Ryan Mason backing England for success at Euro 2016
Friday 10 June 2016 15:31, UK
Ryan Mason is backing his Tottenham team-mates to help inspire England to Euro 2016 glory in France.
Roy Hodgson's side begin their Group B campaign against Russia in Marseille on Saturday night and could field up to five Spurs players at the Stade Velodrome.
Only Liverpool and Juventus boast more players at this summer's tournament than Mauricio Pochettino's side and the 24-year-old believes England can go all the way.
"There's no limit on what they can achieve," said Mason. "They've got some very positive results in recent friendlies against top nations. There's no reason they can't win it.
"They've got to go out there and play with belief and not fear anyone and focus on themselves and you never know what can happen.
"Getting to a semi [final] or the quarters would be a great achievement but we are a massive nation with the ability and the players to go on and win it, and hopefully we can do that. I'm sure they're confident and I'm optimistic."
Hodgson named Premier League top goalscorer Harry Kane alongside Jamie Vardy and Wayne Rooney for the first time in the final warm-up game against Portugal, and Mason would like to see Hodgson stick with the side that won 1-0 at Wembley.
Kane and Vardy fired an astonishing 49 league goals between them this season as the latter inspired Leicester City to their first top-flight title in 132 years and Mason, who was speaking as part of the Farah menswear #MatchReady campaign, said he would like to see them lead the line for the Three Lions.
"Hopefully [they will start]," he told Sky Sports. "We've got a lot of players going into the Euros off the back of a good season and that's important.
"I think they're still fresh mentally and it's exciting. They're still a young group of players but at the same time we've got a few experienced heads in there and that's very important.
"I think they'll do well and if they play with no fear they'll do the nation proud."
The 24-year-old made a total of 29 appearances for Tottenham this season, scoring twice, including an 82nd-minute winner away at Sunderland back in September.
Mason has represented his country at every level from under 16s and made his debut for the senior side in a 1-1 draw with Italy in Turin last year, but knows he needs to establish himself as a regular at club level before he can think about pulling on the famous Three Lions again.
"First and foremost I've got to get back into the Tottenham team," he said. "I think it'll probably be a clean slate in pre-season and everything is to play for with this manager.
"You train your way into the team and how you perform in pre-season determines the team for the first game of the season so hopefully I can make sure I'm part of that and cement my place."
Tottenham suffered a stunning collapse at the back end of last season, failing to win any of their final four games, including a 5-1 hammering against relegated Newcastle at St. James' Park on the final day.
Arsenal's 4-0 win over Aston Villa meant the Gunners leapfrogged Spurs into second place, but Mason is confident they will be fighting for the title again in the next campaign.
"I think every season in pre-season you go into it and everyone is saying, 'they'll be strong next season', but you never know. There are no guarantees in football," he added.
"In the last couple of years we've had the same gaffer and a very similar squad of players and we've progressed very well together. Hopefully we can kick on again next season and be challenging."
After Leicester's unlikely title win, Arsene Wenger triggered a £20million release clause for top scorer Vardy, but the former Stocksbridge Park Steels man is yet to agree terms at the Emirates Stadium.
Jose Mourinho has already started strengthening his new Manchester United side with the arrival of Eric Bailly, whilst Pep Guardiola moved for Ilkay Gundogan as his first signing in charge of neighbours Manchester City.
Antonio Conte also takes over at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea look to bounce back from a disastrous season and Mason is fully aware of how tough next season's Premier League will be.
"All of those are massive teams and there's not much in it," he said.
"It's just a bit of consistency that separates first to second and second to third and so forth. We'll just have to concentrate on ourselves.
"We're confident and we know that if we can perform to the best of our ability each week then we'll win more games than we lose.
"Obviously we were disappointed with the way the season finished but we secured Champions League football and that was our aim at the start of the season.
"Next season we've got another year of experience under our belt. We're a very young team and hopefully we'll be better next season and be up there."
Pochettino's side have held talks with Eredivisie top scorer Vincent Janssen after AZ Alkmaar gave him permission to speak with Spurs, and on the possibility of new recruits at White Hart Lane, Mason said: "That's up to the gaffer, the chairman and the club. We'll see what happens, but I'm sure they'll make the right decision.
"They won't just get someone in for the sake of it, they'll have to be the right player to fit into our philosophy and the way we work."
Mason has also been the subject of speculation surrounding a move of his own, with both Bournemouth and Crystal Palace reportedly interested, but he insists his future is in the capital.
"I'm a Tottenham player and am determined to go back into pre-season as fit as possible with the aim of impressing the gaffer to try and establish myself in the team."
Ryan Mason was at the number one pub to watch the Euros as voted by the Farah menswear #MatchReady campaign. To see the full list of pubs visit: http://www.farah.co.uk/blog?post=matchready-pub-guide
