The Importance of Alphonso Davies

[Cheeta]

You know, caught a bit of the Orlando match yesterday, this is WAY better.

Patiently waiting for a knife fight to break out.

Cheeta.

[TOcanadafan]

I was hoping Davies would make more impact on the wing today.  With that said, Hernandez wasn’t helping matters going forward and I really think should be playing CB.  I much prefer Davies at LB combining with Coman, Gnabry or Sane (when any/all are healthy).

[The Beaver 2.0]

4 hours ago, Nello said:

Does anyone else hear John Oliver and Rainier Wolfcastle doing the commentary?

 

Not sure if I was watching the same broadcast but I was getting Bear Grylls and Arnold Schwartzenoogie

 

[TOcanadafan]

Davies makes this Guardian columnists “World XI”

https://t.co/5s73E7jgHW

[Snowcrash]

14 hours ago, TOcanadafan said:

Davies makes this Guardian columnists “World XI”

https://t.co/5s73E7jgHW

Interesting pick for World Xl manager in Bielsa.  I starting following Lille the year they hired him and he was an unmitigated disaster.  He pretty well turned over the team completely and blew the transfer budget on three Brazilians.  Mendes turned out pretty good, albeit after Bielsa left.  Arujo showed and is showing flashes and the less said about Maia, who probably was expected to have the most upside, the better.  

[Snowcrash]

Just now, Snowcrash said:

Interesting pick for World Xl manager in Bielsa.  I starting following Lille the year they hired him and he was an unmitigated disaster.  He pretty well turned over the team completely and blew the transfer budget on three Brazilians.  Mendes turned out pretty good, albeit after Bielsa left.  Arujo showed and is showing flashes and the less said about Maia, who probably was expected to have the most upside, the better.  

Somewhat in Bielsa's defense, the back 4 was a shambles and Maignan, who's in the French pool now, was giving up whoppers every other game.  

 

[Strait Red]

Amongst the 20 players Nominated for the Golden Boy along with Jonathan David.

here is the voting link

https://m.tuttosport.com/sondaggi/calcio/golden-boy/2020/10/15-74941774/vota_il_gomden_boy_2020_le_20_nomination/

[Ed_S]

Bayern vs some very low level club in the DFB Cup is live on youtube. Just youtube search 'DFB Cup'. Link provided in Canadians Abroad thread (sorry for the dup).

 

 

Edited October 15, 2020 by Ed_S

[dyslexic nam]

Davies on the bench this afternoon against Arminia.  

[dyslexic nam]

Game on SN BTW.  

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

2 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

Davies on the bench this afternoon against Arminia.  

Think he could use a rest.  Their defence was all over the place in last league game.  Also the cup game was 48 hours ago. 

[Obinna]

Came on in the 90th minute. I expect he will play some role in th UCL mid-week game against Atletico

[BearcatSA]

On 9/23/2020 at 9:24 PM, Watchmen said:

When it comes to the Lou Marsh award, nothing is 100%.

Which is true.  Right now, Chase Claypool is having an outstanding start to his rookie NFL season in Pittsburgh.  If he keeps this up, he's in the running big time, perhaps more so if he was a GTA guy instead of a Fraser Valley one,  but still a serious contender.

[Mikmacdo]

4 hours ago, BearcatSA said:

Which is true.  Right now, Chase Claypool is having an outstanding start to his rookie NFL season in Pittsburgh.  If he keeps this up, he's in the running big time, perhaps more so if he was a GTA guy instead of a Fraser Valley one,  but still a serious contender.

jamal murray should be ahead of claypool but behind davies imo. 

[BearcatSA]

4 hours ago, Mikmacdo said:

jamal murray should be ahead of claypool but behind davies imo. 

Claypool still has a lot of season left (depending on Covid) to strut his stuff.

[Gian-Luca]

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/10/20/bayern-munich-manager-alphonso-davies-form-has-dropped-season

 

[Obinna]

10 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/10/20/bayern-munich-manager-alphonso-davies-form-has-dropped-season

 

Just saw that. He is playing for the UCL title holders. It won't always be easy for him to retain his spot, whether it is at left back or winger. I question how much fatigue is involved, both physical and mental, coming off the high of winning the treble.

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

Hernandez is a 70+mill pound player and a World Cup winner (where he played every game, I believe).  Davies got a chance because of his injury and others but showed, at his best, that he was important part of a team that can win everything.

They should play a lot of games again and he will get chances, happy for him to miss some games if it means he can show his best when he plays.  

[Obinna]

8 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

Hernandez is a 70+mill pound player and a World Cup winner (where he played every game, I believe).  Davies got a chance because of his injury and others but showed, at his best, that he was important part of a team that can win everything.

They should play a lot of games again and he will get chances, happy for him to miss some games if it means he can show his best when he plays.  

Yeah I get the sense this is partly Flick giving Hernandez a run in the team. Like you say, he is an expensive player, but also one in good form at the moment. I think I saw he was man of the match when France played Portugal over the international break?

I was just on one of the Bayern forms and some of them are pointing out that Davies hasn't been good, but they are in his corner, citing his age and the number of games he has played. Apparently Davies played the 7th most minutes for Bayern last season (+3700 min). 

A lot of them seem to want Davies at LB and Hernandez at CB for what it is worth, but I think they are soured at the fact Alaba wants a salary bump or wants out, this at a time where his form has been questionable. I don't blame Flick for keeping him in the side though. You want a player to stay you don't bench him.

It is convenient for Flick that Hernandez is in form and Davies is out of form and in need of a reset, physically and mentally.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Obinna

[Gian-Luca]

These guys think that Davies might still start tomorrow (check out the sub-headline by the way):

https://www.bavarianfootballworks.com/2020/10/20/21524691/bayern-munich-vs-atletico-madrid-champions-league-lineups-team-news-alphonso-davies-muller-gnabry

If he doesn't start tomorrow and presumably he will on the weekend. I can't see that, with Flick indicating that Davies needs a physical and mental break (in another article from that same website) that he would start both - it's more likely that he will start neither than starting both but I suspect there will be some squad rotation.

Still, I give it about 34 minutes from this post before we see the first "Dest is the top left back in Concacaf" from some American fans after he went 90 for Barcelona today in their CCL match against the Hungarian champs while news of "Davies form has dropped" starts to spread.

And while I'm here talking about CCL, I wasn't aware that PSG now had Verratti, Keane and Florenzi. Heck, they have more Italian players now than some of the bigger Italian clubs regularly start.

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

Watching tonight's Champions League highlights and they mentioned again that it was just 8 weeks ago that Bayern won the title. And this first half of the season has been compressed. 

Not surprisingly, the whole Bayern defence looked mentally tired when I have seen them.  And not been convinced by Sule, who should be one of the freshest.  

(Shocking hair on Navas. by the way). 

[Obinna]

27 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

These guys think that Davies might still start tomorrow (check out the sub-headline by the way):

https://www.bavarianfootballworks.com/2020/10/20/21524691/bayern-munich-vs-atletico-madrid-champions-league-lineups-team-news-alphonso-davies-muller-gnabry

If he doesn't start tomorrow and presumably he will on the weekend. I can't see that, with Flick indicating that Davies needs a physical and mental break (in another article from that same website) that he would start both - it's more likely that he will start neither than starting both but I suspect there will be some squad rotation.

Still, I give it about 34 minutes from this post before we see the first "Dest is the top left back in Concacaf" from some American fans after he went 90 for Barcelona today in their CCL match against the Hungarian champs while news of "Davies form has dropped" starts to spread.

And while I'm here talking about CCL, I wasn't aware that PSG now had Verratti, Keane and Florenzi. Heck, they have more Italian players now than some of the bigger Italian clubs regularly start.

I like how MLSsoccer.com puts out an article of Reyna getting an assist (but shy away from the fact Dortmund lost 3-1).

A more balanced headline would read: Reyna provides assist in 3-1 loss to Lazio. Instead, they tuck the scoreline into the last sentence of the article lol

As for Davies, my guess is that he starts from the bench against Atletico and Hernandez gets the start against his former club. The Bundesliga fixture would probably depend on how the CL game goes, but I would not be surprised to see Davies start that one from the bench as well.

As an aside, Gnabry is out due to Covid-19, so perhaps he will be seen as winger depth until the German returns.

[cronaldo7]

I guess he’s “been out of form” in training. The game they lost to Hoffenheim, the entire team was dreadful. Other than that, he’s been fine and was very strong vs Dortmund in the Super Cup.

I have a feeling this has more to do with Hernandez (never been a fan) causing a fuss that he hasn’t been getting playing time. Which is fair, I suppose. But Davies was an instrumental part of the team winning a treble. So he kinda earned it, no? No matter his age.

Being out form is kind of a joke since they literally just won the Champions League and they’ve played a handful of games since (and hardly any important games). In general, the team has been pretty flat (which is to be expected).

Sure, give Alphonso a bit of a rest mentally and physically but calling him “out of form” publicly doesn’t sit right with me. 

Perhaps I am being an over-protective, coddling parent-type to our national hero here but feels like it’s not how you treat a player who has been a star for you and literally just turned you from a relative nobody to a “superstar manager”.

I get that squad rotation is a thing. And I also get that handling a bunch of stars egos like Hernandez is also a thing. But don’t come out and say this kids form has dipped when the entire team has looked very average. This may be an overreaction for having an inferiority complex as a Canadian football fan but I don’t know. Again, doesn’t feel right.

Edited October 20, 2020 by cronaldo7

[TOcanadafan]

1 hour ago, Obinna said:

A lot of them seem to want Davies at LB and Hernandez at CB for what it is worth, but I think they are soured at the fact Alaba wants a salary bump or wants out, this at a time where his form has been questionable.

 

It does look like Alaba may well be on his way out, and I also see Hernandez as fitting better at CB (partnering with Sule) for Bayern’s system going forward.

[red card]

With Atletico Madrid likely to sit deep since that is their DNA (probably not right tactically vs BM) , Davies is a better choice than Hernandez for tomorrow. And Hernandez can play on the weekend. 

Regardless, Davies has competition now which is good in the long run for him & Canada since he has lot of room to round out his game. But in the short run, it will mean not starting every match and minutes will depend on his form. He's been below average to marginally above average this season but not seeing flashes of brilliance yet.