Tottenham have a leadership vacuum – and Mathys Tel’s penalty antics prove it ...Middle East

Is there a more unedifying sight in football than watching grown adults squabble over who gets to take a penalty?

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium bore witness to playground antics on Sunday at the end of the 3-1 win over Southampton.

It happened after Brennan Johnson was fouled in the penalty area by Welington in the final minute of added time at the end of the second half with Tottenham leading 2-1.

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Johnson had already scored twice and was understandably keen to try and add a third, given he has never scored a Premier League hat-trick. His only senior treble was for Lincoln City in League One four years ago.

However, Mathys Tel had taken ownership while Johnson was on the deck. The Welshman’s pleas to take it – evident by his holding up of three fingers – were disregarded.

To Johnson’s credit, he didn’t make much of a fuss. Tel’s tunnel vision had taken hold. Mercifully for all involved, he scored, albeit only just after Aaron Ramsdale dived the right way.

This wasn’t a rerun of the sham of Stamford Bridge, when Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke both tried – and failed – to take the ball from Cole Palmer during a 6-0 win over Everton last April.

But it still made for a messy end to the game. Cristian Romero, by then wearing the captain’s armband after Son Heung-min had gone off, was involved in the discussions and gave Johnson a conciliatory hug as Tel paced out his run-up.

Over by the touchline, James Maddison, another of Ange Postecoglou‘s vice-captains, watched on, arms outstretched as if to question the outcome. Johnson is Maddison’s best friend at the club, and he, along with most people in attendance, presumably felt he had earned the right to take it.

Instead, it was left to a teenager, contracted by Bayern Munich, no less, to do the honours.

Maybe Tel was the best penalty taker left on the pitch, although evidence of that is limited given he had only scored one in his career before, for France U21s against Germany last November.

Johnson was Nottingham Forest’s designated taker for a spell, although has a patchy record of six goals from nine attempts.

In ordinary circumstances, it is a job best left to specialists, though this was an unusual situation. Spurs only had a one-goal lead at that point, but it was the final action of the game. Referee Michael Salisbury blew for full-time seconds after Southampton’s restart.

There was a lukewarm embrace between Tel and Johnson afterwards, but the latter was clearly frustrated. Maddison, Son, Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven all consoled him after.

“Yeah, of course,” Johnson replied when asked if he wanted to take it.

“It’s only normal for me to want to take the penalty. I don’t want to get into it too much. Obviously the conversation was had and Mathys stepped up and took it.”

It was the type of incident that you imagine would irk the Gary Nevilles and Roy Keanes of this world and compel them to say something like “that wouldn’t happen in a good dressing room”.

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A lack of leadership has certainly been an issue for Tottenham throughout their annus horribilis.

Only last month, Tel tried to appease frustrated fans after a 2-0 defeat to Fulham, once the senior players had already departed.

Surely it would have been better to give Johnson, a lightning rod for criticism, a confidence boost rather than a player who may not even be at Spurs next season?

That it occurred ahead of their biggest fixture of the season against Eintracht Frankfurt in Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final made it all the more grating. This is a time for unity, not individuality.

Johnson has plenty of time on his side to collect a match ball for his mantelpiece and his goalscoring record this season suggests it is doable. He is comfortably Tottenham’s top goalscorer with 16 in all competitions. But for now, his wait goes on.

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