When Jose Mourinho’s time at Tottenham started, the first game that we saw him take charge of had Ben Davies starting as a very defensive left-back when defending, yet when the Lilywhites had the ball and went forward Davies would tuck in and become the left-sided centre-back in a three-man defence.
However, that game against West Ham was just Davies first under Mourinho, and it remains the only game in which the Welshman has featured, seeing as he picked up a knock in that very same game and has been out ever since, although Mourinho has not played down how highly he values the left-back
Back in mid-Jan Football.London published an article containing some quotes for Mourinho where he outlined just how important he thinks Ben Davies is to this Tottenham side and given the tactical flexibility that Davies gives to the Lilywhites, it’s hard to disagree.
The reliance on Davies is going to be obvious when he returns. Danny Rose was the club’s only other obvious left-back and he’s now left on-loan for Newcastle (BBC), and in the last few games, we’ve seen both Jan Vertonghen and, more recently, Japhet Tanganga used on the left of the defence.
However, the added rotation that the Lilywhites will have with Davies back, plus the fact that he’s clearly the manager’s first-choice option for the left-back spot, having him back on the weekend when Tottenham take on Aston Villa (Football.London), will be huge.
Are you excited for Ben Davies' return?
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Not only will it allow Mourinho to use his preferred tactical approach in games, but it will also free up Tanganga to go back to playing in his favoured role as a central defender, and that can only mean good things for the Lilywhites moving forward.
The point about Davies is he’s comfortable both playing as a left back and as the left sided centre half in a back three which makes him a perfect fit for Mourinho’s defensive set up. The worry is that if you think as I do that both Vertonghen and Rose are finished at Spurs then Davies is the only left sided defender left (not sure what Sessegnon is yet). This is obviously not a good position to be in. So a signing in the summer looks very likely, personally I’d try and get Nathan Ake, has looked a very good defender this year. As far as Tanganga goes to me he’s equally comfortable at centre half and right back, we’ll see what the future holds.
Excellent i think our counter is gonna be quick and impressive with lo celso and sessegnon fernandez. I think its gonna be a great game and I think mourhino is doing great things with the club especially when there’s money for him to spend in the summer.
I agree with the comments about Ben Davies and Tanganga. However it is absolutely vital that we solve the right back position. Aurier is inconsistent. Max Aarons looks very good, but I wonder if Daniel Levy will pay out a lot of money for Ruben Dias who has a lot more experience, particularly in Europe.