Tottenham urged to sell Ben Davies after what happened in Arsenal defeat
Ben Davies may well be living on borrowed time at Tottenham on the basis of his performance against Arsenal.
In fact, if former Spurs player Jamie O’Hara had his wish, Davies would be sold by the club this summer and a replacement brought in.
The Wales international was exposed by Bukayo Saka in Sunday’s (28 April) 3-2 loss – a game that saw Spurs go in at half-time three down.
“Ben Davies shouldn’t be playing left-back,” O’Hara said on talkSPORT [29 April]. “He’s not good enough; we need to get rid of him.”
Arsenal expose Ben Davies in 3-2 win
Davies has been asked to fill in at left-back due to Destiny Udogie’s season-ending injury, with that a position he is well accustomed to playing in.
However, against Arsenal he won just one of his three aerial duels and lost possession of the ball 12 times [Sofascore].
The 58 touches Davies had were 12 fewer than Pedro Porro on the other flank, while he did not attempt, never mind complete, a single cross.
Given how important the full-backs are to this team under Ange Postecoglou, it is clear that a better alternative needs to be brought in.
Spurs cannot rely on Udogie and Porro going an entire season without sustaining an injury, especially with European football factored in.
Davies has been a great servant for Spurs and has had some strong games this term, but the loss to Arsenal highlighted the need for change.
As Gary Neville highlighted before the game on Sky Sports, he was a weak link and it is something Arsenal were able to take advantage of.
Long-serving Davies struggled on the ball throughout against the Gunners, finishing the contest with a 78.4-per-cent pass accuracy return.
As per WhoScored, that was the second-lowest return of any Spurs starter on the day, behind only attacker Timo Werner (71.4 per cent).
That is way down on Davies’ 91.3-per-cent accuracy over the course of the campaign, the majority of those games spent at centre-back.
Tottenham could do with strengthening in summer
Indeed, Davies ranks in the top one per cent of all centre-backs across Europe’s top five leagues for progressive passes (2.05 per 90) [FBref].
That drops to the bottom six per cent when compared to all full-backs, further highlighting where his strengths lie in the side.
That metric measures how often he plays a pass 10 yards or more, which is something he can do when playing in the heart of defence.
As a full-back, though, Davies cannot fulfil the needs of Postecoglou. Going back to the Arsenal game, he played zero key passes.
For comparison, six Tottenham players registered at least one key pass, including Porro at right-back.
When you factor in that he won zero per cent of his tackles, it is fair to say it was not a day to remember, even if he did win a penalty.
As harsh as O’Hara’s assessment may be, Spurs could do with finding some better back-up in that area once the window reopens.
In other Tottenham news, Paul Merson was spot on with his assessment of one player.
For more Tottenham news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.