WEMBLEY STADIUM — To think only six months ago Gareth Southgate had to fiercely defend his insistence upon picking Mason Mount in his England team.
His “only crime is not to be Jack at the moment”, the England manager said, half-joking but half-bewildered by why he faced so much criticism for including the Chelsea player ahead of man-of-the-people Jack Grealish.
It has only taken a Champions League medal aged 22, setting up the only goal of the final with one of his now trademark devastatingly incisive passes, and establishing himself as – arguably – one of the world’s best players at the moment, for people to realise what Southgate saw in him all along.
And England’s manager deserves some credit for his part in Mount’s development. Mount initially found himself out of the Chelsea team when Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard in January but still started England’s three World Cup qualifiers in March. Southgate has explained in the past that his persistence with starting England’s younger players is as much about helping them learn and grow as players – giving them minutes in big, high-pressure games – as it is about getting results.
In an interchangeable England team, Mount has now started 11 of the country’s last 11 games for which he was available for selection – he missed the Euro 2020 warm-up friendlies in Middlesbrough as part of a week off after the Champions League final – even when it has been an unpopular choice.
In the peculiar world of social media, a fictitious rivalry was created when Southgate was once asked why he was not playing Grealish and, after a few words on the Aston Villa forward, started waxing lyrical about his perceived favourite player.
Even if he may ignore the virtual noise when it comes to his squad and team selection (and even though he may be 50 years old!) Southgate is clearly aware of the trends and debates on social media, and joked that he should keep talking about Mount when questioned about Grealish “because it keeps the memes going of me talking about him!”
Southgate stressed many times that Mount and Grealish could play on the pitch together and it is fascinating how the conversation has changed in only the past few months. Now, nobody complains about Mount’s cemented place in England’s Euro 2020 starting line-up, and the clamour to get Grealish on the pitch has shifted towards doing so at Raheem Sterling’s expense, even after the Manchester City forward scored the winning goal in England’s opening game against Croatia.
They yearned for Grealish to come on against Scotland – when he warmed up in front of the fans they chanted his name, when his face appeared on the big screen Wembley almost physically stirred. But when he came on in the second half, there was no question it would be for Mount. Phil Foden made way instead.
You can see why. Mount is everywhere and everything on a football pitch: gifted with supreme technique and supernatural positioning and intelligence like Stephen Hawking.
He came so close to cracking open Scotland’s defence with a smart run into the penalty area, reaching Sterling’s ball across through a pair of Scottish legs but just unable to divert the fast pass into David Marshall’s goal.
When Mount went on loan to Vitesse Arnhem, the coaches, used to the loan players from England being behind the Dutch players in their technique and positioning, were surprised Mount was ahead of them all. He scored nine goals in 22 starts.
On the pitch, he is more flexible than the instructors guiding England’s players through their hot yoga pod sessions at St George’s Park. Southgate prefers him as a No 10 behind Harry Kane currently, but he has been comfortable drifting to the wings if Foden or Sterling wish to try their luck in the middle. For Chelsea, he is just as adept deeper, a role demanding different attributes.
He is England’s first-choice set-piece taker and warrants it: almost scoring against Croatia with a free kick sent inches over the crossbar, sticking a corner on the head of John Stones who directed it onto a post early on against Scotland.
When the lethargy of England’s slow, nervous first half began infecting the supporters in the second, Mount woke them up, carrying the ball into some space and forcing a save from Marshall with a snap shot towards the bottom left corner.
No team can ever sit still and managers talk of Premier League and Champions League winning sides needing to be dismantled and reassembled with different parts after only a few years. To maintain the freshness and unpredictability that brings those trophies.
Mount is a player teams can be built around time and time again – for England, for Chelsea, for Real Madrid or for Barcelona should he one day end up there. That he is still so young should give supporters of England great hope.
More from i on Euro 2020
- The football nomad who became a hero for his role in saving Eriksen’s life
- How Ronaldo’s Coca-Cola stunt could change the face of football sponsorship
- In praise of Emma Hayes, the best pundit at Euro 2020 so far
- Eriksen collapse has thrown a spotlight on football’s relentless thirst for more
- How to watch every Euro 2020 match on TV and online in the UK
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3dbO1vV
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