Spurs fans on Twitter have been discussing Ben Davies and his role with the North London club.
LastWordOnSpurs shared some old quotes from Jose Mourinho, originally produced in the Evening Standard, discussing the importance of the Welsh international in his defensive set-up, where he said: “My first game against West Ham, that is the way I was going to develop this team: defend with a back four, attack with a back three. That was the first day of goodbye Ben Davies.”
The former Swansea man suffered a nasty ankle injury in Mourinho’s first game in charge away at the London Stadium – where the Lilywhites won 3-2 – which kept the defender out until February. Since then, the left-back has made four appearances for Mourinho’s side, and other than an impressive first game back against Aston Villa, his performances have perhaps not been able to justify the apparent praise from his manager, based on his match ratings.
Who would be your starting left-back for the rest of the season?
Ben Davies
Ryan Sessegnon
Japhet Tanganga
A sample of tweets from Spurs fans discussing Davies can be seen below.
Ben Davies is one of the worst players I have seen, his weakness apart from being a championship player is his speed, when he runs he literally looks like he’s being pulled backwards
— glen austin (@glenaustin39) May 29, 2020
Sadly as long as Jose thinks Davies is good enough spurs will never be
— chris cumner-price (@chriscumner) May 29, 2020
Since joining from Swansea in 2014, Davies has made 181 appearances for the Lilywhites, contributing four goals and 17 assists (per Transfermarkt). Despite this fairly solid record, fans continued to criticise the 27-year-old in their replies.
Lads your never gonna convince me
I have the same viewpoint as Ricky. He’s a good squad player but he’s not good enough to be starting week in week out.— Spurz (@SpursTransfer10) May 28, 2020
I find this as plain excuse by the man, Davies has since returned from injury & proven that all this claim was nonsense.
— MARA (@MaraDinho_10) May 28, 2020
I do not think he is good enough. We should be replacing him and Rose this summer imo. But Jose and Poch like his attitude. He works hard and doesn’t complain.
— (@SpursySince1882) May 28, 2020
Other Spurs fans volunteered alternatives to the Welshman at left-back, including youngsters Ryan Sessegnon and Japhet Tanganga.
Surely this would also work with Sess and a more stable RB?
— Rory (@Rory4Spurs) May 28, 2020
Just put tanganga there
— inyourheadrentfree (@tladderz) May 28, 2020
Other Spurs fans were more supportive of their left-back, however.
Love this guy. Great attitude.
— Sir Hellvanguard DG6 (@lewiscook82) May 29, 2020
Underrated player
— Gord Beb (@gbeb92) May 28, 2020
Overall, it seems as if Davies is not particularly highly rated amongst a lot of Spurs fans, who feel that the £15.75 million-rated man isn’t good enough to be a regular starter in Mourinho’s squad. It will be interesting to see who the 57-year-old opts to start at left-back in Spurs’ first game back in the Premier League.