“He hasn’t played badly for them, He needs game time to show what he’s got” -Belgium manager Domenico Tedesco sends message to Unai Emery as he defends Youri Tielemans after midfielder’s interview
Belgium manager Domenico Tedesco has jumped to the aid of Youri Tielemans after the Aston Villa midfielder was criticised over the international break.
Tielemans was in action as Belgium beat Azerbaijan 1-0 in a Euro 2024 qualifier on Saturday afternoon.
It comes after the midfielder admitted his situation at Villa was “not pleasant”, but said Unai Emery has explained the situation and that he will keep fighting for his place.
Speaking to the media this week, Belgium boss Tedesco came to Tielemans’ defence. “He puts in a lot of effort,” the Red Devils manager told DH (translated into English).
“He’s an intelligent guy, who is self-critical. It’s true, he doesn’t play a lot over at Villa and he had to be vocal about it, but he’s not hiding behind that. I will always defend my players. For me, he hasn’t played too badly for them.”
“He needs more game time to show them what he has got and I hope he gets that in the next few weeks because he is a fantastic player.”
