Tottenham Hotspur have a great collection of young talent, and while Spurs are very, very well aware of the flaws in the squad and the growing pains they are enduring here in Thomas Frank's first season at the helm, it absolutely cannot be lost on these same fans that this squad has the potential to develop into something special down the road.
No position highlights the duality of the current growing pains and the future prosperity more than the left wing position. With Son Heung-min now gone to MLS, Spurs have two very young, very talented, and very unproven left winger options in Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert.
Frank has been splitting time with both of them, though he has been seemingly favoring the more slight Odobert on the left wing with Tel sharing his minutes between the left wing and the striker position. Odobert is more of an attacking midfield and left wing profile, whereas Tel has the robustness and clinicality to be a striker, as evidenced by his game changing strikes at the 9 against Manchester United and Leeds United.
Mathys Tel is the superstar
Against Slavia Praha, though, another key difference between Odobert and Tel was highlighted by the Tottenham die hards closely observing the game. Take nothing away from Odobert, but it is becoming evident to Spurs that he does not have that extra X-Factor with how he plays that Tel does.
Odobert is a nifty footballer. He is a great role player and linking player and the perfect kind of inverted playmaker for a great team to have. And when Spurs become a great team in the future, Odobert will have additional value in the rotation with his creativity and slick dribbling skills, and he will not feel as much on the periphery of the game.
But Tel has the better ball striking, athleticism, speed, and game changing ability to bring those goals and that out of nowhere impact from the left wing. Tel is the superstar, whereas Odobert is just the star. There is nothing wrong with Odobert, of course, and "just the star" is still high praise indeed. He will come good.
It's just that Tottenham fans can tell that, well, Tel has that aura about him when he has the ball at his feet. He can rip powerful shots, skip past defenders, and even bully them with strength. He is a different caliber of athlete and even technician to Odobert, because what he does is more difficult and he does not disappear throughout matches like his French counterpart.