Wednesday 18 January 2017 11:26, UK
Tom Davies announced himself with a superb goal and a man-of-the-match performance in Everton's 4-0 win over Manchester City. Here, Nick Wright speaks to former Everton U21 manager Alan Stubbs about a special talent who has a habit of taking it all in his stride…
With socks pulled down to his ankles and straggly blonde hair swept back off his forehead, Tom Davies cuts a distinctive figure. The 18-year-old's old-school style is unique in the pristine environment of the Premier League, and with a fearless performance in Everton's thrashing of Manchester City, he showed he has the talent to match.
Davies was the youngest player on a pitch full of stars, but his decisive midfield display was brimming with industry and invention. It was his threaded pass which released Kevin Mirallas to set up Romelu Lukaku's opener, and there was a vital goal-line clearance before his brilliant individual effort put Everton 3-0 up.
The instinctive flick to elude Gael Clichy and Yaya Toure brought Goodison Park to its feet, and Davies kept his composure to clip an angled finish over the advancing Claudio Bravo. "If that was Ronaldo, people would have talked about it all night, all over the world," noted Sky Sports pundit Thierry Henry on Monday Night Football.
It was high praise for a player who was making only his third Premier League start, but Davies is not the type to crave the limelight. The midfielder is a local lad with deep ties to the club he joined at the age of 11. His uncle, Alan Whittle, played for Everton between 1967 and 1972, and his humility shone through during his post-match interview with Sky Sports.
Former defender Alan Stubbs became Everton's U21 manager at around the same time Davies joined the academy.
"Tom was a very level-headed boy," says Stubbs, who has managed Hibernian and Rotherham since leaving Everton in 2014. "He was very sensible and focused in what he wanted to do. He always went about his job with a minimum of fuss."
Davies was the standout player in a talented age group which also included the likes of Kieran Dowell, Callum Connolly and Liam Walsh. Stubbs recalls them beating "whatever was put in front of them" when they first came together, and within a few years Davies was an England youth international who regularly featured for Stubbs' U21s.
"We always put the better ones in with older age groups as quickly as possible to see how they cope," says Stubbs. "One of the biggest markers for gauging a young player is whether they look out of place when they come into the reserve team group for the first time. Tom coped comfortably.
"He was comfortable with both feet and he had a great work ethic. He did jobs that not a lot of other players like to do, like tracking back, and he understood the game very well. He was always in the right place at the right time with and without the ball, which is a very difficult thing to coach. A lot of that comes naturally."
Davies made his first two senior appearances for Everton at the back-end of last season, but it is only under Ronald Koeman that he has risen to the fore. The Dutchman picked Davies over James McCarthy and £24m signing Morgan Schneiderlin on Sunday, and it is telling that the youngster has completed the full 90 minutes in each of his last three starts.
His first professional goal was undoubtedly his best moment yet, but there was also an assist in the 3-0 win over Southampton earlier this month. Davies is making a tangible difference. His tireless box-to-box running has injected energy into Koeman's midfield, and Opta's tracking data shows he has covered more ground than any other player in each of Everton's last two league games.
"To come into a game against Manchester City and put in a performance as assured as he did speaks volumes about him," says Stubbs. "He's up against Yaya Toure in a midfield battle and he has competed easily. He has been a key part of a team performance in which they totally dismantled Manchester City."
His emergence is a source of pride for the coaches who have brought him through the academy, but Stubbs insists the credit should go to Davies himself. "I don't think it's the coaches who make the player; I think it's the player who makes the player," he says. "How many times do we see young players with unbelievable ability fail to make it?
"It comes down to the individual. How much are they prepared to sacrifice? Do they really believe in their own ability? The coaches are there to keep them on the right track and give them the platform to flourish, but the people who deserve the most credit are Tom and his family."
The next challenge for Davies is to continue his progress and keep his place in the team. Everton's spending power has increased dramatically since Farhad Moshiri's takeover last year, but Davies' rapid rise shows they retain a heartening devotion to youth development.
"At Everton, we've all seen that if you're good enough, you will get an opportunity," says Stubbs. "Having more money to spend can limit the chances of young players coming through, but Koeman has a good track record for that. Tom just needs to keep his feet on the ground and keep improving."
In his own unique style, Davies is already heading in the right direction.
