Disappointing tomorrows. Manchester United thought they had made the right deal by going to find Mason Mount at Chelsea. The attacking midfielder did not want to extend his contract with his lifelong club and, one year from the end of it, an agreement was reached with MU around €60m. His transfer has everything from the right pick: English international who is maturing, an already rich experience and weakening of a competing club.
Still, on the ground, it’s not that yet. Nothing too abnormal, you would say, after only 2 days, but the English press is already echoing a casting error. His style of play and his preferential position on the pitch are too much like Bruno Fernandes, the new irremovable captain of the Red Devils. During the first day against Wolverhampton (1-0), Mount even suffered from the comparison with his Portuguese teammate, much more sharp and inspired.
Mount is already the subject of doubts
With no influence on the game, Mount was replaced by Eriksen. This change, in addition to that of the entry of Garnacho in place of Sancho, was good for Erik ten Hang’s men, who finished the game better. The Dutchman tried something else against Tottenham by fielding his new recruit a notch lower, at a torchbearer position, alongside the more defensive Casemiro. It didn’t have the desired effect, quite the contrary. He managed only 15 out of 18 passes, twice that of the former Madrid player (29/36), and lost almost all his duels (5/6).
He ended up giving way to Pellistri but the damage was already done. Manchester United lost 2-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. “You have to be more multifunctional, and that’s how I see footballargued Ten Hag on the eve of the confrontation in London. He can do it. We have already seen it in pre-season. We definitely need to work on many aspects of our game, but also on midfield cooperation and how we need to set up. I’m sure we’ll get there, but it won’t happen overnight.”
Ten Hag has confidence
Already faced with some concerns at the end of the transfer window such as Dean Henderson’s desires elsewhere, Harry Maguire’s complicated situation and the needs of a striker, the Dutchman thought he could make up for his lack of depth in defensive midfield with the former player from Chelsea. In the short term, this may be too fair. “There’s a process we have to go through, but I’m sure he has the intelligence, the technical ability, and the vision for the game.”. The earliest would be best.
