Worse than Simons: Frank must drop 2/10 Spurs flop who lost 88% duels
Tottenham Hotspur got back to winning ways in the Premier League on Sunday when they travelled to Merseyside to beat Everton 2-0 at the Hill Dickinson.
A first-half double from central defender Micky van de Ven and a late header from Pape Matar Sarr were enough to claim all three points for the away side.
Whilst Thomas Frank will be pleased with the end result from the game, there were several players who failed to perform to the best of their ability. Xavi Simons was one of them.
Why Xavi Simons needs to step up for Spurs
Spurs signed the attacking midfielder from RB Leipzig for £52m in the summer transfer window in the hope that he would add creativity and goals to the team, in the absence of James Maddison.
Simons provided 21 goals and 21 assists in all competitions during his two full seasons with Leipzig in Germany, in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 campaigns, per Sofascore, which shows that he is capable of delivering plenty of quality in the final third.
However, the Dutchman, per Sofascore, walked off the pitch against Everton with no shots, no key passes, no dribbles completed, and no ‘big chances’ created against the Toffees.
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Simons, who was given a 4/10 player rating by Football Insider, has now scored no goals and provided one assist in six Premier League appearances for the club this season, which is why Frank needs far more from the attacking midfielder.
The Netherlands international, though, was not the worst performer on the pitch for the Lilywhites. Randal Kolo Muani was even worse than Simons and should be dropped by the manager.
Why Randal Kolo Muani should be dropped
The summer loan signing from PSG was handed his first Premier League start for Spurs against the Toffees, as he was selected ahead of Richarlison and Mathys Tel.
Unfortunately, though, the France international, who was given a 2/10 player rating by Football Insider, failed to prove that he deserves to be the main number nine for the Lilywhites this season, with a disappointing performance against Everton.
As the sole number nine, Kolo Muani needed to hold the ball up to take pressure off the team and act as a focal point for the other attackers to play off. That is why Frank may not be pleased with his display, as the striker lost 88% (7/8) of his duels, per Sofascore, as the opposition defenders found it too easy to get the better of him.
Vs Everton
Xavi Simons
Randal Kolo Muani
Minutes
62
62
Goals + assists
0 + 0
0 + 0
Touches
38
15
Unsuccessful touches
1
4
Passes made
24
7
Duels won
3/6
1/8
Fouls committed
0
2
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, Simons offered more to the team both in and out of possession across their 62 minutes on the pitch, winning 50% of his duels and only taking one unsuccessful touch out of 38.
Kolo Muani taking four unsuccessful touches from 15 total touches shows that his close control and technical ability was not good enough, to go along with his struggles out of possession from a physical perspective.
Richarlison came off the bench to replace Kolo Muani and, per Sofascore, only took one unsuccessful touch from 15 touches and won two duels, whilst he created Sarr’s goal with his header back across the goal.
With three goals and one assist to his name in the Premier League, the Brazil international may be favoured by the Spurs head coach when their next Premier League match against Chelsea rolls around, after their EFL Cup action during the week.
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