The defeat to Arsenal in the ‘North London derby’ was quite a shock for Tottenham. Spurs pundits have been calling for the club to sell Spurs defender Ben Davies, 31.
The Angie Postecoglou-led Spurs lost 2-3 at home to Arsenal in the 35th round of the 2023-2024 English Premier League (EPL) at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on Aug. 28 (ET).
The loss effectively ended Spurs’ chances of qualifying for next season’s UEFA Champions League. It was the second straight defeat for Spurs, who were unable to recover from a 0-4 thrashing at Newcastle United earlier in the day.
Spurs remained on 60 points and failed to catch fourth-place Aston Villa (67 points) for the Champions League cutoff. Villa have two more games in hand and Spurs have five to play, but an upset is unlikely.
Tottenham were exposed in many areas against Arsenal. They conceded three goals in the first half alone, including two from set pieces, which effectively gave away the game. They also failed to react well to counter-attacks and conceded several chances to add to their lead.
Jamie O’Hara (38) pointed the finger at left back Davies. Davis is Destiny Udogie’s backup. But when Udogie suddenly went down with a left quadriceps injury, Davies was called upon to step up.
Davies is a Welsh international defender. He has been in a Tottenham shirt for more than a decade, having joined from Swansea City in 2014, a year earlier than Son Heung-min. Along with Son, he knows Tottenham better than anyone else.
Davis is also close with Son Heung-min. They cheer each other on when they meet in A-matches. On the team, Son is part of the “Welsh Mafia,” a group of players from Wales. Son is also a godfather to Davies’ son.
“We’re 0-2 down,” O’Hara told TalkSPORT in the UK, “and Davis is playing left back. Davis shouldn’t be playing left-back, but he’s playing left-back,” adding, ”He’s not good enough. We need to get rid of him,” he emphasized.
“If you look at his right side, Bukayo Sakho, he should be far away 안전놀이터 from the goal. You let him in and just put one random guy in the corner. You know what he’s going to do, you know he’s going to do it,” he emphasized.
Davis struggled against Bukayo Sakha. Saka was able to exploit all of Davies’ weaknesses. Davies did manage to convert the penalty that led to Son Heung-min’s 16th goal, but he had to face a lot of criticism from the fans.
Tottenham have set their sights on the title next season. Postecoglou himself has talked about the possibility of winning the title. In order to do so, they”ll need to strengthen their defense as well as their offense.
With European competition on the horizon, a deeper squad is inevitable. “We don’t need players like Davies to win trophies next season,” the outlet noted. Instead, it emphasized the need to bring in more upgraded players.