Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has selected Ben Davies to start at centre-back in his side’s last two matches.
Davies has been moved to centre-back in Tottenham’s last two matches, despite never playing centrally in a back-four over his career before.
The Welsh international has now helped Spurs keep two clean sheets on the bounce, and earned great praise for his performances.
But Pochettino was not happy that his initial decision was being questioned.
He said: “We need to fight with this perception. When we start to rotate, for example when Ben Davies was going to play at centre-back against Burnley.
“And the perception is, oh, Ben Davies is not centre-back, but after two games, two clean sheet, first clean sheet in Emirates against Arsenal, and clean sheet against Burnley, and two victories, and now the people is like, wow, yes, amazing performance from Ben Davies but before was negative, rather to say, OK, we are going to see what happens, then we are going to criticise or to praise, but always negative.”
Davies was excellent in Tottenham’s last game, as they came through against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup.
Spurs managed to pick up a 2-0 victory, and Davies put in one of his best performances of the season in the unfamiliar position.
Whether Davies will retain his place at centre-back remains to be seen, as Pochettino has more experienced options returning.
Tottenham are set to welcome back both Juan Foyth and Davinson Sanchez in the coming weeks, as Pochettino’s defensive options improve.
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