What Tyrone Mings has quietly done at Aston Villa as critics fall silent

Tyrone Mings is going under the radar for Aston Villa early in this season.

The centre-back has had a couple of rough individual seasons in B6 and has faced criticism since returning from his cruciate ligament tear.

He missed 66 games in total because of the tear, but has since faced other issues, like the thigh injury that kept him out of 14 matches last season.

Mings has been with the Villans since 2019, making 217 appearances for the club in that time.

His best days are behind him, but the 33-year-old continues to be a useful option for Unai Emery.

Villa's 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday was just another reminder of how good Mings can be.

Tyrone Mings emerges as Aston Villa's best statistical centre-back

Emery has several centre-back options to choose from, including Mings, Pau Torres, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Victor Lindelof.

Harwood-Bellis has only played once in an Aston Villa shirt, but showed promising signs in the 3-1 Carabao Cup win over Coventry City.

However, out of Lindelof, Torres and Mings, the latter has been the best on average.

FotMob have Mings down with an average 7.0 rating for his six combined appearances for Villa this season, while Lindelof stands at 6.1 after seven games, with Torres at 6.2 after playing five.

Mings went under the radar for his performance against both Tottenham and Coventry, while he also helped keep a clean sheet in the 0-0 draw with Hull City.

He wins an average of 71 per cent of his duels in the Premier League, completing 100 per cent of his dribbles successfully, too.

He makes 1.38 tackles per match, with an average of 8.28 defensive actions per 90 minutes.

Villa concede 1.38 goals in the league while Mings is on the pitch, while Lindelof lets the opposition score 1.80 times on average, but Torres' record is the worst with 2.38.

What this data proves is that Emery can still rely on Mings when the tough gets going, and that any lingering agendas from last season should be left behind.

Some see the value in the Englishman, who now gives Emery an obvious tactical change to make.

What Mings' form now offers Emery

Torres is currently out with a hamstring injury and will return midway through October at the earliest.

This means that Villa will most likely play once without the Spaniard, who is usually a starter for Emery.

With Mings performing well, it only makes sense to take Lindelof out of the side.

The Swede usually has more ball-playing responsibilities, and while Mings can still be the traditional warrior type of centre-back, Harwood-Bellis can offer quality on the ball next to him.

It makes sense for Emery to swap Lindelof out with Harwood-Bellis, as the former Southampton man was brought to Villa Park for a reason.

Villa's past can help pass the torch in this scenario.