Mason Mount has become one of the most important players in Frank Lampard’s 4-3-3 formation. He has been subject to some unwarranted criticism from a section of Chelsea and England fans, but there is a reason why both Lampard and the England manager, Gareth Southgate keep picking him.
For Lampard especially, Mount has become indispensable. He has a different role in the midfield this season, and he’s consistently putting in great shifts.
How exactly has his role changed from last season to this one? Take a look at his heat maps from last season and this one (left – 2019/20, right – 2020/21):
You can clearly see that he’s spending more time deeper in the midfield and the left-back position. This is a tactic that Frank Lampard is using that has been carried over from academy level football (Jody Morris is the link here). The two non-central mid-fielders in the 4-3-3 drop deep and allow the full-backs to bomb forward. Mason Mount then cuts inside and uses his excellent passing range to ping cross-field passes to either the advancing Reece James or Hakim Ziyech, whoever is in space. They then use their excellent crossing ability to find forwards in the box.
See his shot maps above (left – 2019-20 season, right – 2020-21 season). Almost all of his shots are from long range this season, and he’s hit the crossbar or been denied by excellent saves from the goalkeeper on a couple of occasions.
Mount has also upped his creative game – with 2.43 key passes per 90 this season compared to 1.62 last season (left – 2019/20 season, right – 2020/21 season). Granted, some of it is from corners, but his set-piece delivery this season has generally been excellent (except the game against Aston Villa). He tries the risky, direct passes that are necessary to break down low blocks- case in point being the pass to Giroud for a lay off who then went on to score from the cross in the Aston Villa game.
Chelsea got into similar positions but either played backwards or sideways. When someone like Jorginho isn’t playing those line breaking central passes, you need someone to take responsibility and attempt a risky pass- and that’s exactly what Mason Mount did. In the future, looking back at this game, this pass will be forgotten, but that goal will never have been scored without it. Mount has played this kind of risky, line breaking pass often, and must be encouraged to take risks and play more of them.
Apart from all of this, his incessant, dog-after-a-bone pressing is a joy to watch and a nightmare for opposition players. His attitude on the field has always been fantastic. Chelsea’s big-money summer signing, Kai Havertz is yet to produce his best, and meanwhile, Mason Mount, along with the brilliant N’golo Kante, who seems to have put his injury troubles behind him, has carried the Chelsea midfield.
It is time fans realise the gem Chelsea have got. He will only get better. If he improves his finishing and starts arriving late into the box to score like his manager Frank Lampard did in his playing days, he’s sure to become the complete midfielder, and the envy of opposition fans and managers (if he isn’t already).