Sky Sports pundit shares reason behind lack of chances for ‘frustrated’ Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans
We’re delighted to welcome Sky Sports journalist Dan Bardell as our exclusive Aston Villa columnist each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the club…
Youri Tielemans is “frustrated” by a lack of minutes at Aston Villa, but his lack of defensive capabilities keeps him out the side, according to Dan Bardell.
Free signings don’t often come as valuable as Tielemans, who chose Villa among much-reported interest after Leicester City were relegated last season with Unai Emery acting quickly to snap him up on a free after his contract with the Foxes expired.
Since then, the 26-year-old has struggled to get game time under the Spaniard, collecting just 238 total minutes across all competitions this season [Transfermarkt]. Villa have plenty of current midfield options, with Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara emerging as a top Premier League partnership.
Bardell has pointed to Tielemans’ lack of defensive nous compared to Kamara as the reason behind his lack of starts, claiming it’s “not [his] game”. Despite praising Tielemans as a top-level option, he notes Villa are best with the established midfield partnership of Luiz and Kamara when the Brazilian has the chance to move up the pitch.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Bardell said: “I think he’ll play plenty of games. He’ll be frustrated about the lack of minutes he’s had so far, although obviously, he had a longer cameo in the game [against Crystal Palace].
“I was really impressed with his progressive passes in that game. He’d probably have expected more minutes this season, but he’s a high-level player.
“We’ll probably see more of him in European games because he has that experience. He’s played in the Europa League and the Conference League with Leicester City.
“The only issue he’s got is that Douglas Luiz is Villa’s top-choice central midfield player at the moment, so by and large he’s going to start.
“Luiz is best when he has that license to go a little bit more forward, which probably means you’ll have Boubacar Kamara next to him as that’s not Tielemans’ game.”
In other Aston Villa news, Alan Hutton has shared his team news verdict ahead of the club’s European return.