Micah Richards: Tyrone Mings deserves praise for reaction since being dropped for Aston Villa
Micah Richards believes that Tyrone Mings deserves praise for his response to being dropped for Aston Villa earlier this season.
Mings helped Villa claim their first clean sheet in 11 games as Jacob Ramsey’s goal gave them a much needed 1-0 win over Southampton on Friday night in the Premier League.
Speaking on Match of the Day [17 September], Richards was reacting to the fact Mings had been omitted from the most recent England squad and says with performances like these he will get back in the side because he’s a “top quality Premier League footballer”.
“All he can do is perform like he did because it was an assured performance,” he said.
“They’ve gone 11 games without keeping a clean sheet and he just did the basics really well. He’s so good in the air and gives them so much with that aerial threat and when he’s on his game, he’s a top quality Premier League footballer.
“Having been in a changing room with him, he’s a real leader. When a manager takes that captaincy off you it is really difficult to take. I’ve been in that position when Remi Garde took it off me. You can sulk but he hasn’t. His all round game was very good and it’s what they needed. He deserves praise.”
Quality
There were plenty of people calling for Mings to be dropped at the start of the season, with Diego Carlos coming in and Steven Gerrard looking to shake things up.
He was stripped of the captaincy and dropped for the first game of the season, but with Carlos’ injury he has battled his way back into the team and never stopped being a leader despite that.
His recent performances have earned plenty of respect from the fans despite a pretty poor start to the season so far for Aston Villa, but Mings was excellent against Southampton and has gone from strength to strength.
He is beginning to prove that he is a real leader, even without the armband, and that he is putting the team before his own personal feelings to get the job done.
Being dropped by England wasn’t a shock, but if Mings continues in this vein he will not only surely win over Gerrard and the fans but Gareth Southgate too and could well be on the plane to Qatar in November.
In other Aston Villa news, Watford have a buy-option in their loan deal for Keinan Davis according to a report