Tottenham's Ben Davies on 'phenomenal' Harry Kane, North London Derby and Europa League test
The Spurs defender spoke to CBS Sports ahead of Tottenham's Europa League game away to LASK
By
James Benge
•
5 min read
Few Tottenham players have seen quite as much of Harry Kane's rise to prominence as Ben Davies, but even he struggles to fully comprehend how the star striker continues to add new strings to his bow.
Kane has long been one of the most feared marksmen in Europe, a guaranteed 20-plus league goals a season if he is fully fit. What few saw emerging prior to this season was the 27-year-old's latent creative skills, which have seen him snatch the lead in the Premier League assist charts with nine in his first 10 games. Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish, his nearest rivals, have just five.
Davies, who is the fifth-longest serving player at Tottenham having joined ahead of the 2014-15 season that served as the striker's breakout campaign, notes there had been flashes of this new Kane in the past but he is in awe over his teammate's development.
"I don't know [how it came about]," Davies told CBS Sports, "I've seen him work on all aspects of his game since he started and he's been phenomenal for the last few years.
"But to add another dimension to his game ... it has been there. He has done it for us in the past, but it's just on a more consistent level and [that aspect is] getting the plaudits it deserves now.
"He is just an amazing player. And if he can keep doing these things consistently, he will rightly be applauded as one of the best in the world."
Davies says it has been something of a surprise for he and his teammates to be on the receiving end of so many passes from this new Kane, but when the time comes to get the ball into the box he can be sure that Spurs' talismanic forward will be on hand to meet the cross.
He explains: "If you see his game, usually he'll come deep, he'll do that. And then he'll manage to find himself back in the box. That's his game.
"It's not just the quality that he's showing, but he's allowing boys like Sonny to thrive off it as well. It's amazing for our team."
Kane has emerged as a potential doubt for Sunday's North London Derby with an unconfirmed injury that ruled him out of training on Wednesday. Still, Arsenal fans know from grim experience that the top scorer in this fixture tends to raise himself for the occasion, sometimes in Lazarus-esque fashion.
The visit of Arsenal to their rivals along the Seven Sisters Road comes at a good time for Spurs, who top the table and are without a league defeat since the opening weekend of the season. They are also able to welcome 2,000 fans to their stadium for the first time since March after the British government adapted their coronavirus guidelines to allow supporters into sporting events.
Beating their greatest rivals in front of a crowd, limited and socially-distanced though it may be, would provide yet more momentum to Spurs' impressive early season.
"It would be huge," Davies said. "They're a very good side, we've seen that in the last year and a bit under [Mikel] Arteta, it's going to be a challenge.
"But these are the games you have to win if you want to compete, and we take it step by step and look to get the three points.
"It will be strange having fans back in the stadium, they can lift you when times are tough. And when things are going well they can give you that boost of energy.
"It's a special feeling having fans knowing that their passion matches yours on the pitch, and they can give you that extra motivation just to kick on."
Before then, Spurs travel to Austria for a Europa League tie against LASK with a point enough to guarantee their passage to the round of 32. Jose Mourinho has taken a strong squad with him to Linz, the likes of Heung-min Son and Gareth Bale travelling as they vie with Antwerp for top spot in Group J.
"It would be nice to make sure that we got the job done really," Davies said. "We had a good game at home against LASK [winning 3-0} but they showed in periods that they're a good side and they caused us some problems. So it will be a tough game out there.
"You're kind of going into the unknown. It's not really a place or a team that you play regularly in the Premier League, and it will definitely be more difficult. We have to be prepared for what they're gonna throw at us, because I guess it's their last roll of the dice really."
The Europa League can often feel like a burden for English managers, many of whom struggle with the travel requirements and a Thursday-Sunday fixture grind that asks a lot of their squad, often more than the Champions League.
Yet for Spurs the sheer weight of fixtures has brought with it plenty of upsides, particularly as Mourinho looks to manage a sizeable squad that includes multiple senior options in almost every position. Rotation is an inevitable facet of a shorter season with the same number of fixtures to play. Tottenham's manager can effectively play entirely different XIs in Europe and domestic games without necessarily sacrificing a great deal of quality.
Davies began the season in Tottenham's Premier League side but of late has found himself in the Europa League XI with Sergio Reguilon having stepped into the fray for domestic matches.
"The manager said at the start of the season that minutes are going to be hard to come by this season, because of the number of games that we have," he explained. "You have to be on it every single day and every time that you get a chance on the pitch you have to show what you're there to do.
"People have stepped up when they've had the opportunity in this competition and have gotten opportunities in the Premier League as well. So it's, it's definitely a valuable competition for us.
"These rivalries at top level sports are inevitable. I think every club will have them and it's about pushing each other as far as you can. And that can only benefit Spurs."
