition at all.
With practically the entire box to himself, he waltzed through to where Casemiro should have been, though the Brazilian was playing center-back that time. From there, he stroked a pass into the net from the edge of the penalty area. Olise scored another goal later on, this time from a distance but from a position that a healthy midfield would have closed down.
‘Functioning’ is the key word here since, as with much of last season, United’s midfield was nonexistent at Selhurst Park four months ago. From their first game, a team lacking structural integrity could not be stabilized by anything, not even Mainoo’s hustle.
Even while 2024–2025 hasn’t been perfect thus far, Ten Hag at least has players available. Mason Mount will also eventually be re-included in the mix.
This might become more significant in the upcoming weeks than initially thought. Indeed, United has to worry about punishment already after receiving 12 yellow cards in their first four games.
To put things in perspective, only Chelsea (16) and Arsenal (13) have more. Bournemouth has 12 as well, but they also acquired more than half of those in the record-breaking Anthony Taylor yellow-card bath, together with Chelsea.
The fact that they have been fairly evenly distributed around the squad may be a plus. Only two players have received more than one booking, out of the total nine players that have been booked—none of whom have received red cards.
For the time being, it indicates that the possibility of losing players simultaneously as a result of cumulative yellow card totals is unlikely. Before the bar is raised to 10 bookings, there are still 15 matches left, with a one-game penalty imposed at the five-card mark.
Unfortunately, Mainoo already has three. The young player has already equaled his season total despite playing 20 fewer games because all of those have come in a row.
The more urgent concern for Ten Hag is that he’s already precariously balancing his career with a few pivotal games left. Mainoo is possibly more likely to be punished than his colleagues because of his desire to win the ball and a system that still exposes him in their pivot.
In the upcoming ten days, this will be put to the test domestically against Palace and then Tottenham. Should things go awry, Mainoo could not be able to make their important trip to Aston Villa prior to the international break in October. In addition, United will play West Ham, Chelsea, and Brentford.
Ten Hag will be happy to have Mainoo available for every game, but given his recent performance, United might not be able to depend on him to avoid yellow cards long enough to go through the remaining games in the schedule. And while losing Mainoo for even one game would be a big blow, at least there are possibilities to replace him as and when needed.
