There is a lot of criticism and negativity surrounding Tottenham Hotspur after yet another putrid performance, as Spurs have only Guglielmo Vicario and Lady Luck to thank for scrounging up a 0-0 draw with Monaco on Wednesday night in the Champions League.
The result followed a dreary loss to Aston Villa, and while Thomas Frank is bearing the brunt of the criticism for the ills of the midfield and the plodding nature of the team's setup, several individuals on Tottenham have received heavy knocks from the fanbase throughout the season.
Two of those players have been young wingers Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel. They have been dragged through the mud by some fans and scapegoated for losses, even though they 1) haven't played that poorly and 2) are young players being thrown into the fire in lieu of better options.
And that's precisely why derided Tel and Odobert is sort of like shooting the messenger. Tel and Odobert floundering as weekly starters in big matches is merely symptomatic of the larger issue, which is the fact that Tottenham are relying so heavily on two raw U21 players to perform like superstars at the Premier League level in the opening months of a season under a new manager.
Tottenham never replaced Harry Kane or Son Heung-min
Tottenham lost two of the best Premier League players of the last 25 years in Harry Kane and Son Heung-min over the past three summer transfer windows, and they have not replaced either of them. Richarlison, Dominic Solanke, and Randal Kolo Muani are obviously not Harry Kane replacements, and Tel and Odobert are way too young and unproven to be Son replacements in 2025/26.
Maybe one day Odobert and Tel will both be superstars, and they've actually been showing enough encouraging signs for both Spurs and the youth French national team to give people confidence that they can be great one day. And that's what makes it so sad to see them being hung out to dry and cast as the problem, when the real problem is that Tottenham didn't sign a proven veteran left winger to bridge the gap with Son before the next generation is ready.
There's an unspoken 50/50 rule in squad building at the level of the Europa League and above that basically says half your players should be stars of the future and half should be players who can contribute now. Well, Tottenham are missing that experienced half, and Tel and Odobert are predictably struggling to fill that void so soon.