6 minutes ago, Vagabond said:

Mason played on the wing most of those times though iirc. I don't think Frank see's him as a CM.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/mason-mount/leistungsdaten/spieler/346483/plus/0?saison=2019

Mount played 41 games centrally last season. I dont think frank sees him as a wide player, but he can do a job there.

@Argo & @big blue

Clearly not a central midfielder, but an offensive midfielder or on the wing. You really think Frank will play a 4 3 3 with two extremely offensive midfielders with last seasons defensive stats?

20 minutes ago, Vagabond said:

@Argo & @big blue

Clearly not a central midfielder, but an offensive midfielder or on the wing. You really think Frank will play a 4 3 3 with two extremely offensive midfielders with last seasons defensive stats?

He started Mount and Barkley together a fair bit after the restart (including against Man.City). I don't have proof and I may be wrong but the timing suggests he may have been doing it with a view to Havertz coming in and how he can fit him and Mason in the same side. Mason was also starting to drop a bit deeper in general play while Barkley was taking up the positions you'd imagine Havertz will (main example to that our move for the first goal Vs Watford at home) which only serves to add further fuel to the theory.

Edited September 7, 20205 yr by Argo

26 minutes ago, Vagabond said:

@Argo & @big blue

Clearly not a central midfielder, but an offensive midfielder or on the wing. You really think Frank will play a 4 3 3 with two extremely offensive midfielders with last seasons defensive stats?

The main defensive stat to take notice of is we had the 2nd best shots against in the league last season, so limiting the opposition wasnt the problem, it was stopping those shots turning into goals. So theres every chance we will stick to Lampards current set up of 2 forward moving midfielders, and if one is Mount then the press is their too. So in that scenario I could see Havertz and Mount laying ahead of one defensive midfielder, though in truth all 3 central midfielders will be expected to cover defensively when the others go forward.

Mount will be fine because he brings valuable qualities to the team. Reece James is a real talent. Unlike the other 'talents' this is not an empty second name to him and one can easily say what's he's talented at - he's got great crossing abilities, he is quick, he is hella strong, he's got  good shots from outside the box and his face displays 'get out of the way, I don't care about you' attitude. Love him. He looks mature and calm I like that about him. He'll be fine.

The rest of the youth will have a very a hard time on the bench or even at the seats. 

Edited September 7, 20205 yr by Droopy

48 minutes ago, Vagabond said:

@Argo & @big blue

Clearly not a central midfielder, but an offensive midfielder or on the wing. You really think Frank will play a 4 3 3 with two extremely offensive midfielders with last seasons defensive stats?

@Argo pretty much summed it up. We have seen him use Barkley and Mount so i dont see why Havertz and Mount would be any less solid defensively. 

We have also seen Guardiola regularly play David silva and De bruyne in a midfield 3 with Fernandinho. They won the league twice with that midfield. 

I dont think it will be both Havertz and Mount every game, maybe in the tougher fixtures he will play 2 of Kante, Kovacic, and Jorginho, but in home fixtures i think we will see 5 attack minded players in the front 6 positions, as we saw vs everton, watford, and burnley at the bridge this season, all games we actually won comfortably with clean sheets!

 

1 hour ago, Vagabond said:

@Argo & @big blue

Clearly not a central midfielder, but an offensive midfielder or on the wing. You really think Frank will play a 4 3 3 with two extremely offensive midfielders with last seasons defensive stats?

I absolutely think he will play Havertz and Mount together a lot of the time. Mount can play a bit deeper as he is better at defending and Havertz can push up to support Werner or whoever is playing up front.

2 hours ago, Argo said:

He started Mount and Barkley together a fair bit after the restart (including against Man.City). I don't have proof and I may be wrong but the timing suggests he may have been doing it with a view to Havertz coming in and how he can fit him and Mason in the same side. Mason was also starting to drop a bit deeper in general play while Barkley was taking up the positions you'd imagine Havertz will (main example to that our move for the first goal Vs Watford at home) which only serves to add further fuel to the theory.

I just don't think Kova or Jorgi can hold defensive midfield on their own and I'm not sure wether we'll ever see the Kanté that played under Conte again. I guess Mount and Havertz can play together against a side like Watford or Brighton, but against the big teams I fear we will be completely unbalanced, especially since Lamps likes his fullbacks to join the attack (and RJ is a defensive liability imho).

@dkw

That's exactly my point. Mason and Kai can press, play offensively and cover an area, but I don't see them stopping very many shots. With Kepa between the sticks... well.

@big blue @rtwelch

He will get game time obviously, but I don't think it will be nearly as often as last season. With the injuries and Barkley (forget RLC for now) as only alternative Frank more often than not didn't really have a choice then. I'm not as convinced of Mounts defensive or playmaking abilities as you are.

Nevermind, lads. It looks like I see things slightly differently, but we will see soon enough. Up the Chels!

On 06/09/2020 at 13:24, Vagabond said:

Why do so many people think Mount will be fine when Havertz is playing exactly the same position? I feel his playing time will be cut in half.

I expect him to play less yet as soon as one of Pulisic, Havertz, Zyech or Werner is not fit, Mason will be selected as part of the re-jig.

If we look at Pulisic last season with missing chunks of the season due to injury Mount should be ok.