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Ryan Mason


Where's GrimsbyYid, is he too busy eating his hat to post?

Ha, he had an excellent game and if he can do that most weeks then I'll happily say I was wrong. I just have my opinion on him, no agenda, no wish or desire to see him fail; the opposite in fact. One excellent game doesn't make an excellent player, but it was certainly good to see!
 
Nice to have a positive article but it makes me feel like they haven't really seen Mason before. They are talking as if he's a younger Michael Brown. His long range passing is excellent and nicely incisive over short to medium distances.

He was immense today. I felt like he stepped up mentally. He was truly taking the game by the scruff of the neck and seemed to decide he was going to be the deciding factor. He was pinging passes like Huddlestone at his best but showed real drive. In previous games he has needed to improve his confidence and composure in front of goal but he had it today.

The balance in the partnership with Dier really helps and I actually think more than needing another striker, we need a plan if Dier is injured to still allow Mason the freedom to get forward like he does. It's very well playing Bentaleb next to him but you're then asking one or both players to temper natural instincts, and that can't be ideal.
 
He did well, as Sunderland were intent on stopping us playing - closing down, harrying - and Mason didn't have much support. Alli was often further forward, and Dier behind Mason leaving him with less easy out balls. But he coped admirably. He has all the ability, but I think he will need to be managed well, I don't think he can easily keep that level up all season. Not many can.
 
His fitness will be assessed on Monday.. I believe Poch is confident that it's nothing too serious.. Fingers crossed, he really was outstanding, great attitude too.

Ryan Mason said he would happily ‘take a whack’ if it meant scoring a goal – especially the winner!

That was how it played out at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light on Sunday.

The midfielder provided the finish to a fine move in the 82nd minute to secure our first victory of the Premier League campaign.

Erik Lamela threaded the key pass through and Ryan met it just ahead of the advancing Costel Pantilimon. Ryan was caught by the Sunderland goalkeeper in the process of scoring and departed on a stretcher a few minutes later. Mauricio Pochettino later told us that he will be assessed on Monday.

Yes, of course I’d take a whack, as long as I’m back for the next game!” said Ryan. “Scoring a goal is the best feeling in the world.

“It was a massive win for us. We’d gone four games without a win so we didn’t really care how it came along as we got the three points.

“It was like a basketball match at times, end to end and so open. The first goal was always going to be key and thankfully we scored it and held on this time.

“As I said, the most important thing is the win and we’ve now got four home matches coming up so it’s all positive.”

Ryan has stated his desire to score more goals this season after registering twice last term. “It felt good to score,” he said. “I felt fit, I was timing my runs and looking to get forward.

Below: Pass-by-pass graphic of Ryan's goal

mase_goal_700x555.jpg


“The move for the goal was good and Coco played a perfect pass for me to finish it off.

“I haven’t shied away from wanting to score goals but perhaps at the same time I’ve been a bit naïve because I can’t forget that I’m a defensive central midfielder now and it’s difficult to make the box as regularly as I’d like to, but it was nice to do it against Sunderland and help us get the three points.”
 
as said here earlier in the thread, Mason is very good further forwards...Dier's steady emergence as a DM is very helpful all around, and I am excited to see what Njie brings to the party as Townsend certainly managed to open things up. Special mention for Lamela too, lovely pass...now let's see it all gel alongside Kane! But yes, glad for Mason today as some of the stick he has had prior has been silly.
 
Watching on tv, what took me by pleasant surprise was how much Mason popped up in a number of different areas to receive a pass. Be interesting to see his heat map as he did seem to cover a hell of a lot of ground yesterday, both width wise as well as up and down the pitch.
 
Interesting part of the article above is the part of the quote which says: " I can’t forget that I’m a defensive central midfielder now"

Indicates how he's being told to play
 
and some of the stick was warranted

I was ( as many on here would know) critical of our M/F pairing of Mason/ Bentalab last season, my opinion was that neither of them were good at the defensive part of the game ( which left our back four unprotected). I was shouted down by some but it was good to see that towards the end of the season other fans were seeing it the same way.

I also said that Mason may turn out to be a very good player but only if we paired him with a player who had a defensive mindset ( step forward Dier). Since that has happened it has allowed Mason to play his game and he has shown since that he has the promise to push on and become a good player, its still early days but the signs are good.
 
Before yesterday's game I compared him to Aaron Ramsey. Played in primarily a defensive role, or at least an "all action" role in his earlier career, and suffered a lot of injuries. I don't think Mason has been any worse for us than Ramsey was before his breakthrough season in 2013-14. When Arsenal signed Flamini and gave Ramsey the licence to push forward, the results were remarkable.

Now that Dier is taking on the defensive repsonsibilities, I do think we'll see a lot more from Mason in an attacking sense, bursting forward with late runs into the box. Now of course, to supplement this we need our "Ozil" and "Cazorla" to be able to pick him out with those runs. The obvious two candidates are Eriksen and Bentaleb, so let's hope they're both fit soon.
 
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