Everton Fan View: How to manage the development of rising star Tom Davies

If there has been one thing that has made Evertonians smile this season, it’s been the emergence of Tom Davies.

Every fan loves an academy product, and that’s no difference with Davies. Everton fans got our first glimpse of him last season when, after Roberto Martinez was sacked, David Unsworth who was the stand-in manager picked a youthful side vs the relegated Norwich City. That day the anticipation pre-match was about the young attacking midfielder Kieran Dowell who had a string of wonderful goals in the Under 23’s to whet the appetite.

While Dowell did nothing wrong and is still an exciting prospect, it was Davies who immediately looked comfortable at the level and has done ever since. He was brilliant that day and it led Evertonians to be desperate to see more of those blonde flowing locks and rolled down socks in action.

Koeman didn’t immediately see him as worthy of much match action, but it took a 5-0 defeat to show what he was about. In a desperate game vs Chelsea, he came on in the 66^th minute and showed more fight and desire than the rest of the team had shown in the whole match. Chelsea didn’t score again after his introduction, and it gave a silver lining to what was a very dark cloud.

While Koeman must have appreciated the effort, he still didn’t trust the player to turn around Everton’s fortunes, but maybe he should have. It took the cramped Christmas schedule to see his first start of the season as Gareth Barry was rested for Southampton. After what would have been a bitter loss against his old side earlier in the season, Koeman would have been delighted with the performance of Davies in an easy 3-0 win.

His next Premier League start however would catapult him from Everton cult hero to national news story as, in front of the Sky cameras, he dazzled in a 4-0 win including a memorable goal that finished with a chip over the Man City goalkeeper.

In moments such as these, those old sayings come out of “not getting too carried away” and “shouldn’t put too much pressure on him” but it’s near impossible not to.

The young Liverpudlian has started in three of the four matches since that match and still looks impressive. There is a problem however for him, and they are called Gueye, Schneiderlin and Barkley. In the last match vs Middlesbrough, Koeman reverted to two centre backs to get the four midfielders in the team. If Koeman reverts back to the most successful formation this season, three at the back, the one of those players will miss out and it will most likely be the teenager.

Is that fair? Well for an 18 year old teenager, time out of the starting line-up may be a great time to reflect on what he’d doing right, and what he’s doing wrong. Regardless of all his talents, you can’t pretend there aren’t thing that he’s doing wrong. They are all things that can be taught, which is a huge positive. A few stray balls in the wrong areas, losing possession at the wrong time and giving away needless fouls have all been part of his game in recent weeks. Experience helps with that, but so does good coaching.

There can be a lot to learn from Gareth Barry, there have been a couple of occasions when Davies has committed a deliberate foul in order to stop the opposition when either there was a covering player or no danger if they got past him. If anyone can teach him the art of when, and when not to foul, it’s Barry. More technically though, Barry knows when to take risks and when not to. Barry has received a lot of praise from Everton fans over the last few years, but Davies has the energy and ball control to give a lot more to the team going forward, once Davies learns the finer arts from the likes of Barry, Schneiderlin and Gueye then his game can only improve.

He is a young player and one that will only get better. In order to get better however, sometimes you need to take a step back and learn from your mistakes before going again. You also don’t want young players to burn out, and while he is young, there is no preparation that can be done for the speed and intensity of a Premier League match.

He has a huge future at Everton, but his immediate future may be on the bench as an impact sub and first in line if one of the first choice players can’t make the team. It’s been a break out season for Tom Davies, but him spending time on the bench due to the midfield trio of Schneiderlin, Gueye and Barry may not be a bad thing.