Mason Greenwood has been the talk of the press for the last week in England, after being called up for the national team and then dropped.<!–more–>

It was a lesson for the boy. He’s a young player with lots of ability, but this will be a moment of realisation that he is not bigger than his club, his country or the game, and that he has the eyes of the football world on him. That happens when you play for England or Manchester United, the biggest club.<span class=”Apple-converted-space”> </span>

Fair play to Mason. He’s apologised, and so in the moment we can put it down to immaturity, and hope he doesn’t make the same mistake twice. You can’t afford to take anything in the game for granted, because football has a way of kicking you when you least expect it. So when you have the opportunity, you must take it, and appreciate it. Don’t throw it away, Mason.

At the end of the day being dropped is a small price to pay for a long term hopeful benefit. That will hurt him, it will certainly hurt his pride, and Gareth Southgate made it clear why he was dropped. So you have to hope that will wake the boy up.

I know United were not pleased and will be dealing with him in their own way. Me personally? I would have sat down with him and told him that yes he made a mistake, and he let himself down most importantly of all, but that he had an opportunity to turn it around – the test is for him to get his head down and work his socks off to show everyone he has learned his lesson. He can put it into his game to show everyone a new maturity to go alongside his talent, which is obvious and never been doubted.<span class=”Apple-converted-space”> </span>

Only Mason can do that and let’s hope that he does. There’s nothing like a new season for a blank page, hopefully a new chapter for this young man with plenty of positive moments to come.