Mason Mount hasn’t lived up to expectations for Manchester United this season, what can Erik ten Hag do to solve the problem?
Since joining Manchester United from Chelsea during the summer, Mason Mount hasn’t managed to get going. Injuries and simply not being selected have left him far down the pecking order.
Mount appears to be the last choice in midfielder as he is selected least out of the whole midfield department. This has raised serious questions over the Englishman’s future at Old Trafford and also why he was signed in the first place.
In must-win games, he is behind Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen along with Hannibal seemingly too. Unsure why Erik ten Hag signed him in the first place, we have started to wonder how this ends.
Here are three options for Ten Hag to solve his £55m problem…
Mount needs a run in the team
Before discussing how Mount can be deployed to see more success, he actually needs to be played.
Since his arrival, he has only featured for 576 minutes in the 11 games he has been in the squad for, as per Transfermarkt. This averages out to 52.3 minutes per game, simply not enough for a new signing to embed himself.
Look at the the likes of Antony and Rasmus Hojlund, both arrived and have/had been played regularly and trusted from the start. Whether Mount has been scrimping cup minutes with the reserves and making cameos from the bench in losing positions.
Mount hasn’t been given a fair shot just yet for United so this needs to change before he can really be judged. Although Ten Hag seems less willing to give him the minutes.
Play him in a 8/10 hybrid role at United
So far when he has played, Mount has been more often than not been a defensive midfielder, played next to a player like Sofyan Amrabat or Casemiro.
This isn’t his role though and needs to be a box-to-box style midfielder alongside Bruno Fernandes. Playing both as number eights would give the midfield more balance and also greater options going forward.
In possession they could alternate and out of possession both could sit back into a flat midfield which in theory should be harder for opponents to overrun.
Mount’s main qualities are in the final third and he relies on linking up with his teammates and making driving progressive runs before receiving the ball in forward areas.
This role would allow him to thrive, with Bruno Fernandes also likely to benefit from a role which would see him on the ball more often.
Swap him with Bruno – but we might need a new signing to make it all work
A third option could be to move Bruno deeper and Mount forward. Bruno has played that role before and thrived with his passing really useful in creating chances from deep.
This is unlikely to occur though as Bruno being the captain will probably be played in his favoured position, but moving him back would be so beneficial.
Where this leads us is to believe that the only way Bruno and Mount fit into a midfield together would be in the event that a new defensive midfielder is signed, allowing both to play a more forward role, with the deeper midfielder hopefully capable on the ball.
This is also a likely scenario now, given that recent reports have suggested Casemiro might be on his way out.
Try Mount on the right wing
With Antony dropping in favour rapidly, Mount could see his likeliest shot at game time coming on the right.
He has thrived here for Chelsea before, and would rely heavily on support out wide from Diogo Dalot or Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Not able to beat his man, Mount could instead look to invert and combine in possession with Hojlund, Bruno and whoever else is in the middle.
He could be dangerous here, but again a lot would depend on those around him.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
