Ryan Mason on UYL opener: 'We need to taste pressure of winning'

Ryan Mason takes charge of our Under-19s’ first game of the season in the UEFA Youth League against Olympiacos on Wednesday afternoon – and he’s looking for his young charges to handle the heat in more ways than one.

As we begin our Group B campaign at Olympiacos’ training ground – kick-off 3pm local time in Athens, 1pm in the UK, live on BT Sport – facing a top Greek youth side is sure to test the players’ resolve.

But Ryan has warned that the weather conditions could also come into play, with the lads potentially having to deal with scorching temperatures in southern Europe.

“We expect Olympiacos to be very disciplined but it’s very hot out here as well – maybe we’re looking at playing in 30-plus degree heat – so how we manage the game is really important,” our former midfielder-turned-Academy Coach told us from Greece today (Tuesday).

“Their players will probably be used to it a bit more but we’re confident in our style of play and that our players out here can control the game. Hopefully that will be beneficial to us later on in the match. Ultimately, we want to get off to a good start. We want to win every single game – we’re Tottenham Hotspur – so these young lads need to taste winning and they need to also taste the pressure of having to get a result.”

Former England international Ryan, 28, is no stranger to leading us out in Europe. He captained the first team in a tough 1-1 draw away to Fiorentina in the Europa League in February, 2016, but now, having been appointed in charge of our UEFA Youth League side this summer, he’s relishing the chance to begin a new continental chapter along with our talented crop of youngsters.

“It’s exciting for the lads to start another campaign,” he added. “We had some great games last year and I’m sure we’ll have some more great experiences this year. We have our philosophy as a football club and we want these lads to be playing first team football so they need to learn quickly, to be consistent, to know their jobs and to do it week in, week out. Of course, we put the pressure on them every day in training and in games to manage situations like a first team player would and this match against Olympiacos is going to be no different. We’re against Greek opposition, it’s something new, a different culture, but it’s all part of a massive learning experience to hopefully put the lads in good stead for the future.”