On July 7th, 2023, a post was published in this space heralding Manchester United’s annexation of the services of Mason Mount from Chelsea as a sign that the club were serious about mounting a challenge for honours at that time.
Remember, here we have a guy who had just scored the winning goal for his previous employers in a Champions League Final. And he has been at Old Trafford ever since. But whether, for example, he would have got a medal for United’s victories in the Carabao and FA Cup competitions, I’m not sure.
Simply because the poor man has spent several turns of the calendar seeing a lot more of the treatment room than the playing surface at Old Trafford. Now stir in the maelstrom of chaos which has enveloped the club for a hideous length of time and you arrive at the situation where outside noise labelled the likes of Mount and Harry Maguire and Casemiro as finished at the club and only fit for the departure lounge.
It can only be assumed such a view is predicated on rebuilding the first team around the likes of Pat Dorgu and Amad and Kobbie Mainoo and Bruno Fernandes and, possibly, Rasmus Hoijlund and Joshua Zirkzee.
Notwitstanding the fact that allowing Scott McTominay leave the club amounted to lunacy, the naysayers have had to eat copious dollops of humble pie in recent weeks.
Between Maguire’s heroics against Lyon, Casemiro’s class in Bilboa (and again in the second leg) and, ultimately, Mount’s mesmeric moments as Ruben Amorim’s charges – almost incredibly in light of the dross they’ve been dolling out for most of the season – sailed through to a European Final. And it’s only against Spurs!
All in all, it just proves that if you believe in somebody or something and have the patience to get through and over the setbacks, players don’t just suddenly become bad or useless.
Others might think they’re back on their perch but all they done is regained parity. A European trophy would still trump what they’ve achieved this season
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