Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has dismissed any suggestion of an issue with recent comments from Youri Tielemans after he hinted at frustration over his lack of playing time.
The 26-year-old joined us on a free transfer from Leicester City this summer, and he’s expected to play an important role this season as we look to compete on multiple fronts.
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Adding competition alongside the likes of Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara in midfield was crucial in the transfer window, and Tielemans adds quality to the group to ensure we have depth and individuals capable of maintaining a high level in what will be a hectic schedule.
However, although the Belgian international has featured in all six games so far this season, he has totalled 206 minutes of playing time having been limited to a bench role.
That in turn led to his comments below last week while on international duty, where he hinted at an element of frustration that he hasn’t been more heavily involved thus far.
“I may not start at Aston Villa, but I have participated in every training session so far and played in every match,” Tielemans told Nieuwsblad. “I have spoken to the manager of Aston Villa about the fact that I am not playing. He now chooses other players but it is up to me to do my best. He said there would still be opportunities to play. That explanation doesn’t help me much, but I hope I can show myself a little more in the coming weeks.”
At the time of those comments, it was argued that it was a good thing that Tielemans was pushing for more minutes and that he wasn’t content with playing a bit-part role in the squad. That not only pushes him to raise his level, but it applies pressure on the likes of Luiz and Kamara to keep their respective places in the starting XI.
That in turn can only be a healthy thing at this stage for the squad, admittedly though it would become a problem if that frustration spilled over and became a negative influence in the dressing room.
Nevertheless, Emery has shared that sentiment when asked about Tielemans, but more so on his impact since arriving rather than on his comments specifically.
“We try to increase our capacity in the squad, and we are going to play a lot of matches,” he told the media, as per VillaTV. “We start to play more than normal with the [Europa] Conference League. I will need, we will need, every player during the season.
“I like the player when they are not playing that they are asking how they can improve, how they can be closer to playing in the starting XI, and I’m very happy with him, with every player, because I want to be competitive in each competition.
“I want to be really strong in our squad, and I’m very happy with the midfield that we have. With Kamara, Dendoncker, Luiz and Tielemans, and Tim as well when he’s coming after his injury, we can use him and he can help us.
“Everything as a team, as a player, we want information about everybody to increase our level and I’m happy.”
Villa play five games over the next 14 days across three competitions, and so there will no doubt be opportunities for Tielemans and others to come in and play key roles for us.
While there was arguably nothing wrong with his comments, they were perhaps a bit premature, and so while he isn’t expected to start against Crystal Palace this weekend, he will surely be involved when we take on Legia Warzsawa in the Europa Conference League on Thursday evening.
