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Tottenham sign Ben Davies

TheUltimateHotspur

Active Member
Jul 2, 2014
223
292
We bought one of the best keepers in the world, don't see why we can't get a top quality left back.

People not thinking Davies is good enough for our aspirations or believing we can get better elsewhere is not the same as not supporting him if he joins.

I'm on the fence. Haven't seen enough of him to judge if he's particularly good.

We did buy one of the best keepers around. But the reality is that only happened because the big guns didn't need or want him at the time of his signing. Plus we paid good dollar for a keeper.

What top quality LB do you think we can attract now? Things have changed a bit over the last two seasons. We have lost our best players and we have certainly gone down hill in terms of football quality. We are not as good as we once were. Fingers crossed Pocho changes this.
 

Barry Mead

Well-Known Member
Jan 31, 2013
3,083
4,078
Would you want to buy a defender who led the PL in "dribbled past by opponents?" 55 times. I don't pay much respect to statistics (personally I think that the Squawka charts are poor and take away from actual discussion - players should be rated on ability and the eye test IMO) but Christ. Fifty-five times. He led the league!

I've written much longer posts about why I don't think he's a good option, including his posture, lack of pace, and average dribbling. But to say we won't support him or give him a chance is a little disingenuous. As a person who felt Alan Hutton was a joke of a player and wasn't fit to wear the shirt by the end, I still felt the same hope when he got the ball that I do with Walker or Eriksen. I still WANT these players to do well..

Who knows, maybe Davies lights it up and is our left-footed Azpilicueta or something. In that case I'd be overjoyed and my opinion of him would change. Players get my support pretty much unconditionally - but you must think critically when talking about transfers.

Here's the thing, they don't give stats about the number of times full backs are out of position so don't get dribbled around, without that the stats are pretty meaningless. You can have one guy who gets dribbled round 55 times out of 100 but he is there for every occasion and another who gets dribbled round 30 times in 50 but is out of position on another 50 occasions meaning the winger hasn't even got to try and dribble so in effect the winger or attacker gets into dangerous positions 80 times compared to 55 for the other guy

To me stats can paint so many distorted pictures it's not a good idea to place any faith in them at all
 

TheUltimateHotspur

Active Member
Jul 2, 2014
223
292
Would you want to buy a defender who led the PL in "dribbled past by opponents?" 55 times. I don't pay much respect to statistics (personally I think that the Squawka charts are poor and take away from actual discussion - players should be rated on ability and the eye test IMO) but Christ. Fifty-five times. He led the league!

I've written much longer posts about why I don't think he's a good option, including his posture, lack of pace, and average dribbling. But to say we won't support him or give him a chance is a little disingenuous. As a person who felt Alan Hutton was a joke of a player and wasn't fit to wear the shirt by the end, I still felt the same hope when he got the ball that I do with Walker or Eriksen. I still WANT these players to do well..

Who knows, maybe Davies lights it up and is our left-footed Azpilicueta or something. In that case I'd be overjoyed and my opinion of him would change. Players get my support pretty much unconditionally - but you must think critically when talking about transfers.

I have seen Davies at least a dozen times. He is a steady Eddy LB who will only improve. He has good positional sense, is a good passer, reasonable in the air. He is not the fastest but he is hardly slow either. Not that impressed with him going forward but both our current full backs are average or worse in this department, something our coaches should improve.

Some people say Rose never had cover down the left last season well this lad certainly didn't.

As for being critical regarding transfers, it comes down to being realistic and knowing what level your team and club is at. Moaning and slagging off a young lad is nothing short of short sighted IMO. Not saying you have done that by the way just seen a few comments that are pretty much writing the lad off at the age of 21. Complete none sense.
 

dontcallme

SC Supporter
Mar 18, 2005
34,352
83,672
We did buy one of the best keepers around. But the reality is that only happened because the big guns didn't need or want him at the time of his signing. Plus we paid good dollar for a keeper.

What top quality LB do you think we can attract now? Things have changed a bit over the last two seasons. We have lost our best players and we have certainly gone down hill in terms of football quality. We are not as good as we once were. Fingers crossed Pocho changes this.

I don't buy that at all. I've no doubt some decent teams were interested in Lloris. Lack of interest wasn't the only factor.

I'm not a scout so wouldn't presume to know who is out there. We got Lamela who was one of the best young players in Italy, Eriksen who many rated as Ajax's best player in their title winning season among other decent signings last summer.

We can attract good players but have to look for the right ones. We're obviously not going to get players ahead of the billionaires as we saw with Willian last summer.
 

Blake Griffin

Well-Known Member
Oct 3, 2011
14,162
38,447
I have seen Davies at least a dozen times. He is a steady Eddy LB who will only improve. He has good positional sense, is a good passer, reasonable in the air. He is not the fastest but he is hardly slow either. Not that impressed with him going forward but both our current full backs are average or worse in this department, something our coaches should improve.

Some people say Rose never had cover down the left last season well this lad certainly didn't.

As for being critical regarding transfers, it comes down to being realistic and knowing what level your team and club is at. Moaning and slagging off a young lad is nothing short of short sighted IMO. Not saying you have done that by the way just seen a few comments that are pretty much writing the lad off at the age of 21. Complete none sense.

statistically rose is much better in the air than davies which is strange given he's a few inches shorter. i guess he must have a good leap.
 

kernowspurscoach1977

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2011
456
1,258
However rose is positionally poor and gets bossed by any player with an ounce of ability. I have seen very little of Ben Davies but what I have seen is unspectacular but steady. Does a job and will only get better. Has not got blistering pace but is not a 'corluka tanker slow'. He will get better positionally he will get smarter and his lack if blistering pace will not be an issue as he will get into the best areas to cover. BAE is fairly fast but also a major liability and likely to give away free kicks, penalties and always walks the card tightrope due to his poor positional sense.
 

TheUltimateHotspur

Active Member
Jul 2, 2014
223
292
I don't buy that at all. I've no doubt some decent teams were interested in Lloris. Lack of interest wasn't the only factor.

I'm not a scout so wouldn't presume to know who is out there. We got Lamela who was one of the best young players in Italy, Eriksen who many rated as Ajax's best player in their title winning season among other decent signings last summer.

We can attract good players but have to look for the right ones. We're obviously not going to get players ahead of the billionaires as we saw with Willian last summer.

Of course lack of interest wasn't the only factor. We badly needed a new keeper and were willing to pay good money for a keeper. Not many clubs are willing to do that. Not often you see keepers going to clubs for 12m plus.

You don't have to presume, it comes down to following patterns at the club under ENIC and using your common-sense. Bottom line is we are not a top club. We never win anything and we don't pay the big wages. We are a club trying to become a top club.This is why a new stadium is so important. Even then there is no guarantee. We only get good players if circumstances go our way. Like last summer, we sold Bale for shed loads of money. There is zero chance of us spending 30m plus on Lamela, 26m on Soldado 17m of Paul if that money wasn't coming our way.

I know for a fact Eriksen was watched by several big clubs before we signed him they didn't sign him for the simple reason he was very inconsistent at Ajax. Thankfully he came to us as he is a brilliant talent.
 

TheUltimateHotspur

Active Member
Jul 2, 2014
223
292
statistically rose is much better in the air than davies which is strange given he's a few inches shorter. i guess he must have a good leap.

Rose is an okay LB. He isn't as bad as some make out that is for sure. However if he was as good as Davies or Shaw other clubs would have been after him not them.

If we do sign Davies or somebody else I hope Danny stays and fights for his place.
 

PrettyColors

Rosie47 Fan
Aug 13, 2011
3,866
10,074
Here's the thing, they don't give stats about the number of times full backs are out of position so don't get dribbled around, without that the stats are pretty meaningless. You can have one guy who gets dribbled round 55 times out of 100 but he is there for every occasion and another who gets dribbled round 30 times in 50 but is out of position on another 50 occasions meaning the winger hasn't even got to try and dribble so in effect the winger or attacker gets into dangerous positions 80 times compared to 55 for the other guy

To me stats can paint so many distorted pictures it's not a good idea to place any faith in them at all
In complete agreement there; Laudrup's system left Davies as the main line of defense on the left without the presence of a true left winger (and I think he was asked the press a lot.) my point was that even still, he got beat 55 times and led the league. And that would be a reason why those aren't so high on him.

My reasons lay outside of statistics.
 

Led's Zeppelin

Can't Re Member
May 28, 2013
7,364
20,241
Positional sense is badly missing from any stats because it is so hard to measure objectively. But a defender who is regularly in the right position, preventing attacks from getting going or advancing into dangerous territory will drastically reduce the need for tackles, blocks and clearances.

Stats of this sort can be extremely misleading can't they?
 

Blake Griffin

Well-Known Member
Oct 3, 2011
14,162
38,447
Rose is an okay LB. He isn't as bad as some make out that is for sure. However if he was as good as Davies or Shaw other clubs would have been after him not them.

If we do sign Davies or somebody else I hope Danny stays and fights for his place.

davies and shaw shouldn't be paired. rose this time last year was a higher rated full back than davies is now, he's a good player with the tools to become better. i'd've thought that pochettino, someone who is supposed to be good at improving younger players would at least given himself a season working with rose before binning him off in favour of someone else. i don't have much opinion on ben davies, he looks alright, not sure alright is worth spending £10m on though.
 

Blake Griffin

Well-Known Member
Oct 3, 2011
14,162
38,447
Positional sense is badly missing from any stats because it is so hard to measure objectively. But a defender who is regularly in the right position, preventing attacks from getting going or advancing into dangerous territory will drastically reduce the need for tackles, blocks and clearances.

Stats of this sort can be extremely misleading can't they?

it's easier to have "good positional sense" when you rarely venture across the halfway line though. a lot of this positional sense criticism aimed at rose is people seeing him get caught upfield when he's trying to contribute to our attacking game.
 

TheUltimateHotspur

Active Member
Jul 2, 2014
223
292
davies and shaw shouldn't be paired. rose this time last year was a higher rated full back than davies is now, he's a good player with the tools to become better. i'd've thought that pochettino, someone who is supposed to be good at improving younger players would at least given himself a season working with rose before binning him off in favour of someone else. i don't have much opinion on ben davies, he looks alright, not sure alright is worth spending £10m on though.

Rose was certainly getting more media coverage this time last year. He was playing under O'Neil though he had his team well organized, with a left sided midfielder covering him. Rose didn't have that luxury last season. Not surprised his form went down hill.

Anyway Pocho might keep Rose yet, plenty of games to go around.
 

Sweech

Ruh Roh Ressegnon
Jun 27, 2013
6,752
16,378
it's easier to have "good positional sense" when you rarely venture across the halfway line though. a lot of this positional sense criticism aimed at rose is people seeing him get caught upfield when he's trying to contribute to our attacking game.
Davies gets up into the attack often. He just doesn't run the ball up and take players on, but they both get forward.
 

THFC_is_my_life

Well-Known Member
Jan 29, 2011
253
1,358
As funny as it may sound, I actually met Danny Rose last year in the airport on the way to Vegas. He had just returned to us from Sunderland at the time, and I asked him how he felt about being back at spurs. I can't remember his exact quote, but it was something along the lines of wanting to go back to Sunderland if he wouldn't be playing regularly at spurs.

However, I did think that it was a nice touch when upon landing he came over to me and told me to enjoy my holiday. He was a pretty nice guy.
 

wishkah

Well-Known Member
Jan 27, 2011
4,817
14,491
Would you want to buy a defender who led the PL in "dribbled past by opponents?" 55 times. I don't pay much respect to statistics (personally I think that the Squawka charts are poor and take away from actual discussion - players should be rated on ability and the eye test IMO) but Christ. Fifty-five times. He led the league!

I've written much longer posts about why I don't think he's a good option, including his posture, lack of pace, and average dribbling. But to say we won't support him or give him a chance is a little disingenuous. As a person who felt Alan Hutton was a joke of a player and wasn't fit to wear the shirt by the end, I still felt the same hope when he got the ball that I do with Walker or Eriksen. I still WANT these players to do well..

Who knows, maybe Davies lights it up and is our left-footed Azpilicueta or something. In that case I'd be overjoyed and my opinion of him would change. Players get my support pretty much unconditionally - but you must think critically when talking about transfers.
I don't know what to do when people post logic and reason in here. My brain just freezes as it cannot comprehend what's happening
 
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