Mathys Tel has ended the first half of the season without a point in a competitive game in a Bayern jersey. When and where will he make a mark again?
It’s often the little things that stand out at FC Bayern. Especially when things are going well on the pitch, you can’t help but quickly glance at where things might be going a little less well. Take Mathys Tel, for example, who has not been grinning but rather grumbling when leaving the Allianz Arena for quite some time. He is quiet and rather apathetic, no longer talkative and in a good mood.
There is no need for a major investigation into the causes of this. Tel is dissatisfied with his reduced playing time under coach Vincent Kompany, but above all he is dissatisfied with himself and his own performance. Since May, the young Frenchman has been waiting for a goal in the Bayern jersey; this season, he has so far remained completely pale and out of luck.
Tel seems over-thinking things, he often gets bogged down and can’t find solutions in one-on-one situations, makes bad decisions and acts hectically, sometimes wildly. The player, who is still only 19 years old, has lost the ease that had everyone talking about him about a year ago.
Under Tuchel, Tel became a super-sub
Under Thomas Tuchel, Tel was a super-sub in the first half of 2023/24, a savior in several games. In Gladbach, on matchday 3, the once €28 million newcomer scored the late 2-1 winner. A week later, he set up Leon Goretzka’s late equalizer in a 2-2 draw with Leverkusen. In the Champions League, he scored again to make it 2-1 in Copenhagen.
The reward followed in March of last year. A few weeks before his 19th birthday, Tel prematurely extended his contract until 2029. It was the first official act of the newly installed sporting director Max Eberl, who was certain about Tel. “He will make a big impression here at FC Bayern.”
Ten months later, the question must be allowed as to whether Tel would not be well advised to try somewhere else first to make a mark again. Because although Kompany also publicly encourages him (“Mathys is doing an outstanding job and that’s why he keeps getting his chance at Bayern Munich”), he obviously doesn’t see him where he was actually planned: as a striker.
In the absence of the briefly injured Harry Kane, the coach preferred to trust Thomas Müller in the front line or to rely on a flexible system with rotating strikers like Michael Olise and Jamal Musiala. Tel, who has only played 209 minutes of Bundesliga football so far this season, was allowed to play as a left winger if at all, but he rarely got past opponents with his dribbling attempts and has an average of 4.5 in three games in which he was graded.
Tel is determined to succeed at Bayern Munich
Tel continues to make an excellent impression in and around the club, presenting himself as polite and modest, learning German impressively quickly and fully identifying with FC Bayern. He is determined to succeed at the record champions, which is why he decided not to go on another loan until the beginning of January, despite several requests and limited playing time.
Is Tel’s own ambition getting in the way? While talents from the club’s own campus are allowed to play at the top, the star of the former favorite has faded a little. And gradually, in his third season at FCB, Tel should expect more from himself than a few minutes here and there.