A $75.6 million transfer that will take the Hotspurs to the next level.
A bold statement touted about Xavi Simons by many, but fully believed by fewer. The August transfer, labeled as “too smooth on the ball” by a YouTube creator, has expectedly struggled to sustain competitive form with Tottenham, especially over his six games leading into the EFL Cup Round 4 bout against Newcastle.
After watching the Spurs stumble around the pitch for 90 minutes, feelings of meh washed over me. Thoroughly disappointed by another offensive failure, I intended to question outright whether Simons’ lack of production was to blame for the stagnant chances created by the Spurs’ attack. However, the wise men at The View From The Lane guided me into believing that, maybe, just maybe, Xavi’s performance against the Magpies was promising, if not actually productive.
Looking only at Sofascore performance game ratings, Simons’s numbers have steadily improved over the past four games, culminating in his 7.0 rating in the League Cup loss. Not precisely a peak (hopefully), but progress nonetheless.
With that data leaning towards inconclusiveness, I went back and watched all the plays involving Simons, according to FotMob’s game commentary, to see if the tape actually supported the narrative I was being fed.
His first action with the ball in the final third came around the 15th minute, where the Netherlands product led a 3-on-4 into the box with Brennan Johnson down the right, Richarlison streaking down the middle, and Pape Sarr and Lucas Bergvall trailing just behind. Xavi decides to lace a pass to Johnson, whose erratic touch (not sure if it was a cross or a shot) goes wide right. Maybe Xavi wasn’t aware of the streaking Sarr and Bergvall, but those options might have created a better chance.
In the 35th minute, Spurs work the left side with Djed Spence, who makes a nice move and then finds Xavi at the top left corner of the box. Xavi’s first touch is simple, but it puts him in a position to start a chain of passes from Bentancur to Bergvall, then to Johnson, who this time tries to find a streaking Richarlison sliding at the back post. It was a great team opportunity that might have been hammered home by a better striker.
Starting around the 44th minute, Xavi might have had his best five minutes of soccer as part of The Lilywhites. The first of these moments came after a deflected cross just inside the box. A decent effort by Joao Palhinha—possibly missed due to a falling Richarlison—ricocheted off a defender into the air. Using his body to shield Sandro Tonali, Simons’s first touch set up a chance for Bervall, who then had his shot blocked.
Two minutes later, Xavi probably had his best scoring chance as a Hotspur. The build-up happens quickly thanks to Xavi’s fast restart of the free kick to Bergvall. The Sweden international’s intensity with the ball pays off, as after a few aggressive touches, he’s able to feed Simons, who is streaking down the middle after making the initial pass. Simons takes two large touches and then unleashes a shot from about 18 yards out. A deflection to Bergvall, who instinctively continued his run to the box, created another chance for Xavi—this time Simons took the feed with one quick touch into the box, followed by a whipping shot toward the top left corner that just missed high.
Xavi’s final highlight of the day could quite possibly be labeled as the Spurs’ best open play offensive sequence of this still young season. Halfway through the 60th minute, a kick and play goal kick from Antonin Kinsky took a fortunate bounce off Fabian Schar to Spence, who streaks with the ball diagonally across the pitch before lacing a beautiful leading pass as he crosses midfield to Johnson down the right channel. Johnson then pulls up short and directs a pass to Xavi entering the top right of the box. Simons eyes Malick Thiaw with the ball, then notices he’s being double-teamed by a pinching Tonali. He intuitively finds a streaking Sarr, who is only denied because of an outstanding save from Aaron Ramsdale.
While it’s often hard to find positives in a two-nil defeat, there does seem to be promising growth with the Spurs’ summer signing. As he takes the necessary time to gel with his teammates, we Spurs fans need to remember to stay patient, even when it seems like the skies are falling on our offense. It might just be an acorn that has the potential to grow into an enormous tree with the strength to last many seasons.
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