If Ben Davies doesn’t improve his form quickly, he’s going to lose his place at Tottenham and for Wales. It’s been an ugly season for the veteran left back.
When Ben Davies left Tottenham for international duty with Wales this week he was hoping the change of scenery would do his game some good. Unfortunately, it was more for the Spurs left back. He was hauled off after 62 ineffective minutes in his nation’s 4-1 loss to Spain on Thursday.
In fairness, no Tottenham fan should be surprised. Ever since the preseason began Davies has looked several steps off the pace for Spurs. Expecting him to magically come back into form for Wales was nothing more than a fantasy.
If we’re honest, Davies has never been a world beater for either club or country. At best, he’s a solid Premier League fullback. He’s generally pretty solid when it comes to the mental side of the game. Then again, he needs be in order to overcome his lack of athleticism.
Generally speaking, he’s played better for his country when deployed as a left-sided centre back in a three-man defence. That wasn’t the case against Spain. He looked terrible when he was matched up with Suso on the left flank. It’s not as if the rest of his team was playing well, but Davies still managed to stand out as one of his country’s worst performers.
Btw, if anyone else was watching the wales game, Ben Davies was so off the pace it was embarrassing, getting beat, allowing people to cut in. Axed after 62 mins
— Shiv (@shivch22) October 11, 2018
The question now becomes whether or not Davies can pull himself out of his current slump. If he does, he has a chance to work his way back into Pochettino’s plans. Danny Rose is playing well, but Pochettino prefers to rotate his fullbacks on a regular basis. Davies will be given every chance to get back into the mix.
If he continues to struggle like this, Spurs will be forced to examine other options. The only legitimate internal option would be to play Kyle Walker-Peters slightly out of position as a left back. There’s also a significant chance Tottenham could buy a new left back in January. The club were linked with several interesting targets over the summer.
No matter how you put it, Davies needs to pick up his game immediately or he may lose his place at Tottenham altogether. That would represent a precipitous fall for the proud, Welsh international.