Mathys Tel backers are falling over themselves (and not in a good way)
Tottenham Hotspur at least got a point out of the match this time, but their 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest was yet another disappointing result to start the 2026/27 Premier League season. Already, Spurs find themselves in familiar territory under Roberto De Zerbi stuck in 17th place, and whlie the season is young and the best XI has yet to coalesce for a consistent run of games, the early signs are worrying.
Despite a splendid preseason in which he was legitimately Tottenham's best player, Mathys Tel has been severely disappointing to start the 2026/27 campaign. De Zerbi has shown a lot of faith in a young player whom many Spurs fans came into the season believing in as a breakout star, but the Frenchman may soon have no rope left.
Tel was abhorrent against Newcastle United the previous weekend and probably cost Tottenham the entire game with how woeful he was on the left flank. He was a black hole in possession who created zero chances and lost the ball pretty much every time he got to it, frustrating with both his poor decision making and selfishness.
Mathys Tel is not giving Tottenham fans reasons to believe
To say that Mathys Tel then improved against Nottingham Forest would be factual in the sense that it is also downplaying just how bad he was in both games. He was only slightly less awful against Forest, at least creating one chance for his team and not losing the ball nearly as frequently, though he did have a disappointing Omar Marmoush to help in that regard.
But the larger point remains that Tel is letting his team down, and Spurs are having trouble winning games when their left winger is losing the ball so frequently and can't create anything positive. With Tel last season even when he was not providing end product, at least he was threatening and destabilizing defenses, opening up shooting opportunities for himself and even others.
Right now, he isn't creating any sort of shooting lanes, and he's actually making life very difficult for the other forwards, especially Omar Marmoush up top. The new signing from Manchester City is really struggling to get going with his left winger not passing the ball quickly enough or often enough, killing Spurs attacks.
Tottenham fans love Tel and want to see him succeed, because the tools really are there. He is absolutely a player worth believing in. But like Tel himself, Spurs fans are falling over themselves defending the young Frenchman but finding no ground to stand on as his performances continue to fall off a cliff.
