When Tyrone Mings suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the opening game of last season, no one needed to tell him it would be a long road. Unfortunately, the Aston Villa and England defender has experienced this before. It wasn’t pretty.
It was at Bournemouth, shortly after his club record signing, that Mings damaged his anterior and medial ligaments on his Premier League debut. This was almost a decade ago now and it sent Mings to a dark place.
He has since told how he sought solace in alcohol, plagued by the feeling that he had lost everything, the idea of a life without football threatening his entire identity. He tells the story of how he burst into tears in Eddie Howe’s office.
Saturday 14th December 5:00pm
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This time, he was older and wiser, he was always going to approach the challenge in a very different way. “It’s been different. I wouldn’t say it’s been easy. It’s just that I have a little more perspective. I have kids now so that always helps,” explains Mings. sky sports,
“When I was at Bournemouth, it was a very uncertain time. I was still trying to make my way in the game and prove to the fans that I would be a good signing. So timing it was really important. This time has been difficult for a variety of reasons.
“When I got injured I felt like I was playing well. I felt like I was trying to establish myself in the manager’s opinion and the team was performing well. So sitting out and watching other guys It was a difficult time to see us move forward over the years we worked together.”
Mings now has a routine, which includes talking to his therapist regularly, to keep him in the right place. Gone are the days when their extracurricular activities were unproductive. That energy has been successfully channeled in a positive manner.
“Every waking minute is spent figuring out how to make my knee better,” he insists. But they have a partnership with the Tyrone Mings Academy in Bristol, which helps provide recreational opportunities for children in the area. And new interests too.
Through the PFA, he has taken the Global Football Business Management course. “I’ve really learned what it means to be a sporting director or a CEO, so these won’t be new things when I retire. I’m certainly not afraid of what happens after football.”
Tyrone Mings is taking a course to prepare for life after leaving the job
Nor should he be. Mings has always been an outspoken spokesperson, whether it was championing the cause of players taking a knee in protest against racism or countering claims from then Health Secretary Matt Hancock that footballers needed to give more.
Now 31, he projects a confident and measured figure. You will get success after retirement. But he still has ambitions to fulfill on the field and he is fortunate that Villa have gone from strength to strength under Unai Emery while he was sidelined through injury.
The team he returns to is not only competing in the Champions League but also thriving in it, as well as claiming a place at the top of the Premier League table. As a result, inspiration comes easy for Mings. New opportunities keep coming.
“People are always looking for new ideas, new excitement, so the Champions League has definitely given a different feeling around the club. You can see it for the fans at Villa Park or away games. It’s definitely There’s a different feeling to it and the players feel that too.
“It didn’t really motivate me to go to rehab because it felt too far from where I was at that time. I still had a lot of hurdles to overcome to get back on the football pitch. But I’m here now and it’s part of “It’s a special time in the club’s history and it adds something.”
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England Beno Obano invites Tyrone Mings to the sauna to inquire about his career
For Mings, who was released as a youngster by Southampton, his mother was writing to every club in the Football League in the hope of kickstarting his career so he could continue on the difficult path through spells at Yate and Chippenham. It has been an amazing journey.
Maybe when the Champions League music plays it makes it a little more special for him. He has won 18 caps for England at Euro 2020, but Europe’s premier club competition represents yet another high, another marker on his route to the top.
This is true of many of Villa’s senior players. Ollie Watkins came through Exeter City’s academy, making his Premier League debut at the age of 24. Emiliano Martínez was still playing for Reading at the age of 26. One wonders if this is one of the secrets of his success.
“There are some players who have a lot of Champions League experience but it is new as a team, it is new as a group, it is new that we are doing it together. Bought the journey we’ve been on for so long.”
He talks about winning trophies with Villa. “It’s big on everyone’s to-do list here.” and the realization that they can “achieve something special together” – calling it an “exciting time” and aspiring to repeat Villa’s great successes of the past.
Unai Emery says Tyrone Mings mistake was ‘biggest mistake’ he has seen in his career
Last month he made his debut in the Champions League. He was unlucky, accidentally picking up the ball to concede a penalty, allowing Club Brugge to score the only goal of the game. Emery described it as one of the worst mistakes he had seen in football.
Serious injury during Premier League debut. A serious error on his Champions League debut. Life keeps throwing things at him. “If something’s going to happen, it usually happens to me,” he says, insisting that the mistake has no effect on him.
“I don’t run into extreme swings of emotions in sports. I’m pretty level-headed and I think I’m pretty volatile in terms of riding on those emotions.” Then he says something particularly revealing about how he thinks now.
“I wasn’t disappointed with what happened because mistakes happen. And I think if it was going to happen to anybody, I’m glad it happened to me because I’m pretty sure I can handle it.” “My next game after that was Brentford I think.”
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Highlights of the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Brentford
He had to wait for a month as he was an unused substitute for the next four matches. But when he returned to the Premier League after 16 months out, he was named player of the match in a 3–1 home win over Brentford, ending a run of eight without a win.
“The thing about the Bruges game is that I’ve never had a different feeling after that game than I did when I played against Brentford and won the match.” This is certainly the result of a long time of work put into shaping his own mindset.
“The person I use has been paid a monthly retainer since 2015,” he says of his therapist. “Now it’s less to do with football and more to do with my well-being and life in general. One of the lessons learned from my career is to be very calm when things are happening in football.”
He says: “When the Bruges incident happened, some people didn’t even bother sending me messages because they knew I’d be fine. I can promise that whether we won 3-0 or 3-0 Lose, I’ll be the same guy when the next game comes.”
Every team needs players like this. As far as Villa are concerned, they are fifth in the Champions League table. Another win will definitely take them to the last 16. Beat Nottingham Forest on Saturday and they will also move above Man City into fourth place in the Premier League.
“The most impressive thing last season was balancing European football so that we got the Champions League this year. The big challenge again is: how do you balance Champions League games without affecting your Premier League form?
“I think historically the teams that have reached the Champions League have struggled because of the size of the team, the emotions and the travel, so I think the fact that we have been able to rotate the team has helped And the manager is also very cool.
“There was a time when we had some bad results and felt like everything was going against us, but now it’s time to stay calm and look at the bigger picture. I think that’s where we are right now.” But we can be proud, the Champions League and the Premier League in both worlds.”
Like the lows, Mings intends to take the highs in his stride. But he has come too far and worked so hard that he is not able to enjoy it. “It’s a good feeling here. To come back and be a part of it is just as impressive and fulfilling as before. I was loving it before and I’m loving it now.”
Watch Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa live on Sky Sports Premier League this Saturday from 5PM ET; Kick-off at 5.30 pm
