How we Should Treat New Everton Starter Tom Davies
The breakthrough of Everton academy graduate Tom Davies came as a surprise to most Premier League viewers, and though we didn’t expect him to rip out the very soul of Yaya with a swift Ronaldo-chop, all Evertonian’s knew about the scruffy kid with the scruffy socks.
Although we knew his name and that he had potential, it wasn’t up until very recently that he established himself as top-boy of our ferocious pack of youth players. The little Viking comes from an elite pack that is currently on track to win the PL2 title, despite very good opponents in Manchester City.
In the Academy it was always considered that Kieran Dowell was the top accolade, with Liam Walsh and Tom Davies in contest for 2nd and 3rd; a clear distinction between these 3 and the other talents at Goodison. Martinez may have had a hand in these rankings, it was his emphasis on promoting youth that would hand Dowell his first senior debut.
Davies and Dowell were handed game time after Martinez was sacked, it was the man who knows the two players best, David Unsworth that gifted them a chance to show their worth at Goodison on the last game of the season. Davies showed his composure and talent, earning himself man of the match, while Dowell gained an assist to top off a solid outing.
After seeing the rise of Davies this season, as the English always do, we are getting ahead of ourselves with emotions. I think it might be love, simply too much passion for the sport which manifests itself as either an abundance of praise or overly harsh criticism. The issue is not that we over analyse our youth players, but that we force our unnecessary criticism down their throats. Analysis shouldn’t be scrutinised, so long as we recognise a few bad passes and occasional unintelligent dribbling as honest mistakes, not the ultimate verdict in the player he will one day become. Luckily for us his prime years should be 8 years from now, so maybe we should ease up on him until then.
Up the Ev.