Thomas Frank spots big improvement in Mathys Tel despite Tottenham struggles

6 hours ago 2

Thomas Frank has revealed what pleased him the most about Mathys Tel’s performance for Tottenham against Doncaster Rovers.

With Dominic Solanke and Randal Kolo Muani out with injuries, Tel got the nod to lead the line in the Carabao Cup third-round clash, with Richarlison dropping down to the bench.

This was despite Thomas Frank previously admitting that Tel’s best position is on the left, which is not a role where he has played much this season.

The Frenchman gave a decent account of himself, often drifting into wide areas and dropping deep to get on the ball against Doncaster, and Frank was particularly impressed with one aspect of his game.

Thomas Frank reveals what pleased him the most about Mathys Tel in Tottenham vs Doncaster

The 20-year-old would have been disappointed not to get on the scoresheet, having fluffed a couple of golden chances.

However, Frank insisted that the most important thing was that the former Bayern Munich man was getting into the right areas to get chances, revealing it is something he and his staff have been working with the forward on.

When asked how he plans on lifting Tel’s confidence when he is in the middle of a bad run, Frank responded (via Football.London): “I don’t think he has a bad run, if I’m honest. He played striker against West Ham, which I think he did quite well. Worked very hard for him to arrive in the right areas, which I think he did today. In terms of performance, that was a step up.

“Then we can look at the end product to score the goal, but the performance to arrive in the box I was very happy with. Just close with the first ball from Brennan, ready for the cutback. Second half got in there on two other good situations and had a nice shot. I think it was a step up in terms of performance.”

Frank reveals Tel’s best attributes

The Tottenham head coach remarked that the France Under-21 international has many positive qualities, including his pace and his pressing.

However, he acknowledged that as a forward, he is going to be judged by the number of goals he scores.

When asked what Tel’s main qualities are, the Danish coach responded: “I think you can see that his ability in this game to arrive in the box and the pace he got to both running behind and also getting into the right areas, I think it’s good. I think his pressing ability is very good. I like the way he works in that situation.”

When asked if Tel needs a goal to turn things around, the 53-year-old said: “Yeah, I think that’s fair to say. Of course, he really wanted to score and do well. Unfortunately, as a striker, that you get measured on. Exactly the same as a keeper, you need to get measured.

“You can’t throw it into your own goal, but I think, as I said before, the overall performance was really a step forward. But of course, I really wanted him to score as well, because that would make it an even better story.”