How Leicester can reduce their reliance on Youri Tielemans
By Nathan Wong
Youri Tielemans is probably Leicester’s most talented player and one that could be considered truly elite. Leicester City fans need little reminding of his ability to score long-range screamers and dictate football matches. Nevertheless, the fact that Tielemans remains the crucial heartbeat of this LCFC side has created its fair share of problems that have been highlighted this season.
Everyone (Even Youri Tielemans) needs a rest
Youri Tielemans has played an astonishing number of games throughout his career, having made 369 senior appearances at the age of just 24. More astounding is that if he were to continue his current trend of playing, he would reach the average minutes of a 31-year-old by this season’s end.
These are astonishing numbers, although the Belgium star did break into the Anderlecht side at just 17. From this, the main fear would be the Belgian peaking too early in a similar fashion to Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney.
For sure, Brendan Rodgers did say that Tielemans plays best when allowed to maintain a constant rhythm of playing regularly. Last season certainly reflected that, with Tielemans playing an eye-watering 51 games across a shortened campaign.
Yet, this statement only holds up to a point. At times last season, Brendan did express a desire to rest the Belgian if he could, but the injury crisis at the time prevented him from being able to do so. Therefore, Tielemans continued to play when he would have been much better if he was afforded some rest
Nevertheless, at times this season, the Belgian has seemed rather jaded in the 2nd half of games, limiting his effectiveness and influence. This prompts the question of whether Brendan ought to rest Youri in some ‘lower-risk games.