On Thursday night in the Europa League, Manchester United will face Porto in a battle between two European heavyweights who are used to competing at the Champions League level.
Following a humiliating 3-0 loss to Tottenham this past weekend in the Premier League, Manchester United have a huge point to prove at mid-week, especially with Bruno Fernandes set to miss next weekend’s huge match against Champions League side Aston Villa due to a red card vs. Spurs.
Fernandes will probably get a start despite his poor form precisely because he will miss the next game anyway, but one player Manchester United should give a starting chance to is their other experienced No. 10 option, Mason Mount.
Manchester United paid a pretty penny to sign Mount in the summer 2023 transfer window, bringing him in from Chelsea for a cool 55 million pounds. He only got to start five games because of injuries, which were an issue at Chelsea, too.
This season, Mount has been bit by the injury bug, too, but now he’s back and ready to get some minutes for Manchester United, and with his ball-carrying and dribbling ability, he can be an X-Factor for this team.
Manchester United have looked so stagnant in the midfield again this season under Erik ten Hag, even with the addition of Manuel Ugarte from PSG. That’s because they don’t have enough gusto on the ball in the middle of the park; Fernandes is more of a languid creator than a carrier.
Mount can offer that sort of ball-winning and progression when he is at his best, papering over some of the cracks created by ten Hag’s own tactical deficiencies as a manager.
Hopefully, ten Hag gives Mount a chance to make an impact in the Europa League against Porto, because this is the kind of open, big-match environment that Mount can thrive in, just as he did at Chelsea where he was a former Champions League winner.
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The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.