Exclusive Tyrone Mings interview: Aston Villa star overcomes injury and mistakes as he talks fun at Villa Park | Football News

When Tyrone Mings injured his anterior cruciate ligament in last season’s opener, no one had to tell him it was a long road back. Unfortunately, the Aston Villa and England defender has experienced it before. It wasn’t pretty.

It was at Bournemouth, shortly after their club record signing, that Mings damaged his posterior and medial collateral ligaments in his first Premier League game. This was almost a decade ago and it sent Mings to a dark place.

Since then he has talked about how he sought solace in alcohol, consumed by the feeling of having lost everything, the idea of ​​a life without football threatening his entire identity. He also told the story of how he broke down in tears in Eddie Howe’s office.

Meanwhile, older and wiser, he always faces the challenges in a very different way. “It’s been different. I wouldn’t say it’s been easy. It’s just that I have more perspective. I have kids now so that always helps,” Mings says. Sky Sports.

“When I was at Bournemouth, it was an uncertain time. I was still trying to train and try to prove to the fans that I would be a good signing. So it was a very difficult time to take. This time has been difficult for different reasons.

“I felt like I was playing well when I was injured. I felt like I was trying to establish myself in the manager’s opinion and the team was doing well. So it was a difficult time for me to sit down and see other people build on everything that was happening. The work we did together years ago.”

Mings has a routine now, which involves talking to the patient regularly, keeping him on the right track. The days when his extracurricular activities were controversial are over. That energy has been channeled in a positive way.

“Every waking moment was spent trying to figure out how to help my knee,” he emphasizes. But there is his involvement with the Tyrone Mings Academy in Bristol, helping to provide fun opportunities for local children. Also new favorites.

Through the PFA, he has taken courses in international football business management. “I’ve learned so much about what it means to be a sports director or CEO that it won’t be a new thing when I retire. I’m not afraid of what comes after football.”

Nor should they be. Mings has always been an outspoken speaker, even when explaining the reasons why players kneel to protest racism or to oppose the health secretary Matt Hancock’s statement that football players should pay more.

Now 31, he cuts a confident and measured figure. Success will come after work. But there are ambitions to fulfill on the pitch and they are fortunate that while injured, Villa have continued to improve under Unai Emery.

The team he has returned to is not only competing in the Champions League but doing well in it, as they continue to take their place at the bottom of the Premier League table. As a result, Mings motivation is simple. New opportunities keep coming.

“People are always looking for new ideas, new motivations, so the Champions League has given different ideas around the club. You see this from the fans at Villa Park or the away games. It’s definitely a different feeling and the players are feeling it. Where else.

“It didn’t go well for me in rehab as I felt very far from where I was at that time. I had a lot of problems to overcome to get back on the football field. But now I’m here and part of it, it’s a special time in the history of the club and it adds something more.”

For Mings, released by Southampton as a child, his mother signed every club in the Football League in the hope of launching his career to progress through Yate and Chippenham, it has been an incredible journey.

Perhaps this makes it even more special for him when the Champions League music plays. He has won 18 caps for England, who are at Euro 2020, but Europe’s leading club competition also represents the top, another trophy on his way to the top.

That is true of Villa’s main players. Ollie Watkins came through Exeter City’s academy, making his Premier League debut at 24. Emiliano Martinez is still playing for Reading at the age of 26. One wonders if that is one of the secrets of their success.

“There are a few players who know a lot in the Champions League but they are new as a team, they are new as a team, it is new that we are working together. Many players have bought into this team again. It is a journey that we have had for a long time.”

He talks about winning the championship with Villa. “So much for everyone to do here.” And the feeling they can “achieve something special together” – calling it an “exciting moment” and talking about wanting to emulate Villa’s glorious past.

Last month, he played in the Champions League. It was an unfortunate, mishandled ball to earn a penalty which saw Club Brugge score the only goal of the game. Emery called it one of the worst mistakes he had seen in football.

A serious injury during his Premier League campaign. Big mistake in his Champions League game. Life keeps throwing things at him. “If something is going to happen, it usually happens to me,” he says, insisting that the mistake did not affect him.

“I don’t get too high or too low in the game. I’m smart and I’m not flexible, I think, when it comes to raising those feelings.” Then they say things that show how they are thinking now.

“I’m not upset about what happened because mistakes happen. And I think if it happens to anyone, I’m glad it happened to me because I’m sure I can handle it. My next game after that was happy it happened to me. Brentford I think.”

He had to wait a month, being an unused substitute for the next four games. But when he returned to the Premier League after a 16-month lay-off, he was named as the man of the match in a 3-1 win over Brentford that ended a run of eight matches without a win.

“The thing about the Bruges game is that I’ve never left the game with a different feeling than I did when I played against Brentford and scored a goal in the game.” It is certainly the result of many hours of work that he put into creating his ideas.

“The guy I use has been paid every month since 2015,” he says of the patient. “It’s not about football here, it’s about my well-being and life in general. One of the things I’ve learned in my career is to be calm when things happen in football.”

He added: “The Bruges incident happened, some people didn’t even bother texting me because they knew I would be fine. I can promise that even if we win 3-0 or lose 3-0, I will be the same person when the next game comes.”

Every team needs players like that. As for Villa, they are fifth in the Champions League table. One win will see them through to the last 16. They beat Nottingham Forest on Saturday and will move above Man City into fourth place in the Premier League.

“The most interesting thing last season was to unite European football so that we could win the Champions League this year. The big problem again is: how do you make the Champions League games without affecting your Premier League form?

“I think the teams that have been in the Champions League have struggled with that because of the size of the squad and the mood and flow, so I think we’ve been able to rotate the squad and the manager’s composure has helped.

“There was a time when we had a few bad results and we felt like everything was against us but it’s time to be calm and see the big picture. I think we can be proud of where we are right now, both in the Champions League and the Premier League.”

Like the lows, Mings wants to take the highs in his stride. But he has come too far and worked too hard not to enjoy it. “There is a good feeling here. Coming back with another part is exciting and good already. I loved it before and I love it now.”

Watch Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa live on Sky Sports Premier League this Saturday from 5pm; from 5.30pm