Player Focus: Late Bloomer Mason Provides England with Different Option

Though he grabs significantly fewer headlines, there is little to separate quite how remarkable Ryan Mason’s rise this season has been in comparison to teammate Harry Kane. The striker is the top scorer in England, but sudden sharp rises to prominence are not completely unheard of for 21-year-olds who have already hinted towards their talents in a previous campaign.

That is not to belittle his achievements; he has had an incredible season and deserves all credit aimed his way but Mason, having this week been called up to replace the injured Adam Lallana in the England squad, has arguably achieved as much.

When he replaced Benjamin Stambouli with Tottenham 1-0 down at home to second-tier Nottingham Forest in the Capital One Cup, much of White Hart Lane expected to see a youngster promoted from the academy for the night given his chance. Few realised that Mason was in fact 23 and had made his Tottenham debut some six years previous.

That was his only game in the 2008/09 season. He made 3 more appearances in 2012/13 but spent the majority of the intervening time on loan at the likes of Yeovil Town, Doncaster Rovers, Millwall, Lorient and Swindon Town. Injury restricted his development, but in truth he was not truly valued by anyone at a significant level prior to Mauricio Pochettino.

The Argentine took an immediate shine to Mason, giving him first team action during Tottenham’s pre-season tour of the US, but again injury frustrated the midfielder, and it wasn’t until the end of September and that clash against Forest – which he and Kane turned on its head with the pace and directness of their play, as well as a goal apiece – that Mason was given another shot. 3 days later he was playing 90 minutes at the Emirates and he has barely been out of the team since. He has become integral. Spurs are not the same team without him.

The tenacity and verve with which he plays make him the dynamic central midfielder that Tottenham need in order to play the way Pochettino demands. While Kane and Christian Eriksen defend from the front, it is arguably Mason that is most important to maintaining the intensity of this Tottenham midfield.

A look at the heatmap of his touches shows the extent of his tireless work, with the blue (indicating fewer, but still some touches) spreading across almost all portions of the pitch. The likes of Morgan Schneiderlin, who has been persistently linked with a move to Spurs and would likely replace Mason, covers nowhere near as much ground. Rivals in the England squad for a central midfield role in Fabian Delph and Jordan Henderson – both energetic all-action players who are in that sense similar to Mason – also don’t cover as much ground as the Spurs man.

Mason is a ball-winner who distributes the ball quickly and maintains tempo through doing so. His 3.2 tackles per game is the joint-tenth most in the whole Premier League, while it ranks him fourth amongst central midfield regulars, behind only Schneiderlin (3.6), Nemanja Matic (3.6) and James McArthur (3.3). He also commits fewer fouls (0.9) and is dribbled past fewer times (1.4) per game than any of these players, suggesting he is less rash in his tackling and there is more method to his play.

He makes 50.6 passes per game at a success rate of 82.7%, of which 3.6 are long balls, with an accuracy of 64.6%. Each of these stats is nothing too far above average in the context of Premier League midfielders, but possibly the greatest of Mason’s attributes is his direct and ambitious passing. See his recent lofted through ball assist for Harry Kane at Loftus Road for a perfect example.

Not the most technically gifted footballer, Mason’s attempts to look forward with his passing more often than most sets him apart from the crowd. Perhaps that is why it was he rather than Jack Colback called up to replace Lallana.

He is a different option to many of England’s other midfielders, and a team such as Lithuania – who England face on Friday – may not be able to deal with his harrying and the pressure he puts on opponents, both with his pressing and his passing. He may have only been called in as a back up, but a midfield including Mason possesses something different to any other combination available to Hodgson.

He is far from the finished product, and at 23 he has less time on his hands than many others, but by breaking through a little later than the norm, he has proven that more clubs should show their academy products a little more patience, which will likely become even more important given the FA’s latest proposals surrounding the number of home-grown players in Premier League squads. Mason defied the odds by establishing himself at Spurs this season, and as unlikely as it seemed last week – let alone at the beginning of the season – he could play a part in England’s Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, given his unique style of play.

Do you think Mason has a chance of playing for England this week? Let us know in the comments below