The Importance of Alphonso Davies

[Obinna]

5 minutes ago, The Beaver 2.0 said:

Setting money and prestige aside, what would be the best club for Davies right now in terms of his development. He is far from the finished product, IMHO.

A club that plays with wingbacks, for starters. How did Burnley line up under Kompany?

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

29 minutes ago, Obinna said:

A club that plays with wingbacks, for starters. How did Burnley line up under Kompany?

He was 4 at the back almost exclusively there and at Anderlecht. 4231 most of the time. Had an ex West Ham kid - Josh Cullen - as one of the 6s at both.

 

Was also buying wingers like it was going out of style last summer.  I was (incorrectly mostly) worried about Koleosho getting minutes.

 

Edited July 17 by WestHamCanadianinOxford

[Unnamed Trialist]

On 7/16/2024 at 10:51 AM, Unnamed Trialist said:

Now that Mbappe has been presented officially at Real Madrid, we may start to see the next movements there. 

The press says the options coming up next for them are Davies and Leny Yoro the kid at Lille. They need CB cover if Nacho goes but still have Alaba and Rudiger, and Yoro might be too green as yet. Then they will want to invest in the future with Davies.

I see Yoro is going to Manchester United, so Madrid will not even have that outlay this summer. And are rumoured to be working on getting Aymeric Laporte out of Saudi Arabia. So even another reason to argue they have money for a Davies move. They actually have not bought anyone this summer, have reduced their salary load partially and that balances out Mbappe, and could sign Davies as their main purchase without it breaking their bank.

[Dominic94]

Any of his younger siblings any good lol

[Gian-Luca]

 

[Unnamed Trialist]

Today another article in Marca saying now that Mbappe is done the Davies move could happen. They go through what we mostly know, talk about Mendy, the other LB options and what their virtues are; but also say that the Real Madrid way of getting Mbappe on a free, and Alaba, could be activated here, for next season. The motivation is that the signing bonus would be massive. 

I find the fan comments on Marca, and in general all fan commentaries in Spanish sports dailies, to be of a really low level, no one really has a clue what they are saying. So I went through about 120 idiotic comments about Davies, it is no real indicator of anything.

[gigi riva]

I honestly believe Davies will stay put in the Bavarian Capital

[dyslexic nam]

6 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

...The motivation is that the signing bonus would be massive. 

I find it interesting how this is framed positively for the player but your take on the David situation was quite negative.  To me it is essentially the same situation - a club allowing a high-value young player's contract to wind down such that they may become available on a free transfer later.  In both cases I think the club has made some significant missteps in how they have handled the contract situation but I don't see it as an affront to the players.  It is just something that the club now has to accept they mishandled, with significant financial consequences.  The players are not disadvantaged by the situation, and in fact can use it to their benefit as any purchasing club can offer higher wages given the $$ they save on an otherwise routine transfer fee.  

Maybe I am missing something, but to me these situations pretty much exclusively benefit the players, so there is no reason for them to feel aggrieved in either situation.  

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

Silly statements by Uli Hoeneß.

If for no other (non-Canadian) reason than devaluing your asset. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

1 hour ago, dyslexic nam said:

I find it interesting how this is framed positively for the player but your take on the David situation was quite negative.  To me it is essentially the same situation - a club allowing a high-value young player's contract to wind down such that they may become available on a free transfer later.  In both cases I think the club has made some significant missteps in how they have handled the contract situation but I don't see it as an affront to the players.  It is just something that the club now has to accept they mishandled, with significant financial consequences.  The players are not disadvantaged by the situation, and in fact can use it to their benefit as any purchasing club can offer higher wages given the $$ they save on an otherwise routine transfer fee.  

Maybe I am missing something, but to me these situations pretty much exclusively benefit the players, so there is no reason for them to feel aggrieved in either situation.  

Bayern is offering Davies a massive pay raise in a new contract and has been doing so for months. And are upset he's playing cat and mouse. 

David, who makes less than Larin or even Tajon, hasn't seen any such offer, they could care less. They won't let him know they value him but won't let him go to a club that does without a fee. They don't even need to get his salary off the books, it doesn't matter to them. 

In the end both going on a free and getting more salary and a bonus is similar, only as I see it, the player who'd waste the season at the current club is David.

[dyslexic nam]

2 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Bayern is offering Davies a massive pay raise in a new contract and has been doing so for months. And are upset he's playing cat and mouse. 

David, who makes less than Larin or even Tajon, hasn't seen any such offer, they could care less. They won't let him know they value him but won't let him go to a club that does without a fee. They don't even need to get his salary off the books, it doesn't matter to them. 

In the end both going on a free and getting more salary and a bonus is similar, only as I see it, the player who'd waste the season at the current club is David.

Thanks.   I guess I still think there are strong similarities since the offers to Davies materialized after Madrid really started to circle.  But I appreciate the distinction.  

[DigzTFC]

I just watched Copa Ameria (Canada Soccer) youtube clips which is must watch.

What stuck out to me was Jesse Marsch took a backseat in the locker room and let Alphonso speak before and after every match.  What Phonzie said fired me up so I could imagine that galvanized the team.  I'm impressed by Davies more after watching that and convinced he will be a great captain with the support of Stack.

I was even more impressed by Marsch letting people grow and stepping out of the way to accomplish that.  I was worried that he would dominate that team.  To put it into focus, Marsch after taking Canada on a historic run that may never be matched, he deferred to long time team canada physiotherapist to provide the closing remarks after the Uruguay game. 

I was ecstatic by what I saw during the tournament from Marsch but I'm an even bigger fan after seeing that

[InglewoodJack]

13 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

 

Okay then play him like Barca plays Lamal then lol. Scored Bayern’s biggest goal of the year and then the rest of the team fumbled the game in the last 5 minutes. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

14 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

 

I think that was fairly accurate, that the statements from the club are a bit "good cop, bad cop", though I still think Hoeness is an arrogant sob. Davies is not really disrespecting the club and the arrogance from there is a bit much. 

I don't really agree with Burley that Real Madrid will say, hey, we had all these injuries and still survived and won it all, as that is not really their model. They handled two competitions well without Courtois and Alaba, so that is a big ask, and all credit to them. But it is not the model, it is not they way they plan, and it is not how they look to the future and build for it. 

I guess it comes down to money, but frankly: putting a high asking price on the player, and then saying he has to renew or else sit on a bench, that is ridiculous. High price: 50 million. Low price: 20 million. If he goes for 30-35 both clubs will have to be happy, and Real Madrid is not going to be sitting there thinking they spent too much because next year he's free.

[GasPed]

2 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

I think that was fairly accurate, that the statements from the club are a bit "good cop, bad cop", though I still think Hoeness is an arrogant sob. Davies is not really disrespecting the club and the arrogance from there is a bit much. 

Yup, that's exactly it, and that's the Bayern way - someone from the front office (in this case, Kompany) says all the good things ("Yes, we need you, you're a critical piece, you're versatile, you're world class, we have big plans, etc."), while someone else (often Uli, because he's an arrogant old prick) says all the bad things presumably to keep the agent's salary demands in check.  

I still haven't made up my mind whether this is stupidity (i.e. they think this is clever but it's not) or dysfunctional (they don't have a clue or care about what each other is saying), but either way, it's a bad look.  I tend to lean towards the latter though.

[Unnamed Trialist]

53 minutes ago, GasPed said:

Yup, that's exactly it, and that's the Bayern way - someone from the front office (in this case, Kompany) says all the good things ("Yes, we need you, you're a critical piece, you're versatile, you're world class, we have big plans, etc."), while someone else (often Uli, because he's an arrogant old prick) says all the bad things presumably to keep the agent's salary demands in check.  

I still haven't made up my mind whether this is stupidity (i.e. they think this is clever but it's not) or dysfunctional (they don't have a clue or care about what each other is saying), but either way, it's a bad look.  I tend to lean towards the latter though.

As a fan and member of a big club, it is somewhat the way: no player is bigger than the club. So no matter who you are, the club is more important and even the greatest players owe the club more than the club owes the player. So the real story is Bayern and Davies is a piece, that is all. And it is probably true in his case, they moved for him, signed him, brought him to world stardom, give them credit. If he plays his cards right he'll always be welcome back and they'll love him for decades.

In fact, I'd say this is close to being true even with Messi, he owes as much or more to Barça than we do to him. And since he "only" won three Champions Leagues with us and we had some terrible losses and even embarrassments with him on the pitch, it could make sense.

Bayern has a similar approach, though the old guard is allowed to sit like vultures and harp and throw darts, whereas that does not tend to happen at most other big clubs, the club's great stars mostly shut up. 

Fact is, very few players of a certain prestige have gone about slagging Barça after they played here (Ibra is one, then Suárez a bit, stupidly as well). Same with Bayern, with the great clubs if you were a part of them, and you have to leave or are forced out or a few voices were over the top, just shut up and ride it out. Because later after your playing days you'll appreciate going to play tournaments with the veterans, or be a club ambassador, and you will be loved until you are a grandfather by those fans. 

 

[InglewoodJack]

2 hours ago, GasPed said:

I still haven't made up my mind whether this is stupidity (i.e. they think this is clever but it's not) or dysfunctional (they don't have a clue or care about what each other is saying), but either way, it's a bad look.  I tend to lean towards the latter though.

I think it’s just the guy being a dickhead, but if there is a “strategy” behind it, it’s because they know they’re not going to get a dime for Davies, so the likeliest way they lose him is if another team pays him a better salary and if a club legend is signalling that he’s not all that, maybe that ever so slightly shrinks his market.

 

But also Hoeneß has a history of saying inflammatory shit about a ton of players, so it’s not out of nowhere. I do think though that there’s at least a small aspect in all of this that is a super club feeling disrespected not only by Davies’ performance, but because he is not appreciative of the fact that they spent resources on a player from the absolute footballing backwater that is Canada, a country whose name alone devalues a player’s worth, and he has the nerve to snub them for another club. I’m sure a part of the Bayern brass thought that they’d be able to hang the prospect of going back to MLS over his head which clearly won’t be the case for at least the better part of this decade.

 

Honestly, the more this goes on, the more the Davies x Bayern saga reminds me of PK Subban and the Habs. Let’s just hope that his second chapter goes better than PK’s.

Edited July 22 by InglewoodJack

[longlugan]

23 hours ago, GasPed said:

Yup, that's exactly it, and that's the Bayern way - someone from the front office (in this case, Kompany) says all the good things ("Yes, we need you, you're a critical piece, you're versatile, you're world class, we have big plans, etc."), while someone else (often Uli, because he's an arrogant old prick) says all the bad things presumably to keep the agent's salary demands in check.  

I still haven't made up my mind whether this is stupidity (i.e. they think this is clever but it's not) or dysfunctional (they don't have a clue or care about what each other is saying), but either way, it's a bad look.  I tend to lean towards the latter though.

Uli to be honest has never cared what others in the club say. He's very prone to opening his yap and letting the consequences fall where they may. He is a very strange character...to be admired at times because of his loyalty to the club but then he says something stupid again. His tax evasion stint in the clink doesn't scream upstanding citizen either. Older Bavarians tend to be grumpy men that yell at clouds kind of like Homer Simpson's dad.

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

Mazraoui who played leftback instead of Davies a number of times last year is apparently headed to East London. 

For not a big fee (less that 17 mil GDP including add-on).  

Bit anxious about it myself given his injury record. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

52 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

Mazraoui who played leftback instead of Davies a number of times last year is apparently headed to East London. 

For not a big fee (less that 17 mil GDP including add-on).  

Bit anxious about it myself given his injury record. 

To Leyton Orient?

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

40 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

To Leyton Orient?

With Barry Hearn gone it wouldn't be that bad. 

Edited July 25 by WestHamCanadianinOxford

[Unnamed Trialist]

As is reporting this Friday that Madrid will wait until 2015 for Davies. 

They are offering 35 million € now, Bayern wants 50 and won't lower the price.

Bayern offering Davies to earn 14 million net, supposedly Real Madrid would put him in the high level of its salary range, at 20. 

The calculation is that if Davies waits he'll get a massive signing bonus. Basically what Madrid was willing to pay in a transfer would now go to the player, next season. 

https://as.com/futbol/primera/davies-2025-n/

[narduch]

Surprised he's not back in Europe yet.

Was in Vancouver tonight watching the Whitecaps get embarrassed by Wrexham 

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

24 minutes ago, narduch said:

Surprised he's not back in Europe yet.

Was in Vancouver tonight watching the Whitecaps get embarrassed by Wrexham 

Seems like a looong 2 weeks for some reason.

But he's only had a 2 week break.

[Unnamed Trialist]

3 hours ago, narduch said:

Surprised he's not back in Europe yet.

Was in Vancouver tonight watching the Whitecaps get embarrassed by Wrexham 

I think the deal was mostly to give the guys who only get summers off to have two weeks after Copa. Larin has not appeared with Mallorca, who are in preseason in England (played West Brom today), Johnston I don't think is back with Celtic, Steph is not back with Porto (though he could be with his family in Portugal).

But since a lot of seasons are starting soon, I would imagine they'd all be back training by this Monday, or this upcoming week. 

The questions for me are the ones waiting on transfers, David, Millar. It'd make sense to be back in training mode this upcoming week to not be off form if a new club comes up.