Tyrone Mings second to John Stones in England centre-back pecking order – Sky Sports journalist
We’re delighted to welcome Sky Sports and The Athletic’s Dan Bardell as our exclusive Aston Villa columnist each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the club…
Dan Bardell believes Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings is the second-best English centre-back to John Stones on current form and has to be in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the June international break.
Mings, 30, has been one of the catalysts for Villa’s resurgence under Unai Emery this season, helping the team record seven clean sheets from their last ten Premier League outings.
Southgate was in the stands of Villa Park to watch Mings deliver a highly impressive performance in the 3-0 win against Newcastle earlier this month, while his assistant, Steve Holland, was also in attendance against Brentford.
The former Bournemouth defender hasn’t featured for the Three Lions for more than a year and is expected to take centre stage when squaring off against England competitor Harry Maguire at Old Trafford on Sunday (30 April).
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Bardell said he believed that Mings had transformed himself into one of the best ball-playing centre-backs in the Premier League and was now only behind Stones in the England pecking order.
“I absolutely love Gareth Southgate, and how far England has come recently is because of him, but he hasn’t fancied Mings over the last year or so,” he said.
“But what I will say is that Mings has done absolutely everything he can to get in the England squad. He has conceded just two goals from open play in ten games – that is absolutely staggering, and he and Konsa have turned into a really good partnership.
“Mings has never let England down at any point.
“At the moment, he has completely cut out the mistakes in his game, he has developed his passing game, he has great recovery speed and he wins absolutely everything in the air.
“He is in the form of his life right now, and I think the best ball-playing centre-backs are at Man City, Aston Villa and Brighton right now.
“I think John Stones is the best centre-half in the world right now, but in English defenders terms, I think Mings is second, and I say that with absolutely no bias whatsoever.”
“He has to be in the England squad for the upcoming international break.”
Mings has recorded 17 appearances for England since 2019 but was left out of the Qatar World Cup squad last year, with the likes of Maguire, Conor Coady, and Eric Dier preferred.
However, with Villa on the cusp of breaking their 13-year wait for European football, Mings could also be closing in on a return to the international set-up.
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