Chadder View: Tottenham should look to tie Ben Davies down to a new deal in North London
Matthew Chadder is a lifelong Tottenham fan who grew up just down the road from his beloved club in North London. He’s now putting his passion for Spurs into words with a daily fan view for Tottenham News…
This is not something I thought I would be writing about this time last year, or even at the beginning of the season, but Tottenham must offer Ben Davies a new contract.
It was a cold Monday night in November, and I had paid over the odds to watch Spurs host Chelsea. It was the first game I had managed to get to this season and therefore the first game of the Ange Postecoglou era I was attending in the stands.
I thought I was going to watch the start of something special, a convincing win that would propel us to a title push. Instead, it seemed as if I was watching the beginning of the end, as every imaginable thing that could have gone wrong that night did.
Never have I seen one team lose so many key players to either injury or suspension in the same match, it was truly remarkable. But the injury that left me most concerned wasn’t to James Maddison, it was to Micky van de Ven.
I didn’t think there was a single player in the squad who could fill in for van de Ven, but I was soon proven wrong.
Now I am not saying that Davies has been as impressive as van de Ven was in the first 11 games of the season on a personal level, but what I am saying is that he has certainly proved he is a more than reliable backup.
Considering he has had to play the majority of his matches next to Emerson Royal, rather than Cristian Romero, it is fair to say that Davies has perhaps done just as well as his Dutch counterpart could have been expected to do in similar circumstances.
As well as his strong performances as a left-sided centre-back, which I actually think is his best position, the Wales international is a left-back by trade, and therefore he is also able to fill in for Destiny Udogie.
All in all, he is an incredibly useful squad player, and someone who the club should look to keep around, at least for the next few years.
He is now the club’s longest-serving member of the squad, and at 31 he still has a few good years left in him. With his current deal set to expire next summer, Tottenham should be looking to extend that at least by a year or two.
Davies has proven that he is someone worth keeping around, and on a personal level, he deserves success at the club more than anyone else. He has been through a lot at Hotspur Way, and his experience could blend perfectly with the youth which Postecoglou is injecting into his team.
The Australian is looking to build a revolution at the club, and he will need a leader or two to lend a helping hand, something Davies can certainly offer.
In other Tottenham news, one 100 per cent Spurs ace is facing yet another setback as he looks set to miss out against Manchester United.