Toby Alderweireld has been full of praise for Ben Davies after the Tottenham defender was forced to play at centre-back against Burnley (Premier League) last Saturday and Arsenal (EFL Cup) the following Wednesday, keeping a clean sheet in both games. Alderweireld called the Welsh international a “smart player” and said he has a “good connection” with him at Tottenham.
In quotes reported by Tottenham’s club website, the Belgian defender said: “You can trust him – he’s very reliable. When you’re next to him, you know what he’s going to do. When I step in, I know he’s going to be there at my back and the same the other way around, so there’s a good connection there. We know how to play and we talk a lot.”
Mauricio Pochettino called upon Davies to operate in a makeshift role after losing Jan Vertonghen, Davinson Sanchez and Juan Foyth to injury. Davies partnered Alderweireld at the heart of the backline in a 1-0 win over Burnley on December 15 and followed up the performance with a shut out of Arsenal four days later.
Against Burnley, no player made more interceptions (2), touches (119), clearances (3), blocked shots (1) or aerial duels (9) than Davies. Against Arsenal, the 25-year-old made three tackles and four clearances and kept an attack containing Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette at bay.
Davies’ stint as a centre-back was very successful and Alderweireld’s praise will vindicate Mauricio Pochettino’s decision.
Crippy Cooke’s previous article
Belgian ‘recovering well’ and has returned to training for Tottenham