Aston Villa star Youri Tielemans has insisted that he’s now back in top form after his “body hit the pause button” at the start of the campaign.
Sudinfo cover comments from the midfielder today. He’s been speaking to Play Sports ahead of the clash against Arsenal.
Tielemans is now firmly back in Aston Villa’s plans after a frustrated start to the season. He was coming off the back of his best season with Villa to date, establishing himself as a key player last season in Unai Emery’s team.
The plan was to build on that but instead, calf problems saw him miss the beginning of the campaign. He was out for 55 days in total, missing 14 games for Aston Villa and Belgium.
He initially started the campaign but was missing from matchday five, spending six games out of action as he recovered from calf problems. He’s been slowly working his way back into the team since.
That’s seen him manage 19 minutes against Bournemouth, 84 against Leeds, 75 against Wolves and then 20 against Brighton. He’s also managed 15 minutes against Maccabi Tel Aviv and 60 against Young Boys.
The hope is that he can firmly establish himself in the starting line up once again over the Christmas period and beyond. Tielemans is certainly confident on that front.
“I know it always takes a few matches to get back into the swing of things and return to competitive play, but I feel really good,” he said.
“I’m in top form. I’ve had a lot of help from the staff and the players around me. So I’m doing well and I want to keep it that way.
“Maybe my body hit the pause button. It’s up to me to be careful. I know my body well and I know when I need rest. I’d recovered well during the holidays, I’d rested well too.
“I just wanted to play football. Unfortunately, my body had other ideas. I simply needed to rest a bit to get back to my best.”
