(Credit: Imago)
(Credit: Imago)
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'There's something about the Tottenham shirt at the moment this player is struggling with'

Kyrenia Shipillis
Kyrenia Shipillis

Kyrenia is a lifelong Tottenham fan who has been writing for Tottenham News since she joined Breaking Media in 2025. She will graduate with a Master's in Sports Journalism from St Mary's University, Twickenham in 2025. She spent several months working for the Non-League Paper and has written for the Sports Gazette. Her earliest memory of the Lilywhites is sitting alone in her dad's room in front of the telly crying into her bowl of popcorn as she watched as her team were thrashed...yet again. She is happy to report that fonder memories have since blossomed.

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Mathys Tel has had a difficult start to the 2025/26 season at Tottenham. 

Thomas Frank’s decision to omit Tel from Tottenham’s UEFA Champions League group stage squad raised eyebrows at the time. 

Months before Spurs had signed Tel on a permanent transfer from Bayern Munich after a successful loan spell in North London. As such, fans were hoping to catch more of the Frenchman in action over the current season. 

However, the young centre-forward has found himself starting from the bench more times than not this period. 

Thomas Frank Tottenham
Frank has made some tough decisions when it comes to Tel at Tottenham (Credit: Imago)

This article includes exclusive comments from Lilywhite Rose owner John Wenham.

Mathys Tel struggling to show France-level 

Tel came off the bench in Tottenham’s 1-1 draw to Wolves at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The forward managed seven touches in six minutes played. However, he fared much better in Spurs’ win over Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup third round, starting and playing most of the game. 

Despite this, his performances for the Lilywhites do not compare to those for France’s Under-21s during the September break.

The difference is something the Tottenham expert – speaking exclusively to Tottenham News – finds concerning. 

“What I find strange about that is that it's only not going for him in the Tottenham shirt,” Wenham said.

“In this interim period, and going off for France Under-21s, he’s been playing one really well, and two were fantastic goals. So it's just something about the Spurs shirt at the moment that he's struggling with.

“But hopefully at some point his opportunity will come again, and he takes that chance because he will be disappointed with his own performance against Doncaster, not grabbing one, if not two goals, for a player of his obvious ability.”

Tottenham forward Mathys Tel in action during a game for France.
Tel performs well for his national team (Credit: Imago)

Thomas Frank needs to trust Mathys Tel

Tel netted twice in France’s Under-21s 3-0 win over Serbia over the recent international break. However, he has been a key player for them this past year.

  • Tel started four out of five of France’s games in the UEFA U-21s Euros
  • The forward netted twice during the tournament 

Meanwhile, the former Bayern star has started twice for Spurs this season, playing just 104 minutes in the Premier League.

As a result, it seems that confidence is the biggest issue for Tel and seeing more game time might just help him overcome this poor run of form. Thus, trusting the young forward could help Frank get the best out of him in the long run. 

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Mathys Tel
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