Super Steven Davis

[david in sweden]

Verlaine is absolutely on point on this one and the fact that he never *actually* rubbishes Davis, but instead, just points out that he's an average player who has his uses, has his flaws but is ultimately, a mid-table player really just proves his point.

 

Again, it takes a religious tone. "Thou shalt not covet a better attacking-midfielder than Steven Davis".

 

I think that is a bit over the top ....

..but (on occasions) it's Davis who is made the scapegoat in a poor game, whereas other "fan favourites" are just having a bad day if they don't perform.

 

Davis has a vast amount of experience, (especially at international level) and usually puts in a shift without always getting full credit for it.

Perhaps his lack of goals colours some opinions, and I'm sure SD would admit that he ought to convert a few more of his chances, but he still DAJFU, and does it well.

 

He's not the best midfielder we've ever had, but he has a captain's instinct and at least - for the time being - I rate him as the most loyal / dependable MF we have.

[Professor]

Can't really say anything about Stephen Davis that others haven't already said in this thread but will just add one more voice of appreciation for a great player. It felt almost accidental that he came here when Glasgow Rangers imploded. He understandably declined the request by Ranger's new owning company that he join them in being relegated to the fourth tier of Scottish football and instead came to Southampton to continue playing at the top level, just as we were returning to the Premier league. It was very fortunate for the club and for Steven Davis that the two events coincided. Very pleased that he's contracted here now until 2019.

[Golden Balls]

Steven Davis is the most highly rated underrated player I've ever seen.

[ScepticalStan]

I think that is a bit over the top ....

..but (on occasions) it's Davis who is made the scapegoat in a poor game, whereas other "fan favourites" are just having a bad day if they don't perform.

 

Davis has a vast amount of experience, (especially at international level) and usually puts in a shift without always getting full credit for it.

 

 

I've never seen any other player being treated with as much of a forgiving tone as Davis and he's certainly never once made any sort of a scapegoat.

 

On the contrary, every single five-yard sideways pass he plays all game is hailed as Xavi-esque.

 

Which is a shame, because he's actually quite a nifty, useful little player. He's just absurdly overrated on here.

[david in sweden]

 

I've never seen any other player being treated with as much of a forgiving tone as Davis and he's certainly never once made any sort of a scapegoat.

 

On the contrary, every single five-yard sideways pass he plays all game is hailed as Xavi-esque.

 

Which is a shame, because he's actually quite a nifty, useful little player. He's just absurdly overrated on here.

 

 

I didn't suggest he was as good as Xavi..... what do you want for £800k?

[angelman]

I didn't suggest he was as good as Xavi..... what do you want for £800k?

 

Zlatan was £800k cheaper.

[St_Tel49]

Zlatan was £800k cheaper.

 

But the on-going costs are eye watering!

[New Forest Steve]

But the on-going costs are eye watering!

 

..... but he's made Man Utd a force to be reckoned with

[St_Tel49]

..... but he's made Man Utd a force to be reckoned with

And so he should at the money he is being paid!

[bazza]

Have to say it, he gets a lot of stick from time to time from saints fans but watching him tonight for NI he was a boss. Absolutely ran the show. So glad we have such a player. I'm afraid if he isn't foreign sounding we tend to write off our own.

 

I'm going to call him Stephan Daviesto from now on.

 

Sent from my YOGA Tablet 2-1050F using Tapatalk

 

I was over for the San Marino game, he was the best player on the pitch by a mile. (Couldn't make Hannover unfortunately, had to cancel my flights.) We (NI) would be screwed without him.

[david in sweden]

..... but he's made Man Utd a force to be reckoned with

 

at present. He is a sort of "folk-hero" in Sweden, but there are those who think he might not show up as well as he did at PSG (where they blitzed the French League and won it by 20 points). If he continues to score on a regular basis then maybe.....but its a lot of money for MU to pay out - if he's on a reputed £200K /week.

 

Zlatan will probably earn as much this season as SD will in his entire contract time.....only Davis will have played many more games - even if he doesn't score many goals.

[larry12]

Completely agree. Can't score, but he runs around a lot. Wow! Super underrated.

 

I've never seen any other player being treated with as much of a forgiving tone as Davis and he's certainly never once made any sort of a scapegoat.

 

On the contrary, every single five-yard sideways pass he plays all game is hailed as Xavi-esque.

 

Which is a shame, because he's actually quite a nifty, useful little player. He's just absurdly overrated on here.

[ScepticalStan]

I didn't suggest he was as good as Xavi..... what do you want for £800k?

 

I'm delighted with what Steven Davis gives us for £800k. He's still overrated! Which, as I say, isn't his fault in the slightest.

 

Verlaine's hesitant to actually say so but my guess is that this is because he's a British player who exemplifies the no-fancy-stuff-high-work-rate ideal that many English fans hope to see. Given that as late as 2012, people were actually calling for Hammond ahead of Schneiderlin in the team, I'd argue that there's evidence that this is indeed the case among our fanbase.

 

Similar thing with Pelle and Lambert - both players were almost certainly viewed as much of a muchness by neutral fans of any other club, but the gulf between the reception that the two of them got on here was huge, despite the fact that from open play, Pelle actually outscored Lambert in both his seasons vs both of Lambert's. (12 & 11 vs 10 & .

 

Now, I'd just about err on the side of Lambert in his prime (and granted, he'd been fantastic throughout the lower leagues so some favouritism is understandable) but nevertheless, the gulf between the two players was hugely overstated by the fanbase.

 

No way of testing or proving it I know, but if Davis was from Argentina, Ghana or Japan I don't think there's any way he'd be as highly rated.

[ScepticalStan]

Marge Simpson: *crying* "My father was a stewardess!"

 

Therapist: "Marge, nowadays, male flight attendants, or 'stewards', are in fact very common. Perhaps you should view your father as more of a 'pioneer'?

 

Marge: "Yeah...now that you mention it, you could say he was an American hero!"

 

Therapist: "...let's not go nuts."

[saintoaks]

Special mention today for super Steven Davis, thought he was very good again today and consistently good so far this season.

[Toomer]

Davis is the unsung hero of the side 8 out of 10 performance again today.

[Dellman]

Verlaine is absolutely on point on this one and the fact that he never *actually* rubbishes Davis, but instead, just points out that he's an average player who has his uses, has his flaws but is ultimately, a mid-table player really just proves his point.

 

Its a bit like being in a radical Muslim country. If you say that the Prophet Muhammed wasn't the messenger of God but seemed like a good bloke and a nice chap, you'll have your head chopped off for denying his divinity. Similar on here with Steven Davis.

 

My favourite moment from the Davis-worship brigade was during our goalless spell in 2014-2015 when I pointed out that it wasn't all the fault of Pelle, and that we didn't have enough goals coming from midfield, and wouldn't it be nice if that wasn't that case? Perhaps we could buy an attacking midfielder in the summer?

 

I was then slated by people who said that if Saints were to make the top 4, it would be 'because we had players like Steven Davis playing out of their skin'.

 

That's right. On here, you'll actually get slated for even wishing for a better player in AM than Davis.

 

Again, it takes a religious tone. "Thou shalt not covet a better attacking-midfielder than Steven Davis".

Moslems do not claim his divinity

[larry12]

Is a midfielder who cannot seemingly ever, ever, ever score, actually good? I think that if he can't almost ever score, the club should buy one who can. But, he is much more productive that JWP, who might somewhen, sometime, "kick on" much like a donkey.

 

Moslems do not claim his divinity

[Barry the Badger]

If Davis got 7 or 8 goals a season he wouldn't be playing for us for very long.

[verlaine1979]

Special mention today for super Steven Davis, thought he was very good again today and consistently good so far this season.

 

He was okay - his usual 6 out of 10 performance. But really, even JWP managed to test the keeper yesterday. Davis is an even worse finisher than Long.

[igsey]

There were at least 3 occasions yesterday where Steve Davis just came out of nowhere and nicked the ball off a Burnley player in our half. Kept things ticking in midfield nicely, as he always does.

 

Great game, great player, must be great in bed too since he's clearly been ****ging verlaine's wife for so long.

[verlaine1979]

There were at least 3 occasions yesterday where Steve Davis just came out of nowhere and nicked the ball off a Burnley player in our half. Kept things ticking in midfield nicely, as he always does.

 

Great game, great player, must be great in bed too since he's clearly been ****ging verlaine's wife for so long.

And if that's enough to earn a rave review from you, I can only assume you watch every game in rapt amazement at the wonders being wrought before your very eyes.

[ScepticalStan]

Again. Utterly embarrassing. 60-70% possession against one of the worst teams in the league who we have the opportunity to counter-attack against and he can't

 

1) thread a pass

2) create a chance

3) shoot from distance

4) beat a player

 

Or just generally do anything expected of an advanced midfield player but somehow not expected from Davis.

 

The irony is that Clasie (who was crap as well for that matter) is basically a clone of Davis and will get 100% of the blame today.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Again. Utterly embarrassing. 60-70% possession against one of the worst teams in the league who we have the opportunity to counter-attack against and he can't

 

1) thread a pass

2) create a chance

3) shoot from distance

4) beat a player

 

Or just generally do anything expected of an advanced midfield player but somehow not expected from Davis.

 

The irony is that Clasie (who was crap as well for that matter) is basically a clone of Davis and will get 100% of the blame today.

 

Don't talk shiete , he's a good player.

[Edmonton Saint]

Again. Utterly embarrassing. 60-70% possession against one of the worst teams in the league who we have the opportunity to counter-attack against and he can't

 

1) thread a pass

2) create a chance

3) shoot from distance

4) beat a player

 

Or just generally do anything expected of an advanced midfield player but somehow not expected from Davis.

 

The irony is that Clasie (who was crap as well for that matter) is basically a clone of Davis and will get 100% of the blame today.

 

 

Agree.

[bazza]

Again. Utterly embarrassing. 60-70% possession against one of the worst teams in the league who we have the opportunity to counter-attack against and he can't

 

1) thread a pass

2) create a chance

3) shoot from distance

4) beat a player

 

Or just generally do anything expected of an advanced midfield player but somehow not expected from Davis.

 

The irony is that Clasie (who was crap as well for that matter) is basically a clone of Davis and will get 100% of the blame today.

 

 

Thankfully successive Southampton managers know a bit more about football than clueless cockwombles like you and keep selecting him.

[DuncanRG]

There would be a very tight venn diagram between people who spend games shouting 'GET THE BALL!' and 'PUT IT IN THERE!' and people who don't rate Steven Davis

[ALWAYS_SFC]

Thankfully successive Southampton managers know a bit more about football than clueless cockwombles like you and keep selecting him.

 

[ScepticalStan]

Don't talk shiete , he's a good player.

 

Except that he can't create chances, score goals, or beat players. He runs around a lot though and rarely gives the ball away, which is a microcosm of our problem on Sunday, we had a tonne of possession and never looked like scoring until we brought on Boufal (who actually can do all of the above) and sent Van Dijk forward for the last 10 minutes.

 

Massive cap on what we can achieve until we bring in a proper creative midfielder. Expensive? Yes, certainly. But that's the reality. If Davis was as good as everyone on here says he is, he would have attracted interest from bigger clubs. There's a reason he doesn't and never has done. For all our overachievement these past few seasons and the extent to which our squad has attracted attention, absolutely none of the bigger clubs have attributed that overachievement to wee Stevie Davis.

 

Davis is very useful when we are clearly and definitively the underdog. He's a pest, he breaks up opponents' play, he keeps the ball, he hussles and harries. Against the Man Cities and the Arsenals and so on, fine, straight in the team.

 

However, when it comes to creating chances against teams we should be slicing through on the counterattack, his lack of talent slows us down and makes us easy to defend against.

 

Annoyed at the fact that teams get men behind the ball and park the bus against us? Well, they'll do that (and quite successfully) if your midfielders can't 1) beat a player 2) thread a pass or 3) shoot from distance.

[Verbal Kint]

Except that he can't create chances, score goals, or beat players. He runs around a lot though and rarely gives the ball away, which is a microcosm of our problem on Sunday, we had a tonne of possession and never looked like scoring until we brought on Boufal (who actually can do all of the above) and sent Van Dijk forward for the last 10 minutes.

 

Massive cap on what we can achieve until we bring in a proper creative midfielder. Expensive? Yes, certainly. But that's the reality. If Davis was as good as everyone on here says he is, he would have attracted interest from bigger clubs. There's a reason he doesn't and never has done. For all our overachievement these past few seasons and the extent to which our squad has attracted attention, absolutely none of the bigger clubs have attributed that overachievement to wee Stevie Davis.

 

Davis is very useful when we are clearly and definitively the underdog. He's a pest, he breaks up opponents' play, he keeps the ball, he hussles and harries. Against the Man Cities and the Arsenals and so on, fine, straight in the team.

 

However, when it comes to creating chances against teams we should be slicing through on the counterattack, his lack of talent slows us down and makes us easy to defend against.

 

Annoyed at the fact that teams get men behind the ball and park the bus against us? Well, they'll do that (and quite successfully) if your midfielders can't 1) beat a player 2) thread a pass or 3) shoot from distance.

 

Excellent post

[The9]

It appears we've found 3 dual personality posters.

 

Davis is a great player for us, always dispossessing the opposition and shifting the ball quickly and effectively. He's been a mile better than Hojbjerg in the past 6 weeks for a start, and had Austin played him in completely clean through instead of shooting, we'd have seen whether he could finish one on one on Sunday too as he was the only one with the engine to get up with him for that chance. He's a key player in away games with his interceptions and pressing and steering players towards our more defensive players. He's just as much about what he does off the ball as with it.

[DuncanRG]

Except that he can't create chances, score goals, or beat players. He runs around a lot though and rarely gives the ball away, which is a microcosm of our problem on Sunday, we had a tonne of possession and never looked like scoring until we brought on Boufal (who actually can do all of the above) and sent Van Dijk forward for the last 10 minutes.

 

Massive cap on what we can achieve until we bring in a proper creative midfielder. Expensive? Yes, certainly. But that's the reality. If Davis was as good as everyone on here says he is, he would have attracted interest from bigger clubs. There's a reason he doesn't and never has done. For all our overachievement these past few seasons and the extent to which our squad has attracted attention, absolutely none of the bigger clubs have attributed that overachievement to wee Stevie Davis.

 

Davis is very useful when we are clearly and definitively the underdog. He's a pest, he breaks up opponents' play, he keeps the ball, he hussles and harries. Against the Man Cities and the Arsenals and so on, fine, straight in the team.

 

However, when it comes to creating chances against teams we should be slicing through on the counterattack, his lack of talent slows us down and makes us easy to defend against.

 

Annoyed at the fact that teams get men behind the ball and park the bus against us? Well, they'll do that (and quite successfully) if your midfielders can't 1) beat a player 2) thread a pass or 3) shoot from distance.

 

You're right that Davis doesn't score or create many goals. I'd be impressed if you can name someone outside the Champions League who does that and all the other work you describe. Of course it would be great to have it all, but we are quite simply a weaker team when Davis doesn't play, and that's been true under four managers.

 

(PS - the big clubs would be interested if he were 21, not 31)

 

Oh, last point. I don't want my central midfielders trying to 'beat a man', as it will result in losing possession and opening yourself to counter attacks. Again, the few players who are gifted enough to do it regularly are at the very best clubs.

Edited 8 November, 2016 by DuncanRG

[simo]

When Davis plays well we play well !

[verlaine1979]

You're right that Davis doesn't score or create many goals. I'd be impressed if you can name someone outside the Champions League who does that and all the other work you describe. Of course it would be great to have it all, but we are quite simply a weaker team when Davis doesn't play, and that's been true under four managers.

 

(PS - the big clubs would be interested if he were 21, not 31)

 

Oh, last point. I don't want my central midfielders trying to 'beat a man', as it will result in losing possession and opening yourself to counter attacks. Again, the few players who are gifted enough to do it regularly are at the very best clubs.

 

Bit of a straw man really. Nobody is saying we expect to have a midfielder who does all of that. Quite the opposite. We're saying we don't actually need a midfielder who does all the harrying, fetching and carrying against weaker teams, because playing the likes of Davis in those games leads to situations like Sunday, where we struggle to break down a very poor Hull side.

[DuncanRG]

You said he hinders us on the counter as well, which I think is particularly daft. He often starts counter attacks by picking the ball up and turning on the centre circle, even if he doesn't finish them.

 

You may have a point about needing more creativity against brick-wall teams, but it's only our ability to move and protect the ball which allow us to camp in the opposition half. He can't sacrifice his job to do the job of attackers.

[The9]

Bit of a straw man really. Nobody is saying we expect to have a midfielder who does all of that. Quite the opposite. We're saying we don't actually need a midfielder who does all the harrying, fetching and carrying against weaker teams, because playing the likes of Davis in those games leads to situations like Sunday, where we struggle to break down a very poor Hull side.

 

Except we didn't "struggle to break them down", we had 7 shots on target, one blocked from 6 yards out, one cleared off the line and one bounce off a striker's face over the bar from a yard out. We broke them down very well, their keeper played well too.

[DuncanRG]

Except we didn't "struggle to break them down", we had 7 shots on target, one blocked from 6 yards out, one cleared off the line and one bounce off a striker's face over the bar from a yard out. We broke them down very well, their keeper played well too.

 

This too.

[Turkish]

Except that he can't create chances, score goals, or beat players. He runs around a lot though and rarely gives the ball away, which is a microcosm of our problem on Sunday, we had a tonne of possession and never looked like scoring until we brought on Boufal (who actually can do all of the above) and sent Van Dijk forward for the last 10 minutes.

 

Massive cap on what we can achieve until we bring in a proper creative midfielder. Expensive? Yes, certainly. But that's the reality. If Davis was as good as everyone on here says he is, he would have attracted interest from bigger clubs. There's a reason he doesn't and never has done. For all our overachievement these past few seasons and the extent to which our squad has attracted attention, absolutely none of the bigger clubs have attributed that overachievement to wee Stevie Davis.

 

Davis is very useful when we are clearly and definitively the underdog. He's a pest, he breaks up opponents' play, he keeps the ball, he hussles and harries. Against the Man Cities and the Arsenals and so on, fine, straight in the team.

 

However, when it comes to creating chances against teams we should be slicing through on the counterattack, his lack of talent slows us down and makes us easy to defend against.

 

Annoyed at the fact that teams get men behind the ball and park the bus against us? Well, they'll do that (and quite successfully) if your midfielders can't 1) beat a player 2) thread a pass or 3) shoot from distance.

 

So Davis "lack of talent" means he should be one of the first names on the team sheet when we play against the best teams, yes?

[ScepticalStan]

Thankfully successive Southampton managers know a bit more about football than clueless cockwombles like you and keep selecting him.

 

You must be even more thankful that whilst Shaw, Clyne, Chambers, Lovren, Aldeweireld, Lambert, Lallana, Schneiderlin, Wanyama and Mane were all signed by big clubs, whilst Tadic, Fonte, Rodriguez and JWP have all attracted interest as well, not a single one of the clubs that regularly finish in the top six has come in for Steven Davis.

 

Imagine that! Despite our club overachieving, attracting interest from all and sundry and being generally known as a 'selling club' to boot, not a single one of them has shown any interest in signing Steven Davis. How and why could that be?

 

We're just so lucky.

 

Obviously the likes of Klopp, Rodgers, Moyes, Van Gaal, Mourinho, Wenger, Pochettino, Pellegrini and Guardiola just can't see what you see.

[DuncanRG]

You must be even more thankful that whilst Shaw, Clyne, Chambers, Lovren, Aldeweireld, Lambert, Lallana, Schneiderlin, Wanyama and Mane were all signed by big clubs, whilst Tadic, Fonte, Rodriguez and JWP have all attracted interest as well, not a single one of the clubs that regularly finish in the top six has come in for Steven Davis.

 

Imagine that! Despite our club overachieving, attracting interest from all and sundry and being generally known as a 'selling club' to boot, not a single one of them has shown any interest in signing Steven Davis. How and why could that be?

 

We're just so lucky.

 

Nope. He's 31.

[The9]

You must be even more thankful that whilst Shaw, Clyne, Chambers, Lovren, Aldeweireld, Lambert, Lallana, Schneiderlin, Wanyama and Mane were all signed by big clubs, whilst Tadic, Fonte, Rodriguez and JWP have all attracted interest as well, not a single one of the clubs that regularly finish in the top six has come in for Steven Davis.

 

Imagine that! Despite our club overachieving, attracting interest from all and sundry and being generally known as a 'selling club' to boot, not a single one of them has shown any interest in signing Steven Davis. How and why could that be?

 

Funny that, all of them were 26 or under except Lambert (and look how that turned out), and I'm not sure where you get the idea that the other four have "attracted interest" from but 31 year old Davis hasn't, when Champions League Celtic were rumoured to be signing him in the summer: http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/08/08/premier-league-midfielder-responds-to-celtic-transfer-rumours-sh/

[Saint Billy]

You must be even more thankful that whilst Shaw, Clyne, Chambers, Lovren, Aldeweireld, Lambert, Lallana, Schneiderlin, Wanyama and Mane were all signed by big clubs, whilst Tadic, Fonte, Rodriguez and JWP have all attracted interest as well, not a single one of the clubs that regularly finish in the top six has come in for Steven Davis.

 

Imagine that! Despite our club overachieving, attracting interest from all and sundry and being generally known as a 'selling club' to boot, not a single one of them has shown any interest in signing Steven Davis. How and why could that be?

 

We're just so lucky.

 

Obviously the likes of Klopp, Rodgers, Moyes, Van Gaal, Mourinho, Wenger, Pochettino, Pellegrini and Guardiola just can't see what you see.

 

How dare you speak negatively about a saints player, tut tut.

[ScepticalStan]

So Davis "lack of talent" means he should be one of the first names on the team sheet when we play against the best teams, yes?

 

Yup. Obvious straw-man argument but in a nutshell, yes.

 

What Steven Davis offers is a nippy little midfielder who'll win it and give it, and can do so under pressure. Against strong teams he'll intercept the ball, recycle possession, and has excellent positional sense to do both. He massively disrupts the passing game of the bigger clubs, particularly those for whom winning is more-or-less contingent on getting into a rhythm, and maintaining a significantly higher percentage of possession than their opponents (Arsenal being a great example).

 

Against teams like Hull, who we didn't even have to try and win the ball from (because all they did was hoof it up and gift it back to us via the head of Fonte/Yoshida/Van Dijk), Davis becomes a lot less useful. Possession is more-or-less a given and our midfielders aren't under any great pressure. The challenge in winning the game is slicing through them on the counter-attack, and breaking them down when they get men behind the ball.

 

Essentially, Davis' strengths become unimportant and his weaknesses become more costly.

 

So, yeah. The answer to your question is basically 'yes'.

 

Davis is a limited player. That doesn't mean he's a bad player. Ruud Van Nistelrooy was a very limited player for instance.

 

But, it does mean that he's a player who's limitations (and his strengths, in fairness), we should be alive to.

[verlaine1979]

You said he hinders us on the counter as well, which I think is particularly daft. He often starts counter attacks by picking the ball up and turning on the centre circle, even if he doesn't finish them.

 

You may have a point about needing more creativity against brick-wall teams, but it's only our ability to move and protect the ball which allow us to camp in the opposition half. He can't sacrifice his job to do the job of attackers.

 

Two things: 1) Davis rarely turns on the ball - he prefers to play in the direction he's facing, much like an entire generation of British footballers. 2) He hinders counter attacks because he's so slow to play the ball in the final third. He wants a look at every option before he picks one, by which time the defence is usually set again. He's not alone in this, of course, but if Davis was judged by the same criteria as the rest of the squad rather than being idolised as infallible, we wouldn't have to have these conversations in the first place.

 

Oh, and a third for free. He isn't even that good at the defensive/retention stuff any more. Gave up possession for City's goal, and failed to track Hazard for Chelsea's first. Been that way for well over a season now - he's slow, indecisive and frequently caught in possession these days.

[austsaint]

Two things: 1) Davis rarely turns on the ball - he prefers to play in the direction he's facing, much like an entire generation of British footballers. 2) He hinders counter attacks because he's so slow to play the ball in the final third. He wants a look at every option before he picks one, by which time the defence is usually set again. He's not alone in this, of course, but if Davis was judged by the same criteria as the rest of the squad rather than being idolised as infallible, we wouldn't have to have these conversations in the first place.

 

Oh, and a third for free. He isn't even that good at the defensive/retention stuff any more. Gave up possession for City's goal, and failed to track Hazard for Chelsea's first. Been that way for well over a season now - he's slow, indecisive and frequently caught in possession these days.

 

Why don't you turn your forensic attention to JWP and get off Davo's back.

[verlaine1979]

Why don't you turn your forensic attention to JWP and get off Davo's back.

 

You couldn't have made my point for me more succinctly if you'd tried.