Chelsea vs Leicester: Mason Mount and James Maddison produce rare show of English midfield mastery

It’s a rarity to go to a Premier League game and see two young creative English players act as the game’s standout technicians, and rarer still among clubs with top-six aspirations

Mason Mount collects the ball in a cul-de-sac of Leicester City shirts and looks around. The debutant has about half a second to decide what to do. Cesar Azpilicueta is way back down the touchline and even his unique fast-twitch waddle isn’t going to transport him to Mount’s aid quickly enough. Pedro is closer but for seemingly the first time in the entire match the Spaniard is standing still, offering a passing option that would require the cooperation of several opponents.

It is worth remembering that Mount is only 20 years old. He joined Chelsea when he was six, so it is no exaggeration to say that just about his entire life to this point has been building to this day; kicking balls in the back garden in Portsmouth, working his way through England’s youth ranks in his teens, loan spells to mysterious far-flung places like Arnhem and Derby. The academy graduate’s debut therefore comes with a generous well of mistakes that he can dip in to, which will grant him an encouraging round of applause where other players might get a rollocking. But it’s an hour in, and the odd part is that he hasn’t made any.

He lingers on the ball for just a beat, which is enough time to lure Ricardo Pereira towards him, but before the defender can finish shifting his balance Mount is gone. He zips into a little tunnel of self-created space and carries the ball 30 yards before eventually being clattered into touch by a covering centre-half. As he jogs back into position he turns to Pedro – a 32-year-old World Cup and European Championship winner with Spain, La Liga champion and a Champions League final winning goalscorer with Barcelona, Premier League title winner with Chelsea – and berates him.

It was a little moment which demonstrated an awful lot about Mount. He is talented, yes, but then we knew that already. Yet he showed he has the mentality to apply that talent under a thousand glares, 20-odd cameras and a handful of aggressive Leicester City defenders hunting him down. He had already scored his first Chelsea goal a little earlier, pressing high up the pitch to pinch the ball from Wilfred Ndidi before executing the trickiest of finishes as he stumbled, and all along he gave the sense that he wasn’t just coping with the Stamford Bridge stage but was hanging up his coat and assuming the role of creative director.

Gareth Southgate will have plenty of talented English midfielders to choose from when he picks his squad for next month’s Euro 2020 qualifiers (an international break is coming, yes, sorry). Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard were his trusted duo in Russia; Adam Lallana and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are gradually returning for Liverpool; then there’s Mount’s Chelsea teammate Ross Barkley. But for all the talent no one is as rounded as Mount, with the capability to dribble and deliver set pieces with equal precision, to make a sliding tackle on the edge of his own box and pop up in the other to score a few seconds later.

Mason Mount celebrates scoring his first goal for Chelsea (PA)

And, of course, he has the perfect mentor, a man who seems to have total undying faith in his protege, just as he did for his own talents. “Mason’s goal was the epitome of all his talents,” said Frank Lampard after Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Leicester. “He was great off the ball, he had the energy to close down and then the quality to finish it. That’s the first of many big moments for Mason. He’s only 20 years old and he will only get better.”

In the second half, as Chelsea faded and Mount’s defensive contributions became crucial, another talented Englishman came to the fore. Leicester’s James Maddison, 23, began receiving the ball in space and darting at the Chelsea back line. His inch-perfect delivery from a corner created Leicester’s equaliser and he probably should have won the game with a late chance which he blasted over.

Maddison created more chances than any other player in the Premier League last season and he has begun this one looking just as dangerous. He might not have quite the defensive awareness of Mount, who later got back to intercept a dangerous Maddison pull-back in his own box, but carries that unteachable assuredness of a player who believes he should be involved in every attack regardless of whether he’s anywhere near it.

James Maddison is crucial for Leicester City (Getty) (Getty Images)

“He was outstanding today, 100 per cent,” said Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers. “He is so clever working in the spaces. He’s such a good player, he’s still learning and developing but he played exceptionally well.”

It’s a rarity to go to a Premier League game and see two young creative English players act as the game’s standout technicians, and rarer still among clubs with top-six aspirations. Both Maddison and Mount have been part of an England squad before and both are still waiting for their first cap, so September’s qualifiers against Bulgaria and Kosovo seem a good moment for them take the next step. You get the sense the occasion is unlikely to throw them off their game.