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Xavi Simons

Baleforce said:
looked like when he first signed again today

slow, weak, confused
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Said it when he was doing well. Feed him the ball in pockets of space and have movement around and ahead of him and he'll do well.

Ask him to chase for second balls all game, hold off bigger and stronger players consistently as he waits for support and he'll struggle.

Imo can't fault his effort, to me looked like he ran himself absolutely into the ground. But a setup like that in a game like that just doesn't get the best out of him. Not that we had many options to play differently.
 
Not to make excuses for him but Simmons needs players around him to feed and feed off him. He's a classic pass and move style orchestrator but we never have the players around him nor do we really have them on the squad. He's a system player not being played in a system, he will be poor.

Now that doesn't excuse his under and over hit passes, not his lack of physicality. That's going to continue being a problem until we get technical short passes in and around him. I do think getting Kulu into the same team would make a big difference.
 
Bishop said:
Not to make excuses for him but Simmons needs players around him to feed and feed off him. He's a classic pass and move style orchestrator but we never have the players around him nor do we really have them on the squad. He's a system player not being played in a system, he will be poor.

Now that doesn't excuse his under and over hit passes, not his lack of physicality. That's going to continue being a problem until we get technical short passes in and around him. I do think getting Kulu into the same team would make a big difference.
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If we were playing well and confidence throughout the team was high then I think he could be great for us. I'm not at all convinced that he's the man for the job remaining over the next 11 games though tbh - but unfortunately for us, and for him, we don't have a choice but to play him every game until the end of the season if he is fit.
 
Mulletperm said:
I only watched the second half, but he was incredibly poor. In saying that, when he received the ball there was absolutely zero movement around him creating space for a pass. We were dreadful.
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i watched trossard and how paulinha had a torrid time trying to press him as he kept changing direction every 2-3 steps.
xavi is well capable of doing that but he panics easily and shifts from fight to flight quite literally in front of my eyes
 
parklane1 said:
The kid is 22 and is trying to impress in a team that has no structure, he has ability and i really believe if we stick with him we will have a special player.
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I agree, he's slowly been looking better as well. Lets hope we stay up and I think he'll kick on next year.
 
parklane1 said:
The kid is 22 and is trying to impress in a team that has no structure, he has ability and i really believe if we stick with him we will have a special player.
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He was definitely poor yesterday, but tbf he was looking for the ball and he definitely cares.

If we can stay up then hopefully he can really show what he can do next season. Agree that he’s got the tools to be a great player.
 
metalgear said:
i watched trossard and how paulinha had a torrid time trying to press him as he kept changing direction every 2-3 steps.
xavi is well capable of doing that but he panics easily and shifts from fight to flight quite literally in front of my eyes
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To my viewing Trossard typically got the ball in a bit of space, even him being up against Palhinha makes a point, he got the ball up against one of our CBs, a situation where danger happens from one move. He also typically had movement around him.

Meanwhile Simons got the ball with very limited options ahead of him or around him. He didn't get the ball much in situations where if he could beat one player he'd be in a dangerous situation.

The only players we have who thrive in the kind of situations he got the ball in are all injured.
 
Mikey10 said:
He was definitely poor yesterday, but tbf he was looking for the ball and he definitely cares.

If we can stay up then hopefully he can really show what he can do next season. Agree that he’s got the tools to be a great player.
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Agreed. Even when he lost the ball with that failed cross field ball. Sure it's poor, and giving the ball away like that repeatedly will lead to us conceding goals. But at least he was trying to do something useful, play a cross field ball to a player who was in space and could then perhaps go on to do something useful.

That to me shows bravery and ambition. Passing it back to Dragusin or Vicario who will then punt a hopeful/hopeless long ball is not. And that too will lead to us conceding goals.
 
parklane1 said:
The kid is 22 and is trying to impress in a team that has no structure, he has ability and i really believe if we stick with him we will have a special player.
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I hope you are right but the "kid" had no qualms in demanding to be the highest paid player at the club... not in two years' time but now! If he is the highest paid player, then I believe it is reasonable to expect him to be the (or at least one of the) best performer/s.... and he is not even light years near that!
 
Mabspurs said:
I hope you are right but the "kid" had no qualms in demanding to be the highest paid player at the club... not in two years' time but now! If he is the highest paid player, then I believe it is reasonable to expect him to be the (or at least one of the) best performer/s.... and he is not even light years near that!
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Why would/should he have had qualms about that?

The thing he imo should have qualms about is us bringing him here with a plan to leave him isolated as a ten while we play a horseshoe. Why we ask him to chase shadows and second balls instead of playing to his strengths.

In this period of massive troubles I see a player who tries his absolute hardest, who runs himself into the ground and rather consistently tries up take responsibility and make something happen for a struggling side. While being given very little useful to work with. While potentially having another big move go sideways for him.
 
braineclipse said:
To my viewing Trossard typically got the ball in a bit of space, even him being up against Palhinha makes a point, he got the ball up against one of our CBs, a situation where danger happens from one move. He also typically had movement around him.

Meanwhile Simons got the ball with very limited options ahead of him or around him. He didn't get the ball much in situations where if he could beat one player he'd be in a dangerous situation.

The only players we have who thrive in the kind of situations he got the ball in are all injured.
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trossard sees palhinha coming stops, turns then changes direction like three times before passing it on.
palhinha was pretty much anonymous because he got twisted so many times that it started to look funny

simons starts the run and two players are on him - he could have changed direction or stop dead in his tracks, or even go for a foul. but all he knew was to run forwards until a third arsenal player surrounded him

yes sure he may have lacked options up front, but just running into blind alleys and getting robbed isn't the solution either
 
Another big name player who we made a massive boohaha at getting, thinking we got one over our rivals... and now being given a free pass at his obvious ineffectuality...

Sorry... if we are paying 195K per week I expect more than he is giving... irrespective of what is around him.

Seen it too many times...
 
metalgear said:
New spurs record this seasonView attachment 21722
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I hate stats like this because they push a narrative that he’s careless with the ball or weak or whatever and ignore any context.

He lost the ball several times because he was trying to do something creative with it but had f**k all movement in front of him. He could have taken the easy option and went backwards but he tried to move us forward. I heard Merson on The Overlap recently saying that he gets bored watching players just pad out their stats with nothing passes because it’s killing creativity.

I know it’s Merson but I agree to an extent. I see it in underage football too. Young kids being criticized for taking on players if they lose it as if losing possession is the biggest crime in the world. Creativity and bravery is being coached out of kids. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about a kid who wants to dribble the entire pitch every time – I’m talking about one who can go past a player and then create something because he’s reduced the number of defenders between his team mates and the goal. A player who can draw 2-3 players in by dribbling and then maybe find a pass or go past someone. I love watching players who can do the unexpected and do something that can get me off my seat rather than players who pass for the sake of passing.

I believe Xavi can be that for us. He’s a terrific talent IMO.
 
Of course he's going to be dispossessed a load of times when he's the one creative outlet we have and those in front of him tend to do fudge all.

He doesn't hide and tries to make things happen, which he has done plenty of times and would do more often if he had some help or a functional system. He is the least of our problems and should be looking to build a decent attacking lineup around him.....
 
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