During the 2025/26 Premier League season, there were a lot of disappointing individual performances that led to Tottenham Hotspur being relegated, but young left winger Mathys Tel was not one of them. He scored some important goals against the likes of Leeds United and Manchester United that really did prove crucial at the end of the season, and along with Archie Gray, he was one of only a few players who did not give up on the team when they were at their worst.
At that time, criticizing Tel for not being a top level left winger was indeed a form of scapegoating, because nobody reasonably thought that the former Bayern Munich man would be able to play at that level last season. And for what should have been reasonably expected from a young prospect, Tel did pretty well, and had Thomas Frank not jerked him in and out of the starting lineup despite being his only real option in lieu of an actual left winger signing, he may have done better.
Mathys Tel has been a problem for Tottenham lately
But the 2026/27 Premier League season is a new campaign with incoming players, more expectations, and a better manager in Roberto De Zerbi. Regardless of all of that, how Mathys Tel performed in his last two starts on the left wing against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest is simply inexcusable.
Despite Tottenham Hotspur playing a better game in the midfield, buoyed by the continued excellence of a resurgent Rodrigo Bentancur, Spurs were unable to score against either the Magpies or Forest. And while Tel was far from the only player to disappoint in the attacking trident, he was, without a doubt, the worst of the bunch despite coming off a fabulous offseason in which he was the standout player for Tottenham in the friendly fixtures.
Now, two terrible games does not a bust make, but at this point, calling Tel a scapegoat no longer applies. Because he is getting his opportunities under Roberto De Zerbi and downright failing to make the most of them. Spurs need to see more from the young Frenchman as he heads into his second full season at the club, and there are going to be real expectations now that the top six is being discussed as a goal for the team's final standing - and now that Omar Marmoush, Savio, and even Mykhaylo Mudryk are a part of the squad after a productive summer transfer window.
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