"As long as you can look yourself in the mirror when we come out of all of this and know you played your part, the world and society will be a lot better place," says Villa defender
Thursday 16 April 2020 06:34, UK
Tyrone Mings says Aston Villa are taking the opportunity to re-evaluate during the "strange" suspension of football due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Villa were second from bottom in the Premier League with 10 games remaining when football seasons ground to a halt in March as the Covid-19 outbreak forced swathes of the global population into isolation.
The unprecedented stoppage has given Mings and his colleagues at Villa Park the opportunity to reflect. Influential midfielder John McGinn is likely to return from injury when the season resumes, and the England international is optimistic more positives will emerge when lockdown is lifted.
"It's strange at the moment, nobody knows what's going to happen, nobody knows if we're going to finish the season or play with fans, there are so many questions and hypothetical situations that could or couldn't happen," he told The Football Show.
"It's really strange not being able to play football but not being on a summer or winter break and not being able to relax, really. I can only talk from my part in this, and that's to keep fit, stay motivated and be ready for when the season starts.
"That is probably the hardest thing for players, everybody connected to football at the minute, the unknown, the uncertainty about what is going to happen, what the season and football industry is going to look like and what we are going to come back to.
"All we can do is try and prepare as much as we can, balance staying fit with not burning out and making sure we are fresh and ready to go when we return to training and when the season restarts.
"But this also allows for a period of reflection, a chance for us players, managers, clubs to set new goals for the last 10 games of the season while taking a step back and re-evaluating what has been positive for the first two thirds of the season and what we can do better for the final third. Hopefully there are positives to come from it."
One positive already in motion is the collective initiative set up by Premier League footballers to help fund the NHS in their battle against coronavirus, #PlayersTogether.
Mings, who has played an active role in the initiative, hopes it instils a renewed sense of unity between players, fans and the wider football community.
"Some people see many faults with football as it is at the moment, some people will see it as a great form of entertainment," he said. "Quarantine would be a lot easier if people had football to watch at the moment.
"When football does come back, I hope from a player and football fans' point of view it doesn't look too different. I think we will also come back to an industry that is more tightly knitted.
"When you go through periods like this people can come out of it with a lot of credit if they act in the right way and do the right thing, and I think every footballer, and the majority of people in football, has a moral conscience and we all feel very privileged that we can give back, be that as role models or with financial donations."
Mings added: "Take #PlayersTogether for example. Players have spoken throughout this quarantine; players from different clubs naturally speak, ex-players that used to play together, captains speak to each other, PFA reps - everybody is trying to gauge how each other is getting on and what the situation is at each club.
"That can only be healthy for the players' union, it can only be healthy for the game. The #PlayersTogether initiative is one example of how the football industry can come together and make a massive difference.
"It's a fantastic initiative that captains, Jordan Henderson in particular, set about creating. I don't think there was ever any doubt that players understood their role and their implications on fans, so it was always important for us to do something, be that individually or through the #PlayersTogether initiative.
"Footballers came in for a bit a criticism but that is not something that concerned me. The middle of a crisis is not the time to be finger pointing at footballers or anyone else, as long as you can look yourself in the mirror when we come out of all of this and know you played your part, the world and society will be a lot better place."
