It was shortly before the hour mark of England's game against Hungary on Tuesday night that Gareth Southgate called Mason Mount back from his warm-up. At that stage, the Three Lions trailed 1-0 and had been lacklustre. The hope was Chelsea's player of the year would be able to inject his trademark energy and conjure a moment of magic.
That didn't happen – and to nobody's surprise in truth. The appearance was Mount's 63rd of a draining 2021/22 campaign. He had looked lethargic in England's previous Nations League games, worn down by the rigours of a season in which he had played in six different competitions for Chelsea.
Mount's introduction didn't alter the path of the game. In fact, during his time on the pitch, England collapsed rather spectacularly and were eventually beaten 4-0. It was their worst defeat on home soil for 94 years and resulted in many in the crowd calling for Gareth Southgate to be sacked ahead of the World Cup.
