Preaching patience is important, but after Tottenham's jarring 1-0 loss to rivals Chelsea that, again, felt a lot more like a 5-0 defeat - and would have been without the continued heroics of Guglielmo Vicario in goal - Spurs supporters are quickly running out of patience.
Thomas Frank and the players are equally under a microscope for their roles in Tottenham's inability to play up to the standard of a team competing for the Champions League, and instead of stepping up to the big competitors as has traditionally been the case for Spurs, the Chelsea defeat is a warning shot that the tough schedule to come could be Frank's undoing.
His ballyhooed attacking midfield signing, Xavi Simons, has perhaps come under the most fire after another lackadaisical display in the middle of the pitch. Simons arrived to Tottenham with major hype after being close to a Bundesliga Player of the Season caliber player for RB Leipzig, but whereas Florian Wirtz has shined despite intense spotlight, Simons has managed to skate by with poor performances and very little mainstream criticism.
Well, that has certainly changed after Simons dropped an absolute dud of a performance in one of Tottenham's biggest matches of the season. Chelsea made mincemeat out of Spurs and Simons in particular, with the Dutchman looking far too slow both physically and mentally for the Premier League, which, unfortunately, has been the case for more than just this game.
Xavi Simons isn't meeting expectations
There are glimpses there, but glimpses are not worth the more than 50 million pounds it cost Spurs to sign him. Because instead, Spurs could have signed a significantly better, arguably generational, playmaking prospect in French left-footed Rayan Cherki, who joined Manchester City on a release clause worth nearly 20 million pounds less.
Simons was a great player in the Bundesliga, but Cherki was transcendent and squarely on Spurs radar. After struggling to get on the pitch due to injury, Cherki is flying high, and he just pulled out a brace of assists for the Citizens, which is something Simons has never come close to doing in the Tottenham kit.
Cherki is special, and Simons can be, but for the price and for the technical quality, Tottenham went with a lesser player. And Tottenham put themselves behind the eight ball with Cherki because of the whole Ange Postecoglou fiasco, failing to fire him soon enough before transitioning to Thomas Frank and opening up the possiblity of a Cherki move. Looking back, this may be the transfer Spurs regret if Simons doesn't step it up.