From missing in the penalty shootout against Paris Saint-Germain to exclusion from the Champions League squad, Mathys Tel has had a tricky time at the start of the season. However, his commitment is never in doubt, and his display in the Carabao Cup was a “step forward” to Thomas Frank.
‘You can see his ability to arrive’
Tired with a lack of playing time for Bayern Munich, Tel took the plunge with a loan to North London in the winter window and has since signed permanently for Spurs. Against Doncaster Rovers and West Ham, he has earned opportunities and shown Frank there is talent to work with.
“I don't think he has a bad run. I think he played striker against West Ham, which he did quite well. He worked very hard for him to arrive in the right areas. In terms of performance, it was a step up.”
The end product was not quite there, but the effort and intention were enough to please the manager.
“We can look at the end product to score the goal but the performance to arriving in the box, I was happy close on the first ball from Brennan Johnson for the cutback, second half. he got in there in a good two good situations. they had a nice shot. So I think it was a step up in terms of performance.
Tel has played as a wide forward and a nine for Bayern and Tottenham. Frank had said he sees the Frenchman as more of a central forward and he explained that he needs refinement in some areas.
“You can see his ability to arrive in the box and the pace he got to both running behind and also getting into the right areas I think is good. I think his pressing abilities is very good. I like the way he works in that situation and his link play is something at a good level but he can be even better at it.”
The reality is that goals will define discourse about many forwards and a strike could have made people more open to seeing the good things that the 20-year-old provided on the pitch for the hosts.
“I think that's fair to say that he really wanted to score and do well. Unfortunately as a striker is that you get measured on, exactly as a keeper you can't throw it into your own goal. The old performance was really a step forward, but I really wanted him to score. That'll make it a much even better story.”