I thought he did well. Grew into the game.
Youri Tielemans | 2026/27 Performances
- Thread starter Bastian
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Some moments where he looked slow and rusty. Other moments where he looked silky and composed.
Just lacking rhythm and match fitness. Convinced he'll come.
Just lacking rhythm and match fitness. Convinced he'll come.
He does some great stuff on the ball, super high level touches, but he is just not very mobile, and with Mainoo beside him and Maguire/Licha behind that is a very physically pedestrian set up.
Needs the right balance around him.
Needs the right balance around him.
Baleba seems an excellent number 8, so we should have gone for one of Camara(monaco) or Sangare to compete with Santos for Number-6.
I think he will get better and will help us a lot in the CL but people who are saying he played well are going too far the other direction. He gave the ball away on multiple occasions in very very bad places and we would certainly have been punished on a different day. That sort of stuff cannot be excused.
I think he will be very useful in european games, where time and space is plenty
But as a receiver, what did he do when he got the ball. I thought he'd be more influencial at least when we are in possession, to make up for the cost of his off the ball movement out of possession. Its not about this game, but rather combinations. If he can't lead to the team dominating on the ball and is just someone with good technical ability that can deliver a final pass, then that's the difference between him playing mostly in league cup games and actually rotating in and out of the side.
I think Mainoo had too much to do with him in the team today, which should not have been the case against Ipswich at home. So imagine that combination in an away game.
The bigger issue for me here is, if he isn't someone that dictates tempo and is better as a receiver, how is he going to be able to play with Baleba?
Santos is more like a Mikel Obi with good touches, great positioning, progressive passing all within tight areas, but he's not a long busting, ball winning ground coverer. He can cover his own ground, but wouldn't be able too much, as his game is based on anticipation and positioning. Meaning his partner should have some energy or should at least be able to win their own duel.
Baleba is a a ball winner that can carry the ball, but isn't going to be the guy to pass you out of the first phase.
Mainoo can get the ball, win his duels, carry the ball and drop it off where needed, but he's not a tackling defensive ground coverer.
Point being, as at this moment, I'm scared that he's not going to offer enough to get the best out of any of the other guys.
Yeah so did I. He passes forward most of the time and this will improve with more game time.
Thought his performance mirrored the rest of the team, kinda sluggish first half but really bright second half. Hopefully we'll see more of the latter in the coming weeks.
Really good beside Mainoo today. Some very nice passes and covered more ground than any other player. Think people are trying to be overly critical honestly. Not 100% fit yet but plenty positive signs today
This is exactly what I saw today. Off it in the first half, really good second. Think he'll be very good once he knows his teammates properly.
I don’t know what game people were watching. He was constantly involved.
He was much better today, good performance. The gaps that appeared regularly in the first half are a concern as to how this team is constructed overall rather than just in midfield but him and Mainoo together is a lovely midfield technically.
Grew into the game really well
100% agree - he'll be a great player to have in the starting line up against lesser teams.
Meanwhile Mainoo and Baleba will be our primary pairing
Agreed, I think our midfield will be a bit hit and miss early on until they gel
Much better tonight than against Hull. I doubt we'll get away with partnering two slow players in him and Mainoo against better opponents though (although the latter was very good tonight). I'm still not entirely convinced by this signing but we need bodies in midfield, he wasn't overly expensive and he's a great passer so I'm sure he can become a success here if he's used in an auxiliary role than as a key cog in the team.
He had a very good second half.
He’s a proven PL player at a very high level, some people are worrying far to much about him, once fully fit he’ll be great for us.
Love his pass and move style, very simple but keeps us ticking in the right direction.
He’s going to be very important over the season.
He’s a proven PL player at a very high level, some people are worrying far to much about him, once fully fit he’ll be great for us.
Love his pass and move style, very simple but keeps us ticking in the right direction.
He’s going to be very important over the season.
Hilariously like early Utd Eriksen.
He’s come from playing alongside tall athletic midfielders that did a lot of running to our ETH like midfield. It is not a good setup presently, leaving us far too exposed. Not on him or anyone else, coaching team needs to sort out this weakness soon.
I dont have concerns on either, nor Santos. Tielemens, I do. It wouldn't surprise me if Mount also usurped him. Need way more energy from him for me to truly trust him with any partner.
Student of the game
Poor mans Casemiro.
Currently covers our joint most distance per 90 mins alongside Bruno and Mazraoui, all 11.3k per 90 mins. Despite that, it is 26th in the league for midfielders with Crooks, Gross and Slater all over 12k per 90 mins.
2nd fastest max speed of our midfielders after Mainoo, ahead of Santos. We can hopefully expect Baleba to be up there too for both those stats. Tielemans is also 2nd for most sprints per 90 mins just behind Santos, 7 and 6.9 respectively with Mainoo making the least at 5.2
2nd fastest max speed of our midfielders after Mainoo, ahead of Santos. We can hopefully expect Baleba to be up there too for both those stats. Tielemans is also 2nd for most sprints per 90 mins just behind Santos, 7 and 6.9 respectively with Mainoo making the least at 5.2
He might end up being a quality sub for us against tiring legs and subs playing at least half his games as Mainoo's backup, getting 20-30 minutes a couple times a week while Mainoo plays 60-70, or alongside him when we need a goal and the other team is sitting off. That's basically fine for 35M, particularly with our other 3 CMs being so young. Also think he was bought as Bruno insurance since Mount is always hurt, we tend to massivel struggle for creative passing and ball progression without Bruno,
He was pretty well protected at Villa with an athletic partner with size and the wide midfielders pretty narrow. Carrick's 4-2-4 off the ball might be tough for him against fresh legs at the start of matches. Baleba makes sense as a partner, but we have no idea what his form will look like and I'm a little worried about his passing in general.
I can't believe we finally rebuilt our midfield. If Mainoo is a star, and we have Tielemans as a reliable upper mid-table starter who can pass, and 2 young DMs with different profiles. We might actually be consistently at least pretty good again if we rebuild the defence next year. We are going to need a star in attack post-Bruno, but uh feck it I'm all in on JJ Gabriel.
He is not sharp yet, you can see it when he is on it his passing and movements can be a huge asset, hopefully with few more games as the season goes he gets into his rhythm.
6.5/10 only because I expect a lot more from him, especially taking the burden of creativity of Bruno's shoulders
6.5/10 only because I expect a lot more from him, especially taking the burden of creativity of Bruno's shoulders
People made up their mind before he even kicked a ball for us that he was too old, too slow, etc.
Think he just looked a bit nervy at times but you can see his quality. Loads more to come from him, especially in the final third of the pitch.
Do we just base performances on stats now?
Cos the stats he has for this game surprised me - you'd read them and think he had a very good performance. He didnt
He was half decent, 5-6/10 perhaps. Nowhere near as influential as the stats read. Got caught in possession multiple times in dangerous areas too.
He's been a quality player for years no doubt about that and he will have a use here. But the praise for him is wild - underwhelming start here. Id start Santos alongside Mainoo moving forward and use Tielemans as an impact sub
Cos the stats he has for this game surprised me - you'd read them and think he had a very good performance. He didnt
He was half decent, 5-6/10 perhaps. Nowhere near as influential as the stats read. Got caught in possession multiple times in dangerous areas too.
He's been a quality player for years no doubt about that and he will have a use here. But the praise for him is wild - underwhelming start here. Id start Santos alongside Mainoo moving forward and use Tielemans as an impact sub
Came here to post this - that must absolutely mess with the goal keeper's head
I would assume it's to help time his movement into the box so he doesn't encroach.
Just like Mainoo, people put so much focus on what Tielemans can’t do rather than actually appreciating what he brings to the table. He’s going to get so much better as his fitness improves and there will be mass apologies in here.
Last season we could barely get passing moves going long enough because once the ball got to Casemiro a feast or famine pass was about to be played. Tielemans will keep moves going but is great at the pass before the key pass and this will make us so much better.
He’s also the one that won the ball for the Bruno half way line attempt. In about two months he’s going to make people look silly when he really proves how good he is.
Last season we could barely get passing moves going long enough because once the ball got to Casemiro a feast or famine pass was about to be played. Tielemans will keep moves going but is great at the pass before the key pass and this will make us so much better.
He’s also the one that won the ball for the Bruno half way line attempt. In about two months he’s going to make people look silly when he really proves how good he is.
Laurie Whitwell said he'd asked a Villa reporter at the Athletic about it and he did it at Villa too, in order to match the run.
The hop and skip bit is kind of funny, but it's odd that more players don’t do it. Fergie said in his autobiography that he used to do it when he was a striker.
I've got to say I mostly agree with this post.
Tielemans's been ... ok? Poor against Hull and 1st half against Ipswich, improved but still seem to react a second too late by the end of the Ipswich game.
I think he'll come good, he looks calm and composed with an eye for a pass, but he looks rusty and not fully match fit yet - even his passing just seem half a second too slow. If anything, I thought Santos did better than him overall in the 2 games.
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He looked very good once the game opened up in the second half and lots of easy passes were on. You'd expect any half decent midfielder to feast in that situation though.
We need to see him show some quality against set teams at 0-0.