Steven Davis- Irreplaceable

Gerrard just described it as ‘the kick up the backside’ we need!
Some getting ‘complacent’.
This bodes well how quickly he recognizes this and is already not going to accept performances like that last 20 minutes.
Friendly or not…he wants more and expects more…from certain players.
I think he may have learned more in this game than he has in any other of the games we have already played.

Like I said it bodes well going forward.
 
I'm comparing his impact on games and on the team-he simply used to be a much more effective player.

I get he's adapted but what is this irreplaceable bit based on? He found some form as the league was done. In reality he's done nothing and nobody was a bigger fan of SD than me.

You then get into who is the better holding player him or Jack. You clearly think SD I simply don't agree I think Jack reads the game better, gives it away less and is more versatile but he's a younger model at his peak-he couldn't have tied SD's boots if SD were the same age.

Let's see what the manager thinks maybe he will continue to play both but talk of SD being the best holding midfielder in Scotland is hype mate and not like you.

Jack's far more effective in his box to box role than playing in the holding role. You might think it's hype but you know I dont get carried away, it's been my opinion for months. Brown has been the best holding mid up here for years but Davis has always been a far better player than Brown.

I simply dont agree Jack is better than Davis in that current role. No chance at all. Jack is fitter and covers more ground simply due to his age but if we are talking movement, the confidence to take the ball in tight spaces etc then Davis is levels above I'm afraid. Davis actually passes with a purpose as well a lot more than Jack, he's got a higher tempo and crispness to his play and passing but that's just down to levels the higher the level you go as a player that sort of thing is noticable.

I get you love Jack but he's mid 20s and barely even been capped for a poor Scotland team.
 
Sorry Dylan I forgot to add re his impact to games as well. The position he plays now, players don't actually get noticed a lot because it's all about recycling possession and keeping the team ticking over but if you are into the attention of detail in a game, then he's still very effective because of how much of our play comes through him and is started by him making a good pass that opens the game up for us. It's like Busquets for Barca he gets hardly any credit but he's absolutely crucial to Spain and Barcelona and a vital cog in their teams because he keeps the team ticking with his passing.
 
Jack's far more effective in his box to box role than playing in the holding role. You might think it's hype but you know I dont get carried away, it's been my opinion for months. Brown has been the best holding mid up here for years but Davis has always been a far better player than Brown.

I simply dont agree Jack is better than Davis in that current role. No chance at all. Jack is fitter and covers more ground simply due to his age but if we are talking movement, the confidence to take the ball in tight spaces etc then Davis is levels above I'm afraid. Davis actually passes with a purpose as well a lot more than Jack, he's got a higher tempo and crispness to his play and passing but that's just down to levels the higher the level you go as a player that sort of thing is noticable.

I get you love Jack but he's mid 20s and barely even been capped for a poor Scotland team.

I actually don't love Jack-he's been better than expected for me-he is in reality one of the better midfielders in a league that's been in pretty steep decline. For us to be a genuine Rangers team I don't think Jack would feature. He's symbolic of the rebuilding job nothing more.

I stick up for on here that's all as he is a bit of a scapegoat.

We can say we disagree on the attributes but we are not exactly comparing like with like-SD was trying to get match fitness and RJ was already in the groove and has played a lot more games.

I have never been totally convinced the team plays that well with both in the team. I also have zero idea how SG will call the midfield other than I think Kamara is fading out of contention at a rate of knots.

I'm also not totally convinced on rotation as described by many on here-an almost constant changing team- but SG again will call that.

I do think we are getting carried away- SD hasn't really had the chance to make the difference you and others are claiming because it's based on a dead run out and a few games against teams either off in terms of fitness or standard.

I'll be delighted if we have a great season and SD is at the centre of it-if RJ sat on his arse most of the season it doesn't matter-I'm sure you are the same in reverse but you are in hype mode here mate-you are a very naughty boy don't do it again. :)
 
Sorry Dylan I forgot to add re his impact to games as well. The position he plays now, players don't actually get noticed a lot because it's all about recycling possession and keeping the team ticking over but if you are into the attention of detail in a game, then he's still very effective because of how much of our play comes through him and is started by him making a good pass that opens the game up for us. It's like Busquets for Barca he gets hardly any credit but he's absolutely crucial to Spain and Barcelona and a vital cog in their teams because he keeps the team ticking with his passing.

I thought that's what Jack was doing before SG pushed him forward :)
 
I think we can agree is important player. A couple of small points - about 4 months ago he was ‘done’ and today was a friendly. So irreplaceable is a little strong
He will do the teams dirty work and tidy up around him,let younger legs and heads push forward,an absolute necessity for us this season
 
McGregor
Tav Goldson Helander Barisic
Jack Davis Aribo
Arfield Ojo
Defoe​

- or -

McGregor
Tav Goldson Helander Barisic
Jack Arfield Davis
Ojo .......................... Jones
Defoe
Davis imperative to both set ups imo. He'd be first name on the team sheet followed by McGregor, Tav, Jack and Arfield for me. The other positions are open to rotation.
 
Davis was superb today, he was head and shoulders above everyone else on the park. He makes such a difference to our play when hes on. Great for the younger players to learn from too. It's fantastic to have him back.
 
If Steven Gerrard learns nothing else today …he has learned just how important Steven Davis is to him this season.Controlled the game right up to being substituted and the others that came on for the last 20 odd minutes did not do themselves any favors!
That coupled with Greegsy’s strange mistake I don’t think Gerrard will be too happy behind the scenes.


The difference in the quality of our midfield play, when Davis went off and Kamara took over the playmaker role, was quite concerning for me today.

Davis was on an absolutely different level.
 
While Davis was on we had control of the game, when he went off we lost that. Think context needs to be taken with the fact he was one of 4 changes.. & the fact that it then took Kamara 10 or 15 minutes to get up to speed.. until then he created nothing but problems tbh.

It looked a lot to me though after the changes that both Kamara & Jack were trying to do the same thing, but neither of them were doing it very well.

Davis is a level above both of them though in that role, so to be fair to the OP he has a point, and a fit, available Davis would easily be in that role for me any day of the week.

Managing his game time and games played will be one of the most important jobs for SG this season imo.
 
Steven Davis is a successful international class midfielder with many years playing at either European or EPL level.
No other midfielder we have, or any Scottish team has, comes close to him when he is fit and on form.
 
Kamara is taking time to find his touch but lets not forget what a good player he is when he is on it.

For now though he has to drop to the bench, this is were the depth of squad comes into play.

Davis has been simply outstanding, i love watching him play.
 
Gerrard just described it as ‘the kick up the backside’ we need!
Some getting ‘complacent’.
This bodes well how quickly he recognizes this and is already not going to accept performances like that last 20 minutes.
Friendly or not…he wants more and expects more…from certain players.
I think he may have learned more in this game than he has in any other of the games we have already played.

Like I said it bodes well going forward.


He certainly wasn't happy with both and Kamara and Katic after their goal.

I think it was Beale as well getting tore into them.
 
Nobody in Scotland reads the game as well as Steven Davis does. It's probably his main asset and all the other good stuff he does is a by-product of it.
 
If Steven Gerrard learns nothing else today …he has learned just how important Steven Davis is to him this season.Controlled the game right up to being substituted and the others that came on for the last 20 odd minutes did not do themselves any favors!
That coupled with Greegsy’s strange mistake I don’t think Gerrard will be too happy behind the scenes.
He was superb when he was on, head and shoulders above everybody else on the park.
 
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