Xavi Simons and the season that slipped from Tottenham’s hands
xavi simons stood on the touchline at Anfield, waiting for a call that came late and changed nothing quickly. Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool left him with minutes, touches, and a lingering sense that his place in the team has become a question rather than a certainty.
Why has xavi simons become a fringe figure at Tottenham?
When Tottenham signed xavi simons at the end of last summer, the hope inside the club was simple: a high-end creative player for the biggest nights, especially with James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski facing lengthy lay-offs. A Champions League last-16 second leg at home under lights against Atletico Madrid was the kind of occasion that seemed made for him.
Instead, the season has tilted into an uncomfortable shape. Tottenham’s immediate priority has become survival in the Premier League, with a looming match against Nottingham Forest framed inside the club as the one that really matters. In that context, xavi simons has not started any of Tottenham’s last three games: defeats to Crystal Palace and Atletico Madrid, and the draw at Anfield.
That shift has sharpened attention on head coach Igor Tudor’s decisions. The team has been described as lacking technical quality, yet the player portrayed as the most technically gifted among those fit and available has repeatedly begun on the bench. It is a stark change from the turn of the year, when he was seen as a leading light, and from a period during the final weeks of Thomas Frank’s tenure when he appeared to be settling into the side and into English football.
What happened at Anfield, and what does it say about Igor Tudor’s plan for Xavi Simons?
At Anfield, Igor Tudor again left xavi simons among the substitutes for the 1-1 draw with Liverpool. When he entered the match, the performance was described as disoriented. Over 34 minutes on the pitch, he recorded 33 touches, lost possession eight times, and completed 18 passes.
There was also a late moment that could have rewritten the story of his night: a chance to win the game near the end. The decision he made—shooting rather than choosing another option—ended with an effort dragged wide, becoming a symbol of the uncertainty critics have attached to his decision-making in this spell.
Tudor’s tactical shape has also been raised as a factor. The system used placed him in a flat 4-4-2 and out wide on the left, with Mathys Tel selected ahead of him on the wing. The combination of role, system fit, and selection choices has fed a growing impression that the coach does not trust him as a central solution right now.
For Tottenham, this is more than a question of one player’s form. The club brought him in as the kind of creative spark that could offset the absence of Maddison and Kulusevski. But as this season has worn on, the team has been described as going without a proper creator, deepening the pressure on a signing framed as marquee.
Can a Champions League night reset the story for xavi simons?
The Atletico Madrid second leg has been positioned as potentially significant, but not for the reasons imagined when he arrived. If Tudor decides to rest and rotate with an eye on the Premier League survival fight, that could open a door for xavi simons to start again. It would be his first start since he was substituted after one hour in a 2-1 defeat at Fulham on March 1.
The stakes around progression have been described as slim, and the priorities inside the club have shifted toward staying in the top flight. Still, the match presents a stage—lights, pressure, and expectation—that matches the original idea behind his signing: proof, not promise.
His season has been marked by stop-start rhythms. Early on, he started slowly and drifted in and out of the side. He did not complete a full 90 minutes in the Premier League until December in a 2-0 win against Brentford, a match in which he also scored his first goal for the club. That result also carried a grim footnote: it was Tottenham’s last home league win.
The numbers attached to his year underline why scrutiny has become so sharp. Since moving from RB Leipzig for a fee described at roughly £51 million, he has two goals and five assists in 36 appearances. Those totals have been used to frame the signing as disappointing so far, especially given the team’s need for creation during the injuries to Maddison and Kulusevski.
This is the tension at Tottenham right now: a club that thought it had bought stardust is instead staring at a table position that turns every weekend into a referendum on resilience. For xavi simons, the next selection—whether Tudor rotates for Atletico or doubles down on the trusted shape—will function as its own kind of verdict. The touchline at Anfield offered only a partial glimpse; the next big night could either restore him to the story, or leave him watching it unfold from the margins again.
