Wednesday 1 March 2017

Mings stepped up his game - now the others at AFCB must do the same

I was fairly critical of Tyrone Mings in his recent appearances for the Cherries, so I was pleasantly pleased with how well he did at the Hawthorns at keeping Solomon Rondon quite. He did it by much better reading of the game and by using his large frame to make Rondon less of a focal point than he might have been for WBA. I guess Tyrone is going to have a similar role to play on Saturday against another big name in the game - Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Tyrone is looking much more settled at centre-back.
Tyrone may be enjoying his chance to play in the Premier League, but he has had to be thrown in at this level having only just started to learn how to be a centre-back. Simon Francis has similarly been converted to a centre-back and it is going to be questioned come the end of this season whether converting wing-backs was really the best solution to Bournemouth's lack of central defenders, when they sold Tommy Elphick and Marc Wilson wasn't seen as being up to the job of breaking into the first team. Fans have been calling out for a big centre-back signing and yet since the days of Sylvain Distin there has not been a player in the team that has had an imposing physique. Meanwhile, Baily Cargill still awaits his Premier League debut.
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Tyrone Mings is the player that is most likely to try and take that job on now of being a physical bully if you like at the back. He may not be a heavyweight, but he has the height and what I do like about him is that when he is seeing things early he looks a very accomplished player. He passes the ball very casually and it seems to be natural for him to hold off attackers when under pressure. What he has to make sure of is that he is on the same wave length as Steve Cook and I believe this is starting to come now.

Even if Simon Francis is fit come mid-March, it may be that Tyrone Mings and Steve Cook are going to be Eddie Howe's best pairing to try and stave off the threat of relegation at the back.

Other News: Arur Boruc retires from International football.



2 comments:

  1. There is no chance of mings playing when francis is fit...howe has his list of players who are his favourites irrespective of form and he is intransigent...

    Gosling is next in midfield...what happened to lewis cook and the same for mousset

    Its pathetic really

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  2. My comments on Mings last week might have been wrong, thought he played really well at WBA. He still gives the ball away to much for my liking, but did play much better. Hope the growth continues.

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