The Importance of Alphonso Davies

[Yoginess]

Reece James: 

 

[LeoH037]

He's better than Pulisic and Lozano, I don't care what Americans/Mexicans think. He is a far more complete player, the perfect mix of world class athleticism and technical ability. Defenders genuinely seem scared to take him 1v1, specially in open spaces. Davies is a difference maker for Bayern Munich and his rise through the ranks to the top has been nothing short of spectacular. He is a bona fide Bayern Munich player, and guaranteed starter. We are not worthy of him.

[CANMNT_SUPERFAN]

44 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

Top 5 LB in the World and #1 LW in Concacaf. Let's consider that truth for a moment 

Not too far from the truth, in fact!!!.. with continúed strong performances, this Will make it more valid!! 

[JuicyHam]

17 minutes ago, LeoH037 said:

He's better than Pulisic and Lozano, I don't care what Americans/Mexicans think. He is a far more complete player, the perfect mix of world class athleticism and technical ability. Defenders genuinely seem scared to take him 1v1, specially in open spaces. Davies is a difference maker for Bayern Munich and his rise through the ranks to the top has been nothing short of spectacular. He is a bona fide Bayern Munich player, and guaranteed starter. We are not worthy of him.

I don't even think many Mexicans think that highly of Lozano. Mexican fans both overrate their players more than anyone else and trash their players more than anyone else

[lazlo_80]

whats the record transfer for a concacaf player? Pulisic?

[SirBobsaget]

2 minutes ago, lazlo_80 said:

whats the record transfer for a concacaf player? Pulisic?

Yes I think at 73 million USD. But its not looking like a good deal at the moment. The Davies fee is looking like an absolute robbery,  

[saladroit]

1 hour ago, LeoH037 said:

He's better than Pulisic and Lozano, I don't care what Americans/Mexicans think. He is a far more complete player, the perfect mix of world class athleticism and technical ability. Defenders genuinely seem scared to take him 1v1, specially in open spaces. Davies is a difference maker for Bayern Munich and his rise through the ranks to the top has been nothing short of spectacular. He is a bona fide Bayern Munich player, and guaranteed starter. We are not worthy of him.

davies is easily the best player in CONCACAF right now, only keylor navas and pulisic have even a remote case (and they still lose out imo)

and then just imagine what david will do with his next move... what a time to be a canadian soccer fan

[SpursFlu]

I'm not hating on Pulisic but I still think he's completely overrated. Maybe his paycheque went up but after watching today going from Dortmund to Chelsea was a step down in quality. 

But it is crazy to think people are calling him top 5 LB and for those who have followed him so closely know it's not even his best position

Edited February 26, 2020 by SpursFlu

[Unnamed Trialist]

Not sure this link will work, but the lead video on AS online is the Davies assist, with this headline:

https://as.com/futbol/2020/02/25/videos/1582667749_105131.html

19 años y hace un sprint que va a los anales de la Champions: huele a prodigio de los de 150M€

Which is something like "19 years old and his sprint will go down in the history books of the Champions League: has the scent of one of those 150 million euro prodigies"

[SkuseisLoose]

Might have to unsubscribe from DAZN after this tweet

 

[Yoginess]

2 hours ago, SpursFlu said:

I'm not hating on Pulisic but I still think he's completely overrated. Maybe his paycheque went up but after watching today going from Dortmund to Chelsea was a step down in quality. 

But it is crazy to think people are calling him top 5 LB and for those who have followed him so closely know it's not even his best position

Everyone knows I’m big on the Pulisic < Davies train (even when it wasn’t true) but I think Pulisic is fairly rated. Drove a high transfer because of the US marketing potential for sure.

[Obinna]

Pulisuck.

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

2 hours ago, SkuseisLoose said:

Might have to unsubscribe from DAZN after this tweet

 

I was not sure how I felt  hearing BT (which is where I assume DAZN got its basic coverage) go to the above for his opinions on Davies. 

But the night was good enough that in the end, it was irrelevant. Moving on to bigger and better...

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

5 hours ago, LeoH037 said:

He's better than Pulisic and Lozano, I don't care what Americans/Mexicans think. He is a far more complete player, the perfect mix of world class athleticism and technical ability. Defenders genuinely seem scared to take him 1v1, specially in open spaces. Davies is a difference maker for Bayern Munich and his rise through the ranks to the top has been nothing short of spectacular. He is a bona fide Bayern Munich player, and guaranteed starter. We are not worthy of him.

Jimenez is a very good striker working against good defenders most weeks. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

18 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

Jimenez is a very good striker working against good defenders most weeks. 

Agreed, things are getting a bit overstated. You can't have a few good months and voilà, you're the best of this or that. Jiménez had a good match the other day in Europa League the other day as well. Vela had a very nice career in Europe. Pulisic, sorry to say, has had more quality top flight games than Davies.

In any case what Canada really needs is to have over half the team at Europa League level or better, in the key positions as well. You can't do anything with no CBs, for example. Which as I see it is what we are really missing.

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

 

3 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

In any case what Canada really needs is to have over half the team at Europa League level or better, in the key positions as well. You can't do anything with no CBs, for example. Which as I see it is what we are really missing.

That is what prevents me completely careening down the road of optimism.  Seeing Tomori not make the squad, again, grinds my gear a bit but then again Sterling could be playing for Jamaica. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

33 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

 

That is what prevents me completely careening down the road of optimism.  Seeing Tomori not make the squad, again, grinds my gear a bit but then again Sterling could be playing for Jamaica. 

Agreed. For me if a player can have an entire career in top flight he's a lion, or a god, it is an amazing achievement considering how competitive the sport is, how easy injuries can take you down. 

The difference between Radzinski and Davies is that the former did not really open up mindsets in the top clubs regarding Canadians, and Davies definitely has.

[Kent]

So are there highlights anywhere that Canadians that don't subscribe to DAZN can watch? I was able to watch the video of the fans chanting Davies name and the one of the English commentator talking about him, but I went to DAZN Canada's twitter and any game highlights aren't playing for me. I don't see anything on TSN or Sportsnet's websites that include videos, and I watched about an hour of Sportscentre last night and there was no mention of the game.

I just found some extended highlights on a dodgy looking site so I have at least seen his assist now. I was hoping for something a bit more of a watchable length. https://hoofoot.com/?match=Chelsea_0_-_3_Bayern_Munich_2020_02_25

[Stryker911]

The top 10 most viewed players on transfermarkt are:

1) Gnabry

2) Davies

3) Haaland

4) Messi

5) Ronaldo

6) Braithwaite

7) Lewandoski 

8. David

9) Mertens

10) Alexander-Arnold

Edited February 26, 2020 by Stryker911

[Miche]

38 minutes ago, Kent said:

So are there highlights anywhere that Canadians that don't subscribe to DAZN can watch? I was able to watch the video of the fans chanting Davies name and the one of the English commentator talking about him, but I went to DAZN Canada's twitter and any game highlights aren't playing for me. I don't see anything on TSN or Sportsnet's websites that include videos, and I watched about an hour of Sportscentre last night and there was no mention of the game.

I just found some extended highlights on a dodgy looking site so I have at least seen his assist now. I was hoping for something a bit more of a watchable length. https://hoofoot.com/?match=Chelsea_0_-_3_Bayern_Munich_2020_02_25

Does this work for you? I don't know if BT Sport is region-blocked in Canada, but you could probably watch it with a UK VPN.

Anyway, almost teared up last night watching that. He was trending #1 over here for a good few hours after the match with heaps of praise. Absolutely swelling with pride.

Lots of the top clubs are talking about him in their respective forums as a top-5 LB in the world, how they'd kill to have him, how he'll name his price on his next contract, etc.

 

 

[narduch]

7 hours ago, SkuseisLoose said:

Might have to unsubscribe from DAZN after this tweet

 

This is what the kids call getting ratioed

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, Kent said:

So are there highlights anywhere that Canadians that don't subscribe to DAZN can watch? I was able to watch the video of the fans chanting Davies name and the one of the English commentator talking about him, but I went to DAZN Canada's twitter and any game highlights aren't playing for me. I don't see anything on TSN or Sportsnet's websites that include videos, and I watched about an hour of Sportscentre last night and there was no mention of the game.

I just found some extended highlights on a dodgy looking site so I have at least seen his assist now. I was hoping for something a bit more of a watchable length. https://hoofoot.com/?match=Chelsea_0_-_3_Bayern_Munich_2020_02_25

DAZN puts highlights on YouTube 

[Obinna]

4 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Agreed, things are getting a bit overstated. You can't have a few good months and voilà, you're the best of this or that. Jiménez had a good match the other day in Europa League the other day as well. Vela had a very nice career in Europe. Pulisic, sorry to say, has had more quality top flight games than Davies.

In any case what Canada really needs is to have over half the team at Europa League level or better, in the key positions as well. You can't do anything with no CBs, for example. Which as I see it is what we are really missing.

True, but he is also two years older than Davies.

Alphonso has played over 30 games for Bayern now at the age of 19. Without double checking, Pulisic was probably just slightly ahead of that at the same age, although to do it at Bayern is more prestigious than doing it at Dortmund. (Edit: I double checked and Davies, depending on how deep Bayern go in the cups, can probably reach 50 total appearances for Bayern by seasons end, but this still trails Pulisic by quite a bit. CP was nearly at 95 Dortmund games by then, so I admittedly overstated this one)

Furthermore, when you look at total professional club games, Davies just slightly trails Pulisic (by roughly 15 games), despite being 2 years younger. In fact, because Alphonso had such an early start in MLS, he has more pro games under his belt than Haaland and Sancho. (Edit: I also checked the total pro clubs games, Pulisic has played 150 and Davies has played 132. Considering Pulisic is still out injured, and doesn't always start for Chelsea, who will likely only have league games left, since they'll likely find themselves knocked out of the UCL and FA cups soon, Davies should narrow that gap. Again, he is 2 years younger than Pulisuck...I mean Pulisic.)

Edited February 26, 2020 by Obinna

[Snowcrash]

Another thing to keep in mind is that there is so much room for growth in Davies' game.  At 19, he's nowhere near his physical peak.  Just look at Olympic 100m champions.  Also, as he gets more games under his belt along with countless hours of video sessions, he'll be reading the game much better.

[dyslexic nam]

10 hours ago, SpursFlu said:

I'm not hating on Pulisic but I still think he's completely overrated. Maybe his paycheque went up but after watching today going from Dortmund to Chelsea was a step down in quality. 

But it is crazy to think people are calling him top 5 LB and for those who have followed him so closely know it's not even his best position

We may not like it, and it may not be optimal for the CMNT, but I think we have moved into the phase where LB is his position.  The amount of time he spends at Bayern, training in that position surrounded by world class talent, dwarfs his time and play with the CMNT.  We may still utilize him as a winger due to our own offensive needs, but we are now the ones who will be playing him out of position. 

Maybe he gets pushed up further (like a Bale) in future years due to his overwhelming offensive threat, but he is clearly being given Marcello-like license to race forward in attack already.  In that role, and given his ability to track back faster than virtually anyone who might be attacking his space, I suspect he stays at LB for a long time to come.