Tottenham ‘should have expected’ Xavi Simons struggles as journalist shares key reason for issues
Xavi Simons is struggling badly in the early stages of his Tottenham career.
The Dutchman completed a £52million switch from RB Leipzig in the latter stages of the summer transfer window, in a move that has taken him to the Premier League for the first time in his fledgling career.
Simons’ arrival at Tottenham prompted plenty of excitement from the fanbase in N17, many of whom were expecting him to hit the ground running once he worked his way into the starting XI.
However, that hasn’t happened for the 22-year-old so far, and Thomas Frank will be desperately searching for a way to get him firing sooner rather than later.
Dutch journalist pinpoints reason for Xavi Simons’ struggles
Frustration is quickly growing surrounding the lack of impact that Simons has had at Tottenham, and fans are quickly beginning to wonder whether the club have wasted money and got yet another signing badly wrong.
The former PSG and Barcelona youngster is still searching for his first goal in English football, and his time at Spurs arguably hit a new low at the weekend.
Simons was introduced in just the seventh minute of the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday evening, only for him to then be hauled off by Frank in embarrassing fashion midway through the second half.
- Simons made 13 defensive contributions in the Chelsea defeat
- He won 50 per cent of his ground duels
- He managed just two passes into the final third throughout his 66 minutes
It was a humiliating moment for the attacking midfielder, who just cannot seem to get going and reach his regular performance level for the Lilywhites.
Dutch journalist Valentijn Driessen feels that he has pinpointed the issue behind Simons’ struggles, and adds that Spurs should have foreseen the problems when they bought him.
“It’s sad that he was called on as a substitute and then taken off again after seventy minutes,” the expert said, his comments relayed by FC Update.
“They should have expected that (Simons’ issues). He doesn’t have the physicality for the Premier League.”
Xavi Simons’ duels success rate is a concern for Tottenham
Simons has been under pressure to perform for Tottenham as a result of the amount of money that they laid out for him, and his lack of physicality is a very fair assessment of the root cause of his current issues.
The youngster is of slight build and perhaps hasn’t had much exposure to a style of football that requires you to use your body effectively, as is commonplace in the Premier League.
Simons is averaging just a 44 per cent success rate in his ground duels in the league so far this season, and that is seriously hindering his ability to get away from opponents and create opportunities for Spurs.
He is being crowded out easily, and opposition teams know that he isn’t well-equipped to be able to protect the ball if they put him under sufficient pressure.
The Tottenham star is easy to play against at the moment, and unless he can show another side to himself soon that will keep opposition managers on their toes, then his struggles are likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
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