Thomas Frank reveals why he has made Xavi Simons decision at Tottenham

Thomas Frank has explained why Xavi Simons has been deployed on the wing for his first two Tottenham starts. The Netherlands international joined the club from RB Leipzig with 72 hours of the window remaining in a £52million deal.

A debut for his new club arrived away at West Ham United last weekend, but was over two weeks in the making because of the September international break. Deployed off the left, the 22-year-old grabbed an assist when his corner was headed home at the back post by Pape Sarr.

He played 71 minutes at the London Stadium, with his game time gradually increasing a few days later for Spurs' Champions League win over Villarreal. Simons was again in the starting XI at left wing for that clash and he was replaced by Brennan Johnson with just over 10 minutes remaining.

With Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison out injured, the expectation was that Simons would go straight into the No.10 role, but that has not been the case. Instead, the energy of Sarr and Bergvall has been preferred with both Spurs youngsters starting the season extremely well.

Nonetheless, Frank was asked about Simons in his pre-Brighton press conference with his response a clear explanation of why he has been utilised out wide.

"No, I think it's how we let the team grow and develop," he said when asked if the decision to play him on the left had been done to introduce him gently.

"Where we came from in the summer. I was thinking the other day, I don't think I said it, that we last year and the last two seasons, but definitely the last year, it was like Kulusevski, Son, Maddison, Solanke. None of them is available. So it's a completely new front four.

"Xavi came in late to the picture. Mo came in in pre-season. Dom hasn't been fully fit. We played with Pape and Lucas as the 10. So we're trying to add those layers, you know, game for game.

"And right now, our strongest bit in the team is the structure and I think the way we defend, which is also a very offensive way of defending with the high pressure because we win the ball high, we keep initiative, we can be aggressive and intense.

"And then we are building more into how we can add maybe more offensive players in the future, depending on how players are developing. I also need to say that Lucas is doing quite well in the No. 10 position. Different profile than Xavi, but offers something different. We're going to play a lot of games this season."

With four clean sheets out of a possible five secured, it certainly makes sense for Frank to continue taking this route for the time being. However, it is more than likely Tottenham will see the best of Simons when he is deployed centrally especially following Frank's Djed Spence admission earlier this week.

Considering the task that awaits away to Brighton on Saturday (3pm), the expectation is that he will remain on the wing with Spurs needing plenty of energy in midfield.

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