OPINION
Craig Shakespeare heaped praise on Everton midfielder Tom Davies on Tuesday and the Toffees need to ensure that he becomes a key player at the club next season.
The Toffees first-team coach shared that he loves the fact that the 19-year-old was keen to learn about the game in order to improve by watching clips of his performances.
“He’s very keen to learn,” said Shakespeare, as quoted by the Toffees’ official website.
“He wants to analyse his games, wants input from the coaches and we’ve worked on a one-to-one basis with him showing him clips.
“With Tom, you can see the enthusiasm that he carries in training – the distance that he covers but also then the enjoyment that he takes out of playing. To work with a player one-to-one is always a pleasure when they have that response and want to learn.”
Davies may only be 19-years-old but he already has 64 senior Toffees appearances to his name and has played an impressive 37 times across all competitions this season.
The midfielder has registered some brilliant performances in his young career already and based on his willingness to learn that Shakespeare referred to, he’s only going to get better.
The Toffees teenager may sometimes show his age by making silly mistakes, that at times during this campaign would have had supporters calling for his head.
However for every mistake he makes, he does something to remind you that he is a brilliant prospect and has the world at his feet.
Davies’ ability to lay the ball off to his teammates successfully along with his hard-working ethic that helps him provide the side’s defence with an extra layer of protection, mean that he must be a key player at the club next season.
The local lad is the perfect player to be the heart of the team, as he will always enable his more creative teammates to have an opportunity going forward by doing the dirty work that they’re not keen to.
While Davies has featured regularly in the first-team this season, he still isn’t seen as one of the first names on the teamsheet shown by the fact he hasn’t completed 90 minutes in any of his last three league games.
Next season that must change as it’s important that the Toffees make Davies a key player in their side, as the club need to ensure that they fully utilised their starlet who has the world at his feet.