Tottenham warned they have a selfish star who ‘plays his own game’ and is ‘terrible to watch’

Former Netherlands international Willem van Hanegem believes that Ronald Koeman would not have been impressed by what Xavi Simons did during Tottenham’s 2-2 draw against Brighton.

Xavi produced what was arguably his best performance in a Spurs shirt against Brighton, delivering a sublime assist in the first-half and a brilliant strike in the second period.

That performance was enough to see the Spurs attacking midfielder make it into WhoScored’s Team of the Week, but it was not enough to take the Lilywhites to a win, as Brighton scored a stoppage-time equaliser to break Tottenham hearts.

However, there was one incident in the second-half that the 22-year-old is being heavily criticised for despite his impressive performance.

Tottenham star Xavi Simons accused of playing for himself after wild celebration

Spurs legend Les Ferdinand admitted last week that he did not like Xavi’s wild celebration after his goal against the Seagulls, with the pundit pointing out that the Tottenham players had to focus, given how much time was left on the clock.

Van Hanegem has now also taken aim at the Spurs attacking midfielder, suggesting that the manager would have taken the 22-year-old off in his era had he celebrated like that.

The Feyenoord legend accused Xavi of playing for himself rather than the team, suggesting that Koeman would not have been impressed.

Van Hanegem said about the Tottenham star (via PSV Inside): “If a player like that had played in our era, and the manager didn’t want to take him off, then the players certainly would have taken him off themselves.

“If Koeman sees this now, wouldn’t he have something to say about it? Xavi Simons always plays his own game. It is truly terrible to watch.”

The criticism seems a little over the top, to say the least. Creative midfielders have always been maverick characters; you need that energy to have the confidence to take risks and make things happen. Was it smart to over-celebrate in the moment? Probably not. But at least Xavi clearly cares.

Xavi’s and his Spurs teammates’ emotions were understandable

Emotions were running high at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last week, given how much was riding on the game on the back of the team’s abject showing all season.

Xavi himself was a man under immense pressure, having failed to live up to expectations since his move to Spurs last summer, and one can understand why there was an explosion of relief and joy from the Dutchman when he saw his strike sail into the back of the net.

However, there is no doubt that the Tottenham players need to keep a much calmer head to see out wins over the upcoming games, and one would expect them to learn from what happened last Saturday.

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