Every club will have a player who becomes the scapegoat for fans when things start to go wrong, but it’s not usually the worst player in the team.
It tends to be someone who the manager will always pick no matter what, and they’re usually capable of great things but sometimes struggle to live up to expectations.
For Chelsea that happens to be Mason Mount, but he’s a favourite for his managers at club and international level so he must be doing a lot of things right.
The Express recently reported that Chelsea were preparing a plan to sign Declan Rice in January after missing out on him in the summer, so these comments are interesting to see:
Declan Rice on social media criticism of Mount: "It is no surprise that Gareth and Frank pick him. If you give any Premier League manager a chance to pick him, they will pick him because as an individual, he is a top talent so definitely I think the criticism is very harsh.” https://t.co/9Rr3Z0K3Yw
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) November 14, 2020
You have to think his main motive here is to stick up for a quality player who is also a friend, but it never hurts to try and work your way into a future manager’s good books either.
There’s a feeling that Rice’s move from West Ham to Chelsea is a matter of when rather than if, so he could be lining up alongside Mount on a regular basis soon.