Ryan Mason Quotes

I don’t think kids should be heading real balls.

Obviously I’ve had some injuries and it’s kept me out of the team for quite a long time and it’s always difficult to have long spells on the sidelines and then try to get back into the team.

It has been difficult because I am physically there. But when it is something so sensitive, with your brain and your skull, it does probably make it a little bit easier to accept you are not going to play again, because it could be life-threatening. So that has definitely made it easier.

There are not many managers in the Premier League willing to put homegrown players in and trust them.

There were a few clubs in the Championship and I spoke to some managers, but I wanted to play for Tottenham. There was always that doubt that if I left I’d end up regretting it, and I would have definitely regretted it.

Harry Kane is one of the most professional guys I’ve ever seen or come across in my life.

I spent so long at Spurs that it’s my club. If I was to become a good coach then that would be by DNA with the way they play and the way they go about things.

I worked with Mauricio Pochettino and even as a player, he had certain mannerisms and his body language. There was so much to learn from.

What separates the good players from the greats people remember is consistency.

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.

Between 18 and 21, a lot of people said I needed to put on weight.

It’s not easy to win every game.

I want to be positive. I want to be happy. I want to work hard and enjoy the moment and have experiences to look back on when I’m older.

It’s football and anyone involved knows that you have to be prepared.

Retiring was very tough, it’s tough at the best of times. Nothing can prepare you for it.

Obviously it’s my job, a coach’s job to start giving the players a platform and start preparing, start planning.

That’s important as players, we have to be happy to perform to our best.

I want to score more than 10 goals and help the team to win games.

You just have to be ready in the moment, and you have to live in the moment.

I was a luxury player. Having been pampered at Tottenham for so long, I went into League One and had to graft and learn the ugly side of the game. I grew as a player.

I can’t speak on transfer value and people’s stock and all that. In football things change so quickly.

The most important thing for me is the connection between fans, players and everyone involved in the football club.

Representing my country is an honor that nobody can ever take away from me and something that I am so proud to have achieved.

That’s all hypothetical – if we win, if we do this.’ I’ve said all along my only focus is on the next game, I’m really not silly enough to starting thinking ahead of certain situations.

For me it’s pretty simple to diagnose concussion on a football pitch. If there’s any doubt about it, then in my eyes, they should take the player off the pitch.

My opinion may be different to many, but I think Oliver Skipp is an incredible talent and one of the most professional guys I have come across in the academy.

No matter how hard it got, I’ve always been fortunate enough, thinking I’m actually lucky to be here.’ I always took that mindset.

I understand there is a lot of pressure on managers to get instant results, but English players know the league, and for them to be given the opportunity and the time as well, there is plenty of talent out there.

It’s difficult but I’m respecting my body – what I can do I’m doing, and what I can’t do I’m not.

I look at some kids and they head the ball with the top of the head and their technique is all wrong, therefore the pressure that it’s putting on the brain is a lot more.

I respect the fans, they’re the heart and soul of the football club and their opinion matters, it really does.

I don’t have to coach. Football is a very rewarding game at the highest level. I’m doing it because I have a passion.

Ultimately the specialists that I’ve seen and spoken to, if you do get a whack on the head and there’s a small sort of concussion, and then you go and get another whack on the head within minutes, then that’s when the damage can be done. And I think that’s where we can potentially protect the players a lot more.

If you have got a seven- or eight-year-old heading a solid ball, and his brain and his bone in his skull isn’t fully developed, then that could potentially be doing damage.

I’m quite a positive person anyway and I realize the benefits of not trying to look at the negatives on things.

There’s always another press conference, another training session and more videos to watch.

When you’re at a club that’s stable and everyone is enjoying it, it’s very hard to consider leaving.

I have had difficult moments, I had a great network of people around me. But I feel there are people here who genuinely care about me as a human being.

My main priority was to get my health back. I had my family around me and my partner had just had a baby. It put into perspective some of the things that were most important.

I watch football every day of my life and I’ve always watched football every day of my life.

It’s a scary moment when you’re on a football pitch and realize that your life is in danger – it was a one in a million kind of thing.

I loved football, that’s all I knew.

In terms of management, I love what I am doing, it’s incredible, I love representing the club and having the honor and responsibility of helping a set of players get football results because there is nothing better.

Every match I watch will be bittersweet. It will always hurt, I’ll always miss competing. That’s what I’ve done my whole life and that burning desire is not just going to leave me.

It’s important to bring young players through if they’re good enough.

There are no guarantees in football.

Maybe bring in sponge balls to learn the technique and gain that experience of actually challenging for a header.

It wouldn’t surprise me in 10 to 15 years if heading wasn’t involved in the game. The research and the momentum it’s getting, I think it’s probably going to open up a lot more stuff that becomes quite shocking.

Of course no player wants to end their career with regrets. I don’t think any human being likes having regrets either.

I’d be lying if I said certain comments don’t affect you. We’re human beings. I had to zone out of it and had to take myself off social media as a player because I didn’t want to see it.

In England there’s a philosophy that it’s better to be bigger and stronger. I was in the gym doing bench-presses which had no relevance and it wasn’t helping me on the pitch. It was extra weight I didn’t need and I couldn’t carry. A lot of injuries came through that.

I think from day one, recovering, it is just try to be as positive as you can.

Tottenham were great with me.

I want us to be brave and aggressive and play like Tottenham Hotspur.

I don’t think repetitive heading at a young age is doing the kids any good, that’s for sure.