With Aston Villa battling to stay in the hunt for Champions League qualification, Unai Emery needs more than just energy and desire from his players to get us there.
Matching the work ethic and intensity of the opposition is ultimately just the bare minimum of what it takes to compete at the top level, as it then comes down to the quality of individuals and how they are able to effectively influence a game as part of the collective.
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Aside from being a mainstay in the Villa side this season with 52 appearances across all competitions, all coming as a starter, Youri Tielemans is continuing to play at a level that is above many who share the pitch with him, and he was not only influential this weekend in our win over Fulham, he was decisive too having scored the winning goal to secure three invaluable points for us.
The reliability that the Belgian midfielder has shown is impressive in itself, as it’s testament to the physical condition that he’s got himself into that he can consistently compete and showcase his class in the Premier League week in and week out against some of the best in the business.
However, he isn’t just keeping his place, he’s earning it every passing game, with skipper John McGinn summing it up perfectly in his post-match interview on Saturday by insisting that Tielemans is not only getting better and better, but he has also been our best player this season “by a mile”.
The praise didn’t stop there as Unai Emery was asked about his midfield metronome in his press conference, and the Villa boss was full of praise for him as he’s adapted, developed and improved significantly from when he was first featuring for us following his arrival on a free transfer in the summer of 2023.
“His commitment with us is fantastic,” Emery said of the Villa midfielder, as per BirminghamLive. “His qualities and how we are trying to get of him in our structure is very important. Last year, he was adapting and progressively getting better. But he didn’t play like this year and also played in different positions too. This year he has been more consistent playing as a number eight, or a 10. Those positions are something he can dominate. Of course, he is a very good example how he works every day and takes a commitment with us to try to get our objective working hard.”
Having stepped out of the shadow of Douglas Luiz to an extent and been handed the keys to run our midfield, the Belgian international has relished the responsibility and expectation that has come with that, and he’s excelling in such an important job for us.
From his tenacity and work ethic off the ball to be a disruptive force alongside Boubacar Kamara to give us defensive solidity and protection, to his technical ability, vision and creativity in possession to be a decisive figure in our attacking play.
Not only is Tielemans the heartbeat of the team with his ability to dictate tempo and possession and make us tick as we’re building out from the back and transitioning from defence into attacking passages of play, but he can play a killer pass between the lines or over the top to carve a defence open.
Further, as he’s shown this season with five goals and 10 assists, he’s still managing to make decisive contributions even from a deeper role, while he of course has the versatility to play as a No.10 in a more advanced position when needed.
Villa arguably get the best out of him in a deeper role as a No.6 though, as Tielemans sees the game in front of him from that position and can subsequently give us control, and it has been a joy to watch him operate this season as he continues to go from strength to strength.
With recent disappointments seeing us run the risk of letting what has been an excellent season on the whole slip away and end up with nothing to show for it, Tielemans will continue to drive us forward in the remaining three weeks of the campaign, and it’s hoped that we can achieve what would have been a priority objective at the start of the year.
As for our end-of-season awards, it would be a shock to see Tielemans not dominate and receive the respect and praise that he so deserves.
