Why now is the time for Thomas Frank to trust Xavi Simons at Tottenham | OneFootball

Spurs are not good enough to leave £52m signing on bench for must-win games that require attacking, front-footed displays

The third time is not proving to be any sort of charm for Tottenham.

Morgan Gibbs-White was the club's first choice and they thought they would get their man. Mr Marinakis had other ideas.

The focus shifted to Eberechi Eze and a deal was put in place, but a fairly sizeable obstacle emerged in the fact he wanted to join Arsenal.

Thomas Frank wanted his No10 signing in the building early in pre-season but it was not until August 30 that Spurs finally announced the £51million arrival of Xavi Simons.

That was more than three months ago. Simons has since made 11 appearances in the Premier League and his sole goal involvement was a corner swung to the back post on debut against West Ham for Pape Matar Sarr to nod in.

Simons was again a substitute in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw at Newcastle

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Getting the best out of Simons should be a priority for Frank, but for now the more obvious conclusion is that the Spurs boss does not yet trust the 22-year-old.

The Dutchman has been left on the bench for Spurs' last four matches. A case can be made for doing so in away games at Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle, but it is very difficult not to read into Simons' exclusion in a home match against Fulham.

This is not exactly a Spurs side firing in all cylinders, either. It is four Premier League matches in a row for Spurs without a shot on target in the first half.

Spurs rank 15th in the league this season for first-half results, while only Arsenal are better in the second-half. It suggests Frank is not getting his lineups and his Plan A systems right.

His side have struggled for creativity all season, failing to progress the ball incisively through the lines, and yet Simons still cannot get in the team.

"It's not the first time a player is stepping into the Premier League and just needs a little bit of adaptation to hit the ground running," Frank offered as an explanation last week.

"That's one thing the physical league, but also to play games every third or fourth day."

Frank has been willing to throw Randal Kolo Muani straight into action despite two injury setbacks, but there is an acceptance at Spurs that different players take different amounts of time to adapt to a new country and league. The comparison with Florian Wirtz at Liverpool has been made.

Questions over Simons' attitude were raised in the German media during his final season at RB Leipzig. Some figures at the Bundesliga club are understood to have had concerns over his influence on the dressing room and that was said to be a factor in the decision to sell in the summer.

Simons must start against Brentford and Slavia Prague in the next week

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But there were no doubts over his commitment, particularly in training, and that has remained the case at Spurs. Frank has praised how Simons has trained more than once in recent press conferences.

The Dutchman is naturally close to compatriot Micky van de Ven, but has settled in well across the dressing room as an English, Spanish and French speaker.

Simons has seemed to struggle with pace and physicality of the Premier League, but he cannot be expected to adapt with any sort of immediacy if he is only getting brief cameos off the bench.

Frank's system is not necessarily an ideal one for Simons, who thrives when having players to combine with rather than beating defenders one-on-one.

Spurs do not play much through the middle of the pitch, attacks focused on getting it wide to Mohammed Kudus on the right at every opportunity.

Simons has not lit up the side when he has played this season but there was a sense he was growing into his role.

He could have had first-half three assists against Copenhagen in the Champions League before the international break and was impressive in the draw with Manchester United a few days later. The Spurs fans booed when he was brought off.

Any confidence he had seems to have now slipped away with no starts since. Simons looked freezing as he pulled his sleeves over his hands, waiting for five minutes on the touchline against Newcastle on Tuesday before coming on.

After the match, Wilson Odobert and Archie Gray were among the Spurs players completing lengths of the pitch for their warm-downs. Simons did so by himself shortly after and cut a lonely figure trudging back down the tunnel.

Spurs, frankly, are not good enough to have a player of Simons' quality on the bench. The performance against Newcastle was better, but they still only two shots on target and both were goals from centre-back Cristian Romero.

It feels absurd that they can be so turgid in attack and yet have a player viewed as one of Europe's brightest talents in the summer just watching on.

Frank needs to find a way to get Simons in the team and play him into form.

Spurs next face Brentford and Slavia Prague at home, matches they must win with attacking, front-footed displays. If Simons is not trusted in those matches, it is hard to see what games will be deemed appropriate for him.