Mings tells of regular racist abuse
IF I was Rafa Benitez this afternoon my pre-match instructions would be chillingly simple.
Go out and score one goal in the first 45 minutes, then another in the second half, and you win the match.
Because two goals will always beat Swansea.
They have scored only six goals in their last 12 matches and 13 goals in 22 Premier League games all season, which is the worst return in topflight football by a country mile.
The Swans have no response to leaking goals because they have not the firepower to answer back.
United have to gain three points this afternoon, no question about that, and they can do it if they go about things the right way.
That means Benitez getting his team selection right for a start.
I have an awful lot of time for United’s manager who is a shrewd pro tactically - but he likes to tinker with the team and sometimes his decisions can raise an eyebrow.
What I would love him to do today is start with Dwight Gayle and Ayoze Perez up top, which means ignoring one of his favourites Joselu.
I have a feeling Gayle and Perez are beginning to forge an understanding, a partnership.
They have good movement, are United’s best finishers and can make defenders uncomfortable - Gayle with his pace off the shoulder of the last defender and Perez with his good feet.
They can grab the goals which can beat Swansea. If they do then United’s defence has to remain firm and the job is done. To do that I hope to see Ciaran Clark teamed with Jamaal Lascelles. That is Newcastle’s best defensive partnership, not the more suspect Florian Lejeune whom Benitez seems to like. Lascelles is still learning, good as he is, and all he needs is an honest, solid old pro alongside him. That’s Clark, who rarely lets the team down. Swansea can play good football but they do not have a cutting edge and that will spell relegation for them I am afraid. Football is all about sticking the ball in the net and while United don’t do it often enough their opponents are worse.
The big difference between Newcastle and Luton last Saturday was not a gulf in class but they fact the home side scored three times.
Luton were terrific in the second half but could not match United when it came to finishing.
Let us remember United’s 50,000 home fans have not seen a Premier League win for an awful long time and deserve one. This is the perfect opportunity to get it.
An upturn in hope, fashioned by back-to-back away wins against West Ham and Stoke, has Geordies believing again and that has to be confirmed by the completion of another double.
Having beaten the Hammers and Stoke home and away inflicting similar punishment on Swansea is the requirement today. TYRONE Mings has revealed the extent of the racist abuse he regularly receives on social media.
The Bournemouth defender insists he has received thousands of racist post online, and has hit out at how that can be allowed to continue.
Mings received a retrospective five-match suspension for stamping on Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in March last year, and has revealed online abuse hit new heights afterwards.
“Clearly people think they can get away with things on social media that they wouldn’t get away with on the street,” Mings said. “If someone was racist to me in the street, you’d be a lot more shocked. Which is strange, because social media is real.
“I got thousands of messages. Thousands and thousands and thousands on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook.
“Private messages. Personal stuff: derogatory terms, offensive language, you’re this and you’re that, you shouldn’t be alive, this is what’s going to happen to your family. It’s far too easy to target people on social media.
“You’ll see the majority of replies to that sort of thing is positive - people defending me, or criticising the other person.
“But there are some that are just completely pathetic. I show my friends occasionally and they’ll read through it and be like, ‘How are people allowed to get away with stuff like this?’
“My mum will read comments, it might not affect me but if it affects my mum - and it’s upsetting - that’s not right. I feel they only do it because social media gives them a voice and a screen to hide behind.”
Mings has not experienced any racist abuse in person while at Bournemouth, but admitted to suffering two incidents during his stint at Ipswich.
“Player-to-player I think the numbers (of racial abuse incidents) would be really low, which is positive, credit to the organisations, like Kick It Out, who do great work and have done over the years, to get to the stage now where in 2018 numbers are impressive,” said Mings.