Ok, fair enough, one of those ones that's gets added to the statistics page but isn't much to talk about.
Surely just a typical "team of the week" with shoehorning as much attacking players in the team as they could. No way Mount played as a righ wing back.
2018/19 #U19EURO qualifying round drawGroup 5:EnglandTurkeyIcelandMoldova— UEFA.com (@UEFAcom) December 6, 2017
I would say there's next to no chance of a WC call up even though he's the sort of player the seniors are crying out for but to be honest the best he can hope for is an U21 call up but even then I'm not sure. I would say he's likely to stay with the U19's until after the finals in the Summer if they qualify.
Sorry I'm confused here: #ENGU19, the defending #U19EURO champions, will face Macedonia, Hungary and Latvia in the elite round of qualification for the 2018 summer finals in Finland.— youthhawk (@youthhawk) December 6, 2017 Sorry, just realized it's next seasons qualifying draw
That seems like a decent Elite draw. Even though England won all three qualifiers they missed out on being in the top pot by one goal. Could've ended up with Portugal, Spain or Germany. Instead got Macedonia who were the team that kept us out of the top pot, with exactly the same points & goal difference. They did beat Switzerland & Belgium so obviously shouldn't be understimated. Who is hosting btw?
Fwiw, I managed to watch the second half of Vitesse's game with Nice last night and thought Mount was good again and he seems to be involved in almost all of there attacking play as indeed he was for the goal playing a lovely through ball to create the opportunity for the cross to be tapped home by the striker. Could maybe have scored himself with a couple of shots but just didn't really get hold of them but all in all pretty impressive stuff from the 18 year old. Incidentally I was expecting to see Colkett too as he started the game but seemingly was hauled off at halftime time so presumably he got injured or maybe had a stinker of a first half. Not sure if anyone can shed any light on this?
Bit of an interview/article on him here: https://www.vi.nl/pro/analyse/mason...dat-uitzondering-op-chelsea-regel-moet-worden It's in Dutch, but Google Translate does a comprehensible job. I'll copy it in to save you all from signing up. ----- Mason Mount, Vitesse gem that should be the exception to Chelsea rule Dec 14, 2017 12.05 hours By: Stef de Bont @stefdebont_vi ANALYSIS He eventually wants to follow in the footsteps of club legend John Terry, but temporarily lives in the woods near Doorwerth. The only eighteen-year-old Mason Mount knows he has to make sacrifices to reach the absolute top. Vitesse must be his step up to the Premier League. 'If I have something in my head, then it must also happen.' "I came here because I want to succeed. I want to succeed at Chelsea! Good football is played in the Dutch league. This was decisive for me and the people who helped me with this choice. ' It was in the autumn of 2013. In the lobby of hotel Papendal we sat across from a boy who was already called the new Kaká in the changing room. The male was nineteen years old and chewed on a chair on a large piece of chewing gum. The website of Chelsea stated that he had recently won The Young Player or The Year award. Lucas Piazon was talented and he knew that. On that cold Thursday afternoon he philosophized out loud about the World Cup in Russia. The talented Brazilian would, in his own words, finally conquer the world in 2018. Four years later, Piazon wears his days as a mercenary with Fulham, coming out in the Championship. After a nice season at Vitesse, the Brazilian defended the colors of Eintracht Frankfurt, Reading and now The Cottagers . He is now 23. Who dives into his statistics, sees that he did not make more minutes than in Gelderland. That World Cup has never resided there. For example, we interviewed countless Chelsea talents in transit through Arnhem over the years. Teenagers who all dreamed of a place on Stamford Bridge, but came out deceived. Piazon, Christian Atsu, Bertrand Traoré, Lewis Baker and Tomás Kalas could not fulfill their promise. It is therefore easy to become skeptical when a new talent sticks its nose to the window in Gelderland. And yet British journalists exaggerate that this time is different. That a teenager has now got up that can actually make the step to Stamford Bridge in the long run. He listens to the name Mason Mount. A year younger than Piazon at the time of his first interview, and he too has been crowned the greatest talent of the British youth academy. This summer, Mount was even named best player on the European Championship Under-19 won by England. He now makes a name for himself in the Eredivisie. Unlike his Brazilian predecessor, Mount chooses his words more carefully, although the message seems the same. 'I was six years old when I ended up in Chelsea. My father said at the time: "Son, do you realize that John Terry is the only youth player who has achieved the first team in the last twenty years?" How did I react? Then I am next, I said. It was childish enthusiasm, maybe a little bluff. But at the same time I thought so. I have been part of the Chelsea program for twelve years. My goal was and is ever to get the first team. I know it will be incredibly difficult and heavy, but I will continue to give everything for it every day. " PORTSMOUTH Mason Mount turns out to be a neat British boy. Modest, well-educated. If he were already an avid gum-gull, then he would have packed the package deep in his sweatpants this afternoon. After all, he has an exemplary function. A few weeks ago, the Englishman walked here anonymously through the halls of the Arnhem training complex, now he can not even do more quiet shopping in his temporary home, Doorwerth. What's good is fast and at Mount everything is just a bit faster than with his peers. This afternoon, the teenager talks in beautiful sentences about his special existence. How he has been putting his hand on his own boy's book for twelve years day in, day out. It all started in the port town of Portsmouth, where he, as the youngest from a family of four, received a ball from his father. It turned out to be no coincidence. "My father Tony has been a manager at Havant Town and Newport. He also played at a high amateur level. Whether he was good? He does not say so himself, "laughs the little midfielder. 'In the summer, when no league football was played in England, there were organized tournaments. We had a team with a few friends and my father was our trainer. What he did? He always wrote us in for a higher age category. He said that only then would we really get better. Strangely enough, we won practically everything. I was four years old when I played in a tournament for players up to six years old. A scout from Chelsea noticed me, I was allowed to train. My father then thought me too young. They came back two years later. I trained one day a week at Chelsea, but also at Portsmouth and Southampton. Then I had to make a choice. It would have been much easier for my parents if I had played football in the neighborhood, but it was Chelsea. That was certainly an hour away. Why? I always choose the difficult road. Chelsea had the biggest and best youth academy in the country. " 'In the summer, when we had a vacation, I was on the field with my father. We were training one-on-one four or five times a week. We worked on my technique and my movements. I was quite small for my age and was soon overthrown by the bigger boys. So I had to learn to respond. Know where the ball was, the opponent and my fellow player. The trick is to know in your head what will happen before you get the ball. Move between the lines. I trained for it every day for years. I also had to: where the opponents were always getting bigger, I remained a small man. ' The latter is an understatement. At Chelsea they soon saw that Mount was an exceptional talent and so they let him skip an eleven times more often. He made his debut at the age of fourteen in Chelsea Under-18. Despite his slight stature, he remained effortlessly on his feet. Yet it took a while before the midfielder had realized how special that was. 'The realization only came when I signed my first contract. The other boys of my class signed for two seasons, I for four. No, I did not start to behave differently. I have had a very good education. From my parents, who are still watching almost every game, and from the host family. At the age of fourteen, I moved in with a man, a woman and their dog. My life consisted of school, training, school and training. I did not go to parties, did not do crazy things. I had to play football again the next day. I stuck to the words of my parents. "You have talent, but with only talent you can not make it. With every training you have to think that it is your last. People will judge you every day. Only the very best is left over, "they said." On behalf of Chelsea Under-18 against Manchester City. IDEAL LEARNING SCHOOL What is striking is that Mount has practically always faced larger and older players over the last fourteen years. He chuckles. "I told you I never choose the easiest way? I do not know better. " He therefore found it no problem that Chelsea announced a year and a half ago that he wanted to rent it out after his eighteen-year-old birthday. He would learn little in the academy. Mount left nothing to fate and immediately packed his bags. 'My host family, with whom I have almost weekly contact, moved,' explains the midfielder. "I could have gone to a new host family, but I knew I would be rented the following year. Maybe at a club abroad ... I asked the club management if I could live on my own. Not to party, but to grow up. For example, I could not cook. Now it is easy to get some food somewhere, but that is often mess. We as football players must eat rice, pasta and nuts. And so I went into the kitchen. I learned a lot during the past year. The only thing I did not do myself was the laundry. Fortunately, my mother came to visit now and then " ‘Mason was angry with me for weeks. He did not even look at me’ Henk Fraser After an instructive year in rooms, Mount could go to Fulham. He could have become a teammate of Piazon, but opted for a transfer to Vitesse. We Dutchmen are allowed to win bales from the Eredivisie level, for a player like Mount this is an ideal school. Football is faster and harder than in British youth, but with his talent he can handle it perfectly. 'The Eredivisie is a great competition. Not so negative, 'begins the midfielder. 'Another advantage was that Vitesse played European. You do not do those experiences in the Championship. I am eighteen years old and have played in the Olympic Stadium of Rome. How special is that? Moreover, it is good to be on a training ground every day with experienced players. I notice that I become stronger and smarter every day. ' ‘The Eredivisie is a great competition. Not so negative. An additional advantage was that Vitesse played European’ His talent, according to our British colleagues, can not be disputed, but it took some time before the Dutch public became acquainted with the latest Chelsea talent. The Brit missed a part of the preparation by the youth EC and had to fight in the team. According to Henk Fraser, Mount was not the best in the group in his first weeks. "Mason was obviously not happy with the situation," said the coach after the game with FC Utrecht. "He was angry with me for weeks. He did not even look at me. At the same time he trained incredibly hard. It's nice to see that such a boy is so enormously eager. " In turn, Mount laughs the example away. He tells two personalities. 'Outside the field, I am a quiet boy, cheerful. Once on the field I give everything. Was I angry with the trainer? Ah, I just wanted to answer with my feet. If I have something in my head, then it just has to happen. " Against Feyenoord, with Sven van Beek on the left. 'Outside the field I am a quiet boy, I give everything.' TABLE TENNIS BALLS When Fraser was recently asked about the talent of Mount, the trainer clapped close. He would prefer to say that the midfielder has everything to reach the absolute top, but at the same time that would only increase the pressure unnecessarily. He then called the teenager 'a pearl'. What immediately stands out is his sense of space. Mount has a carpenter's eye, often positions himself in the back of his opponent and always knows how to surprise his opponent. Moreover, he is very light-footed and two-legged. Mount is almost un-English. "Maybe I have some Spanish influences, but I am a real Briton," says the midfielder. 'Many fans think that the average English footballer mainly makes slidings or can run fast. That is no longer the case. We have developed considerably over the years. English teams have won many youth tournaments in recent years and I am certainly not the only one to be selected as Player of the Tournament. It is not a coincidence, English football is clearly on the rise. The focus is on technology and insight. In the coming years this should turn out to be big endings. ' Mason Mount has everything to be sensational In order to give Mason Mount a place in the starting squad, Vitesse has changed the field occupation against Zulte Waregem. As number ten, the eighteen-year-old playmaker makes it clear why. When asked where his own talent comes from, Mount first points to his football-crazy father. Then he comes up with a two year old story. 'I was sixteen and got injured on my leg during the first training of the season. I could not train for a long time, but I wanted to stay fit. A trainer told us that we had a machine that fired table tennis balls. You might know it from the tennis court. A ball was shot at me every few seconds. I sat down on a chair, about five to ten meters from the machine, and the assignment was: just catch the blue balls. Or: take the red balls with your left hand. I did that for hours and hours. The only goal was to keep my brain active. You play football with your legs, but just as well with your head. That may continue to prove Mount in the Eredivisie in the coming six months. He has signed a lease for one season and does not yet know whether he will be active in Arnhem next year. Mount is not working on it at all. He now wants to stay first as a basic player and be decisive with even more goals and assists. 'That's part of the position of attacking midfielder. I am also settled on my statistics, "he knows. In an ideal world I will become world champion with England in Qatar in 2022 His future is written in the stars. Piazon knew exactly in 2013 where he wanted to stand five years later. What about Mount? 'In 2022 the World Cup will still be held in Qatar?', He says questioningly. 'In England there is the Twenty-Twentytwo project. We want to be world champion that year at any cost. It is my dream to get the English national team. I am 23 years old and have hopefully taken the right follow-up steps. In an ideal world I will become world champion with England. ' 'I see artificial grass as a challenge' Mason Mount quickly adapted to the Netherlands in his own words. He drives damage free on the right side of the road and does his shopping at the Jumbo. What he most surprised about was the large number of synthetic turf pitches. Where in the Netherlands the anti-artificial grass lobby seems to be getting bigger, Mount finds it no problem. 'We have great facilities at Chelsea. The fields are fantastic. You noticed that only when you played away against smaller clubs. I remember youth games against Bristol City. The field was bad, just as the locker rooms were. We lost the first time. They did everything we did not like: they pounded, pushed and played the long ball. A year later we came back there. We said to each other: We know what to expect. It is now up to us to come up with an answer. We won well. Dutch clubs that play on artificial grass train on a daily basis. That is an advantage. At the same time we play so often in a season on that surface that we have to be able to arm ourselves. I see it as a challenge.' Discount in Disneyland It is quite a lot to go abroad as an eighteen-year-old. Yet it was the most normal thing in the world for the Mount family. The midfielder appears to come from a traveling family. "I am the youngest of four. One of my sisters went traveling and ended up in Australia. She fell in love with the country and stayed there. My brother worked for a long time in France at Disneyland and is now in China. A new park has recently been opened there. It is not a punishment for me. A few years ago I celebrated Christmas in Sydney and nowadays I get a discount if I want to go to Disneyland. ' His other sister is a hairdresser and just lives in England. Something special is about to happen this winter. "For the first time in years, the whole family comes to Portsmouth to celebrate Christmas. That is truly unique in our family. I recently became uncle for the first time and can not wait to be with the family again. '