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Gary Lineker shares his thoughts on Mathys Tel after his first start and goal for Tottenham in the FA Cup
After Richarlison’s injury against Liverpool, Ange Postecoglou handed new signing Mathys Tel his first start for Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup against Aston Villa.
Surprisingly, Tel started on the left for Tottenham, with Postecoglou preferring to place Son Heung-min through the middle.
The Frenchman has often played out wide for Bayern Munich, but it was thought that Tel was heading to north London to propel his career as a number nine.
- FA Cup
Either way, it’s been a tough first week or so for both Tel and Kevin Danso at the club, who have already endured two defeats and exited two cup competitions.
Neither player should be surprised – they will have been made aware of the club’s situation by Postecoglou, but it’s still not ideal.
Mathys Tel impresses on his first start for Tottenham in the FA Cup
That being said, Tel was able to provide one reason to be positive for fans travelling back to N17 after Sunday’s defeat.
Tel netted his first goal of the season and his first for Tottenham in the 91st minute of the game, a clever finish and a goal that demonstrated the striker’s instinctive movement.
READ MORE: Alan Shearer praises £30m Tottenham player who ‘never hides’ despite Aston Villa defeat
Following the game, all of Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards praised the young striker on ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast, impressed by what they saw from Tel on his first start.
Lineker began: “The other new man, I just want to mention, we’ve flipped back to Spurs briefly.
“I thought Tell showed a couple of nice bits. And that was an exquisite finish.”
Shearer replied: “Yeah, but that’s what I mean about, you don’t have to get to the byline all the time.
“You can put crosses in, you know, and that was a great cross that Kulusevski put in. And he did really well, Tell, to get on the end of it.
“And it was a really clever finish. So hopefully that’ll give him a bit of confidence and belief that he sort of belongs there and he can help Spurs get through this period.”
Richards added: “He’s got that quality though, hasn’t he? He’s got that quality. He’s still only young, he’s still learning, but I totally agree with Alan on that point.
“Good little movement and just finished off. Just give him a little bit of confidence as well, because like you said earlier on, Son is not really playing with the confidence we’ve seen of old, even in just taking so many touches.”
Pressure continues to mount on Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham
Of course, another defeat for Spurs has once again aimed criticism towards Postecoglou, even if the Tottenham manager considers that somewhat unfair.
Postecoglou launched a seriously passionate defence of his players after losing at Villa Park, a squad which has been run into the ground.
But perhaps the Spurs boss was somewhat missing the point to a degree – no is blaming the likes of Djed Spence and Archie Gray for the club’s struggles.
Instead, it’s Daniel Levy for his apparent lack of ambition and Postecoglou’s failure to adapt his side to a more pragmatic approach that is coming under fire.
And to that end, Jamie O’Hara has called for Postecoglou to be sacked, even if that doesn’t appear as the right solution to most.