2019/20 Tom Davies

[mightymoyes]

Davies had a strong game today; yes there were some stray passes but he moved the ball quickly, passed it forward and did his defensive job - well done. Unchanged team next time around.

Only 6 which is good considering most were forward

 

[DickRitchie214]

I would have 0 issue if he got the starting nod every match until Gbamin is healthy.

 

[Mikey O]

If he plays like today then he certainly deserves his place - nice one Tom

 

[Cmonefcsortitout!]

Really impressed with him today. The speed at which he received and distributed the ball was a lot to do with a better tempo in our play today. Kept it moving well. Has to play ahead of Morgan all the time, or Marco has still learnt nothing.

 

[catcherintherye]

This, the whole of the team seemed to move quicker as a result,but he and Gomes ran the show....

He looks a good natural partner to Gomes to me on first impressions. You can also see a bit of Gomes wearing off on him by training with him most days. Today he got on the ball in a more calm way than he usually does and was more involved.

There is a player in there, but for too long he has tried to do too much. Pass, run tackle, shoot etc and in all honesty not done any of the jobs particularly well. He was disciplined today, focussed on getting the ball and keeping it simple. When he does that his natural abilities shone through.

As with the rest of the team, a good display from him, but it's important it's not a one off. Thats the bar he needs to be at most weeks, an until he does that for 6 months+ he will be criticised, and perhaps rightly so.

 

[Armaghtoffee]

This, the whole of the team seemed to move quicker as a result,but he and Gomes ran the show....

Davies in particular set the tempo.

 

[chippy1722]

Really impressed with him today. The speed at which he received and distributed the ball was a lot to do with a better tempo in our play today. Kept it moving well. Has to play ahead of Morgan all the time, or Marco has still learnt nothing.

Fully agree, didn’t see him once hanging around the Centre Halves like Morgan does.
Excellent at playing one touch and it speeds the game up, never seen many sideways or passes back at all. I think if Schneiderlin would have played instead of him today, we wouldn’t have been anywhere near as effective.

 

[blueloon]

He had a good game today, and in many ways that was how he usually plays, nothing spectacular, moving the ball forward quickly, covering space and pressing when needed. In games like this though I always feel that Tom is one error by a defender or Pickford away from being the scapegoat. Thankfully that error didn’t come , if it had and we’d finished 1-1 he would have been slated on here despite his contribution.

 

[samcdavies94]

But that is what they are being told to do though. None of our midfield are very good, id sell them all tomorrow if i could, but they are being told to pass the ball out to the fullback all the time. Its a tactical thing and nothing will change till the manager does.

So can you explain today then or...?

 

[Simon Buttle]

So can you explain today then or...?

I don't know tbh, Marco has clearly been taking note of what people say as everything was different today, we even man marked in the box. Let's hope it continues mate.

 

[Axlswhk]

Only 6 which is good considering most were forward

This is what really matters when you are a midfielder and forward passing is naturally program as your first choice option.
At the end of the day, it makes the whole team function better.

I think people must start to appreciate his desire to try and cut him some slack when he misplaced a forward pass. Counter attacking football does not work if you have a team of timid passer.

 

[samcdavies94]

I don't know tbh, Marco has clearly been taking note of what people say as everything was different today, we even man marked in the box. Let's hope it continues mate.

I think it's all confidence tbh. Still some shaky play before we scored but once they had that belief it all clicked and should have been four or five.

It would be no surprise to anyone to see side to side again at Brighton next week (not to put a downer on everything..)

 

[Simon Buttle]

I think it's all confidence tbh. Still some shaky play before we scored but once they had that belief it all clicked and should have been four or five.

It would be no surprise to anyone to see side to side again at Brighton next week (not to put a downer on everything..)

Silva is pretty rigid in his thinking and the way he seems to do things so i would imagine that injuries aside it will be the same setup/lineup next week, the only possible change i could see is Delph coming back in although i actually think noodlehead should keep his place as his energy allows us to press up the pitch a bit further.

 

[samcdavies94]

Silva is pretty rigid in his thinking and the way he seems to do things so i would imagine that injuries aside it will be the same setup/lineup next week, the only possible change i could see is Delph coming back in although i actually think noodlehead should keep his place as his energy allows us to press up the pitch a bit further.

Sigurdsson might find his way back into the team somehow after that goal too.

 

[StateSideToffee]

The thing that impressed me most about Davies was a moment in the first halve where Richarlison made a poor decision to selfishly not play Sidibe in behind and as a result gifted West Ham an opportunity to exploit us down our right side with Sidibe caught out.

Tom anticipated the potential counter and smoothly transitioned with great positioning to provide containment in a 2v1 and allowed us an opportunity to get more players behind the ball. It is something that as recently as last season he would have gotten completely wrong, and likely would have enabled a chance on goal.

This type of thing bodes well for Silva as it shows he is actively developing the footballers in the squad, which is in large part why Brands and Moshiri have such faith in him.