The Importance of Alphonso Davies

[Shway]

16 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

That is the team leading EPL? Really? 

Two of their Champions teams came last in their group stages, wiped out by scrub sides even. 

Manchester City is not having fun in Madrid either, they've been shown to be vulnerable, as Madrid sit on their lead.

[Watchmen]

9 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

Interesting that Thierry Henry puts the blame primarily on Eric Dier for the Arsenal goal - no doubt he is trying not to criticize his future player when the CSA hire him to coach the national team. 😏

He got to blame an ex-Spurs player, so it was a double-win for him. 😉

[Mihairokov]

9 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

Interesting that Thierry Henry puts the blame primarily on Eric Dier for the Arsenal goal - no doubt he is trying not to criticize his future player when the CSA hire him to coach the national team. 😏

Honestly on first blush it looked like Dier put him onside. Davies might have been a step behind but it's not totally his fault, at least IMO.

[Unnamed Trialist]

17 minutes ago, Shway said:

I didn't realize you were a secret Gunner...;)

 

[Unnamed Trialist]

I think his defending has been solid this half, and the team is playing in a nice tight block, a 4-2-4, oddly. And he is in a perfect game situation to appear on a counter, if they happen to look for him.

[Gian-Luca]

24 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

I got the same from Rio Ferdinand.

For me, Dier's fault as well (deserves all he gets) but our boy is ball watching for a split second and lets his man go. 

Definitely a contributing factor to the goal yes. In fairness he has made 3 or 4 excellent shut down plays in the 2nd half so far, including one play that 99% of left backs would have been beaten on for speed

[Unnamed Trialist]

Good goal, very nice. Man City now winning at the Bernabeu as well.

[Unnamed Trialist]

Canadian flag in the first row near the centre line, Davies' side.

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

Saka threw his foot out, poor end to an incredible game. 

Edited April 9 by WestHamCanadianinOxford

[Unnamed Trialist]

Gotta love the diving from the guys that are so proud of their fair play, Havertz pretty well all game. Saka on that last play, but it was constant from the Gunners. 

Davies had a solid match, I hope folks don't overstate any problems because, on the side where Arsenal attacked the most, he was busy all game. And he also managed his early yellow very well.

 

[BearcatSA]

Just now, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

Saka threw his foot out, poor end to and incredible game. 

Our guy switched off on that one, however.

[Kadenge]

If Davies does end up at RM he's going to a much better team at the moment and  its not even close. Today's RM v City was spectacular. One of the best games ever. Just an incredible amount of talent on the field for both teams.

[BearcatSA]

5 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Gotta love the diving from the guys that are so proud of their fair play, Havertz pretty well all game. Saka on that last play, but it was constant from the Gunners. 

Davies had a solid match, I hope folks don't overstate any problems because, on the side where Arsenal attacked the most, he was busy all game. And he also managed his early yellow very

On a yellow, he stuck with it in the second half and did well considering the circumstances.

[Gian-Luca]

Not strictly related to Davies, but this is the handball play that Tuechel and the Bayern players were complaining about after the match - apparently the ref blew his whistle already and so the play had already re-started:

 

[Unnamed Trialist]

26 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

Not strictly related to Davies, but this is the handball play that Tuechel and the Bayern players were complaining about after the match - apparently the ref blew his whistle already and so the play had already re-started:

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am seeing a lot of those lately. I see certain teams setting for a keeper or a CB restart, then they shift it over to the other and start from there. Like this.

But usually when the defending team is on the edge of the box to attack the play, they do these lateral shifts. Not when the rival is so far back. 

I don't think they'll be called, you can't know when the team has set or not, how can you establish that they are starting the restart?

Regarding this one: since when does a ref have to blow a whistle on a goal kick?  In fact, the rule states clearly that a whistle is not needed for a goal kick, or a corner, or a throw-in. The only reason you need it on a free kick, or a restart, is when you are requiring distance from the defenders and the attacking side asks for distance, where the ref whistles to indicate the kick can be taken. As the distance from the 6 yard line to the 18 is 12 yards, there is never a requirement to establish distance, and thus no need to blow a whistle.

Edited April 9 by Unnamed Trialist

[El Diego]

15 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am seeing a lot of those lately. I see certain teams setting for a keeper or a CB restart, then they shift it over to the other and start from there. Like this.

But usually when the defending team is on the edge of the box to attack the play, they do these lateral shifts. Not when the rival is so far back. 

I don't think they'll be called, you can't know when the team has set or not, how can you establish that they are starting the restart?

Regarding this one: since when does a ref have to blow a whistle on a goal kick?  In fact, the rule states clearly that a whistle is not needed for a goal kick, or a corner, or a throw-in. The only reason you need it on a free kick, or a restart, is when you are requiring distance from the defenders and the attacking side asks for distance, where the ref whistles to indicate the kick can be taken. As the distance from the 6 yard line to the 18 is 12 yards, there is never a requirement to establish distance, and thus no need to blow a whistle.

Yes usually you don't get a whistle for a goal kick. In this case, it may be that he stopped play to talk to a player, an injury etc. so Arsenal were waiting. Giving this as a PK seems silly.

[InglewoodJack]

Rough night for him. Think we have to be honest about how poor he's been for a while. Maybe nagging injury, maybe mental. Think he definitely needs a new club, even if not RM- something is clearly not working.

[blueseeka]

8 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Rough night for him. Think we have to be honest about how poor he's been for a while. Maybe nagging injury, maybe mental. Think he definitely needs a new club, even if not RM- something is clearly not working.

I thought he did a very decent job defending Saka multiple times

[InglewoodJack]

5 hours ago, blueseeka said:

I thought he did a very decent job defending Saka multiple times

Yellow 8 minutes in that knocked him out of next week’s game and Saka scores like 3 minutes later after Davies lost track of him? Saka is one of the best wingers in the world, so not the worst guy to lose to, but Davies could’ve been a lot better.

[cronaldo7]

7 hours ago, InglewoodJack said:

Rough night for him. Think we have to be honest about how poor he's been for a while. Maybe nagging injury, maybe mental. Think he definitely needs a new club, even if not RM- something is clearly not working.

Personally, I disagree. Commentators were applauding him. From my eye test, he played well and was solid. Hard to have a flawless match when you’re up against one of the best wingers in the world. Yes, he wasn’t perfect but definitely thought it was an above-average performance against a very good team. 

[dyslexic nam]

I also legitimately think his current contract/.employment state would impact his give-a-shit factor and level of play.  I get that he is a competitor and this is the world's most elite club competition, but working for an ungrateful employers and feeling like you are underappreciated will always take a toll.   

[InglewoodJack]

50 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

I also legitimately think his current contract/.employment state would impact his give-a-shit factor and level of play.  I get that he is a competitor and this is the world's most elite club competition, but working for an ungrateful employers and feeling like you are underappreciated will always take a toll.   

I hope it's that. Bayern is bad, the rumblings in the media about him, coach isn't working, even beyond that, he broke up with his long term girlfriend around the time a lot of Bayern fans said he "fell off", he came out and said how he doesn't really have many friends, he's eyeing a new club- not to speculate or read between the lines too much, but hopefully all it is is being fed up with his situation and needing a change of scenery. Let him go to Madrid, get a bit of sun and go be at the centre of the entire soccer world for a little while, that may do him some good. 

[frmr]

Bayern fans are starting to piss me off. Yes he hasn't been world class for the entirety of the past couple years but they're shitting on him so much now it's ridiculous. I look forward to him leaving and I hope he hits new heights with Real Madrid so they can have their sour grapes pity party over losing the best left back in the world. Would love to see him meet with Bayern as a Real Madrid player in the future and remind the fans what kind of player he is.

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

1 hour ago, cronaldo7 said:

Personally, I disagree. Commentators were applauding him. From my eye test, he played well and was solid. Hard to have a flawless match when you’re up against one of the best wingers in the world. Yes, he wasn’t perfect but definitely thought it was an above-average performance against a very good team. 

Saka can be excellent, but if we are actual talking about one of the better left backs  in the world defending him, we can be hypercritical. 

If we as Canada want a real left back against good teams, not an amazing hybrid wing player, there were some very basic errors on show last night. 

There are some wingers who, if you make a split second lapse, your pace can't bail you out.  He got distracted by the ball and let his man go more than once. Saka is one of those winger.  We will be facing a few more probably this summer.  

Edited April 10 by WestHamCanadianinOxford

[InglewoodJack]

22 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

Saka can be excellent, but if we are actual talking about one of the better left backs  in the world defending him, we can be hypercritical. 

If we as Canada want a real left back against good teams, not an amazing hybrid wing player, there were some very basic errors on show last night. 

There are some wingers who, if you make a split second lapse, your pace can't bail you out.  He got distracted by the ball and let his man go more than once. Saka is one of those winger.  We will be facing a few more probably this summer.  

This is what I was getting at. We're supposed to be talking about the best left back on earth here. He can be that player, we've seen it, and I want to see it again.

30 minutes ago, frmr said:

Bayern fans are starting to piss me off. Yes he hasn't been world class for the entirety of the past couple years but they're shitting on him so much now it's ridiculous. I look forward to him leaving and I hope he hits new heights with Real Madrid so they can have their sour grapes pity party over losing the best left back in the world. Would love to see him meet with Bayern as a Real Madrid player in the future and remind the fans what kind of player he is.

Well, that's kinda the point. He's only 23- if he hasn't been world class for the entirety of the past couple seasons, how long as he really been world class? That would be reasonable if he was 33, but he should be ascending.

Also, I think he'll take a leap at Madrid and all will be good, but if we're talking about terrible fans, at least on social media, Madrid is going to be a completely different beast. Bayern isn't even relatively that big on social media in terms of shithead fans compared to the big Italian, English, and Spanish clubs. I assume the loudest trolls are ones who have never even watched a single live minute of Bayern football, let alone taken a single step in Munich, and with regards to those types of fans, Madrid might legitimately have the most fans of that type of any club in any league in any sport on the planet.

Edited April 10 by InglewoodJack