“Never with us has he played badly, his commitment is good” -Unai Emery recalls exact moment Aston Villa star impressed him long before he took Villa job as he praises player ahead of Man United clash
Unai Emery spoke well of his in-form defender ahead of this weekend’s showdown with Manchester United at Old Trafford
Unai Emery believes Aston Villa’s colossal centre-back Tyrone Mings is yet to have a bad game since he took charge six months ago.
Mings, 30, has been in incredible form having helped Villa to five straight clean sheets at Villa Park while, since mid-February, Villa have shipped just two goals from open play in their last 10 matches, of which they’ve remained unbeaten (W8 D2).
There have now been strong calls for Mings to return to the England setup for the first time since March 2022. As for Emery, he first clocked Mings heading balls and clearing crosses at the Emirates back in 2019 when he was manager of Arsenal.
Dean Smith’s Villa led twice that day thanks to goals from John McGinn and Wesley before going down 3-2 to Emery’s Arsenal.
The Basque said of his defender: “When I was here four years ago with Arsenal, we played Aston Villa who had been promoted from the Championship, and I remembered him, Tyrone Mings.
“He played against Arsenal and I was remembering him as a good player. When I arrived here I started working with him, starting as well to take a new direction in our idea, to build and create our style.
“Sometimes he is doing better, sometimes he is doing worse, but he is always doing well and trying to do better. Never with us has he played badly and not deserve to play the next match.
“It’s the same idea with everybody, with [Ezri] Konsa, with [Diego] Carlos. Try to build our structure strong and try when each one is playing in this structure to feel comfortable. Tyrone Mings, he has skills, he has qualities to improve and get better performances.”
Asked what he liked about Mings back in 2019, Emery replied: “First he is left-footed, it’s important for me to have left-footed players to build up, to try to progress with passes. Then he is tall and strong. He is trying as well to take duels with the strikers. His commitment and behaviour every day is very good as well, to respect him.”
Ahead of Villa’s trip to Manchester United on Sunday, Emery, 51, said: “For us it is a good challenge, it is a very difficult match like we played at home when I arrived here.
“I think we can face the match and try in 90 minutes to get our best performance. If we do it we can have chances to take some points there.
“I like to play matches like we are playing now. I played against Manchester United in Europe with Valencia and with Villarreal.
“When you are playing those matches against Manchester United or here in the Premier League, it is when you can feel the top level. To have those matches always as a coach is where you can feel good.
