Mason Mount’s father Tony believes Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel made a mistake by rotating too much in the midweek defeat against Arsenal.
The German made seven changes to the side that had defeated Manchester City four days earlier and he admitted that the loss was his responsibility.
The loss against the Gunners was a blow for Chelsea ’s top four hopes and gave encouragement to both West Ham and Liverpool below them, who are still hopeful of a late surge into the Champions League qualification spots.
Mount was rested for the win at City but was among those reinstated for the loss against Mikel Arteta’s side, but his father believes too many changes were made - and Tuchel should have stuck with the side that eliminated Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Tony Mount said in an interview with The Other Side Of The Coin as cited by the Metro : “I’ve got my own opinions, we’re all fans, I’m lucky and fortunate to have a son who is playing at that level and playing for Chelsea, so I look at it from both sides of the coin.
“Me personally, I’m a great believer in momentum, I know my son wants to play every game. His body, physically, fitness-wise, from what he’s built up over the last two or three seasons, he’s prepared to play. He’s played in the Championship three games a week, very physical games, last season he was playing every game for Frank [Lampard], all bar [a few]. So I know he wants to play every game.
“I don’t particularly think being left out helps him, personally. But everyone has their own opinion.
“I think it’s momentum, as an ex-manager I’m a great believer that you play your strongest team. It is about momentum, you have to fine-tweak it. You look at Mason and you treat Mason differently to how you treat Cesar Azpilicueta or [N’Golo] Kante.
“I think the Arsenal game there were a number of things that weren’t right. I don’t think the balance was right. I don’t think the starting XI was right. It’s about opinions, don’t get me wrong.
“The manager had his own thoughts and his own opinions. And I had my thoughts and my opinions when you see the starting line-up. You question whether the preparation was right, whether the mentality was right.
“You’re playing Arsenal, they’ve got nothing to play for, it’s a London derby, it’s a massive game for Arsenal. But saying that, if you look at the two games [against Man City and Arsenal], you’d say coming away with three points out of those two games was to be expected.
“I think mentality and fatigue does set in but I think your momentum is a great motivator. For me, I would’ve stuck with the same team after the Real Madrid game and if it meant playing the next six or seven games [with the same team] I would’ve done it because I think that’s a run-in to the season.
“Five changes followed by another five or six changes – does that suit the team? I don’t think it does.”
