8/10 Tottenham Star Proves Jamie O'Hara Wrong V Chelsea

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Roberto De Zerbi appears to have breathed new life into one £30 million Tottenham Hotspur star over recent weeks.

Tottenham Hotspur forward Mathys Tel has not always had it easy since arriving at the club from Bayern Munich in February 2025.

The 21-year-old has taken his time in adjusting to Premier League life, his transition beleaguered by the form of teammates and turbulence under Ange Postecoglou and Thomas Frank. Against Chelsea on Saturday night, he looked like a player reborn.

The Frenchman caused problems all evening at Stamford Bridge and topped off his performance by scoring Spurs' second goal in the 2-0 win.

It would be quite the comeback story to see Tel become one of the key attacking forces at Tottenham this season. The versatile forward, who cost the club £30 million last summer, had only scored seven goals in his previous 65 outings for the side prior to netting against Chelsea.

Tel has failed to scored in consecutive games for Tottenham last season and a run of goals could be transformative for his career in North London. If his performance against Chelsea was anything to go by, perhaps the Frenchman could be on the verge of doing just that.

Rated an 8/10 for his efforts by The Standard, Tel was praised for a 'cultured finish' and for finding 'plenty of joy' on the flank. Indeed, his solo goal at the death was brilliant, but the forward offered much more than that.

The striker caused a world of problems for young Chelsea defender Josh Acheampong when running at him one-on-one, and also forced Mike Penders to work in the first half. Tel touched the ball 10 times in the Chelsea penalty box and was a livewire.

Speaking on Match of the Day, pundit Steph Houghton said:

> "Mathys Tel was the outlet to go one-on-one, really confident going forward and allowing the Spurs team to get up the pitch and cause Chelsea problems. He was there and available; he thrived all day in getting Chelsea on the back foot.

> "In terms of going from his half, into the Chelsea half, the ability to touch it across defenders, drive and be so composed to get his shot away, that comes down to confidence throughout the whole team."

Mathys Tel stats v Chelsea

The head-turning performance comes just a month after talkSPORT presenter Jamie O'Hara slammed Tel after the 3-1 defeat to Liverpool. He said:

> “The problem is we don’t take our chances and are soft. Ice creams. We’re like a flake in 30-degree heat.

> “And why is Tel still playing? I’d rather Richarlison played. He’s guff, he’s terrible, he’s got trampoline feet. He’s everything that’s bad about Tottenham. We signed him for £50m.”

There's still much improvement for Tel to make, but just perhaps the egg may be on O'Hara's face. The Spurs forward is certainly keen to use Saturday evening as a building block.

Speaking after the match, he said:

> “It’s a very special [moment] because we have come to Chelsea so many times and not got a win. We showed great mentality today and we need to enjoy this win.

> "We created a lot of chances today, we walk out together, the goal is something special for me, I’m happy about it and let's keep pushing now."

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