Tottenham Hotspur saw midfielder Xavi Simons being sent off in their 2-1 defeat to Liverpool last weekend.
While the Dutchman was only starting to find his feet at Hotspur Way following his summer transfer, he has been given marching orders, which will keep him out of contention for the upcoming fixtures. Simons was not the only player to be shown the red carpet in Saturday’s game, with Lilywhites skipper Cristian Romero also shown the red card late on.
Xavi Simons was shown marching orders vs. Liverpool
Simons had hit the Reds’ captain, Virgil van Dijk, right in the Achilles heel as he was going in for a challenge. And following a VAR check, the La Masia graduate was shown the red card.
Given that the challenge qualifies as serious foul play, the 22-year-old will have to miss three games. And this will be a massive blow for Thomas Frank as pressure to keep his job increases on the Dane.
Simons had been growing into his role at Tottenham, and he was starting to become one of the key cogs in the roster for the creative aspects of the game.
But now his absence can end up deciding the long-term future of the former Brentford manager at Tottenham.
Thomas Frank to trust the academy duo?
With Simons suspended, Sarr serving his natural duty at AFCON and James Maddison still getting back from his injury, Frank will have to dig a bit deeper into the roster in that second phase. And this is where Tottenham can show the trust in their academy with players like Callum Olusesi and Luca Williams-Barnett gunning for some minutes under their belt.
Both of them have been impressing at the academy level and showing signs of being ready to get some minutes for the first team.
Author Opinion
Tottenham have been making huge investments in youth in the past few years, but we are yet to see that trust being reflected on the pitch. With all the probables that we have always been hearing about, there has barely been any actual sense of confidence in the academy players, and this is an opportunity for Thomas Frank to show a bit of that.
When Frank joined, a lot of talk was about his trust in youth and his positive record working with young players at Gtech Community Stadium. But will he do the same at Tottenham (especially with the pressure around his job growing)?
Do you think we will see more of Callum Olusesi and Luca Williams Barnett with Simons suspended? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
