Former Chelsea striker praises “sharp” Mount as Lampard hits back at Mourinho criticism

Former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino has heaped praise on Mason Mount’s debut performance, while Frank Lampard has taken exception to comments made by Jose Mourinho about the young midfielder.

Mount made his debut in the No. 10 role on Sunday as the Blues suffered their heaviest ever defeat to Manchester United in the Premier League.

Mourinho’s Mount comments: Five things to know…

• Lampard took charge of his first competitive Chelsea match on Sunday.
• The Blues lost 4-0 to Man Utd despite registering more shots and hitting the woodwork twice.
• Lampard opted for youth over experience, leaving the likes of Alonso, Kante and Giroud on the bench.
• After the match, Mourinho questioned Lampard’s decision-making, notably Mount’s inclusion in Chelsea’s XI.
• However, the current Chelsea boss has since revealed his astonishment that Mourinho decided to single out the young midfielder.

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Goals from Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Daniel James ensured a rampant 4-0 victory for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, kickstarting their campaign in some style.

Despite the thrashing, Cascarino offered an enthusiastic appraisal of Mount’s individual performance, believing the 20-year-old gave a very solid account of himself at Old Trafford.

In his column for The Times, he wrote: “When you are a new manager with something of a scratch team containing young players, you can’t afford any mistakes — and Chelsea made far too many of them.

“They were actually the better team and started well, but they made errors that cost them goals and then they fell apart.

“On the positive side, I thought Mason Mount looked sharp early on and confident.”

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Lampard responds to Mourinho’s Mount comments

Not everyone was quite as commendatory in their assessment of the Portsmouth-born playmaker, with Mourinho questioning Lampard’s decision to omit so much experience from his starting XI.

Working as a pundit for Sky Sports, the Portuguese cross-examined Lampard’s team selection, and claimed that the Blues simply lacked “internationals” and “big players” to truly threaten Man Utd.

He added: “A little bit of experience [from Chelsea] would fit well with the team.

“You look to the performance of Mason Mount, the performance of Tammy Abraham, you look to the performance even of [Andreas] Christensen and for matches of this dimension you need a little bit more.”

In retaliation, Lampard revealed his shock that Mount was singled out, explaining how his side were the better team for the majority of the match.

“He didn’t like the performance of Mason Mount? Did he say Mason Mount?” a confused Lampard responded when told about Mourinho’s analysis of the game.

“We were clearly the better team for 45 or even 60 minutes, but we made individual errors that led to four goals from five shots — that’s the harsh reality.

“I don’t have to be too concerned about what anyone else says, the pundits, but what is clear is the squad we’ve got and I believe in it.”