Douglas Luiz over Youri Tielemans in a nutshell as Aston Villa star misses golden opportunity

Youri Tielemans recently dismissed reports of a rift between him and Unai Emery as “nonsense”.

“The manager has been really supportive since the start and we’ve got a really good professional relationship,” Tielemans said.

Those disputed claims came on the back of the midfielder openly venting his frustration at not starting games for Aston Villa while on international duty in September. “The situation is not pleasant. I told the manager that I came to Villa to play,” Tielemans said at the Belgium press conference.

It was at least believable “nonsense” from the bullsh*t writers – it’s not too great a stretch to suggest Tielemans and Emery’s relationship became strained after those comments. Tielemans clearly wasn’t happy, and Emery is unlikely to have been hugely impressed by his player showing such frustration just five games into the season.

Tielemans still hasn’t started a Premier League game, with his Villa starts limited to the Europa Conference League and League Cup. But he can have few arguments.

Villa’s win over AZ Alkmaar on Thursday, Tielemans’ fifth start of the season, was both a huge missed opportunity for the former Leicester star and a clear example as to why he’s not been playing more in the Premier League.

He played well, sweeping the ball around the pitch with his languid style, passing forward whenever possible and controlling the midfield for large periods of his 74 minutes on the pitch.

It was the sort of display that looked likely to lead to questions as to why he’s not been handed more opportunities in the Premier League, in a game in which he probably felt he had more of a chance to stake his claim than in any other.

Villa were way off it in their 2-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday. Orel Mangala and Nicolas Dominguez dominated the midfield, and Emery wasn’t at all happy with the energy levels of his side. The Boubacar Kamara/Douglas Luiz axis showed signs of weakness for the first time in a long while.

Tielemans had the opportunity on Thursday to leave Emery with little option but to hand him that first Premier League start against Fulham next time out. But despite a decent display, if anything, he’s been even more firmly rooted to the bench.

Tielemans was replaced by Douglas Luiz with 16 minutes remaining, and in the 81st the Brazilian delivered a sublime pass for Ollie Watkins to win the game.

It was the sort of pass, clipped over the defence with a bit of backspin onto Watkins’ head, that you would imagine Tielemans playing – that we saw frequently in his time with Leicester – but he didn’t.

He will no doubt have been frustrated at watching his direct competition for a place in the team turn the game in his absence, just as he’s been frustrated watching Luiz in the Premier League.

The 25-year-old’s got five goals and an assist in the top flight, and been brilliant besides, with more strings to his midfield bow than Tielemans, who found himself in front of the cameras for the post-match interviews after the game.

A strange choice for the responsibility perhaps. But he appeared relatively happy to be doing it, possibly because he’s now accepted his place in Emery’s squad as understudy to Luiz, who will stay ahead of the Belgian in the pecking order as long as he remains unpoached by bigger teams who continue to threaten to steal him away from Villa Park.