Why Ben Davies Perfectly Encapsulates This Tottenham Hotspur Team
Tottenham Hotspur have been a team in the ascendency for a number of years. Under manager Mauricio Pochettino, Spurs have gone from strength to strength, growing from an upper mid-table side to a serious Premier League contender. What makes this more impressive is the manner in which the club has gone about doing it.
In many ways, Wales star Ben Davies is a perfect fit for this new Spurs team. The 25-year-old joined the North London side from Swansea City back in 2014 for a fee believed to be in the region of £12 million. It was a minor sum, the sort of under-the-radar signing which the club has made a lot of under Pochettino. Dele Alli, Eric Dier, and Christian Eriksen signed for a combined total of around £21 million.
Davies arrived at a young age and has grown up with this Spurs team. He is a similar age to many of the other key players at the club like Harry Kane and Erik Lamela as well as Eriksen and Dier. Twelve players from England and Wales have played for Spurs this season with many of them came from the Spurs academy and the rest arriving for minimal fees at a young age.
Another trait of this Spurs team which Davies embodies is a willingness to attack. Mauricio Pochettino has brought attractive football to his team with a high-press, a desire to play out from the back, and a readiness to move forward in numbers. This is something which has always been important. Even the club's motto, "To Dare Is To do" suggests an eagerness to take risks and push forward. Davies started his career by daring to attack from full-back at Swansea City and has continued to do so at his new club.

Image source via zimbio.com
But Davies isn't just an attacking full-back. Another trait of Pochettino's Spurs which Davies possesses is versatility. The 25-year-old played extremely well as the left centre-back in a back three for Wales during Euro 2016, a position which he has held on occasions at Spurs. Pochettino expects his side to adapt to the situation with players like Son Heung-Min and Dele Alli often taking up multiple positions during the same match.
Of course, neither Davies nor this Spurs team is perfect. That risky, daring style of football can occasionally go wrong and neither Spurs nor Davies are strangers to a defensive error. Things can often go array for Pochettino during high-pressure moments but these instances have become more infrequent as time has progressed.
There is a lot to like about this Tottenham Hotspur team. Here is a group of young, homegrown players which has been assembled without the enormous sums of money available to some of the other major Premier League clubs. They play a daring style of attacking football but switch things up and adapt to the situation. There are shortcomings, of course, but there is far more to admire about both Spurs and Ben Davies, a player who embodies so many of these characteristics.