{"id":452862,"date":"2026-02-06T17:20:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T17:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/452862\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T17:20:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T17:20:07","slug":"settled-xavi-simons-finds-his-groove-at-spurs-after-time-spent-in-the-shadows-tottenham-hotspur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/452862\/","title":{"rendered":"Settled Xavi Simons finds his groove at Spurs after time spent in the shadows | Tottenham Hotspur"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Xavi Simons, it felt like a point of no return. He and his Tottenham teammates had nothing more to lose. The FA Cup tie at home to Aston Villa<\/a> on 10 January was going badly. Played off the park by Unai Emery\u2019s team, they were booed off by their own fans at half-time. They were losing 2-0.<\/p>\n

Simons takes it personally when things are not going well and that had been the case, pretty much, since his \u00a351.8m move from RB Leipzig last August. The 22-year-old knows his levels. These were not them.<\/p>\n

What Simons did next was to figuratively tear off the gloves. It was as if he pointed at the pitch and told his opponents he was ready to go one-on-one with them. He would get past them and he would make something happen. And if it did not work, he would try again. It was a street-football vibe, however counterintuitive that may sound for a player who was schooled at La Masia, the Barcelona academy.<\/p>\n

Simons was the spark for an improved second-half performance, bringing the drive, the sense of possibility. It did not avert another defeat, Spurs losing 2-1, but, for the first time, the club had really seen him. It was the prelude for more.<\/p>\n

Simons will run out at Manchester United on Saturday lunchtime having mined a rich seam of form. The momentum is with him which, after his struggles over the first half of the season, feels impossibly good. Spurs have had five games since Villa and Simons has been the standout player in three of them \u2013 the Champions League wins over Borussia Dortmund<\/a> and Eintracht Frankfurt<\/a> and the 2-2 home draw with Manchester City<\/a> last Sunday.<\/p>\n

The Opta statistics show that Simons\u2019 underlying numbers have improved significantly over the past six matches. For example, he created 17 chances in them compared with 24 in his first 23 Spurs appearances. His shot count has multiplied.<\/p>\n

But it is the glow of his performance against City that tracks him to Old Trafford. He was the lone bright spot for Spurs during a dismal first half in which they went 2-0 down and it was revealing to see him scream at the defence midway through it \u2013 even at the captain, Cristian Romero. Although Simons is a young player, he is a leader; a player who wants to set standards.<\/p>\n

Spurs\u2019 Xavi Simons bursts past Aston Villa\u2019s Emi Buend\u00eda and Morgan Rogers in their FA Cup third round tie. Photograph: Tom Cusden\/PPAUK\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

When he joined Barcelona as a seven-year-old, it was the era of Lionel Messi, Andr\u00e9s Iniesta and Xavi Hern\u00e1ndez \u2013 the player he was named after. Simons rubbed shoulders with them as he rose through the youth ranks; he would become the face of La Masia during that time. Then, when he went to Paris Saint-Germain at 16, he ran into Neymar, who he knew from Barcelona, and Kylian Mbapp\u00e9. He would see Messi there a year later. Simons\u2019 pedigree does confer a certain status.<\/p>\n

In the second half against City, it felt as if Simons was everywhere, particularly towards the end after Spurs had drawn level thanks to Dominic Solanke\u2019s goals. It was the dribbling, the directness, the incision of his passes. The work rate, too. Twice, he almost set up Wilson Odobert for the winner. He might have scored it himself but for a fine Gianluigi Donnarumma save.<\/p>\n

What has changed for Simons? Thomas Frank\u2019s switch to 3-4-2-1, which the manager brought in for Dortmund, has helped, Simons thriving in the left-sided No 10 role. That said, Frank went to 4-4-2 at the start of the second half against City, with Simons at left midfield. He moved him into a more central position just before Solanke\u2019s equaliser.<\/p>\n

The forward\u2019s return from a long-term ankle injury has been a factor, giving Simons a classic No 9 to work with; Solanke made his first start of the season against Dortmund.<\/p>\n

Xavi Simons (standing second row, right) with the Barcelona team during the 2010-2011 season. <\/p>\n

What Simons has done is turn the focus inwards. He has leaned into his support team, which is extensive. He has a personal trainer, a performance trainer (with whom he analyses video footage), a nutritionist, a chef. He even has a mindset coach, who has been especially useful.<\/p>\n

Simons hit the ground running at his previous two clubs \u2013 PSV and Leipzig. So why was it not happening at Spurs? Nobody should underestimate the difficulties of adapting to the Premier League from the Bundesliga. There were flickers in the early months. He was very good against Copenhagen and Slavia Prague in the Champions League. He got a goal and an assist in the crucial league win over Brentford on 6 December. Frank, though, had taken him out of the starting XI in the preceding four games. Then there was the red card against Liverpool<\/a> on 20 December and the shattering three-match ban.<\/p>\n

Simons is heavily into meditation and visualisation work. He reads a lot, with philosophy a favourite area. He often uploads motivational slogans to his Instagram account. He fell back on all of this. Meanwhile, his personal situation has become more settled.<\/p>\n

The Dutchman lived at the Lodge for his first couple of months at Spurs \u2013 the hotel at the training ground. And very nice it is, too. But it is still a hotel. He moved into a flat in Canary Wharf for a bit more breathing space before he was able to get into a house in early December, which has allowed him to have his family over more. He has kitted it out with state-of-the-art fitness equipment. Simons is a gym fiend, who likes to warm up at home before training.<\/p>\n

It is hard to consider Simons\u2019 career without an awareness of his child prodigy status. He was 12 when he filmed a commercial with Neymar, and at 15 he appeared in another one with him. The other \u201cactors\u201d in that? Philippe Coutinho, Kevin De Bruyne, Ronaldinho, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso.<\/p>\n

Simons\u2019 appeal was boosted by his first name, by the distinctive blond locks he had at the time. His nickname at La Masia was rizos de oro; golden curls. He was universally acknowledged to be among the top emerging talents in Europe; everybody wanted him. Then, to Barcelona\u2019s dismay, PSG got him. When he moved, he had 1.6 million followers on Instagram. Simons made 11 appearances for PSG, having started in their under-19s. There followed a spectacular season at PSV \u2013 he was the Eredivisie\u2019s joint-top scorer with 19 \u2013 and two decent ones at Leipzig, the first better than the second.<\/p>\n

Xavi Simons soaks up the crowd\u2019s adulation after scoring Spurs\u2019 second goal against Brentford. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

There has long been a sense that the boy who was born in Amsterdam before emigrating with his family to Spain at the age of three has been searching for something; the perfect stage for his talent. It is remarkable to think he already has 32 Netherlands caps and has played in five countries. Also, that he speaks seven languages \u2013 Dutch, Surinamese Dutch, Spanish, Catalan, English, French and German.<\/p>\n

Simons is determined to integrate at Spurs. He has been taken on a tour of Tottenham by two of the club\u2019s former players, Ledley King and Michael Dawson. They visited King\u2019s street art mural \u2013 among other local landmarks \u2013 and had a drink at the Antwerp Arms, which has become a match-day institution.<\/p>\n

In January, Simons dropped in on an Alzheimer\u2019s Society singing session at Southgate Methodist church and what struck the organisers and care workers was how much he wanted to be there. His grandmother Rinia lives with the disease. And on Tuesday, he warmed a few more hearts when he posted a screenshot of a Google search: who are Chas & Dave? Simons\u2019 Spurs journey is up and running.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Xavi Simons, it felt like a point of no return. He and his Tottenham teammates had nothing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-452862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}