Manchester United player accused of 'not even asking for the ball anymore'

Mason Mount has been accused of "not even asking for the ball anymore" by a former Manchester United forward, who says the midfielder's current form is "very strange" in a damning assessment.

It has been a tough start to the 2023/24 campaign for United, and things went bad to worse on Wednesday night, as last season's Carabao Cup finalists beat the defending champions in an emphatic 3-0 win.

Goals from Miguel Almiron, Lewis Hall and Joe Willock booked Newcastle's place in the Carabao Cup quarter-final, where they will play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

United, meanwhile, have made their worst start to a season in 37 years, losing five of their first 10 Premier League games. Erik ten Hag says he is "certain" of improvement but questions continue to be asked.

And one of the biggest talking points has been their summer recruitment.

A reported £164 million was spent on three major signings – Andre Onana, Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund – but the trio have yet to hit their stride.

In fact, ahead of United's clash against Newcastle, former Manchester United forward Louis Saha criticised former Chelsea midfielder Mount with a stinging view on his start to life at Old Trafford.

"I’ve seen moments this season where Mason Mount isn’t even asking for the ball. It’s very shocking for me to see a player with that type of quality shying away from taking responsibility," Saha told BettingOdds.com.

"He is too good of a player to play like this, to not show a willingness to get the ball and make a difference and it is not on.

"He has so much quality, but at the moment he doesn’t seem to have any faith in himself. He needs to show courage and commitment and I am really unimpressed with Mason Mount at the moment.

"He has lost the keys to create damage to his opponents and to change games from midfield. He’s going whole games where he is barely touching the ball, it’s really strange."

Image credit: Getty Images

Saha has also urged Erik ten Hag to make peace with Jadon Sancho, who is currently training away from the first-team squad following a public fall out with the Dutch manager.

"The Sancho situation could have been handled better for sure," he added.

"Of course, Sancho has responsibility but the manager does too and he needs to help him,’ he said. ‘Everyone is losing in this current situation and ten Hag has to put his ego aside now.

"This treatment is not right, it looks like the manager is trying to get revenge to show he has the power. If you want big stars playing for you at United, you have to help them express their personality. When they make mistakes, you have to give them a platform to say sorry instead of treating them so harshly.

"Jadon is a great player and of course, he has made mistakes and hasn’t performed, but now the manager has the responsibility to help him fix this."