Michael Carrick rang the changes against Sunderland, and Man Utd’s squad players did themselves no favours in the 0-0 draw.
Five changes to the team that won against Liverpool saw Man Utd struggle to get out of second gear the whole time.
A late flurry wasn’t enough to get all three points, and Michael Carrick now knows that he has a paper-thin squad after the 0-0 draw.
Nobody personifies that more than a player who was deployed in the role Erik ten Hag saw for him, only for him to fail miserably against Sunderland.
Did you learn anything from Mason Mount’s performance vs Sunderland?
Mount was playing in a deeper role – would you like to see him there again?
Mason Mount struggles against Sunderland
The most notable of the five changes against Sunderland was Carrick deploying Mason Mount in a defensive midfield role.
On paper, the playing profile of Mount couldn’t be more different than Casemiro, but it was expected that the cons would be covered by the pros.
Mount is not defensively solid or a threat on set-pieces, but he has the legs to cover the ground Casemiro simply can’t anymore.
However, by the end of full-time, Mount looked like a fish out of water, failing to use his attacking skills in a deeper role, and getting exposed for his defensive deficiencies as well.
Kobbie Mainoo had to take on the mantle of ball progression, while Mount was only good for snapping at the heels of opponents, often to no effect.
In such a game, a possession-dominant, pressing-heavy performance from a deeper role would have been expected of him.
What he showed was that Erik ten Hag misprofiled him from the very beginning.
Erik ten Hag bought Mount as an ‘athletic’ Christian Eriksen
Eyebrows were raised when Mount was signed, because Bruno Fernandes had a stranglehold on the No. 10 position at Old Trafford.
Who was Manchester United’s man of the match vs Sunderland?
A first 0-0 of the season, but did anyone stand out for Michael Carrick's side?
Then came Erik ten Hag’s experiment, where he wanted to effectively replace Christian Eriksen in the deeper midfield with Mount.
In theory, it made sense, as what Mount lacked in incisiveness with the ball was more than made up for by his athleticism and work rate.
Ten Hag wanted to play in the opponent’s half, suffocating them at the source, with Mount a key man in that scheme.
However, the theory didn’t match reality, as Mount regularly was overrun in a deeper role due to his natural instinct to go forward.
Injuries hampered his career, but he was bound to fail in that role from the very beginning. Against Sunderland, Carrick repeated that experiment.
It proved again, beyond doubt, that Mount is simply a luxury player who can play in many positions, but not impress unequivocally in any.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
