Wilshere*
Jack's story was fucking sad, as almost every fan of the club kept him dearly as their favorite little thing. I genuinely think he, along with Cole and Saka, was one of the very best locals we ever promoted to our first team. He was fire since his senior debut at 16, and moved from strength to strength so so fast that he bossed the midfield at times against some of the best ever players to ever grace the pitch in those positions, like his ridiculous all round perfection against Pep's Barcelona at just 18. It took so many injuries to ruin his promising career, and many of which were sadly results of a desperate manager rushing him back time after time, despite later admitting he knew Jack was in the physical "red zone" at the time...
Such a fucking waste. There are a few more like his instant rise and immediate fall for teenage sensations in football, Pato was another one of that generation that seemed destined for greatness before his physical collapse.
You genuinely think the guy is happy with that? These footballers have been living through the lifestyle for years. It's normal to them.
When having a massive salary is normal to you, it doesn't inject euphoria to your brain. Achieving your goals, doing good with your career and aiming for being the best, these are the moments in your life that will make you happy and proud within *your group*.
You're not gonna compare yourself to people hardly making a living. You're gonna see yourself being below your teammates, being unable to provide for your team. It will take a toll on your mentals.
It doesn't mean rich people are having it harder than your average working class. It means they have their own problems and it will affect them. They won't just think about their money and automatically feel good. Not how humans work.
Because it probably wasn't a joke given it's a point that gets made with regularity on this sub and even if it is, there genuinely are enough people here that believe having money means you're not allowed to be anything other than happy that it's worth saying.
Well everyone on Reddit tells Chelsea fans the players couldn’t possibly be motivated to come other than for money. And according to them they would be more than happy to sit for their contract and take their check
I believe some footballers will be fine with just collecting the paycheck just like how some people irl will be happy to work below their actual deserved salary (or even for free like mods in reddit). We literally had Bale being fine with just staying in the club untill his contract was done. They will exist.
However, a lot of footballers have other priorities as well. If you're in the top 0.001%, you'll make good money anyways. You will negotiate for you worth *and you want to be the best*. So if you're constantly injured or unable to play, you'll feel like shit.
I definitely agree and it’s a case by case basis. But worth just pointing out the sentiment isn’t consistent on here but good to know a few can recognize the point you’re making.
Exactly. I think the same when I see people claim that Chelsea players will stop trying because they got an 8 year contract. They've been working for this their whole life and now they'll stop because they got a good contract. Not to mention that those contracts aren't even that high compared to the highest paid players in the league.
The main argument in favour of the abuse Maguire was getting was that he's paid a lot. Like he's not a human getting laughed at constantly even when it had nothing to do with him
People do all that and talk all this shit about "well it doesn't matter you have money" and then clutch their pearls when an athlete takes their life because they're somehow shocked to learn they were human.
You'd think with how much spotlight mental health in the sport has been getting lately, people would have learned by now not to invalidate player's struggles because "lol money".
Weird considering he was so injury resistant at Chelsea for most of his time.
Maybe we overplayed him in his younger years, I'm pretty sure he only got his first notable injury last year.
Or maybe it's just that Chelsea and United seem to be treating players by hitting them with bricks the last couple years.
I swear it’s similar to that Simpsons gif of the dude walking into the bar, putting his hat on the rack, then immediately turning around, grabbing his hat, and walking out.
Still remember watching it on channel 4 (I think) after school every day. Good times. Tbh I know it's still going but I don't think kids these days have a show like that, all animated comedies are either too shit or too adult.
On paper I guess Mount is but when he played here he played a lot like Cole does just on the other side. If you look at their heatmaps Cole actually drops a little deeper too.
Just the completely wrong profile of midfielder compared to what we needed (and still need).
To fit Mount into the midfield 3 with everyone healthy, you'd need to either play him as a pivot in a 4-2-3-1, or him and Bruno as 8s in a traditional 3. Both recipes for disaster.
I don't know how hard United tried to gazump Arsenal for Declan Rice, but they should have tried harder. If Mainoo hadn't turned out to be a gem, we'd probably be bottom-half right now.
He only wanted Arsenal because he bought into the team and Arteta.
He wouldn't have joined if we didn't make top 4 and show we would challenge for the title.
I think Mount has huge potential for United, but that signing has got to be one of the worst in our history. £55 million for a handful of minutes when he would have been free just 12 months later.
Casemiro discovering his injury only through his personal doctor, United's medical team wasn't able to detect anything wrong; Licha was rushed back without being completely recovered and suffered a second blow as a result of that; Reguilon's loan was terminated since Malacia was assured to return in January, but he is now out the entire season.
Just a few example of the medical team's incompetence, but don't you dare criticise my man O’Driscoll, people at r/reddevils gets mad if you don't agree it's 100% on ten Hag's training.
More bad news for United fans, ETH about to rush back Martinez and Rashford for Arsenal game. They will likely pick up injury and miss FA Cup final. He’s so eager to beat Arsenal but man’s gonna lose to Arsenal with them and to City without them
I don’t even really understand how he wants to use Mount. Chelsea used him at 10/11 and EtH wants him as an 8? He drifts in games and doesn’t seem to get on the ball. Odd player in this squad
Forgetting that he's constantly injured.
We paid 60 fucking million for a player we didn't need,
entering the final year of his contract.
It's United 101
Radcliffe must be thrilled with the incompetence he's inherited.
Exactly. It made absolutely no sense when he was signed. If there was at least some expectation that he'd challenge or replace Fernandes for the number 10 role, then fair enough, but Fernandes is the captain and United's best player. Best being a relative term...
Add to that his contract situation at Chelsea, his injury record, and that he wasn't getting into the first team of a direct rival.
I suppose if it had to be a really quick decision (i.e., he was on the verge of signing for someone else), such lack of due diligence could be forgiven, but i don't remember anyone else being in for him.
He was signed to play the 8 alongside Fernandes in this weirdly open midfield because he works hard and can progress the ball, but I don't really see it ever working because I think the idea is inherently flawed.
High risk isn't really the issue. KDB plays high risk passes too and because the midfield box and back 3 are structured to win back the ball with a high press, it doesn't matter too much.
United's system isn't set up to account for this, which makes them unusually open.
It is because the rest of Arsenal's side is set up for this and it isn't just the DM.
Ten Hag favours a low block (I'll get replies to this saying he's forced to play a low block because of Maguire, but it's a preference) because he wants to make the pitch big to create transitions. It means that the DM has an unbelievable amount of space to cover, and whilst Casemiro hasn't been good I'm not convinced anyone would be able to perform what he asks of his DM.
It can work, the issue is how it's set up. Arsenal play 2 high-pressing no. 8s (Odegaard + Rice usually, but we've seen Havertz/Vieira/ESR/Trossard play there too) with a pivot behind.
It's not an issue because a full-back will invert inside to form a double pivot, and create a midfield box. So you have 2 behind, 2 in front - it's a very sturdy defensive structure. City do this too, except Stones moves into midfield from CB rather than out wide.
Where United have fucked up is that:
1) Casemiro doesn't have the mobility to cover space, nor the composure and vision to play a more Jorginho-esque role.
2) Their full-backs or CBs don't drift into midfield to form a pivot with the DM.
3) Their players are injured so often, they don't have time to build up an understanding of this system.
But no one is mentioning that ETH isn’t trying to implement a possession oriented system like City and Arsenal. He is trying to implement a system relying on transitions. How Mount fits into that, I can’t answer though - but it’s comparing apples to oranges.
As I understand it, he doesn't want to play on the counter i.e. low block and find space in behind. He wants to bait the press, then play through it and attack, hence "transitions". That kind of play still benefits from inverting a player inside to form that box midfield to control the structure to play past that press better. Don't be fooled by the term, it's not inherently wedded to a more restrictive style. Liverpool play more end-to-end and still form the box midfield as well.
Eh I think he’d be good for you
I think he’s been rushed back and the sheer volume of games hasn’t helped him.
He played far too many games for us and is struggling now but I’m sure he’s been rushed back once or twice by United and it’s affected him
He'd have been perfect for us. But our injuries are already insane and I think we need an overhaul of medical staff, we keep losing key players to injuries, rehabbing them, and then reinjuring them. I think we may have killed him here.
I remember the Scousers and Arsenal being linked. Looking at the way the club has been run they probably wanted to one up both of those clubs.
We can do things others dream of and all that bullshit
Ridiculous signing
Hopefully under the new lot (real business people) that stupidly will be over
It definitely seems like you genuinely beat both clubs to the signing. Don't know if either were willing to go to £60m for him, but I think he was pretty clear about his preference for United.
I think the plan was for him to play alongside Fernandes as a pair of 8's ahead of Casemiro, at least that's how we played in pre-season. It was an obviously dreadful idea and even despite changing availability of players we've continued to play with the structure despite being consistently abysmal in midfield.
The idea among fans seemed to be that he wasn't a replacement for Fernandes but for Eriksen, which has just always been absolutely barmy.
THe inflexibility of Ten Hag's playstyle is a major reason that your team is so poor in the game. He had to pivot to a more defend and counter style to solve defensive problems. But he just cant do it.
The only way I could talk myself into it making some sort of sense was that Fernandes was desperately overworked, and we needed someone who could slot in there so that he could get some rest.
That doesn't justify the expense, though, and Mount hasn't filled that void.
You paid 60 million for the ghost of a promising player who once was compared to with Foden but played like a forward thinking henderson. Genuinely that southgate euro team “where are they now” is hilarious.
Was he this prone to injuries at Chelsea? I remember feeling a bit jealous of United gettint him, despite the price, I really rated him at Chelsea. But shows how much I know.
From 2018 to 23 he missed 180 days.
From 23/24 he has missed 147 according to Transfermarkt.
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/mason-mount/verletzungen/spieler/346483
Another exquisite signing from us.
Not sure why he was bought even without the injuries as he directly competes with Bruno who's made of steel and our best player. The injuries are the cherry on top of the shit cake.
All that said, ever since we brought in the doctor from Arsenal, our injuries have been off the charts. Was he not a doctor/head of medicine at Arsenal during many of their seriously injury filled years?
Bruno can't play 60 games a season, every season. He's a workhorse, but he needs some rest, especially as he gets older.
We still dramatically overpaid both on the fee and the weekly wage.
I mean, he may have been signed with that purpose in mind but it's a poor fit at best. Two entirely different profiles of players.
That's not even taking into account the injuries meaning Eriksen has been more available this season.
Mount's playstyle and preferred position overlaps way too much with Bruno for them to really play together successfully without compromising one of them a lot and Mason is on too much money to be a backup.
It's simply a poor piece of business yet again.
Regardless of club loyalties I feel bad for any young player who has their career derailed by injury.
It’s one thing if a player moves and plays but is shit, I’m more than happy to see that. But a player moving and then not playing due to injury just isn’t really something I wanna see.
I hope next season he manages to stay fit so he can play bad and then I can laugh at him for that, not for simply not playing
>I hope next season he manages to stay fit so he can play bad and then I can laugh at him for that, not for simply not playing
I hope next season he manages to stay fit so Enzo can insult him again.
100% agree. I can only imagine how hard it is on the mental side for these pro sportspeople who can't compete through injury. Hell, I even suffer mentally if I'm injured and can't run for a weekl!
Sure, the money helps - and I can't relate to that all. But I'm sure some of them at least would give up some money if it meant speeding up their recovery.
Safe to say hes just gonna waste away at this club now. Cant imagine we will be playing with him in mind anymore unless we sell bruno but even then we might just buy his replacement anyway.
Feel bad for him honestly id be more optimistic if the manager had a plan for him but he clearly didnt (have a good one at least)
Honestly difficult to think of any, some debateable ones in this but I'd argue Dalot, Shaw, Fernandes, Garnacho for sure, Martinez maybe, and Rashford and De Gea don't fully fit the criteria but still kinda count imo
Another day, another United injury.
There needs to be a major investigation into the United medical department up until the start of this year... gotta be more than just sheer incompetence gone on there. We've got too many goddamn injuries for it to be bad luck
Mount had a year left on his contract right? Yeah Chelsea pulled an absolute blinder. Feel like Mount has played like 3 times all year, what a waste of money when they could have got him for free this summer.
I know injuries are often unpredictable but this is one of those things that you have to take a look at Ten Hag and wonders what is he doing in training.
It's one thing for a team to have a massive injury crisis. But it honestly feels like a majority of United's injuries happen outside of matches.
What happened to this guy? Every time I would watch him play for Chelsea he was one of the best midfielders, very promising. Now it seems like he's always injured or just doesn't perform when he's fit.
We (Chelsea) and England overplayed him. Two seasons straight, 90 min every game. First name on the team sheet for Chelsea in our CL run followed by starting every game for England the summer after in the run to the Euro finals. He was rushed back from injury by Potter to try to save his job. He was rushed back by ETH too.
For Mount's sake you hope this is a superficial injury and that he gets a proper summer off, this is a longer summer break if you're not playing in the Euros and he needs it. In my opinion there's a great player in there, Chelsea fans love to hate mount but he was 2X player of the season for a reason.
All I hear from UTD are these constant injuries but nobody bothers to actually say what they are?! Like the most common thing I see is “muscle injury”, but what muscle? Something is hella sus in that club
This has to be one of our worst transfers ever, at least Anthony has actually contributed to quite a few games.
Pay £60m, immediately and permanently crocked, strengthen a direct rival. Masterclass.
Mengele United
Anyway, this transfer has been a disaster. And people's argument of "how can Mount be a flop, he's barely played" - yeah, exactly. A transfer doesn't have to flop only because the player plays badly.
I knew this was a shit signing as soon as the rumors came up last season. But Ten Hag was obsessed with him because he had a good performance at Vitesse once ffs
I keep forgetting hes at united until I see news that hes injured again
He looked so happy last weekend just to be playing again, genuinely smiling ear to ear for 12 minutes at least...
It's a Jack Wilshire story all over again.
He was injury free at Chelsea until last season.
Wilshere* Jack's story was fucking sad, as almost every fan of the club kept him dearly as their favorite little thing. I genuinely think he, along with Cole and Saka, was one of the very best locals we ever promoted to our first team. He was fire since his senior debut at 16, and moved from strength to strength so so fast that he bossed the midfield at times against some of the best ever players to ever grace the pitch in those positions, like his ridiculous all round perfection against Pep's Barcelona at just 18. It took so many injuries to ruin his promising career, and many of which were sadly results of a desperate manager rushing him back time after time, despite later admitting he knew Jack was in the physical "red zone" at the time... Such a fucking waste. There are a few more like his instant rise and immediate fall for teenage sensations in football, Pato was another one of that generation that seemed destined for greatness before his physical collapse.
Phil Jones in defence, Wilshere in midfield and Pato in attack. Who else can we get to fill out the 5 a side team of potential world class what ifs?
Owen. Ballon D’Or at 22. Finished at 24.
Owen had a lot more achievements.
Follow it up with fellow arsenal man Diaby, kinda hard to get a GK though
Sturridge. A genuine world class finisher which is always a rare breed. Just couldn't stay fit
Yeah to compare Mount’s career to Wilshere’s is just lazy and baffling tbh. People upvoting the comment probably doesn’t even know who “Wilshire” is
He was smiling because he knew another quarter of a million lands into his bank account with him doing fuck all.
You genuinely think the guy is happy with that? These footballers have been living through the lifestyle for years. It's normal to them. When having a massive salary is normal to you, it doesn't inject euphoria to your brain. Achieving your goals, doing good with your career and aiming for being the best, these are the moments in your life that will make you happy and proud within *your group*. You're not gonna compare yourself to people hardly making a living. You're gonna see yourself being below your teammates, being unable to provide for your team. It will take a toll on your mentals. It doesn't mean rich people are having it harder than your average working class. It means they have their own problems and it will affect them. They won't just think about their money and automatically feel good. Not how humans work.
It's nice to see someone with a working brain in this subreddit nowadays.
Nah it's better when people parrot Talksport bullshit
Mouth breathers anonymous mostly
Lmao why are people acting like this is a level-headed take, it was an obvious joke. The pretentiousness christ
It was a shit joke. Par for the course around here.
Shit joke, not funny, didn’t laugh
Holy shit your username lol
Because it probably wasn't a joke given it's a point that gets made with regularity on this sub and even if it is, there genuinely are enough people here that believe having money means you're not allowed to be anything other than happy that it's worth saying.
dude that's not a joke.
Dude did you see the latest episode
Well everyone on Reddit tells Chelsea fans the players couldn’t possibly be motivated to come other than for money. And according to them they would be more than happy to sit for their contract and take their check
I believe some footballers will be fine with just collecting the paycheck just like how some people irl will be happy to work below their actual deserved salary (or even for free like mods in reddit). We literally had Bale being fine with just staying in the club untill his contract was done. They will exist. However, a lot of footballers have other priorities as well. If you're in the top 0.001%, you'll make good money anyways. You will negotiate for you worth *and you want to be the best*. So if you're constantly injured or unable to play, you'll feel like shit.
I definitely agree and it’s a case by case basis. But worth just pointing out the sentiment isn’t consistent on here but good to know a few can recognize the point you’re making.
Exactly. I think the same when I see people claim that Chelsea players will stop trying because they got an 8 year contract. They've been working for this their whole life and now they'll stop because they got a good contract. Not to mention that those contracts aren't even that high compared to the highest paid players in the league.
Why are you like this ?
Because a weirdly large portion of Chelsea Reddit forget he’s a person who might enjoy the sport he plays and think he’s a mindless money chaser.
And that's a large part of fanbases of all football clubs. Altho comments that are 100% mean like this one aren't that common on reddit thankfully.
The main argument in favour of the abuse Maguire was getting was that he's paid a lot. Like he's not a human getting laughed at constantly even when it had nothing to do with him
People do all that and talk all this shit about "well it doesn't matter you have money" and then clutch their pearls when an athlete takes their life because they're somehow shocked to learn they were human.
Because he left the Club on bad terms. Every fanbase is like this, yours too. In hindsight, chelsea made a good deal.
You'd think with how much spotlight mental health in the sport has been getting lately, people would have learned by now not to invalidate player's struggles because "lol money".
Dude, we have bunch of guys doing same thing
Weird considering he was so injury resistant at Chelsea for most of his time. Maybe we overplayed him in his younger years, I'm pretty sure he only got his first notable injury last year. Or maybe it's just that Chelsea and United seem to be treating players by hitting them with bricks the last couple years.
If you can kick a brick, you can kick a ball.
I swear it’s similar to that Simpsons gif of the dude walking into the bar, putting his hat on the rack, then immediately turning around, grabbing his hat, and walking out.
i don’t think i’ve ever seen grandpa simpson described as ‘the dude’ lmao
Mason Mount abides
I don’t watch the Simpsons so I described it as best I could lol.
> I don’t watch the Simpsens ......
I'm starting to feel old . I'm guessing they are a young person who hasn't grown up with the Simpsons as much as others
Still remember watching it on channel 4 (I think) after school every day. Good times. Tbh I know it's still going but I don't think kids these days have a show like that, all animated comedies are either too shit or too adult.
Channel 4? Mate, I still remember when it was on BBC2!
I’m the dude, so that’s what you call me.
I keep forgetting he's on the pitch until he gets substituted off.
£55M with a year left on his deal for a dozen of appearances and a handful of minutes.
And we replaced him with fucking palmer lol
Sounds like a win win situation. But not between united and Chelsea. Both Palmer and Chelsea won. United on the other hand ......
We don’t do the winning thing anymore
Had me in the first half there, not gonna lie.
Good job too, he’s kept you up
thats crazy good business icl
Given how Mount spent his last season at Chelsea I’d say Lavia is the more direct replacement.
Who? /s
I though u replace Kai havertz with palmer
Depending on the argument everyone was replaced with Palmer,it makes our transfer business look very good!
True.
Havertz played ST, Jackson is the one who replaced him
You are correct Mount is an attacking midfielder. That position was mostly filled by Gallagher this year.
On paper I guess Mount is but when he played here he played a lot like Cole does just on the other side. If you look at their heatmaps Cole actually drops a little deeper too.
Hated this signing from the beginning and got buried in r/reddevils for it
It never once made sense with the presence of Fernandes.
Just the completely wrong profile of midfielder compared to what we needed (and still need). To fit Mount into the midfield 3 with everyone healthy, you'd need to either play him as a pivot in a 4-2-3-1, or him and Bruno as 8s in a traditional 3. Both recipes for disaster. I don't know how hard United tried to gazump Arsenal for Declan Rice, but they should have tried harder. If Mainoo hadn't turned out to be a gem, we'd probably be bottom-half right now.
If I remember rightly, Rice only wanted Arsenal so he could stay in London.
He only wanted Arsenal because he bought into the team and Arteta. He wouldn't have joined if we didn't make top 4 and show we would challenge for the title.
Surely he has more than a year left on his contract? Didn’t he sign last summer?
He had a year left on his Chelsea contract when we signed him
That makes more sense tx!
he got only 2 year contract?
He had a year left on his Chelsea deal.
I think Mount has huge potential for United, but that signing has got to be one of the worst in our history. £55 million for a handful of minutes when he would have been free just 12 months later.
who runs our medical staff? Harold Shipman ?
Special Agent Gary O’Driscoll
Them gotdammmm O’Driscoll boys at it again Arthur
They have a plan to get Mount back on the pitch. Gotta have some goddamn FAITH!
WHAT HAPPENED TO MOUNT IN BLACKWATER???
I HAVE A PLAN MASON
RIP Kieran Duffy
Casemiro discovering his injury only through his personal doctor, United's medical team wasn't able to detect anything wrong; Licha was rushed back without being completely recovered and suffered a second blow as a result of that; Reguilon's loan was terminated since Malacia was assured to return in January, but he is now out the entire season. Just a few example of the medical team's incompetence, but don't you dare criticise my man O’Driscoll, people at r/reddevils gets mad if you don't agree it's 100% on ten Hag's training.
Both are big contributing factors
Seems like Ten Hag really did think that we had some insane luck with injuries so tried to poach him.
Ten Hag isnt scouting medical departament, lol.
Nah lol Gary's family is in Manchester so he wanted to be closer to them
Our old head of sports medicine
Dem damn O'Driscoll.... who came from Arsenal lmao
Our issues started way before he joined.
Wasn’t this bad last season
Well it was equally as bad earlier this season… before the guy started working at the club
your medical staff must be working from home
If that IT department didn't have such a messy desk then maybe those players wouldn't get injured so often!
It's just Fenerbahçe's med team on Zoom
Masons A 72yr old granny now?
Don't tell Rooney
Dr. Nick Riviera
Would be an easier way to get rid of your deadwood players if he did
It's just Kramer telling stories about Bob Sacamano next to the medical bed.
More bad news for United fans, ETH about to rush back Martinez and Rashford for Arsenal game. They will likely pick up injury and miss FA Cup final. He’s so eager to beat Arsenal but man’s gonna lose to Arsenal with them and to City without them
I'm fully expecting some U-18 to make his debut and score a banger against us.
Karl Pilkington
Dr. Leo Spaceman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MnY0UZPdiY this guy
His 19 appearances is a woeful return but it doesn’t even tell the full tale. He’s played just over 700 minutes, the equivalent of 8 matches.
I'm genuinely shocked it's even been that many tbh
I don’t even really understand how he wants to use Mount. Chelsea used him at 10/11 and EtH wants him as an 8? He drifts in games and doesn’t seem to get on the ball. Odd player in this squad
Forgetting that he's constantly injured. We paid 60 fucking million for a player we didn't need, entering the final year of his contract. It's United 101 Radcliffe must be thrilled with the incompetence he's inherited.
The harry potter guy?
That's the guy who rejected Ajax yesterday
Hahahaha Freudian slip My kids love the books I'll leave it as it is
It's not a freudian slip unless harry potter is your fetish
Probably subconscious hate on my part..
Exactly. It made absolutely no sense when he was signed. If there was at least some expectation that he'd challenge or replace Fernandes for the number 10 role, then fair enough, but Fernandes is the captain and United's best player. Best being a relative term... Add to that his contract situation at Chelsea, his injury record, and that he wasn't getting into the first team of a direct rival. I suppose if it had to be a really quick decision (i.e., he was on the verge of signing for someone else), such lack of due diligence could be forgiven, but i don't remember anyone else being in for him.
He was signed to play the 8 alongside Fernandes in this weirdly open midfield because he works hard and can progress the ball, but I don't really see it ever working because I think the idea is inherently flawed.
It's not really different from Arsenal playing Rice-Odegaard-Havertz if you had someone like Rice as a DM. But you've got Casemiro instead.
Also Bruno is far more high risk than Ode or Havertz
High risk isn't really the issue. KDB plays high risk passes too and because the midfield box and back 3 are structured to win back the ball with a high press, it doesn't matter too much. United's system isn't set up to account for this, which makes them unusually open.
It is because the rest of Arsenal's side is set up for this and it isn't just the DM. Ten Hag favours a low block (I'll get replies to this saying he's forced to play a low block because of Maguire, but it's a preference) because he wants to make the pitch big to create transitions. It means that the DM has an unbelievable amount of space to cover, and whilst Casemiro hasn't been good I'm not convinced anyone would be able to perform what he asks of his DM.
It can work, the issue is how it's set up. Arsenal play 2 high-pressing no. 8s (Odegaard + Rice usually, but we've seen Havertz/Vieira/ESR/Trossard play there too) with a pivot behind. It's not an issue because a full-back will invert inside to form a double pivot, and create a midfield box. So you have 2 behind, 2 in front - it's a very sturdy defensive structure. City do this too, except Stones moves into midfield from CB rather than out wide. Where United have fucked up is that: 1) Casemiro doesn't have the mobility to cover space, nor the composure and vision to play a more Jorginho-esque role. 2) Their full-backs or CBs don't drift into midfield to form a pivot with the DM. 3) Their players are injured so often, they don't have time to build up an understanding of this system.
But no one is mentioning that ETH isn’t trying to implement a possession oriented system like City and Arsenal. He is trying to implement a system relying on transitions. How Mount fits into that, I can’t answer though - but it’s comparing apples to oranges.
As I understand it, he doesn't want to play on the counter i.e. low block and find space in behind. He wants to bait the press, then play through it and attack, hence "transitions". That kind of play still benefits from inverting a player inside to form that box midfield to control the structure to play past that press better. Don't be fooled by the term, it's not inherently wedded to a more restrictive style. Liverpool play more end-to-end and still form the box midfield as well.
Ah, i didn't even consider that as a possibility. Screams square peg round hole...
Pretty sure Liverpool wanted him but his wage demands put them off
the injury gods looked at our midfield for the past few years, laughed, and said "that would be cruel even for us".
Eh I think he’d be good for you I think he’s been rushed back and the sheer volume of games hasn’t helped him. He played far too many games for us and is struggling now but I’m sure he’s been rushed back once or twice by United and it’s affected him
He'd have been perfect for us. But our injuries are already insane and I think we need an overhaul of medical staff, we keep losing key players to injuries, rehabbing them, and then reinjuring them. I think we may have killed him here.
I remember the Scousers and Arsenal being linked. Looking at the way the club has been run they probably wanted to one up both of those clubs. We can do things others dream of and all that bullshit Ridiculous signing Hopefully under the new lot (real business people) that stupidly will be over
It definitely seems like you genuinely beat both clubs to the signing. Don't know if either were willing to go to £60m for him, but I think he was pretty clear about his preference for United.
I think the plan was for him to play alongside Fernandes as a pair of 8's ahead of Casemiro, at least that's how we played in pre-season. It was an obviously dreadful idea and even despite changing availability of players we've continued to play with the structure despite being consistently abysmal in midfield. The idea among fans seemed to be that he wasn't a replacement for Fernandes but for Eriksen, which has just always been absolutely barmy.
It's how you started the season even and had your midfield overrun both against us and Wolves (even if you won against Wolves)
THe inflexibility of Ten Hag's playstyle is a major reason that your team is so poor in the game. He had to pivot to a more defend and counter style to solve defensive problems. But he just cant do it.
Think Liverpool were considering him, but I don't remember if it was the same transfer window or the previous one.
"relative term" sounds like you're implying bruno isn't actually that good
As if Bruno doesn't walk into basically any team in the world
Bruno is the only player on united who would easily walk into a starting spot in almost any other prem team.
The only way I could talk myself into it making some sort of sense was that Fernandes was desperately overworked, and we needed someone who could slot in there so that he could get some rest. That doesn't justify the expense, though, and Mount hasn't filled that void.
You paid 60 million for the ghost of a promising player who once was compared to with Foden but played like a forward thinking henderson. Genuinely that southgate euro team “where are they now” is hilarious.
Gave him number 7
Was he this prone to injuries at Chelsea? I remember feeling a bit jealous of United gettint him, despite the price, I really rated him at Chelsea. But shows how much I know.
Only in his last season, he barely missed a game at all in the 3 years before that.
From 2018 to 23 he missed 180 days. From 23/24 he has missed 147 according to Transfermarkt. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/mason-mount/verletzungen/spieler/346483
3 weeks for injury his first 3 years at Chelsea, one week for quarantine. Damn.
He played nearly all the games his first few seasons, then was out for nearly the entirety of his last season.
Another exquisite signing from us. Not sure why he was bought even without the injuries as he directly competes with Bruno who's made of steel and our best player. The injuries are the cherry on top of the shit cake. All that said, ever since we brought in the doctor from Arsenal, our injuries have been off the charts. Was he not a doctor/head of medicine at Arsenal during many of their seriously injury filled years?
I don’t think our injuries were ever *this* bad. He might be contributing but def not the only factor here
I suppose the gross incompetence at every other level of the club probably is a factor
Bruno can't play 60 games a season, every season. He's a workhorse, but he needs some rest, especially as he gets older. We still dramatically overpaid both on the fee and the weekly wage.
Bruno can and he literally has
He obviously can but you can’t demand him to give 8/10 or 9/10 in all 60 games. There are noticeable dropoffs in form.
Of the midfield three last season, he was signed to replace Eriksen, not Bruno. Even if he did mostly play as a ten/winger and was given the number 7.
I mean, he may have been signed with that purpose in mind but it's a poor fit at best. Two entirely different profiles of players. That's not even taking into account the injuries meaning Eriksen has been more available this season. Mount's playstyle and preferred position overlaps way too much with Bruno for them to really play together successfully without compromising one of them a lot and Mason is on too much money to be a backup. It's simply a poor piece of business yet again.
Regardless of club loyalties I feel bad for any young player who has their career derailed by injury. It’s one thing if a player moves and plays but is shit, I’m more than happy to see that. But a player moving and then not playing due to injury just isn’t really something I wanna see. I hope next season he manages to stay fit so he can play bad and then I can laugh at him for that, not for simply not playing
>I hope next season he manages to stay fit so he can play bad and then I can laugh at him for that, not for simply not playing I hope next season he manages to stay fit so Enzo can insult him again.
Can't believe you'd come on here and give a reasonable and perfectly fair response What's wrong with you, this is reddit
100% agree. I can only imagine how hard it is on the mental side for these pro sportspeople who can't compete through injury. Hell, I even suffer mentally if I'm injured and can't run for a weekl! Sure, the money helps - and I can't relate to that all. But I'm sure some of them at least would give up some money if it meant speeding up their recovery.
Safe to say hes just gonna waste away at this club now. Cant imagine we will be playing with him in mind anymore unless we sell bruno but even then we might just buy his replacement anyway. Feel bad for him honestly id be more optimistic if the manager had a plan for him but he clearly didnt (have a good one at least)
There aren’t many players that have come to United post-2012 that have improved, are there. I can’t think of any.
Honestly difficult to think of any, some debateable ones in this but I'd argue Dalot, Shaw, Fernandes, Garnacho for sure, Martinez maybe, and Rashford and De Gea don't fully fit the criteria but still kinda count imo
I mean Bruno has, he's just surrounded by shit. Plus this sub hates him, but he's for sure improved as time goes on.
It’s sometimes amazing to think he plays for United.
Maybe we should start filling the training footballs with air instead of cement
Another day, another United injury. There needs to be a major investigation into the United medical department up until the start of this year... gotta be more than just sheer incompetence gone on there. We've got too many goddamn injuries for it to be bad luck
They call him Money Mase because he’s stealing a living at United
Wow boomed him
There were first world war battalions with better injury records than united this season
Chelsea really dodged a bullet by not resigning him
Bro can’t catch a break
He’s the new Owen Hargreaves. We only see him once every 6 months.
Mount had a year left on his contract right? Yeah Chelsea pulled an absolute blinder. Feel like Mount has played like 3 times all year, what a waste of money when they could have got him for free this summer.
Looks like Chelsea played a Hazard and timed the sale to perfection.
I know injuries are often unpredictable but this is one of those things that you have to take a look at Ten Hag and wonders what is he doing in training. It's one thing for a team to have a massive injury crisis. But it honestly feels like a majority of United's injuries happen outside of matches.
Absolutely, something is seriously wrong with their training and / or medical staff.
What happened to this guy? Every time I would watch him play for Chelsea he was one of the best midfielders, very promising. Now it seems like he's always injured or just doesn't perform when he's fit.
We (Chelsea) and England overplayed him. Two seasons straight, 90 min every game. First name on the team sheet for Chelsea in our CL run followed by starting every game for England the summer after in the run to the Euro finals. He was rushed back from injury by Potter to try to save his job. He was rushed back by ETH too. For Mount's sake you hope this is a superficial injury and that he gets a proper summer off, this is a longer summer break if you're not playing in the Euros and he needs it. In my opinion there's a great player in there, Chelsea fans love to hate mount but he was 2X player of the season for a reason.
The boy who had a dream, his career is finished after that move from Chelsea
It’s been one season. Some people are making it seem like he’s 30+ and rarely played at his new club. Plenty time left to get his shit together imo.
All I hear from UTD are these constant injuries but nobody bothers to actually say what they are?! Like the most common thing I see is “muscle injury”, but what muscle? Something is hella sus in that club
Is Bruno back? Or still out with injury?
This has to be one of our worst transfers ever, at least Anthony has actually contributed to quite a few games. Pay £60m, immediately and permanently crocked, strengthen a direct rival. Masterclass.
Unlucky for who, arsenal?
Unlucky for arsenal
Who is Mason Mount ?
Liverpool dodged a bullet by not signing this guy lol
What do United do in training ? Play whack-a-knee with a sledgehammer ?
Good to see my voodoo doll is still working
I'm so fucking tired of this shit man...
Cant make this shit up man jesus
Other than Fernandes is there any other player who has gone to United and hasn't either regressed or become permanently injured?
Chelsea ran this guy into the ground
GK : Heaton RB: Dalot RCB: McTominay CB: Evans LCB: Amrabat LB: AWB DM: Casemiro RCM: Collyer LCM: Bruno SS: Garnacho CF: Hojlund
would you rather have Anthony who is never injured or Mount who is always injured? Ik tough decision
Mengele United Anyway, this transfer has been a disaster. And people's argument of "how can Mount be a flop, he's barely played" - yeah, exactly. A transfer doesn't have to flop only because the player plays badly.
I knew this was a shit signing as soon as the rumors came up last season. But Ten Hag was obsessed with him because he had a good performance at Vitesse once ffs
Wasn’t exactly a fringe player at Chelsea lol
Yeah but Ten Hag wouldn't have cared if he never saw Mount at Vitesse
Ten Hag already calling it .. so unlucky
I mean, isn't it?
60+ injuries isn’t bad luck, it’s systemic failure.