During his brief spell in charge of Tottenham, Tim Sherwood once said that he envisaged building a team of young British talent for the club to move ahead. If that was the case, it seems that Ryan Mason was never in his plans as the player himself points to the change in manager as a crucial moment in his White Hart Lane career.
At 23 and with 5 loan spells behind him, Mason was appearing on lists such as ‘5 players you’ll never believe are still at Spurs’ but he’s come from beyond the fringes to star in his last two games – against Nottingham Forest and Arsenal.
“I’ve had a few chances to leave but I wanted to play for Spurs so bad that I never thought about leaving,” Ryan told the Daily Star.
“I wanted to stay and give it a go and see what happened. The change in the has helped me.
“If [Sherwood] was still here then maybe I wouldn’t be in the team.”
Spurs play Besiktas on Thursday – a match where Mason may have previously been hoping for a start – but with an important game coming up in the league will the Head Coach prefer to rest him for the Europa Clash?
Mason is a breath of fresh air in the DM role, he looks to play the ball forward rather than sideways and backwards like many others. I’m glad the lad has been given a chance cause I think most fans would rather see a young English player who tries rather than an over payed foreigner with an attitude problem! Think its time Kane got a start in the league aswell because Adebayor isn’t up to it! COYS
DJC – the key fact is that he is not playing in the DM position (whatever Defensive Midfielder means). I have watched him from 17 onwards and he is basically a number 10 who is now playing a little deeper. When I first saw him he was like a fast Sheringham – very clever and a brilliant finisher. If he plays in the 2 (as against Arsenal) he will move the forward quickly because he sees things early and is used to playing further up the field. He should have been a regular 2 or 3 years ago, but cannot stay fit. If he toughens up and remains injury free we have a seriously good player on our hands.
I agree adebayor has been useless so far and Soldado and Kane deserve a chance. Mason is hard working and plays for the team, more of the same please!! Coys