Ben Davies Assessment

Player Assessment: Ben Davies

The second of a series of articles taking a look at the Premier League performances of the Tottenham players and looking forward to next season. Like right-back Kyle Walker it will be an important one for the second player we assess, left-back Ben Davies. I'll look at the players individually and then group the full-backs together, the centre-backs and so forth so you can compare against each other.

Ben Davies

Ben Davies had a tough first season at Tottenham Hotspur after his £11.13 million summer move from Swansea City. Some, although not myself, thought he would automatically go straight into the team and be the first choice but that didn't grasp the problems Danny Rose was playing with for me.

By his own admission he was joining a bigger club where expectation was higher. He stressed that he wanted the chance to test himself, to push himself and he has to be commended for that, For him it didn't and doesn't seem to be about a bigger wage packet but about improving himself as a player. That is exactly the winning mentality I talk about so he has that aspect in his armoury.

He started in the Europa League and was at time ripped apart, the stamp of a player is how well he deals with such adversity. Can he put it behind him, can he figure out a way to stop it and turn his form around. In individual games the answer has to be no, but it didn't seem to affect him in following games. That suggest that it doesn't affect his confidence which is rather important.

He spent just as much time playing in Europe as he did in the Premier League, all bar 85 minutes but his spell did include games against Everton, Chelsea, Manchester United and Southampton. Considering he played Chelsea twice, together with other talented sides, maybe it was more important we saw a more defensive Davies with his attacking kept in check.

A lack of pace is his undoing, in games like these if he attacks he doesn't have the speed of Rose to get back quickly enough. That is a conundrum he is going to have to work out, how to play the role effectively at both ends of the field. Spurs fans will be hoping we see a bit more from him next season.

Premier League Statistics Only

Ben Davies
Played: 14
Minutes: 898
Total Passes: 451
Pass Completion: 79.60%
Forward Passes: 60.09%
Key Passes: 7
Key Pass Time: 1 every 128.29 minutes
Chances Created: 8
Chance Creation Time: 1 every 112.25 minutes
Shots: 1
Shot Accuracy: 0%
Goals: 0
Assists: 1
Positive Attacking Action: 1 every 52.62 minutes
(Total Minutes divided by Shots, Goals, Assists, Key passes, Chances Created combined)
Tackles: 32
Tackles Won: 53.13%
Blocks: 2
Interceptions: 49
Clearances: 21
Take On Success: 42.86%
Heading Success: 54.29%
Defensive Action: 1 every 12.65 minutes
(Total Minutes divided by Blocks, Clearances, Interceptions)

Next season will be a season Davies has to improve otherwise you have to question his long term future at the club. He will start behind Danny Rose is the pecking order at it is up to him to force his way past the Englishman. You would think his lack of pace will be his problem but Leighton Baines isn't the quickest in the world and he has been an excellent attacking full-back for Everton.

Today it is about what a full-back offers going forward almost more than what he offers in defence but Davies is thought by Spurs fans to be a better defender than Rose. If that is the case he will have to start showing it because at the moment his performances don't warrant that assessment.

Like Kyle Walker on the other side, next season will be an important one for Davies. Harry Kane showed what a player needs to do when playing in the Europa League, he has to take his chance and force Pochettino to pick him. Ben Davies will have to take that approach next season, he will doubtless start in the Europa League again so consistent high quality performances where he carries an attacking threat can help him to put pressure on Rose.

Then when he gets his chance in the Premier League he has to take it, he has to make Danny Rose fight for his place back rather than just handing it back when Rose returns to fitness. It's a year where he career may stagnate or it will push on, which is up to him.

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