It has been pretty close to a disastrous start to life at Tottenham Hotspur for Xavi Simons, whose tenure at the club began promisingly with some nifty chances created and touches, especially in the smaller games like the League Cup outings.
But over time, fans began to sour a bit on Simons's overall lack of an impact in games. Yet the fans themselves have never turned against Simons or wavered in their belief that the attacking midfielder, who was a special talent for two very good clubs in PSV and RB Leipzig, will turn it around and play at a top class level for the Lilywhites.
It seems, then, that the only person who is giving up on Simons is Thomas Frank, and he doesn't even have the guts to admit that's exactly what he is doing. Frank has now phased Simons completely out of the starting lineup in three straight games, and, predictably, Spurs have been no better off in any of these matches, losing all of them.
Tottenham have lost every game without Xavi Simons
Spurs were blown out by Arsenal last weekend 4-1, they could not beat PSG in a 5-3 Champions League defeat that everyone saw coming, and then they completely soiled themselves against a perfectly mid Fulham team 2-1.
Off the bench, Simons showed more spark than a few of his attacking teammates, and as much as Frank yammers on and on about how tough it is for the young Dutch star to adapt to the Premier League and writes it off as that's the reason why he isn't playing, any fan with some modicum of logical thinking can poke holes all over that.
Look, if the problem with Simons is adaptation, then you, the coach should be helping him adapt. That is literally your job and what you are paid to do. Spurs invested in Simons, who has stood out everywhere he has went, and all of a sudden we are supposed to believe he can't crack it in the Premier League. Well, who could look good sitting behind Richarilson and dealing with Rodrigo Bentancur and Joao Palhinha lumbering along on the ball?
Simons could benefit from Frank finally switching to Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall in the middle of the park. He could benefit from an actual attacking system with real ideas from Frank. All of the problems with Simons can be ascribed to Frank, who is misleading fans by saying this is an adaptation issue. This is a Thomas Frank issue, and his response has been to abandon Simons instead of coaching him. Great work.