View: Ben Davies was rare bright spot in Tottenham loss against Wolves
Ben Davies did not deserve to be on the losing side when Wolves beat Tottenham 2-1 on Saturday 11 November.
As Ange Postecoglou took his depleted squad to the midlands for a Premier League showdown with Gary O’Neil’s Wolves, there were plenty of question marks over how his backline would cope.
After all, the visiting side were without Cristian Romero, Destiny Udogie and Micky van de Ven, who make up three-quarters of the regular back-four, a crisis which even big-spenders such as Manchester City or Chelsea would feel hard done by.
Those suspensions and injuries revealed the bareness and vulnerability of the Spurs squad, as three Under-21 players were called up in order to fill spots on the bench, and gave an opportunity for former regulars Eric Dier and Ben Davies to return to the fold.
Both have struggled for game time under their new manager and can have little room for complaint after their contributions – or rather lack of – during a shambolic 2022/23 season in which Tottenham finished eighth having conceded 63 league goals.
Nonetheless, despite conceding twice late on and ultimately losing the game, Davies rarely put a foot wrong and was one of very few Tottenham players who could leave the pitch and get back on the coach to London with his head held high.
By large, it was a team performance which represented more of what Antonio Conte attempted to implement last season rather than what Postecoglou has looked to do this year, which meant that there was plenty of defending to do, and for the most part, the stats suggest that Davies did it well.
As per Sofascore, the Wales international made three clearances, blocked five shots, and made two interceptions and three tackles, as Spurs spent the majority of the contest on the back foot.
He won all five of his ground duels and one of his two aerial duels and could do little about either of the goals his side conceded. On the few occasions in which Tottenham did look to get forward, he proved he was more than capable of holding his own.
Davies completed 94 per cent of his passes, and played five long balls forward, with four of those being accurate, while also registering one of only six Tottenham shots overall.
While it was by no means a performance which will ignite the imagination of Spurs supporters or a performance which will do much to convince Postecoglou that he should be starting when the Australian once again has a full-strength squad, it was certainly a display which showcased he can be counted on until that time.
Although van de Ven won’t be back in action for a while, Romero and Udogie will both return to the team in the coming weeks following their suspensions, and Davies’ display suggests December might not be all gloom and doom for Tottenham after all.
In other Tottenham news, the club’s Under-21s maintained an impressive 100 per cent stat with their win over the weekend.