Gary Neville hits out at 'ridiculous' Ruben Amorim Man United decision amid sack pressure

Gary Neville has slammed Ruben Amorim's baffling decision to persist with Mason Mount at left wing-back. The 26-year-old midfielder was brought on for Luke Shaw during Manchester United's crushing 3-1 defeat to Brentford.

Mount, who United splashed out £60m on from Chelsea in July 2023, had been a regular starter in United's opening three Premier League fixtures this season before suffering an injury in the thrilling 3-2 triumph over Burnley. The England international was sidelined for the Manchester Derby before returning from the substitutes' bench in the dramatic 2-1 victory against Chelsea.

Mount featured once more at the weekend, but he was powerless to rescue a point for Amorim's struggling side. Shortly after his introduction, Mathias Jensen delivered the killer blowwith the third and decisive goal following a lightning-quick counter-attack.

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Speaking on The at St. James' Park on Sunday evening, Neville dissected the disappointing result at the G-Tech Community Stadium. The United legend once again branded the choice to deploy Mount at left wing-back as 'absolutely ridiculous'.

"There was something that happened in that game that I mentioned on my podcast two or three weeks ago that I said we couldn't see again," said Neville. "I said that Mason Mount ended up at left wing-back.

"There's sticking to your plan, and then there's your coach that's got an idea and making sure that he delivers that idea and not flip-flopping with his idea with players, which can sometimes undermine what you're trying to achieve.

"But then when you're putting Mason Mount at left wing-back – and he's ended up at left wing-back again at Brentford in the last five minutes of the game – it starts to look awful."

Neville added: "You can't 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."

On United's situation, Neville said (via the Manchester Evening News): "I'm very worried. The performance that we saw and the result at Brentford means that you feel the Chelsea game was skewed by the sending off.

"You start to look at the Chelsea win less positively. That's just football. I think there are a lot of United fans coming out of that ground last Saturday, including me, thinking, 'Brentford away, Sunderland at home next week has a real opportunity to get nine points on the board, on the bounce, and then you'll be well up in the top six or eight.'

"But the Brentford game was a really poor performance and a real worry. I felt for the first time, just through instinct, watching it on the television, seeing players' faces and body language, that there might be an element of players really doubting the system and what's going on."

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