Mason Mount

Key question:

Does he have the discipline and appropriate strengths to play in a three with Casemiro and Bruno, with primary responsibility for receiving from the defence and ball-carrying/otherwise progressing the ball through the midfield in the offensive transition?

comment by rosso says the time has come to unlock the unlimited Pote-ntial of the Fernançalvemiro triumvirate (U17054)
posted 37 seconds ago
Key question:

Does he have the discipline and appropriate strengths to play in a three with Casemiro and Bruno, with primary responsibility for receiving from the defence and ball-carrying/otherwise progressing the ball through the midfield in the offensive transition?
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yes, probably his biggest strength, that and nicking the ball high up and pushing up.

he would be an improvement on fred, mctominnay, sancho, antony (if played there or a change in formation)

To me, he looks like a very tidy, diligent, athletic, and pacy enough systems player.

My concerns from what I’ve seen would be that:

- we really need someone who is consistent in taking the ball on the half-turn and carrying it successfully, rather than a pass-and-move player, and

- replacing Eriksen with Mount would heal even more pressure on Bruno in terms of chance creation.

I think the two seasons before this one mount was top 10 in chances created, expected assists and key passes.

If we were guaranteed the calendar years 2020 and 2021 Mason Mount, I’d be quite happy with the club parting with £50m, tbh.

comment by rosso says the time has come to unlock the unl... (U17054)
posted 7 hours, 8 minutes ago
Key question:

Does he have the discipline and appropriate strengths to play in a three with Casemiro and Bruno, with primary responsibility for receiving from the defence and ball-carrying/otherwise progressing the ball through the midfield in the offensive transition?
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I would say that formation seriously struggles with balance, as Mount currently lacks a lot of experience and discipline with playing in a midfield three. His weaknesses for Chelsea in a midfield three was his build-up from the back, and his defensive positioning, which often would leave his teammates isolated.

He is by far best playing as the attacking left midfielder in a 3-4-3 formation. This role allows him the flexibility to move between 10, 8 and wide midfielder. He was crucial to Tuchel in this role, as the role could see him rotate based on in game situations and tactics. This is by far his greatest strength and why our managers loved him.

I was once vocal about him playing further back in midfield, but he seemed to always really struggle in this role. The trade off with him playing further forward is lack of creativity and goals, but so long as he has a teammate doing the heavy lifting, the payoff is much greater than him being a central midfielder.

comment by Vorsprung durch Tuchel (U1641)
posted 18 hours, 3 minutes ago
comment by Black Hawk (U16342)
posted 7 hours, 53 minutes ago
Mount is rather unorthodox as a midfielder, as positionally he is somewhere between a number 10, box-to-box midfielder or winger. He is tidy and reliable on the ball, amazing at pressing but also uninventive and not very exciting to watch. He is at his best stitching the attack and midfield or pressing the opposition high up the pitch.

For an attacking player he really lacks creativity or any consistent goal scoring. So as a number 10 he will be far less productive than Fernandez but could be an alternative for tactical setups in the big games.

Unfortunately, his positioning as a central midfielder is poor and nor is he particularly impressive in setting the tempo or building from the back. With some training he could be good but is a very different profile to what Manchester United need in midfield – probably more suitable for Liverpool.

I am sad to see him leave as he is a very good player. I often forget how young he is, as he can produce mature consistent performances under the right manager. However, I don’t think he will ever be of world class caliber, he reminds me more of someone like James Milner, which in my opinion is a fair compliment.

I also think it will be a good thing for his career and can totally understand his decision to leave. He needs to work under a world class manager and will be well liked by Ten Hag. United fans will like him too, as he is a good lad and is technically decent and hardworking.

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Black Hawk! Good to see you. Will you be around more?
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Hey BK (at least I think you are BK!).

I do still post on the site from time to time, but I have had no energy to really post anything Chelsea related lol. The energy has been sucked out of me from this season and much of last!

comment by Black Hawk (U16342)
posted 24 minutes ago
comment by rosso says the time has come to unlock the unl... (U17054)
posted 7 hours, 8 minutes ago
Key question:

Does he have the discipline and appropriate strengths to play in a three with Casemiro and Bruno, with primary responsibility for receiving from the defence and ball-carrying/otherwise progressing the ball through the midfield in the offensive transition?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I would say that formation seriously struggles with balance, as Mount currently lacks a lot of experience and discipline with playing in a midfield three. His weaknesses for Chelsea in a midfield three was his build-up from the back, and his defensive positioning, which often would leave his teammates isolated.

He is by far best playing as the attacking left midfielder in a 3-4-3 formation. This role allows him the flexibility to move between 10, 8 and wide midfielder. He was crucial to Tuchel in this role, as the role could see him rotate based on in game situations and tactics. This is by far his greatest strength and why our managers loved him.

I was once vocal about him playing further back in midfield, but he seemed to always really struggle in this role. The trade off with him playing further forward is lack of creativity and goals, but so long as he has a teammate doing the heavy lifting, the payoff is much greater than him being a central midfielder.

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Good to see you, BH, and thanks for the summary

Your points and my existing concerns considered, ETH may have a different idea in mind:

He experimented later on this season with Bruno in a deeper role, collecting the ball from the CBs and acting as sometime quarterback, looking for the long diagonals, and sometime ball carrier. Sabitzer, who all of us barring ETH seemingly knew already really isn’t any kind of ball carrier, was redeployed higher up, and did a fairly decent job of making a nuisance of himself dropping from a central ten position, linking with the forwards and often arriving late in the box to try to get on the end of things.

Maybe something similar to the latter role would be more suited to Mount: a sort of eight/ten dropping off, collecting in pockets of space on the half turn, and feeding forwards whilst Bruno (who can get up and down like a facking express train) and Casemiro do more of the legwork in the transition behind him?

comment by vidicthelegend VIVA LA REVOLUTION (U8735)
posted 21 hours, 39 minutes ago
comment by Naby8 (U6997)
posted 2 hours, 42 minutes ago
comment by vidicthelegend VIVA LA REVOLUTION (U8735)
posted 4 hours, 18 minutes ago
comment by (K̇ash) - Liverpool 7-0 Man U (U1108)
posted 1 hour, 39 minutes ago
Remember when Tom Cleverley used to play for United? Well you get him back.
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Funny thing about this comment is a prime Cleverly walks into the current Liverpool midfield
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You learn something new everyday. I never knew Tom Cleverly had a ‘prime’. How many minutes did it last?

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I’d say it was in 2013 when he won as many premier leagues as your team have in the history of the competition.
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yep Hudson Odoi asap, Loftus Cheek is ok but better to get some cash for him. there are some that are very likely to flatter now but may not pan out such as ian maatsen. Levi Colwill should not go anywhere except maybe to brighton on loan for two years as makeweight in a deal for caceido

comment by rosso says the time has come to unlock the unl... (U17054)
posted 54 minutes ago
comment by Black Hawk (U16342)
posted 24 minutes ago
comment by rosso says the time has come to unlock the unl... (U17054)
posted 7 hours, 8 minutes ago
Key question:

Does he have the discipline and appropriate strengths to play in a three with Casemiro and Bruno, with primary responsibility for receiving from the defence and ball-carrying/otherwise progressing the ball through the midfield in the offensive transition?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I would say that formation seriously struggles with balance, as Mount currently lacks a lot of experience and discipline with playing in a midfield three. His weaknesses for Chelsea in a midfield three was his build-up from the back, and his defensive positioning, which often would leave his teammates isolated.

He is by far best playing as the attacking left midfielder in a 3-4-3 formation. This role allows him the flexibility to move between 10, 8 and wide midfielder. He was crucial to Tuchel in this role, as the role could see him rotate based on in game situations and tactics. This is by far his greatest strength and why our managers loved him.

I was once vocal about him playing further back in midfield, but he seemed to always really struggle in this role. The trade off with him playing further forward is lack of creativity and goals, but so long as he has a teammate doing the heavy lifting, the payoff is much greater than him being a central midfielder.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Good to see you, BH, and thanks for the summary

Your points and my existing concerns considered, ETH may have a different idea in mind:

He experimented later on this season with Bruno in a deeper role, collecting the ball from the CBs and acting as sometime quarterback, looking for the long diagonals, and sometime ball carrier. Sabitzer, who all of us barring ETH seemingly knew already really isn’t any kind of ball carrier, was redeployed higher up, and did a fairly decent job of making a nuisance of himself dropping from a central ten position, linking with the forwards and often arriving late in the box to try to get on the end of things.

Maybe something similar to the latter role would be more suited to Mount: a sort of eight/ten dropping off, collecting in pockets of space on the half turn, and feeding forwards whilst Bruno (who can get up and down like a facking express train) and Casemiro do more of the legwork in the transition behind him?
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He can certainly be great in the attacking phases of play - brilliant with linking midfield to attack. It's the out of posession positioning and his ability to defend teams in transition which will be the problem. Bruno and Casemiro will struggle to cover the gaps Mount will present in midfield - its a large part of the reason we rarely used him as a number 8 tbh.

However, our backline in a back four was also contributing factor as well, as post Sarri we only really ever looked comfortable playing with a double pivot. So there is a chance it might work with the right defence behind him.