By Oliver Kay Nov 22, 2023

Mason Mount likes to challenge himself. Heading to the Netherlands as an 18-year-old, joining Vitesse Arnhem on loan, he set himself a target of 10 goals. He beat it, scoring 14.

It was the same on loan at Derby County the following season. He was warned the Championship would be tough for a young player, but still he beat his target, scoring 11.

Upon returning to Chelsea, he insisted on setting himself the same target. It was a huge step up for a 20-year-old who had never played Premier League football. In a highly impressive breakthrough season, he was mildly disappointed not to score more than eight goals.

There has always been more to Mount’s game — and even at academy level, he prided himself on his out-of-possession work — but he defines himself by his goalscoring output. He scored nine in all competitions for Chelsea in 2020-21 and 13 the following season, winning the club’s player of the year award on both occasions.

His final season at Chelsea was a struggle for a variety of reasons, but it was reflected in the drop in his goalscoring output (just three in 35 appearances, plus one in five games for England).

A summer transfer to Manchester United offered a fresh start but here we are in late November and he is yet to score for his new club. In fact, he is yet to score in 25 appearances for Chelsea and now United in a miserable calendar year in which he has also lost his place in the England squad.

It isn’t just the goals that have dried up. Hampered by injury, swapping one misfiring team for another, struggling to nail down a regular role in an ever-changing line-up, he has barely had a goalscoring opportunity of note.

Across 400 minutes of Premier League football for United, Mount has had just three goal attempts, with none of them on target. There was a header off target and a shot blocked in the closing stages of a 1-0 home defeat by Crystal Palace in late September and another shot blocked at home to Brentford a week later. But they weren’t even half-chances. Since then, four substitute appearances and barely a sight of goal. According to Opta, Mount’s current expected goals (xG) figure in the 2023-24 Premier League is 0.2.

That is not the only area of concern.

Mount is yet to assist a goal in the Premier League this season (though he did set up a Casemiro goal with a corner in a Carabao Cup tie against Crystal Palace). His last assist in the Premier League was in October 2022, which is remarkable for a creative player who registered 10 assists (as well as scoring 11 goals) two seasons ago.

The graphics below show a sharp reduction in Mount’s performance metrics in several areas between 2021-22 and 2022-23, suggesting that last season he was less creative, taking fewer shots and receiving the ball in attacking areas a lot less often. His ball retention and progressive passing also reduced significantly.

Given how little football Mount has played this season, it feels it would be too early — the sample size too small — to produce a pizza chart for it. But if we did, the current picture would not be positive. In almost all the areas where he suffered a drop last season, his data is down again.

That is to be expected when he has played in a deeper role at times, sometimes as one of three central midfielders, sometimes as one of two in a 4-2-3-1 formation which demands restraint. But even the number of passes he is playing is down — to just 29.5 successful passes per 90 minutes, from a high of 48.3 per 90 in 2020-21. In terms of successful passes, progressive passes and progressive carries, as well as goals and assists (actual and expected), his numbers are down for a third consecutive season.

A new start? So far at Old Trafford, nothing has gone to plan.

It was the first week of July and United were delighted to have got their man. Arsenal and particularly Liverpool had been very keen and there was firm interest from his former coach Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich, but the sales pitch from Old Trafford was — perhaps unusually in recent years — clear and compelling. Mount’s made was mind up from the start of the summer.

Along with Liverpool, they had initially decided they would go no higher than £40million ($45.8m), given that Mount was in the final year of his contract and talks over a new deal had reached an impasse.

United ultimately agreed to pay an initial £55million for Mount, plus a further £5m if certain performance-related conditions are met. But they were happy with the deal, feeling they could not risk losing out to a rival. Mount was delighted too; he said he “couldn’t be more excited” to be heading north.

A few weeks ago, former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand suggested Mount might have struggled with the move because “no disrespect to Chelsea (…), the pressure when you come to Man United brings a different kind of weight on the shoulders. The badge is heavier when things aren’t going well.”

Ferdinand added that Mount had been a “golden boy” at Chelsea and was “never really on the receiving end of negativity or scrutiny: ‘Should he be here? He’s not good enough. Should he be here?’. He’s never had that in his life, really.”

But life at Chelsea was nothing like so straightforward as Ferdinand suggests. That “golden boy” label didn’t just fall into his lap; if that status existed in reality, it was hard-earned and frequently challenged.

There was constant scrutiny and accusations among some fans that he was a “teacher’s pet” because Frank Lampard and then Tuchel — as well as England manager Gareth Southgate — seemed in thrall to his talents. With England in particular, there was often a public or social media clamour for more of a crowd-pleasing player, such as Jack Grealish, to replace him.

Chelsea is hardly a pressure-free environment. This wasn’t Harry Maguire arriving at United from Leicester City or Aaron Wan-Bissaka stepping up from Crystal Palace. Many players (most obviously Jadon Sancho) have struggled under the weight of expectation at Old Trafford in recent years, but the same has been true of Chelsea. At least until last season, Mount appeared to carry that burden at Chelsea far more easily than others.

As for the “weight” of the famous Manchester United No 7 shirt, Mount was more than happy to take that on.

Speaking to some of those close to Mount, they suggest the “pressure” argument is misplaced. They say he has been frustrated by the stop-start nature of his first few months at United, but he “loves” playing in front of huge crowds and doesn’t seem to miss Chelsea anything like as much as some imagined he would, having been there since he was six years old.

Whatever difficulties he has faced this season appear to have come down purely to what has happened — and, increasingly, what hasn’t happened — on the pitch.

In announcing the deal for Mount in July, United’s football director John Murtough declared that “his style of play and attributes are a perfect fit for this squad”.

But were they? They already had Bruno Fernandes, a player who works in similar areas, operating in a loose attacking midfield role with the freedom to find space between the opposition’s defensive lines.

Paul Scholes made that point recently.

“I think he would ideally like to play where Fernandes is, which is probably all over the pitch,” the former Manchester United and England midfielder told the Webby & O’Neill podcast. “I think the manager signed him as an attacking midfield player. But it upsets the balance of the team. It upsets the legs he has in midfield.

“I really think (Erik ten Hag) wanted to play him with Fernandes, but the two of them playing in the team (…) just doesn’t seem to be working now. It really leaves them open in midfield. To bring someone like Mason Mount into the team, he almost needs two holding midfielders with him to get the balance of the team right.”

That point was underlined in United’s opening game of this Premier League season against Wolverhampton Wanderers, when Fernandes and Mount played in twin No 8 roles in a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Casemiro at the base of midfield. Ten Hag’s team won 1-0 but a lack of control in midfield was a concern, with Wolves playing through them on numerous occasions. Six days later, Mount was stationed slightly deeper in a 2-0 away defeat against Tottenham Hotspur, where he picked up a hamstring problem in the game’s closing stages.

By the time Mount returned to action in late September, results had deteriorated and the mood around United had changed. So too, it seemed, had Ten Hag’s thoughts on how his midfield might operate, turning to Scott McTominay, Hannibal Mejbri and loan signing Sofyan Amrabat in the hope of finding more robustness.

I remember reading a lot of comments when this trade happened from man utd fans on reddit saying he will be amazing for them and is what they need. Hilarious.

Even how 10hag hasn’t been waht they thought he’d be.

Why not try a 3-4-3

And here i was wondering how football journos are going to fill the time after the internanional games and before the leagues restart. Why, ofc its going to be with a bit of united drama! Its their favorite

ETH bought him for a system that required a CDM that can both defend the midfield and progress the ball (Rodri, Busquets). This would’ve given Mount freedom to press and roam in that other CM spot. The problem is that Casamiro can’t do that and he never has done that simply because he hasn’t had to, last season he had Eriksen next to him to give the ball to and then he had two of the best midfielders of our generation at Madrid. Casa isn’t the only one that can’t play that system either, but essentially ETH bought Mount for a system that the other players can’t do so he’s basically useless for us atm.