Roy Keane is not sure why Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim is such a fan of Mason Mount, describing his selection as a ‘head-scratcher.’
Mount was in the starting XI as the Red Devils travelled to Anfield to take on Liverpool on Sunday, playing in a front three with Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha.
It was something of a surprise as Benjamin Sesko dropped to the bench despite scoring in both his last two outings for Manchester United.
It proved to be successful as Amorim’s men won the game 2-1 thanks to goals from Mbeumo and Harry Maguire.
Club legend Gary Neville reckons Mount is Amorim’s preferred option in the front three, despite Manchester United spending big on Sesko from RB Leipzig over the summer.
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‘He’s got Sesko at £80m, but he loves Mason Mount doesn’t he?’ Neville said on The Overlap. ‘You can tell he wants Mount in with Mbeumo and Cunha.
Keane finds that point of view an odd one, saying: ‘That’s a head-scratcher, I think.’
The Irishman feels the England international is fortunate to be in the stating XI, saying: ‘He’s doing well to get in the starting United team, Mount.
‘A lot of managers have loved him over the years, he was the main man with England for a while, Chelsea of course and now obviously the manager wants to put him in.
‘But you go back to stats as an attacking player. At United, his stats, when he’s played are really poor.
Mason Mount Man Utd Premier League stats
Apps: 38
Goals: 3
Assists: 0
‘It’s not as if you’re going, yeah I can see he’s getting a lot of assists, his stats are really poor.’
This season Mount has made seven Premier League appearances, five of which have been starts, and he has scored one goal, providing no assists.
In fact, the midfielder has never provided a Premier League assist for Manchester United since his arrival from Chelsea in 2023.
Explaining his team selection at Anfield, Amorim said: ‘Especially in the bad moments, you have to go with your guts and I always go by that, no matter what.
‘I think it’s the most important thing for the manager, right or wrong sometimes, but that is, for me, the key point of being a manager.
‘And then sometimes you have a player in the good moment, but the characteristic of the game is not for him, so it’s better to go with a player and understand that is not for him and then take him out to the game.’
He added: ‘Sometimes the characteristics of the game change the way you are going to approach the game.
‘So I think for example, Cunha, in the middle, if we put Ben [Sesko], I think it’s easier for this kind of centre-backs to control our striker.
‘So we try to do that, but when you win is so smart, the coach, is amazing, and then when you lose, it is something wrong with the manager. I understand that.
‘That’s why I’m going always what I think is the best for the team.’
Amorim declares love for Mount
Speaking in November last year, shortly after his arrival as manager, Amorim said: ‘Mason Mount… I have to tell you I love that kid.
‘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.’
Keane may not be convinced by Mount, but he really likes the summer signings of Mbeumo and Cunha.
‘The other two are getting you up the pitch they’re a goal threat,’ Keane said of the arrivals from Brentford and Wolves. ‘Last year at United they’re not getting many goals, everybody’s looking at Bruno all the time. Now all of a sudden, you’ve got a striker who can get you out of jail.
‘It’s brilliant, fantastic. Running power and ball carriers.’