​Following a slow start to life at Tottenham Hotspur, the club are finally starting to see why they paid the £100 million price tag for Sandro Tonali.The Italian midfielder looked well off the pace in the first few matches, but following an impressive display at Old Trafford, the 26-year-old has started to flourish.Tonali looked particularly impressive in Spurs’ 2-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and has been great alongside Mateus Fernandes.His performances have made him a shoo-in for the Italian national team again, and he has just featured in their huge win over France.After their failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, the Azzurri have just laid a real marker down by beating the semi-finalists.However, despite the win, the local media in Italy have not been kind about the Spurs midfielder’s performance at the San Siro.Italian media slam Sandro Tonali’s performance vs FranceThe Italian media have been quite critical of Tonali’s performance against France, despite him playing a key role in the win.The Tottenham star played 90 minutes at the San Siro and started in a midfield, which did not see much off the ball, and the media believe he was ‘not creative enough’.Despite the result, France had far more possession than Italy, with 65 percent, as they dominated the ball.Tonali, Davide Frattesi and Nicolo Barella struggled to control the game in the first half, with France looking far more threatening.The midfield trio, and particularly Tonali, lifted their performances in the second half and, unsurprisingly, the game turned on its head.But despite an improved second-half performance, the Italian media were still highly critical of Spurs’ midfielder.Calciomercato rated him a 6/10 and wrote: “Still playing as a playmaker, he struggles both to establish rhythm in his passing, making a series of simple passes early on, and to apply pressure. Against the French passers, the former AC Milan midfielder struggles enormously in terms of intensity. He increases the pressure in the first half of the second half, and it’s no coincidence that Italy significantly improves their game. He wins back a lot of the ball and struggles much less.”Tuttomercatoweb also rated him 6/10, claiming: “The most underwhelming of the three Azzurri midfielders. Quantity is fine, but more quality is needed in that role.”Eurosport was slightly more positive about his performance and rated him 6.5: “He has to run and chase rather than build, but he’s always in the game.”In truth, the Italian media have been very harsh on Tottenham’s record signing, who still gave so much in 90 minutes for Roberto Mancini’s team.Italy did struggle at times against Les Bleus, but in the end, this is a huge result for Italy and one which Tonali played a major role in.Sandro Tonali’s best work comes out of possessionTonali has never been the most spectacular player on the ball, and his game is more based on what he offers you out of possession.He often covers more ground than most players on th