It’s not been a great first season for Ben Davies at Spurs and it was somewhat summed up by the sad sight of him departing the pitch against Southampton having picked up a dislocated shoulder.
The injury came after a poor performance from Davies in which he was partly at fault for both goals. First he failed to react quickly enough to the chaos in the Tottenham defence, allowing Graziano Pelle to poke home. Then in the second-half Davies’ poor headed clearance gave possession back to the Saints, resulting in a cross that the Welsh international might have blocked if he’d re-positioned himself nearer to the wide-man. Once again it was Pelle who applied the finishing touch.
Overall it’s been a tough debut season for Davies. In the current climate of austerity and realism at Spurs, he was the one player that I wanted the club to sign last summer above all others. For too long we had struggled with just one recognised left-back in the squad and as one of the best young players in that position in the Premier League, Davies was a natural and affordable choice to fill the slot.
It was assumed by most that Davies would make the role his own, ahead of the much maligned Danny Rose. Instead things have turned out very differently.
For starters Rose was unfairly criticised and not nearly as bad a player as his detractors made out. As a young player learning a new position on the job, he was always likely to make mistakes. After a successful loan season at Sunderland, his early form under Andre Villas-Boas in 2013-14 was good. It was only after Rose picked up an injury and returned to the team under Tim Sherwood that things went wrong. The back four and in particular the left-side lacked protection and Rose was by far from being the only defender whose form collapsed.
Under the management of Mauricio Pochettino these were less frightening times to be a Tottenham full-back. Rose was not only better protected but also enjoyed an early season run in the team, despite the signing of Davies. Due to the injury problems of Kyle Walker, the lack of pace in Tottenham’s back four and indeed the rest of the side, meant that Pochettino had little choice but to play Rose most weeks.
Davies had to make do with occasional appearances, in which he looked surprisingly nervous and error-prone. It was thought surprising because of his previous form at Swansea, where he hit the ground running from the moment that he broke into the first-team as a teenager.
Yet perhaps the leap from being Swansea reserve player to a Swansea Premier League player for a 21-year old who was born and bred in the area, is not as seismic as leaving home to move to London and play for a bigger Premier League club where expectations are often unrealistically high.
Davies only turned 22 last week and has plenty of time on his side to settle in. The list of new signings who have taken a season or more to find their feet at Spurs is huge. He only needs to look at his Welsh teammate Gareth Bale for an extreme example of the sort of transformation that can be made.
If Rose’s current form continues it will be hard for Davies to get the run in the team he perhaps needs to bed in. That said, the good news is that these are two players who can co-exist. Rose’s pace and drive are his biggest assets, while Davies has the potential to be the better defender and already is a more considered deliverer of the ball.
Should Tottenham get both players at their best then they have the perfect situation of picking the right man for certain games. Despite Daves’ difficult first season, left-back is perhaps now the position where Spurs have the biggest embarrassment of riches.
How can you say he is a better crosser of the ball ?he rarely gets into the opponents half,he makes far too many mistakes and although Rose is not the finished article he has been one of our best players this season .
WHO THE HELL WAS THE MAIN PERSON WHO RECOMMENDED DAVIS TO SPURS AND THE OVERRAL SIGNING OF HIM THE GUY IS A LIABILITY A VERY AVERAGE PLAYER INDEED . SACK THE DUMMY WHO PAID THE £6,000,000 OR MORE FOR HIS SERVICES IF ANYTHING HE IS 1ST DIVISION OR 2ND DIVISION STOCK .
He goes on the transfer list championship player at best another shit buy buy bladini/levy .
Centre half is where he goes from here,
Anywhere but staying at Spurs.
What a joke Davis is a cracking left back who has struggled this year it’s idiots like Johnny here that properly said the same about Bale…. Support your team and give players time. Look at rose compared to last year
This guy had better stats than Shaw last season, had scored more, and was generally accepted as the best young left back in the league last year. He’s struggled with the move this year, and Rose’s performances have meant that he hasn’t had the games he needs. But I think he’s been one of our best signings of the summer, purely because he provides competition in an area that we sorely needed it, meaning Verts could stay in CB, and that competition has certainly spurred Rose on to perform the way he has this year. So long as they push each other in training and for a place in the starting 11, he is worth more than the 6m we paid for him
I agree with you. The one weakness that Rose has is that he is so committed to going forward that at times the opposition catches Spurs on the break with him out of position.
Alrfozaam-inkoamatian found, problem solved, thanks!
SimonVery nicely written Elton, and it was nice to see all the other things you got up to here in Germany. When I’ve got my place in Frankfurt you can totally visit.
That’s a quick-witted answer to a difficult question
18cParahin Emma, rohkeus ja tinkimättömyys ovat ihailtavia ominaisuuksia vain jos ajaa hyviä ja järkeviä asioita. Nyt asia ei ole niin.Toisaalta saat tästä rahaa kuten aikaisemmin jo totesinkin, joten mielipiteesi asiassa ei lainkaan ihmetytä.
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