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Saturday 23 November 2024 09:59
Mason Mount’s determination has impressed new head coach Ruben Amorim in his first fortnight in charge at Manchester United.
The midfielder returned to action in the Reds’ final two games before the November international break, coming on as a substitute in a 2-0 victory over PAOK and remaining as an unused substitute in the 3-0 win against Leicester City.
Eagle-eyed viewers of Amorim’s first training session earlier this week would have seen the boss praising Mount for his movement in one clip.
Highlights from Ruben’s first session Video
Highlights from Ruben’s first session
Training Highlights | Stop scrolling, relax and devour seven minutes of action from Ruben’s first session…
Now, Ruben has delivered a strong backing of the 36-time England international, praising the 25-year-old for his unique characteristics.
“Mason Mount… I have to tell you I love that kid,” enthused Amorim in conversation with club media on Friday afternoon.
“You can look in his eyes that he wants this so bad. And this is the most important thing for me.
“I know he was suffering from injuries, he was not on the pitch, but now he’s trying to stay fit and we hope he can continue to be fit, to show all the talent that he’s shown, for example, in Chelsea.”
Mason joined United from the London club in the summer of 2023, but has had an unfortunate time with injuries since, limiting him to 26 appearances thus far. That could rapidly increase under Amorim’s tutelage, with the Portuguese coach explaining why Mount’s experience will be vital in the coming weeks.
“He played in this system [before], so it’s perfect for him,” Ruben said.
“I have two positions for Mason Mount, so he should be very happy!”
Much has been made of the 3-4-3 formation utilised by Amorim in his last job at Sporting, where he won two Portuguese titles. The boss himself has insisted that more emphasis should be placed on the principles of his team’s ‘game model’, rather than the specific formation.
“A lot of people talk about the 3-4-3 and the 4-3-3 and all that stuff,” he said in his first interview last week.
“But when I think as a player or as a team-mate of Manchester United, it is not a system or formation, it’s like the character of the players, the way they see the club.
“So we have to focus on that before the everything of how we play, how we press. The most important thing for me at this moment is to create the principles, the identity and the character that we had in the past.”
Summing up those principles, he continually referred to the pre-eminence of the ‘team’ and how everybody must be “thinking the same, running back, playing, enjoying.”
That all being said, his suggestion that Mount has already played in this system before hints at that 3-4-3 formation. The Englishman was a key player for Chelsea when Thomas Tuchel used a similar set-up in the 2021/22 season.
One possibility, if that were to be the case, would be Mount acting as one of two no.10s, perhaps alongside club captain Bruno Fernandes. Another would see the 25-year-old playing a little further back, and we can’t yet rule out a completely different set-up.
More ahead of Amorim’s first game:
Saturday 23 November 2024 09:59
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