Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti has offered a multi-faceted view ofTom Davies, publicly analysing his strengths as well as the areas where he believes the midfielder can improve.
Instructing him to ‘simplify’ his game, Ancelotti praised the 22-year-old for his tactical awareness in the same breath. He expressed an ultimate pleasure in the Toffees academy product for his reading of the game and his adaptive fluidity in midfield, a quality Ancelotti craves given the absence of Allan.
Amid confirmation of a new ‘diamond’ formation deployed in the 3-3 draw at Manchester United, Ancelotti feels that Davies lacks the ‘quality’ to operate in a traditional number 10 attacking capacity, but was otherwise full of praise for the youngster. He told the Liverpool Echo:
I think, first of all, Tom is a really professional player, really focused on what he is doing. He has a strong sense of belonging to this club and this is also really important.
The only thing I said to him is to simplify his work and his style of play. He plays in a position where tactically you have to be really focused.
Watching the game against United I think tactically he was perfect. With the ball he has maybe not the quality of a top midfielder but in that position we need to play simple passes, you don’t need to over-complicate.
He cannot play no. 10, in my opinion, but when you play with three midfielders he can play all three positions, no problem, because tactically he is very intelligent.
Read Everton Verdict
At just 22 years of age, Davies is far from close to being the finished product.
Fortunately, Ancelotti has clearly been impressed by elements of his game which could prove instrumental in forcing the youngster into future line-ups, thus aiding his development with increased top-level exposure.
