5 most improved Premier League players this season
In the NBA, there is a Most Improved Player Award, which most recently was won by Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Across the pond in the Premier League, no official award exists. However, if it did, here would be some of the candidates so far this season.
Last season, some of the big money signings often flattered to deceive. It would have been harsh to term them as flops (some of the pundits did actually) and credit to the players for turning it around this season.
Here are five of them:
#5 Ben Davies
Signed from Swansea City in 2014 as Danny Rose’s backup, a role Ben Davies has played until the Englishman picked up a knee injury that kept him out for nine months.
That injury gave Davies the chance to show Mauricio Pochettino and the rest of the league what he can do, and he has grabbed that chance with both hands. From left wing-back, Davies has recorded two goals and two assists this season and is averaging 2.4 key passes per game.
Davies has always been a good defensive full-back, but he has added more attacking impetus to his game, thereby allowing Spurs to switch to a five-at-the-back system, especially with Moussa Dembele and Erik Lamela missing for extended periods of time. Spurs don’t have a lot of depth going forward so Davies’ emergence comes at just the right time.
He is taking up advanced spots on the left flank when Spurs have possession, meaning Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli can operate in central areas, where they are more influential.
He has been crucial to Pochettino’s 5-3-2 system, and with Rose back from his injury, there is a very interesting scrap developing for that starting spot in Tottenham’s side.