Thomas Tuchel has heaped praise on Chelsea star Mason Mount after the youngster bagged his first Premier League hat-trick in the 7-0 thumping of Norwich.
Heading into the game, Mount was still waiting for his first goal of the season and he recently spoke about his frustration towards a lack of goals in his game.
He rose to the challenge in emphatic fashion, opening the scoring at Stamford Bridge with a fierce drive before adding two more late on to seal a historic victory for the Blues, and Tuchel could hardly have been more delighted.
"A hat-trick for Mason is huge because it's huge," Tuchel said (via football.london). "He's very proud and puts a lot of pressure on himself. I feel him a bit lighter and playing with more freedom in the last matches. This is what we need.
"There are a lot of games – and more for him – at a young age. He is very competitive and serious about reaching his goals. So, as I said, I feel him lighter now and it means a lot to him to have a hat-trick under his belt. And he is an academy boy."
Unsurprisingly, Mount's performance dominated the post-match press conference, and Tuchel was only too happy to describe why the midfielder is so important to his side.
"As you know we play most games with three strikers and Mason is one of the strikers and you can say in our world that Mason is maybe between an eight and a 10, so not a real striker, so we depend also heavily on him and that’s why other players play a key role," he continued.
"The wing-backs arrive more in the box, the wing-backs play with a bit more freedom and sometimes new positions to have our strikers really in the last line where they feel more confident.
"It is a complex game. There is very rarely one reason why things happen like this, but we depend on Mason and we want to. We like his style, we like where he comes from, we like his personality, he is a top player and a top guy."
Source : 90min