Tottenham Hotspur failed to return from the international break in style as they were beaten 2-1 by Aston Villa in North London in the Premier League on Sunday.
The Lilywhites did, though, make the perfect start to the match when central midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur fired in the opener in the fifth minute.
Unfortunately, stunning strikes from both Morgan Rogers and Emiliano Buendia, who both fired the ball into the back of the net from the edge of the box, meant that the away side travelled away from London with all three points.
Thomas Frank will be disappointed with the time and space that both players had to get their shots away on the edge of the box, as Spurs players failed to close them down on both occasions from range.
However, the former Brentford head coach should also be disappointed with how his side played in possession, as they failed to pose a consistent threat at the top end of the pitch.
One of the players who failed to produce an impressive performance for the Lilywhites in the final third was former Burnley attacker Wilson Odobert on the left wing.
What Wilson Odobert needs to do to kickstart his Spurs career
The £40k-per-week starlet has so many interesting qualities that suggest that he has the potential to be a star. He’s dynamic, he has great speed, he can take players on in one-on-one situations, he has a terrific first touch.
However, and this is the crucial bit, the end product is not quite there for him yet. Per Sofasore, Odobert completed three of his four attempted dribbles, which is great, but he only created one chance in 79 minutes on the pitch.
The France U21 international was unable to turn his completed dribbles into dangerous situations for Spurs in the final third, as evidenced by his statistics.
Minutes
79
Chances created
1
Big chances created
1
Shots
2
Big chances missed
1
Dribbles completed
3/4
Duels won
3/8
As you can see in the table above, Odobert missed the only ‘big chance’ that came his way and only created one chance for this team, which shows that the forward did not do enough with the opportunities that he created for himself by dribbling past defenders.
The next step for him, therefore, to kickstart his Spurs career is to improve his consistency in his end product when he gets into good positions around the opposition’s box to ensure that when he does get into those areas, he makes the right decision, whether that is to shoot, pass, or cross.
Given the lack of natural quality out wide within the Spurs squad, for the left flank, it may make sense to stick with Odobert and be patient with him to hope that the experience of playing week-in-week-out helps him to build consistency in his play.
However, one of the other attackers in the starting XI was even worse than Odobert and should be brutally dropped from the team by Frank, Mathys Tel.
Why Mathys Tel should be dropped
The France U21 international was selected to lead the line ahead of Richarlison for this match, which seemed like a fair call given his recent form. Tel scored in the 2-1 win over Leeds United before the international break, whilst he also scored two goals and registered one assist in two matches for France’s U21s.
There is no doubt that he has quality. He has shown it in flashes, in that win over Leeds and for France, but he is still a young player who is learning and developing, which means that there will also be low moments for him.
Unfortunately, his performance against Aston Villa was one of those low moments, as the former Bayern Munich forward failed to make a positive impact in his hour on the pitch in North London.
He was even worse than Odobert as part of the front three that started the match, as he was unable to even create a chance for his side, whilst his compatriot at least created one ‘big chance’.
Minutes
60
Shots on target
0
Big chances missed
1
Touches
15
Possession lost
9x
Duels lost
7/8 (88%)
Chances created
0
As you can see in the table above, the Frenchman was completely ineffective in and out of possession throughout the match, with no shots on target or chances created, and seven of his eight duels lost.
Tel did not provide a threat at the top end of the pitch, as either a scorer or a creator, and he was far too easy to play against for the likes of Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres, who marked him out of the game with relative ease.
The one chance that the 20-year-old star did have to run at the Villa defence, he turned down several opportunities to set up Mohammed Kudus or Rodrigo Bentancur to his right to take Konsa on and was easily stopped by the England international. He had plenty of time to make up his mind and play a pass across, but took too long and did not provide quality in his one-on-one duel with the defender.
Given that Richarlison is Tottenham’s top scorer in the Premier League this season, with three goals to his name, it feels like the right time to drop Tel from the starting line-up after an underwhelming display against the Villans.
Tel, as aforementioned, has quality and can be impactful at his best, but Frank’s job is to ensure that he can provide that quality consistently for Spurs, as that is not the case at the moment.
Unfortunately for Tel, though, Richarlison and Randal Kolo Muani are both waiting in the wings to take the number nine position, which means that he cannot afford to have poor performances like this one, hence why the manager must ruthlessly ditch him from the team.
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2 ByEthan Lamb
Whereas, with Odobert, there is not a natural and top-quality left-wing option who can be dropped into the side next time out, which is why he may keep his place for now.