One Aston Villa star was described as ‘classy’ by journalist John Townley despite suffering a 2-0 loss against Borussia Dortmund.
Aston Villa were beaten by Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund on Saturday as Unai Emery’s men closed the book on their pre-season schedule.
Emi Martinez and Ezri Konsa both featured for the first time in pre-season while Ollie Watkins, Matty Cash and Jhon Duran were not named in the squad. Diego Carlos, who is subject to transfer interest from Fulham, was also absent.
For Emery and his players, it was an opportunity to test themselves against the level of opponent they could face in Europe’s elite competition however, the Spaniard won’t be pleased that the hosts completely took control of the contest.
Whilst it also won’t fill many with confidence heading into their clash against West Ham next weekend, one player could at least hold his head high.
Youri Tielemans was ‘classy’ in Borussia Dortmund loss
Youri Tielemans started in midfield alongside Amadou Onana and John McGinn against the German outfit.
Although many of his teammates struggled – including Pau Torres – the Belgian was Villa’s shining light in the centre of the park.
As per Sofascore, Tielemans controlled possession beautifully as he didn’t misplace one of his 28 passes, won five of his six ground duels and made two tackles in 80 minutes of action.
It was a typically ‘classy’ performance from the 27-year-old, as dubbed by journalist John Townley, who awarded him ‘man of the match’ and an 8/10 in his player ratings for the Birmingham Mail.
Townley wrote: “Tielemans was successful when trying to turn out of trouble after collecting the ball off Martinez. Classy in possession, he was Villa’s man of the match.”
Emery would have been pleased with how his maestro conducted proceedings in the middle of the park and he now deserves to start against West Ham.
Emery needs to start Tielemans vs West Ham
Following the departure of Douglas Luiz, Villa have lost a chunk of their creativity from midfield, with the Brazilian often hailed for his ability to break defensive lines with his passing.
It means that without him at the club, the onus has switched to someone like Tielemans, who will need to conjure up all his quality against West Ham next weekend.
Villa will expect to dominate the ball and wait patiently to carve open Julen Lopetegui’s defence, which the Belgium international is more than capable of doing.
Indeed, in the past year, he ranks in the top 1% of midfielders across Europe for assists, as per FBref, and the top 14% for progressive passes.
Emery will hope that with a more prominent role in the starting XI, particularly as a number 10, the classy midfielder will deliver the killer passes to his talented attackers.
