Mathys Tel might not have impressed during Tottenham’s 1-0 defeat against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday evening, but it appears he has already been working hard to improve and rectify his woes.
The 19-year-old has scored just once in six appearances for Spurs since he made his loan move from Bayern Munich last month. He struck on his debut in the FA Cup at Aston Villa, but has not found the net in five matches since. The 2005-born forward struggled as the lone striker in Alkmaar.
Although Tel was starved of service for most of the game, he didn’t help himself when the ball came his way. He showed the odd glimpse of development in his hold-up play – but was largely ineffective. Ange Postecoglou had seen enough when Tel was taken off at half-time for Wilson Odobert.
It proved to be a frustrating night at the office for Tel, but that hasn’t stopped him from putting more graft in less than 24 hours from the match. The Bayern forward has shared an Instagram story of him involved in a mini-training session with two peers, including French fitness coach Julien Lugier.
The photo showed Tel pointing instructions and surrounded by 10 footballs and one small-sized goal. It’s unclear the type of training Tel was doing, however, though it’s very much clear that he’s determined to right the wrongs of his performance against Alkmaar, as Spurs prepare to play Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon.
Lucas Bergvall’s 18th minute own-goal proved to the difference between Spurs and AZ at AFAS Stadion – a result that has left Postecoglou’s side a difficult task to progress through to the Europa League quarter-final. Tottenham host the Dutch side in the round of 16 second leg next Thursday.
In the meantime, Spurs’ immediate attention turns to the Premier League – with Bournemouth coming to town this weekend. Speaking ahead of the game, Postecoglou said: “Look, we definitely need another game to get the squad to where we need to get to. It’s an opportunity to get more game time into certain guys.
“The best way to put last night’s disappointment to one side now is perform well at the weekend, and our league form hasn’t been too bad over the recent period and we want to continue that.
“The Europa League is a massive emphasis for us, but I still want us and have a real desire to move up the table, and we get that opportunity on Sunday.
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