Mathys Tel has finally opened up on his true feelings after being left out of Tottenham’s Champions League squad by Thomas Frank.
Tel was left out of Tottenham’s Champions League squad for the League Phase, which was a decision that shocked many, given that he became Thomas Frank’s first signing at Spurs on the back of his loan spell at N17 last season.
Rather than sulking at the decision, Tel promised to work hard and become better, and his hard work has not gone unnoticed by Frank, with the forward having started Tottenham’s last two Premier League matches.
Tel has been praised for the attitude he has shown since Frank’s snub, and he has now finally opened up on what went through his mind when he found out that he did not make the Champions League squad.
Tottenham forward Mathys Tel was fuming for weeks
The Frenchman has now revealed that when he found out he did not make the squad, he was angry for weeks.
However, rather than feeling sorry for himself, Tel explained that he channelled the anger in the right way to prove to Frank and his staff that he deserves to be back in the squad for the knockout phase of the competition.
When asked about the snub, the former Bayern Munich man told The Telegraph: “To be honest, I was very, very mad for a lot of weeks, but I was like, ‘use this and show him you need to be on the squad list’. Bad things help me more than good things to be better. So I will face a lot of bad things, but I’m going to be OK with that.
“I’m not in the squad list right now, but I will do everything to be in the squad list in January. This is a new challenge for me, I love challenges.”
Tel makes an admission about Thomas Frank’s gesture
According to reports, Frank explained to Tel that he was only left out because of logistical reasons, with Tottenham losing three spots in the squad due to their shortage of homegrown and club-trained players.
The forward has now said that he understood the decision that the Spurs boss made, admitting that he was not at the required level during the Super Cup clash against PSG, and has revealed what Frank did subsequently.
Tel added about his omission from the squad: “I’m a fair person and I was not on a good day for the [Super Cup] final, I didn’t play well enough.
“If I’m a gaffer and I can see a player is not good enough, I will maybe do the same. So in my mind I was like ‘this is fair because we’ve got a lot of good players. It’s OK’.
“After the game against Leeds, he pushed me to the fans, and that was quite emotional for me. Because he showed me that ‘I didn’t put you in the squad, but you’re still there, I still believe in you, I’m still behind you’. It’s not because ‘you didn’t do this or I don’t like you’.”