Ben Davies earned rave reviews back in Wales after he helped them to a 1-0 win over Bulgaria on Wednesday.
Wales went into the international fixtures without their main superstar in Gareth Bale and it was Davies who wore the armband for all three of their matches.
After being humbled by England in a friendly last Thursday, Ryan Giggs’ side earned a hard-fought draw against Ireland in Dublin on Sunday before putting in a gutsy display to overcome Bulgaria yesterday.
Davies started in the left side of a back three alongside Joe Rodon and Bournemouth defender Chris Mepham. Wales did very well to come away with a clean sheet and took all three points courtesy of a late strike from Jonny Williams.
Rodon received considerably praise on social media for his display but it was Davies who was singled out by publications back in Wales.
Wales Online gave him the joint highest rating in the side of 8/10 and wrote about the Spurs defender’s display: “Brought shape to Wales’ back three after a change of formation by Giggs and was his usual calm, composed self. As captain, he was a cool and reassuring presence for the youngsters in the side and had a fine match, leading by example in every sense. Quality defender.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Davies receives more unfair criticism from the Tottenham fan base than any other player in our squad. I believe that arises from a misunderstanding of what he actually offers. The 27-year-old is not a modern-day wing-back who will get up and down the pitch for the whole game and be a constant threat going forward. In fact, in many respects, he is much more comfortable as a left-sided centre-back in a back three, than he is playing as a left-back in a back four, which was why the lop-sided formation we employed last season suited him perfectly. Davies almost never makes any defensive errors and stops crosses from coming in more often than not. His passing/crossing is also underrated by many fans.
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