Martin Keown says £30m Tottenham star ‘magnificent’ v Chelsea but De Zerbi criticises him again
Arsenal legend Martin Keown has raved about Mathys Tel’s performance for Tottenham Hotspur against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but Spurs manager Roberto De Zerbi was critical.
Tottenham beat Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Saturday.
After a goalless first half, an own goal from Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders in the 77th minute put Spurs in the lead.
Just three minutes later, Chelsea attacking midfielder Cole Palmer was sent off after being shown a second yellow card.
Tel found the back of the net for Tottenham in the 87th minute to secure a 2-0 win for the north London club in the Premier League game.
It was a fine goal for the French forward, who found the back of the Chelsea net with a low strike from 25 yards out after a wonderful run from the halfway line.
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Tottenham manager De Zerbi deployed Tel on the left wing in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Besides scoring the second goal for Spurs, the former Bayern Munich youngster created two chances.
Martin Keown praises Tottenham winger Mathys Tel
While analysing the match, former Arsenal star Keown praised Tel, who cost Tottenham £30million in transfer fees when they made his loan deal from Bayern permanent in 2025.
Keown said on BBC Final Score: “I thought Maddison was magnificent in midfield. He’s like the Artful Dodger, isn’t he?
“That midfield is full of mischief, but he’s brave against the ball. He sets the tone, and he got them all playing really well.
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“I thought Tel was magnificent out on the left-hand side, Kudus on the right was also really effective, and everybody really managed to handle the ball really well on the night.”
Roberto De Zerbi critical of Mathys Tel
While De Zerbi was pleased with Tel, the Tottenham manager still managed to criticise him by urging him to “become calmer”.
De Zerbi told BBC Match of the Day about Tel: “Mathys needs to play to understand football, become calmer but he is a big talent.”
Football.London quoted De Zerbi as saying: “But Mathys Tel played very well.
“I think we won the game with two wingers, Kudus and Mathys, they made the difference.”
This is not the first time this season that De Zerbi has been critical of Tel.
On September 5, after Tottenham’s goalless draw with Nottingham Forest away from home at the City Ground in the Premier League, De Zerbi publicly said that the 21-year-old “takes too many wrong decisions”, but the Italian did note that Tel has “big potential”.
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