Tag Archives: Tyrone Mings

How Aston Villa have gone from near relegation to Champions League contenders in 4 months

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Dean Smith has shown us many emotions in 2020, from near despair in July when the extended Premier League finished to utter jubilation just a few months later when Villa destroyed champions Liverpool 7-2. What everyone wants to know is, how has Smith been able to turn things around so much and so quickly?

Aston Villa’s status that they would remain in the Premier League was only confirmed on the last weekend of last season after they drew 1-1 at West Ham. The club finished with a total of 35 points and only earned 1 more point than 18th placed Bournemouth- even the goal difference was only 1 out so everything could have changed on that final weekend.

It is interesting to note though that Villa did go their last four games of the season unbeaten quite a mean feat for a team who lost 21 games. With Villa’s participation safe for this season, from the outside it seemed as though Dean Smith’s team would be amongst the favourites to be relegated this season, a kind of well done, but maybe last seasons escapade was simply a stay of execution.

And yet here we are in November of the new season and after 8 games Aston Villa are in 6th place. They have been a regular top four side too though faced back to back defeats recently and that looked like the call for them to start slipping down the league table. Villa’s last game was away to Arsenal who have improved this season, the script had been written that Villa would now lose 3 games in a row and their 15 minutes of fame was about to be quashed. But Villa had other thoughts and out played Arsenal winning that game 3-0. Now we probably have to take Smith’s side seriously. After all they come into this weekend having already beaten Arsenal, Leicester and Liverpool.

So what has been the turn around at the club? In the summer Villa made 3 interesting buys bringing in Bertrand Traore from Lyon for £17m, Matty Cash from Nottingham Forest for £14m and Ollie Watkins from Brentford for £28m. The fee they paid Brentford for Watkins certainly raised many eyebrows, not because it felt like a steep transfer for a player playing lower league but because of the anticipation of who Villa have just had the confidence to splash that amount of money on a lower league player. And of course the fee was a club record.

Well Watkins is repaying his managers faith and has scored 6 league goals in seven appearances including a perfect hat trick against none other than Liverpool in that infamous 7-2 win over the Reds.

But while Villa were happy to splash the cash spending over £70m once you take out Watkins it has actually been the players that were already at the club that have made the most impact. Stand up Jack Grealish, a player who has been hyped for several seasons, his only problem being that he was playing in the Championship and nobody could really tell if he had the right level for the Premier League. After a debut season in the top flight which only saw flashes of his brilliance he has really turned it on for this season.

Grealish has been Aston Villa’s number 1 outstanding player so far. The midfielder has scored 4 goals and assisted in another five and his value in the fantasy football league is just 3.5m and he has amassed a total of 33 points already. He has a new found hunger and loves his free role that Smith has given him as play maker.

Ross Barkley has been another brilliant signing, the former Everton player was struggling to make an impact at Chelsea but has already done more in his work rate with Aston Villa in a few months than a few seasons at Stamford Bridge. He also grabbed an all important 3 points with the only goal when Villa beat Leicester 1-0 at King Power Stadium.

The biggest change for Villa though seems to be in their attack minded tactics. Last season the club looked to afraid to come out and just hoped to settle for draws, but with the attacking players at their disposal Smith has adopted a rule of attack first, and it seems to be working.

On the change up Smith said: “We always felt that if we retained our Premier League status, we could be more strategic in our planning this year.”

Villa certainly have been and at home they have adopted a 4-2-3-1 formation, but don’t be fooled into thinking that Villa are playing 1 up front. All three players in midfield are very capable of switching to attack and that has been telling giving that the club have scored 18 goals so far this season, only Tottenham and Chelsea have netted more.

This weekend Aston Villa will play Brighton at home where they will be the favourites to win and if they do they would go into 2nd place, so there is all to play for and all eyes will be on Dean Smith’s side this season as they try to finish in a European place.

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Premier League Best 11 Players of the Week: Matchday 4

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Is this the Premier League or Play station? Who knows anymore what we do know is that if you have an attacking line up in your fantasy team you would have earned many points. Whilst these are sad times for goalkeepers and defenders it is impossible not to get caught up in the excitement of how many goals are being scored.

It was another weekend that saw over 40 goals scored and plenty of shocks. The champions Liverpool have already lost their first game of the season. That feels like a surprise as it was against Aston Villa. What will be a shock is the result, as they lost 7-2. 2. A quite stunning result.

Tottenham are a good side but did anyone really expect them to beat Manchester United away from home by 6-1? And Everton who have not won the league since 1987 are now 3 points clear at the top. What an incredible start to the season, now let’s see which players made the final 11 cut.

Goalkeeper: Lukasz Fabianski- West Ham 7pts

For the second week in a row Fabianski is the goal keeper of the weekend. He was assured and superb in goal as he kept another clean sheet as West Ham stunned the then league leaders Leicester by winning 3-0.

Defender: Aaron Cresswell- West Ham 9pts

A superb game by Aaron Cresswell saw him as part of a defence that kept a clean sheet. But the player also assisted in not one but two goals and had a perfect weekend. He is valued at 7m and has 12 pts overall.

Defender: Ben Chilwell- Chelsea 11pts

Chelsea spent £50m on Ben Chilwell in the summer and he is already paying dividends. He was part of a defence that kept a clean sheet as Frank Lampard’s side hammered Crystal Palace 4-0. And to put the icing on the cake he scored the opening goal and assisted in another.

Defender: Kurt Zouma- Chelsea 9pts

Kurt Zouma was overdue a good game for the Blues and he kept a clean sheet as they beat Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace side 4-0. Zouma also scored the Blues second goal in a rampant display at Stamford Bridge. Can Zouma make this season count?

Defender: Tyrone Mings- Aston Villa 7pts

Tyrone Mings had a strong game as Aston Villa stunned Liverpool 7-2. Mings now has 14 pts already and is a real bargain to add to your team and is only 4.5m.

Midfielder: Jack Grealish- Aston Villa 20pts

Maybe this was Jack Grealish’s greatest game in football so far. He assisted in 2 goals and then scored 2 goals as Aston Villa pulled off one of the greatest shocks and great performances in Premier League history as they destroyed champions Liverpool 7-2 at Villa Park. A stunning result, Grealish now has 22 pts overall and is valued at 3.5m.

Midfielder: James Rodriguez- Everton 10pts

James Rodriguez looks like incredible business for Everton and the Colombian scored another 2 goals at the weekend as Everton beat Brighton 4-2. James now has 18 points overall and has been involved in 5 goals so far his value to add to your team is 9.5m.

Midfielder: Jorginho- Chelsea 10pts

Jorginho scored 2 goals- both penalties as Chelsea ran out 4-0 winners against Crystal Palace. It was the midfielder’s best game for the club in some time and this could make him step up this season to become the player everyone knows he can be, he played very well and covered the pitch with maturity.

Midfielder: Mohamed Salah- Liverpool 8pts

Even though his team Liverpool were destroyed in one of the stunning results in the modern era Salah still managed to score 2 goals. He will quickly forget about them of course in a nightmare day for the Reds but personally Salah keeps scoring goals and that will bode well for the season ahead.

Striker: Heung-Min Son- Tottenham 10pts

Two more goals for Heung-Min Son as they smashed Manchester United 6-1 at Old Trafford and he also assisted. Son now has 6 goals this season equal to Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Son is having up until now the best season of his career.

Striker: Harry Kane- Tottenham 10pts

Together with Son, Harry Kane is part of one of the deadliest if not most deadliest strike partnerships in the Premier League. Kane scored another two goals and assisted in Son’s first. It has been an incredible start for the English international who can be snapped up for 14.5m.

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Premier League Best 11 Players of the Weekend: Matchday 3

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Leicester City caused the biggest upset in gameweek 2 as Jamie Vardy scored a hat-trick in a 5-2 win away to Manchester City. Later that night, West Ham United thrashed Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-0.

Here’s a look at the players who made a real difference in the fantasy football last weekend:

Goalkeeper: Emi Martinez (Aston Villa) – 7pts
The Argentinian goalkeeper has started his Aston Villa career with back-to-back clean sheets as part of the side that won 3-0 at Fulham on Monday. He’ll do well to make it three in a row this weekend when Dean Smith’s side face Liverpool.

Defender: Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa) – 11pts
Tyrone Mings scored the third as Aston Villa romped to victory at Craven Cottage. A clean sheet too for the centre-back, you can’t get much better than that combo.

Defender: Andy Robertson (Liverpool) – 9pts
Liverpool’s left-back gave his side the lead against Arsenal on Monday night after it was his mistake that gifted Mikel Arteta’s side the lead. Andy Robertson now has a goal, assist and clean sheet in his first three outings this season.

Defender: Arthur Masuaku (West Ham United) – 9pts
Anyone who was brave enough to include a West Ham defender in their team last weekend greatly profited with a surprise clean sheet versus Wolverhampton Wanderers. Arthur Masuaku outscored his fellow defenders by registering an assist too.

Midfielder: Conor Hourihane (Aston Villa) – 12pts
Aston Villa were two up inside 15 minutes at Fulham on Monday thanks to Conor Hourihane adding to Jack Grealish’s strike. The central midfielder also delivered the free kick that Tyrone Mings poked home just after half-time.

Midfielder: Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City) – 10pts
Riyad Mahrez opened the scoring for Manchester City against his former club before Leicester City produced a stunning turnaround in a 5-2 victory at the Etihad Stadium.

Midfielder: Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) – 9pts
Aston Villa’s first goalscorer in their 3-0 win at Fulham saw Jack Grealish make the fantasy Premier League team of the weekend.

Striker: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) – 13pts
The fourth hat-trick of the 2020-21 Premier League season saw Leicester City thrash Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City on Sunday. This was Jamie Vardy’s versus the Citizens since the Spaniard has been in charge.

Striker: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United) – 11pts
Scorer of the opening two goals from West Ham United in their surprise 4-0 thrashing of Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday earned Jarrod Bowen a place in the team of the week.

Striker: Callum Robinson (West Bromwich Albion) – 10pts
Callum Robinson only scored one goal in 17 Premier League appearances for Sheffield United last season but scored two in West Brom’s 3-3 draw with Chelsea this weekend. Unfortunately for the striker, he was taken off midway through the second half before he could grab a hat-trick.

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Premier League Best 11 Players of the Weekend: Matchday 2

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Heung-min Son scored four as Tottenham Hotspur thrashed Southampton 5-2 and Dominic Calvert-Lewin grabbed a hat-trick as Everton beat 10 man West Bromwich Albion by the same score.

Clean sheets were hard to come by in the Premier League last weekend, with only Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea and Aston Villa keeping one.

Here’s a look at the players who made a real difference in the fantasy football last weekend:

Goalkeeper: Emi Martinez (Aston Villa) – 7pts
Aston Villa’s new signing introduced himself to the fans by saving a penalty and keeping a clean sheet in a 1-0 win over Sheffield United on his debut. Emi Martinez was one of only three goalkeepers to keep a clean sheet on matchday 2.

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UEFA need to show zero tolerance to racism after Bulgaria-England game

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It was suspected that it would happen before the game and then it did. England played Bulgaria away from home and the nations black players had been warned that racist chanting could happen during the game. But this time there was a plan of action at hand.

Sure enough the racist chants bellowed out throughout the stadium in under 30 minutes and it was heartening to see something different happen- the game stopped, the referee abide, talked to England manager Gareth Southgate and also a group of racist fans were led out of the stadium. Finally some action whilst the game was going on had occurred. Black players who have had to endure vile chants usually monkey gestures were taking that fight back.

One had to feel sorry for Tyrone Mings, who had earned his place finally in the England team. This was his debut for the national side and it should have been a memorable and proud one. Sure England won 6-0 and Mings played his part but it all got overshadowed by the racists.

After the game UEFA charged both sets of fans- England for chanting during the Bulgarian national anthem and Bulgarian fans even if in the minority and their racist and also Nazi salutes. But what will be the outcome?

Simply put UEFA have been pretty useless at dealing with racism. Getting the worlds best players to partake in anti racist messages does not work, banners do not work, adverts do not work, fines do not work, banning certain fans does not work. having sections of the ground closed off does not work and even playing behind closed doors does not work. So what is the solution.

Maybe simply there is none. Racism has been with us for centuries why would it go away in 2019? It won’t and to think it will is living in dreamland. But Bulgaria need to be punished as does any other nation and football club by that matter. The punishment needs to be to stop that supply- that means to actually stop the football club or nation operating. In effect suspending a business.

Bulgaria should be thrown out of the Euro 2020 qualifying and then banned from partaking in the qualifiers for the next World Cup. With every other friendly game played outside the country. It might seem harsh but a message needs to be sent.

As for clubs, stop the fines and start docking points. As much as 10 points, punish those clubs if they are on the verge of European football and those 10 points drop them out of contention or could be the difference between being relegated or not.

No matter what colour you are or religion, you have the right not to be harassed on a football field and in the wider spectrum society. We will never get rid of racism, but we need to reduce it, and the only way of doing that is by having a zero tolerance attitude.