View: New midfield role for Davies sees Everton man thrive
Tom Davies has been a fairly divisive figure among the Everton fanbase for some time now, but his recent performances are helping to establish him as a crucial squad option.
The 22-year old began the season for the Toffees as a squad rotation option, appearing irregularly as and when required. In fact, during Everton’s first eight Premier League games of the season, Davies played a little over 90 minutes, missing just one game through injury.
However with summer signing Allan having been out injured since mid-December, Davies has been involved much more frequently, often sitting in a deeper role behind any combination of Abdoulaye Doucoure, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Andre Gomes.
Since occupying a deeper role Davies has flourished, earning particular praise from BBC Sport’s Phil McNulty following the Blues’ recent historic victory over Liverpool, where he was described as a “standout element of Ancelotti’s Everton renaissance”.
With Allan back fit and ready to once again play a part in Everton’s pursuit of European qualification, it remains to be seen where Davies will fit in and how Ancelotti will decide to use him.
However he has certainly given the manager food for thought, offering himself up as another option to play in that deeper role that Allan typically occupies.
Should Everton manage to qualify for either the Europa League or the Champions League by the end of the season they would undoubtedly require greater squad depth ahead of next season, particularly in midfield.
With the return of JP Gbamin in the not so distant future, Everton could find that they have ample options in that area, particularly if Davies becomes a more valuable option for Ancelotti to utilise.
Davies isn’t likely to command a starting role when Ancelotti has every player fit and available just yet, but his performances over the past few weeks have shown him to be a valuable squad asset.
And, if Ancelotti can deliver on his plans, we’re going to need players of the quality of Davies in the squad.
In other Everton news, a number of Everton supporters have backed Ben Godfrey to be a future club captain for the Blues.