Young Tottenham Hotspur left winger Mathys Tel has started the 2026/27 Premier League season so poorly that there are already quite a few Lilywhite fans who have given up on the former Bayern Munich forward entirely. Whispers of a loan or even an outright transfer in the winter have been uttered, and there are others who regret choosing Tel over Mikey Moore, who was loaned to Bundesliga side FC Koln, this summer.
But as poorly as Tel has played to start the 2026/27 Premier League season, many other fans still believe in the Frenchman. Most importantly, Roberto De Zerbi appears to still be backing Tel, even if he lit into the player for his poor movement and positioning in another disappointing goal less performance last weekend against Everton.
Tel has struggled to drive the ball into dangerous areas. He looks lacking in confidence, uncharacteristically less incisive, as he is taking useless touches and getting dispossessed, rather than taking quality shots or taking up dangerous positions.
Mathys Tel is not occupying dangerous shooting zones
What Tottenham Hotspur are noticing this year is that Mathys Tel, on that left wing, is more isolated and not playing as much as a support striker or auxillary striker, cutting inside and occupying the half space to get into those shooting positions. He is playing wide, running with the ball, and losing it instead of being able to get into decisive areas where he can impact the final score.
Mathys Tel is more striker than winger, and while he is at his best cutting inside on his right foot, he is able to do the most damage when he really tucks inside behind the striker or inverts heavily into that half space so that he can actually get into good shooting positions.
Tottenham and manager Roberto De Zerbi, especially, need to change their approach and find a way to get Tel into that best zone of danger for him, which is in that area between the center of the pitch and the outer edge of the box where can get shots off.
Spurs are going to have to play Tel whether he is ready or not, because De Zerbi appears intent on utilizing inverted winger in his system to get goals. Savio is the best overall option on the left wing and should be the main starter, but Tel is going to get heavy minutes, too, and does have an opportunity to continue to start. But if that is to be the case, De Zerbi has to find a way to get more out of him as a scoring threat, which starts by changing how and where he plays on that wing.
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