If I could…with Mason Mount

What do Lewis Hamilton, Drake and Winston Churchill all have in common? They were among those mentioned by Mason Mount in the latest edition of our new series ‘If I could…’, where England stars answer a host of questions which begin with If I could.

1) If I could…play alongside one player from the history of world football, it would be…
…now this is so hard because there are so many. To play in a midfield with Xavi and Iniesta would be special. Growing up I used to watch videos of those guys popping it about, with their one-touch passing and their one-twos. I loved watching it so it would probably be playing in a midfield with those two. The other team would never touch the ball and that Barcelona team were just unbelievable.

2) If I could…improve one part of my game today, it would be…
…finishing. For a midfielder, if you can add goals to your game then it takes you to another level.

3) If I could…take one part of an England team-mate's game, it would be…
…Kyle Walker’s pace because he is quickest. Then you would have the strength of Reece James, H Kane’s finishing, Jadon Sancho, Jack Grealish, Raheem Sterling and all of our wingers, like Marcus Rashford’s dribbling and skills, there is so much talent. But I would probably go for Kyle Walker’s pace because he is rapid, he is actually rapid, so to have Walk’s pace would be unbelievable.

4) If I could…go back to one event in history, it would be…
…going back to when we won the World Cup in 1966. In the summer, we got so close to winning a major tournament so to get so close and not win, just imagine being in that stadium when we won the World Cup. It would be so special. I would love to see that.

5) If I could…change one thing about the world, it would be… 
…now again this is such a difficult one because there are so many things. I think in this day and age, I hate that people are allowed to get away with saying whatever they want online when it comes to things like racism. It is unacceptable and people get away with it all the time. Obviously there are things which have been put in place to try to stop people from seeing it to reduce it but it is difficult to stop it so I would say that. I have seen it first-hand very closely and it has happened to many of the players I have played with and very close friends who I have played in teams with since I was six years old. So when I see something like that happen then it is heart-breaking and you hope that it wouldn’t happen again.

6) If I could…change one thing about football, it would be…
…now if you asked me this last season then I would have said VAR but I think it has improved this season. It has been very frustrating for us at times. I think going back to the pure feeling of playing football and the emotion of celebrating and not worrying about having to give it five or ten seconds to celebrate, having that pure emotion back would be better for the fans and us as players. That passion of scoring a goal has definitely been taken away a bit now because you are always worried that it might be offside or check that there has been a foul before so you can’t fully celebrate. So to have that back would be a positive.

7) If I could…give my eight-year-old self one bit of advice, it would be…
…I did this any way but I would say to enjoy every second of playing because of how quickly it goes. I remember playing at six years old when I first joined Chelsea and now I am 22 and I am playing for England and playing for Chelsea. Time flies. I think I have any way but I would say to enjoy every moment and not take anything for granted. As we have seen with Covid and the fans not being in the stadiums for so long, how much we missed that feeling of them being in the stadiums and sometimes you took that for granted before it happened.

8) If I could…speak to that child who is considering joining their local team but isn’t sure, I would tell them…
…to do it. Sometimes it can be daunting when you are going to a team where you don’t know anyone. I was very similar. I joined a new school where none of my friends went to and I remember walking into an assembly hall and the first day you go in a different uniform and I had a totally different school uniform to anyone else in there. Mine was bright orange and I walked in and no one had it on and I was the odd one out but you learn to make friends and I would say to them to take that step, try to be confident and enjoy the football as much as you can and have fun.

9) If I could…only eat one item of food for the rest of my life, it would be…
…now I am not fussy at all because I like too many things. Could I just say a type of cuisine? Now even this is difficult because you have Mexican food, you have your pasta and pizzas but I love Japanese food. I love sushi and stuff. But if I had to eat only one thing, I wouldn’t want to just eat that. I haven’t really answered this question have I?

10) If I could…choose who would play me in the film of my life story, it would be…
…now I am very much into my films so the actors that I like include Chris Hemsworth, who played Thor, Tom Holland, who played Spiderman, and then we can go old school with Leonardo DiCaprio, what a guy. Then you have Bradley Cooper as well…American Sniper, what a film. But if I am going for someone who maybe looks like me and is younger then it would be Tom Holland. I love Spiderman. I have recently started them all again because of the new one coming out. So I went all the way back to Toby Maguire in 2002.

11) If I could…invite three guests around for dinner, it would be…
…people who have stories so I could just listen to them. So I would go for someone who has played a big part in English history so I could listen to his stories, so I would go for Winston Churchill. That is a random shout but he probably has good stories. Then maybe someone American and an actor so Leonardo DiCaprio. Then Conor McGregor because I think he would just have the best stories ever. So Conor, Leonardo and Churchill. That is a random three I tell you that but we would have a good night.

12) If I could…have a second dream job, I would be…
…an F1 driver. That would be cool. Their lives with the travelling and the different countries every weekend, racing the quickest cars, and their lives generally just look so cool. 

13) If I could…be one person for a day, it would be…
…someone with a crazy lifestyle, so a musician. Being an F1 driver for the day would be good, so Lewis Hamilton, but if I went for a musician then Drake. I would love to see his house, it looks unbelievable. It has a basketball court and everything in it. He has a plane so he can fly anywhere for the day. It is not even a little plane either, it is like a big Boeing 767. So I would go Drake.