🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Mason Mount

[SUNZ 155]

You always have to be weary of an 'attacking player' who does his best work off the ball. Sure, he can press and be a good option for tactical reasons in certain games (Tottenham away for example). But there's hardly any quality or imagination from Mount in the final third. He rarely makes the the right pass; sometimes he doesn't even see the pass which is even worse. The problem now isn't that he's playing games - it's the untouchable status he has when, clearly, the quality to deserve such status isn't there.

[Special Juan 28,141]

Should be trying to fight his way into the side yet he's gifted it nigh on every game.

[MoroccanBlue 5,382]

He needs a break on the bench 

[Superblue 6,372]

16 hours ago, positivefootball said:

Bang average, same as all the other youngsters unfortunately ...

The only thing unfortunate is this seems to be a typical comment from Chelsea fans on forums and social media, overreacting to everything.

When they were all playing well at the start of the season they were hyped beyond belief and now they're struggling they're all viewed as not good enough for the club.

The reality is they are all somewhere in the middle. It's far too early to make judgements on any of them. They have all shown this season periods where they are all capable of being very good Premier League footballers, and rightly should be viewed as very good potential players for the long term future of this club. The problem is fans nowadays aren't prepared to give time and patience to allow them to develop. This isn't just a problem at Chelsea, it's football in general nowadays but we are one of the worst for it when we've experienced unprecedented levels of success in the last 15 years through a policy which is purely short termism.

Tomori was doing really well earlier in the season and I do believe long term he has all the attributes to be a mainstay in our defence but he did start making some mistakes and his form went off the boil. These players all need to experience that and the harsh realities playing Premier League football that if you're not at your best week in week out you will drop points and lose games. Lampard had the luxury with Rudiger returning to bring Tomori out of the side. Same goes for CHO who was struggling, but now looks like he is getting some sharpness back in recent games after a spell as a sub.

At the moment though James, Mount and Abraham have to play because there are no alternatives without sufficiently weakening our team. James is the only full back we have capable of offering an offensive output. With Pulisic and RLC out and Pedro a shadow of the player he once was, the options to bring Mount out are limited. Barkley looks poor as a number 10 and seems more suited to playing deeper and the only other option is to play a midfield 3 instead which takes away from our offensive game in a period when we're struggling for goals. I believe if RLC had been fit this season the two would have rotated the role and Mount would have not played as much and stayed fresh. With Abraham the options to replace him at the moment are even worse.

i would question more why we have more experienced players in the squad who should now be stepping up when these younger players need them to but are seemingly incapable of doing so. It's pretty damning how reliant we've become on our younger players this season to 'step up' and as a result take the brunt of criticism when they don't.

[SUNZ 155]

18 hours ago, positivefootball said:

Bang average, same as all the other youngsters unfortunately ...

Very harsh on Tammy and Reece James. They are a different level to the likes of Mount and Odoi.

[nyikolajevics 2,698]

2 hours ago, SUNZ said:

Very harsh on Tammy and Reece James. They are a different level to the likes of Mount and Odoi.

*Very stupid on Tammy and Reece.

 

Hudson and Mount are not average aswell. They are both out of form(CHO seems to be going upstairs) but still they are very talented and have the potential to be great.

 

I agree Mount should not be played this much as his form is bad but this doesn't make him deadwood at the age of 20.

[Special Juan 28,141]

They just need to grow and mature as well as being nurtured. There is always going to be ups and downs, they have all made massive strides from going from Championship football to PL in the blink of an eye.

But simply put it's cut throat business, if they aren't performing they need to be replaced and not continually played. Our squad depth is OK and behind Mount is Kovacic, and for me he's been our best player this season, he needs to be playing ahead of MM right now.

[Superblue 6,372]

1 hour ago, Special Juan said:

They just need to grow and mature as well as being nurtured. There is always going to be ups and downs, they have all made massive strides from going from Championship football to PL in the blink of an eye.

But simply put it's cut throat business, if they aren't performing they need to be replaced and not continually played. Our squad depth is OK and behind Mount is Kovacic, and for me he's been our best player this season, he needs to be playing ahead of MM right now.

It's hardly like for like though. If we were talking RLC then I'd agree but Kovacic isn't going to play as advanced as Mount and that essentially means replacing an offensive minded player for a deeper player which I don't think is the answer against the likes of Newcastle. Barkley could maybe play there but I think he's shown in recent times that he's actually better suited to playing deeper where he can pick the ball up with time facing in front of him.

I'm all for a midfield three of Kante, Kova and Jorginho against the big teams and trying to be a little more solid, but against the rest of the league who will mostly sit back and try to contain us it is far less effective.

I think the question marks around Kante's suitability in these sorts of games is more of a topic. Our run at the start of the season coincided with Kante's absence and I think Lampard should go back to trying Kova and Jorginho for these types of games. Earlier in the season Mount seemed to be finding it much easier to find pockets of space which likely stems from playing in front of the two best passers in our team who could find him quickly and decisively. 

[NikkiCFC 8,319]

Some probably think I'm Mount's h8er or something but I'm not. I didn't say one bad word about him in August - September. Just like I don't mind Tomori being one of four CBs I don't mind Mount being one of our six midfielders. But the fact that he played more minutes in the PL than every other outfield player is just crazy. Kovacic and Barkley are better players. But Mount seems the only undroppable midfielder in the squad. 

[Jase 43,479]

5 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

Some probably think I'm Mount's h8er or something but I'm not. I didn't say one bad word about him in August - September. Just like I don't mind Tomori being one of four CBs I don't mind Mount being one of our six midfielders. But the fact that he played more minutes in the PL than every other outfield player is just crazy. Kovacic and Barkley are better players. But Mount seems the only undroppable midfielder in the squad. 

No one called you out. Why so sensitive? 

[El P. 1,354]

He has too much Oscar vibes about him. Not too optimistic about his development, but hope he does it eventually.

We are even starting to have same story as with Oscar - he isn't in form, he is inconsistent. Nope, for now he is just what we are seeing in recent games.

Massive improvement in terms of creativity is needed (passing intelligence and accuracy first and foremost).

[Tomo 21,751]

32 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

Some probably think I'm Mount's h8er or something but I'm not. I didn't say one bad word about him in August - September. Just like I don't mind Tomori being one of four CBs I don't mind Mount being one of our six midfielders. But the fact that he played more minutes in the PL than every other outfield player is just crazy. Kovacic and Barkley are better players. But Mount seems the only undroppable midfielder in the squad. 

Well he was dropped for Ethiad and two do or die CL games so that's hardly true.

And Barkley isn't better, sorry but that's typical absence makes the heart grow fonder syndrome right there.

[Fernando 6,585]

He has been a bit up and down in form but that's expected for youth. 

I'm not mad nor surprised as I actually expected this with youth. 

So it's all good for me. 

[Special Juan 28,141]

There are senior players in this team right now performing as bad, if not worse than Mount.

[NikkiCFC 8,319]

33 minutes ago, Tomo said:

Well he was dropped for Ethiad and two do or die CL games so that's hardly true.

Best players of all top clubs don't start every game, that's completely normal especially when you have games every three, four days. Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappe, Aguero, KDB, Salah and others started some league and CL games from the bench. 

Not saying Mount is in that category of course. But him being dropped against strongest opponents (City and Liverpool in Super Cup) and in most important CL games make it look even worse. Basically massage Lamps is sending is that he don't trust Mount to play when we face best clubs and when we have most important games where we must take the result. I bet he won't start against Bayern either. I see hypocrisy there. 

[Tomo 21,751]

4 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

Best players of all top clubs don't start every game, that's completely normal especially when you have games every three, four days. Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappe, Aguero, KDB, Salah and others started some league and CL games from the bench. 

Not saying Mount is in that category of course. But him being dropped against strongest opponents (City and Liverpool in Super Cup) and in most important CL games make it look even worse. Basically massage Lamps is sending is that he don't trust Mount to play when we face best clubs and when we have most important games where we must take the result. I bet he won't start against Bayern either. I see hypocrisy there. 

I would say it's more because the bigger games are one of the very few that having a Jorgi, Kante and Kova midfield trio doesn't massively handicap us offensively.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

On 1/20/2020 at 11:03 AM, Special Juan said:

They just need to grow and mature as well as being nurtured. There is always going to be ups and downs, they have all made massive strides from going from Championship football to PL in the blink of an eye.

But simply put it's cut throat business, if they aren't performing they need to be replaced and not continually played. Our squad depth is OK and behind Mount is Kovacic, and for me he's been our best player this season, he needs to be playing ahead of MM right now.

If we had a "Terry" in defence or "Lamps" in midfield, it would be much easier for the likes of Mount or Tomori to learn and improve and perform at certain level. 

But with, harshly put; bang average senior dudes with crap mentality that cant even keep themselves afloat, the youngsters will be under massive pressure and there will be big inconsistency with the youth.

[Jase 43,479]

Mason Mount is only 21, has played 33 of Chelsea’s 34 matches this season and has been carrying injuries for four months – give him a break

https://theathletic.com/1553056/2020/01/23/chelsea-mason-mount-minutes-rest-midfield-england/?source=shared-article

There are many Chelsea players who have good reason to look forward to the winter break next month but Mason Mount needs it more than most.

Mount is in his first full season at the club he adores and only turned 21 recently, yet has increasingly found himself one of the scapegoats for Chelsea’s ailing form.

Just as fellow academy graduate Callum Hudson-Odoi has been targeted on social media, an issue discussed by The Athletic last month, Mount also finds himself the subject of similarly negative scrutiny on a weekly basis.

Search his name on Twitter and you are instantly met with an array of abusive and critical comments from many members of Chelsea’s global fanbase.

Here are two examples from the past few days:

“Leave my club. Probably the most useless player I’ve ever had the displeasure of watching. You are out of your depth and stealing millions for your worthless and disgraceful performances.”

“Mason Mount is the most limited number 10 I’ve ever seen. Lampard deserves to be sacked just for giving him his debut let alone playing him week in week out.”

Of course seeing this kind of vitriol is commonplace for players at all clubs following a bad result. It is the nature of the beast, however it is still surprising Mount is getting so much, so soon when you consider this is an academy graduate who was only given a senior debut back in August.

It has been a remarkable turn of events for the England international, who was being heralded by all and sundry at Stamford Bridge earlier in the campaign. A run of four goals and two assists in his first 10 Premier League games for Chelsea, having impressed in the previous two years on loan at Vitesse Arnhem and Derby respectively, rightly generated a lot of praise and excitement.

It was always going to be an almost impossible task to sustain such a streak, but a return of one goal and one assist from the last 14 appearances in the top flight (or 19 games in all competitions) is obviously not good enough.

While the level of outcry seems over the top, it is understandable why Mount’s drop in end product has provided cause for concern.

There have been mitigating factors in the relative demise though. The Athletic understands Mount has been playing with various knocks and injury problems over the past four months. This isn’t that unusual. Given the physical demands of the sport, professionals struggle to be 100 per cent fit all of the time. But Mount has been on the receiving end of some tough tackles earlier in the season that he is still feeling the effects of now.

For example, Valencia midfielder Francis Coquelin ended his first Champions League game in September early with a terrible foul on his right ankle.

He confounded expectations by being passed fit to face Liverpool in the following fixture, although with the benefit of hindsight, sources now suggest Mount would have been better off being rested.

Mount sustained a painful blow to the very same ankle, which also forced him to come off, in the next home Champions League contest against Ajax a few months later. Yet once again he started the following weekend.

While the ankle injuries didn’t result in missed time, the numbers suggest that they have taken a physical toll. His shots per game in the Premier League plummeted from 2.4 per game prior to the Valencia injury to just 1.5 after, and 1.1 since the game against Ajax on November 5. 

The same comparison reveals that his chances created per game have also dipped from 2.2 to 1.4, and he is running with the ball half as much — 3.2 dribbles per game down to 1.6. 

General fatigue is another factor. It is to Mount’s credit that his desire to impress and not let Lampard down means he has played in more Premier League games than any Chelsea outfield player. He has started 21 of their 24 matches, with three outings as a substitute.

In fact he has only missed one of Chelsea’s 34 matches in all competitions — when he was left on the bench for the Carabao Cup victory over Grimsby Town in September.

It does raise questions over Lampard’s handling of him. Even in the recent FA Cup victory over Nottingham Forest, a chance to give Mount a rest was ignored. Chelsea were leading 2-0 with 21 minutes to go and yet Mount was still brought on for an unnecessary cameo.

Mount took steps to improve his conditioning last summer, including hiring a personal chef to help his diet. But his high workload is concerning for a young player whose game is founded on hard, energetic running with and without the ball.

Last season at Derby, who were also coached by Lampard, he experienced a first year of senior football without a winter break. On January 26, he limped out of an FA Cup fourth-round victory over Accrington Stanley with what Lampard initially described as hamstring tightness. He did not play again until March 30.

Derby struggled badly in Mount’s absence, only reviving their Championship play-off charge once he returned. He has become as important to the Chelsea team Lampard is building, particularly in light of the fact that Ruben Loftus-Cheek remains a long way off a first-team return and Ross Barkley has failed to earn regular playing time.

Mount played 3,321 minutes in the Championship last season. He has already clocked 2,222 in all competitions for Chelsea, as well as 119 for England.

If he continues to feature regularly in the Premier League and in next month’s Champions League round of 16 tie against Bayern Munich, this will become the most physically taxing campaign of his young career by some distance.

Speaking to Sky Sports before the trip to Newcastle, Lampard did seem aware that the junior talent in general might be feeling the pace.

With Mount clearly one of the players he was referring to, he said: “It’s tough and it will be a tester for the younger players. I’m not an advocate for ‘the players get tired’, they are professional and that’s how it has to be. But mentally, to jump from competition to competition after being in the Championship last year or not getting many games to playing regularly, there are different stresses and strains.

“They have to deal with that, I have to help them deal with that, their team-mates have to help them deal with that.”

The fiercest critics should also bear in mind that while Mount has been selected frequently, his role has regularly changed so no wonder form has become a bit more inconsistent.

Mount has found himself at left wing, the left of a three-man midfield, in the No 10 role and even on the right at times. Not exactly conducive to building rhythm or understanding.

Only last month, Mount put in arguably his best display of the season when Chelsea won at Tottenham 2-0. On that day Lampard used him as an attacking option on the left in a 3-4-3 formation and he combined very effectively with Willian and Tammy Abraham.

Observers noted how much he benefited from receiving quick ball from Chelsea’s midfield — it was a day when the more pedestrian Jorginho started on the bench.

Another more promising display recently was in the 3-0 triumph over Burnley. Like the Spurs contest, Chelsea had a full week to prepare and Mount spoke excitedly afterwards of how the lengthy preparations at training had helped.

But with Chelsea’s grip on fourth spot looking unconvincing after a run of six defeats in 12 Premier League matches, Mount is being judged as harshly — if not more so — as the more experienced and expensive team-mates around him.

Despite having a Twitter account, it is believed he has been advised by those closest to him to stay away from reading the level of abuse on the platform.

One source of inspiration has actually come from a former influential member of the dressing room. Former captain John Terry may now be plying his trade as assistant manager Aston Villa, who have pressures of their own to stay in the division, but The Athletic has learned he has been sending Mount words of encouragement and advice throughout the season via text messages.

As far as Chelsea’s schedule next month is concerned, they face Manchester United 16 days after taking on Leicester City on February 1.

Lampard will not be giving his squad the whole period off as there is an opportunity to benefit from a solid week of training before the United game but it looks like players will be granted up to six days away from their Cobham base and Mount is planning to travel abroad in search of some sunshine, plus some much needed peace and quiet.

It might give others the opportunity to realise they should give him a bit of a break too.
 

[NikkiCFC 8,319]

Yes, bad management by Lampard. Mason would benefit being dropped just like Pulisic earlier in the season. 

[Tomo 21,751]

https://mobile.twitter.com/OllieGlanvill/status/1220266718129467392