Manchester United have been missing Amad and Bryan Mbeumo at AFCON recently but the key contributions of another star have also been missed.
Bryan Mbeumo, Amad and Noussair Mazraoui all departed Manchester United in mid-December to represent their countries at the latest Africa Cup of Nations.
The trio enjoyed encouraging starts to the tournament, helping their respective nations progress to the knockout stages. Amad was particularly impressive, picking up two Man of the Match awards during the group phase.
Mbeumo and Cameroon entered the competition among the pre-tournament favourites, but the United forward’s hopes of lifting the trophy came to an end on Friday evening as Cameroon were knocked out by Morocco.
Amad’s campaign has since also ended, with Ivory Coast eliminated following their quarter-final defeat to Egypt on Saturday night.
United have missed key contributions from one star
They are not the only players to be absent recently though. Mason Mount came off the bench last time out after missing two games with a small injury.
The English midfielder’s energy helps United, especially out of possession. Meanwhile, he works well with one or two touches which aids the team’s ability to move the ball quickly in attack.
He is a player who offers the simple things and that isn’t always the most exciting but United have missed it in recent weeks and his return will be good for the side moving into a crucial period of the season.
Solskjær would love Mount
It looks like Ole Gunnar Solskjær is the favourite to take over as a caretaker head coach and everyone knows how much he valued work-rate and pressing in his players. Fred was one of his favourite players, as was Jesse Lingard before Bruno Fernandes’ arrival.
Mount is one of those players that managers seem to love and that would likely continue to be the case under Solskjær.
It remains to be seen where his best position in a 4-2-3-1 formation is. He will not get many minutes as a no.10 with Fernandes around but could play as the no.8 or from either wing.
He is not the flashiest player and United have some top players in their ranks, but when Mount starts, the team tends to perform at a higher level and that isn’t a coincidence.
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