Ryan Mason has explained exactly what he believes Tottenham Hotspur’s DNA is and has also admitted that he would be proud to be the club’s manager one day. Chairman Daniel Levy spoke about getting back to the club’s DNA in his message to the fans on Wednesday night and Mason has often used that phrase. Tottenham’s interim head coach was asked on Friday exactly what he believes that DNA is.
Ryan Mason said: “I could sit here for hours discussing the DNA of a football club. Stuff like this takes a long time,” the 29-year-old said. If I was to cut it short, it is to build something, for fans, players, everyone pulling in the same direction. Players from the academy to add to the whole dimension of that feeling. To build something that creates success, we have been very close over recent years to getting that, maybe getting over the line might have changed the perception of certain people. The most important thing for any successful football club is to build something and within that you have a DNA, a certain idea of how you want to work and operate, whether that is transfers, players through the academy, the style of football, there are so many different things. The most important thing is to build something and the chairman touched on it about getting back to the DNA and I think he is right.”
He was asked what his instincts tell him about what next season holds for Tottenham.
Ryan Mason added: “When I speak about instinct, you instinctively react to a moment. I can’t speak about how I would feel about next season, how I would feel about the summer and transfers and people coming in and out because that is not instinct. I can instinctively speak about how I will feel in a minute if I was to go and train with the players. We have got an important training session tomorrow and another big game at the weekend. In terms of the future, I have remained pretty consistent in my answers, I am not going to speak about it because I don’t know who the manager is going to be. I don’t know if there are players going to be coming in, I don’t know if there are going to be players going out, so it is very difficult for me to give an honest answer about what it is going to look like and how it is going to be. I have been asked to do a job for these seven games, we have got one left and the minds of everyone at this football club is on this game, I am not lying in that. I have had no conversations about managers next year or players, the only conversations I have had in the last two days have been about the game on Wednesday and the weekend.”
Mason is proud to be leading the team but he was coy when quizzed about whether he wants to be the permanent Tottenham manager one day.
Ryan Mason answered: “My personal ambitions I have to put aside at this moment. I don’t really want to think about what I want or need,” he said. I have loved representing this football club, to be given this opportunity at this age has been amazing. Would I have said no to this football club? No. There is always stuff to learn from. I would never say never in football, things happen you don’t expect. The most important thing that I have always said is ‘What’s best for the football club’ and if the club thinks that’s best in 10, 15, 20 years time then of course, if that’s what the club feels is best, but the football club is the most important thing and what do we want and what do we need and what is best for us.”
