Ryan Mason has backed Harry Kane's recent comments about the loss of values at the club following Mauricio Pochettino's departure as head coach in November 2019. Riding high in the Premier League table and also making the Champions League final six months before the Argentine's dismissal, Spurs have gone backwards since then and struggled to maintain their place in Europe's premier competition.
Now facing a pivotal summer in north London with Daniel Levy needing to find a new head coach and managing director of football, all will be hoping the chairman makes the right calls as the club look to get back on track. Having come through the system with Kane and played alongside him before later becoming a coach at Tottenham, Mason knows all about the club's values and the important role the striker has in ensuring they remain.
"Absolutely, yep, absolutely I am fully with him on that 100 per cent," said Mason in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Aston Villa game. "We can talk a lot about players but I think the environment, culture, it's everyone, everything, the small details. We have to have many people driving that, not just one or two people. It has to be driven from within.
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"I agree with him because I was part of probably the change in setting new standards and a new culture within this place. You can spend years trying to build something but at the same time it doesn't take long to lose it.
"Thankfully for us we still have many, many good people within these walls who know and feel what good likes like and probably more importantly want that as well. It is something we absolutely strive for. Ultimately that transfers outside the walls to everyone, you guys, our fans, the outside world. When you see a football club that is together, that is strong, then that transfers to everyone."
On why the values matter, he explained: "I think we're talking about a massive football club here. When you come here and look at the size of this training ground as well. It is important, it's vital and it's crucial that everyone who comes in here is pulling in the same direction and want the same things.
"I think that goes for every single football club as well. We need that. Every club needs that, we need that. I agree with him and I make him right. I am happy that he has said it because he is one of the people I want to drive it because he is important to us, in terms of his stature at this football but also his understanding that there's many people that can contribute as well."
Ahead of the recent 4-3 defeat against Liverpool, Kane spoke to Sky Sports and admitted that the club has lost some of their values that they displayed during Pochettino's tenure.
"They are conversations that need to be had toward the end of the season," said the 29-year-old when asked how the club improves. "I feel like we lost a bit of what the values are at this club over the last few years. It's about finding a way to get back on the same page again and obviously even with the fans as well."
On what he meant by Tottenham's values, he added: "When you've been here this long, I've been here since I was 11 years old, you understand what the fans are like, you understand what the club's like. You've been through good moments with the club, I've been through not so good moments.
"Values are…everyone wants to win and everyone wants to lift trophies and that's ultimately our aim every year. But we're in a different situation to some of the clubs around us and we have to accept that but still find a way to improve and get better.
"We probably haven't been doing that in recent years so ultimately it's about getting back to competing right at the very top and our squad has got enough talent to do that.
"Ultimately, there's some things that may need to change I think everyone is doing everything they can to try and achieve that. But when you look at the competition in the Premier League now, the fine line between being one of the top clubs and 10th or 11th is very slim and you have to make sure you're on it in every department."
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