Ben Davies

[braineclipse]

Davies is captain of Wales when Ramsey is unavailable (always!) and while he's very much at the latter stage of his career, he is in good physical condition, he's really learned the game and the determination he has to play the Ange system is admirable.

As long as he has first choice players alongside him he will do fine - weaken the right CB and/or LB and he will find it tough.

This is probably true for most of our backup players. Too many of them in at the same time in the same areas and we'll struggle more.

Will be interesting to see how he does with Bissouma and Udogie out. For now at least I'm more concerned about how the cover for those two will do than how Davies will do.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

This is probably true for most of our backup players. Too many of them in at the same time in the same areas and we'll struggle more.

Will be interesting to see how he does with Bissouma and Udogie out. For now at least I'm more concerned about how the cover for those two will do than how Davies will do.

Udogie out hurts more IMO than Bissouma

We had a balance with him there and Davies

Now it’s a right footer playing left. One thing with Emerson is he gives it all. He also does get the system, but has his limitations.

Bissouma has a few like for like ish players in the squad. My worry is he never play well when Hojberg starts and Skipp hasn’t had many starts …

But it is what it is now

We need to keep Pape and Romero away from another suspension as that’s what can hurt us again

 

[FatBloke]

He is a very competent LCB, time people gave him credit for that IMO rather than making jibes like "Cheap".

I couldn't agree more. He's an experienced player with good footballing intelligence, who's well aware of his limitations and works within them effectively. It's rare that he gets embarrassed, despite his lack of pace and not being top notch on the ball.

 

[Grays_1890]

I couldn't agree more. He's an experienced player with good footballing intelligence, who's well aware of his limitations and works within them effectively. It's rare that he gets embarrassed, despite his lack of pace and not being top notch on the ball.

He has been a perfect foil for Romero too

 

[Bedfordspurs]

He has been a perfect foil for Romero too

There is a balance there I didn’t expect

 

[metalgear]

So 'competent' but less experienced? Why?

Davies is better than just competent, it's a mythyounger

Davies does little going forward which is required for his role in the modern game.

I believe we can find someone younger and already as good as Davies, but with potentially higher ceiling that can be realised with more experience.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Davies does little going forward which is required for his role in the modern game.

I believe we can find someone younger and already as good as Davies, but with potentially higher ceiling that can be realised with more experience.

We should aim for that for sure
but cbs are recruited for their attacking prowess

Davies did have a huge role in the equaliser vs city
He also got an assist playing left back earlier this season

 

[Surfless]

lets be clear - he's a centre half now - I don't see him as a lb under Ange - he's not suited to the forward minded element of the role.

 

[parklane1]

So 'competent' but less experienced? Why?

Davies is better than just competent, it's a myth.

This.

 

[Raziel]

Got a decent article written on him in athletic

 

[greatwhitenorf]

Yeah, thankfully not written by the Arsenal boy Eccleshare.

 

[metalgear]

We should aim for that for sure
but cbs are recruited for their attacking prowess

Davies did have a huge role in the equaliser vs city
He also got an assist playing left back earlier this season

Yes i know Davies did well on occasions. Not saying he is bad but upgradeable.
A lot thought that Dier was great for us last season but you can see how VDV just fits Angeball better.

 

[metalgear]

lets be clear - he's a centre half now - I don't see him as a lb under Ange - he's not suited to the forward minded element of the role.

true but in the 5 game losses some of the goals came from his areas - not having sufficient presence to fight for aerial ball but pace comes to mind. Pace and physicality can fix a lot of defensive issues especially when we play the offside trap a lot.

 

[braineclipse]

lets be clear - he's a centre half now - I don't see him as a lb under Ange - he's not suited to the forward minded element of the role.

Still think he's the best backup option for Udogie too. We haven't seen Sessegnon there yet, I guess he could surprise us. But prefer Davies to Emerson at left back. Another area that probably needs sorting in terms of quality options at some point.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Still think he's the best backup option for Udogie too. We haven't seen Sessegnon there yet, I guess he could surprise us. But prefer Davies to Emerson at left back. Another area that probably needs sorting in terms of quality options at some point.

It’s a bigger issue IMO
The centre back role is less specialised in this system than the full back one
And we’re now using Emerson, a technically limited player to cover both sides when arguably he isn’t a good fit even for the right
The key to course is he does everything he can and doesn’t let us down… but the drop off with the ball is huge.

 

[braineclipse]

It’s a bigger issue IMO
The centre back role is less specialised in this system than the full back one
And we’re now using Emerson, a technically limited player to cover both sides when arguably he isn’t a good fit even for the right
The key to course is he does everything he can and doesn’t let us down… but the drop off with the ball is huge.

Perhaps. We've seen Romero and Davies form a good partnership, but we're yet to see how we would look with VdV, but without Romero. Not sure VdV and Davies would work and we'd probably end up with Emerson or Dier next to VdV? I hope we don't find out, but it may be an even bigger issue.

Good full back cover will probably be a difficult thing to sort out, but hopefully in the next couple of windows we'll be able to do something useful. Getting another CB in during January would at least mean Davies isn't the primary cover for both.

 

[Bishop]

Yes i know Davies did well on occasions. Not saying he is bad but upgradeable.
A lot thought that Dier was great for us last season but you can see how VDV just fits Angeball better.

Anyone who thought Dier was good for us last season is a raving lunatic.

true but in the 5 game losses some of the goals came from his areas - not having sufficient presence to fight for aerial ball but pace comes to mind. Pace and physicality can fix a lot of defensive issues especially when we play the offside trap a lot.

100%. He has done well recently but sometimes Spurs fans love to give out the plaudits too easily. He's done well in some games and poorly in others and he's not without blame for decent number of the goals conceded. Overall he's been a decent backup bit exactly that, a backup. I agree with you he's not the level we want permanently in the role imo.

Still think he's the best backup option for Udogie too. We haven't seen Sessegnon there yet, I guess he could surprise us. But prefer Davies to Emerson at left back. Another area that probably needs sorting in terms of quality options at some point.

The problem is we don't have a good backup for Udogie. Davies might be the best option but that doesn't make him a good option. He's done his time at LB and it doesn't suit him anymore even more so in the inverted role and the responsibilities demanded in the Ange system.

I don't think we need to be scared that the squad needs replacing, we knew this in the summer. Now we have the coach, we need to get the players.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Anyone who thought Dier was good for us last season is a raving lunatic.

100%. He has done well recently but sometimes Spurs fans love to give out the plaudits too easily. He's done well in some games and poorly in others and he's not without blame for decent number of the goals conceded. Overall he's been a decent backup bit exactly that, a backup. I agree with you he's not the level we want permanently in the role imo.

The problem is we don't have a good backup for Udogie. Davies might be the best option but that doesn't make him a good option. He's done his time at LB and it doesn't suit him anymore even more so in the inverted role and the responsibilities demanded in the Ange system.

I don't think we need to be scared that the squad needs replacing, we knew this in the summer. Now we have the coach, we need to get the players.

We have to get adequate cover and ideally options to replace/rest our wing backs
It’s been an Achilles heel when we have lost one
It’s a high energy, highly technical role that creates attacks for and stops attacks against
I’d love to see sessegnon step up but I’m not convinced that will happen and royal doesn’t have the capability long term
I can’t think of any similar players in this league, that’s for sure
And buying centre backs because they can play wide isn’t the answer medium term

 

[metalgear]

The Everton game alongside Royal exposed Davies' real weakness - he can't progress the ball with help from a stronger partner, and tends to make poor decisions while passing under pressure..often short and unnecessarily putting the receiver under pressure - if it even reaches his intended targey.

In the Villa game, I lost count of how many passes he gave away. At least 5 to the oppent in the first half and immediately at the restart of the second. ( I stopped counting after. )

Hojberg coming on did help in retaining possession just because he is braver in holding the ball, taking some risks in waiting for more options to arise. We had no such problems when Udogie was there. Its a huge difference.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

The Everton game alongside Royal exposed Davies' real weakness - he can't progress the ball with help from a stronger partner, and tends to make poor decisions while passing under pressure..often short and unnecessarily putting the receiver under pressure - if it even reaches his intended targey.

In the Villa game, I lost count of how many passes he gave away. At least 5 to the oppent in the first half and immediately at the restart of the second. ( I stopped counting after. )

Hojberg coming on did help in retaining possession just because he is braver in holding the ball, taking some risks in waiting for more options to arise. We had no such problems when Udogie was there. Its a huge difference.

Hojberg came on and struggled
Davies struggled too
It quickly became a game of who would make the next mistake
The issue with some players is they just can’t play this football At the pace and level needed.
davies has shown he can.