The Importance of Alphonso Davies

[canuckgbp]

He is getting absolutely grilled on Twitter. Surprised the article is still up. Some choice quotes- 

“Davies wears diamond earrings that probably cost more than James Pantemis's annual salary at CF Montreal.”

“He arrived late in Qatar, allegedly to receive superior treatment for a nagging injury at Bayern Munich, his professional club.”

He has doubled and now tripled down on twitter btw. 

Edited November 30, 2022 by canuckgbp

[jonovision]

1 hour ago, Gian-Luca said:

Glad to see Chris Jones ruin his own credibility- I seem to recall he had a horrible article about the men’s team around the time of the player’s strike, this proves it wasn’t a fluke. I’ve never seen such unanimous contempt for an article on Twitter before,  which is saying something.

Chris Jones is a hack. Didn't realize he'd moved on to CBC. 

Having just read the article, it's gross. 

Edited November 30, 2022 by jonovision

[frmr]

Not gonna give that article a click. I would recommend the same to others. 

[Vasi]

I'm happy that Twitter and other football writers are roasting this bum. 

Another example of established media trying to keep the sport down? Or just a hack doing his thing? 

I honestly don't know this  guys work to comment farther.

[jonovision]

13 minutes ago, Vasi said:

I'm happy that Twitter and other football writers are roasting this bum. 

Another example of established media trying to keep the sport down? Or just a hack doing his thing? 

I honestly don't know this  guys work to comment farther.

He had a famously treacly article about the Boston marathon bombing that was much made of online at the time and for some time since.

[eramosat]

1 hour ago, Mattd97 said:

The tearing down of Davies is as predictable as it is sad

it's been happening here pretty strongly, on the premier Canadian fan site, where the level of footie knowledge is judged to be a bit superior...so having it happen on Twitter, or mainstream news sites is just a whatever moment.

[A_Gagne]

6 hours ago, InglewoodJack said:

Okay, so it seems that twitter agrees with our take, considering this insane ratio:

 

"ANALYSIS" my ass.

Admittedly haven't read this, (and probably won't)... but I think I know trolling for clicks passed off as journalism when I see it.

Don't feed the trolls

[canadasoccer20]

This Chris Jones guy suckssssss

[Canucklehead69]

You knew this was going to happen if we didn't make it out

 

Some of the Canadian media can't stand anything but hockey getting attention

[GasPed]

I have to admit, I actually enjoyed Chris Jones' writing style for the first 3 articles he did for CBC on the World Cup.  I did not agree with the content (which clearly wanted to play up the divisiveness of the World Cup), but the eloquent prose was a refreshing change from most of the pedantic CBC stuff.  But this one is just too much - it's just manufactured crap becomes clicks (CBC) nonsense.  But having said that, this is the price of fame (as every South American and European team knows).  I guess it's worth it?  😕

[Bison44]

Well it wasnt that long ago we were bemoaning the lack of coverage, lack of journos asking enough questions etc.  I am always a little suspicious when a dude that comes from another sport takes a crack at soccer (not sure if thats the case here).  

[football_world]

I just want to say, there is nothing wrong with Alphonso Davies being selfish and dribbling the ball, if there is no other Canadian player that is open to pass to (with no opposing defender nearby) .  These types of "selfish" players that dribble more than they should, are fine, as long as they can deliver.  Examples would be Messi and Maradona.  Unless there is a wide open player to pass to, it's not a bad thing if Messi and Maradona get selfish and start dribbling.  But you know Messi and Maradona are more likely to deliver when they start dribbling.

The problem that I saw with Alphonso Davies is that he coughed up the ball a lot in the Belgium and Croatia games when he started dribbling. Again, I attribute this to his lack of time & experience playing as a proper attacking midfielder at Bayern against the top defenders in the Bundesliga and Champions League.  This is why I hope Bayern will give Alphonso Davies more opportunities to play attacking midfield, so he can develop his dribbling and ball control skills further, especially in the last 1/3 of the field.  We know that Alphonso Davies can dribble past CONCACAF defenders and MLS defenders - it's the top tier defenders that he struggles with.

But in general, if you have a player that can dribble past the top defenders in the World Cup (ie. prime Messi, or Maradona), you definitely want to use that to your advantage because such "selfish" players create a lot of space and cause chaos in the opponent's defense.

Edited November 30, 2022 by football_world

[TGAA_Star]

5 hours ago, Canucklehead69 said:

You knew this was going to happen if we didn't make it out

 

Some of the Canadian media can't stand anything but hockey getting attention

Yeah and that's part of football because I think every Canadian especially in our media had huge expectations for Canada in Qatar and Canada disappointed. So yes the boys are going to be heavily criticized along with the men's program as a whole. It isn't going to get any better either especially going into 2026 when we host because the expectations the pressure will be even greater than this.

[zeelaw]

Silly article that, but I'll never understand why Davies took the PK or the FK's in the Croatia game.

[narduch]

3 minutes ago, zeelaw said:

Silly article that, but I'll never understand why Davies took the PK or the FK's in the Croatia game.

We know that Herdman let's the players decide on he field for pks.

I'm guessing it's the same for free kicks and corners

[grigorio]

14 minutes ago, narduch said:

We know that Herdman let's the players decide on he field for pks.

I'm guessing it's the same for free kicks and corners

I can sort of get behind vibes dictating PKs and maaaybe free kicks if it's in a particularly juicy spot but corners too? That seems like it would be going too far...

[jonovision]

17 minutes ago, narduch said:

We know that Herdman let's the players decide on he field for pks.

I'm guessing it's the same for free kicks and corners

I very much doubt that is the case. Aside from a corner or two, the kicks seemed to follow a pattern of where you'd prefer a left or right-footed delivery.

[narduch]

2 minutes ago, grigorio said:

I can sort of get behind vibes dictating PKs and maaaybe free kicks if it's in a particularly juicy spot but corners too? That seems like it would be going too far...

I`m speculating but I think I`m right.

[InglewoodJack]

12 hours ago, canuckgbp said:

He is getting absolutely grilled on Twitter. Surprised the article is still up. Some choice quotes- 

“Davies wears diamond earrings that probably cost more than James Pantemis's annual salary at CF Montreal.”

“He arrived late in Qatar, allegedly to receive superior treatment for a nagging injury at Bayern Munich, his professional club.”

He has doubled and now tripled down on twitter btw. 

The more I think about this article, the more I feel like there's a racist angle at play here. Canadian sports media is notoriously conservative, and we see this over and over again. Hockey is a lily white sport, PK Subban comes along and brings a bit of swagger to the game, and all of a sudden he's playing like an NBA player, he's being disrespectful to the vets, he's showboating, he needs to shut up, etc. Soccer is a lily white sport (it's not, but many canadians perceive it as such), and we finally have an elite player, part of the world's best, and we're talking about the jewellery he's wearing, or the fact that the club he's at- one of the biggest sports clubs on the globe btw- is handling his treatment as if that's a bad thing. For those unaware, AD can afford the jewellery he wears because he's paid according to his skills, which are, once again, among the world's best.

Surprised the article didn't have a blurb about how if Alphonso didn't spend so much time on his hip hop career he can learn to get his MLS teammates to play better against world class opposition.

[grigorio]

While I don't love the content of this article, this is what's going to happen with the CanMNT having a higher profile and in a way it's what we wanted right? The discourse and our collective response to it will change along the way so I hope as this sport continues to grow in popularity we expect our fan base and media to evolve with it and not feel the need to act as a rabid pack defending the team like its our own child (this article aside).  

I welcome articles critiquing Herdman or his choices without feeling the need to blast the columnist or twitter poster as not knowing what they're talking about and being clueless because who dare criticize Herdman or the men's team. 

It feels like with some of the podcasters and various talking heads we're sloowly starting to get there where they may be a little more comfortable saying anything Herdman got something wrong or David needs to be better, but it's still kid gloves. 

Compare that to Dempsey on the USMNT after their big win.

 

 

Edited November 30, 2022 by grigorio

[youllneverwalkalone]

5 minutes ago, grigorio said:

The discourse and our collective response to it will change along the way so I hope as this sport continues to grow in popularity we expect our fan base and media to evolve with it and not feel the need to act as a rabid pack defending the team like its our own child (this article aside). 

We were part of the brotherhood before there was a brotherhood. I will keep foaming at the mouth.

[dyslexic nam]

14 minutes ago, grigorio said:

While I don't love the content of this article, this is what's going to happen with the CanMNT having a higher profile and in a way it's what we wanted right? The discourse and our collective response to it will change along the way so I hope as this sport continues to grow in popularity we expect our fan base and media to evolve with it and not feel the need to act as a rabid pack defending the team like its our own child (this article aside).  

I welcome articles critiquing Herdman or his choices without feeling the need to blast the columnist or twitter poster as not knowing what they're talking about and being clueless because who dare criticize Herdman or the men's team. 

It feels like with some of the podcasters and various talking heads we're sloowly starting to get there where they may be a little more comfortable saying anything Herdman got something wrong or David needs to be better, but it's still kid gloves. 

Compare that to Dempsey on the USMNT after their big win.

 

 

This is the angle I was coming from when I wrote my TLDR post last page.  Loving Davies does not (nor should it) preclude criticism or reasonable speculation about potentially challenging dynamics that might be at play.   Appreciating what Herdman has done should similarly not insulate him from criticism about choices that are obviously not optimal.  That doesn’t try to “throw the baby out with the bath water” (which seems like a really dated expression) because everyone recognizes what Davies brings to this team and what Herdman has done for our program.  But I think our program is mature enough to handle legitimate criticism.  It doesn’t mean we are not rabid supporters of the program or the team(s).  It just means we think there is room for improvement.  

[InglewoodJack]

21 minutes ago, grigorio said:

While I don't love the content of this article, this is what's going to happen with the CanMNT having a higher profile and in a way it's what we wanted right? The discourse and our collective response to it will change along the way so I hope as this sport continues to grow in popularity we expect our fan base and media to evolve with it and not feel the need to act as a rabid pack defending the team like its our own child (this article aside).  

I welcome articles critiquing Herdman or his choices without feeling the need to blast the columnist or twitter poster as not knowing what they're talking about and being clueless because who dare criticize Herdman or the men's team. 

It feels like with some of the podcasters and various talking heads we're sloowly starting to get there where they may be a little more comfortable saying anything Herdman got something wrong or David needs to be better, but it's still kid gloves. 

Compare that to Dempsey on the USMNT after their big win.

 

 

I think a concern as soccer grows is that the institutional journalists still keep getting gigs over the reporters who know the sport better. I hope that the ones podcasting in 2022 are on TV for 2026. Critique is fine, but trying to create a story where there isn't one (ANALYSIS: Has Herdman's rough childhood been the reason he made poor substitution choices against Croatia?) is weak, but because most of the people they're talking to don't know much about soccer, those opinions will stick with their audience.

[grigorio]

3 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

This is the angle I was coming from when I wrote my TLDR post last page.  Loving Davies does not (nor should it) preclude criticism or reasonable speculation about potentially challenging dynamics that might be at play.   Appreciating what Herdman has done should similarly not insulate him from criticism about choices that are obviously not optimal.  That doesn’t try to “throw the baby out with the bath water” (which seems like a really dated expression) because everyone recognizes what Davies brings to this team and what Herdman has done for our program.  But I think our program is mature enough to handle legitimate criticism.  It doesn’t mean we are not rabid supporters of the program or the team(s).  It just means we think there is room for improvement.  

Agree on all of this and in addition to not try and blame every possible thing on the CSA 🤪 or CONCACAF.
Once we're able to meaningfully and constructively critique the team and the staff and not pin everything on the association as its fault or getting CONCACAF'd then we'll have grown up a little more as a fanbase and football culture. 

[Califax]

Man between this article and Bruce Arthur's pouting, it really makes me appreciate the soccer journalists who have been working for years for nothing, something or any dollar amount in between to get good content out there. 

Earings? give me a fucking break. 

This is the same guy who bragged about threatening to punch out a guy at the airport cause he made fun of his CBC shirt.