Why Ryan Mason Has Been Tottenham Hotspur's Unsung Hero of 2014-15

Tottenham Hotspur's members are in the process of voting for their player-of-the-season awards. It would be a shock if the man presented the accompanying trophies on the White Hart Lane pitch after the team's final home match is not Harry Kane.

The striker's often inspirational performances, marked by 29 club goals (so far), have been emblematic of the best of Tottenham's 2014-15 campaign. They have earned the 21-year-old a call-up to the England senior squad, and could see him recognised by the prestigious PFA and FWA Footballer of the Year awards too.

Kane's Spurs and now also England team-mate Ryan Mason has naturally not accumulated the same headlines doing less glamorous midfield work. But along with the reliable Hugo Lloris and creative linchpin Christian Eriksen, the comparatively unsung player is among the north Londoners' next-most-important contributors to a season which could yet conclude positively.

Mason's introduction to the first-team in September made for an invigorating addition to Mauricio Pochettino's nascent team. The 23-year-old's presence brought much-needed vitality and desire to a side struggling to come out of its shell. It was a key step in establishing a more confident, at its best aggressive approach which would yield greater results upon Kane's eventual selection in Spurs' Premier League side.

Spurs were flailing against Nottingham Forest in the Capital One Cup third round when Mason arrived off the bench for his first appearance of the season (and his first for the club since November 2012). His stunning long-range equaliser led to a 3-1 win for the eventual competition finalists.

Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated Press

Producing similarly dramatic match-turning moments has not since become a forte of Mason's. But the Forest goal, at a juncture when his team needed a boost, spoke of his character as a player. A willingness to involve himself in his team's play and get stuck in to the opposition which was underlined in his Premier League debut against Arsenal a few days later, and in the weeks which followed. It was all the more notable too for the absence of such attributes among talented but timid-performing, then first-choice midfield men Etienne Capoue and Mousa Dembele.

Sadly for Spurs, last weekend's 1-0 loss to Aston Villa bore a disappointing resemblance to the situation Mason thrust himself into last autumn.

There was little to praise in a second tentative and tame performance in a row from the now seventh-place side (following the 0-0 draw at Burnley). But Mason's response to one of his own worse showings in the dreary visit to Turf Moor—unimaginative and static in a too-negatively operating midfield—reiterated the credentials which helped the team avoid descending into trepidation-induced apathy early in Pochettino's reign.

Like in the individual peaks of that first run—in positive results against Arsenal and Southampton, as well as losses to Manchester City and Newcastle United—Mason was frequently looking to offer a passing option for his team-mates. Several of Spurs' better first-half moves and openings originated from the alert and mobile central midfielder receiving and then moving the ball on in a prompt, purposeful fashion.

Alastair Grant/Associated Press/Associated Press

"Ryan has made it easier for our attacking players over the course of the season," Eriksen recently told Spurs' official website in praise of Mason. "It’s always good when you know you have a guy behind you who will pass forward and who will tackle and win the ball for us."

Defensively, Mason has not always been so assured and productive. His partnership with Nabil Bentaleb is capable of summoning jointly energetic pressing which informs the way he strives to win possession. February's north London derby win over Arsenal was the most successful example of that, the Gunners hunted down to increasing effect.

Against Villa, though, the Spurs midfield was too standoffish, allowing Fabian Delph and others to regain loose balls and instigate their own attacks too easily. Further back, neither Bentaleb or Mason were able to impose themselves in the restrictive manner required to stop Tim Sherwood's side playing.

Still, Villa had less joy on the right flank Mason was charged with shuttling across to protect than the left side, from which Leandro Bacuna crossed to set up Christian Benteke's winner.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

Like with Mason's work going forward, Spurs feel more like they are in the fight when he is playing. He is not always effective, nor is his work always pretty, but more often than not he is there trying to make a difference.

That the same could not be said about others earlier in the season was what led to the academy product getting his opportunity. It is a big reason why, on those days when Eriksen, Kane and others do not shine, Spurs are not capitulating in the embarrassing manner they did several times last season (particularly against top-four rivals).

When this season is fully weighed up in regards to the progress Tottenham have made under Pochettino, the introduction of Mason should undoubtedly be viewed as one of the positives.