‘He remains a squad player’ – O’Keeffe says Everton midfielder has hit his ceiling
Tom Davies’ run in the Everton first team is set to be halted after failing to make a meaningful impression, according to The Athletic’s Greg O’Keeffe.
In the disappointing 1-0 defeat to West Ham at Goodison Park on Friday, most of the Everton side failed to impress, but many of them already have credit in the bank with their good performances this season.
However, with the likes of Allan and Lucas Digne still not in the squad, and James Rodriguez only fit for the bench, it fell to squad members like Davies, making his third successive Premier League start, to assert their authority against the Hammers and show why they should keep their place. But, on this showing, Allan will walk back into that midfield with consummate ease.
Writing for The Athletic, Everton correspondent O’Keeffe picked out the limitations of 22-year-old Davies, saying, “It’s a wider conundrum that is limiting Everton in general right now: they, as with Davies, are impressively organised in defensive shape and effective without the ball but when asked to go a step further — to add guile and creativity — they are coming up short.”
O’Keeffe added, “With Allan’s added quality in offensive passing, it’s difficult to imagine Ancelotti doing anything other than restoring him at Davies’ expense.
“In the meantime, there will be other chances for Davies to try and prevent that happening, such as the FA Cup third-round game against Rotherham next time out, when he can try and contribute with more attacking quality.
“Failure to do so will likely mean that he remains a squad player; capable of doing a job when called upon but far from indispensable.
“It’s a status tinged with sadness for a youngster who seemed to offer so much when he first burst onto the scene.”
No hiding place for Davies
Statistics this season seem to back up this assertion that Davies is struggling to have any meaningful contribution, especially compared to his more experienced midfield cohorts.
Davies has never shown himself to be a regular source of goals and creativity in midfield, with a record of five goals and four assists in 114 Premier League appearances reflective of this.
He hasn’t contributed to either this season so far in his nine Premier League games, but one would think he was at least having an important impact in the defensive side, something alluded to by O’Keeffe.
However, his tally of 1.3 tackles per game, per WhoScored, is significantly less than Allan (3.4) and Abdoulaye Doucoure (two).
Indeed, only peripheral squad member Cenk Tosun (none) make less clearances per game than Davies (0.1).
Davies can’t even lay claim to being an impressive passer of the ball, with a pass success rate of 79.8% well below his fellow central midfielders Allan (87%), Doucoure (86.8%) and Andre Gomes (86.1%). Only attackers Rodriguez and Richarlison post worse figures of players to play at least 50 minutes of Premier League football for Everton this season.
For the odd impressive display against the likes of rock-bottom Sheffield United (December 26), Davies is struggling to produce the goods against higher quality opposition when it matters, and O’Keeffe’s words look like ringing true as he battles to rid his squad player status.
In other Everton news, our view on why Robin Olsen should be signed on a permanent basis.