Frank needs to drop the Spurs guy who only completed 5 passes

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, however, made a perfect start to the match when central midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur fired home the opener in the fifth minute.

Unfortunately, stunning strikes from Morgan Rogers and Emiliano Buendia, who both fired the ball into the back of the net from the edge of the area, meant the away side walked away from London with all three points.

Thomas Frank will be disappointed with the time and space both players were given to shoot from outside the box, as Spurs players failed to close them down from distance on two occasions.

However, the former Brentford head coach is also expected to be disappointed with the way his side played in possession as they failed to pose a consistent threat high up the pitch.

One of the players who failed to produce an impressive performance for the Lilywhites in the final third was former Burnley striker Wilson Odobert on the left wing.

What Wilson Odobert needs to do to revive his Spurs career

The £40,000-a-week starlet has so many interesting qualities that suggest he has the potential to become a star. He is dynamic, he has great speed, he can take on players in duels, he has a superb first touch.

However, and this is the crucial point, the final product isn’t quite there yet. According to Sofasore, Odobert completed three of his four dribble attempts, which is great, but he only created one chance in 79 minutes on the pitch.

The French U21 international failed to turn his completed dribbles into dangerous situations for Spurs in the final third, as evidenced by his statistics.

As you can see in the table above, Odobert missed the one “big chance” that came his way and only created one chance for this team, showing that the striker didn’t do enough with the opportunities he created by dribbling past defenders.

The next step for him, therefore, to restart his career at Spurs, is to improve his consistency in his end product when he is in good positions around the opposition box to ensure that when he enters those areas he makes the right decision, whether it is to shoot, pass or cross.

Given the lack of natural quality within the Spurs squad, for the left flank it may make sense to stick with Odobert and be patient with him hoping that the experience of playing week in week out will help him build consistency in his game.

However, one of the other attackers in the starting XI was even worse than Odobert and should be abruptly dropped from the team by Frank, Mathys Tel.

Why Mathys Tel should be abandoned

The French U21 international was selected to lead the line ahead of Richarlison for this match, which seemed like a fair decision given his recent form. Tel scored in the 2-1 win over Leeds United before the international break, while he also scored two goals and registered an assist in two matches for the France Under-21s.

There is no doubt that he has quality. He showed it in flashes, in that win against Leeds and for France, but he is still a young player learning and developing, which means there will be weak moments for him too.

Unfortunately, his performance against Aston Villa was one of those weak moments, as the former Bayern Munich striker failed to make a positive impact during his hour on the pitch in North London.

He was even worse than Odobert in the leading trio that started the match, as he didn’t even manage to create a chance for his team, while his compatriot created at least one “big chance”.

As you can see in the table above, the Frenchman was completely ineffective in possession and possession throughout the match, with no shots on target or chances created, and seven of his eight duels lost.

Tel didn’t pose a threat high up the pitch, either as a scorer or creator, and he was far too easy to tackle for players like Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres, who took him out of the game with relative ease.

The 20-year-old’s only chance to present himself at Villa’s defense, he turned down several chances to put Mohammed Kudus or Rodrigo Bentancur to his right to take on Konsa and was easily stopped by the England international. He had plenty of time to decide and make a pass, but he took too long and did not bring quality to his face-to-face with the defender.

Given that Richarlison is Tottenham’s top scorer in the Premier League this season, with three goals to his name, it seems like the right time to remove Tel from the starting line-up after a disappointing performance against the Villans.

Tel, as mentioned above, has quality and can make an optimal impact, but Frank’s job is to ensure he can provide that quality consistently at Spurs, as that is not the case at the moment.

Unfortunately for Tel, Richarlison and Randal Kolo Muani are both waiting in the wings to take the ninth position, meaning he can’t afford to have poor performances like this, hence why the manager has to ruthlessly cut him from the team.

Whereas with Odobert, there isn’t a natural, quality left-wing option that can be slotted into the team next time around, which is why he might keep his spot for now.