The successful European Championship of England has been anything but smooth sailing for Tyrone Mings. The defender was surprisingly one of the regulars during the group stage with the English, but in the run-up to the final tournament had trouble getting past the criticisms at his address. Mings turned to a psychologist ahead of the opening game against Croatia after realizing that his mental health was suffering drastically.
The Aston Villa centre-back started England’s first two group matches against Croatia and Scotland, as Harry Maguire was recovering from injury. “When 90 to 95 percent of your country has doubts about you, it’s very hard to avoid intruding on your own thoughts,” Mings said in an extended interview with The Sun. “I had a really hard time leading up to the opening game against Croatia. I was probably the only name on the scoresheet that people weren’t sure about. That was something I had to overcome.”
Mings contacted a psychologist to isolate himself from the outside world. “I got a lot of coping mechanisms,” the defender continues. “Exercises for improving breathing, meditation or just learning how to put yourself in the now. To keep your subconscious from taking over. And I’m not ashamed to admit that, because there was so much unknown before me in the run-up to that game. I barely slept before that game.”
Mings helped England keep a clean sheet when the Three Lions their European Championship campaign started with a 1–0 win over Croatia. Six days later, the next clean sheet followed in the meeting with Scotland (0-0). Before the start of the third group match, Maguire returned to the starting eleven and Mings acted as a substitute, after which national coach Gareth Southgate no longer called on the mandekker in the remainder of the European Championship. “I think I’m much more resistant to outside influences now, but my mental health has deteriorated,” concludes Mings.
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