Things just did not fall Mathys Tel's way in Tottenham's 1-0 defeat against Manchester City last Wednesday. Starting up front in Ange Postecoglou's side, the Frenchman was limited to only 13 touches of the ball in his 66 minutes on the pitch.
Eleven of those touches came in the first half, with the player only making contact with the ball twice after the break at a time when the hosts had started to really up the pressure on the reigning champions. Brought to Tottenham to give them a boost in the final third whether playing through the middle or from the wing, the 19-year-old could not make a difference in the 18-yard box after only having two touches of the ball in City's area.
It really was a frustrating game for the player, four days on from a similar showing in the big 4-1 win away at Ipswich Town. At a time when fellow January arrival Kevin Danso has immediately found his stride in the Premier League, Tel is taking a bit longer to adapt.
That is not a surprise, however, given he is 19 years of age, the fact he has moved to a brand new country and also the pace and intensity of the Premier League. Danso, in comparison, spent much of his childhood in the UK and he already has some Premier League experience under his belt following a loan spell with Southampton in the 2019/20 season.
Ahead of the Manchester City fixture, Postecoglou spoke to the media about Tel's start to his Tottenham career and outlined that "he's got so much growth in him".
"I don’t think he’s going to be that kind of striker, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a really good central striker, there are different types," explained the 59-year-old. "With Mathys, and I’m not on social media but I can just imagine the comments about him, he’s 19-years-old, he hadn’t played a lot, we’ve thrown him in and kept him in there because I want to build up his fitness.
"But if anyone is expecting him to come in as a 19-year-old and take the Premier League by storm by scoring multiple goals, it’s not realistic. It just can’t happen. What we’re trying to do is work with him. He needs to get his physical fitness up because he hasn’t played a lot of football.
"At 19, I see really outstanding attributes in him that I think he could be a really good number nine, he can play wide as well, but he’s not going to be a Dom [Solanke] or a [Liam] Delap, he’s a different type. Looking at him in training, his movements are becoming a bit more fluent, he’s getting used to the way we play. He’s getting used to the level of competition.
"What I do love about him is that he’s a hard worker. You watch him in games, he’s closing people down, he’s doing the things we need him to do at the moment to help us. He may not be getting the goals and the accolades, but he’s certainly contributing to the way we want to play. That’s the most important thing. He’s got so much growth in him and I’m sure we’ll see that."
What is perhaps going to help Tel prior to the first international break of 2025 is that Tottenham have two Europa League games on the agenda against AZ Alkmaar. The first leg of the round of 16 tie takes place this Thursday at AFAS Stadion, with the return leg at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the calendar for Thursday, March 13.
Tottenham do look set to get an attacking boost very soon with Solanke and Richarlison set to make their comeback from their respective injuries at some point this month. However, Tel will be leading the race to start in Alkmaar on Thursday and the hope will be that he can add to his solitary Tottenham goal.
At a time when he is trying to get the grips with life in the Premier League, the Europa League could suit him down to the ground and see him excel up front in the process. After all, coming up against European opposition is perhaps a similar style of football and pace to what he has previously experienced in France and Germany for Rennes and Bayern Munich respectively.
That could possibly result in everyone seeing a different side to Tel because it may take a while to see him fully adapt to the Premier League. As Solanke and Richarlison could be back on the pitch very soon, the AZ fixture may have come at the ideal time for the Frenchman as he looks to keep his place in the Tottenham XI once Postecoglou has his full complement of players back.
Tel is going to be a key player for Tottenham on Thursday evening as they look to seize the initiative and take control of the tie heading into next week's return leg. Not seeing much come off in a Spurs shirt so far, Thursday night in the Netherlands may be the start of things to come for him at Tottenham.
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