Among Tottenham\u2019s seven summer arrivals, Xavi Simons was arguably the one supporters were most eager to see. Yet he has had the smallest impact so far and has struggled to secure a regular place in Thomas Frank\u2019s starting lineup.<\/p>\n
Some pundits have questioned whether the 22-year-old can handle the intensity and physical demands of the Premier League, but Frank is not troubled by Xavi\u2019s slow start. He believes the Dutchman is still adapting to English football and hinted that other players were simply better suited to the tactical approach required in the games against Arsenal and PSG.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Football.London on why the \u00a351m signing did not start either match, Frank said: \u201cXavi has been fine. As we\u2019ve seen with other players coming into the Premier League for the first time, it\u2019s never straightforward. It\u2019s a natural part of adjusting to the league. Different games demand different qualities. In the end, it\u2019s all about performance. It\u2019s no different for Xavi than for Wilson, Mo, or Joao. It depends on what each player brings to the team for that specific match.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn attack, regardless of your position, you need to contribute\u2014playing forward, creating chances, using crosses. Defensively, you must work hard, win duels, get onto the ball, and press with intensity. There\u2019s also the set-piece side of things. All of that is why we select players. And of course, there\u2019s a difference between playing Arsenal away and another team at home, or PSG away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank added that Spurs will face a different type of challenge against Fulham, who tend to sit deeper. Tottenham will be tasked with breaking down a more defensive setup, something that may suit Xavi\u2019s style of play.<\/p>\n
Asked whether Xavi could deliver a breakout performance against Fulham, Frank said: \u201cYeah, definitely could. It depends on how we break opponents down, how we open them, and how we create enough chances. That\u2019s something we\u2019ve been thinking about\u2014how to get enough goalscorers on the pitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Paris, the two strikers worked well. We know we\u2019re not the finished article. Before we get closer to where we want to be, there might be a middle ground we need to go through to reach that level.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Thomas Frank explains why Xavi Simons did not start against Arsenal or PSG Among Tottenham\u2019s seven summer arrivals, Xavi Simons was arguably the one supporters were most eager to see. Yet he has had the smallest impact so far and has struggled to secure a regular place in Thomas Frank\u2019s starting lineup. Some pundits have …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":55644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot_20251129-135938.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55643"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55645,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55643\/revisions\/55645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}