Mason Mount Is Fast Becoming Chelsea's Marmite Player

For all the talk of Frank Lampard's new-look Chelsea that did the rounds last season - all of which acted as a defence mechanism against lowered expectations - this campaign's iteration has started to resemble the Chelsea of old.

The talk of a weakened squad has always been something of a misdemeanour - Chelsea won the Europa League in 2019, have qualified for the Champions League in the past two seasons and competed in domestic cup finals.

However, this is a club where those achievements are seen as the bare minimum.

A raft of expensive signings, including some of Europe's best young talent, have raised expectations among some that the club will push Liverpool and Manchester City closer this season.

Consequently, the meek surrender to Jurgen Klopp's Reds on Sunday was seen as a major anti-climax. Meanwhile, many of Chelsea's much vaunted young generational talent are quietly being relegated to substitute roles.

There were caveats to this performance. While rarely threatening themselves, Chelsea kept Liverpool at an arm's length until Andreas Christensen's red card. The lineup contained few of the summer's exciting acquisitions and the strong impression was that Liverpool were simply further ahead in their development. Also, Kepa.

However, disquiet has started to grow among fans on social media about Lampard's perceived favouritism of Mason Mount. To them, the insistence on playing the young Englishman in every game while talented alternatives such as Callum Hudson-Odoi grow frustrated on the sidelines is indicative of a manager fast developing a blind spot.

In many ways, Mount embodies the more palatable image of Chelsea Football Club. A quick internet search reveals a proliferation of a pre-teenage Mason beaming in his Chelsea tracksuit top with the hair of a pet havanese dog.

His journey into the first team, via the obligatory spell at Vitesse and a year at Lampard's Derby County, are used as justification for the club's criticised battery-farm approach to stocking their academy. Last season, Mount performed well and scored eight goals in 53 appearances. This has been enough to see Mason approach poster boy status at Stamford Bridge.

His manager clearly rates him. After substituting Mount during their FA Cup win at Leicester last season, Lampard offered public encouragement to the midfielder, saying: "Mason didn’t have a bad performance, it was just a performance in line with the team and my choices to change were more about the players I could bring into that performance as opposed to the ones that were on the pitch.

“So I rely on Mason a lot, I did at Derby, I do at Chelsea, he brings so much to the team in his work ethic and the way he can start the press in midfield."

High praise indeed. It has been mooted that Lampard sees something of himself in Mason Mount, perceiving him as misunderstood as the young Frank was at West Ham. While Mount has not had to contend with thousands of rotund Essex blokes calling him fat, Lampard was indeed underestimated as a young player and his time at Upton Park was dogged by accusations of nepotism.

The manager values Mount's work ethic and ability to press in midfield, while also admiring his ball control in tight situations. It begs the question why so many Chelsea fans are starting to question him.

In fairness, Mount's skillset is not as immediately obvious as some of his midfield colleagues such as N'Golo Kante or Hudson-Odoi. He is perhaps not a player to get fans off their seats, but rather one who will deliver consistent seven out of ten performances - the footballing equivalent of a ready meal in front of the television which, quite frankly, fails to get the heart racing.

When considering this alongside the proliferation of new signings at Stamford Bridge, it is not surprising that fans have begun to question Mount's seemingly guaranteed presence in the Chelsea lineup. Playing in the preferred position of Kai Havertz, he looks set to become a sacrificial lamb.

Lampard is developing into one of football's biggest marmite managers and, for Chelsea supporters, Mount is becoming the playing equivalent.