Ex-Manchester United striker Louis Saha says he is surprised that Mason Mount has not been criticised more for his poor performances following his move to Old Trafford in the summer.

Since arriving from Chelsea for £55m, the England international has scored 0 goals and provided just 1 assist in 12 appearances and, speaking to Betfred, Saha questioned why his displays have not been as closely scrutinised as some of his teammates:

“I think there may be a misunderstanding about where Mount fits into the team positionally. When he plays in the centre of midfield, he seems like he’s too far advanced up the pitch when he should be protecting pockets of space that leave his team exposed.”

“I personally don’t understand his position. He should be coming in late, like Paul Scholes used to do, and I’m not seeing that in his game.”

“Mason Mount should be a big player for Manchester United like Marcus Rashford or Antony, so I don’t understand why those two get the intense criticism but Mason doesn’t when he’s not performing at all. He’s not scoring goals, he’s not assisting and nobody’s speaking about it. I just don’t understand it.”

Mount has failed to find his place in United’s starting eleven

Saha hits the nail on the head in terms of why Mount has struggled. The 24-year-old seems to be playing a lot deeper than he was at Chelsea.

Manager Erik ten Hag is, therefore, partly to blame for the player failing to produce his best form. With Bruno Fernandes playing in Mount’s favoured No.10 role, it’s unlikely that he will get much game time there, which also raises the question of why he was bought in the first place.

Could Mount play as a winger?

Probably the best way United can get more out of their summer signing is by playing him as one of the three forwards. Marcus Rashford and Antony have also performed poorly this season (as Saha mentions) so why not try Mount as a winger?

It will be interesting to see what ten Hag decides to do. In recent weeks, Mount has rarely featured in the starting eleven but the player will have to be reintroduced into the team at some point.

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