‘Plays like he’s wearing slippers’ – Aston Villa fans blown away by star vs Basel, he ‘oozes class’
Unai Emery completely changed the game with one player as Aston Villa secured a narrow European win over Basel on Thursday.
After Nottingham Forest beat Utrecht earlier on 11 December, it was the Villans’ turn to grab three points away from home, and they got off to the best start through Evann Guessand.
Villa were still high on their win over Arsenal, but the joy did not last too long, with Ezri Konsa and Lamare Bogarde clashing due to a miscommunication that would turn out to be a key incident.
From the resulting free-kick, Basel scored the equaliser, and the home side could have had more. All of that was undone by a simple half-time change from the Villa manager, though.
Unai Emery with a masterstroke before Youri Tielemans’ goal
Matty Cash was on a yellow card, so by pushing Bogarde to right-back, Emery brought Youri Tielemans on instead, who, within eight minutes, had already had the back of the net with a fine finish.
Multiple supporters were quick to give the player his flowers, suggesting that his efforts often go under the radar, with one fan stating that he “oozes class” whenever playing for the Villans.
In a strange description, one fan said that Tielemans “plays like he’s wearing slippers”, and watching the goal again, some will certainly understand what that means.
- @Ian_A_Woodcock: “Youri Tielemans plays like he’s wearing slippers. A lovely footballer.”
- @elliottavfc: “Tielemans is just a level above, some player. Credit to Emery, too. How many subs has he made this season that have contributed to goals? Insane.“
- @sulkfenomeno: “ANY player from a ‘big club’ doing what Tielemans is doing, and they are getting world-class best itw shouts. The game’s rigged, still ain’t getting his flowers, man. What a player.”
Aston Villa are riding their luck with goals this season
With what was only Tielemans’ first goal of the campaign, Villa all but secured their spot in the round of 16, with two games remaining against Fenerbahce and RB Salzburg.
However, there is a lot being said about how the Villans are scoring these goals, with a lot of them coming from outside of the penalty area. Some will say it is just technique.
Others, though, will say that there are only so many goals that one team can score from long range, and that the luck will eventually dry up. It doesn’t seem like that is happening any time soon.
Boubacar Kamara fired home from just outside the area against Wolves, which turned out to be the only goal of the game, but unless Ollie Watkins can find some form, they will have to keep going with this tactic.