It's never been easy to play for Everton as a homegrown talent. From Leon Osman to Ross Barkley, Goodison Park has often had a schizophrenic relationship with the club's local stars. Indeed, where some would expect something akin to an unconditional relationship to take hold whenever a new academy starlet breaks onto the scene, what instead happens is that the L4 faithful tends to turn quickest on its own. Osman, Barkley and Co somehow end up being judged that bit more harshly than others, even if the opposite should probably be the case.
Those present on Saturday against Southampton will know that the same fate is starting to befall Tom Davies. Lost amid the torrent of anger directed towards unpopular manager Sam Allardyce, the moans and groans at an admittedly below-par display from the 19-year-old have accordingly had little-to-no discussion. Here, though, as Everton toiled to a perhaps unwarranted share of the spoils in a poor team performance, every misplaced pass from Davies seemed to be met by a slightly greater backlash.
Regardless of his 96th minute equaliser, it proved to be another difficult day at the office both for Davies as an individual and the collective as a whole. Yet to detach one from the other and isolate certain players within the group seems to be missing the point almost entirely. In this case, context is everything.
For the 19-year-old has, in many ways, become the very embodiment of Everton's chaotic, structureless season on and off the pitch. Working with three decidedly different managers in Ronald Koeman, David Unsworth and Sam Allardyce - as well as the varied systems used by each of the trio - has clearly hindered Davies' progression as a player. With so much development still to come, stability was the order of the day, not upheaval.
Even if there is something to be said for players tackling and overcoming adversity, it's all a far cry from when he burst onto the scene as an exciting 17-year-old towards the end of the 2015-16 campaign. The logical question to ask is whether Everton have helped the Liverpool-born midfielder progress sufficiently in the interim period? Tellingly, most supporters, if prompted, would surely respond in the negative.
For to watch Davies now is to understand the failings of the Blues' setup as a whole over the past 12 months in particular. Here is someone with tangible attributes- in terms of energy and dynamism he seems almost perfectly designed for the modern game of high pressing and fast transitions - but also yet to find his niche on the pitch. Under Allardyce, basic tactics seem to have taken hold, and Davies has been tasked with minimal instruction. A 'go and run around' brief has only served to compound matters.
What must follow next is the sort of direction on the training field that has been sorely lacking this season. Blueprints must be honed so that the England youth international has clear positional responsibility during matches.
At this moment in time, Davies falls in between two stools. Given his best movement is often vertical instead of horizontal, any role as the deepest-lying midfielder would negate the most striking aspects of his skill-set. Equally, a tally of just two goals and one assist this campaign, together with a passing accuracy of just over 78% suggests that he does not possess the playmaking qualities of a Number 10 either.
Up to now, the Everton midfielder and his camp have eschewed this type of rigid structure positionally, suggesting that his best work is likely to come in a box-to-box role. At this stage, they may well be right, although there is almost certainly technical and tactical work to be done to turn him into something akin to a Number 8.
Above all though, supporters must remember that at 19, Davies still has a considerable amount of growth in front of him. Promoted ahead of his peers because of his physical capacity, the Finch Farm product remains a work in progress - and should be viewed as such on the terraces. Moans and groans will only undermine.
Such development will only happen when everything at Goodison is functioning as it should. Instead, Davies has ended up unfairly carrying the can for systemic issues at the club. This is not, currently, a good place to learn your trade as a footballer.
With Allardyce and his technical team's future still up in the air, Davies, more than most at Goodison, would be forgiven for hoping that Everton make a clean break this summer.
