The Importance of Alphonso Davies

[Corazon]

Tough to see both Davies & Jeong (attackers) sit on the bench as two midfielders were chosen ahead of them when goals were needed.

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, Corazon said:

Tough to see both Davies & Jeong (attackers) sit on the bench as two midfielders were chosen ahead of them when goals were needed.

Bayern were too predictable in attack. Davies is an unpredictable attacker by nature. Really hard to understand why they never put him on towards the end. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

1 hour ago, Obinna said:

Bayern were too predictable in attack. Davies is an unpredictable attacker by nature. Really hard to understand why they never put him on towards the end. 

I've watched a fair bit of them this year, for me they are badly coached. I know this is a bit of a cheap shot, but Kovacs is not that good, and this is not just because I am teed off he does not think enough of Davies, last fall when I saw matches they had weak overall tension, were sloppy, and had poor cohesion. For me Kovacs is not anywhere near their last coaches in quality, maybe he's at Jonker's level...way behind Heynckes, Guardiola, Hitzfeld, the list is long of superior managers.

[Obinna]

2 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

I've watched a fair bit of them this year, for me they are badly coached. I know this is a bit of a cheap shot, but Kovacs is not that good, and this is not just because I am teed off he does not think enough of Davies, last fall when I saw matches they had weak overall tension, were sloppy, and had poor cohesion. For me Kovacs is not anywhere near their last coaches in quality, maybe he's at Jonker's level...way behind Heynckes, Guardiola, Hitzfeld, the list is long of superior managers.

I tend to agree. I have wanted to like Kovac, but your analysis is an accurate one. 

[Bertuzzi44]

I mean, you need goals desperately may as well through on the wildcard Davies. Young, skilled, and Liverpool probably haven't seen much of him. Would have been a gamble, but still smarter than putting Sanches in when you need offence!

[Yoginess]

I mean I was being sarcastic. Kind of unfair to Davies to barely have him play for months than throw him into the deep end in this game. Plus if Kovac had put him on and it didn’t work out it would come across as incredibly desperate.

That being said, if there isn’t a situation in which you can see putting on a bench player... why have him on the bench at all. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

Since I am a Liverpool fan and quite hate Bayern, I am fine with it. 

Kovacs very much respects pecking order, is all in with a few players who are not really up to par this year, tends to use a short roster. Fair enough. 

We all know that Alphonso is most effective when the rival is attacking, but that means showing some character as a coach and risking that card when you are ahead, not behind.

[RS]

8 hours ago, Yoginess said:

Plus if Kovac had put him on and it didn’t work out it would come across as incredibly desperate.

But they were in a desperate situation. Why not throw caution to the wind in the last 15-20 minutes?

[dyslexic nam]

7 minutes ago, RS said:

But they were in a desperate situation. Why not throw caution to the wind in the last 15-20 minutes?

That is the part I don't get.  You need 2 goals.   There was no second chance.  Score 2 in the last 15-20 minutes or you are done for the year in that competition.  And he still doesn't bring on Davies.

I am a huge fan of the Phonz, and I am quite confident that he will emerge as a great, great player in Europe over the next few years, but the fact that he wasn't brought on in this situation (in lieu of a defensive mid!) really speaks to the challenging leap he has made, and likely the struggle he has had adjusting.   Shitty coach or not, the reality is that he hasn't been played in that latter parts of games where they were comfortably ahead, in games where things were tight, or in games where goals were absolutely needed.  Barring some personal vendetta (which seems unlikely) it just shows how hard AD will have to work to claim any sort of presence in this team.  Retirements or not, breaking into this team and getting playing time will require him to bust his ass in training.  And while all indications are that he is a really dedicated hard worker, I just hope the cultural transition and expectations on him aren't weighing him down a bit.

We are all still rooting for you Alphonso!  Kick some ass :)

[Keegan]

That was arguably the biggest game in the world for this week, I’m not surprised they didn’t throw him in.  What if things don’t go well?  What if he had a few poor touches?  He and his coach would be crucified. 

Bringing on Renato Sanches was the right call.. the guy is young but has played in a European final and has a lot more experience. 

[Obinna]

11 minutes ago, Keegan said:

That was arguably the biggest game in the world for this week, I’m not surprised they didn’t throw him in.  What if things don’t go well?  What if he had a few poor touches?  He and his coach would be crucified. 

Bringing on Renato Sanches was the right call.. the guy is young but has played in a European final and has a lot more experience. 

I don't know if I agree with the last part. I mean, fair point about protecting Alphonso, but what was the point of Sanches in that moment? Didn't he come on for James? The Colombian wasn't exactly tearing it up, but Sanches was never going to help the team score in that situation.

[KW519]

I'll admit I only started watching Bayern when Alphonso joined, but the substitutions were pretty standard from what i've seen so far. It's there for everyone to see the recent playing time he has been getting is when Bayern are in the clear. This certainly wasn't the case last night.

Goretzka has more goals and assists than Coman, Davies, and Jeong combined, and 1 less than Gnabry. You guys have some nerve criticizing the manager for bringing him. You could  argue Kovac should have brought on Davies or Jeong instead of Sanches, but the Bayern players consistently over look Davies on the pitch, he would have had next to no impact on the game.

[KW519]

21 minutes ago, Obinna said:

I don't know if I agree with the last part. I mean, fair point about protecting Alphonso, but what was the point of Sanches in that moment? Didn't he come on for James? The Colombian wasn't exactly tearing it up, but Sanches was never going to help the team score in that situation.

To push Goretzka into the James role I believe

[Obinna]

10 minutes ago, KW519 said:

To push Goretzka into the James role I believe

At least there is some logic to that, even if I don't agree with it.

[Corazon]

I see no reason to criticize the Coman or Goretzka substitutions at all.  They are both strong attack minded player and a great creators.  Before the game started and I saw the bench, I figured both of those guys would be the first two into the game.  And if they needed a goal as they did, I was expecting either Jeong or Davies to see some late minutes.  I fully understand that they went with a more experienced player but just surprised it was a defensive minded midfielder.

This just shows that Davies was likely never going to see the field yesterday.  If there was ever a time to be brought in to play it was yesterday when they needed goals in a "do or die situation".  Davies is clearly not quite at the level that Kovacs is comfortable with.  We will continue to see him in Bundesliga games but most likely in games when they are already a few goals ahead.  

[Grizzly]

Bayern is bringing along Davies slowly. They are thinking about what is best for him long term not about rolling the dice in a game they are likely going to lose anyway when they are down by two goals. As someone else mentioned, what if he screws up and then gets massacred in the press. Or even alternatively what if he scores and it goes to his head and he doesn't do the work required to establish himself as a steady Bundesliga player. Even just being on the bench for a game like that is an amazing learning experience for Davies. They will bring him along slowly and if at some point they can't give him the playing time he needs in his development they will loan him out. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

Everyone is posting as if Davies were a goal-scorer. He is not.

And as if he were a player to face a team in the lead, sitting back, able to absorb his speed. He is not that either.

He thrives with space, and then his dribbling comes to the fore, not in tight set-ups with the rival in formation and able to sit deep if they want.

This is why we need to see Kovacs get daring, and put him in where it counts: early.

[lazlo_80]

1 hour ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Everyone is posting as if Davies were a goal-scorer. He is not.

And as if he were a player to face a team in the lead, sitting back, able to absorb his speed. He is not that either.

He thrives with space, and then his dribbling comes to the fore, not in tight set-ups with the rival in formation and able to sit deep if they want.

This is why we need to see Kovacs get daring, and put him in where it counts: early.

To that point, I only imagine this season he's coming in near the end of games they've already locked up where the other team is leaving heaps of space as they attack.

[Bertuzzi44]

Bottom line is I bet Davies was chomping at the bit to get into that game. Throwing the dice on a young, skilled, highly motivated offensive player in a desperate situation for the team might not have been the worst thing for Bayern.

Edited March 15, 2019 by Bertuzzi44

[Obinna]

3 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Everyone is posting as if Davies were a goal-scorer. He is not.

And as if he were a player to face a team in the lead, sitting back, able to absorb his speed. He is not that either.

He thrives with space, and then his dribbling comes to the fore, not in tight set-ups with the rival in formation and able to sit deep if they want.

This is why we need to see Kovacs get daring, and put him in where it counts: early.

Yeah...and there was space all over the field in the last 15 minutes, because the game was really stretched.

[Unnamed Trialist]

4 hours ago, Obinna said:

Yeah...and there was space all over the field in the last 15 minutes, because the game was really stretched.

I am not sure if you are being ironical, or commenting how English teams are so traditionally poor at closing out matches when leading. 

[Obinna]

6 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

I am not sure if you are being ironical, or commenting how English teams are so traditionally poor at closing out matches when leading. 

No I am being literal. There was literally space all over the field in the last 15 minutes.

Did you watch the game?

After Liverpool made it 2-1 they just kept pushing for goal number 3. Salah would turn over the ball in the final third and Bayern would turn around and counter. Comen was trying to make some things happen, but they really could have used Davies speed out there.

The way Alphonso just picks up the ball and tries to take everyone on with reckless abandon - that's exactly what they needed. They had nothing to lose at that point.

I hope Bayern don't completely beat that out of Davies. He needs to learn to pick his moments, but I haven't seen one of those signature runs from him yet, although to be fair it's been incredible hard to see anything from Davies in a Bayern shirt so far.

I really hope they put the title race to bed with a few games to go so we can see him.

Edited March 15, 2019 by Obinna

[Vince193]

30 minutes ago, Obinna said:

No I am being literal. There was literally space all over the field in the last 15 minutes.

Did you watch the game?

After Liverpool made it 2-1 they just kept pushing for goal number 3. Salah would turn over the ball in the final third and Bayern would turn around and counter. Comen was trying to make some things happen, but they really could have used Davies speed out there.

The way Alphonso just picks up the ball and tries to take everyone on with reckless abandon - that's exactly what they needed. They had nothing to lose at that point.

I hope Bayern don't completely beat that out of Davies. He needs to learn to pick his moments, but I haven't seen one of those signature runs from him yet, although to be fair it's been incredible hard to see anything from Davies in a Bayern shirt so far.

I really hope they put the title race to bed with a few games to go so we can see him.

I've made this point to Bayern fans and they always retort that that's all Davies does and is precisely why Kovac doesn't trust him. In fairness in every game I've seen that's basically what he's done and it hasn't worked at all against better defenders. I remember he tried pulling that against Leverkusen and Tah and he got beaten pretty handily. I do think needs more than 5 minutes a game to show what he can do though.

[Obinna]

18 minutes ago, Vince193 said:

I've made this point to Bayern fans and they always retort that that's all Davies does and is precisely why Kovac doesn't trust him. In fairness in every game I've seen that's basically what he's done and it hasn't worked at all against better defenders. I remember he tried pulling that against Leverkusen and Tah and he got beaten pretty handily. I do think needs more than 5 minutes a game to show what he can do though.

Yeah, fair enough. Let's see how he looks in Vancouver. If Herdman is to be believed, he'll come in full of confidence. It would be a compliment to his mentality, attitude and character if he comes in like that after 24 minutes of GT.

[Shakmur]

Davies should be getting Flimsey Coman's minutes. The guy doesnt have the physical capacity to play. You think he'll injure himself everytime he crosses the ball. As a Bayern fan it makes no sense to keep playing him when we have a better player like Davies on the bench, who has similar qualities but also has strenght, more grit and can win balls back.

For those of you who dont like Kovac, well he wasnt Bayerns first choice, and with how the team is playing, it's very likely they replace him this summer. 

Edited March 15, 2019 by Shakmur