Mason Mount on spearheading Chelsea’s passion project

Chelsea’s youth revolution has engendered plenty of good vibes, and the return of Frank Lampard has certainly raised spirits this summer, but the results on the pitch have yet to match those ideals. But for young Mason Mount, who’s spearheading said revolution alongside leading goalscorer Tammy Abraham, it’s only a matter of time before that passion project start paying off.

“It’s a young team, we’re ready to go, we’re fighting in every game, and there is so much passion in the team to want to win and to perform in the Chelsea shirt.”

Alan Hansen’s famous saying might be that you’ll never win anything with kids, but you’ll tend to win even less with good intentions. Football is a harsh, results-oriented business after all, though Mason himself has certainly been pulling his own weight. The 20-year-old is second on the team in goals and second to only Jorginho in midfielder-minutes. And it’s only the beginning of a journey that actually started way back in 2005, when he joined the club at the age of 6.

Fourteen years after taking his first steps at Chelsea, Mason Mount is fulfilling a lifelong dream, for which he was even awarded the Premier League Debut Ball.

That it was handed to him by his idol and current head coach Frank Lampard only made it more significant and meaningful.

“It’s been a long journey, many ups and many downs. You learn a lot. I’ve learned a lot from the last two years being out on loan, gaining that experience and then coming back and working hard to get into the team.”

“[My debut was] a massive achievement and it means so much to me. As a young kid the goal is to play in the Premier League, and for me to play for Chelsea. On the day I was just focusing on the game and looking to perform. I wasn’t really worrying too much that it was my debut. It was a massive game at Old Trafford, it didn’t go our way, but looking back it didn’t feel like a 4-0 loss.”

While that shocking scoreline remains Chelsea’s only loss in regulation this season in five games in all competitions, the Blues are still searching for a second win after throwing away a two-goal lead over the weekend. Such growing pains are surely unsurprising given the fact that Frank Lampard has been regularly selecting Chelsea’s youngest starting lineups in well over two decades, but eventually not even all that goodwill can substitute for actual wins and points.

Mount undoubtedly knows that his personal achievements, significant as they may be in the grand scheme of narratives and youth development, will have to translate to tangible results as well in order to continue this passion project.

“[The goal against Leicester City] was a special, special moment for me, but for the Academy as well — all the coaches I have worked with throughout the years, so many I could name, I would say that goal was for them. I’m very happy with the way I’ve started. Hopefully the goals will keep coming and I can add assists to my game as well.”

-Mason Mount; source: Chelsea FC

A string of good results after the international break would go a long way towards solidifying the promise shown by Lampard’s Chelsea. Mount, Abraham, and the returning injured contingent, young and old, will be central to those efforts.

Or so we hope.