Tottenham Hotspur supporters cannot comprehend what manager Thomas Frank is doing to star attacking midfielder Xavi Simons. For the fourth straight game, Frank made Simons ride the pine, and while Spurs actually got a point against Newcastle this time around, that was due to a brace of goals from Cristian Romero, including a literal last gasp bicycle kick that rolled into the back of the net.
Spurs lost the first three of those games without Simons in the starting lineup, including two especially atrocious offensive showings in a 4-1 North London Derby drubbing at the hands of Arsenal and a putrid 2-1 loss to another local rival, Fulham, one week later.
There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason as to why Frank is snubbing Simons from the starting lineup, and what makes the situation even worse is that Simons is, by Frank's own admission, doing all the right things to play.
Thomas Frank is being totally bizarre
Ahead of another important local rivalry game against Frank's former club Brentford this Saturday, Thomas Frank basically admitted that Xavi Simons has been doing great at training, and, once again, the coach affirmed that he is a fan of the player's, “Xavi has trained fantastic the last five, six times. very good attitude on the training pitch, I like that a lot.”
At this point, it's becoming bizarre, bordering on comical. Frank continues to leave Simons out of the Tottenham starting lineup to no literal benefit of his team in the results column, and he does not even have a compelling reason for why he is chopping off the biggest signing of the summer transfer window from the lineup.
It's totally unclear what Frank has against Simons, as he is benching the Dutchman without even trying to facilitate tactics that get the most out of the talented and athletic attacking midfielder. Even now that Frank is finally starting his best options like Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray, and Randal Kolo Muani with visible growth, he is sabotaging completing the lineup by not letting Simons start with a trio of talented players whom he would greatly benefit from being alongside.
Spurs supporters are understandably getting more and more fed up with what Frank is doing in terms of his tactics and lineup selection, and as he praises Simons for practicing well and being someone he likes, that admission will only make Tottenham fans more frustrated as they wonder, then, just what on earth is keeping the top signing out of the games.