This Week’s Manager Watch: Ryan Mason

[rossdapep]

I think that there is a lot of reasons why Mason makes sense.

As a club we need to settle and stabilise. Having someone who bleeds Spurs has huge advantages. He won’t walk. He won’t bring the club down. He will support the club in resolving the off field chaos. He genuinely loves the club. Our instability goes right through the club. Having one of our own reinstalling our beliefs and values on and off the pitch as well as in the stands

Every single word he has said in every interview has been absolutely fantastic in my opinion and is indicative of an extremely intelligent person. As well as being a very highly rated coach.

I really am not worried about his lack of experience. I’ve posted about my views on experience before. We’ve had some of the most experienced Managers in global football over the last few years and it hasn’t worked because that isn’t the root cause of our issues

My issue over the last few seasons has been not feeling connected and falling out of love with Spurs. Not the lack of trophies. I want someone who can make me care again. I think that could be Mason.

This is a fantastic post.

A lot there to really resonate with going with Mason.

I'd still go with Nagelsmann or Slot and hope Mason takes on a job with a Championship/League 1 team to really develop and implement/test his ideas so he can really implement his football identity.

And when he does that and if Naglesmann moves on, the club and him are ready.

I do agree that there is a case and you never really know.

I'm very impressed with him and people like that often bring everyone together

 

[septicsac]

Hiring Ryan now would be a massive risk and gamble. He needs to go do what Kompany did, find a club and give it a go, let everyone see what he is made of. Yes, he bleeds Spurs, but so did Hoddle and Ardilies, didnt make them right for the job.

 

[Hotspur33]

Post of the season

The only way Mason gets the gig full time, IMO, is if Nagelsmann says no, and Kane specifically requests Mason.
I think if is chosen, it’s off the back of seeing what Arteta, Carrick and Kompany are doing. However there is the elephant in the room, those three former players all won stuff. Mason has no experience of winning anything.

I think hiring Mason, despite the good impression he has made, would be a bad idea.

 

[Liamyid28]

I think that there is a lot of reasons why Mason makes sense.

As a club we need to settle and stabilise. Having someone who bleeds Spurs has huge advantages. He won’t walk. He won’t bring the club down. He will support the club in resolving the off field chaos. He genuinely loves the club. Our instability goes right through the club. Having one of our own reinstalling our beliefs and values on and off the pitch as well as in the stands

Every single word he has said in every interview has been absolutely fantastic in my opinion and is indicative of an extremely intelligent person. As well as being a very highly rated coach.

I really am not worried about his lack of experience. I’ve posted about my views on experience before. We’ve had some of the most experienced Managers in global football over the last few years and it hasn’t worked because that isn’t the root cause of our issues

My issue over the last few seasons has been not feeling connected and falling out of love with Spurs. Not the lack of trophies. I want someone who can make me care again. I think that could be Mason.

This 100% mate.

 

[Japhet]

I wouldn't want to get too carried away right now with Mason. We've got a bit of a bounce going on at the moment because the stifling micromanagement of Conte has been binned and the players are being allowed some freedom. Nagelsmann, Slot or Kompany would also allow that.

My big issue with Mason right now is that he too seems to think that a midfield pivot is the way to play in the EPL in spite of an absolute mountain of evidence to the contrary in our case. It's so obvious to me that all of our problems eminate from there. Always overrun, no shield in front of weak CB (Dier), no passing angles, no room for a creative midfielder and unable to cover the wide areas with wingbacks who don't defend well. Bringing Sarr on yesterday suddenly made us look so much more stable and allowed Sonny to get closer to Kane where he likes to play.

If Mason can't see any of that he must be wearing blinkers and blindly following what Mourinho and Conte have had us doing for years. He probably forgotten, or never identified, how open and defensively frail we were when Pochettino had him and Bentaleb yielding the same results years ago when we were so easy to play through.

 

[Nebby]

Sorry if I'm being a bit thick here guys but does anyone know why Levy hasn't even spoken to Poch considering the fans were singing for him before Conte left and he's available now. Especially since reports state that they approached him before appointing Jose?

There are a number of managers in a holding pattern right now, what with the Madrid job maybe becoming available in the summer. I imagine Spurs is an option for some, if only for the salary that comes with managing a PL team. Any manager worth his salt will wait, unless they have already been they won’t be considered for Madrid.

 

[geordiespur]

I wouldn't want to get too carried away right now with Mason. We've got a bit of a bounce going on at the moment because the stifling micromanagement of Conte has been binned and the players are being allowed some freedom. Nagelsmann, Slot or Kompany would also allow that.

My big issue with Mason right now is that he too seems to think that a midfield pivot is the way to play in the EPL in spite of an absolute mountain of evidence to the contrary in our case. It's so obvious to me that all of our problems eminate from there. Always overrun, no shield in front of weak CB (Dier), no passing angles, no room for a creative midfielder and unable to cover the wide areas with wingbacks who don't defend well. Bringing Sarr on yesterday suddenly made us look so much more stable and allowed Sonny to get closer to Kane where he likes to play.

If Mason can't see any of that he must be wearing blinkers and blindly following what Mourinho and Conte have had us doing for years. He probably forgotten, or never identified, how open and defensively frail we were when Pochettino had him and Bentaleb yielding the same results years ago when we were so easy to play through.

I don’t necessarily think you can assume that he wants to play a midfield pivot. There simply hasn’t been enough time, nor do we have the luxury of more than 3 fit midfielders to allow for a change to this system in 3 training sessions and two games.

 

[Japhet]

I don’t necessarily think you can assume that he wants to play a midfield pivot. There simply hasn’t been enough time, nor do we have the luxury of more than 3 fit midfielders to allow for a change to this system in 3 training sessions and two games.

True, but he did change to 3 in CM yesterday and it bore results. Yes, we might pick up an injury and be left even shorter in there, but so what? the season is in the balance.

The other thing I didn't like yesterday was the Lucas for Porro substitution (even before gifting them the winner). What on earth was the point in that when Porro still had plenty of gas left and is very arguably a bigger attacking threat than Lucas?

 

[spursfan77]

I have always liked Mason but he can’t be given the job full time right now and won’t be. I think he may have to leave the club in the summer and try somewhere else though. Not sure a new coach coming in would want him as part of their team after him coming out saying he wants the job.

 

[GutBucket]

Impressed with him so far but it's hard to judge when you have a team that lacks balance and quality. Is Perišić playing better now because of different tactics or is it just a form thing or both etc? Need a bigger sample with players that fit his style but it's risky to start next season with him.

 

[PhC]

If Mason shows that he can create an actual team on and off the pitch while playing good football, give him the job.
Don’t get the Nagelsmann hype and there are loads of other young promising managers out there, especially in the Bundesliga. I do hope the club looks at lesser teams as well instead of just going for the known names

 

[muppetman]

I think he's a quietly impressive young man. Not sure if the job is too soon for him but it might just be worth a punt. The last few years have shown that the mentality of the players and the atmosphere around the club are key. Ryan might just be able to do something about both.

 

[HedgieSpur]

baffled by the people who want mason given the job full time, yes seems like a nice guy, but we need a complete cultural reset top to bottom

It's the "face fits" culture we often have in football in this country whereby as long as people "like" someone that somehow makes up for experience and/or talent.

Mason is still learning his trade and needs to be given the room to develop. Imo he bears some culpability (not as much as Conte and Stellini obvs) for the mess this season but that should not preclude him from managing...indeed, the tough times and mistakes the coaching team made this season should be good for his development.

I'd like to see him manage away from the club in the lower leagues and then measure his performance and progress thereafter and it would be great to see if he, Defoe, Yahya, Carrick etc could be the next set of exciting managers getting the top jobs.

EDIT: Oh and I don't think Mason should work under the next manager. Let the new manager choose his own team as he sees fit rather than be encumbered with Mason.

 

[geordiespur]

True, but he did change to 3 in CM yesterday and it bore results. Yes, we might pick up an injury and be left even shorter in there, but so what? the season is in the balance.

The other thing I didn't like yesterday was the Lucas for Porro substitution (even before gifting them the winner). What on earth was the point in that when Porro still had plenty of gas left and is very arguably a bigger attacking threat than Lucas?

You are spot on about yesterday and the change. How refreshing that he acknowledged the problem and did something about it though?
The Lucas sub was logical for me- Lucas has fresh legs and pace but my god it was a brain fart moment

 

[bigfrooj]

I don’t want another vastly experienced middle aged ’winner’ again. We know they won’t fit in with the way this club is run and probably with the type of football we want to see. We now need a fresh-minded progressive coach willing to work with individual players as well as build a true team ethic. If we can’t secure Slot or Nagelsmann then we may has well give Mason his chance because he is young, intelligent, progressive and knows how to make 11 individuals play as a team. And he’s proper Spurs.
To summarise - Mr Levy, respectably, you can stick your Mourinho‘s and your Conte’s up your arse.

 

[danielneeds]

I think he's a quietly impressive young man. Not sure if the job is too soon for him but it might just be worth a punt. The last few years have shown that the mentality of the players and the atmosphere around the club are key. Ryan might just be able to do something about both.

He’s an impressive guy, but we’ve got no real idea what a team under him will play like, or if he has the ability to coach them to play how he wants. For instance, Lampard came into Chelsea talking about playing high-pressing attacking football but had no clue how to implement it.

The standard of coaching is so high in the PL right now, it’s not enough just to
have a vibes guy who sends a team out to just play loose. I’m not saying that is what Mase is but until he goes and coaches a team at a lower level we won’t know.

 

[Japhet]

You are spot on about yesterday and the change. How refreshing that he acknowledged the problem and did something about it though?
The Lucas sub was logical for me- Lucas has fresh legs and pace but my god it was a brain fart moment

Whatever else, Mason has put Conte to shame with his use of subs and willingness to try to change things up. That is indeed refreshing.

 

[FinnYid]

those three former players all won stuff.

Irrespective where we go and who we hire, we really need to get past this infatuation with "winners".

Besides outside intertoto and Scotland, Arteta won couple of domestic cups on England as player. Most of our players have medals to compare, does that make them any more potential coaches?

 

[Westmorlandspur]

The only way Mason gets the gig full time, IMO, is if Nagelsmann says no, and Kane specifically requests Mason.
I think if is chosen, it’s off the back of seeing what Arteta, Carrick and Kompany are doing. However there is the elephant in the room, those three former players all won stuff. Mason has no experience of winning anything.

I think hiring Mason, despite the good impression he has made, would be a bad idea.

What’s winning titles as a player got to do with it . Gerrard and Lampard won plenty.
Ryan will need to try and get a job somewhere else and go from there.
Look at Kieran McKenna at Ipswich.

 

[shoggy33]

He's very quickly got us playing some decent attacking football which is impressive given what we've endured over the past 4 years. It looks like we're trying to press from the front, the issue is we're bad at it right now having not done it in god knows how long, which is leaving our terrible defence very exposed. It concerns me that his apprenticeship has essentially been under Jose/Nuno/Conte, I think he needs some time working with a more progressive manager either here or somewhere else before we give him the job full time. For now though this season is a write off, so more than happy for him to continue like this so he and the players can learn a thing or two.