Tottenham: Roberto De Zerbi must drop Xavi Simons as top priority after damning Netherlands reviews

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Simons is set to play a crucial role in Tottenham’s battle against relegation, but he was met with familiar concerns after his latest international display. Simons has come in for heavy criticism from the national media for his performance, as Voetbal Primeur handed him a 5/10 match rating and referred to him as “unconvincing,” while also noting that he lost many of his duels.

They also labelled his efforts on Tuesday night as further evidence that his involvement with the national team continues to be a “marriage that just doesn’t seem to want to get going.”Football Oranje were no less sympathetic towards the 22-year-old, as they also handed out a 5/10 rating, while adding that he “doesn’t want to be involved in a battle and struggled to make an impact.”Simons is not what Tottenham need right nowTottenham need Roberto De Zerbi to have an immediate impact after he was appointed as their new manager on Tuesday, as they do not have time on their side at the moment.The Lilywhites have just seven games remaining to save their Premier League status, and they are currently outside the relegation zone by just one point, with West Ham displaying promising form of late. With that in mind, these reviews on Simons from the Dutch media should be telling De Zerbi everything that he needs to know about the youngster for the coming weeks.

The fact that Simons is not up for a battle has been clear on several occasions during his debut campaign in English football, and that is surely an obvious indication that he cannot be a starter in the relegation run-in. Spurs will need players who are willing to fight and scrap for every inch of grass in the coming weeks if they are to avoid an embarrassing relegation, and they cannot rely on Simons to do that at the moment.