Tyrone Mings: Villa’s unsung hero playing himself back into England contention

Tyrone Mings’ contributions are often underappreciated. He is a vital part of this Aston Villa team, whether it be from his leadership or ability, the statistics are here to back this up.

In recent games it’s safe to say Aston Villa haven’t been the same attacking side that they were earlier on in the season. This being said, they have still found a way to grind out results and win games. They have their resilient and ever present defence to thank for this. At the heart of this unit is their leader, Tyrone Mings.

His ability to orchestrate and organise the defence effectively through how vocal he is on the pitch cannot be undermined. Although he has frequently received unfair criticism this season, in this current run, he is leading by example on the defensive front.

This statement isn’t subjective; the statistics outline just how vital he has been in creating a solid Villa backline. His 151 clearances are the fourth most for any centre half in the league.

The players ahead of him are Ben Mee, Joachim Andersen and Tosin Adarabioyo. These are players within squads facing relegation, which in turn will be more active on the defensive end. The volume of clearances emphasises Mings’ positional awareness and ability to identify danger whilst reading the game.

Another statistic that outlines his reading of the game at a high level are his possession-adjusted interceptions (Padj). Possession-adjusted statistics are a true reflection of defensive output, as teams with more possession sometimes have undervalued defensive statistics as they cannot defend whilst their team has the ball.

Mings averages 8.7 Padj interceptions, which is the third most for centre halves behind Jan Bednarek and Cesar Azpilicueta. This shows how well he reads the game as he is able to anticipate passes ahead of time and has the speed and acceleration to capitalise. As the graph shows (Mings indicated by yellow dot), this is above average and he’s amongst the best centre backs in the league for this.

Graphic: @pgr_analytics

He is also an extreme physical presence; he wins 72% of his aerial duels which is behind only Harry Maguire at 72.55% who is renowned for his aerial ability. If Villa could improve their set piece taking from corners, Mings would be a real threat from them.

His contributions to this Villa team span far greater than just his defensive efforts. He is second in the squad for yards covered with the ball at 5048 yards. His ability to progress the ball is up there with the best centre halves in the league and is a real outlet for Villa.

Graphic: @pgr_analytics

As the above graphic shows, Mings has similar progressive passing statistics to the likes of Ruben Dias, with Mings totalling 9.6 a game whilst Dias has 10.18. Mings also completes 74.7% of these passes, similar to the likes of Conor Coady at 78.74%, who is largely regarded as one of the best passing defenders in the league. His ability to progress Villa up the pitch whether it be through passing or with the ball, can’t go unnoticed.

Mings obviously has his flaws, with some notable mistakes this season such as the error leading to Manchester City’s first goal. He also has the lowest successful dribbling percentage of all centre backs in the league at 33%, indicating he may overplay at times and get caught in possession.

He is also third for long passes attempted per game with 8.16 and has the second highest average pass length of 43.85 metres. The frequency he opts to use the long ball may frustrate fans due to the increased chance of losing the ball instead of choosing to undergo a slow build up. Villa as a squad however has had the second lowest amount of touches in the defensive third with 4731. Indicating that long ball, rather than a slow build up from the back is preferred.

Whilst Mings is capable of errors like all players, his contributions to the team and impact defensively are extremely overlooked and underrated. He is consistently showing why he is deserving of being a pillar in this Aston Villa squad and hopefully for England in the coming summer.