Aston Villa winger Yannick Bolasie is loving life under Dean Smith.
Aston Villa winger Yannick Bolasie has told the club’s official website that he thinks the club’s change of manager has been ideal for him – and he believes Villa have an automatic promotion-calibre squad.
Villa brought in Bolasie on loan from Everton back in August, landing a real coup as the DR Congo international dropped down from the Premier League in a shock move.
However, Bolasie struggled for a key role under Steve Bruce and is only just getting up to real match fitness under Dean Smith, having turned in a strong cameo against Derby County last time out.
Villa will now hope to really kick on under Smith, starting with this weekend’s game against Birmingham City, and Bolasie has been discussing his situation at Villa Park.
The winger feels that sacking Bruce – a relatively defensive manager – in favour of attack-minded Smith has been ‘good’ for him, believing the new style suits him perfectly.
Bolasie added that he now feels that he is getting close to match fitness, and made a bold claim about this Villa side, stating that their squad is good enough for a top two finish this season and subsequent automatic promotion to the Premier League.
“The change in Head Coach has been good for me,” said Bolasie. “It’s a different style, but it suits me down to a tee and hopefully I can keep proving that. It shows another side to my game – that I can get back and forth down the wing. I’m enjoying it, and I can’t wait to really get going. I’m nearly there and I’m feeling better all the time.”
“I look at this team compared to others in the Championship – we should be up there. We need to maintain the standard we set at Derby. I’m confident we can. I’ve been playing against our players for years – we’re a top two squad. It’s up to us to go and deliver on that now,” he added.
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