Tottenham Hotspur finally had a great showing again, thoroughly dismantling an otherwise decent opponent Everton by a score of 3-0 to rectify two putrid performances after the October international break against Aston Villa and Monaco.
It was a defensive monsterclass by Tottenham, even without superstar center back Cristian Romero, and the midfield played much better than they did in previous games. While there are still attacking question marks to be answered by Thomas Frank, it was a decidedly better performance all around by Spurs on Sunday.
That said, one player in both the midfield and attack struggled a bit to make his imprint on the game, and it's now been a concerning run of games in which new star signing Xavi Simons has failed to make an impact on the team.
Even though manager Thomas Frank admitted that he continues to be a fan of Simons and backed the young Dutchman to find his best form in a Spurs shirt relatively soon, he was not shy to be a bit constructively critical of the former RB Leipzig standout.
Thomas Frank offers words of guidance
Frank said at the press conference prior to Wednesday's big fourth round League Cup battle against Newcastle United, via the official website, "I like Xavi. I think he found some good positions. Maybe the final top actions are still missing, but I think still there was good actions. He just needs to keep going, keep building and keep working on it."
Just 22 years old, Simons is expected to be one of the future building blocks of Tottenham Hotspur, who spent a record fee to bring him in over rivals Chelsea. Simons was one of the best players in the Bundesliga as a creator, scorer, progressive threat, and even winning ball winner for Leipzig.
But we've yet to see any of that for Spurs. Frank's comment about missing "final top actions" is honestly a very nice, diplomatic way - per Frank's usual - of admitted that Simons has been a bit of a ghost since joining Tottenham.
It's now been six starts and nearly ten total appearances between the Champions League and Premier League for Simons, who has mostly been able to start as a No. 10. But regardless of where he plays, Simons hasn't scored a goal or contributed to more than one assist.
The creative is there in glimpses, and the ball progression is absolutely there from a work rate perspective. But the quality of the final ball, the dribble, and the overall goal threat are still well below where Simons and Tottenham would like him to be at.