Mason Mount image 7

Mason Mount England flag

2023-24 Performances


View full 2023-24 profile

4.8 Season Average Rating
Appearances
20
Goals
1
Assists
1
Yellow cards
2
Status
Not open for further replies.
He’s so obviously not a central midfielder in the way that we were initially trying to use him. He’s clearly much more comfortable with the ball being played into feet, rather than being expected to break the lines from deeper on the pitch.

I really think Ten Hag needs to try him on the right.

I like him through the middle. But not too deep and not as an attacker. Need a good DM next to him.
 
He was getting into good positions today between defensive lines. Hopefully Erik actually plays him and not his yes men.
 
I like him through the middle. But not too deep and not as an attacker. Need a good DM next to him.
Bruno’s position? I think he’d slot in great in Man City’s team in front of Rodri, but I don't think we have the right set up, regardless of how good the DM is.

I don’t think we can play with three forwards, Bruno at 10, and expect someone like Mount to play with a DM. Not against anyone decent anyway.
 
Bruno’s position? I think he’d slot in great in Man City’s team in front of Rodri, but I don't think we have the right set up, regardless of how good the DM is.

I don’t think we can play with three forwards, Bruno at 10, and expect someone like Mount to play with a DM. Not against anyone decent anyway.
I'd personally swap him for Bruno but unfortunately, ten Hag has made a rod for his own back making him captain.

Same problem with Rashford and the new contract too, although no one is really pushing him out of the team with fantastic individual performances.
 
If Eriksen is going to be sidelined for a bit I'd play Bruno deeper with Mount at number 10.But we all know Bruno would sulk.
 
Did well against the Lutons. Far more willing to make things happen, proactive player, on the front foot. Against a low block a lot of our players play at a walking pace. Mount constantly made runs that dragged them out of shape, released the ball quickly, just generally upped our tempo and threat. I really want to see him bedded into the side, I think our style will be closer to the Ten Hag ideal than with Eriksen pulling strings.
 
If Eriksen is going to be sidelined for a bit I'd play Bruno deeper with Mount at number 10.But we all know Bruno would sulk.

Bruno, the guy who's dutifully put a shift in out wide, which is definitely not his best position, would sulk at playing a few yards deeper? He actually played that role last year too, and played it well a couple of times.

Why on earth do you think him sulking would be a problem? If anything, the problem would be him giving the ball away in dangerous positions against teams keen to press us.

Anyhow, Mount did well today. He needs an actual run of games, ideally in a set position. He's versatile enough that I don't particularly care which position that is for now. As the above poster said, he definitely ups our tempo a bit. Would be nice to see him on a few more set pieces too, although that might just be my disgust at Bruno's skied free kick today talking!
 
Yeah I think it's pretty clearly the bottom of the box that is the issue at the moment. Both Bruno and Mount have the energy and work rate to cover each and track runners, it's simply at the moment they don't have someone behind them that can break up play and get the ball quickly into them after a transition.

Also Shaw is supposed to be inverted winger
 
Eriksen looked wrecked straight from the kick off, Mount looks like the best option to replace him while he's injured and I suspect beyond that, providing he stays fit himself. The cynicism I felt towards signing him is directed at the club, not the player, I'm not entirely convinced he will play well with Fernandes/McTominay the three of them eagerly chasing the ball around is concerning, but then again non of the pieces fit together in our midfield.
 
As a no.8 we should’ve just kept Fred. Same strengths. Probably moreso, really.
 
He’s so obviously not a central midfielder in the way that we were initially trying to use him. He’s clearly much more comfortable with the ball being played into feet, rather than being expected to break the lines from deeper on the pitch.

I really think Ten Hag needs to try him on the right.
What do you mean "initially"? I've seen 90% of the games so far and he's been always deployed in no10 position, very very high up the pitch. Argubly today he played closest to midfielder role and he was decent.

My personal opinion on Mount is he's a good player when on the ball, the problem
Agreed. Once ETH fixes his position. Makes zero sense to have him play so much upfront with Bruno also there whilst we struggle to build up play
Exactly my thoughts. I would definitely just push him deeper. It's not perfect but it at least should help to solve some of our problems. Not sure what problems Mount solves very high up the pitch if we can't even get there with the ball.
 
He's an intelligent off the ball player and hard working, willing to challenge - still wish though that he had more of a game-dictating passing repertoire or a bit more strength and speed to deal with players running past him and to break past players consistently. He's more or less a make -do option in CM, and there are players more naturally suited to the requirements of the 8 role that we could have gone in for...
 
What do you mean "initially"? I've seen 90% of the games so far and he's been always deployed in no10 position, very very high up the pitch. Argubly today he played closest to midfielder role and he was decent.
Huh? He started the season with Casemiro and Bruno until the injury and was certainly not playing at 10, more similar to what Eriksen has been playing recently. He’s barely played at 10 at all, unless we have different definitions of what a 10 is.

He didn’t look great at all when being expected to help out with picking the ball up from the defence. The problem with him playing that position is we have nothing defensively. Do you not remember Wolves just marching through our team at will? That’s no doubt where Ten Hag signed him to play and it didn’t work, I have my doubts it will even with a new DM due to other issues in the team.
 
As a no.8 we should’ve just kept Fred. Same strengths. Probably moreso, really.

Older though. And unbelievably inconsistent. I was a massive Fred fan but can only begin to imagine what a nightmare it is for a manager to go into a game not knowing whether he’s selected good Fred or his clown car altar ego.
 
Not only was he progressive on the ball, he also provided some much needed energy to our midfield which I felt had been lacking from his performances up until now.

Considering Mctominay was rewarded with a run of starts off the back of a late cameo vs Brentford, I'm hoping Ten Hag rewards Mount's display today with a start vs Everton. I reckon him and Bruno in the 8s has potential to work in certain games, even without Casemiro behind them.
 
He's somewhat a fighter, and a rapid one.

Sometimes feels like he just needs to clarify for himself a role in this ongoing chaos. Maybe someday.
 
To be honest I quite like him. And I’ve been quite vocal against him ever since we were first linked. He’s a reasonably intelligent player, and definitely puts the yards in. I can absolutely see him having a role in this team, if we ever get to the point of not being dysfunctional.
 
Huh? He started the season with Casemiro and Bruno until the injury and was certainly not playing at 10, more similar to what Eriksen has been playing recently. He’s barely played at 10 at all, unless we have different definitions of what a 10 is.

He didn’t look great at all when being expected to help out with picking the ball up from the defence. The problem with him playing that position is we have nothing defensively. Do you not remember Wolves just marching through our team at will? That’s no doubt where Ten Hag signed him to play and it didn’t work, I have my doubts it will even with a new DM due to other issues in the team.
I completely disagree with this post. He's been playing an attacking midfielder role for us, at least as high up the pitch as Bruno. I often see him roaming around the box, this is not what Eriksen does.

We have nothing defensively because we push striker, wingers and two attacking 8s/10s high up the pitch and play too direct football.
 
As a no.8 we should’ve just kept Fred. Same strengths. Probably moreso, really.
This./

Better off keeping Fred for the year then moving on than buying an attacking midfielder then shoehorning him into a position he’s not cut out for.

I was a massive Fred detractor but we’re already seeing it in here after a decent appearance off the bench for Mount, people will overreact in both directions.
 
Did well tonight. Got stuck in. Forced turnovers and stitched play together. Hopefully will kick on from here.
 
What do you mean "initially"? I've seen 90% of the games so far and he's been always deployed in no10 position, very very high up the pitch. Argubly today he played closest to midfielder role and he was decent.

My personal opinion on Mount is he's a good player when on the ball, the problem

Exactly my thoughts. I would definitely just push him deeper. It's not perfect but it at least should help to solve some of our problems. Not sure what problems Mount solves very high up the pitch if we can't even get there with the ball.
He can turn and run with the ball, is a decent passer, we should try it out more instead of having only one midfielder being deeper
 
Huh? He started the season with Casemiro and Bruno until the injury and was certainly not playing at 10, more similar to what Eriksen has been playing recently. He’s barely played at 10 at all, unless we have different definitions of what a 10 is.

He didn’t look great at all when being expected to help out with picking the ball up from the defence. The problem with him playing that position is we have nothing defensively. Do you not remember Wolves just marching through our team at will? That’s no doubt where Ten Hag signed him to play and it didn’t work, I have my doubts it will even with a new DM due to other issues in the team.
He did play with Casemiro and Bruno, but he was more inline with Bruno rather than Casemiro. That's where all the complaints about us playing 4141 came from, as we were just playing Casemiro in midfield by himself and both Mount and Bruno were effectively playing as #10's. It's not just Mount, we were doing the same with Hannibal and McTominay as well (the latter has been used multiple ways - as a 10 alongside Bruno, as an 8/6 next to Eriksen/Amrabat/Casemiro, and also as a 6 by himself).

Eriksen plays quite a bit deeper.
 
I completely disagree with this post. He's been playing an attacking midfielder role for us, at least as high up the pitch as Bruno. I often see him roaming around the box, this is not what Eriksen does.

We have nothing defensively because we push striker, wingers and two attacking 8s/10s high up the pitch and play too direct football.
They were playing as 8’s, not 10’s and Mount was the one more expected to drop back and help Casemiro defensively and when playing out from the back. I think I have issue with people using the term 10 to describe it more than anything.
 
Last edited:
They were playing as 8’s, not 10’s and Mount was the one more expected to drop back and help Casemiro defensively and when playing out from the back. I think I have issue with people using the term 10 to describe it more than anything.
Let's drop the "no10" term, the bottom line is I never saw him operating deep. The difference in how deep Eriksen operates for us (like a real midfielder) vs Mount is obvious. I think it's harsh to criticise MM for like you do in fragment below:

He didn’t look great at all when being expected to help out with picking the ball up from the defence. The problem with him playing that position is we have nothing defensively.
I don't think he's been ever instructed to do those things. I think the whole ETH idea is that defense + DM will take care of buildup and getting the ball to forward line, and forward line is striker, wingers, Mount and Bruno. That is the bottom line - Mount has been part of the attacking formation, I don't think his responsibility was to pick up the ball from defense or provide the cover for DM. I'd actually say it seems to be Bruno has been the one asked to do those things more than Mount. I believe it's very clear MM has been instructed to roam around the box, but that effectively takes him out of the game because we don't know how to get the ball to the box. Whenever Mount did get involved, I saw some good stuff from him. I would definitely play him a bit deeper to get him on the ball more.

I think the idea that Mount is Eriksen replacement was a figment of our imagination, from day one the midfield was one man midfield and we only dropped this vs Copenhagen, where we switched to classic 4231 that worked well for us. Yesterday after Eriksen left the pitch McTominay moved deeper (again, he definitely wasn't playing CM until that moment) and Mount took a role in between McTominay and Bruno.

Imo ETH got this setup totally wrong, it relies on elite players on the ball in defense and DM, while we should've focused on figuring out how to build up and progress the ball through the thirds using players we have. I think Mount will be useful in that regard, but not if we keep playing him in so high starting position.
 
Came on yesterday and added some urgency to our attack but he wasn’t great or anything. Probably played a part in the goal but he was incredibly high up the pitch. Not sure why he’s not starting at this point though.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.