The Mirror

I was naive to join Tottenham from Chelsea - it was crazy but I'd become manager's victim

Gus Poyet made the tough decision to move from Chelsea to Tottenham Hotspur in 2001, but he didn't realise just how detrimental this transfer would be for his career

Gus Poyet believes he was "naive" to leave Chelsea for Tottenham, claiming he was a "victim" of Claudio Ranieri's reign at Stamford Bridge. The former midfielder, now Jeonbuk manager, spent four years playing for the Blues and won various domestic cup honours as well as a European trophy in his debut season.

Spurs and Chelsea meet in the Premier League on Saturday with kick-off at 5.30pm. The two London have a historic rivalry - although it is one Poyet says he was unaware of when he made his controversial move between the two clubs.

The Uruguayan quickly became a fan favourite at Stamford Bridge, scoring 49 goals and assisting 16 times in 144 appearances. However, things quickly soured when he chose to switch sides in London and made the move to White Hart Lane in 2001.

After joining Chelsea on a free transfer, the west London side accepted almost £3million from Tottenham during summer 2001 for the midfielder's signature. This was at the time that Ranieri was bedding down in London, and the Italian received plenty of criticism for selling well-loved players, including Dennis Wise.

Poyet called out his former manager in an interview with The Standard in 2012, stating that the move across London was not something he was in control of.

He said: "I still have a strong feeling for them. I played in a very good Chelsea team and for most of the time we were in control of games. We won very good trophies in England and in Europe and it was one of the best times in my career.

"I took a lot of stick from the Chelsea supporters for joining Tottenham, but I had to stay in London for the sake of my childrens' education. I was a victim of Claudio Ranieri's changes. I had a year left on my contract and was still very fit to play, but the manager thought I couldn't play week in, week out. The same thing happened to Dennis Wise and he had been the captain for 11 years."

Poyet went on to admit his naivety in the rivalry between Spurs and Chelsea, adding: "I knew I was joining a rival club but I didn't view it in those terms.

"I asked myself what the great, great rivalries are in London and I would say it's Tottenham-Arsenal. Maybe people might now add Tottenham-Chelsea, but for me it is not up there with Arsenal.

"So I didn't have that pressure from my side, although I realised afterwards because of the reaction from the Chelsea supporters who asked how it was possible that I was coming to Spurs and how I was betraying them."

Last year, Poyet reiterated his lack of education on the feud between the two London clubs, telling Full Circle with Bet365: "I will be honest, I was very naive, very naive. I swear by it, it isn’t a lie, I had no idea how close they were and all the reactions I would get from Chelsea supporters.

"My explanation is a simple one, because when I played for Chelsea, the two teams that I wanted to beat were Arsenal and Man United. They were the ones winning the league, I wasn't even thinking about Spurs with respect to them. There was even more of a fight against Leeds because of the previous history between the teams, more than when Chelsea played Spurs."

Poyet added: "When I was at Chelsea, it was during a time when we were beating Spurs often enough that no one made a big deal about it and it just seemed like a normal game. I had a couple of offers from some teams out of the country and another option being at Spurs, and I wanted to stay in London.

"So then I moved, and Glenn Hoddle was a big part of that, but after the news had broken it was crazy. I didn't know what I had done, it was madness. It was only then that I realised, but the truth was that I was very naive.

"I didn't realise it would be so dramatic, but now I'm on the other side with a team that didn't beat Chelsea for however long. As much as I loved Chelsea, my character meant I had to do everything in my power to win for Spurs now.

"The first couple of games against Chelsea, we lost, but we eventually beat them on the third attempt I think. It was a strange night, but it was important as a professional."

Arsenal have led tributes for Willie Young, who has died at the age of 73. The Gunners announced the sad news on Friday night with an emotional statement.

An official statement from the club on X, formerly known as Twitter, reads: "We are saddened to learn of the passing of former player Willie Young. Making 236 appearances and winning the FA Cup in 1979, the Scottish defender was a cult hero at Highbury. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones at this difficult time. Rest in peace, Willie."

Young began his career in 1969 at Aberdeen before moving to England in 1975. The defender joined Tottenham Hotspur, where he scored four goals in 59 appearances.

He then moved to Arsenal in 1977, where he scored 18 goals and provided five assists in 236 appearances. Nottingham Forest forked out £175,000 for the Scotsman in 1981, dropping the curtain on his spell in north London.

Young went on to also enjoy stints at Norwich, Brighton, and Darlington before retiring in 1984. He and his wife, Lynda, settled down in the Nottingham area, where they raised a family and ran a pub.

When Young joined the Gunners, he pleaded for forgiveness from the Highbury faithful. As quoted by the club website, he said: "I was sent off against them after scoring my only First Division goal for Spurs this season.

"That’s a double insult to Arsenal. But I hope the fans will forgive me now that I’ve come over, I know the players have."

On joining Arsenal, Young added: "Terry [Neill] has bought me to do a specific job for him, that’s to stay in the middle and stop the goals going in."

Arsenal supporters have been heartbroken by the news, paying their respects to Young on social media. One user, who goes by @Harry_Symeou16, wrote: "RIP [praying hands emoji]. My Dad used to tell me about Willie Young all the time growing up. Sad news."

@stevebone1 said: "Very sad news, condolences to his family. Willie was in the Arsenal team on my first ever visit to Fratton Park, for a Pompey-Arsenal friendly in 1981."

@njac200668 posted: "RIP scored with a diving header in front of the North Bank on my first game at Highbury."

Meanwhile, @Clayt13 wrote: "Sad news indeed, especially remember his games against Joe Jordan, neither holding back, full contact football..."

Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea will both be without a number of players when they meet at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday, in the latest top flight London derby

Tottenham and Chelsea face a combined injury crisis with up to 16 stars potentially sidelined for their London derby. Both sides were in Carabao Cup action during the week, with contrasting fortunes.

Enzo Maresca's Blues secured a thrilling 4-3 victory away at Wolverhampton Wanderers to book their place in the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Thomas Frank's Spurs were eliminated from the competition following a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Newcastle United.

Despite Chelsea's progression to the last eight, where they'll face League One outfit Cardiff City, Maresca was left seething over Liam Delap's needless double booking and subsequent dismissal in the Midlands. With the derby looming at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this weekend, Mirror Football breaks down who will be missing from the fold...

Tottenham Hotspur

Former Brentford boss Frank could be without 11 first-team stars for the Chelsea clash. Archie Gray has become the latest to join the injury list after sustaining a calf problem.

The youngster joins an extensive treatment room containing Destiny Udogie, Ben Davies, Radu Dragusin, Kota Takai, Yves Bissouma, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke.

However, Frank confirmed Guglielmo Vicario should return between the sticks against Chelsea after sitting out the Newcastle defeat. The Italian's absence was initially thought to be due to a tactical rotation.

But in his post-match comments, Frank revealed an injury concern, explaining: "He had a smaller thing that had to be done but he'll be ready for Chelsea."

Unfortunately for Spurs, Wilson Odobert is also a doubt for the match, after picking up a "side strain" recently. On the Frenchman, Frank said: "Odobert had a side strain unfortunately, that kept him out for this game. Also we need to assess him, but it could look positive for Chelsea."

There also remains lingering doubts about the fitness of club captain and defensive warrior Cristian Romero, who has not featured in the Premier League since the 2-1 away victory over Leeds United at the start of the month.

Chelsea

Maresca's injury list isn't quite as extensive as Tottenham's, which will come as a relief to Chelsea supporters. However, he was left furious by Delap's unnecessary red card against Wolves midweek.

Delap had been sidelined for several weeks before coming off the bench for his return to action at Molineux. But the summer acquisition saw red following two reckless yellow cards, the second of which could have warranted a straight dismissal on its own, in a substitute appearance branded "embarrassing" by Maresca.

Despite occurring in the League Cup, Delap will serve a suspension for the away fixture at Spurs. It represents a massive setback, with the Italian also missing Cole Palmer in attack.

At the back, his choices are equally limited with Benoit Badiashile and Levi Colwill both recovering from long-term knocks. Midfield prodigy Dario Essugo remains on the injury list, while Mykhailo Mudryk is still provisionally suspended after being charged by the Football Association in mid-June with anti-doping rule violations.

In the League Cup, Chelsea managed to rotate nine players from the starting line-up that suffered a defeat to Sunderland, giving a rest to Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez. They are anticipated to make a comeback in north London.

Alfie Whiteman was part of the Tottenham Hotspur squad which won last season's Europa League final against Manchester United to qualify for this season's Champions League

Former Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Alfie Whiteman has retired from professional football. The 27-year-old made the decision at the end of last season when he was still just 26.

Whiteman was a member of Ange Postecoglou's Europa League-winning squad, having been with the club from his youth team days before signing his first professional deal. During his time at Tottenham, he had two loan spells - both with Swedish side Degerfors - but never really looked like making any impact on the first team and found himself way down the pecking order regularly.

His lack of first-team football led him to explore other areas of life, including acting classes, broadcasting, and photography. The Athletic report that he expected to continue his footballing career when he was released by Spurs at the end of last season.

However, the shot-stopper called it a day on his own terms in the summer and is now taking up a career in photography - admitting that he was unhappy being a professional footballer.

He said: "I signed for Spurs at 10 years old. Then I left school at 16 and went straight into this full-time life of football.

"When I was around 17 or 18, living in digs, I just had this feeling inside of, 'Is this it?' Getting on the mini bus, going to training, doing the Sports Science BTEC and going home to play video games. I realised, 'Oh, I'm not happy here' from quite a young age.

"The stereotype of a footballer is generally quite true. It's the golf, washbag culture.

"I was that young footballer. I wanted the Gucci washbag and I drove the Mercedes. You all just become a reflection of each other.

"You're a product of your environment. It's the way football is in this country; it's so shut off from anything else. You go to training and then you go home, that's it."

Whiteman added: "Football is a short career regardless, even if you do really well, and I knew that I didn’t want to stay in it.

"It was about trying to gain experience and be proactive in learning about these things I was also interested in, but mainly because I was enjoying it, and was surrounded by the kinds of people that were doing what I enjoyed as a job.

"They were making things. It was really inspiring."

Is Newcastle vs Tottenham on TV? Watch Carabao Cup clash and quarter-final draw for FREE

Newcastle will host Tottenham in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, with the Magpies hoping to defend their cup against the Lilywhites

Newcastle United and Tottenham are gearing up for a top-tier showdown in the Carabao Cup fourth round this week.

The Magpies, current cup holders after their 2-1 triumph over Liverpool in the final, are eyeing another successful run this season. On the other hand, Spurs are aiming to secure a trophy for the second consecutive year, following their Europa League victory over Manchester United in May.

Newcastle are heading into Wednesday's match on a high note having clinched a last-gasp win against Fulham in the Premier League, thanks to Bruno Guimaraes' 90th-minute goal securing a 2-1 victory.

Meanwhile, Spurs enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 win over Everton on Sunday, with Pape Matar Sarr and Micky van de Ven both finding the back of the net to secure the three points.

Now, all eyes are on the Carabao Cup, and Mirror Football has all the details on how you can catch the action.

When does Newcastle vs Tottenham kick off?

The Magpies will face Spurs in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, October 29, at 8pm. The match will take place at St James' Park.

Where can I watch Newcastle vs Tottenham?

Good news for Spurs and Newcastle supporters, as this Carabao Cup clash has been selected for TV coverage. The game will be aired live on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Main Event.

For those without a Sky subscription, the match can also be viewed live on ITV1 and streamed online via ITVX.

Team news

Tottenham are grappling with a host of injury woes. Ben Davis, Destiny Udogie, Cristian Romero, Yves Bissouma, Kota Takai, Radu Dragusin, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke all continue to be long-term absentees for the Lilywhites.

For Eddie Howe's side, Joelinton made a comeback to the starting line-up against Fulham at the weekend, stepping in for Jacob Ramsey in the team that triumphed over Benfica in the Champions League last week. Yoane Wissa is still waiting to make his debut for the Magpies after a knee injury prevented him from making his first appearance in black-and-white following his transfer from Brentford.

Lewis Hall and Valentino Livramento are also both sidelined, but Eddie Howe will be keen to see them return to the squad before the next international break.

Carabao Cup draw details

The draw for the next round of the Carabao Cup is set to take place immediately after the final fourth-round match on Wednesday, October 29. This implies that the quarter-final draw should happen at around 10pm, provided the Newcastle and Tottenham match concludes after 90 minutes and doesn't extend to a penalty shootout.

For those on the go, the draw is usually live streamed for free on Sky Sports Football's social media accounts and YouTube channel. The Carabao Cup quarter-final matches are planned to be played the week commencing December 15, 2025.

Tottenham have been dealt a fresh injury blow ahead of the Carabao Cup clash with Newcastle United on Wednesday

Tottenham star Archie Gray is set for a spell on the sidelines, becoming the 10th first-team player out injured for manager Thomas Frank. The former Leeds midfielder, 19, was in contention to start in Wednesday night's Carabao Cup clash with Newcastle at St James' Park.

However, it's understood that the versatile youngster has picked up an injury in training and will play no part in the match. There has been no official confirmation on the severity of the issue, although reports have suggested that the highly-regarded star could be out for around a month after injuring his calf.

This is a significant setback for Gray, who could have started in his preferred midfield role on Wednesday night. He was used in defence under Ange Postecoglou last season and Frank has relied on his versatility too.

The setback means Frank is now down to 10 first-team players. Cristian Romero, Destiny Udogie, Ben Davies, Radu Dragusin, Kota Takai, Yves Bissouma, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke are all currently unavailable for Spurs, reports Football London.

Meanwhile, Frank wants Tottenham to go all the way in the Carabao Cup this season, but questioned why the semi-finals were still two-legged.

Spurs travel to holders Newcastle in the fourth round on Wednesday, eager to stay on track for more silverware after they ended a 17-year drought with Europa League success in May under Frank's predecessor Postecoglou.

Tottenham's hectic schedule, with 60 matches in the 2024-25 campaign and a midweek trip to St James' Park marking their 15th game this season, has led Frank to propose a shake-up of a domestic competition often scrutinised amidst an ever-expanding football calendar.

Frank suggested: "By the way, one thing I've been thinking about is that there should only be one semi-final,".

He explained his reasoning: "I think two reasons. For the smaller clubs, if you want to beat a bigger club, it's much much easier to play only one game, so we really want someone to break out and it's not the same boring same teams winning – of course except from Spurs!".

He continued: "Then we need to skip one semi-final for everyone else that plays so many games. It should only be one."

On the financial implications, he said: "If it's about money, then someone needs to fix it. If it's Premier League paying money to EFL (English Football League), because as far as I understand it, it's because of that. So someone has to fix it. It should be very, very easy."

The Tottenham boss has brought his specialist knowledge - and a set piece expert - across London from Brentford and it paid dividends when Van de Ven headed home from two corners at Everton

Thomas Frank has revealed his 30-year history with set pieces - starting with an under-12s team - led to Micky van de Ven heading home twice at Everton on Sunday.

Set pieces are becoming increasingly important in modern football with 19% of all English top-flight goals so far this season coming from corners (45/241) - the highest number ever.

Premier League leaders Arsenal have scored nine set-piece goals with Tottenham level third with five. It is a big change from under previous boss Ange Postecoglou.

Frank become famous for his deadball plays during his time at Brentford.

But the Dane, now 52, said: "I would say I always want to develop things and where's the edge, how can we do stuff that can potentially win a football match. I think there's three three times where I clearly remember.

“One was my under-12 team in Frederiksvaerk where we played a semi-final in very low grassroot level and we scored from two very nice corner combinations that I was figuring out.

“I was very pleased with that of course. We won the semi-final, got to the final, we won the final so I won something it was just very very low level!

“Then the second thing was my under-17 national team born in 1994 went to the Euros in 2011. Very, very good in playing football, **** at set pieces.

“We needed to go to the Euros so we spoke to one of the old, old school proper coaches in Denmark Viggo Jensen we knew he was just so good at set-pieces.

“He had a clear strategy from you know into the first post flick and then we invited him in, he was 60 years old and he was so humble and honoured that we asked him about it.

“He brought this big notebook up and it was just page after page after page with details. We worked on it and we scored the first goal in the Euros against Serbia then we won 3-2, then we beat England 2-0 in the second game - I think Pickford was in the goal and Sterling.

“The third time is when I came to Brentford because in Brondby I was OK but Brentford was the real game-changer. Especially with that focus from (owner) Matthew (Benham) but especially (technical director) Rasmus Ankersen.

“If one should have credit for the long throws it's Rasmus Ankersen. He loves that. When we beat Arsenal on the first day on a long throw in the second goal he was very, very happy.”

Asked if the principles of the setpieces he did with his Under 12s are the same as in the Premier League, Frank smiled: “I would say more the things I did with my under-17 team in 2011. A lot of the bits I do, the leadership, football everything is probably 85% the same but it's just the small bits constantly adding layers doing things differently.

Frank has brought Swedish setpiece coach Andreas Georgson from Brentford to the Tottenham Stadium

Andreas is doing a top job, the players are doing a top job and they are on board. They are really committed to it. For me, I think every phase in the game we need to be good at if we want to build a top-team and set-pieces are obviously big. I think a third of all goals are from set-pieces so not to use time on it and be super-focused on the details of doing the right thing, you can instruct the team so you can defend them but you can definitely attack them. That’s a major strength so I am very happy with how we are at the moment with that."

Wasn’t there a stat that we have had more goals from set-pieces this season? Definitely more long throws in general from a lot of teams. That is a clear example of more focus on it.

"Every manager and club wants to compete and it is about finding the small margins. I think the success that we had at Brentford was maybe not as fancy because we were a smaller club but also Arsenal picked it up. Liverpool two years ago were extremely good at it too. So top clubs picked it up and then go: ‘Oh you probably need to do this if you want to be able to compete or raise the bar to be even better.’ So that is probably the reason’."

Asked to compare Van de Ven with another player he has coached, Frank said: . It was Daniel Agger at Liverpool who was Danish and I worked with him I had him as a player at Brondby. Different but good left foot both of them. Probably Daniel would have loved a little bit more pace and Micky could probably still learn a little bit more toughness but that would be a good combination of the two.”

Tottenham Hotspur boss Thomas Frank wants to the two-legged semi-finals to be scrapped to stop the “same boring teams” winning the competition

Thomas Frank has called for two-legged Carabao Cup semi-finals to be scrapped to stop the “same boring teams” winning the competition. Newcastle lifted the trophy in March to end a run of 11 consecutive wins in the competition by Big Six clubs.

Crystal Palace won their first ever major trophy in the FA Cup while the current Premier League table includes Bournemouth and Sunderland. And before Wednesday's visit to St James’ Park, the former Brentford boss claimed the calendar for the League Cup should be changed to give smaller teams a bigger chance to lift silverware.

"There should only be one semi-final,” said the Dane. “I said that before at Brentford and that's why I'm very happy to say it again. For the smaller clubs, if you want to beat a bigger club, it's much much easier to play only one game.

"So if we really want someone to break out and it's not the same boring same teams that are winning - of course except for Spurs - then we need to skip one semi-final. For everyone else that plays so many games, it should only be one.

"So if it's about money then someone needs to fix it. If it's the Premier League paying money to the EFL, because as far as I understand it's because of that, so someone fix it. It should be very very easy.”

The last time the EFL Cup semi-final was played over only one leg was in the Covid-hit season of 2020-21 when Tottenham beat Frank’s then Championship side Brentford 2-0. Spurs sacked Jose Mourinho a week before losing the final to Manchester City.

Frank’s Bees side lost 3-1 to Newcastle in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup last season after he made five changes.

“That's a long time ago,” said the Dane. “I remember we lost.”

Frank’s Tottenham side - who lifted the Europa League last season- are now up to third in the Premier League after five away games unbeaten and five goals from setpieces, including two headers from Micky van de Ven at Everton.

And the Dane, 52, said he had a long history working on moves, starting with his Under-12 team in Frederiksvaerk and then his Denmark Under 17 national team which beat Jordan Pickford's England team at the Euros in 2011.

“They were very, very good in playing football, **** at set pieces,” he laughed. “With a proper old school coaches called Viggo Jensen, we worked on it and we scored the first goal in the Euros against Serbia then we won 3-2, then we beat England 2-0 in the second game.

“But Brentford was the real game-changer. Especially with that focus from Matthew (Benham) but especially Rasmus Ankersen.

“If one should have credit for the long throws it's Rasmus Ankersen. He loves that. When we beat Arsenal on the first day on a long throw in the second goal he was very, very happy.”

EVERTON 0-3 TOTTENHAM: Spurs scored twice from set pieces with Micky van de Ven notching a double before Pape Sarr added a late third for Thomas Frank's side

Captain Micky van de Ven led from the front with two headers to inflict Everton's first defeat at their new stadium as Tottenham moved into third with a 3-0 victory.

David Moyes ' side went from conceding no league goals from corners to two in the first half as the visitors profited firstly from a good set-piece routine and then from woeful marking.

Spurs boss Thomas Frank handed on-loan Paris St Germain striker Randal Kolo Muani his first start but Van de Ven provided the biggest threat with his double putting him out in front as the team's top scorer with five, having failed to score at all last season.

Those goals - plus another late header from Pape Sarr - secured a 13th point from a possible 15 on the road, form which has provided the platform for their rise to within five points of leaders and north London rivals Arsenal.

It was a strange performance from Tottenham as after taking a 19th-minute lead they went into their shell and barely suggested they would threaten again until their captain struck once more in first-half added time.

But while Spurs made the most of their chances the home side did not despite having plenty of creativity on either wing from Iliman Ndiaye, comfortably their best player, and the returning Jack Grealish.

Both players found themselves facing two opponents whenever they got the ball and while Ndiaye's pace saw him get in behind a couple of times, there was little in the way of danger in the middle.

The closest they came was when striker Beto miscontrolled Ndiaye's cross to Grealish, whose goalbound shot was blocked almost on the line by Pedro Porro in just the third minute.

A team who have scored nine league goals this season need those chances to go in and when they do not it makes winning games that much more difficult.

They were uncharacteristically undone at a corner when Mohammed Kudus' cross to the far post was diverted back across goal by Rodrigo Bentancur's shoulder and Van de Ven nodded in from close range.

Everton proceeded to dominate and were denied an equaliser when Jake O'Brien's near-post header was ruled out after VAR suggested Ndiaye and Grealish, both in offside positions sandwiching Guglielmo Vicario, were interfering with the goalkeeper and referee Craig Pawson agreed after reviewing the footage.

Despite creating little from open play Spurs continued to look dangerous at set-pieces and after Bentancur headed over one corner, Van de Ven made no mistake from another after finding himself unmarked between Everton's two centre-backs.

Everton had conceded as many in 52 minutes - after seven added on - as they had in their previous five matches at Hill Dickinson Stadium and their goalscoring record suggested the game was as good as done.

Ndiaye did his best to not make it a formality, flicking one shot wide and having another deflected effort tipped around a post either side of crossing for Beto's overhead kick to be clawed out by the impressive Vicario.

Jordan Pickford saved well from former Everton forward Richarlison, on for Kolo Muani, in a rare Spurs foray but faced with an attack now being led by 23-year-old Thierno Barry - yet to open his account since his £27million move from Villarreal - scoring further goals was not a concern for the visitors.

But Sarr hastened the emptying of seats by nodding home after being teed up by Richarlison in the 89th minute.

Tottenham splashed out £52million to sign Xavi Simons in the summer transfer window and are yet to see the Dutchman's best, much like Liverpool with Florian Witz

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank says Xavi Simons will need time to settle, just like Florian Wirtz following his record move to Liverpool.

Spurs paid RB Leipzig £52million to sign Simons after missing out on Eberechi Eze and Morgan Gibbs-White. The Dutchman was also courted by Chelsea and arrived in the Premier League with a good reputation, having contributed 22 goals and 24 assists in 78 appearances for Leipzig.

But he has made a sluggish start for Tottenham, with just one assist in eight appearances so far – and that came from a corner in his first match on September 13. His slow start is comparable to Wirtz, who is yet to record a single goal contribution in 10 games for Liverpool after they paid Bayer Leverkusen £116m for his services.

"I think that's a very good question and also a very good comparison with Wirtz," Frank said when presented with the comparison in a press conference before Spurs play Monaco on Wednesday. “Also a very good player, just like Xavi, a very good player. Coming into a new country, a new club, new city. [They] just need to settle in.

“And it is part of it. We're all getting judged every game but we also need to see the little bit bigger perspective and see it over time. I always look for glimpses and bits of pieces we're working at.

“For example, Xavi, I think there were some good bits. Worked with him and asked him more to be arriving in the box, which when I looked at the game back he did. Was there the big eye-catching moment? No. But there were good glimpses so I think it's constantly going a bit in the right direction.”

Both Simons and Wirtz are playmakers who have been fielded in a No.10 position without much success so far. Liverpool play Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Wednesday night following a run of four straight defeats.

Wirtz came off the bench in the 2-1 defeat by Manchester United and played in central midfield, but once again couldn’t make an impact. He started the Reds’ last Champions League game, against Galatasaray, but has only been used off the bench since then.

Nevertheless, Arne Slot has hinted that he could be handed a start in Frankfurt. “Special for Florian [Wirtz] as well to go back to Germany and play there,” he said.

“Special for Jeremie Frimpong because he was also, like Florian and like Hugo [Ekitike], so successful in Germany. For the three of them, it's nice to play in Germany again.”