Tottenham Hotspur cruised to another easy victory over an inferior opponent, and while that should become mere expectation for Spurs in the future, back to back wins over easier teams seemed like a Herculean task just a few weeks ago.
Spurs have dropped a lot of points they should not have over the past couple of months, and after a particularly poor stretch of games that included a 2-1 defeat to Fulham and a 4-1 blowout loss to Arsenal in the North London Derby, Spurs have finally shown signs of life.
They followed up a 2-0 win over Brentford over the Premier League weekend with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Slavia Praha in the Champions League, giving Son Heung-min plenty to smile about in his return to the grounds.
Xavi Simons took center stage
And taking center stage on Tuesday night was none other than Xavi Simons. It is no coincidence that two of Tottenham's big games have come with Simons back in the lineup, as Thomas Frank guided Spurs to four straight poor games with Simons riding the bench in those four games.
After the club's latest win, Frank could not help but praise Xavi Simons to reporters again at the post game press conference. The Danish coach said, via The Spurs Express, “I think he built on the good game on Saturday, produced again, I would say. Good link-up play, nice turns in the middle of the pitch, where he also got that acceleration to go past the player and open up the spaces.
I also like his work ethic. For example, there was a great recovery run in 90-plus minutes where he just got all the way back, which is crucial for me, for us, for everyone, to work very hard. So I like his overall performance.”
Simons really turned heads among the Tottenham supporters on Tuesday, too, and, like Frank, they were smitten with his defensive work rate. He showed the dynamism, effort, and intensity of a player who belongs as a Tottenham star for the next decade, taking the initiative and putting in the work to make sure Spurs won this game professionally on both ends of the pitch.
At RB Leipzig and PSV, Simons did this consistently, and Spurs fans have been yelling to Frank about this for weeks on end. If you play the man, he will reward you and work hard for the team and win you games. Simons did exactly that, and Frank is finding out that Simons has the heart of a lion; the heart that Tottenham needs going forward.