Tom Davies: Our Serviceable Number Six

I'm still getting used to the no-stash beard look he occasionally shows but, if he can put in a shift like that regularly, he could wear the manbun and I'm with that.

He will need to develop even more to become a nailed-on starter when everyone is fit. But with more through balls like the one at Old Trafford he may yet do it.

Tom Talking About His Form

And you are right about him learning from Allan, Gabriel. This is another interview earlier in the season in which he calls Allan 'brilliant'.

Tom Studies Allan to Improve His Own Game

He is in a rich vein of form, but some will never be convinced. Even before the first half was out, a poster on the match day thread berated him, saying anyone picked randomnly from the Park End could do better.

It was refreshing, then, to see on the same thread many naming Tom as their MoTM.

He is increasingly becoming a real asset to the squad. And at 22, as you say, plenty of room for improvement still.

I've been frustrated with Tom on many occasion. I don't think I've called him a Championship player, although I am more than happy to be called out on a frustrated rant.

My issue with Tom previously has been his erratic passing and giving away possession as well as the silly fouls. But then as a midfielder, if you look up and the options aren't there, what are you supposed to do?

So, let's stick up for the lad. He was playing in a pretty average side. Maybe now, he is benefiting from playing in a better side. And, as alluded to, having better, more experienced players (Allan) to train with, deputise for or play alongside, will surely improve him. We are seeing that now.

It's a squad game now more so than ever. A healthy blend of experienced awl-arses like Allan to mentor the young potential like Tom is a much better place to be than having all our expectation on him.

I've called Tom out as being a decent squad player to keep for now. I think we can do better if we want to progress to greater heights but if he develops into something that saves us have to hammer the bank account to do so, As I say, I'm happy to be called out and more important, I would be delighted for him and Everton.

I must say I was surprised by his stats. One thing I will give him credit for and I consider his greatest attribute is that he never ever hides.

I also think he’s still trying to find his identity and position on the pitch and can’t have been helped with multitude of managers and being so young so I think it’s not as easy as saying he’s played over 100 games so we should know how good he is by now. I’m happy to be patient and see how he develops over the next 50 or so games.

My argument was that his massive input to the team effort and sheer volume of passes far out weighed what his detractors claimed.

It may be an inconvenient truth yet it is an undeniable fact that over the years the game has seen a huge improvement in players' fitness and technical ability in all positions except midfield and particularly defensive midfield where the required criterion is basically the same kind of hard working enthusiastic input.

At times I don’t think he knew himself whether he was to be a defensive midfielder, or an attacking midfielder, or somewhere between the two. He wasn’t helped by countless new managers, all with different ideas on how we should play.

We all know he’s a defensive midfielder now. Davies will be a very good squad man. Leon Osman was on loan at Derby County at the same age, and he went on to have a fine career at Everton. There is room for Tom to improve further, if he does he could be a first team player. He is obviously behind Allan at the minute, but there will be games where we shut up shop, and Davies has shown against Leicester that he can come off the bench and help to see a game out for us. He’s doing really well at the minute.

There's not much Tom can do about these attributes. If we're to progress he'll be out of the door very soon though, just as Uncle Alan was (not that Whittle or us ever progressed at all in the '70s admittedly).

As for Tom, I love him. I love his determination to prove the doubters wrong. He has long since demonstrated that he is more than a Championship player. Can he take the next step to being a player who can be first choice for a top ten Premier League manager?... That's a big ask. He lacks the athleticism of most of his opponents and doesn't quite have enough skill to make up for it.

I think he is a better player than, say, Alan Harper was at his age. Harper proved to be a fantastic player to have around.

Tom may not be the most talented midfield player, but he is a manager's dream. He does what he is asked to do and his positional sense belies his age. He can play in several positions too.

I'd love to see him stay and become our modern-day Alan Harper.

Since then, under various managers, he seems to have been told not to try little moves of skill which might see him lose the ball in a critical position and to play as a more defensive midfielder; the days seem to be gone when midfield was expected to be able, and encouraged, to do both.

My own hope is that we've seen the last of one-trick managers (some with less) and while given a particular job in the team is encouraged not only to learn from other players but to demonstrate the full range of skills I believe he has.

With the current policy appearing to be one of rotation, sometimes with the team selected based on the opposition, I don't see Tom being first-choice every match.

If he's happy to be at Everton and be part of an overall squad looking to develop, then that can only be good. However, I feel we need to be in a better position to challenge for trophies for the rotational policy to work long-term in terms of keeping some players happy and at the club.

Lastly, when Tom is having an off day, I am reminded that he was chosen to train with the full England squad when he was about 16 years old and was well thought of, so assume people with far better knowledge of the game than me saw something in Tom.

Let's face it, it all went a bit stagnant for him over the last few seasons. I am sure that is not all entirely his fault either. Agree that he can become our Harper, a utility midfielder who is ever ready, who is not on astronomical wages but a part of the furniture.

I do believe that we will have to sell a central midfielder in the summer (Delph please!), probably along with Holgate, in order to fund transfers in positions we need, ie, striker, right-midfielder and right-back. If Carlo and Marcel get those purchases spot-on, I really do think we will be top 4 material next season. The FA Cup will have to do this year, I suppose!

He is a good all-round midfielder.

The same respect and time should be afforded to Tom, who has an even tougher role being in the most competitive area of the pitch in the most competitive league in the world.

Obviously at 22 and under Carlo's tutorship and training and playing with quality players he is going to improve.

Let's not be too hasty, appreciate him, be patient and see what type of player we have when he is 25, I think we are going to be very happy.

Everyone said Henderson wasn't very good, (still debatable) but he's learned his trade, and it's taken him far, and I'd dispute Davies isn't skilful, although I'd tell any midfielder not blessed with much pace, to watch as many videos (we're going back) as possible watching Peter Reid!

And I like his fighting spirit.

Darren Hind, I agree with you about Allan and his hamstring; he will get another injury down to the fact of how he plays the game. I disagree with you on your view of world-class. I think he is, at doing that job. He's supposed to run and tackle everything – that's his job.

Lastly, I think Tom Davies will become the Milner of our team, good footballer who will play wherever he's told to – no argument.

But I agree with most posters here that he is more a useful flexible squad player than a starting-11 player in a top-6 team.

Two years ago, when we had young players coming up in Calvert-Lewin, Davies, Holgate and Kenny I had always said that the biggest talent is Calvert-Lewin. I am not convinced that any of the other three will be seen as starting-11 players.

Which just shows how difficult it is to break through from being a big talent to become a regular starter in the best half of the Premier League.

Before that and at the beginning of the season (before said gap exposed itself), I envisaged maybe Gomes sitting deeper within that 3 allowing the other 2 to go pressing. Maybe that is a position Tom can claim when we play a midfield 3.

With both showing positive improvement, it's nice to have options.

Calvert-Lewin did.

On your theme of players not blessed with pace, there are some obvious "worldy" examples out there, but I'll throw a closer to home and less obvious one out. I will probably need to dive for cover straight after, but here goes; its all about opinions right?!

Not anywhere near in the same league, but then didn't play in anywhere near as good a team. Lacked pace, but possessed good technical ability and a football brain. Had his fierce critics on here and amongst Evertonians in general, but I always thought he got a bit more stick than he deserved. Leon Osman.

With my following of the German game, I often wondered if he had gone to the Bundesliga how he may have stood out with the greater amount of time they are afforded.

Osman was a decent product of our academy who had a long career at the top fight of football. That doesn't happen by mistake and he too was not blessed with pace. Always remember his second goal against City when we came back to beat them 2 - 1. Timed his run to absolute perfection to out jump City's 6-footer centre backs, one of which was Lescott.

Despite my frustrations with Tom on occasion, I rate him better than Osman.

If Tom has been guilty of anything in the last three seasons it has been of trying too hard, more often than not trying to compensate for the inadequacy of players around him, most of them much more experienced and probably much more expensive in terms of salary.

Gareth Barry who also made his debut at seventeen once said in an interview that he did not fully understand the game until he was 25. Tom has been learning the game on the job and with better performing players around him now looks nearer to fulfilling his potential. He is 23 in June.

The comparison with Harper is a decent one, although Berties greatest asset was he could play full back equally well as midfield. Richardson was a better player than either, a much better all round midfield player.

I also still think he’s performing a job for us this season. The question we should be asking is do we really see him in a squad that is going to challenge for top honours? Does he really get anywhere the level of young midfielders currently plying their trade? It may sound harsh but if we are truly ambitious that is the level of player we need in the squad.

So personally I suspect he will stay a while longer but he doesn’t have a long term future. The same can be said of course for quite a few of the midfielders in our current squad.

There was a game quite recently, and I mentioned it at the time, where he received the ball on the edge of our area and, instead of getting rid like the proverbial hot potato, he ran a few strides forward and literally just stopped in his tracks for a good few seconds with the ball at his feet and had a good look around before playing a good ball forward. (I know that sounds simple and obvious but you'd be surprised how few players actually do it.)

Lastly, the ball he played through for Calvert-Lewin for our first comeback goal against Man Utd was inch-perfect and a further little pointer at the lad's improvement. He probably won't ever be "world" class but how may Premier League players are?

Consistency is what'll take him up a further notch.

The problem is that there are other players in competition and you have to be consistently above average to be first on the team sheet.

When the team is doing well most of the starters are doing well and confidence grows.

Tom is a good steady player who works hard but, like Everton as a team, has been inconsistent this season and consequently has his critics.

Truth is that Tom has a couple of weaknesses that he needs to improve or else reduce to insignificance. I'm pretty sure that 99% of us would love Tom to become a legend, but at some point he will either make those improvements or he will remain a not quite what we hoped for player.

In commentary the other day, it was mentioned that Phil Foden is doing specialist sprint training. I would love to hear that Tom had his own personalised improvement plan, even beyond what the club require of him.

The reports of his back-packing and soup kitchen work paint a picture of a lovely, grounded lad, but I'd really be more interested to hear that he is terrifyingly ambitious in his attempts to maximise his physical potential. He has a short time to make the most of his footballing career. He can be as down to earth as anyone would want after that.

This work ethic of improvement is straight out of the Dominic Calvert-Lewin handbook. I think it is admirable that Tom won't lie down or succumb to criticism. He dusts himself down, tries to improve himself and goes again. This determination is now paying dividends, and if it continues will be a big boost for us. Also it will allow us to shift the finances for team strengthening elsewhere. (Signing a top class young right-back?)

This is a very well written and measured piece.

Personally, I've always been a fan of the skater boi. I've backed him since I can't remember when. I think, for me, what I like most about Tom are three things.

His lack of fear to play the ball forward. He is always looking to play the ball up the pitch. It's a refreshing, exhilarating way to play football, and wonderful to watch, especially when Everton start going all sideways with their passing.

His field vision is superb. Before he plays those balls forward, I see a Tom Brady-like option ticker with Tom. He goes through all of his passing options very quickly, then executes. And he sees passes that can be attempted that frankly most footballers don't.

Lastly he'll get stuck in. A term that, based upon last week's pre-game Man U thread, some don't like? Bah, too bad! The kid will put in a tackle and a hard, and more importantly fair one at that. He is a tough cookie.

I'd argue the criticism of Tom in the main I most often heard was that he gave the damn ball away too often, and very often in awful places on the pitch. And there was absolute accuracy to that claim. Recently, I've not noticed him coughing up possession, and I can't remember him doing so in our own third. If he can continue to be responsible with the ball in this manner, I only see him improving.

I've always hoped for this kid. He's brave, he's clearly got a work ethic, and he's Blue. There's nothing in my mind not to root for.

Love the kid.

Tom Davies on his form

In that, the interviewer mentions Alex Iwobi in an interview the previous week had singled out Tom as the hardest worker in training. Tom replies he knows he has so much still to learn and improve and he will do everything he can to be the best he can. That includes studying and watching other footballers, such as our own Allan. Identifying what he does well and trying to incorporate it into his own game.

Personally, I like Tom's individualism. As a teenager being driven to training by his mam and kissing her goodbye in front of his peers and not giving a stuff about their ribbing. His skateboarding around the city. His excellent, original dress sense. His work with EiTC.

Don't be fooled by that secondary stuff into thinking that he isn't a serious dedicated footballer. He is.

Tom Davies on his form

In that, the interviewer mentions Alex Iwobi in an interview the previous week had singled out Tom as the hardest worker in training. Tom replies he knows he has so much still to learn and improve and he will do everything he can to be the best he can. That includes studying and watching other footballers, such as our own Allan. Identifying what he does well and trying to incorporate it into his own game.

Personally, I like Tom's individualism. As a teenager being driven to training by his mam and kissing her goodbye in front of his peers and not giving a stuff about their ribbing. His skateboarding around the city. His excellent, original dress sense. His work with EiTC.

Don't be fooled by that secondary stuff into thinking that he isn't a serious dedicated footballer. He is.

You often make cogent intelligent arguments but if I’m honest I really don’t give a fuck about a footballer’s dress sense and their preferred mode of transportation.

I’m equally less convinced about what other players say about their teammates in the press. Can’t remember the last time I read ‘ I can’t stand that prick plus he’s a lazy useless twat’

I also do not question that he’s a dedicated young pro, I’ve just never seen enough on a consistent basis to say he has the ability to play in a top 4 midfield.

'You often make cogent intelligent arguments but if I’m honest I really don’t give a fuck about a footballer’s dress sense and their preferred mode of transportation.'

And nor do I Graham.

Take it up with Si.

Except you wrote a paragraph about how you liked it? Maybe you were just adding a bit of background colour to your observations.

I mean I might be missing something here but it doesn’t appear massively important in judging him as a footballer.

I prefaced the 'personal stuff' with, 'Personally, I like Tom's individualism,' then listed the things Si seemed to be denigrating him for. Yer know. Things not connected to his footy.

Didn't you read my closing paragraph to Si immediately following?

'Don't be fooled by that secondary stuff into thinking that he isn't a serious dedicated footballer. He is.'

Either you understand and/or acknowledge the point I was making, or you don't. Not fessed either way.

Fair dos

'The reports of his back-packing and soup kitchen work paint a picture of a lovely, grounded lad, but I'd really be more interested to hear that he is terrifyingly ambitious in his attempts to maximise his physical potential. He has a short time to make the most of his footballing career. He can be as down to earth as anyone would want after that.'

You were the one who brought up his off-field activites and tied it to his football, saying you preferred to hear how dedicated he was to his profession. All presented in less-than flattering language in which you seemingly doubted his dedication. I provided you with the evidence you reuested.

Even in your latest post, seemingly as a means to justify yourself IMO, you wrote:

'It’s just that these things have been commented on previously and for some it seems like it is enough for them to overlook his flaws.'

I can honestly say I do not recall anyone on these pages ever making such a claim. Until you and now, that is.

I always thought Richardson was the better player and he was more fixed in position. It speaks volumes that he couldn't command a regular birth in our first 11 yet went on to win more top flight titles with Arsenal.

Brilliantly technical footballer, brave as they come.
Ruined by a, manager asking him to be a track back wide man.

Never forgot what Joe Cole said about Leon.

"The most tecnically gifted player I played with"

'ORDER! ORDER'

'The honourable member for Belfast South will be seated (or lounging, if he prefers), or removed from the House!'

I'd point out two aspects not much mentioned here so far -- mistakes and maturity. Previously, the weakest aspect of Tom's game was not his physical limitations, but his mental errors. One-touch passes given away in the vulnerable middle of the pitch (Jamie mentions those), foolish fouls presenting free-kick scoring chances to the opponents, blown defensive assignments -- and always, it seemed, in the final minutes of the game. Sometimes the final seconds. It seemed like he was never going to be able to handle pressure like an adult, and in Silva's final season, when he cost us a couple of games, I pretty much gave up on Tom.

To his great credit, Tom has matured this season. His composure and decision-making have improved dramatically. He has largely eliminated the crucial mistakes from his game, which has given him the opportunity to use his skills to greater effect.

Tom credits Allan's example for his performance upgrade, and no doubt Carlo has influenced him significantly as well (as he has Keane, Mina, Calvert-Lewin and Iwobi in my opinion). But I think the lion's share of credit goes to Davies himself. He has become a footballing grownup. A consummate professional.

As do others here, I believe that when this club becomes a consistent CL competitor, Tom will no longer be with us -- he simply lacks the necessary physical gifts to be a top player. But he will continue to contribute to getting us there in the first place.

And I will always hold him in my heart as the guy who scored the first goal I ever saw at Goodison... 32 seconds into my first game there after 32 years of waiting. I burst into tears. My eyes still fill up remembering it. They always will.

Nannies hand me downs

Or on that of Lyndon and Michael - left side in the picture.

Link

Off on a tangent but thats the beauty of TW

There’s no reason to call Willie Whitelaw names!.

Maggy once remarked that every PM needed a Willie

Always want more of everything.

There’s certainly no shortage of pricks!

Most seem to be concurring that Tom has improved. A combination of age no doubt, but surely the benefit of having better players around him and the weight of expectation of being the great blue hope is also helping.

As dare I say it, is finally being managed by a proper manager and the seeming stability we now have in that area.

‘We stand behind the working man’

‘We March together hand in hand to make Great Britain Fairyland’
( tune of The Red Flag)

Round The Horne c. 1967

Kenneth Horne (in officious authority voice)
‘I’ve got Brown-Horrocks on my extension’

Kenneth Williams (as you would expect)
‘mmm, have you tried calamine on that?’

‘I dropped a packet on the table last night’
‘How embarrassing ducky’

You really had to be there didn’t you?

So unWoke as to be comatose!

That's doesn't mean it's ok to do a Wigan and get relegated after wining something but for a trophy I'd except 10th place as long as the progress appears to be there.

I want to win every game, everything that's available to win I want Everton to achieve. But what I want and what we achieve are dreams vs reality.

Look how Arsenal and Chelsea went backwards this season. I want to continue forward momentum and hopefully that's FA Cup and top 6, but I would take 10th to guarantee Cup success.

I was bought a book of scripts for Horne years ago. I’ll have to dig them out I see.

"i want to be wooed"

Leading lady with a seductive glance.
"you can be as wooed as you like with me"

I know this isn't a Facebook popularity site, but a shame there are only several comments.

Fantastic read in my opinion.

Right, sorry for the plug. Back to Tom, and some comedy that is going way above my head right now!

Tom is brave player who always shows for the ball and tries to be progressive in his play. He has shown positional discipline in replacing Allan and is consciously trying to avoid overplaying in his own half. Apart from the WHU game when the entire team was dreadful, we have won or drawn every game he has started in the last two months.

He is nowhere near his peak at 22 years after old, but he is proper professional who is learning all the time. Keep it up Tom

You need more than stars in a squad of 25 players over the course of a season. Guys who contribute to team spirit, come in, do the job asked of them, are invaluable. If they are local lads who love the club and are fine ambassadors for it, so much the better.

Maybe Tom is happy in that capacity, and rather than indicating a lack of ambition it demonstrates just the opposite, that he has a degree of contentment and desire to learn that seems to be lacking in some other players.

In the past I understood some fans having a go at him, but the only time I criticised him was after the Leicester game, away, last year when he made two mistakes that cost two goals, one in the last minute of the game, I posted that he is taking a long time to learn from his mistakes, because silly, stupid even, passes were a constant part of his game, he still makes them and not as often, on Saturday I thought he was very good, so did plenty of others, he walked away with one MOTM poll on another Everton website, hopefully he is fit for tonight’s game for Spurs, Saturday’s Tom Davies will be vital to the midfield, keep that form up Tom. Everton for the cup ———————-and the top four, let’s be greedy as Jamie (Crowley) says.

Interesting Dave.
He does seem to be getting stronger and even a little quicker into the tackle as you mention.

Be a good test for him tonight.
If he shows the same form as Saturday he will fly through the test

,"is the new training and muscle building making a difference to his game"

Interesting Dave.
He does seem to be getting stronger and even a little quicker into the tackle as you mention.

Be a good test for him tonight.
If he shows the same form as Saturday he will fly through the test

,,,1,09:51:12,,109.249.181.55,ok,23848,02/10/2021 09:51:12,Tomrichards2@outlook.com,reader,,,no 1130210,40453,toffeeweb,10/02/2021,Dave Abrahams,dave.abba@hotmail.com,"Hugh (3), good one!!hope he helps to hammer Spurs tonight.

Tom went to NY for a holiday as seen on social media, got away from Everton and football, wore clothes which he wanted to do, and I think it strengthened him to be focused on being him and being resistant to outside voices.

Now, he's got Carlo helping him combined with his very strong mental attitude, and we're seeing him grow into a very decent squad player. When we're in Europe and doing well in cup competitions, he'll be playing 40-50 games a season, which would hopefully make him the most capped (appearances) outfield player at the club.

A Legend. Go on Tom:

Baby you look at me and tell me what you see
You ain't seen the best of me yet
Give me time, I'll make you forget the rest

He went from being a 17 year old that didn't just have a good game but ran the game on his debut, to some glorious moments like vs Man City to becoming just a bang-average midfielder. But he isn't just a bang-average midfielder. The managerial changes, the examples of shithousery by his senior colleagues like Schneiderlin etc. wouldn't have helped his development but for quite some time Davies appeared to be a player going through the motions of tracking back and tackling, taking the soft and safe option with his passing. A player apparently low on confidence.

If this trend is changing I'll be one of the first to rejoice because I still believe there is some player in there, one who has a bit of everything.

I keep coming back to the question. Does he have the quality to be a top level midfield player? Has he other than working hard, being dependable ever shown that spark of quality top players have? Well I’ve give you City 4 years ago.

I compare him to the sides we need to compete with going forward and look at their best young midfield players.

Take Sako, Mount, Foden, McTominay, Barnes, Winks and Jones. I just don’t see him in that bracket.

His passing is average, his positional play is average, his decision making is poor, he’s physically weak and slow, he turns more than a spinning top, he continuously loses the ball by bigger, stronger players etc...

I like Tom but he’s not a top 4-6 player, neither is he championship material. He’d do well at a team like Newcastle or Brighton etc... teams who’s only aim is to stay in the top flight.

Carlo on Tom Davies

Ever since Eric Cantona disdainfully labelled Didier Deschamps 'The Water Carrier', any number of similar players have also been given the same moniker.

What was meant as a derogatory term can actually be a compliment, because even the very finest of teams need their water carriers to do the heavy lifting and dirty work that greater flair players are not built for.

I can understand the comparisons to a list of his peers some make, but quite a number of the names mentioned are completely different types of midfielders to Tom.

Carlo's assessment of Tom seems a fair one. He is very categoric.

He doesn't believe Tom is suited to playing in an attacking, No10 position because he does not have the quality of a top level midfielder. However, he does consider that Tom has excellent tactical awareness.

Key to Tom prospering at Everton is if he takes on Carlo's message to him: 'simplify your game'.

Carlo said: 'He plays in a position where tactically you have to be really focused. Watching the game against United I think tactically he was perfect.

'With the ball he has maybe not the quality of a top midfielder but in that position we need to play simple passes, you don’t need to over-complicate.

'Sometimes he touches the ball one or two times too much and I say to him play simple.

'He cannot play No10, in my opinion, but when you play with three midfielders he can play all three positions, no problem, because tactically he is very intelligent'.

In previous guises, Tom's enthusiasm in chasing the ball has seen him give away and be unnecessarily booked for careless fouls. That has greatly diminished this season. He stays on his feet more and is now more likely to jockey the player on the ball rather than wrecklessly dive in.

He has always had quick feet and good short passing ability. Increasingly, we are seeing more of what Carlo is encouraging him to do. One-two touch football and moving the ball on.

Look at his involvement in the first goal at Old Trafford for evidence of that. Go back to the home game v Leicester and watch Tom's part in James' goal. People of course remember the finish and Gomes' excellent sweeping pass to Digne in the build up. But look one step back. Tom receives a really sharp pass from Holgate under pressure, but his one touch pass finds Gomes, freeing up the space and time for the Portuguese to hit the Hollywood pass he did.

Tom is unlikely to make the Gomes pass. Gomes is unlikely to make the play Tom did without turning over the ball or giving up a cheap free kick. An example of the Water Carrier dovetailing nicely with the Artesan.

Carlo's counsel to Tom and the player taking it on board is yet another example of the manager being attentive to and improving the skill set and game awareness of a player at Everton.

One thing that has held the whole squad back over the last few years is our not being able to string 5 passes together... with Tom being one of the worst. He isn't there yet... but he does still have the potential to keep improving. Which he is doing, along with others in his age group.

Maybe one of the avid followers could put me straight on this or Michael Kendrick, who keeps a good record of the teams outside the first eleven, that is if he hasn’t already got enough to do.

Adding to this, check out the Busquets assist for Messi vs Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in the semi-final of the Champions League. Any defensive midfielder assists as good as these would be fantastic one day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UscczWoT7yY

I think Ancellotti, just says it better than Mike G, and what he said reminds me of what Darren H, said a couple of years ago on these pages, about Tom Davies, and helps confirm that there is a hell of a lot of knowledge on the pages of ToffeeWeb!

That’s why ToffeeWeb is much better than anything else when it comes to Everton, simply because it’s written by and contributed by, people who watch every Everton game!

There's a few stats in here for young Tom through his 'development' years.

Perhaps worth comparing his numbers with Ross Barkley and
Wayne Rooney perhaps? Just two I that popped into my head. There may be other players, your opinion may vary.

Interesting reading

I know you are sometimes a little upset when some posters misspell a players name, so how come you are letting Dave Abrahams misspell your name in post 97. Surely this should carry at least a weeks suspension.

You are sort of making the point. Schniederlin, Neville, Rooney second time round, Zouma and Delph ended up playing for us precisely because they were not deemed good enough to play for a top 4 side.
Stones, Lukaku, Rooney and Barkley all left us because they were considered good enough to play for a top 4 side.
There have been plenty of poor players who have turned out for Top 4 sides. Guess what they don’t tend to hang around long.

FYI Barkley's d.o.b. is wrong on that profile.

Link

Better to compare him to players in the top sides who fulfill that role. Kante, Rodri, McTominay, Fabhino, Xhaka, Ndidi, Hojberg. Now he’s younger than those players but you’d have to be confident he can reach that level. Maybe he can, as I say I’m not convinced. We have also bought Allan to play that role.

Brian, yea, standards are obviously slipping. I reckon Dave's done it deliberately to annoy me because he knows he can get absolution from his priest.

Oh, the embarrassment - for both of us! He was very magnanimous about it.

Your Tony reckons you went to school with Harold Lloyd. 😁

Brother of somebody famous on ToffeeWeb?

I thought I may have offended you.

To summarise on Tom before "heading of to the match", a decent player with potential. He will and is benefiting from the improvements we made to the squad and can learn of those players. He is benefiting from being managed better and more stability in that area than of recent seasons.

I used Leon Osman earlier in response to something slightly different. If Tom goes on to be a valuable squad member for Everton just as Leon did, he will have a fine career and the optimist in me says that will be in a better Everton.

Dave Abrahams; that Leicester game was the height of my frustration with him too.

We give our locally produced players more scrutiny and subsequently more criticism goes in hand with that. It's not because we expect more, it's because perversely, we want more. We want them to succeed. You always take frustration out more on family and those closest as they say.

All together now "Hooray for Harold Lloyd . " get that one out of your head.

I had a look on there last game.
No thanks.
One flew over the Cuckoos nest for a mad 5 minute period then it calmed down

If you think he is a top quality PL midfielder you are deluded

Get in son. No telling how long it will last. Make the most of it and score one against the shite for me.

Well done, Andy Boothroyd at England U21s. Keep at it, Tom. The large majority of us are behind you.