Steven Gerrard sends huge warning to Aston Villa ace Tyrone Mings
Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard has warned Tyrone Mings that he’ll only get back in the team once he can get back to his best form.
The boss axed Mings from the starting line up for the Premier League opener against Bournemouth as they fell to a dismal 2-0 defeat, as summer signing Diego Carlos got the nod alongside Ezri Konsa.
But after taking the captaincy off Mings before the season started, Gerrard has challenged the England international to find his best form if he wants his spot in the lineup back this season.
“When I made the decision over the captaincy, I set him that challenge,” Gerrard told BBC Radio WM.
“We said to Tyrone ‘if you get back to your consistent best, you’ll be back in the team’.”
“It’s a little bit of that [reaction to losing captaincy]. He’s also missed some training time with an injury and there’s a niggle in the background as well.
“When Tyrone is back at his best and looks me in the eye and shows that he’s ready to play, he’ll get opportunities.”
Standards
Finally, a manager who doesn’t care what your name or status is and holds everyone to the same standard to get into the side.
Mings’ performances over the last 18 months have been a drastic fall off from when he first joined the club and earned himself a spot in the England squad on a regular basis.
Gerrard has seen that and addressed it with the summer signing of Carlos from Sevilla, and now Mings only has himself to blame if he can’t find that level again and get back in the side.
With the World Cup coming at the end of the year he has a clear goal to work towards and by the sounds of it has been told exactly what he needs to do to be able to achieve that goal.
He couldn’t have wished for a better start from a selfish and personal view point as Villa suffered defeat, but he must be ready to react and show why he deserves to be first choice as soon as the opportunity arises.
In other Aston Villa news, Ian Wright was “very, very concerned” by the defeat to Bournemouth