Ryan Mason Says Tottenham Career a Dream Come True
Former Tottenham midfielder, Ryan Mason, reflects on his Spurs career.
After completing a move to Hull City, Ryan Mason leaves Tottenham with his head held high.
Most players do, but for the Enfield-born midfielder, Mason enjoyed his time with Spurs even if it ended on a bad note personally.
What started out as a promising Premier League career for the then-23-year-old during the 2014-15 campaign, saw Mason slowly drop down Mauricio Pochettino’s pecking order last term.
Related Story: Tottenham Sells Ryan Mason to Hull City
Injuries played a major role, but also having a revitalized Mousa Dembélé in the starting XI made it difficult for Ryan Mason to contribute much as a starter.
After making eight starts in the Premier League last season, Mason would be deployed more as a rotational player, coming on as a substitute on 14 occasions.
Mason would start six of of Spurs’ 10 Europa League fixtures when he wasn’t injured and wasn’t named on the 18-man matchday squad.
It added up to 29 appearances and two goals in all competitions last season.
Despite shifting to a backup role, Pochettino liked having the now-25-year-old on his team for the purposes of letting his starters earn some rest.
Ryan Mason was well-liked by the coaching staff and teammates, and although his Spurs’ career has come to an end, it’s a move that will benefit him mostly.
“A massive thank you to everyone at Spurs the last 18 years, especially the coaches and players,” Mason wrote on his official Instagram page.
“From an 8-year-old boy to captaining the team was a dream come true for me!”
“Also a huge thank you to all the fans who showed their support in me, the club will always be special to me.”
In the short-term, Spurs clear up space in central midfield which should promote Harry Winks to become Dembele’s backup.
But in the long-term, there’s one less central midfielder on the roster if Pochettino doesn’t sign someone else.
Tom Carroll could stay or might be sold, his position on the team is unknown at this point though.
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It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but having Victor Wanyama and Dele Alli moving around offsets where they’re better at position-wise.
Wanyama, is mainly a holding mid (backup or starter) while Dele Alli has formed a crucial partnership with Harry Kane as a central attacking mid.
Even if Ryan Mason’s talents weren’t good enough to help propel Spurs to become a championship contender, he did have the backing of Pochettino.
That alone was more than enough to stick around until he was eventually sold earlier today.
Now that Mason has joined Hull as the club’s record signing, he is ready to start a new chapter in his career.
“It’s a great feeling to have a club showing that level of interest in me and for them to have that confidence in me as well,” Mason said on Hull City’s official website.
“I now want to put in the kind of performances that justify that tag and repay that money.”
“I’m delighted to be here and I’m excited about what is a massive opportunity for me. It felt like the right time for me to move on after many good years at Tottenham.”
“Once I found out that Hull were interested, my instinct told me it was the right thing to do.”
Ryan Mason will play alongside former Tottenham players Michael Dawson, Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore.
Dawson, was a player that Mason sought out advice before making the switch.
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“I had a couple of chats on the phone with ‘Daws’ and he told me all about how tightly-knit the group is,” Ryan Mason added.
“It’s great that everything got finalised so quickly and I can’t wait to meet the rest of the lads and get started now.”
After spending the past 18 years with Spurs, dating back to his youth academy days and making 70 appearances for the senior team, Mason joins a promising club who are sitting fifth in the Premier League table.