Comparing Davies to Schneiderlin? They play different positions for a start. One has given everything in his short Everton career to get into the team under multiple different managers, the other has given absolutely nothing and is still half arseing round the pitch even now yet because it’s not quite as bad as his no show last season has some eating out the palm of his hand.
There are a lot off issues at play really. In their own way both are a bit underrated by Everton fans. Schneiderlin is about as far removed from what Everton fans want from their players. He has a bad attitude and thinks his ability should be enough to carry him through games. He puts in the effort when it suits him. However when he puts the effort in he is a good player. I can understand why people don't want that sort of player in the squad. I am more of a pragmatist, if he works hard for the next game and he helps us win I forgive a multitude of sins.
Davies some fella's clearly don't fancy which is fair enough. To be fair to the lad above
@andy4efc he obviously doesn't fancy him, which is fair enough. He has said he rates most of the other young players over Davies. He can clearly see that young players can and will improve, but just doesn't see it in Davies. To me thats fair enough. I think most of our young players fall into that category. They divide opinion. None of them are definitely going to be world stars, but none of them are also so poor I can never see them decent footballers. The multitude of opinions ranges within that which is fair enough.
I like Davies. I suppose I take quite a number based approach to young players. His numbers are very good. The number of games he's played, goals he's scored, assists he's made etc matches up very well with most midfielders his age or younger over the last decade or so.
I get the criticism about "what does he do". This is partly to do with his age, but also partly to do with his being a bit of an enigma as a player. The fact he's played in the first team from 17 has meant he hasn't been able to hone and round his skills in the same way a Winks has for example. However he has areas he is very strong in. Thats also as a result of the type of player he is. He's hard to pigeon hole, as he can do everything pretty well, but doesn't excel in any one area.
He can tackle, interception, dribble, get around the pitch and pick a pass in a tight space.He is also not half bad at getting on the end of things. What he needs to do for me is begin to specialise in some of the above. So he gets into the team on that basis and then the rest is a good bonus.
One thing I don't think there can be an argument on though, is at the weekend there was a massive improvement in his defensive discipline. The number of tackles and interceptions he made were about 4-5 times higher than his previous average and will be amongst the highest in the league. To me thats a reflection of some of the basics that he's getting on the coaching field from Silva. If he keeps posting those numbers, he will be a very competent player in a 2 man pivot. It will give him a great platform to do his positive work going forward. Most importantly, given his age it;s unlikely the improvement will stop there. So we should be excited about that.
With Schneiderlin people are hard on him because he's the wrong type of personality for our club. With Davies it's because people I don't think can see the longer term, or beyond the next game. It is normal for players to get better. If we wanted to just play players who performed next week, or the next month it would have been pointless removing Allardyce.