Other than making the rest of us feel old by prompting endless tweets revealing that he was born on the same day that David Beckham was famously sent off against Argentina, Tom Davies achieved something much more notable when he lit up Goodison Park yesterday afternoon.
He provided a timely reminder that the mix of precocious talent and youthful exuberance can often be the most potent cocktail that football can produce.
June 30, 1998 was made memorable not just by a flick of Beckham’s heel of course; it was seared onto the consciousness by Michael Owen’s slalom run past Argentina as the England forward did a passable impression of Alberto Tomba en route to scoring the kind of goal which causes euphoria to break out and expectations to soar in the blink of an eye. Just to make his own birthday resonate even more, Davies scored a goal straight out of that genre too.
That this was his day of days is indisputable. There may be better ones ahead, only time will tell, but at the age of 18 Merseyside’s latest homegrown talent has already made English football sit up and take notice. For now, it is about what he can do and what his potential might be. An excitement has been unleashed and yet the one person least likely to be caught up in it is Davies himself. Laid back to the point of being impervious to the kind of hype he has provoked, this is one youngster who should be expected to fulfil his potential, whatever that may be.
Strikers gonna strike #EVEMCI https://t.co/WkYTEQt3XS
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) January 15, 2017
To those who know him best, Davies’s display against Manchester City was not just pleasing, it was wholly expected. David Unsworth, Everton’s well-respected under-23s manager, has been championing the teenager’s cause for some time with others in the club’s youth set-up having long since earmarked Davies as a potential first team player. It wasn’t that he had the most talent, it was that his attitude, particularly his willingness to listen and determination to improve, that set him apart.
It was that desire which saw Davies spend countless hours working on his passing, his movement and his general skill set at Liverpool’s Calderstones Park in his younger days when it was not even clear whether or not he would go on to have a career in professional football. Accompanied by his father, Tony, a player who held his own in Liverpool’s ultra competitive amateur leagues, Davies would regularly travel to the park where he would attempt to improve his technique in the belief that his natural energy and speed across the ground would become even more effective if accompanied by a better touch.
That commitment to make the most of the talent he has was writ large in his coming-of-age display as he inspired Everton to a victory so resounding that it will be remembered as the heaviest league defeat of Pep Guardiola’s managerial career. Whatever City’s shortcomings – and there were many – Everton, driven by Davies, took full advantage of them with the goal that the midfielder scored, complete with a Ronaldo “chop” in the build up, providing him and his team with a symbol of what is possible when vigour and virtuosity combine.
For all the attention that Romelu Lukaku’s failed attempt to get a touch on Davies’s dinked finish attracted, it was the scorer’s drive through midfield and his sense of ambition and adventure that would have most caught the eye regardless of whether his team mate had stolen his goal. As it was, Lukaku’s predatory instincts let him down for once and the goal belonged to Davies. A thrilling run had been given its wholly deserved denouement.
Michael Regan/Getty Images
Again, for those who have helped Davies most as he trod the potentially treacherous path into Everton’s first team were not taken aback by the manner in which he announced his arrival. If anything, what they were seeing him doing was what he had been doing for some time previously, albeit now at a higher level. This was confirmation, not revelation, of his talent, regardless of the impact it made elsewhere.
“For the first time since he has been in the first team, I saw what I would call a normal Tom Davies performance,” Unsworth said. “He has been getting better and better and I was sitting next to Joe Royle and said to him, ‘That’s Tom.’ All action, box to box, little bits of skill here and there, tough tackling. The goal that he scored I have seen him score before. I thought he came of age, I really did. Both him and Mason Holgate. It is normal and natural that young players find their way. Energy and attitude are a given at this football club, but we saw that quality as well.”
Ironically, Davies almost slipped through Everton’s grasp when he accepted an offer to train with Tranmere Rovers at the age of eight. It took three years for Everton to get him back but once he returned, both player and club recognised that he was in the right place. Since then, his progress through Everton’s youth ranks has been rapid, although Davies himself admits it has not been easy, and his development at Finch Farm, the Merseyside club’s training ground, has led to international recognition.
Davies’ first Everton start came against Norwich last season (photo credit: Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
While the majority of his progress has been in keeping with his age group – Davies has represented England at all levels from under-16 up to under-19 – his status as one of the country’s most promising emerging players resulted in him being invited to train with the full England squad in October 2015. For those who shared a pitch with Everton’s latest protégé and those who looked on in admiration, it was the ease at which he settled into his new surroundings and his subsequent refusal to allow his promotion to affect him that impressed most.
For Neil Dewsnip, the England under-18s coach, this was vindication of the potential that both Everton and the FA had identified. “We were about to play the Democratic Republic of Congo but Gary Neville called and said they needed a midfielder for training and who would I suggest. I said Tom without hesitation. Part of you thinks, ‘We need him’. But it is all for the greater good,” Dewsnip says.
“He did well in the session, too, and Gary and Roy [Hodgson] told me they had been impressed with him. Because of that training session, his picture was all over the newspapers. We all took the mickey because he had people coming up asking for autographs. Tom took it all in his stride. He’s very level-headed and that is one of the reasons why I made him captain and why he is still captain now for his age group.”
📷 | @1TomDavies and @alookman_ became the 16th and 17th teenagers to score for #EFC in the @premierleague. No other club has had more. pic.twitter.com/8RVbIctYPK
— Everton (@Everton) January 16, 2017
Above all, Davies is his own person. When asked recently about what he enjoys away from football one of his answers was travelling, but as well as confirming to the teenager’s stereotype by admitting to a fondness for lads’ holidays, he also revealed a desire to tour Italy alone as he felt that would be the best way to discover the country. Then there is the free flowing locks, the wispy facial hair and the socks rolled around his ankles that identify him as a non-conformist, albeit not a rebellious one.
“If I had a pound for the number of times I have told him to get his hair cut, have a shave and pull his socks up, I would be rich,” Unsworth said. “I do tell him, but he just tells me I’m no longer young and I’m not a dude anymore. If he carries on performing like that, he can do what he wants. He is a great lad. He’s England captain for his age and so he is very mature, a leader of men I would say. He believes in himself without overstepping it into confidence.”
That kind of character reference, more than anything else, is what currently sets Davies apart and the longer he goes against the prevailing image of what a young English player is, the greater the chance will be that he is able to make others suffer as City did yesterday. As things stand, June 30 1998 is a memorable day for English football for good and bad reasons but should Davies go on to fulfil his potential, it could become a day to celebrate for club and country.
