Hot Takes: Tottenham 2 – 2 Stoke City
By Ryan Wrenn
Ryan Mason Improving
On a more positive note, Ryan Mason seemed to provide more fleeting examples of his quality than usual Saturday. At times he felt ever-present on the pitch. He found himself on the end of a pass as he rushed into Stoke City’s penalty area just minutes before helping Hugo Lloris avoid being punished for an embarrassingly misplaced pass in his Spurs’ own penalty area.
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Such are the literal duties of a proper box-to-box midfielder, of course. For much of his time on the pitch last season though, Mason didn’t live up to the title. He seemed reluctant to contribute much to the defense, often leaving a massive gap between himself and the backline that was easily overrun when the opposition reclaimed possession of the ball. On Saturday he seemed to wise up and began to reward Pochettino’s faith in him. Given Nabil Bentaleb’s failure to impress against United, we could be seeing much more of Mason in the coming weeks.