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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings has had quite the career renaissance in 2019.
He found himself massively out of favour at Bournemouth, so he was duly sent out on loan to Villa Park, and he quickly became the clear choice at centre-back, going on to contribute substantially in their historic ten-game winning run.
After gaining promotion with the club, he then signed permanently in a £20m deal and in the Premier League so far, he’s clearly continued his imperious form as the 26-year-old has been called up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad for their 2020 European Championship qualifiers during this international break.
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That’s quite a turn around for a defender that had played just 17 Premier League matches across four seasons – serious injury only six minutes into his Cherries career effectively placed havoc with his time on the south coast.
He suffered torn anterior and medial ligaments in his knee, which ruled him out for well over a season.
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His performances can’t have sprung randomly from anywhere; the upturn has to be a correlation with his arrival at Villa, as he has had the perfect mentor to learn from.
Legendary Chelsea and England centre-back John Terry is the assistant manager at the club to Dean Smith, so undoubtedly he has contributed to Mings’ change in fortunes.
Terry captained England 34 times and could be the man to help England find a towering long-term option at centre-back.
The 6 foot 5 defender has the ‘ideal teacher’ according to Smith, who said: “JT has been an influence on Tyrone since he’s been here; he’s getting better and better. JT will give him a heads up [about being in the England squad], but Tom Heaton is also a regular in the set-up.”
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Smith also describes Mings as a ‘born leader’ in the dressing room, which admittedly only goes to show the effect of having someone like Terry around has had.
The 26-year-old is averaging a mighty 9.8 clearances per game in the league, which is the highest in the division by some margin, on top of 2.3 blocks and 1.5 interceptions per match, according to WhoScored.
So it’s no wonder that the titan is part of the England setup this time around. He’s been perfectly groomed, even if unknowingly, for this moment – thanks to Terry.
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