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Tottenham have had a creativity problem this season and right now only one man can fix it for new boss Roberto De Zerbi
Just for one moment on Saturday, Tottenham's problematic season was forgotten. At the centre of it all, amid the flailing limbs of delirious supporters stood Xavi Simons.
Spurs have always had a playmaker at the heart of their team, whether it be Glenn Hoddle, Paul Gascoigne, David Ginola, Luka Modric, Christian Eriksen or more recently James Maddison.
Tottenham's double-winning legend Danny Blanchflower once said that football is about "doing things in style and with a flourish," and there has always been that little bit of magic that made the north London outfit fun to watch.
This season the magic has been sadly lacking in N17. The pragmatic Thomas Frank offered no fun, Igor Tudor had no idea what he was walking into and now Roberto De Zerbi has marched through the door in a last-gasp attempt to keep Tottenham in the Premier League.
It is entirely fitting that the Italian was a number 10 in his playing days. If anyone understands that football is meant to be a beautiful game rather than littered with the long throws and kicks of today's Premier League, it is the former Brighton boss.
So against his old team on Saturday, he turned to the little Dutch magician Xavi - the man born in the Netherlands but who quickly moved with his family to Alicante in Spain at the age of three where he would become one of the brightest academy stars at Barcelona.
The midfielder, who turned 23 on Tuesday, has already gone through a variety of clubs: from the Catalan giants to PSG, then to RB Leipzig and now Tottenham. He is a prodigious talent, a driven individual who had one million followers on social media while just 14-years-old.
As with all young players he has plenty he needs to improve on, but that is why he has assembled his own team around him. He has his own data and video analysts, as well as a strength and conditioning coach, personal trainer and even a mindset coach. He has been spotted at Hotspur Way on days off, looking to train and improve himself physically for the Premier League.
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Yet Frank, Tudor and De Zerbi - in his first game - did not trust him. Something about Xavi made them all worry about taking the risk. The Dutchman wears his emotions on his face. Some take it as sulking but those around him claim that with his Barcelona and PSG upbringing it has been drilled into him to be ambitious and never accept failure.
Defensively in his own half he will not offer managers much, but he does fight and tackle from the front and there's no doubting his creativity. He has fashioned more chances at Spurs this season than any other player. On Saturday, he set up Pedro Porro's opening goal with a clever reverse chipped pass, hit the post moments later himself and created a chance for Joao Palhinha in the second half after a mazy dribble.
Then came his goal. It would have reminded the Tottenham fans longingly of Son Heung-min in the way Xavi cut inside from the left flank and curled a right-footed effort in off the right-hand post.
The stadium went wild, his team-mates ran from all directions, including the subs on the bench, and for one moment everything about this sorry mess of a season was put to one side.
Brighton would eventually leave Xavi and Spurs heartbroken thanks to Georginio Rutter's 95th minute leveller but it was clear that Xavi is the man De Zerbi needs to spark a failing team back to life.
"I think I'm lucky to have this player on my team, but also he's lucky because with me as a number 10, I can understand him better than other coaches," said De Zerbi.
Frank and Tudor both overlooked Xavi and paid the price. If De Zerbi builds his team around the gifted Dutchman, with Maddison marching towards a return as well, then it might not be too late for Spurs.
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