The revival of Tyrone Mings has been somewhat a surprise to many Villa fans. As we approach the final games of the season, since Emery’s appointment Tyrone Mings has been nothing but exceptional. The England international has been able to adapt to a system that Unai has implemented and has worked beautifully with his defensive partners i.e. Konsa, Moreno, Young, Cash, Moreno, Digne & Diego Carlos.
Since Emery’s arrival he’s spoken to all his players individually, including Tyrone Mings. Furthermore proving his elite coaching skills and how he can improve players that may be lacking form & defensive awareness.
Breakdown of Mings’ defensive awareness;
Confidence is a big thing for a player, something Unai has presided to Mings. The Villa defender has been able to show more discipline, something Unai expects from all his players. More interceptions, blocks, better pace and better positioning. All these things combined means he’s been improving at stopping external factors on the pitch. Aston Villa have only conceded 20 goals since Unai Emery signed, further proving his revival is something truly spectacular.
Emery encouraged better composure on the ball to Mings, this is so we can feed better passes through to midfield which will eventually find external players to create more chances. Emery enjoys his team playing out from the back, meaning all defenders including Mings must have composure on the ball and off the ball. It’s become clear that Emery likes to play with a low distribution when building from the back then transitioning into a high press which is something he’s still working on to implement into the squad.
So far, Aston Villa have achieved 9 clean sheets under their new manager. Linking to my point about being alert off the ball. Villa’s average of conceding a goal is 1.05 (under Emery). Meaning the high press is turning out to be a great success and is a system Mings can adapt to. However, when building Villa typically like to receive the ball quite low down the field before transitioning to the high press which has saw Villa go goals galore.
Another strength Mings holds is threats in the oppositions set pieces. Being a tall, muscular man, he uses his defensive awareness and ability to mark players that may be a threat and Villa may concede goals to. Moreover, he can also be a threat to other teams in Villa’s set pieces. Unai has urged Mings to get more involved and have the confidence which paid off when Mings scored the decisive winner against Fulham at Villa Park (1-0).
Mings is currently the 2nd most in-form English centre-back.
Some statistics to concrete this point (%):
Successful dribbles - 71%
Tackles won - 42%
Accurate passes - 85%
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Clearances - 136
Headed clearances - 77
Interceptions - 41
[Stats recorded via FotMob.]
These stats do cover the whole Premier League season, which will also include how he played under Steven Gerrard at the beginning of the season before his sacking.
Tyrone Mings has been a significant impact since Emery joined Aston Villa, being the leader of the backline. The former captain has definitely become one of our stand out players and will continue to do so.