Lay off Mason! Mount in danger of becoming Chelsea's Maguire

Cameron Smith

• Updated: 12 Jan 2023 20:47 GMT
• 5 min read

Mason Mount is currently experiencing something similar to what Harry Maguire has endured during his worst moments over the past few years.

The England international has come under fire since the start of the 2022/23 campaign, with anger at Chelsea's failures this season being directed mostly at the Cobham academy graduate.

Mount is just 23 years old, but has been named Chelsea's Player of the Year in the past two seasons after an excellent start to life in the senior team. However, that seems like a distant memory right now, and something many Blues fans have seemingly forgotten about.

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Large sections of the Chelsea fanbase think he's overrated and an objectively bad player, with Blues fans bizarrely being the ones driving the hatred towards Mount.

On the other hand, those who rate Mount and believe he has credit in the bank thanks to his performances in a Chelsea shirt in recent years, often go too far in the opposite direction in an attempt to balance out the hatred directed at him, constantly reinforcing the message that Mount adds great value to the Chelsea side.

This sometimes harms Mount's standing amongst fans as his flaws aren't acknowledged by some, and it leads to increased abuse hurled in his direction; those who believe he isn't good enough to justify his place in the team double-down on their point in an effort to drown out the positivity.

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After all, negative comments stand out far more than praise and with abuse aimed in Mount's direction every day, Chelsea fans are subjecting the Englishman to the treatment Maguire has suffered at Manchester United.

He's constantly the target of the full wrath of Chelsea's fanbase on Twitter, who bemoan his selection in the starting XI, his decision-making on the pitch and his overall impact on the West London side.

Players can rightfully be criticised for performing poorly, but hatred towards Mount has snowballed so much to a point whereby any mistake is hounded constantly and impressive showings are disregarded.

Mount has consistently been one of Chelsea's better players since he emerged into the first-team under Frank Lampard, plus he's an academy graduate who cost the club nothing in regards to a transfer fee.

Big-money stars have had far less of an impact on this Chelsea side than Mount, but have escaped much of the same criticism for an unknown reason. Mount has become the scapegoat for Chelsea's failures - slightly unfair for a 23-year-old academy graduate who won back-to-back Player of the Year awards at the club in 2021 and 2022.

Mount this season

It's worth pointing out that Mount has been below par this season, though. His goal tally stands at just three in the Premier League, while he's notched just two league assists. After netting 10 goals and grabbing 11 assists last year, Mount hasn't been as prolific in the final-third this time around.

His goals and assists per 90 tally has dropped from 0.80 last season to 0.38 this time around - criticism is certainly warranted, but what Mount has received goes beyond criticism at times.

After all, Mount is a midfielder by trade and was filling in further forward under Thomas Tuchel. Since Graham Potter has taken charge, Mount has been deployed deeper, in his more natural position. Despite that, he's only contributed 0.01 less goals and assists per 90 than Kai Havertz, who has played mostly as Chelsea's number nine.

During Chelsea's 2020/21 Champions League winning run, Mason Mount was simply unplayable. At just 21 years old, he dropped one of the best individual campaigns in recent memory, along with N'Golo Kante, and helped dig the Blues out of numerous holes with mesmerising displays.

But, he has regressed since that point and sections of Chelsea fans must accept that Mount has been part of the problem this season. However, he's proven in the past what he's capable of - it's up to Graham Potter to help him rediscover that form.

Even during his best moments, Mount still had his doubters and was abused despite being Chelsea's best attacking player. Now, his inability to pick out forward runners and somewhat negative approach to counter-attacks whereby a safe, sideways pass is sometimes prioritised over a penetrative through-ball is grabbing the headlines.

It may be impossible for Mount to win over the section of Chelsea fans who are set in their view that he is not good enough to play for the club, but easing the abuse and constant criticism might help lead to improved performances. After all, a player with confidence can look totally different to a player devoid of any belief. Just look at Miguel Almiron as an example.

Mount has previously shown that he is one of Chelsea's best players and while he hasn't been at it this campaign, the desire to see him moved on from the club seems baffling from a fanbase who urged youngsters to be given a chance for years without any luck.

That isn't to say Mount can't improve at all. In fact, his drop-off performance-wise has harmed Chelsea and they may well play better without him in the side, but he's not the only one who has been below par this season - almost every Blues player has, including the likes of Mateo Kovacic and Havertz. Mount must improve, but if he can get back to the levels he showed under both Lampard and Tuchel then Chelsea have a brilliant player on their hands.