Mason Greenwood has undoubtedly been the finest young talent coming through the ranks this season – breaking through to the Manchester United first team and showing his undoubted talent at just 18 years of age – again highlighted on Sunday against Watford as he scored another Premier League goal.
The big question that a lot of people are asking, even at this young age, is whether Mason should be a starter for this present Manchester United team.
Considering his age, he has been integrated into the squad all season, being in the United squad in 26 out of 27 Premier League matches – and only missing out on getting minutes under his belt in four of those matches which were Leicester and Liverpool at home, and City, Burnley and Chelsea away.
However, Ole has only put him on his starting line-up three times this season, all three being home games against Spurs, Newcastle and Watford (with the starlet scoring in the latter two), showing that the manager has largely saved him as an impact substitution so far.
This shows that Ole is easing Greenwood in slowly, whilst ensuring he gets all the experience under his belt before he is unleashed as a fully established first teamer. Whether this is the right approach is debated, especially when we consider the lack of world class, fully fit talent we have to our disposal at the moment.
Martial and Rashford are undoubtedly first choice, but both have had spells on the side-lines this season where they are often left missing each other. This is where Greenwood could, and possibly even should be trialled as an out and out striker in support of the two given that Ole sees him as the best natural finisher at the club. This would ease the pressure on the pair rushing back, and gives Mason the chance to shine in the position that he loves.
Others say that he could easily be rotated with Daniel James, which I personally agree with. James was brought in as a squad player but has played most games and as a result, arguably burning out before the winter break. In the logical world, Ole would/should rotate him with Greenwood, as I believe Greenwood would win us games if we give him chances in and around the box – which now we have Bruno Fernandes, should happen more often.
There is plenty of time for our latest academy graduate to shine, but given he has reached double figures for goals in all competitions already, with only just over half of the season done, sometimes we need to use talent whilst we have it, because if you are good enough, you’re old enough, and boy is Mason good enough.