After another positive showing this past weekend, Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans is continuing to stake his claim for a bigger role.
The 26-year-old’s limited playing time through the early part of the season was discussed at length, and he has voiced his desire to contribute more moving forward to help the squad be successful.
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His form prior to the international break made a strong case in favour of earning a start against Tottenham on Sunday, but the Belgian international had to settle for a place on the bench again.
However, thrust into action at half-time, he stepped up delivered a key performance in the second half, proving to be an influential reason in how we were able to turn things around and secure a 2-1 win.
Tielemans showed great technical quality, composure, control and intelligence to occupy pockets of space in the final third, where he could link our play together and help us build rhythm and direction.
That was a glaring issue in the opening 45 minutes and it contributed to our struggles, but his introduction, along with Leon Bailey at the break, was decisive.
Further, his versatility and tactical astuteness has seen him play in various roles so far this season, from a more central role in midfield to playing a little wider, and now even be deployed in a more advanced position as support behind Ollie Watkins.
After going 12 games across all competitions without a goal contribution to start the season, Tielemans now has a goal and two assists in his last seven outings, with many of those appearances still coming off the bench. Nevertheless, he’s continuing to show more promising signs of adapting and settling into our system and way of playing.
That was a point that Unai Emery stressed when last speaking about our summer recruit. The Villa boss was adamant that patience was needed as Tielemans continued to adapt and understand how to fit into the structure and style of play we were implementing, and that process is now producing results.
With Jacob Ramsey returning from injury to battle for a starting berth alongside the likes of John McGinn, Bailey and Nicolo Zaniolo, Tielemans will face additional competition for a place in the Villa XI moving forward.
Additionally, with Moussa Diaby remaining Emery’s first-choice in providing support in the final third for Watkins, it’s difficult to see the Frenchman being dropped for a significant period of time.
That said, while displaying his quality more consistently now, he’s proving to be an important part of the squad for Emery, and if he can sustain this level of performance and form, Tielemans has got every chance of establishing himself as a more permanent fixture in this Villa side.
