Every single member of the Tottenham Hotspur fan base was screaming at manager Thomas Frank to just swallow his pride and play Xavi Simons. For four straight games, Frank inexplicably left Simons riding the pine, with the Spurs attack unsurprisingly playing poorly without the Dutchman in their starting lineup.
Spurs were first embarrassed by Arsenal 4-1. They seemed to improve on paper against PSG with a 5-3 loss, but take away Randal Kolo Muani's individual brilliance and three goal contributions against his parent club and there wasn't a whole lot positive elsewhere. Meanwhile, Spurs then got embarrassed again in league play 2-1 to Fulham. They were able to draw Newcastle 2-2 on Tuesday night, but that was, again, solely thanks to the heroics of one player as center back Cristian Romero bagged a brace including a last second bicycle kick to sink the Magpies.
Well, Frank finally saw the light and after paradoxically praising Simons for his fine work in training, the Danish manager decided to give Simons an obvious start against Brentford. And with an all around masterclass in midfield that included a goal and an assist, Simons was now clearly the one to spearhead a Spurs victory.
Xavi Simons is here to stay
After the game, Frank could not help but praise his new signing, telling the BBC after the win, via The Spurs Web, "No doubt about it [it was his best performance]. He has been working so hard, he is so determined. It just takes a little bit of a combination with him growing into it and also the team getting more into sync. Everything was a little bit on the same page today."
Well, duh. Any Spurs fan could have seen this coming, and they were clamoring since the benching against Arsenal for Frank to just play Simons. There is no way Simons can integrate into the league or improve by simply sitting on the sidelines, and Spurs are visibly a better team with him, even including the fact that he wasn't playing to his real level prior to Saturday's 2-0 win over Brentford.
By having such an important say on the game and even getting off the score sheet, Simons can rest easier with all the pressure off his back. And as Frank begins to learn more and more about this team and who is best XI really is, he can help put Simons in better positions to succeed, too.