NafisaIpswich Town defender Leif Davis addressed the media ahead of the upcoming clash with Leicester City. Alex Jones reports…
Ipswich Town’s 4-0 loss to Arsenal was a difficult one for Leif Davis.
The left-back was chosen to start, but he only lasted 32 minutes against the Gunners before being shown a red card for a poorly timed tackle on Bukayo Saka, catching the winger’s leg with his studs.
It was a harsh challenge, one that merited a red card in hindsight. At the time, however, Davis didn’t realise how severe it appeared.
“At the time, personally I didn’t think a lot of it,” he explained. “I thought it’d be a yellow card, fair enough.
“I’ve done that tackle quite a lot of times. I did it in the Newcastle game against [Tino] Livramento at home and won the ball. I did it earlier on against [Martin] Odegaard and [Leandro] Trossard and won the ball.
“I saw a gap between his legs and thought I could win the ball, but he stepped across.
“With the quality of the player, he’s quick with the ball at his feet. He took that extra step, so by the time I committed, I committed to hurting his ankle, which I never meant to do.
“I was disappointed. I apologised straight away to my team-mates at half time for putting them in that situation. Obviously missing the next three games, it felt like I was letting the team down.”
These incidents are part and parcel of football. There was evidently no intent and Davis didn’t deliberately mean to injure Saka, but it doesn’t take much for tempers to flare.
Some Arsenal supporters turned to social media to direct abuse and hatred at the 25-year-old. A few went further by reaching out to him personally, prompting him to tune out and avoid the outside criticism.
“It wasn’t pleasant at all,” he revealed. “Things I was getting on social media, messages like that.
“I just came off social media for a little bit because you’re going to get those kinds of messages from people who’ve probably never kicked a football in their life, saying stuff like that.
“It wasn’t just about me, it was about family stuff as well, who I’m close with. I’m a real family person.
“It did hit me quite hard, but that’s when I realised that it’s people who haven’t been in the situation I’ve been in, playing in the biggest league in the world. I should just look and laugh at it really, the comments that were made.
“I came off social media. It wasn’t a tackle where I wanted to go in and hurt the player, I never would do that in a game of football.
“It was just one of those moments that happen, a tackle like that happens quite a lot in a game, say if a midfielder turns out and gets stood on.
“I just went in a bit more harshly. I didn’t mean to go in with that much aggression to go and hurt the player.
“It was a tough couple of weeks but I feel ready to go again.”
One notable instance saw celebrity Arsenal fan Piers Morgan post on X, where he slammed the Ipswich fans who jeered Saka following the tackle, branding Davis a ‘thug’.
“A lot of people could say the same about him,” the Town man chuckled. “It’s comments, isn’t it? It’s what people think. He can say that all he likes, but I know I’m not that kind of person.
“I don’t know him personally. People could say that about him, but he could be the best bloke in the world, you never know.
“You never judge a book by its cover. I’m not one of those kind of people.”
Nafisa
