‘What did you expect?’ – Chelsea legend ridicules Tottenham over Xavi Simons flop
Tottenham have been blamed for overly-optimistic recruitment after Xavi Simons’ anonymous performance in the defeat to Chelsea.
The Dutchman was a headline signing during the summer transfer window after Spurs swooped in to land his signature for over £50 million.
Chelsea themselves had been after Simons before Tottenham struck, but the ex-RB Leipzig star has yet to make a real impact in England.
Tottenham were beaten at home by Chelsea again on Saturday thanks to Joao Pedro’s goal after the 22-year-old came on for the injured Lucas Bergvall after just seven minutes.
However, his ineffective display saw Simons last little more than an hour himself before he was replaced by Wilson Odobert in the second half.
Frank Leboeuf blasts Xavi Simons after Chelsea win
According to stats from Sofascore Simons didn’t take a single shot in his 66 minutes on the pitch, didn’t make any key passes, and only attempted two crosses, both of which were unsuccessful, while he lost possession 14 times.
Singling out the Dutchman’s lack of impact after the game former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf didn’t think it was any surprise and expressed his confusion that Tottenham bosses thought it would be any different when they spent big in the summer.
Speaking on ESPN the World Cup winner said: “I just want to have a point on Xavi Simons, and some of the players who played one good year, for him for Leipzig, because that wasn’t the case for Paris Saint-Germain before, and had an average season last season.
“So for £53 million for Tottenham you expect what? What do you expect from those players who have one good year of football? To be a game-changer? People are dreaming, dreamers. I don’t get that.”
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Xavi Simons fails to be Tottenham’s Willian
Hijacking a rival club’s pursuit to land a sought-after target is as close as it comes to an ideal turn of events during the transfer window for fans, and probably club executives.
Tottenham have been on the end of a few hijacks from Chelsea, perhaps most infamously for Willian, so it was a boost in North London to have turned the tables with Simons.
But while the Brazilian snubbed a move to White Hart Lane to then score four times against Spurs for the Blues while often proving a thorn in their side, Simons roundly failed his first attempt to show Enzo Maresca and company what they were missing.
This fixture wasn’t exactly make or break for Thomas Frank, but losing at home to Chelsea helped knock the wheels off Ange Postecoglou‘s early success, and despite Tottenham still sitting above their rivals on goal difference the limp defeat this time around has some alarm bells ringing for the Dane.
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