Tottenham defender Ben Davies appeared on "The Tottenham Way," Tottenham's official podcast produced in collaboration with Sports Illustrated. During the episode, he discussed his career at Tottenham and the Europa League victory, his friendships with Son Heung-min and Harry Kane, Kane's Ballon d'Or prospects, his international career with Wales, and family life. This is the fourth part of an exclusive interview.
Other parts of the interview
Ben Davies: Tottenham means a lot to me—I've probably spent more time at the club than at home
What you just said is also very good advice. We work in the media, so we see things from a different angle. But I think, sometimes, when top players perform at a very high level at a young age, they get praised endlessly. Then they seem to be competing against the standard they've already set and must constantly maintain it. But the reality is they're still maturing, still developing, and their bodies may not be fully formed yet. I think the pressure related to that is enormous. Now, with social media and everything else, do you think young players face a lot of pressure early in their careers?
Absolutely, a lot, a lot. When I was growing up, there were a few older players at Swansea who looked after me, like Garry Monk and Ashley Williams. They used to say that if a young striker comes on from the bench for 20 minutes and scores, you might think he's made it, or he could become a star.
But as a defender, you have to play 20 good matches without making mistakes.
Completely different.
I thought to myself, "Yeah, he's right." As a defender, you might not have those special, dazzling moments, but consistent performances can be your strength.
I think for young players developing today, it's probably similar. They need to realize, as we just said, that social media can elevate someone very quickly.
And it distorts reality, doesn't it?
Just a few flashy touches and you can quickly become a superstar. But the real question is, can you do these things for the full 90 minutes? Can you do it consistently?
Can you do it on a cold night at Stoke, or a cold midweek night?
Exactly, at Stoke or places like that. Why do we always mention Stoke?
Because you went there on a Thursday.
The reason we mention Stoke is because it's genuinely a very difficult away fixture, and the weather is always cold.
What's the specific day?
It's a very difficult away match, and the weather is always cold.
We should also talk about your success at Swansea. You won the League Cup final, which was also your first major trophy as a player. That must have been a very important moment in your career.
It was. At that time, I thought football was easy. It was my first complete season.
Winning the cup final 5-0. Pretty good, right?
Yes, but before that, we did the groundwork. On the way to the final, we beat Liverpool and eliminated Chelsea over two legs. So going into the final, we felt we had great momentum, and the whole team was in great form.
It really was a special season. It was the first time I played consistently in the first team throughout an entire season.
Moreover, it was a very strong squad too. I think people underestimated how good that Swansea team was, and they underestimated the players you had at that time.
That's right. The team I joined included Ashley Williams, Leon Britton, Wayne Routledge, Nathan Dyer...
Michu was also in that squad.
Michu played as a striker. That's right. And de Guzmán, and Pablo Hernández. These were all very, very, very good players. I was the youngest among them, considerably younger than the others. But that feeling was wonderful, really wonderful.
I felt well looked after. Looking back now, those teammates really helped me a lot along the way. When I look back on that experience and talk to them again, you realize how important those people were to the team's success. Because we may not have had the most talented squad of all the teams, but everyone worked hard, everyone listened carefully to the coach's instructions, and everyone fought for each other. Ending that season with a trophy was beautiful.
It really was great, especially as you say, winning with such a convincing victory. So when Tottenham made you an offer, was it an easy decision? Did it feel like a natural next step in your career?
Maybe it was different back then, but at that time, it seemed like players didn't move around as frequently as they do now.
There are certainly a lot of transfers happening now, aren't there?
Yes, a lot is happening now. But back then, I felt there weren't even many transfers between Premier League clubs. However, I always knew that if I wanted to keep improving and truly make an impact while young, I had to take the next step. By that point, I'd played many Premier League matches, so some clubs were interested in me.
Tottenham seemed like a very good option. It's a big club with many talented players and an ambitious young manager—Mauricio Pochettino.
I was very excited and really keen to join. Swansea, as a club, covers quite a large area, and that was all I knew before. So when I arrived at Tottenham, I really felt this was a big club.
The pressure quickly increased, and the scale of everything I faced grew rapidly.
I think we should talk about this. This episode might be quite nostalgic because you've been through so much at this club, haven't you? I know you just mentioned it, but tell us more about that period: Pochettino, Kane, Son, Eriksen, Alli. That really was an exciting era. What was Mauricio like? What did you say when you first communicated with him? Because at that time, a lot seemed to revolve around him at Tottenham.
At that time, you could really feel the club backing him. He was going to have a great opportunity to build the team exactly as he envisioned.
However, when I first arrived, the squad looked very different from the team people remember now. At that time, Adebayor, Younes Kaboul, and Michael Dawson were still in the squad.
Six months later, our situation wasn't looking very promising. The season started with some difficulties, and I think everyone felt under pressure, including Mauricio. At that point, you'd think he might be sacked soon.
But I remember, then Harry Kane came off the bench and scored against Aston Villa...
It brought everyone back together.
Yes, exactly. After that, everything seemed to change. I think from that point on, everyone, especially the manager and coaching staff, had the opportunity to build the team according to his vision.
Then you started to see Alli join, along with Christian, Son, and Harry. As we mentioned before, it was a very young, very ambitious team. Everyone was going in the same direction, everyone was working toward the same goal.
We achieved great success. It was a very good team, truly excellent. It's unfortunate that we couldn't end that period with a trophy.
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