Thus, it was after Tottenham’s 2-0 win over Brentford this past weekend that Micky van de Ven voiced his opinion: “The pressing from the front guys was really good. [Xavi Simons] brought the creativity for us and you can tell he is going to develop into a key player for us.”
Maybe van de Ven was tooting the horn for his fellow Dutch player, but a lot of Spurs fans and neutral observers would have been nodding in agreement. Spurs are an infinitely better team with Xavi Simons in it, than out on the bench.
Micky van de Ven roots for Xavi Simons at Tottenham
So, why hasn’t he played more? The answer may lie with Frank’s previous club. At Brentford, the creativity largely came from wing players Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa (who have since departed for pastures new). The Bees did not often play with a playmaker behind the strikers, and so the Danish coach may have been reluctant to start with the Dutch Xavi.
However, Simons’ play of late has demanded that he start. Perhaps Brentford and Slavia aren’t exactly elite competition, but against the former, Simons assisted on Richarlison’s opening goal and then scored himself for his first Premier League goal. Then, against the Czech club in midweek, Simons won a penalty and converted it to seal the victory. Even before that, he had made several threatening runs despite absorbing some hard hits from the Slavia defenders that left his jersey a mess.
Earlier in the season, Frank preferred a two-man midfield of João Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur before realizing that the Portuguese destroyer and the Uruguayan ball-winner are too similar to each other.
Now, the three-man engine room of finesse-oriented Archie Gray next to one of Palhinha or Bentancur means that Simons can orchestrate the attack higher up the pitch. This has led to a more balanced midfield and an offense that flows more freely.
The upcoming slate of games offers a rash of matchups with teams around them in the standings: Liverpool, Brentford, Sunderland, and Bournemouth (along with high-flying Crystal Palace and relegation-battling Nottingham Forest).
If Spurs are to amass points during this stretch and prove that Thomas Frank can do more than just overachieve with unfancied teams, it’s hard to imagine the club doing it without their chance-maker working his magic behind the front line.