Ryan Mason has aimed a thinly-veiled dig at Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp after his criticism of Tottenham’s style last weekend.
Klopp took umbrage with Mason’s post-match comments about Diogo Jota, who caught Oliver Skipp with a head-high tackle during the 4-3 clash but stayed on the pitch to score a stoppage-time winner in the Anfield fixture.
After Mason had made clear his exasperation at Jota being able to avoid a red card, Klopp hit back during an interview with the BBC by suggesting the 31-year-old should “worry about other stuff” before he told Spurs they “can’t just counter-attack” and urged them to “play better football.”
Tottenham’s acting head coach responded before the visit of Crystal Palace on Saturday, where only three points for the hosts will keep alive their top-six hopes.
“Yeah, I mean first of all I respect and admire Jurgen Klopp,” Mason said.
“I also respect Liverpool Football Club, but honestly in my current situation now and regardless of what happens in my coaching career, I don’t believe I will ever be in a position where I can sit here and criticise another football club in the way they are doing things.
“Look, I will not create a war of words. That is my opinion on it. I don’t think it will change in 20 years time.
“I don’t think I will ever be in that position or earn the right to criticise another football club for how they want to try and win the game and how they feel is the best chance for them to win the game in that moment in time.”
The image of Skipp being caught in the head and falling to the floor may have brought back bad memories for Mason, who retired at the age of 26 following a fracture of his skull after a clash of heads with Chelsea’s Gary Cahill during a match for Hull in 2017.
Mason admitted Skipp had been fortunate, adding: “He is a very, very lucky boy. He had a couple of gashes in his head, needed near to 10 stitches and we are talking about a couple of inches away from an eye problem.
“I think the overall feeling this week is we are quite grateful Skippy is okay and nothing too serious.
“Obviously a different situation (to me), different moment as well. One was with a head, one was with a boot so the dangers are different.
“At the same time the head is a vulnerable part of the body. We continue to see that. Thankfully Skippy is okay. He is in contention.”
Skipp is one of two Spurs academy graduates set to feature against Palace alongside vice-captain Harry Kane and the club’s Under-18s were able to secure a second trophy of the season on Thursday night at Villa Park.
A 3-1 win over Aston Villa clinched the Under-18 Premier League Cup to add to the Under-17 version won against Nottingham Forest last month.
Mason has seen plenty of the youth team this season and knows the path they will now attempt to take, but he insisted there can be no set timescale on how long it could take some of Stuart Lewis’ current crop to break into the first-team.
“Absolutely I have seen a lot of them. I work for this football club, I work in the first-team and it is part of my job to pay attention and understand where the academy are at and try bridge that gap,” he explained.
“Of course we have hope for many of them but at 16 and 17, it can be a long road and it can be difficult.
“Sometimes people develop earlier than others and sometimes players seize the moment. Hopefully some of them can make the step up in the coming years.
“From a timescale point of view, it is very difficult to put a time on it but historically this football club has always valued that and we continue to do that now.”
Premier League opening weekend: Who has the toughest start?
The Premier League fixtures were announced on Tuesday, with the new season now just under two months away.
Holders Manchester City, chasing a fifth consecutive Premier League title, have a tough opener against Chelsea, now managed by Enzo Maresca, at Stamford Bridge on August 18.
City have won their opening fixture in 12 of the last 13 seasons, though the only exception was a 1-0 defeat at Tottenham in 2021-22.
Meanwhile, Chelsea will begin a top-flight season against the reigning champions for the first time in 53 years, losing to Arsenal in their last such fixture in 1971 (3-0).
Manchester United and Fulham will kick off the season at Old Trafford on August 16, with the Red Devils becoming the first Premier League side in history to start eight consecutive seasons on home soil.
Brentford and West Ham are tipped to have the toughest starts, with their opponents' average rating at 89.6 on Opta's team rating scale – both sides face Pep Guardiola's side in their opening five matches.
Arsenal and Ipswich Town sit joint-third behind them, with their first five fixtures averaging at 88.7.
After narrowly missing out to City in the title race in the last two seasons, Arsenal begin their campaign at home to Wolves but face tricky tests against Aston Villa, Tottenham and the Citizens in the following weeks.
Ipswich begin their first Premier League campaign for 22 years against the side they ended their last one against. They will travel to Anfield for Arne Slot's first match in charge of Liverpool, before hosting the reigning champions a week later.
The Reds show as having the easiest opening of the 20 sides, with an average opponent rating of 83.7, with a trip to Old Trafford against rivals United the most notable match in their first five fixtures.
Southampton's return to the top-flight comes at St. James' Park, but among teams to have played in 10 or more Premier League seasons, the Saints have the lowest win ratio (8 per cent), having won just two of their 24 games (D10 L12).
Everton will kick off their final season at Goodison Park at home against Brighton – the Toffees have started the last two campaigns with defeats on home soil against Chelsea and Fulham, and have not lost three in a row since a run of four between 2008-09 and 2011-12.
The opening weekend will be rounded off by Tottenham's trip to the other promoted side, Leicester City, who will be hoping to continue their unbeaten run when starting a league campaign at home (they have won six and drawn three of the previous nine).
McKenna relishes 'amazing start' with Ipswich to face Liverpool and Man City
Kieran McKenna is relishing the prospect of Ipswich Town starting life in the Premier League with matches against Liverpool and Manchester City.
Ipswich are back in the top flight after a 22-year absence, having won consecutive promotions from League One and the Championship under McKenna.
The Premier League fixtures for 2024-25 were announced on Tuesday, with Ipswich discovering they will start their campaign at home to Arne Slot's Liverpool on Saturday August 17.
Ipswich then play away to champions Man City, the winners of four straight league titles, on Matchday 2.
Despite being handed a daunting start on paper, McKenna cannot wait to get going.
"It is a fantastic start," he said to Sky Sports. "Everyone is going to be so excited, two of the biggest clubs in world football with a home start against Liverpool – it brings it all to life and it is an amazing start for us.
"We are delighted to have a home game first. We know the atmosphere that has been created over the last few years at this stadium and we know it will carry on, even more so this year.
"It's great to have a home start and to have one of the best teams in the league is for sure a big challenge.
"Of course, they have a new manager, but we are not going to underestimate the scale of the challenges we are going to have all season.
"Certainly, Liverpool will be [a big challenge] on the first day but at the same time the atmosphere is going to be fantastic. The players will be as ready as they possibly can be and it is a game we will really look forward to."
Ipswich’s success led to McKenna being linked with major jobs at the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United in the aftermath of his team's promotion.
McKenna ultimately signed a new four-year contract to remain with Ipswich and is now determined to look forward.
"When you have had the success we have had over the last couple of years then there is going to be interest," said McKenna, who was previously assistant manager at Man Utd.
"Those are private decisions. In everyone's career, you have to weigh things up and see what's right for you and your family, and things like that. That's a natural process.
"There's always a professional decision to make but there's also always the personal decision to make.
"I'm so, so happy to have secured my future here at Ipswich. It's the first year in 22 years back in the Premier League. We're one of the first teams to get a double promotion back to the Premier League in a very long time and I wanted to be part of that.
"It's going to be an amazing season for the football club and I'm just so excited that I'm going to be the one leading the team out through those fixtures, and we'll work really hard to continue the journey we've been on.
"Of course those sorts of things happen naturally whenever clubs or players or staff members have success, but everyone is now just looking forward to the season ahead and the challenges we have.
"The club took a chance on me and gave me the opportunity at 35-years-old and we've had a fantastic couple of years together. It is a wonderful football club that I'm so proud to manage.
"I know we are going to give a really good account of ourselves."
Man City to open Premier League title defence away against Chelsea
Manchester City will begin their Premier League title defence with a testing trip to play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on the opening weekend.
Pep Guardiola's side have already won a historic four straight titles and will begin their pursuit of a fifth consecutive crown with a tough away match on Sunday August 18 against a team now managed by Enzo Maresca.
Man City have won their opening Premier League match in 12 of the last 13 seasons, though the exception was an away game in London when they lost 1-0 to Tottenham in 2021-22.
This will be the first time in 53 years that Chelsea have begun a top-flight campaign with a match against the reigning champions. They last did that in 1971, losing to Arsenal at Highbury.
The Premier League fixtures for 2024-25 were unveiled on Tuesday.
Arsenal narrowly missed out to Man City in each of the last two seasons and Mikel Arteta's men discovered they will start at home to Wolves on Saturday August 17.
It is Manchester United and Fulham who will open the season on Friday August 16, with the FA Cup holders playing at home in an evening fixture.
Arne Slot's tenure as Liverpool manager starts with a trip away to play promoted Ipswich Town, who return to the top flight after a 22-year absence, while play-off winners Southampton will face Newcastle United at St James' Park.
The opening weekend concludes on Monday August 19 as Leicester City host Tottenham in a difficult start to the Foxes' Premier League return.
There are some other notable matches taking place in the early weeks of the season, with Arsenal away to Aston Villa in the two teams' second match of the campaign.
The Gunners also have back-to-back away matches against Tottenham and Man City in September, meaning they will have had road games against three of the top five sides from last season inside the first five matchweeks.
Man Utd, meanwhile, are due to face Liverpool at Old Trafford on August 31 in the standout fixture of Matchday 3.
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