Mount’s rise to Chelsea is no coincidence, as Tuchel sees what Lampard did to the midfielder

In some circles, it was feared that Mason Mount’s early career could come to a halt when Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard as Chelsea manager at the end of January. After all, Lampard was fired in part because of the weak form of several key attack signatures, most of their spending of 220 million pounds last summer.

Tuchel’s ability to speak German was seen as a vital asset in improving the fortunes of Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, the latter only now showing signs of establishing himself as an influential player after a difficult first season in England. Mount was named captain for Lampard’s last lead game, but was abandoned for Tuchel’s first, a perfect distillation of the challenge the 22-year-old had in proving himself. His growth was partly influenced by the club’s transfer ban, but before he left, Lampard was keen to promote youngsters, regardless of years after Chelsea managers ignored the club’s own academy graduates.

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However, Mount will make his 100th appearance for the Blues in the coming weeks – possibly even on May 1 – after becoming as vital to Tuchel as he is to Lampard.

Chelsea reached the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday with an aggregate 2-1 victory over Porto, despite losing the second leg 1-0 to an impressive last-minute volley from Mehdi Taremi. Their route was finally secured by last week’s 2-0 win in the first leg, in which Mount scored his first European goal, a clever return and a final that featured remarkable recent improvements in his power. Perhaps surprisingly, Lampard never had any doubt that Mount’s upward trajectory would continue.

“The moment I handed him the armband, I could see what he looked like,” Lampard said at a question and answer session ahead of this month’s London Football Awards. “That’s something you get when you bring players from the academy and the fans like it. But the players in the academy who have been there for eight years are fighting in the team with absolute desire, it means so much to them. That is tangible. This is something important. You won’t always see him at 20 years old [years old].

“They may have confidence dives, they may have moments in games, but when you have players who care, it doesn’t matter who the manager is. The desire they have, because they work so hard and have that talent, will lead So when I left Chelsea – and this is not a lack of respect for the manager, because obviously he does a fantastic job – but the manager would come in and I would blame the house in two or three weeks I would say “wow, Mason Mount, he trains every day like a champion, works with the ball and sets the press, he has excellent quality, he improves all the time and now he adds goals of his game this year “.

Mount has made 53 appearances this season for the club and the country and is therefore poised to comfortably surpass last season’s 59. He started England’s last eight matches and was the only player to start all three of the England World Cup qualifiers against San Marino. , Albania and Poland last month, manager Gareth Southgate made a fairly clear comment, alluding to the accusation that Mount was a company project for Lampard. “I was saying in the fall that he is a very good player, I guess now Thomas Tuchel chooses him, everyone will agree.”

Mount could have joined 6-year-old Chelsea and approached every challenge with a positive outlook, but that didn’t deter some of the club’s fans from rushing to judge a player who is still palpably learning his trade. .

The connection between Mount and Lampard is undoubtedly a strong one. Mount has on display in his house a shirt from Chelsea’s 2004-05 campaign, signed by Lampard; he won it at the raffle. In turn, Lampard took a bet on an unknown teenager, taking him to Derby County in 2018, starting with 35 league games in a campaign that ended in an agonizing defeat against Aston Villa in the Championship playoff final. of Wembley.

Mount was targeted for abuse on social networks, the Chelsea fan base somewhat replying to the ruthless Roman Abramovich, whose tireless search for success led to 13 different managers in his 18 years in prison. Mount’s father, Tony, insists that his son does not read the abuse, but the family does. However, Tuchel’s arrival and confidence in the midfielder led to negativity replaced by the growing recognition of the traits identified by Lampard years earlier in a player whose only previous experience in senior football was on loan at Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem. in 2017-18.

“I never understood the criticism,” Lampard said. “When he stepped on the door [at Derby]I could immediately see something special in him.

“It was an attitude and a mentality for me. The first thing I always try to look at as a player is “how are they? ”Because that has a huge effect on how you can train them and how to make them better. Do they want to improve when they are young? And what does that mean for the group you bring them to?

“Everyone spoke well of Mason at the Chelsea academy, so it was very clear. Then there was something about when he played, that I saw. I watched him a lot when he played in Holland and he was aware of the things around him. he. A desire to work for the team on the ball, as well as the qualities he had on the ball. “

The natural fitness takes place in the family – Mount’s grandfather was a boxer – but Chelsea’s midfielder does not risk his conditioning. He uses one of the hired chefs in England to prepare and deliver his food, remaining determined for a structured recovery and maintaining his fitness during the closed season, training privately with a personal and daily trainer in the gym.

“When he came to the Derby, I was sure it would be a difficult trip for him in the Championship because of the physicality of the league,” Lampard said. “He had a very good spell at first, then a calmer spell and then he overcame it at the end of the season and he was fantastic in the run-in. For me this was a measure of the player because it’s because all young players – because I was a midfielder, I’m probably looking even closer – they won’t score 15, 20 goals per season when they have 21. It doesn’t work like that. They have to find their way, mature, find the right moments to get in the box and I’m starting to see that in him this season and more.

“I’m not there anymore, but to see him develop again is great. He will continue to develop, he will be a fantastic player. I probably said enough about him because people used to call him my son. “

With ordinary thinking, Lampard checks himself for fear of going from vocal support to the kind of partisan cheerleading he was once accused of. But any debate over Mount’s ability to perform at the highest level is certainly over, and only injury will prevent him from crossing the 100-mark mark for Chelsea this season, before playing what he could. be a key role for England at Euro 2020.

Mount significantly improves his final product, and Lampard believes that his game “evolves all the time”. This initially came from the fact that he benefited from a more central role in Lampard’s 4-3-3 system, before adapting as one of the twins no. 10 of Tuchel in a 3-4-2-1 form. A goal of 10 goals was set in the Premier League last season, falling short by three. He already has eight in this term – and three more for England – while the four assists in his league have all come from sets. At the last Euro, striker Harry Kane was on the turn with Gary Neville, coach of England under Roy Hodgson at that tournament, later claiming that the lack of expert players in the set-piece forced him to use his number 9 as an atypical alternative. That won’t be the case this summer, as Mount offers much more than deadly expertise.

Explaining why he made Mount captain against Luton in January, Lampard, pushed in a final response about Mount, added: “It wasn’t a gesture. I didn’t know I was leaving at the time, but with Mason, I wanted to he shows that his status in the group has grown. And then he has to understand that and he has to stand up. “Tuchel acknowledged that Mount does just that.

(Editor’s note: James Olley will be in the voting group for the 2021 London Football Awards.)