Jay Mingi has excelled for Colchester United at centre-half

Jay Mingi’s inclusion in the U’s starting line-up was a big talking point, with it being his first league start in four months; somewhat less certain was the position he would play in.

After all, the midfield seemed set in stone and Mingi had only ever previously been utilised in that position in his time at Colchester.

All became clear shortly afterwards when he lined up in an unfamiliar role, as a right-sided central defender.

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The 23-year-old went on to produce a man-of-the-match display against the Saddlers in the 1-1 draw and from that point on, did not look back.

He started the U’s next ten matches in a defensive role and has been outstanding, consistently producing impressive performances to help the club stay in the Football League.

The Cowleys’ key decision to move Mingi from his established midfield role to centre-half proved inspired and dates back to the time they spent together at previous club Portsmouth.

“It’s the third season that we’ve worked with Jay, as a player,” said U’s boss Danny.

“We know his qualities and probably our frustration when we first joined was that he wasn’t the athlete and the physical specimen that we’d had previously.

“He’d had injuries and a very stop-start pre-season.

“It wasn’t all of his own fault.

“At his previous club, he’s under the age of 24 so because of the Bosman ruling, they wanted a fee which made it difficult for him to move in the summer or make the move as quickly as he wanted to.

“He was really determined to move on and have a really good pre-season but when you have a stop-start pre-season, you end up picking up injuries and your training can end up being quite disrupted.

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“We were frustrated when we first arrived because he was nowhere near in the condition to play at the level that he needs to play at.

“He’s an athlete and a physical being that needs to be conditioned to be able to perform the best he can.

“He’s a Ferrari – you don’t put diesel in a Ferrari.

“You have to give your very best petrol to it and now, I think he’s in a much better place.

“The position he’s been playing in, where probably his aerobic capacity is, has probably helped him because playing on the right side of defence like he has been has a different demand to playing in centre midfield, physically anyway.

“The boy can be whatever he wants to be.

“He’s such an exciting profile to work with.

“He has pace, athleticism and his pick up is incredible.

“He can sense danger, I think he can jump into next week, in a one v one moment he’s just so athletic.

“He’s so quick that he can defend a one v one moment but can also defend the space behind him so well.

“And with the ball, he just speeds the game up – it’s like Moses parting the Red Sea!

“He can just step in with such athleticism and this is the way that we like the game played, with fast speed and a real intensity and energy; we want it to be all action.

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“It feels like Jay gives us those qualities.”

Pre-season is crucial for any professional but Mingi in particular will benefit from a productive summer, heading into the next campaign.

The former Charlton Athletic and West Ham United youngster spent last summer training independently following a difficult parting with former club Portsmouth but after signing a two-year deal with Colchester last September, is enjoying life at the JobServe Community Stadium.

Mingi has shown his versatility this season and is now primed to be one of Colchester’s key players next season, under the Cowleys.

“I think you see a lot of midfielders go back to centre-half,” said Cowley.

“The role of the centre-half has evolved as time has gone on.

“The best example is Rio Ferdinand. He used to play for Blackheath District and we used to play against him and he was always a centre midfielder or a centre-forward.

"All of a sudden at the age of 16, 17, 18 he’s at West Ham as a scholar, Harry Redknapp picks him as a centre-half in a cup-final and he’s like ‘oh wow’.

“I think West Ham were talking about releasing him at that time; that totally changed his career and the rest is history.

“I like Jay there and I think he can play in midfield as well.

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“Jay has to be fit enough when he plays in midfield to stay in the game and sometimes, he’s so explosive and so anaerobic in his nature that he finds it hard to catch his breath.

“He needs rest between the moments whereas at centre-half, if you dominate the ball like we have done in the attacking half, then it does give time to build the defence behind it.

“In Holland they call it rest defence and that gives him the time to maybe catch his breath and power up again, because he’s this athlete that has these big power moments.”