Belgium manager Rudi Garcia has aimed criticism at Aston Villa, believing they could have rested Youri Tielemans more this season and avoided his current injury.
[Walfoot cover comments](https://www.walfoot.be/news/2025-05-20/rudi-garcia-salue-la-saison-de-lunion-avant-de-tacler-aston-villa--pour-moi-il-a-trop-joue) from the Belgium boss today in which he openly lays some of the blame at Aston Villa’s door.
Tielemans has been a mainstay for Aston Villa this season, establishing himself as a key player under Unai Emery after the departure of Douglas Luiz in the summer.
That’s seen him make 52 appearances in all competitions and play 4483 minutes in total across the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. For comparison, he had 46 appearances in all competitions last season but just 2717 minutes in total.
That has taken its toll, and the 28-year-old currently finds himself out of action with a calf injury, suffered at the beginning of the month which has already seen him miss two of Aston Villa’s final games.
All indications have been that the injury is not a serious one and the midfielder has been included in Belgium’s squad for the next batch of World Cup qualifiers.
Garcia, though, appears to be less than happy that Tielemans is injured, believing Aston Villa could have done more to prevent it.
“We think Youri Tielemans will be ready,” he said when asked about the midfielder.
“But the last match for Aston Villa will be important. What matters is that he’s fit, not necessarily that he plays the last match.
“He’s already played enough; I think he’s the one who’s played the most. For me, he’s even played too much. With this Aston Villa squad, I think there were times when he could have rested.
“It’s not too serious; it’s his calf. But I don’t like calf injuries because they’re sneaky and insidious, so I really hope the Villa staff do a good analysis, and that he doesn’t return too early and get injured this weekend. So, if he doesn’t play, it’s not a problem; I’d rather we get him fit ourselves.”