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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Adrian Durham has continued his assault against Tyrone Mings this week after the Aston Villa centre-back was announced in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for their upcoming qualifiers, having his say on the matter on talkSPORT, via Birmingham Mail.
What’s he said?
It appears that the former Bournemouth defender has been rewarded for his excellent form over the past eight months with a call-up to the England squad.
Mings was an instrumental figure in getting Villa promoted last season as his arrival on loan practically kick-started a historic ten game-winning run, which catapulted them into the playoffs.
The towering 6 foot 5 centre-back is now a fan-favourite at Villa Park.
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Earlier this month, the talkSPORT presenter claimed Mings was brilliant against Tottenham on the opening weekend, but there were signs that he would contribute towards a potential instant relegation.
Now Durham has given his verdict on the 26-year-old’s call-up by questioning whether he has done enough to warrant it, he said:
“He’s left-footed, which I think is a massive plus in his favour, but there are other centre-backs who have been overlooked.
“Ben Mee for example, [James] Tarkowski – both at Burnley. Conor Coady for a long time at Wolves has looked really good.
“I’ve no problem with Mings being in the squad, but if I was one of those three I’d be thinking what have I got to do to get into the England squad?
“He’s just waltzed in from the Championship, and after three games he’s just walked in. If I was one of them I’d feel a little bit aggrieved.”
Understandable points
Mings has been excellent alongside Bjorn Engels and we’ve previously covered how the imposing centre-back has been proving that he’s been worth every bit of that initial £20m price tag.
But the three names Durham mentions, and you could even throw Lewis Dunk in there too, will all feel a bit disheartened – especially as they have been playing regularly in the Premier League for the past year, if not longer.
Mings has featured in all three games this season, and if he continues at this rate, he’ll smash his previous season total in any one season for Bournemouth – he’s only played as little as seven total games in a given Premier League campaign.
As can be seen from the image above, courtesy of WhoScored’s comparison metric, all of the four other alternatives featured in 35 Premier League games or more last season, something Mings is yet to achieve in his career despite being of similar age at 26.
Questions over his call-up in relation to the others, therefore, are understandable from Durham.
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