Ryan Mason previews Palace: “They’re in a good moment”
Fri 05 May 2023, 21:39|
Tottenham Hotspur
Ryan Mason wants the team to “bring the intensity” on the pitch as we return to action on home soil against Crystal Palace on Saturday (3pm UK).
With Roy Hodgson back at the helm, this weekend’s visitors to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium won four and drew one of their six games in April, scoring 13 goals in the process.
Ryan knows it’ll be a tough test for us, but wants the players to take the game to Palace in order to make a return to winning ways.
“We’re expecting a difficult game, they’re in a good moment – we understand that – but at the same time it’s our home and we have to bring the intensity and hopefully get a positive result,” he told SPURSPLAY.
“At Liverpool, in different stages of the game there were different momentums. We had large periods of the game where we were creating the better chances but we understand and it’s confirmation that in the Premier League, if you’re not at it for 95 minutes then it’s going to be very difficult to win a game of football – that’s our main focus, to try to be focused in every moment of the game and hopefully come out with a positive result.
“As I said, they’re in a very good moment, they’re confident, they’ve been winning games of football so we’ll have to be at our best to win this game and hopefully we can do that.”
Intriguingly, Saturday’s match pits the Premier League’s youngest-ever manager against the oldest, with an interesting tactical battle looking set to play out.
“That probably proves that age is irrelevant to a certain extent – if you can connect with players and have an influence on the team, then it doesn’t matter,” added Ryan. “It’s never going to be about me and an opposition manager – our job is to try to get results for the football club, although obviously I’ll always have a soft spot for Roy Hodgson because he gave me my England debut and I’m forever grateful for that.”
With Hugo Lloris ruled out for the remainder of the season through injury, it’s an opportunity for Fraser Forster to continue in goal, with the former Southampton stopper having produced some eye-catching saves during his 16 appearances for us so far.
“It’s the job of a second goalkeeper, so to speak,” said Ryan. “When you have a number one and a number two, they have to compete with each other and at times throughout the season you always need two good keepers. Thankfully we’ve got those and I have full confidence in Fraser.”
