The Carrick-rivalling stat that shows why Kobbie Mainoo must be starting for Man Utd | OneFootball

Kobbie Mainoo made his case for more starts for Manchester United by coming close to a benchmark set by his own manager in their win over Sabah.

Yes, it was only Sabah, so United’s 4-0 win is the kind of game people will be trying not to read too much into. But one number stood out among all the statistics: 81.

It was the number of passes completed by Mainoo, who started in midfield alongside summer signing Youri Tielemans.

Not since the days of his own manager playing has an English player completed more passes in a Champions League game for United.

Carrick completed 89 against Olympiacos in February 2014, with Mainoo coming within eight of matching that benchmark.

The stat shared by Opta on Thursday night could be seen as misleading, since there haven’t been too many English midfielders to play in the Champions League for United since Carrick anyway.

But it still serves as an illustration of the type of player Mainoo is and how efficient he can be with the ball, a skillset he will have to lean heavily on to ensure he becomes – or remains – a key player for United in the future.

Of course, some may still be questioning Carrick’s credentials in management, but there aren’t many better mentors for Mainoo to learn from if he wants to develop his game as a dictator of play from midfield.

He certainly has a better chance of establishing himself under Carrick than Ruben Amorim, who often overlooked Mainoo for starts.

But there’s just a small, £148m problem in the way. The midfield rebuild United undertook in the summer saw them invest heavily in three players: Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba.

Mainoo has his work cut out to establish himself in the new-look United midfield, but Carrick will probably be in his corner – as long as he’s not too precious about seeing any of his niche passing records threatened.

Bigger games lie ahead for Mainoo, with the Manchester derby on the horizon, for example. It’s those kind of games, more than against the likes of Sabah, he needs to make his mark in – but he has done before, and could do again.