New Manchester United midfielder Youri Tielemans has revealed that adapting to Michael Carrick's tactical approach has come surprisingly easily, despite the demands of a new system at a new club.
The 29-year-old Belgian, who completed a £35m move from Aston Villa last month after United triggered his release clause, made his first appearance for the club during Saturday's 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain in Gothenburg as part of United's pre-season tour. Tielemans has spent the past ten days training with his new teammates and getting to grips with Carrick's methods.
Given his vast experience in the game, having made his professional debut for Anderlecht at just 16 years old and racked up 579 career appearances since, Tielemans suggested that picking up new tactical instructions is simply part of the job at this stage of his career.
"He has got his structure. He wants to have the ball, he wants to press in certain ways, you know," Tielemans said of Carrick's approach. "It might be different than what you are used to, what I have been used to before, but it is logical things in my opinion. It is just smelling football, and that is what I have been doing from when I was young at Anderlecht."
The midfielder added that while his overall game plan remains consistent, the key is for the squad to gel and understand the collective principles before individual flair can be layered on top. "So for me, nothing changes, but it just needs to gel together. Then when you follow those principles, then you can add your offensive qualities, especially in the last third where everything is a bit more in freedom, without obviously overcommitting and keeping the defensive line in place, then I think we can do good things."
Tielemans' path to Old Trafford has taken him through several major European leagues. After leaving Belgium for Monaco in 2017, he moved to Leicester City in 2019 before a switch to Aston Villa four years later, and now finds himself at United following two previous rounds of interest from the club, reportedly in 2019 and 2022.
"There has been two times that I spoke with the club, but it did not achieve to anything, so I was just very calm about it. It was way after Anderlecht," he explained, adding that as far as he was aware, no other clubs competed for his signature this time around.
Injury troubles limited Tielemans to 25 Premier League starts last season, and he also suffered a hamstring issue in the warm-up before Belgium's World Cup quarter-final defeat to Spain in July. Despite this recent history and over a decade playing at the top level, the midfielder does not believe he will require special management from Carrick in terms of rotation.
"Not really. The thing is, at the World Cup, I think we played 120 minutes against Senegal [before Spain], and from there we had less time in between games," Tielemans said, recalling the congested fixture schedule that preceded his injury. "In the warm-up, my body just switched off for some reason. Now, I do not think I am a player that I absolutely need a rest. Obviously, there are a lot of games and the manager needs to manage the team, but when I am good I am good, you know."
He added that he trusts his own body to flag any problems early. "Unfortunately, my body is … when it does not go well, then I will know straight away and I will alert the manager, but it does not happen often."
Based on reporting from Guardian Football.