Manchester United suffered yet another Champions League defeat, this time to Galatasaray and the 3-2 loss represents the first time that the Red Devils have lost their first two matches in the competition.
Erik ten Hag is under pressure, there is no doubt about it and with a Premier League fixture coming up against Brentford on the weekend, he will task his side with improving otherwise they could slip to their fifth league defeat of the season and it's only October.
There were only a couple of shining lights in midweek. Rasmus Hojlund scored two goals and he has looked at ease on the European stage which will give Ten Hag confidence he could repeat these performances domestically.
Bruno Fernandes also tried to make a difference, making two key passes while succeeding with four of his six dribble attempts and winning seven out of ten ground duels, which suggested he was keen on making an impact.
The majority of the side were poor, however, and Mason Mount failed to showcase why Ten Hag shelled out £60m for his services.
How did Mason Mount perform vs Galatasaray?
The Englishman has played just five times for the club so far and managed to record only one assist, hardly earth-shattering numbers.
Against the Turkish outfit, the 24-year-old was rather ineffective while being deployed on the left of a three-man midfield, a slightly deeper position than he is used to.
Indeed, the former Chelsea man completed just 30 passes during his time on the pitch, while failing to score despite having four shots in total.
Mount didn’t even attempt a dribble while he won just two of the nine duels he contested and these statistics indicate that he didn’t quite enjoy the finest of performances.
Ten Hag should consider a change for the weekend, with Christian Eriksen being unleashed in the starting XI against his former club.
Will Christian Eriksen start for Manchester United vs Brentford?
The Dane came on at half-time for Hannibal Mejbri and took almost the same amount of touches as Mount did despite playing nearly 45 minutes fewer (48 to 49), while he managed to make three key passes compared to zero for Mount and completed 29 passes, again just one fewer than the one-time Derby County gem.
Eriksen hasn’t quite been at the races so far this season, receiving a Sofascore rating of 6.9 which ranks him 13th across the United squad in the Premier League, but he does have one goal and one assist to his name and this metric ranks him third, proving that his attacking talents haven’t deserted him.
The £150k-per-week gem has previously been dubbed as a “world class player” by former Manchester City forward Craig Bellamy and there is no doubt he could make the difference against the Bees should he be given a chance.
When compared to his positional peers in Europe's top five leagues, the 31-year-old ranks in the top 8% for shot-creating actions per 90 (3.96) while also ranking in the top 2% for assists per 90 (0.32) across the previous 12 months and if he recaptures this type of form in the next few weeks, United may begin to win a few matches.