Xavi Simons seems to be gaining more and more confidence with Mauricio Pochettino at Paris Saint-Germain. The talented midfielder formed a vanguard against Stade Rennes (1-0 win) on Friday evening with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé and is increasingly getting playing minutes in the star team of the French club. Former trainer Peter van der Veen and Sander Westerveld are not surprised by the development of Simons, they say in The Telegraph†
Where Simons’ share was limited to one minute in the first team last season, the counter is already at 102 minutes this season. “If you have so much talent and work ethic and always play football with good players around you, you develop quickly,” said Van der Veen. “Believe me, he really isn’t being drafted into ‘PSG’ because of that cute face. Mauricio Pochettino is not there to bring young players, but to win games. He just puts up the 11 best, especially against Stade Rennes. He has huge confidence in Xavi.”
Van der Veen worked with Simons at Oranje, where he was trainer of the Under 15. “He was already very good then, but because he lacked strength, he was less successful. But you could already see that he was a special one. Despite the massive attention he is always humble stayed. He worked hard and set an example for everyone else. I thought that was nice to see. He was a nice guy to have with the group. You never had to explain to him where to walk or what to do with the ball; I only had to guide him mentally. Although: even that was not necessary, because he always worked very hard.”
Westerveld also got to know Simons on the KNVB Campus. According to the former the Dutch international, the young midfielder has nothing to complain about interest. “He is a boy with millions of followers on Instagram,” said Westerveld, who worked as a goalkeeper trainer at the KNVB. “I once went to watch a youth tournament. Where Barcelona and Xavi played, it was black with people. It seemed as if David Beckham was at the sports park. That boy was two peas high, but he almost needed bodyguards .”
According to Van der Veen, Simons comes into his own as a playmaker. “He was indeed small and it bothered him. I once substituted him for Germany after an hour when the match became very physical and he was overrun. Then I protected him. But I got him in that Sometimes he also gives up fighting matches like that. Because he had to learn to deal with it, just act faster. At Paris Saint-Germain they give him the ball. That means they accept him and he is good. Otherwise he will be skipped, so simple it is.”