Thomas Frank's admission on Mathys Tel speaks volumes after brutal Tottenham snub

Thomas Frank has hailed the "very impressive" Mathys Tel after bouncing back from his Champions League snub to help Tottenham to a comprehensive 3-0 win at West Ham.

Tel, 20, who spent the second half of last season at Spurs before completing a £30 million permanent move from Bayern Munich in the summer, was informed that he had been left out of their squad for Europe's elite club competition earlier this week.

Frank had to trim his contingent from 25 to 22 due to a lack of club-trained players and Tel was among them to be cut ahead of Tuesday's clash with Villarreal, along with Radu Dragusin, Yves Bissouma, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Kota Takai.

Despite this, Frank named Tel in his starting XI to face West Ham on Saturday. The France Under 21s international began as the centre forward, with Xavi Simons on the left and Mohammed Kudus on the other side.

While Tel's performance was not "through the roof", Frank was in awe of his work-rate and pressing having been denied a place in Tottenham's Champions League squad until at least February.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Frank said: "I think Mathys...very impressive, the performance was maybe not through the roof, but it was very solid, I would say 7/10, worked hard, pressing, constant pressing, and that's very good also. You know he's not in the Champions League squad. I'm very happy with the squad."

Tottenham ran out comfortable winners at the London Stadium, with Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Micky van de Ven finding the back of the net. In truth, it could have been more for Spurs, who registered more shots, more shots on target and more clear-cut chances than their opponents.

"I think the first 15 to 20 minutes was even, not too much happened, but then I think we really grew into it and the last 20 or 25, something like that, I think we dominated and created a lot of good opportunities without having too many big, big chances," Frank added.

"We had really a lot of dangerous situations and we know in football sometimes it's also about getting closer and closer and closer and then suddenly there's that opening where you can score.

"West Ham defended very well first half. It was difficult to get the clear-cut chances, but when we got it to Xavi and Mo on the sides and played and run, produced crosses, you know, either in-swing or overlap and so on, and a lot of corners where we also were very dangerous.

"So, happy that the goal came second half because you never know, the momentum can change after half-time but we kept going and scored a good goal after and then 3-0, done. So, a very good, clear win, a good performance.

"We all know the derby and the importance of the game for the fans and I think it's a testament to the boys and the group - we haven't won here in six years. It shows everything how difficult it is to play here and now we won 3-0 today. I think that's impressive."

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