Dominic Solanke and Xavi Simons issue one-word Sandro Tonali messages after Man Utd show

Sandro Tonali's performance against Manchester United has been lauded by his Tottenham Hotspur comrades.

The £100million club-record signing has had his share of criticism this season.

Given his price tag, the 26-year-old will be held to an extremely high standard in N17.

It remains to be seen how the Italian international handles that pressure, as he looks to make Spurs' engine room his own.

Saturday's 1-1 draw saw him continue his run of starting every single Premier League game for Spurs so far in 2026-27.

His Old Trafford display certainly left his teammates impressed too.

What adjectives did Solanke and Simons use to describe Tonali?

Whilst Tottenham's first league win continues to evade them, there are signs that the tide may be turning for Roberto De Zerbi's side.

The 1-1 draw against Man United means it's now just one defeat from their last four Premier League outings.

Tonali played the full 90 minutes at Old Trafford, and registered the assist for Dominic Solanke's stoppage time equaliser.

"Fight for it. Till the end," the midfielder said, and this elicited a response from his Spurs teammates in the comments.

Solanke described him by saying: "Warrior", whilst Xavi Simons summed up the Italian with adjective: "Maestro."

But just how good were Tonali's underlying numbers from Saturday's stalemate against the Red Devils?

The surprise area Tonali led all players on Saturday

Tottenham were able to match Man United 50/50 on the possession split in this one, and much of that was down to Tonali.

Per FotMob, he took 79 touches at Old Trafford, whilst also creating one chance, one big chance and made six recoveries.

No player on the pitch delivered more accurate crosses than Tonali's two either, which is surprising given his central midfield role.

Tonali linked Spurs' midfield to the attack brilliantly, making eight line-breaking passes and playing 11 passes into the final third.

He also completed his lone dribble attempt successfully, won three of his five ground duels and his single aerial duel attempt.

Meanwhile, only Solanke (12.3 kilometres) covered more ground than Tonali's 11.8km on Saturday.

Overall then, Simons and Solanke's descriptions of Tonali were bang on the money, as he looked every bit of a cornerstone midfielder for Spurs.

The challenge for him now is to follow that up and remain consistent, with his next opportunity to do so coming against Coventry on 19 October.