Mason Greenwood - The Real Deal?

By Chase Horton - March 18, 2019

Image from Sport360

When you hear the term “young talent,” most people think of names such as Marcus Rashford, Kylian Mbappé, or Jadon Sancho. Well, it’s time to add another name to that ever-growing list – Mason Greenwood.

The 17 year-old Manchester United academy player has been able to see more of the pitch in recent weeks, notably United’s 3-1 win against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champion’s League, and their 2-0 defeat against Arsenal in the Premier League. Greenwood was a substitute in both games, coming in for Ashley Young in the PSG game in the 87^th minute and replacing Nemanja Matić in the 80^th minute against Arsenal.

What have we learned about Mason Greenwood?

Although Mason Greenwood has only been able to see the pitch towards the end of games, anyone watching can see that he doesn’t play with nervousness about him, like most 17 year-olds play with. If I were to describe young Greenwood in one word, it would be ‘aggressive.’ The kid plays with next to no fear. In the game against PSG, Greenwood won headers and made tackles, even committing some fouls – but still putting pressure on the likes of Mbappé, who is regarded as the star of PSG (with Neymar Jr. out to injury).

Image from Twitter

In the Arsenal game, after being subbed on, Greenwood was constantly putting himself into position to where his teammates could easily pass him the ball, giving us more options than we had with a less-than-one-hundred-percent Nemanja Matić. I remember watching a point in that game where Greenwood received the ball near midfield, surveyed his options (realising there were none), turning and running towards three Arsenal defenders trying to pass them. In the end, Greenwood happened to get past two of the defenders but eventually got tackled by the third. This was significant because what other 17 year-old (besides maybe a younger Kylian Mbappé) do you see actually attacking defenders instead of just passing the ball to a teammate, wanting to avoid a potential mistake? I will tell you this, the number is very low.

Mason Greenwood has impressed United fans with his confidence, and it looks like the ceiling for him could be very high. As United move toward the end of the season, I would like to see much more of the young superstar-in-the-making, especially if Manchester United are trying to put some assertiveness on the pitch (which it looks like we desperately needed in the disappointing loss against Wolverhampton). Only time will tell with young Mason Greenwood, but it looks to me, as well as a whole plethora of other United fans, that he could be our “next big thing” for years to come, much like another Marcus Rashford.