View: Tottenham need one star more than ever as relegation worries intensify

Tottenham Hotspur fell to defeat once again, as Roberto De Zerbi took to the dugout for the first time against Sunderland.

It was a match of fine margins at the Stadium of Light on Sunday, with a deflected Nordi Mukiele strike condemning Spurs to a 1-0 defeat on their travels.

Despite De Zerbi arriving with a background of exciting attacking football, similar patterns emerged for the Lilywhites, who struggled to create anything, while failing to take full control of a match once again.

With the winless league run stretching back to the end of last calendar year continuing to extend, De Zerbi’s side have been left languishing in the relegation zone, two points behind West Ham.

Tottenham need difference makers to begin stepping up, while now would be a perfect time for star signing Xavi Simons to begin backing up all the hype surrounding him following his arrival last summer.

Xavi Simons has not lived up to the hype in a Tottenham shirt

The Dutchman made the switch from RB Leipzig last summer, joining in a £51million deal.

The signing itself was a huge statement for Spurs, after missing out on both Eberechi Eze and Morgan Gibbs-White, the feeling was that they had fallen upwards by adding a genuine star from the continent to Thomas Frank’s squad – though he has not quite hit the heights just yet.

Flashes of quality have been there for the 22-year-old former teenage wonderkid, who had become a famous prospect in his early teenage years at both Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, before cutting his teeth with PSV Eindhoven and RB Leipzig.

Throughout his career, Simons has become known for his ability to carry the ball over long distances, and that hasn’t exactly let up at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with 13.2 over the course of the season, with a total distance of 3298.7m.

Though his numbers in terms of output have dried up, with four assists from six big chances created – half of his final figure in the Bundesliga last term, having created 12 big chances by the end of the term, alongside just one goal after scoring 10 times in the league last season.

Spurs themselves have changed identities like the wind this term, with Frank’s more reserved style of play drawing particular criticism from fans.

While Igor Tudor’s short tenure has resulted in the appointment of De Zerbi, simply a complete tactical shift once again when it comes to the ideas of the man at the helm.

Under the Italian, the Lilywhites will be looking to move the ball more quickly and control games more effectively. Though this is a lot easier said than done, and the star players need to begin stepping up, none more so than star signing Simons.

Xavi Simons needs to take on talismanic role as Tottenham strive for survival

Throughout both of his spells with PSV and RB Leipzig, the Dutch midfielder has taken on a talismanic role, often being the man who sparks everything in the final third.

With the ability to carry the ball over large stretches, and a mean strike on him when allowed to let rip in the final third, he looked a cut above in his final months in the Bundesliga, while Leipzig stumbled over the line for a seventh-place finish – their worst since promotion to the top flight in 2016.

Tottenham are looking for a real difference maker, with the recent display at Sunderland once again failing to highlight a player ready to grab a game by the scruff of the neck and make things happen for the struggling Lilywhites.

The talent is absolutely there when it comes to Simons, and it would be unfair to simply disregard that, given his age.

Though he needs to begin impacting games for Spurs, who are crying out for one of their midfielders or attackers to drag them forward, and who better to do that than last summer’s statement signing?

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