One of Tottenham Hotspur’s summer signings has been likened to Manchester United failure Anthony, as his former players are already “hated to death” by him.
After winning last season’s Europa League, Spurs were active in the summer transfer window as they prepared for the Champions League season.
Xavi Simons, Mohamed Kudus, Joao Parinha and Randall Kolo Muani were among the notable additions, with mixed batting averages.
While Symonds and Kolo Muani were fooled by flattery, Kudus and Parinya made a positive impact in the first few months of the campaign.
Simmons was on the bench on Saturday, but came on as a substitute for Lukas Bergvall in the opening 10 minutes of the game against Chelsea as Spurs lost 1-0.
In his post-match speech, Frank explained why he did not start Simmons against Chelsea.
“Obviously there’s a reason why we didn’t start him,” Frank said.
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“I think he started two games and played a short turnaround. And that energy and freshness that I talked about, he played 90 minutes on Wednesday night. So we decided to do that, and he played 70 minutes here.”
“So I think it was nothing, because you come on three minutes later and when you come on as a substitute, you look different.”
Former Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara then slammed Simmons, claiming Tottenham had “signed Anthony”.
“It feels like we signed Anthony,” O’Hara told talkSPORT.
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“Xavi Simmons, I’m sick to death of him. He plays the ball soft, short, and Caicedo takes it away from him.
“To be honest, after five minutes he came on for Bergvall. It’s like playing with 10 men. I’m sick of it. For the £52 million we spent on him, he’s average and gives the ball away in a playful manner.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea legend Frank Leboeuf suggested his club avoided a crisis by not signing Simmons, who has only had “a good year of football”.
“Xavi Simons had a good year at Leipzig, which hasn’t been the case at Paris Saint-Germain so far, but he had an average season last season and was sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £52m,” Leboeuf told ESPN.
“And what do you expect? What do you expect from guys who have had a good year of football? To be a game changer?
“People are dreaming, dreamers. I don’t get it.”
