Bayern Munich: Mathys Tel experiences his first slump

“Precise, no rush”, this is the mantra that Mathys Tel carries loud and clear on its social networks. Although he is 18 years old on his marital status, the young French striker exudes a rare maturity in his approach to the profession of footballer. Considering his impressive performances at the start of the season with Bayern Munich, for example, he could have shown a form of annoyance when Thomas Tuchel renewed his presence on the bench week after week. But no, Tel remained silent, took refuge in work, and continued to perform in his role as “supersub”. At the start of the season, the player trained at Stade Rennais showed his ability to transform leftovers into a feast. Against Werder Bremen, Mönchengladbach and Bochum, he only needed 40 minutes combined to score each time.

Same story in the Champions League, where he found the net against Copenhagen and Manchester United while enjoying only 16 minutes of play. The question of seeing Thomas Tuchel starting him then had the merit of existing. But the German technician, although satisfied with his player, preferred to invoke the argument of competition to explain his replacement status: “I don’t like it when people say: we ‘only’ play against Darmstadt and Saarbrücken. It’s always about staying in the rhythm. Mathys Tel deserves to play and start. But we are currently very strong up front. There is no reason to interrupt the flow of our four offensive players.he declared at the beginning of November.

A complicated start to 2024

Since this declaration, Mathys Tel has never scored again. Established during the humiliation suffered in the German Cup against Saarbrücken (1-2), resident of the third division, the young French striker quickly returned to his replacement costume, but without being escorted by the same success. A few days later, Tuchel left him on the bench against Dortmund, before offering him a few crumbs here and there in the following weeks. A lack of continuity which does not necessarily favor the development of its player, a little upset. It has now been 18 matches since Tel has scored, and his start to 2024 remains quite far from the hungry bases to which he accustomed us between September and November.

Asked to comment on his player’s recent performances this Wednesday, Thomas Tuchel did not use gloves: “He lost some of his momentum. He is no longer as aggressive, no longer has the absolute mad desire to scorehe confided before the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League, ultimately lost to Lazio Rome (1-0). It probably also has something to do with self-confidence. When you succeed so much, when you score so many decisive goals, you may be asking too much of yourself. But in training, he is improving. He scores even more. But this situation is normal for such a young player. We need his carefreeness, and we can’t stop trusting him.» Confidence, it is in any case not blatant… Moreover, several big European names, like Manchester United, are monitoring the file carefully.