LAMPARD: MASON NOT MY SON, BUT HE IS GOOD
FRANK LAMPARD has hit back at claims Mason Mount is like his ‘favourite son’ and warned no player can expect to receive preferential treatment under his management.
The Chelsea midfielder has been a regular starter for club and country this season, leading to claims he is ‘teacher’s pet’ for both Lampard and England boss Gareth Southgate.
But ahead of tonight’s Champions League visit to Rennes, Lampard – who has regularly picked the 21-year-old in three campaigns at Derby and Chelsea – reacted to suggestions Mount plays because he’s ‘like a son’ to him, adding he is targeted because he is not flash.
‘There could be something about the way he looks – he’s clean-cut, he’s in an advert at the moment where he takes his top off and that’s as edgy as Mason gets,’ said Lampard.
‘He doesn’t do many triple stepovers or flicks over his head, he makes really efficient, clean, sharp passes and presses as well as any midfielder I’ve worked with or played alongside, and there’s a hundred things within his game that impress the managers he works for.
‘He doesn’t have an Instagram reel of his flicks. [But] I don’t want to add fuel to the fire of him being my son!
‘Mason has a lot to improve on but he’s a quality, quality player who will get better but make no mistake, no player in this squad will be getting any form of favouritism from me.’ Mount, meanwhile, insisted he is not fazed by the criticism that has come his way and claims he prefers to ignore the trolls as Lampard and Southgate both put their faith in him.
‘It means a lot to me to have two managers who trust me and are willing to put me in big games,’ he said.
‘I don’t really look too much into the social media side. I try to stay off it, whether we’ve won or lost.’
Meanwhile, Mount admits the club’s £200million-plus pre-season spending spree made him up his game.
‘My standard is always to go into the next season to do better,’ he added. ‘World-class players have come in and you can gain so much experience from talking to people like Thiago Silva.’
Make no mistake, no player in this squad will be getting any favouritism from me