There are so many things to criticize about what Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim is doing to the Red Devils, and pundits who used to play for the club are just as incensed with what they are seeing as the faithful at Old Trafford.
Manchester United are, if anything, heading backwards from the disastrous Erik ten Hag reign under the even more inept Amorim, whose stubbornness and lack of knowledge of his own players have been jarring to watch.
One of his latest gaffes during the 3-1 loss to Brentford this weekend was bringing in attacking midfielder Mason Mount as a sub to play left wing back, with the result being predictably terrible for Manchester United.
Gary Neville is not having it
Former defender Gary Neville had a field day ripping on Amorim for this baffling decision, via centredevils, “You cannot put Mason Mount at left wing-back. I’m sorry, it just can’t happen. I can’t watch Mason Mount play left wing-back in a football team. I struggled at times to watch him in his natural position, but actually putting him out there on the left wing, is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.”
It may seem like an exaggeration to some, but Neville is, once again, 100 percent right here. Even though Amorim and the 1 percent of people defending him will try to argue that Mount was brought in to play left wing back because Man United were chasing the game, in no world does that make sense either.
Playing a playmaker as a wing back would not help a team bridge the gap in a game. If anything, it would, as this decision did, only make a team worse. Manchester United were obviously no better with Mount at wing back, and, like Bruno Fernandes, Mount is another attacking midfielder who is only made to look worse with Amorim running the asylum.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.