Tottenham Hotspur got off the goal-scoring schneid before the international break, but they still lost that game 3-2 to Aston Villa and only scored with the game already well out of reach at 3-0. And worse yet, not a single Spurs forward scored those goals, and even accounting for the game against Liverpool, no Spurs attacking player has scored a goal this season against a Premier League level opponent in six games.
Roberto De Zerbi tried to utilize Dominic Solanke as the No. 9 with Omar Marmoush playing on the left wing in the hopes that bringing in a more traditional striker than Marmoush, who is more of a support striker, would change things. But Solanke was beyond atrocious and legitimately looked like the worst player on the entire team; so that plan is unlikely to be repeated or be otherwise benefiical to Tottenham.
And in truth, outside of a brief purple patch in the middle of the 2025/26 season following a return from a prolonged foot injury, Solanke has been blatantly bad in a Tottenham uniform, looking every bit a transfer bust since his record 65 million pound purchase from Bournemouth after a fluke 19 goal season in 2023/24.
Mathys Tel lost his starting job earlier this season
Marmoush will continue to be the main option at center forward with Savio and Mohammed Kudus flanking him, but De Zerbi has this unwritten rule in his head that his wingers have to be inverted. And if he wants an inverted left winger and an inverted right winger, then Savio is going to have play on the right in conjunction with Kudus while either Mathys Tel or Omar Marmoush plays on the left.
Tel was the main starting left winger when the season began, but De Zerbi was forced to remove him after a string of poor performances. At least, unlike Solanke, Tel could beat his man and carry threat, but his end product was shocking, including his chance creation.
And that might mean that if Tel comes back into the starting lineup, his best position would be as a center forward and not a left winger. Tel seems to be a more ideal left wing prospect who can cut inside and score, but his weaknesses are the sort of creativity and decision making a winger needs to have.
A lot of Tel's best games in the Premier League for Tottenham, including last season when he netted key goals against Leeds and Manchester United, were as a striker. He loves to shoot, he has great instincts, and he knows how to create shooting opportunities for himself on and off the ball. Even if the best starting trio for Spurs is some form of Marmoush, Savio, or Kudus, Tel has to at least be in play to replace Solanke as the main backup No. 9 De Zerbi goes to - or even the starter with Marmoush shifting to the left wing. He clearly is not a worse striker or scorer than Big Dom.
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