The big storyline around Tottenham Hotspur young left winger Mathys Tel is the injury. It's unclear the extent or the nature of the injury, but Tel had to leave the field in the 42nd minute after being unable to continue following a studs up blow to the Achilles from Leeds wide man Jayden Bogle.
Tel's injury occurred on a dangerous play that is normally red carded, and Spurs players have been given a red card for a similar, more benign version, of that tackle in the past. There was a lengthy VAR review for nearly five minutes, too, and yet Bogle walked away without even a booking, while Tel had to walk away from the game.
Shameful as that was, there is an important lesson that Tottenham are learning about Tel that is more positive to the youngster. Tel matters to this team. He was the one player on Spurs against Leeds who looked capable of moving up the pitch and turning his man, and he was literally the only player who showed any bite at Elland Road.
Tottenham were buried without Mathys Tel
Tottenham Hotspur thus became totally toothless once he left and Dominic Solanke came into the match in the 42nd minute. Spurs only had one shot for most of the second half and eventually lost the game. Omar Marmoush was even worse, losing the ball seven times with no dribbles completed or key passes. Solanke folded like a crumbled piece of paper every time he touched the ball in another disaster class. Mohammed Kudus was bad, too, spamming inaccurate crosses before totally ghosting in the second half.
The entire Spurs attack fell apart without Tel. And Tottenham looked great offensively against Chelsea and Crystal Palace in their wins with Tel on the pitch, and he was their leader in dribbles completed and key passes in that time span, including an amazing goal late in the win over Chelsea, which was easily the best goal scored by a Spurs forward this season. It's not even close.
Tottenham benched Tel for several weeks after a few sloppy showings, but when you look at the numbers, even Tel's bad games for Spurs were actually better and more impactful by the numbers than any of the games Dominic Solanke and Omar Marmoush have had this season. Tel is a must start for Spurs, and he is going to be missed badly if he can't get back in time for Ipswich Town after the break.
Add us as a preferred source on Google