What Does Ryan Mason's Return Mean for Tottenham?

Tottenham Hotspur gets Ryan Mason back from injury.

Not to take away from Harry Kane’s hat-trick that won him Man of the Match, but someone else deserved to get an applause — standing applause if you wanted to — for making his return back into the 18-man matchday squad. After missing the past eight games since scoring the game winner against Sunderland, Ryan Mason is back into the fold at the central midfield position.

In fact, after being a 68th minute substitute for Mousa Dembélé, Ryan Mason would slot back into his central mid spot to work alongside Eric Dier to form Mauricio Pochettino’s second half double pivot. Dele Alli would play higher up the pitch in a more advanced role behind Harry Kane to take over Dembélé’s spot as the team’s central attacking midfielder with Christian Eriksen still playing out wide at left midfield.

There wasn’t much to analyze from Mason’s return as Tottenham didn’t need to score again since it was already 5-1 in Spurs’ favor. Instead it was good to see Pochettino giving Mason just over 20 minutes (twenty-two to be exact) to get him back into match fitness ahead of next week’s fixture with a struggling Aston Villa side.

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With Mousa Dembélé and Ryan Mason back, this gives Tottenham three healthy central midfielders to choose from along with Dele Alli. Players can now be rested and rotated so that Mauricio Pochettino will be able to stick to his word and choose a strong lineup during the Europa League’s remaining games.

Not only that, but it’ll give Eric Dier a breather or two as the 21-year-old English international would have started all ten Premier League games if he didn’t serve a one-game suspension against Liverpool which Dembélé filled in as a defensive midfielder.

Make no mistake, Ryan Mason is still a backup player this season, which isn’t bad.

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Had Ryan Mason not been injured, Dele Alli would have eventually overtaken as the central midfielder. Alli was already making waves as a substitute earlier in the season and did so well that he became a starter in the end.

It was just a matter of time is all, Mason being hurt wasn’t necessary although it did help Dele Alli secure a spot in the starting eleven. Now that Ryan Mason is back, he and Dele Alli will be a situational pairing to watch out for this season. Alli will start a majority of the games centrally along with Eric Dier but he will get some rest based on certain matchups.

As a box-to-box midfielder and good defender as well, Dele Alli, can help stop opposing team’s offenses, especially high-powered ones like Manchester City for example. Ryan Mason, last season had a tendency to go up the pitch whenever he could which left Nabil Bentaleb to fend for himself. Mason has gotten better at minimizing this, but should Mauricio Pochettino need someone to do this late in games at the central midfield spot, Ryan Mason would be a good choice to sub in.

All in all, Tottenham are hoping to get more players back at a perfect time with November having a very congested schedule. A total of six games that will start with Aston Villa next week. Afterwards, Spurs will face Anderlecht and Qarabağ in the Europa League sandwiched in between Arsenal, West Ham United and Chelsea in the Premier League. A couple of these games, Ryan Mason could see plenty of time whether he’s coming on as a substitute in the second half or just starting in European competition. Rejoice! Ryan Mason is back and will help give Tottenham more options centrally so that there will be some rotation going on.

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What Does Ryan Mason’s Return Mean for Tottenham Hotspur?

By Alexander Balano | Oct 25, 2015

Tottenham Hotspur gets Ryan Mason back from injury.

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