Binksy - Not So Mellow Yellow!

Luis Binks’ yellow card against Nashville on Tuesday night was the young English defender’s 8th of the season in MLS play.

Only four Impact players have ever collected more in a season; Marco Donadel (13), Hassoun Camara (12), Laurent Ciman (11) and Sanna Nyassi (9).

After just 2 cautions in his first 15 Impact appearances (all comps), he’s picked up 6 in the last 8 MLS matches and a straight red card.

The 19-year-old’s dip in discipline has coincided with the downturn in the team’s fortunes as they wrestle with far too much time on the road and may also be borne from frustration given how the side has been shipping bad goals in recent weeks.

He’s a tough centre-half of the English old-school variety, but one equally comfortable with the ball at his feet striding out of defence with excellent distribution. Still young and learning, Montreal Impact is a vital part of his eduction and development, including physically.

One of his motivations for coming to MLS was the opportunity to play men’s football and leave behind the u23 Premier League 2 in England, which in his own opinion was not satisfying his development requirements.

He’s been the Impact’s top defender in a difficult season, and still at a tender age, looks certain to become a significant physical presence wherever his career takes him.

But he’s still not Montreal’s Mr Nasty when it comes to their most villainous player in MLS. At least in terms of yellow cards in one season. That accolade goes to Marco Donadel, the former Fiorentina and Italian u21 international who averaged slightly more than one yellow card every two games in 2015.

Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

Then comes Hassoun Camara in 2014, who averaged a caution every 2.33 games.

Binks slides into third place, ahead of Laurent Ciman (2015), although the current regular season still has a couple of games to go, so if Luis sees no more yellow, Ciman will reclaim third spot.

2015 was quite some year for discipline with three players collecting 8 yellow cards or more. Joining Donadel and Camara was Argentinian wide man Andres Romero, who saw yellow 8 times.

The table below covers all players who have received 8 or more yellow cards in one MLS regular season with Montreal Impact, with the final column depicting the player’s frequency of cautions (appearances per yellow card).