Tottenham Hotspur supporters were begging for an immediate turnaround, and on a Champions League night against one of the smallest teams in the competition in Copenhagen, Spurs were ripe for a bounce-back performance.
And that's exactly what transpired on Tuesday night. With the embarrassing 1-0 loss to Chelsea fresh in everybody's minds, Tottenham went out there and played their hearts out for Thomas Frank, with the former Brentford manager finally playing the sort of free-flowing, attacking-minded football that Spurs fans thought they were getting when Daniel Levy hired the Danish coach for the job.
Yes, it was against Copenhagen, but given Spurs looked awful offensively against teams like Wolves and Bodo Glimt this season, a 4-0 drubbing against any opponent is impressive, especially when Spurs ended up playing about half the match with a man down.
No single player stepped up to the plate more than Xavi Simons. The Dutch attacking midfielder had a slow start to the 2025/26 season after being the club's record transfer this summer, and things reached a breaking point with his totally lethargic, borderline useless, display against Chelsea at the weekend, and Spurs fans could no longer accept his complete lack of involvement in matches.
Pulled the strings for Tottenham
While Simons still has to prove his meddle in the tougher Premier League fixtures, this performance against Copenhagen was a major step in the right direction and the return to brilliance from a player who used to stand out regularly in European competition for both PSV and RB Leipzig.
The young No. 10 pulled the strings in the Tottenham attack, like he should be doing in every game. Simons was far more confident and assured with his passing, creating a whopping four chances in total, including setting a decade record for most big chances created in the first half with three.
Tottenham really could have won this game by more if they capitalized on all the chances Simons was creating, as he was crafting beautiful opportunities for the likes of Richarlison. So while the attacking performance from Spurs was far from flawless, it was a major step in the right direction, and the rebound display from Simons as an individual was a huge catalyst in that regard.
Spurs proved they could win and play well offensively without Mohammed Kudus, who had been the attack's lone saving grace for much of the season. And a big part of that was Simons finally stepping it up and grabbing a game by the scruff of its neck.