Mason Mount’s nascent career began under Frank Lampard, but since the arrival of Thomas Tuchel, he has shown that the faith Lampard had in him wasn’t about favoritism but it was purely about his talent and knowledge of the game.
While at Derby County in 2018 Lampard took a huge risk in taking an unknown Mount to the club, where he went on to play 35 league games for “The Rams”, but failed to help them maneuver the Championship playoff final against Aston Villa.
Before the exit of Lampard at Chelsea, Mount continues to prove doubters wrong with his upward trajectory especially those who feel his only previous experience of senior football came as a loan spell at Vitesse and Derby County in 2018 under Lampard.
Mount may have joined Chelsea aged 6 and approached every challenge with a positive outlook, yet that did not dissuade some of the club’s fans from rushing to judge a player still under development.
After the departure of Lampard, many were of the opinion that Mount rise could dwindle under a new manager, but fortunately for the England international the arrival of Thomas Tuchel further brought to fore his talent and gut, as he went on to prove himself invaluable in the team.
As a new manager coming into a new job, it is expected that every player would enjoy a level playing ground. As such when Tuchel came in, he gave everyone a level playing ground in other to prove their worth, and in the end, those that would prove invaluable in the course of the campaign begin to show their grit and zeal to play for the manager, and among them is Mount.
Amongst all of the Chelsea players, Mount has consistently shown he’s one player that could lead the team to success now and in the future with his hard work under Tuchel. Apparently, the impact of Mount on the team has drastically improved compared to when Lampard was in charge of the Blues.
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Interestingly in the summer across European topflight leagues, only a few clubs brought in new players compared to how the Blues strengthened their squad in other to compete in all front. With the arrear of talented players signed in the summer, Mason Mount stood his ground in the team without any form of intimidation or fear of losing his place to the just recruited players.
“He has the complete pack in terms of talent, physique, and mentality,” Tuchel declared.
“The most important thing is his character, he has his feet on the ground, he comes to Cobham every day wanting to learn something new. It is a pleasure to have him with us, to be by his side, and to guide and support him.”
— Arko25 (@ARKO25) May 1, 2021
Mount’s Pivotal Role Under Tuchel
What role does Mount actually play under Tuchel? Does he play as a winger? a make-shift No 10, or a central midfielder? Well, on paper, Mount has featured as an attacking midfielder. But his role goes far deeper than that and he plays in a variety of positions for the Blue’s.
Mount playing as an attacking midfielder doesn’t equate to him playing centrally. This is due to Chelsea’s formation under Tuchel. The former Dortmund manager deploys a 3-4-2-1 formation which has two attacking midfielders behind the target man. This changes to a small extent when Tuchel plays a 3-4-1-2 with two target men up front.
And Mount plays as the left attacking-midfielder in that formation. He is, thus, playing a hybrid role of a winger and a No.10. And that is clearly evident in Chelsea’s recent games.
It’s obvious how Tuchel envisages Mount in his team. He sees him as a left-sided attacking midfielder who can often clasp the touchline or double up on the flanks with the help of a left-back.
However. he has the tendency to play down the middle, this usually happens when he interchanges positions with someone in Chelsea’s frontline. Tuchel plays Mount as an attacking midfielder, and a player in that position will, of course, change positions from time to time. But what makes Mount’s positional change so interesting is how perfect he fits in.
Mount might play as a left-sided attacking midfielder, but he plays a lot of other roles. He is seen playing everywhere across the attack and in midfield when necessary. And his creative juices are still flowing at Chelsea.
Far from being found out by Lampard, Tuchel has harnessed Mount to further improve his game. He has given the midfielder even more responsibility, and the German tactician is only concerned with picking the team best equipped to win games and Mount is one of his key difference makers.
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In the Premier League this season, Mount has played 33 games, 4 as a substitute and he averages 49 passes per match with a completion rate of 87% with 5 assists to his name. The same could be said of his Champions League performances, he’s been able to shine out top-notch performances in Europe and the game that comes to mind was the clash against Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
On that night he gave a statement performance that further endears him to the heart of the Blues fans, and obviously solidify himself into the team as one of the important figure going forward, having been criticized as a young player, and now turning heads at the Bridge and England as a whole.
The role he’s playing under the new manager is creating goal opportunities for the team, which without a doubt is certainly a more demanding task compare to the role he was asked to play under Lampard.
Considering that Mount is now been perceive as the next Lampard which epitomizes the blueprint of the club with his unrelenting consistency and hard work.
“He’s a super reliable person, he behaves very maturely on and off the pitch. He’s a very down-to-earth person, I have the impression that he handles it all very maturely and he knows where he comes from.
“He knows why he is capable of playing so much because he takes good care of his recovery and it seems to be effortless for him.
A change of role in the team hasn’t changed his style of play nor his personality, but it further helps him conform to the pattern and tactics of the manager with undiluted selflessness and big player character on the pitch.
So far in the 2020-21 campaign, Mason Mount upward rise under Lampard who trusted him despite been a rookie, and most especially Tuchel who trusted him with a more demanding role in the team, has proved his doubters wrong that he isn’t a rookie anymore but a player who his ready to give all for his childhood club.
Should the Blues go on to win the League Cup and the UEFA Champions League, then you would agree with me that Mount performances in the course of the season play a significant role in whatever the club achieves in the end. He would go on to be an important player for Chelsea in the future, should he continue with his consistency.
There may be doubt over the future of some players in the team, but as for the England international, he has continuously proved his worth of the club, ready to drag the club into the land of success, having outgrown the rookie tag and the early criticism of the fans.
