Micky Van de Ven was left blown away by the performance of a Tottenham Hotspur star in the 2-0 victory against Brentford at the weekend.
Tottenham secure first Premier League win since late October
The pressure has been mounting on Thomas Frank in recent weeks, with it even emerging that Tottenham were considering a move for Barcelona manager Xavi as a replacement, but the Dane may have bought himself more time courtesy of a victory against Brentford.
Spurs breezed to a 2-0 win against the Bees, which was their first triumph in the Premier League since winning 3-0 at Everton at the end of October, with Richarlison opening the scoring after 26 minutes, finding the back of the net for the seventh time in all competitions this season.
Xavi Simons was the creator, and the Dutchman then went on to score his first goal since moving to north London just before half-time, sealing all three points for Frank's side in the process.
Simons has received heavy criticism for making a slow start to life at Tottenham, with Jamie O'Hara left particularly scathing after the defeat against Fulham, but he clearly has the full support of teammate Van de Ven, who singled the attacking midfielder out for high praise after Brentford.
“Obviously he didn’t start the last games, but I know Xavi has the quality that he can create things for us.
“He can be really important for us. I know that. For you guys, of course, it’s more difficult to see that, but I think he showed it by himself as well.
“He did an unbelievable performance and was really important for the team.
“He kept training hard, he kept training every day to become a better player every day over and over again.
“Of course, in the moments where he’s a bit down because he didn’t start, I’m there for him and I speak with him.
“I said, ‘Xavi, trust me, your time will come, don’t you worry’, and obviously you saw his qualities.”
Simons needs to build on his Brentford performance
Frank will no doubt be delighted the Netherlands international appears to be finding his feet, receiving a SofaScore match rating of 9.5 after registering a goal and an assist against Keith Andrews' side.
Having finally shown what he can produce, the 22-year-old needs to build on that performance, starting on Tuesday against Slavia Prague, with Spurs set to host the Czech side in their sixth Champions League game.
Frank's side have looked bereft of ideas at times this season, with only a Richarlison wonder goal preventing them from suffering an even heavier loss against Arsenal back in November.
As such, Simons needs to step up, and Tottenham will be hoping the former RB Leipzig man can start recording similar attacking numbers to what he did during his time with the German club, registering 22 goals and 24 assists in 78 games.