Ha ha, doesnt get you off the hook for being a poor judge of a football player though ! Better stick to blowing your whistle mate !
I think Davis is a very good player. AND I also think he would be the guy we replace in midfield. We may already have done that when we bought Clasie. Or maybe Juanmi if he gets going. I don't blame him too much for last season. Our whole offense was out-of-whack. We were using these speedy-get-to-the-byline wingers who didn't offer much in the way of defense or possession, or really good distribution other than crosses. You could actually kinda argue they were just useless in general. So it fell to Davis to do all the things those wingers weren't--- which tbh, was pretty much everything. He was asked to do too much. I don't think anyone could have done it. This year, Mane has stepped up, and we also have (for now) Tadic/Bertrand rekindling that awesome partnership. All we need now in the center is someone who can keep the ball moving, spread it around to the flanks, fill in the gaps on offense/defense and be the glue guy. Just be smart and do whatever little thing needs doing at any given time. Which plays to Davis's box-to-boxy strengths. Love his workrate, his general football nous, his commitment and unselfishness, his well-rounded skills. He's a footballer. You always want players like that on your team... but you may not always want to START players like that on your team. Even if you did, Clasie might be as good or better in this same role. And JWP is getting right up there as well. The thing is, our squad is always a bit thin and when we keep losing players. So there's always something that's missing, and Davis is always around to fill in. Right now, we have Romeu, Wanyama, Clasie, JWP, Davis. I could easily see a Romeu-Wanyama-Clasie/JWP lineup. Or even Wanyama-Clasie-JWP. So going forward, Davis may just be a supersub/rotation player for us this season. But after this season, we will probably lose Wanyama, and Romeu will likely take that spot. And suddenly there's a space for Davis again. It's kinda like I don't really *want* Davis in the side because he doesn't excel at any particular role, and I honestly couldn't see him playing for a top 4 side. But I realize we *need* Davis in the side, because we aren't a top 4 club, and we can't afford a luxury AMC/second striker. Davis is the exact kind of player a smaller club lacking talent and depth needs to punch above their weight. Which is unfortunately what we are, though I wish we weren't.
I don't think I agree there with you. IMO Davis brings more to the pitch than Romeu or JWP (Clasie too early to tell), so I don't see why any of them should get to the teamsheet ahead of him.
Davis has been the best person, for the attacking midfield role, since we signed him, simply for his all round game. I was among them that criticised him, for the missed chances against Spurs, but that was more to do with my desire to beat Poch, than anything else. Now, as we are seeing, the goal at Chelsea has given him a calmer presence when taking on shots, which makes his value to the team even greater.
At least Steven Davis is getting a bit more exposure these days, even more so amongst Saints fans. No longer is Davis perceived as the guy who does all the unseen work. After supporters talk about every aspect of the game, the players, the manager, the kit-man, no longer does someone have to make a point about mentioning that Davis does the good work, to which everybody eventually chimes in to various degrees of agreement. He really is seen and he's appreciated more and more. I'm bound to say it's probably something to do with him scoring 5 goals for club and country in the last 6 weeks, but he's always been there. I think I read somewhere that Ron has asked him to get a little further forward and support Graziano while the other two, Sadio and Dusan, are creating width, and it has certainly paid dividends, if that's true. For N.Ireland he plays a similar game and perhaps expands on it even more, taking a lot of responsibility through his example as captain. Almost every team has a Steven Davis of sorts, or should have. I'm glad we've got the real one.
Not sure I would call Davis fantastic.......but he certainly is a good solid player. He has been a good servant to the club since his arrival. He has had some outstanding games it is true and some would argue he has had some poor ones too. However that is the very nature of the game imo, but taking an average I would say he has been a good steady player for us.
I would reserve "fantastic" for the Sanchez's, Hazard's (last season anyway) and Mane's of this world.
I read the comments on Davis and still somder of people really appreciate what he gives the team. For me, it isn't the good performances or the poor performances, nor the goals or the assists. He seems like the glue or the gel; the player that joins things up. When he's not there, we miss him and when he's not on his game, more often than not, nor are we. That is what tells me how important he is for us right now.
I sometimes think that the team performance is directly linked to whether Davis is having a good game. When he is on form, the team plays much better and, thankfully, he seem to be a player who rarely puts in a bad performance. He isn't a star name yet I feel that he is totally instrumental to this team. I have always rated him and whilst he has gone through a barren spell regarding goals, he is easily one of our most important players.
In defense of Tom it is because Davis is the player we need to replace but can't. He is such a good player and such an adaptable flexible player that we are struggling to find a better version. We do need a much better link between the midfield and attack so that we can score more goals however at the level we are at. That isn't me putting Davis down because he is one of my favourites. Very consistent, does his all for the team etc but he isn't that No10 we need that creates and scores at will. He is and has been since we got him the best we have available in that position, when he isn't in that position we struggle even more and the reason that the gnome bearded traitor and Gaston were tried there without success. Both did have a few games in that No10 role but were moved off to left or right 'with licence'. Even Lambert was tried there a couple of times with Osvaldo up front. Always returns to Davis. So I guess I am saying he is awesome because a £25m England player and a £12m Uruguayan couldn't oust him from that spot We do need a top class No 10 in there eventually though. EDIT we could also add Tadic and Mane to the list that have been tried in the No10 role and the same has happened to them. returned to the wings 'with licence'.
Yep, I think that's all fair comment. And you're right, we will need a top no.10 player eventually. All in good time.
Especially in the Premier League, a team needs to keep the ball - that`s what Davis brings to the team.
Does a team need more than three attacking players? I think anymore and a team can be unbalanced. three serious goal threats should be enough.
I don't know. Works ed for Chelsea for years. Striker with 3 attackers behind him and then Lampard on the edge of the box (the whole game.) The problem is that we are looking for a younger Scholes to replace Davis and they are really rare.
