The Importance of Alphonso Davies

[Bdog]

Müller really didn’t want Phonzy to get an assist this game

[Kadenge]

1 minute ago, Bdog said:

Müller really didn’t want Phonzy to get an assist this game

yah Muller should have scored 2 goals off  2 deliveries from  Davies. The defensive part of his game continues to get better. His first touch has improved big time. He now looks like he has played for Bayern for a few seasons...very calm.

[SthMelbRed]

It was a very mature, rather than typically swashbuckling, performance from the Phonz. It was very appropriate for a full-back for a team carrying a 3-goal first leg lead into the match. It bodes well for his mindset going into a game where he'll be marking Messi, Suarez, and Griezmann at various times throughout. 

The real question right now, though, is whether @Unnamed Trialist is with Canada, as embodied by Alphonso Davies, or with FC Barca?  🤔 

 

😁

[RS]

2 hours ago, dyslexic nam said:

I haven’t seen the game and am avoiding the score (and reading this thread) for a little while.  Probably a long shot but if anyone knows where I could watch a recorded stream of it, please PM me.  

DAZN

[Unnamed Trialist]

5 hours ago, SthMelbRed said:

It was a very mature, rather than typically swashbuckling, performance from the Phonz. It was very appropriate for a full-back for a team carrying a 3-goal first leg lead into the match. It bodes well for his mindset going into a game where he'll be marking Messi, Suarez, and Griezmann at various times throughout. 

The real question right now, though, is whether @Unnamed Trialist is with Canada, as embodied by Alphonso Davies, or with FC Barca?  🤔 

😁

Because Bayern has been Canada's team ever since our values were first embodied there by Owen Hargreaves?

Davies is just the continuity, I get it.

[Hilarious that some mod made Owen's surname a swear word on this site, only good thing the mods have ever done]

Edited August 9, 2020 by Unnamed Trialist

[Unnamed Trialist]

Okay apart from the chiding, I think that Bayern has the edge. They are a better block, more intensely coached, and have pieces that are hard to control.

Barça has never won Champions without dominating in the league, we are fragile in that sense: we don't know how to screw up on one important thing and save a season with another. Apart from that, our board is a disaster (undermining player mentality or plain shopping out players we could use), Setien is nowhere near what we thought he might be, and our team is getting old. There are days you want to chuck all of Pique, Busquets and Suarez onto the dung heap. Even Messi is in decline, odd thing to say if you watched his match today, incredible. Then the young lights are not allowed to shine, like De Jong. 

Barça will have to raise its game a lot. If we have possession, which we are not doing effectively, we may get to hold down Bayern scoring chances. The Bayern back line can break if pushed, and IMO Neuer is far inferior to Ter Stegen. But we have to push them down the middle. Meaning I don't actually think Alphonso will be marking anyone, Messi will start false from that side, he'll probably see Semedo much more who is a fine marker and quite fast himself, though does not push much into attack. I sort of suspect Davies won't be a factor as he will have to watch Messi regardless, which will neutralise him.

But as I say, I think that Bayern has to be slight favourite, because Barça is simply not sharp, and Bayern are quite sharp overall.

Edited August 9, 2020 by Unnamed Trialist

[dyslexic nam]

I know Chelsea is clearly not in the same league (pun somewhat intended) but a 7-1 aggregate score is a bit telling.  Bayern are firing on all cylinders right now and I don’t see the stopping until they lift the trophy.  

Edited August 9, 2020 by dyslexic nam

[cronaldo7]

6 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Okay apart from the chiding, I think that Bayern has the edge. They are a better block, more intensely coached, and have pieces that are hard to control.

Barça has never won Champions without dominating in the league, we are fragile in that sense: we don't know how to screw up on one important thing and save a season with another. Apart from that, our board is a disaster (undermining player mentality or plain shopping out players we could use), Setien is nowhere near what we thought he might be, and our team is getting old. There are days you want to chuck all of Pique, Busquets and Suarez onto the dung heap. Even Messi is in decline, odd thing to say if you watched his match today, incredible. Then the young lights are not allowed to shine, like De Jong. 

Barça will have to raise its game a lot. If we have possession, which we are not doing effectively, we may get to hold down Bayern scoring chances. The Bayern back line can break if pushed, and IMO Neuer is far inferior to Ter Stegen. But we have to push them down the middle. Meaning I don't actually think Alphonso will be marking anyone, Messi will start false from that side, he'll probably see Semedo much more who is a fine marker and quite fast himself, though does not push much into attack. I sort of suspect Davies won't be a factor as he will have to watch Messi regardless, which will neutralise him.

But as I say, I think that Bayern has to be slight favourite, because Barça is simply not sharp, and Bayern are quite sharp overall.

Always appreciate these well thought-out opinions. Thanks 🙏🏽 

[Mikmacdo]

3 hours ago, dyslexic nam said:

I know Chelsea is clearly not in the same league (pun somewhat intended) but a 7-1 aggregate score is a bit telling.  Bayern are firing on all cylinders right now and I don’t see the stopping until they lift the trophy.  

Will be hard to beat Messi and man city in a one off and then maybe PSG, Atletico or Atalanta in the finals. It's kind of a crap shoot at this point. 

[Addona]

On 8/9/2020 at 6:42 AM, dyslexic nam said:

I know Chelsea is clearly not in the same league (pun somewhat intended) but a 7-1 aggregate score is a bit telling.  Bayern are firing on all cylinders right now and I don’t see the stopping until they lift the trophy.  

Juve being out helps a lot, but I still think it’s far from a foregone conclusion that Bayern wins it this year ...

[dyslexic nam]

2 minutes ago, Addona said:

Juve being out helps a lot, but I still think it’s far from a foregone conclusion that Bayern wins it this year ...

I don’t think it is a foregone conclusion.  I just think they are strong enough to go all the way.   

[SpursFlu]

The 2 best teams are playing in the final 8. Should be really exciting to see Phonzie line up against Barcelona

It was pretty amazing to see the gap in talent between Chelsea and Bayern. Even up by so much Bayern showed so little respect to Chelsea putting their entire team in Chelsea's half of the field. Phonzie was so high up the field. I'm not sure there is a better player in the world than Thiago. That guys phenomenal 

Edited August 10, 2020 by SpursFlu

[Unnamed Trialist]

2 hours ago, SpursFlu said:

The 2 best teams are playing in the final 8. Should be really exciting to see Phonzie line up against Barcelona

It was pretty amazing to see the gap in talent between Chelsea and Bayern. Even up by so much Bayern showed so little respect to Chelsea putting their entire team in Chelsea's half of the field. Phonzie was so high up the field. I'm not sure there is a better player in the world than Thiago. That guys phenomenal 

I watched Thiago play for Barça youth, I still remember an amazing promotion playoff when the B team went up to 2nd division. 

But hey, I have a very clear memory of watching Arteta play for Barça youth. Same tradition of great organizing mids (Milla, Guardiola, Arteta, Xavi, Thiago), which we have lost. And then the player who is supposed to take over, Arthur, we are treating like crap and won't play. Did I mention Iniesta? 

There was a great article previewing the match in El Pais talking about Kimmich, as the least talented of a long line of much better mids for Bayern and Germany, recent comparisons being Schwansteiger and Effenberg. It was quite interesting, because it asked if Thiago was more important to the team than Kimmich. IMO if Thiago had a player to complement him, a reall baller but maybe stronger or more direct, then Bayern would be able to play more successfully up the middle, which they don't really do. 

[Obinna]

2 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

I watched Thiago play for Barça youth, I still remember an amazing promotion playoff when the B team went up to 2nd division. 

But hey, I have a very clear memory of watching Arteta play for Barça youth. Same tradition of great organizing mids (Milla, Guardiola, Arteta, Xavi, Thiago), which we have lost. And then the player who is supposed to take over, Arthur, we are treating like crap and won't play. Did I mention Iniesta? 

There was a great article previewing the match in El Pais talking about Kimmich, as the least talented of a long line of much better mids for Bayern and Germany, recent comparisons being Schwansteiger and Effenberg. It was quite interesting, because it asked if Thiago was more important to the team than Kimmich. IMO if Thiago had a player to complement him, a reall baller but maybe stronger or more direct, then Bayern would be able to play more successfully up the middle, which they don't really do. 

Goretzka?

[Unnamed Trialist]

2 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Goretzka?

Okay, but do they really play in harmony? I get the feeling Thiago does his thing, Goretzka his. Maybe you are right though, I'll pay more attention.

[SthMelbRed]

9 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

I watched Thiago play for Barça youth, I still remember an amazing promotion playoff when the B team went up to 2nd division. 

But hey, I have a very clear memory of watching Arteta play for Barça youth. Same tradition of great organizing mids (Milla, Guardiola, Arteta, Xavi, Thiago), which we have lost. And then the player who is supposed to take over, Arthur, we are treating like crap and won't play. Did I mention Iniesta? 

There was a great article previewing the match in El Pais talking about Kimmich, as the least talented of a long line of much better mids for Bayern and Germany, recent comparisons being Schwansteiger and Effenberg. It was quite interesting, because it asked if Thiago was more important to the team than Kimmich. IMO if Thiago had a player to complement him, a reall baller but maybe stronger or more direct, then Bayern would be able to play more successfully up the middle, which they don't really do. 

You'll see next season when Thiago plays a lot of matches in a midfield three with Fabinho and Naby Keita, with Fabinho sitting and the other two running amok. Or, he'll play as the most advanced in the midfield three with two of Fabinho, Henderson, or Wijnaldum behind him. Looking forward to seeing how it plays out. 😄 

[SthMelbRed]

It'll be devastating if a niggling injury takes away Phonz's chance to shine against the biggest of opponents! 😠

[Gian-Luca]

Assuming he plays, let's not take this occasion for granted, even if this is being over-hyped:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/barcelona-bayern-munich-lionel-messi-22519169

https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesliga/news/alphonso-davies-will-take-care-of-lionel-messi-barcelona-bayern-rummenigge-12417

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/teen-flying-machine-alphonso-davies-can-down-lionel-messi-krp8x3c5s

[Bdog]

18 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

Assuming he plays, let's not take this occasion for granted, even if this is being over-hyped:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/barcelona-bayern-munich-lionel-messi-22519169

https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesliga/news/alphonso-davies-will-take-care-of-lionel-messi-barcelona-bayern-rummenigge-12417

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/teen-flying-machine-alphonso-davies-can-down-lionel-messi-krp8x3c5s

Yeah this is by far the biggest game yet for Phonzy, it won't be too often that we get the chance to see a Canadian go directly against the greatest player to ever play the game. I'm really looking forward to this game, probably even more than the final if Bayern make it there.

[SthMelbRed]

8 minutes ago, Bdog said:

Yeah this is by far the biggest game yet for Phonzy, it won't be too often that we get the chance to see a Canadian go directly against the greatest player to ever play the game. I'm really looking forward to this game, probably even more than the final if Bayern make it there.

I'm not still bitter, or anything, but were it not for a Dasovic OG and the most-woeful set of penalty taking ever, we'd have had Maradona play a competitive match on Canadian soil back in '93. 😭

[Aird25]

1 hour ago, Bdog said:

Yeah this is by far the biggest game yet for Phonzy, it won't be too often that we get the chance to see a Canadian go directly against the greatest player to ever play the game. I'm really looking forward to this game, probably even more than the final if Bayern make it there.

As am I. I’m scheduling my day around it. 

[Cheeta]

7 hours ago, Aird25 said:

As am I. I’m scheduling my day around it. 

Echo that.  And not going to apologize one bit for it either.

[canadasoccer20]

super excited for this opportunity for alphonso vs one of the best of all time! I can't wait for the raving reviews after this game good luck phonzie!

[Gian-Luca]

I don't have a stream for this, but according to livescore he's starting

 

[Gian-Luca]

Bayern with an early goal from the man who called Davies "the roadrunner"