Arsenal legend Alan Smith believes that one Tottenham star was played out of position by Thomas Frank against West Ham, and that showed in his performance.
There were some big surprises in the starting eleven that Frank named for the derby at the London Stadium.
One of those was that Lucas Bergvall came into the starting eleven in place of Rodrigo Bentancur, and the other was that Xavi Simons started on the left instead of as a number ten.
But perhaps the biggest surprise was the fact that it was neither Richarlison nor Randal Kolo Muani who led the line, but rather Mathys Tel.
Alan Smith says Mathys Tel showed he is not a number nine
The Frenchman’s selection came as a shock, given that Tel had been left out of Tottenham’s Champions League squad for the league phase.
However, he had responded to that in an ideal fashion, with Tel netting a brilliant brace for France’s U21s during the international break, which was enough to win him a place in Tottenham’s starting line-up in the London derby.
The 20-year-old played 79 minutes before making way for Wilson Odobert, but Smith was not too impressed with how the former Bayern Munich man did as a number nine.
While on commentary duty for Sky Sports (13/09/2025 at 18:15), the ex-Arsenal player said: “It’s just a bit awkward for Tel up front now. You can see it’s not his natural position. He’s not entirely sure [about] the runs he should be making.”
Thomas Frank praises Tel’s reaction to Champions League snub
Thomas Frank has said he has been impressed with how Tel reacted to the Champions League snub, with the Dane insisting that his hand was forced, given Tottenham’s shortage of homegrown and club-trained players.
After the snub, Tel admitted that he was hurt but vowed to come back in the best way possible, which is what Frank and his coaching staff would have wanted to hear.
Based on the fact that he got the nod to start against the Hammers, it is clear that the young forward has been impressing in training.