When Tyrone Mings suffered an ACL injury in the opener of last season, no one needed to tell him it would be a long road back. 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 suffered damage to his front and middle ligaments minutes after his Premier League debut. That was nearly a decade ago, and it sent Mings into a dark place.
He has since spoken about how he sought relief in alcohol, how he was consumed by the feeling that he had lost everything, and the idea of a life without football threatening his entire identity. He told the story of how he broke down in tears in Eddie Howe's office.
Saturday, December 14 at 5 p.m
Departure at 5:30 pm
This time, older and wiser, he was always going to approach the challenge very differently. “It's been different. I can't say it's been easier. It's just that I have a little bit more perspective. I have kids now, so that always helps me,” Mings said. Sky Sports.
“When I was at Bournemouth, the timing was very uncertain. I was still trying to make my way in the game and trying to prove to the fans that I was going to be a good signing. So it was really difficult to accept the timing.” This time has been difficult for various reasons.
“I felt like I was playing well when I got injured. I felt like I was trying to embed myself in the coach's idea and the team was doing well. So it was a tough time to sit back and see other people building on everything they had given.” The work we have accumulated over the previous years.”
Mings has a routine now, which includes talking to his therapist regularly and keeping him in the right space. Gone are the days when his extracurricular activities were counterproductive. This energy has been successfully channeled in a positive way.
“I spent every waking minute trying to figure out how to improve my knee,” he confirms. But there is his involvement with the Tyrone Mings Academy in Bristol, which helps provide fun opportunities for children in the area. And new interests too.
Through the PFA, he took a global course in football business management. “I've really learned what it means to be a sports director or a CEO, so there won't be new things when I retire. I'm definitely not afraid of what comes after football.”
Tyrone Mings has been taking a life preparation course after hanging up his boots
And it shouldn't be like that. Mings has always been an eloquent speaker, whether explaining reasons why players took a knee against racism, or responding to claims by then Health Secretary Matt Hancock that footballers needed to give back more.
He is now thirty-one years old and has a confident and thoughtful personality. Success will come after retirement. But there are still ambitions to be achieved on the pitch, and he is fortunate that while he has been out injured, Villa have continued to go from strength to strength under Unai Emery.
The team he returns to are not only competing in the Champions League, they are thriving in it, while continuing to sit at the top of the Premier League table. As a result, motivation for Mings is easy. New opportunities keep emerging.
“People are always looking for new ideas and new stimuli, so the Champions League has definitely given a different feeling around the club. You can see that for the fans at Villa Park or at away games. It's definitely a different feeling and the players feel that too.
“It didn't really push me into rehab because I felt so far away from where I was at the time. I still have a lot of hurdles to overcome to get back on the football field. But now that I'm here and part of it, it's a special time in “The history of the club and it adds something.”
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England Benno Obano invites Tyrone Mings to the sauna to question him about his career
For Mings, who was released by Southampton as a youngster and had his mother write to every Football League club in the hope of launching his career, but who managed to progress the hard way through spells at Yate and Chippenham, it has been an amazing journey.
Maybe that makes it even more special for him when the Champions League music plays. He has won 18 caps for England and featured at Euro 2020, but Europe's premier club competition still represents another high, another milestone on his way to the top.
This is true for a number of Villa's senior players. Ollie Watkins came from Exeter City's academy and made his Premier League debut at the age of 24. Emiliano Martinez was still playing for Reading at the age of twenty-six. One wonders if this is one of the secrets of their success.
“There are a few players with a lot of Champions League experience, but it's new as a team, it's new as a group, and it's new that we're doing it together. Quite a lot of players have also joined the journey that we've been on for a long time now.”
He talks about winning the title with Villa. “Big on everyone's to-do list here.” And feeling they can “achieve something special together” – describing this as an “exciting time” and speaking of wanting to repeat Villa's glorious successes of the past.
Unai Emery says Tyrone Mings' mistake was the “biggest mistake” he has ever seen in his career
Last month, he made his Champions League debut. It was an ill-fated move, as the ball was picked up by mistake and awarded the penalty from which Club Brugge scored the only goal of the match. Emery described this as one of the worst mistakes he had ever seen in football.
A serious injury in his first appearance in the English Premier League. A huge mistake in his first appearance in the Champions League. Life keeps throwing things at him. “If something is going to happen, it usually happens to me,” he says, stressing that the mistake has not affected him.
“I don't engage in the extreme highs or extreme lows of emotions in the game. I think I'm fairly level-headed and I'm fairly skittish in terms of riding those emotions.” Then he says something particularly revealing about the way he thinks now.
“I wasn't frustrated by what happened per se because mistakes happen. I think if it was going to happen to anyone, 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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The most prominent goals of the Aston Villa and Brentford match in the English Premier League
He had to wait a month, being an unused substitute for the next four matches. But when he returned to the Premier League after a 16-month absence, he was named man of the match in a 3-1 home win over Brentford, which ended a run of eight matches without a win.
“The thing about the Brugge game is that I never came out of that game feeling anything different than when I played against Brentford and got man of the match.” It is definitely a product of long hours of work shaping his mindset.
“My guy has been charging monthly since 2015,” he says of his therapist. “It's not about football now, it's about my well-being and life in general. One of the lessons I've learned in my career is to be very calm when things happen in football.”
He adds: “When the Bruges incident happened, some people didn't bother texting me because they knew I would be fine. I can promise you that regardless of whether we win 3-0 or lose 3-0, I will still be the same person.” When the next match comes.”
Every team needs players like this. As for Villa, it ranks fifth in the Champions League table. Another win would certainly take them to the round of 16. Beat Nottingham Forest on Saturday and they will move above Manchester City into fourth place in the Premier League as well.
“The most impressive thing about last season was achieving the balance in European football to allow us to get the Champions League this year. The big challenge again is: how do you balance the Champions League games without it affecting your level in the Premier League? ?”
“I think teams that have historically qualified for the Champions League have suffered from that because of the size of the squad, emotions and travel, so I think the fact that we have been able to rotate the team and the coach is very calm as well has helped.
“There was a period when we had some bad results and we felt like everything was going against us but it's time to be calm and see the bigger picture. I think we can be proud of the position we sit in now, both in the Premier League and in the Premier League.” The Champions League and the English Premier League.
As with his lows, Mings intends to take the highs in his stride. But he has come a long way and worked too hard not to enjoy it. “There's a good feeling here. It's been impressive and rewarding to come back and be a part of it. I loved it before and I love it now.”
Watch Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa live on Sky Sports Premier League on Saturday from 5pm; Kick-off at 5.30pm
