Jamie Carragher comment on Youri Tielemans backfires in Aston Villa 0-0 Man United
Youri Tielemans failed to live up to the hype as Aston Villa played out a goalless draw against Manchester United on Sunday (6 October).
The Belgian has become a regular under Unai Emery, which has been vital since Douglas Luiz’s departure this summer, and it has been difficult to criticise him up until now.
However, the curse of the commentator looks to have reared its ugly head after Tielemans let his team down in terms of accuracy on the ball during a 0-0 draw at Villa Park.
Speaking via Sky Sports on Sunday (6 October), Jamie Carragher said ahead of the match: “He’s almost been the playmaker, a deep-lying playmaker, bringing him in alongside Amadou Onana.
“He feels like the real mainstay. He’s been excellent so far.”
Carragher then pointed out that Tielemans tops the Premier League table for the most passes under pressure.
With just a 70 per cent pass accuracy against Man United, as per FotMob, the 27-year-old attempted the second-most number of passes on the pitch but completed the lowest percentage out of any of his teammates [WhoScored], meaning nobody was worse on the ball statistically speaking.
Youri Tielemans not at best as Aston Villa draw v Man United
Tielemans also failed to complete 50 per cent of his long balls, fired zero accurate crosses into the box and completed zero per cent of his dribbles.
His other stats were rather mixed in the middle of the park, having won 100 per cent of his tackles but only winning 44 per cent of his ground duels. As discussed before the game, though, passing has been his biggest positive.
Indeed, as per FBref, his 6.90 progressive passes per 90 minutes – forward passes of 10 yards or more – rank him among the top 16 percentile of midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues.
Without accuracy in his game, he is rendered a little less useful in midfield, which seemed to set the Villans back as they faced a Man United side currently in the middle crisis.
While Villa have been unable to seal a victory against the Red Devils in the last five meetings, Emery will be extremely disappointed not to have walked away with more than a point.
Tielemans by no means had a terrible game, but nor was he – and the rest of his Villa colleagues – at his “excellent” best.
In other Aston Villa news, one star must improve a trait that left Unai Emery “frustrated” v Manchester United.
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