Chris Sutton believes Mason Mount has fallen ‘into a black hole’ since joining Manchester United and has come to symbolise the regression of Erik ten Hag‘s side.
The 24-year-old signed from Chelsea for £60million in the summer but has struggled to adapt to life at Old Trafford.
‘Mason Mount looks like he’s fallen into the biggest black hole the world’s ever seen,’ Sutton.
Mount started United’s first two Premier League games of the season against Wolves and Tottenham, before missing a month through injury.
He returned to the starting XI for the defeats at home to Crystal Palace and Galatasaray in the Champions League.
Mason Mount has struggled to adapt to life under Erik ten Hag so far this season
Chris Sutton (right) believes the former Chelsea midfielder has ‘fallen into a black hole’ since swapping Stamford Bridge for Old Trafford in the summer for £60m
Mount started the 2-1 win over Brentford at Old Trafford on October 7, but found himself benched for games against Copenhagen and Sheffield United, coming on for handful of minutes in the latter.
He was benched again for United’s 3-0 defeat against City in the Manchester derby and failed to make an impact when he came on at the start of the second half.
Ladyman agreed: ‘Gary Neville made the point on Sky Sports on Sunday that Old Trafford is becoming the type of place where good players go to die.
‘And Mason Mount, if he’s not careful, is going to be the next one.’
In 2021-22, Mount enjoyed a breakout season with Chelsea, scoring 13 goals and providing 16 assists in 53 games in all competitions.
Significantly, he was deployed in an attacking midfield position in 40 of those games, contributing 12 goals and 14 assists.
So far this season, he has occupied a more withdrawn role, with ten Hag deploying him alongside the sitting midfielder.
On Sunday, Mount replaced Sofyan Amrabat at half-time, but Scott McTominay remained the more advanced midfielder, with Bruno Fernandes deployed out wide on the right.
Mount had no impact as he came off the bench in the second half against Manchester City
Ten Hag defended his decision to bring on Mount for Sofyan Amrabat despite criticism from Gary Neville that the tactical tweak made United too open
Neville criticised the switch, which left Mount playing alongside Christian Eriksen and made United too open, but ten Hag defended the move.
‘We had to create because we were losing the match,’ he said in his post match press conference.
‘We couldn’t wait and with Mason Mount, we can expect creativity.’
Pressure is mounting on ten Hag after his team were comprehensively outclassed in the derby at Old Trafford.
United have lost half of their 10 league matches so far this season and are marooned in eighth place on the table, 11 points behind league leaders Tottenham and eight behind fourth-placed Liverpool
United have scored only 11 goals so far in the Premier League, as many as Erling Haaland has scored on his own.
Mount is the latest of the ten Hag’s signings to come under scrutiny.
Mount is the latest of the ten Hag’s signings to come under scrutiny
