2017/18 Tom Davies

[Nymzee]

Ran around lots, him and Lookman have been dining on that City game for their whole Everton careers.

He just plays the exact same this season for me as last.

His pass % is still good, he still harrasses the same and he's still a pretty limited midfielder. I wasn't sure why everyone raved so much last season tbh. He's only 19 and definitely got a future in the game but I'm not sure what he's best at.

 

[Goat]

He just plays the exact same this season for me as last.

His pass % is still good, he still harrasses the same and he's still a pretty limited midfielder. I wasn't sure why everyone raved so much last season tbh. He's only 19 and definitely got a future in the game but I'm not sure what he's best at.

Paulo would sort him rar out.

 

[orly]

Ran around lots, him and Lookman have been dining on that City game for their whole Everton careers.

I'm gonna nickname him Geldof

 

[longers]

World class fouler, not so great at playing football though.

Hope he proves me wrong but looks miles off standard required this season

 

[Seathestars]

Hasn’t improved at all for me. Started brightly in the first team but has gone backwards.
Gives the ball away far too much and doesn’t do much else.

 

[toffee-L]

He needs a position first and foremost. It looks like his instructions in every game are "buzz around a bit and keep it as simple as you can". Last season we really kicked on when he came into the team and we switched to a 4-3-3 as it pushed Barkley wide right and allowed Gana and Schneiderlin to mop up in midfield. Unfortunately for Davies is that to play him you have to play him in a midfield 3 because he's not a good enough destroyer to play as a 2 and his passing ability isn't strong either (I'm not talking about 10 yard square balls that boost players pass accuracy, rather purposeful forward passes done quickly).

Is a midfield 3 of Gana-Rooney-Davies good enough to see us break into the top 6? Hell no. Gana can't pass, Rooney is ageing and doesn't have the legs and as for Davies he doesn't specialise at anything in particular so it's difficult to see where he fits into our future.

What to do with our youngsters next season? I think Davies should be kept around as a squad player next season, along with Holgate and Lookman. I think DcL and Vlasic should be loaned out and Kenny sold (cannot envisage a future for him at all). None are good enough (yet) for where we want to be.

 

[toffeejack]

Tbf we are better when he's playing. Would give Klaassen a go in his place.

 

[gonetomorrow]

He needs nurturing. He's been asked to do a lot this season and it's been a bad one.

 

[4737carlin]

Been poor but its good he is getting plenty of game time, needs to work on his game more tho rather then worry about his hair and keeping his socks down near his ankles

 

[Niapper]

He needs a position first and foremost. It looks like his instructions in every game are "buzz around a bit and keep it as simple as you can". Last season we really kicked on when he came into the team and we switched to a 4-3-3 as it pushed Barkley wide right and allowed Gana and Schneiderlin to mop up in midfield. Unfortunately for Davies is that to play him you have to play him in a midfield 3 because he's not a good enough destroyer to play as a 2 and his passing ability isn't strong either (I'm not talking about 10 yard square balls that boost players pass accuracy, rather purposeful forward passes done quickly).

Is a midfield 3 of Gana-Rooney-Davies good enough to see us break into the top 6? Hell no. Gana can't pass, Rooney is ageing and doesn't have the legs and as for Davies he doesn't specialise at anything in particular so it's difficult to see where he fits into our future.

What to do with our youngsters next season? I think Davies should be kept around as a squad player next season, along with Holgate and Lookman. I think DcL and Vlasic should be loaned out and Kenny sold (cannot envisage a future for him at all). None are good enough (yet) for where we want to be.

Yup.

 

[catcherintherye]

For everyone slagging him off.

Our record without him playing this season (discounting the pointless Limassol game) is as follows

Played 6, won 0, drew 1, lost 5, scored 3, conceded 17. (1 out of 18 points)

Record when he has lined up as the most attacking this season of the midfield 3 (City & United away, Bournemouth home, Chelsea, Leicester, Palace home, and yesterday away at Stoke)

played 7, won 4, drew 2, lost 1, scored 10, conceded 9. (14 out of 21 points)

Maybe just coincidence, but interesting stats that maybe suggest the team plays better when he plays and when he plays more advanced the team plays much better.

and MAYBE just maybe he's a player who when in the side the overall shape and performance of others benefits and we are more balanced etc?

I think this is a very important stat. I remember seeing something quite similar re James McCarthy in Martinez's 2nd season, before he then got injury problems that severely limited his output. At present at 19 I see Davies as being a similar sort of player, perhaps not as strong on the ball or as snide (but better creatively) but someone who disrupts the opposition and gets around the pitch.

I know it's a cliche now and feels a cliched defence for almost every young player, but they are not all going to be Rooney. It's strange that people almost hate Osman and Hibbert who were local lads who did a decent job for over a decade and likely saved us a tonne of money on fees. You don't have to be the best player in the team to have a positive impact on the side and allow others to do their jobs well.

There've been lots of games this season and I've been a bit baffled at the criticism levelled at him. Manchester City away was one, where I thought he had a good game, looked dangerous on the counter, carried the ball well as well as giving us some defensive shape when he lost the ball. Stoke on Saturday was another one, he wasn't great, he was pretty average but he was an awful long way from being as bad as people made out.

He really helps Rooney as well, in occupying other players and giving him space to operate and movement in front of him. The thing that will take Tom to the next level, and turn him into an international player will be adding end product to his game when he gets forward. He needs to get more goals and assists.

 

[catcherintherye]

I get a lot of this mate - the problem is, he's had the game time at the top level which surely must be the best place to develop his game (and in a midfield three, where he isn't exposed like a CB or keeper would be) and I dont see him as better than he was. Is he actually improving?

I don't think we were hoping he'd carry us, but when it was really rough he went missing - not unlike more senior pros. Kenny is a poor player but at least he has tenacity. You know I don't tend to agree with Esk but his point about Davies and DCL blurting around Dubai was a good one; the only photos you saw of Cenk were him with a sweat on, scoring goals in training.

Look at some of the raw youngsters we've had - they have all have had one area they excelled in even if poor in others. Lukaku had the shins like an absent father's maintenance payments but he could score from anywhere. Barkley was still waiting for the lights to go up at Garlands the night before at kick off, but he could leather it in from miles out. Stones had so much talent. Even on the tier below, Hibbo finished his career without passing to a teammate but he could always tackle.

What does Davies do well?

Its a fair point about the pictures of them both mate, but most of the reports we get, from Koeman who is a very hard task master is that both Davies and (particularly) DCL have a fantastic attitude. You can see with DCL in particular as a footballer he is quite limited but you can see improvements.

Davies strength is to me he doesn't have many weaknesses and is a good allrounder. I think he needs to add goals and assists to his game long term though.

 

[Pabbers]

Another young lad getting stick....

 

[Bob Elstone]

Another young lad getting stick....

So he’s young so is exempt from criticism? He’s simply not performing and hasn’t for a long time. This isn’t some local pub side where you give everybody a go. It’s about winning and putting the best team forward.

Apart from energy this bloke has offered nothing.

Drop him.

 

[Lanolin]

He needs a position first and foremost. It looks like his instructions in every game are "buzz around a bit and keep it as simple as you can". Last season we really kicked on when he came into the team and we switched to a 4-3-3 as it pushed Barkley wide right and allowed Gana and Schneiderlin to mop up in midfield. Unfortunately for Davies is that to play him you have to play him in a midfield 3 because he's not a good enough destroyer to play as a 2 and his passing ability isn't strong either (I'm not talking about 10 yard square balls that boost players pass accuracy, rather purposeful forward passes done quickly).

Is a midfield 3 of Gana-Rooney-Davies good enough to see us break into the top 6? Hell no. Gana can't pass, Rooney is ageing and doesn't have the legs and as for Davies he doesn't specialise at anything in particular so it's difficult to see where he fits into our future.

What to do with our youngsters next season? I think Davies should be kept around as a squad player next season, along with Holgate and Lookman. I think DcL and Vlasic should be loaned out and Kenny sold (cannot envisage a future for him at all). None are good enough (yet) for where we want to be.

I actually thought that was the one thing he looked very good at last year, but I've not seen the same quality from him this year. He doesn't have a great passing range I don't think. but last season I thought he was good at getting his head up and making intelligent if not particularly difficult passes. This season he's just never really got going, although I do wonder if he's still growing and that's having an impact, he looks a fair bit bigger than when he broke into the side 18 months ago.