Ben Davies

He's not awful, but he just alright. Not on goldson level though and Goldson cost less. I guess what I'm saying is, there must have been better out there for what we paid even if its on the continent.
 
scooter70 said:
Bizarre, Fletcher hardly had a look in last week

Davies is absolutely fine, for just over £3m in this day and age I'm not sure what we expected, Van Dijk?
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Exactly this. For the money we have spent on central defenders since Gerrard arrived they are all pretty similar. Good at certain things and not so great at others, its the market we shop in.

Helander for over £3mil was very good positionally but was pretty slow and struggled to recover when he was turned.

Balogun was a free and showed many times why he was on loan at Wigan. However, he was dominant in the air and quick.

Davies positionally looks good, can read the game well and a good passer. He's not the quickest either and maybe still getting used to the pressures of playing at Rangers.

Goldson as well has his flaws but a defender that costs in the region of £2.5mil - £4mil is never going to be the perfect player. Which is something too many on here are expecting.
 
I will he honest I am 50/50 on him. He’s certainly an improvement to Sands of that there is no doubt. I’m not fully confident on him yet. The position is certainly not cemented as his like Goldsons is that’s for sure.
 
He’s ok but what is needed is a Centre Back that can organise a defence and is Captain material. Neither Goldson or Davies give us that. Unfortunately finding a Butcher or Gough is difficult these days.
 
Isje 931 said:
Am I missing something but why do people not rate him?

The goal yesterday was all on barisic.

Personally think him and CG are building a very positive relationship and gives us a fantastic foundation moving forward. No doubt in my mind they need a better GK Infront of them and a better defensive midfielder but so far so good.

Is it more people want him to be a failure so they can stick the boot in on his signing?
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I 100% agree that the goal is on Barisic. He just stops tracking his man for some reason.

I also agree that Davies looks to be a perfectly good player. We know he's not great in the air but he is a good reader of the game and is comfortable on the ball. He's not the best we could have but he's in no way the worst.

However, I cannot agree that Davies and Goldson need a better keeper in front of them. I think that would be a terrible place to have a goalkeeper. Let's be a little more traditional and conservative in our thinking here and stick with having a better goalkeeper behind them.
 
His ability to pass the ball means that we don’t need to always play out from Goldson, and gives us overall much better balance. He seems to be overall a very good defender and if we can get a decent run of games for the pairing at centre back then I think they will do well.
 
Jury’s still out for me.

The positive is that he’s a natural left sided centre half and we have as settled a central defensive pairing as we’ve managed all season, but he still looks a little flakey in all honesty.

If Helander was fully fit and available, I’d still have him first.
 
Tino_Col said:
So he neither marked the striker or went to the ball to close it down. He was also shocking at the disallowed goal where he backed off the guy and didn't even put himself between the goal and striker.

If you don't think Davies has any responsibility from the goal from this position then...ok.

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Davies is in a reasonable position here as he had stepped out to play Miovski offside, which he had done successfully.

The problem is Miovski does not approach the ball and is therefore not interfering with play any more and it is Kennedy, two metres behind Barisic at this point, who runs on to the ball.

Barisic stops dead, Miovski becomes active again and runs in behind Davies who has to go and meet Kennedy as Barisic has let him go. There is no way Davies could have known that Barisic was going to stop.
 
He still is finding his feet in team and is only going to improvement, I've no concerns at all about our CB pairing but our fullbacks are a different story.
 
Think he's our best option at the moment, but nowhere near the quality of a fit Helander. Sadly it seems unlikely we'll ever again see a fit Helander, so we can only hope Davies continues to develop his partnership with Goldson. There's no doubt Barisic was the main culprit at their goal yesterday, but Davies didn't cover himself in glory either. Amateur stuff all round.
 
my main concern is that he doesn't seem to win many duals , which in our league means you are going to conceed possession and/or goals

I'd also agree with those on the thread saying he is a downgrade on helander , and quite a big one .
 
He has slotted in really well very quickly I think. Goldson Davies partnership looks strong.
Goal all on Barisic for me, he stops and doesn't deal with it
 
I like him, he is pretty comfortable passing out from the back. As others have said, he isn't as strong a defender as Helander, but I think he is a decent player.
 
I like him. But for £4m I think it’s a waste of money, when you take into account our current financial climate paying that for a guy who doesn’t ‘move the needle’ nor have the scope to make us money in the long run, it’s a waste of resources to me.
 
Starting to build a good partnership with Connor. I think he’s no more than decent could get better if he stays fit.
Just a bit in doubt if he can meet the physical demands of a full season without breaking down.
 
adidasler said:
I like him but he was close enough to their goal to shoulder some of the blame - as was McGregor.
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Yesterday’s goal was McGregor…I’m rarely critical of one our players, but his reluctance to come out caused it.

You could see it happening in slow motion.

Poor goalkeeping.
 
Bluethruandthru said:
Nope that's not accurate at all.
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Borna didn’t switch off completely and not follow his man who ran onto the ball completely unopposed in our left back area, then completely fail to stop the cross when it did come in, there’s no chance.

Davies was left in no man’s land chasing back because a normal left back would have been back and swept that up easily and not just left the ball down our left. Goldson was also of that mind and didn’t get back at all.

Borna is completely to blame for switching off and it’s far from the first time, sooner Yilmaz is back the better, he’s a complete and utter liability.
 
NDC bear forever said:
I like him. But for £4m I think it’s a waste of money, when you take into account our current financial climate paying that for a guy who doesn’t ‘move the needle’ nor have the scope to make us money in the long run, it’s a waste of resources to me.
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Decent take , however he ticks 2 of the 3 templates to transfer to us.
Ex academy player
ExLiverpool player
No experience in Belgian football though.
 
Isje 931 said:
Am I missing something but why do people not rate him?

The goal yesterday was all on barisic.

Personally think him and CG are building a very positive relationship and gives us a fantastic foundation moving forward. No doubt in my mind they need a better GK Infront of them and a better defensive midfielder but so far so good.

Is it more people want him to be a failure so they can stick the boot in on his signing?
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You think he done well with the ball played into the ball for their goal? Id need to see if t again but I though he could have made a better effort when the cross comes into the box.

I'm astonished at how proficient these other sides are when they find space or of we gift them space. They always seem to make it count more often than not.
 
A1bertz said:
You think he done well with the ball played into the ball for their goal? Id need to see if t again but I though he could have made a better effort when the cross comes into the box.

I'm astonished at how proficient these other sides are when they find space or of we gift them space. They always seem to make it count more often than not.
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Maybe their strikers are interested in playing for their club , our first pick yesterday certainly wasn’t.
 
Ben Davies broke into the Preston first team, playing in the Championship at 23, having been with them as a youth and having been loaned out the few years before to lower league sides where he was excellent. He became a first-team regular that season and was their player of the year the next as Preston performed to upper Championship level. He again was a regular the following season but with his contract soon expiring and regarded as a cultured, ball-playing, left-sided centre-half, many teams were interested in him...chief amongst them Burnley & Celtic.

Out of the blue, Liverpool swooped for him at a cut-price £1.6 million when they underwent an injury crisis and identified him as someone who could step in. Yet it didn't work out, for some reason he never played and the following season he went on loan to Sheffield United where he was merely ok - he was a shadow of the dynamic player he'd been at Preston and Sheffield weren't prepared to pay the fee Liverpool wanted for someone who was merely ok.

What wasn't known at the time was his wife was very, very ill and also expecting their first child. I won't go into the details (you can find them online) but there was a very real fear he'd lose them both at one point. So quite naturally, the guy's head was elsewhere, he lost form and suddenly he was back at Liverpool with no chance of getting a game.

Thankfully his wife has got better and he got his move to us. If he can get back to how he was playing before all the turmoil there's no doubt he'll be a fantastic asset for us and there's no reason why he can't - he's young enough. I think he'll prove a an asset to the team in the long-term but even in the short-term, he's still the best option.

If anyone deserves a bit of time to get back to his full level, it's this guy.
 
Davies has done well on the whole. The area he's struggled in is winning the ball in the air, barely wins a header.
 
Arlo said:
Borna didn’t switch off completely and not follow his man who ran onto the ball completely unopposed in our left back area, then completely fail to stop the cross when it did come in, there’s no chance.

Davies was left in no man’s land chasing back because a normal left back would have been back and swept that up easily and not just left the ball down our left. Goldson was also of that mind and didn’t get back at all.

Borna is completely to blame for switching off and it’s far from the first time, sooner Yilmaz is back the better, he’s a complete and utter liability.
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Couldn't agree more with Barisic's shortcomings as a defender, but disagree with the assertion he was solely to blame for the goal.
Davies was left exposed yes, but failed to even make it difficult for the sheep striker. A good defender does that as a minimum! The less said about McGregor's involvement (or lack of) the better.
 
Too early to tell, but defenders are expensive. The dhims paid something like 4 million for Starfelt and he is amoung the worst CB's in the league!
 
I think he's reasonably good.

He's definitely brought a sense of calm & solidity to the back 4 purely because he is a natural left sided CB & is good on the ball.

It's also helping Goldson as he can focus on his own game rather than having to drag his other centre half through a game (king/Sands).

Ideally we need someone who is good on the ball, has good distribution but is a big physical defender. Problem is someone with all those attributes costs a lot.

Davies ticks a couple of those boxes but looks like he will struggle with physicality but that's what 4mill gets you
 
Watched their goal back a few times now. He actually reacts quicker than anyone. Goldson and Lundstram both nearly stop. The mistake he makes is not realising that Borna was getting back in time. Stuck in the middle. A mistake but not his fault.
 
Some folk need a reality check if they think £4m is too much to pay for an experienced, left sided, ball playing centre back.

He's brought much needed composure to the defence, works well with Goldson and has really improved our playing out from the back. The improvement in the team since he came in is there for all to see and thats with him being new to the league and not having played regularly for nearly a year.

If he was quick and or really good in the air, he'd be playing at a higher level.

What do we expect for 4m quid?
 
FDB1978 said:
Still a bit "meh" for me over £3m fee with the potential to take it up to £4m with add ons I just don't think he looks like a £4m defender at times.

People go way overboard about him having good games at SPFL level for the wages and fee we paid for him that should be a given.

Miles better than Sands but I'm not sure he's cut out for European football and at times yesterday our entire defence looked nervous.
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The defence looked nervous bc our goalkeeper is rooted to his goal line, shot of confidence and almost every shot on target is hitting the back of the net. Nothing to do with Davies.

What do you expect from a 3m defender exactly?
 
Novichok said:
The defence looked nervous bc our goalkeeper is rooted to his goal line, shot of confidence and almost every shot on target is hitting the back of the net. Nothing to do with Davies.

What do you expect from a 3m defender exactly?
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I'd be expecting better from a guy who's valued at 10-20 times more than some of the dross he's playing against week in week out. His defending against St Johnstone a few months back was dreadful.

£3-£4m might not seem much in world football terms but in SPFL terms where on average teams pay between £50k to £150k at most for players it's a lot.
 
FDB1978 said:
I'd be expecting better from a guy who's valued at 10-20 times more than some of the dross he's playing against week in week out. His defending against St Johnstone a few months back was dreadful.

£3-£4m might not seem much in world football terms but in SPFL terms where on average teams pay between £50k to £150k at most for players it's a lot.
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I understand your point but he's light years of any defender in this League, bar Goldson and Carter- Vickers.

This is his first run of games in the league so I've no doubt he will improve further.
 
Novichok said:
Some folk need a reality check if they think £4m is too much to pay for an experienced, left sided, ball playing centre back.

He's brought much needed composure to the defence, works well with Goldson and has really improved our playing out from the back. The improvement in the team since he came in is there for all to see and thats with him being new to the league and not having played regularly for nearly a year.

If he was quick and or really good in the air, he'd be playing at a higher level.

What do we expect for 4m quid?
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‘If he was (fill in the blank) he’d not be here’ is the most annoying trope on this forum.

Davies is a decent player, nothing more. His fee isn’t his fault, but from what we’ve seen he’s nowhere near worth it.
 
Isje 931 said:
What did he do wrong positionally?

He positions himself where he should as the centre back closest to the ball. If you enter the box with a striker as the inside centre back you don't man mark him, you position yourself at the best position to stop the ball.
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Do you just position yourself and not bother where the attacker positions himself on a one v one situation?. Davies once in the box was totally unaware of what the striker was doing, he positioned himself to stop the ball and was nowhere near it, he should have fixed eyes on the striker and at least made him work for the goal
 
Glasgow Rangers (Sco) said:
We need an aggressive alternative for certain games IMO - this is when Balogun became such a big asset for us

Tav and Goldson’s game time will need to be managed in the coming seasons so we can rely on just 4 players
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You mean like when he got tore apart and was 3-0 down in the League cup semi final at the same stage last season?

Balogun was a short term free transfer who missed a lot of games through injury and had a nightmare performance in his locker.
 
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