Premier League: A playmaker could make a huge difference in a week for Tottenham Hotspurs. Just seven days ago, the love from Spurs fans towards their players on the pitch was nearly broken. However, when the divorce was looking imminent, the spark of love was rekindled in Newcastle, and finally back again at N17(Tottenham Stadium’s address.)
This week has been a contrast to last week. On Saturday last week, the players gathered in front of the supporters before leaving the pitch. They did it after the boos from the supporters during the game against Fulham when they lost the game 2-1.
This week, they gathered again in the same place, but the supporters applauded them for their performance.
Guglielmo Vicario made a costly mistake last week and booed twice when he touched the ball. This week, his name was chanted by the supporters when his name was read out before the kick off.
It was a story as once more two first half goals made the difference. Last week, Fulham early strikes sparked the anger of the fans, while this time Spurs found their groove and went full attacking to reignite the supporters’ passion as their love back again at N17.
Everything was revolving around Spurs’ new signing, Xavi Simon. He was never a first choice for Thomas Frank as they almost got Morgan Gibbs-White who was always admired by the manager. That condition certainly pictured in recent weeks.
Simon’s move with the cost of £51.8million from RB Leipzig beating Chelsea in the process. Yet, he only made appearances from the bench for four consecutive games.
In the pre-match interview, Thomas Frank was asked many times about Simon but only answering with the word attitude three times.
“Xavi has trained fantastic the last five or six times we really could train. Very good attitude on the training pitch. I like that a lot,” he said first.
Then came “as long as he’s the same like Matty [Tel], train well, good attitude, then we’re getting closer and closer”.
Next was the similar “as long as the player trains well, keep the right attitude, keep doing the right thing, step by step, we will see him flourish. I’m not in doubt of that”.
Will Xavi be a Big Boost For Tottenham in The Premier League?
It could be noted that after the match, Frank said that Simon is a ‘24/7 pro’, and perhaps that Simon wasn’t taking the bench well at first, or Frank just wanted to see his reaction.
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Either way, Spurs need a player with a profile like him, and his purchase was clear after that performance on Saturday.
This Tottenham team needed a playmaker since James Madison was injured for a long time. Thomas Frank’s team never registered a first half shot on target in the Premier League when Simon was on the bench.
With the team without Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddiso, Thomas Frank probably has to admit that he needs Xavi Simon more than he thinks.
More Premier League news and latest information can be found in the Price In UK.
After Xavi Simon’s brilliant performance against Brentford, will he finally start more games for Tottenham in the Premier League under Thomas Frank? Or Thomas Frank still in his denial that Simon still needs more to prove his worthiness?
Current Matchweek 14
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal ARS | 15 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 9 | 19 | 33 |
| 2 | Manchester City MCI | 15 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 35 | 16 | 19 | 31 |
| 3 | Aston Villa AVL | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 22 | 15 | 7 | 30 |
| 4 | Crystal Palace CRY | 15 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 26 |
| 5 | Chelsea CHE | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 25 | 15 | 10 | 25 |
| 6 | Everton EVE | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 17 | 1 | 24 |
| 7 | Brighton and Hove Albion BHA | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 25 | 21 | 4 | 23 |
| 8 | Sunderland SUN | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 18 | 17 | 1 | 23 |
| 9 | Liverpool LIV | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 23 |
| 10 | Tottenham Hotspur TOT | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 25 | 18 | 7 | 22 |
| 11 | Newcastle United NEW | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 21 | 19 | 2 | 22 |
| 12 | Manchester United MUN | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 22 | 21 | 1 | 22 |
| 13 | Bournemouth BOU | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 21 | 24 | -3 | 20 |
| 14 | Brentford BRE | 15 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 21 | 24 | -3 | 19 |
| 15 | Fulham FUL | 15 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 20 | 24 | -4 | 17 |
| 16 | Leeds United LEE | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 19 | 29 | -10 | 15 |
| 17 | Nottingham Forest NFO | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 25 | -11 | 15 |
| 18 | West Ham United WHU | 15 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 17 | 29 | -12 | 13 |
| 19 | Burnley BUR | 15 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 16 | 30 | -14 | 10 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton Wanderers WOL | 14 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 29 | -22 | 2 |
How do you feel?
