The Importance of Alphonso Davies

[Atlantic]

Not sure what good there is in saying that allegedly players are getting annoyed of Davies hero-ball in the middle of the World Cup. I’m not surprised it’s Filosa though, he left some weird snarky comment on the CPL’s official tweet on FC Edmonton about how he already had that info a week ago.

Edited November 25, 2022 by Atlantic

[MtlMario]

17 hours ago, Bertuzzi44 said:

You are implying Canada is better without Alphonso Davies?

Definitely not. Just saying if was not able to play that game some one else would of taken the penalty and might of scored which would of changed the game. Belgium would of opened up more which would of given us better chances on the counter. And as I said I do not think it was one of his best games for us. Just my opinion.

[eramosat]

6 hours ago, MtlMario said:

Definitely not. Just saying if was not able to play that game some one else would of taken the penalty and might of scored which would of changed the game. Belgium would of opened up more which would of given us better chances on the counter. And as I said I do not think it was one of his best games for us. Just my opinion.

i thought it was one of Davies most effective games for us, especially wrt his "hero ball" forays, which greatly opened up space and led to many chances, often he played past 2-3 opponents and gave teammates their chances, which was in line with how his teammates were playing. doesn't always work out that way, but he was hugely effective.

saying Davies being off meaning someone else would have taken a penalty, and scored, and and then led to Canada success is just silly elementary school level whataboutism.  just my opinion.

[Bison44]

That was one of Davies  "most effective" game for us???  WOOO WWWWWEEEEEE!!!  He was a little off, meaning he wasnt scorching guys at will, charging into the box like karen heading for the manager at chilis,  laying crosses on a platter for the strikers and generally striking fear to the entire side of the field he was on.  Nothing to worry about, penalty misses happen, but beyond that he didnt have a gem of a game.  

[MtlMario]

1 hour ago, eramosat said:

i thought it was one of Davies most effective games for us, especially wrt his "hero ball" forays, which greatly opened up space and led to many chances, often he played past 2-3 opponents and gave teammates their chances, which was in line with how his teammates were playing. doesn't always work out that way, but he was hugely effective.

saying Davies being off meaning someone else would have taken a penalty, and scored, and and then led to Canada success is just silly elementary school level whataboutism.  just my opinion.

We must of been watching different games. But it's probably just silly elementary nonsense. Just my opinion.

[Kadenge]

I have noticed that when Davies cuts in from the left, he is reluctant to shoot with his right foot and instead passes/lays it off to a teammate when he is in position to strike at goal. He scored a long range goal vs Spurs using his right foot. I'm not sure why he doesn't just go for it.

[jonovision]

2 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

I have noticed that when Davies cuts in from the left, he is reluctant to shoot with his right foot and instead passes/lays it off to a teammate when he is in position to strike at goal. He scored a long range goal vs Spurs using his right foot. I'm not sure why he doesn't just go for it.

Even if it's not necessarily the best option he needs to use the shot now and then to keep defenders from overplaying the pass.

[mpg_29]

I don't think Davies played "hero ball".... unless the it's about the penalty maybe?

[Club Linesman]

Davies was solid.  Tough to play extremely well when every member of the opposition is keyed into every move. Also felt he didn’t play hero ball like the games in Edmonton.  Be interesting to see how he does up top if Sam starts against Croatia when we F em.

[Aird25]

One day Canadians will either accept Davies’ limitations in front of goal, or he’ll improve in that facet. I suspect it’ll be a balance

[h coach]

Almost looked like he was playing his first game back after a significant injury…🙂

[grigorio]

4 hours ago, jonovision said:

Even if it's not necessarily the best option he needs to use the shot now and then to keep defenders from overplaying the pass.

If you scroll back like 2-3 years in this topic you'll see the sage ones on this forum discussing how moving to LB for Bayern is going to hinder his offensive instincts and reflexes. If every day in training you're looking to make a pass or a cross and you can always defer to someone more capable at putting the ball in net, those instincts are no longer second nature and you can't just flip them on because you happen to be wearing Canada red instead of Bayern red. Regardless of how much we may want Davies to score more and take more chances on target he has basically zero experience doing so the past few years due to his club situation. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

I felt very comfortable with him holding in the middle left, and others foraying forwards, like Hoillet. That gave us defensive solidity. I much prefered that to his Uruguay display, which was egotistical.

I think we lost shape after the subs, the roles were not defined, I could not figure out who was supposed to be where. Looking for a goal late, you have to give Phonzie a defined role and ask him to execute, and the best role would be to use his speed to beat a tired defender and relieve him of defensive duties. Was the Adekugbe sub meant to do that?

The day we commit to having him in his best attacking position, right wing, turning in, we'll advance his effectivity for Canada and teach Bayern where he really belongs.

[VinceA]

I hope he's humbled a bit after this WC. Got us our first ever WC goal but then proceeded to hero ball the 2nd half.

[canuckgbp]

Needs to trust the squad more. He needs to pick and choose when to try and take on multiple defenders. (Knowing he has cover and isn’t just setting us up in an exposed position)

Still young and learning. Will be in his prime for the next WC. He will do a lot of growing until then. 

[Kadenge]

Lots of emotion in some of the posts I'm reading. Davies was our best player today period.

[football_world]

After the first two games of the World Cup, one thing that I hope for Alphonso Davies is that Bayern Munich can eventually start playing him in midfield or as an attacking midfielder.  The issue for Alphonso Davies is that he is a beast in the attacking midfield position in the MLS and also in CONCACAF. But the problem is when Alphonso Davies starts to face top defenders, he makes mistakes and his passes aren't as sharp.  Of course, this is what top defenders will do to you, which the MLS doesn't have at the moment, and CONCACAF doesn't have either.

From my understanding, when Alphonso Davies went to Bayern Munich, he started out in midfield on the wing, which was the position he was comfortable playing at in the MLS.  But in the Bundesliga, he was struggling in that position and eventually, he was moved to left back, which he found immense success at Bayern Munich.  But still, left back is where Alphonso Davies is a world class player - he is not a world class player as an attacking midfield player.  For this reason, I hope that by the next World Cup cycle, Alphonso Davies will get more opportunities at Bayern to play as an attacking midfielder, and that Bayern develops him at that position.

Otherwise, even though Alphonso Davies it Canada's best attacking midfielder and possibly the best attacking midfielder in CONCACAF, that is still not the position that he plays at in Champions League, in the Bundesliga, etc.

[VinceA]

11 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

Lots of emotion in some of the posts I'm reading. Davies was our best player today period.

I think Buchanan was better. Perisic was notably annoyed at how difficult it was against him and all the running he had to do.

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

7 minutes ago, VinceA said:

I think Buchanan was better. Perisic was notably annoyed at how difficult it was against him and all the running he had to do.

Very good going both ways, at least until things completely fell apart.

[VinceA]

Did Davies at any point in the two games beat a man out wide and deliver a nice low cross across the face of goal? Isn't that his whole game?

 

[kingvikingstad]

I think he needs more reps as a featured attacking player if that's where he's going to play for us. It's easy to see why he plays as a LWB at Bayern. There he can use the attention on other players to find space to run into, with us he's a lot more of a focal point and needs to use that to make others better (as his Bayern teammates do for him).

Hopefully this is something that comes as he continues to develop. He's still young and that comes with some brashness

[The Beaver 2.0]

1 hour ago, Kadenge said:

Lots of emotion in some of the posts I'm reading. Davies was our best player today period.

And Tajon.

[Kadenge]

1 hour ago, VinceA said:

I think Buchanan was better. Perisic was notably annoyed at how difficult it was against him and all the running he had to do.

Tajon was very good and his stock has risen the most over the 2 games played

[VinceA]

Davies not talking to international journos who wanted to do stories on him and Canada is poor form.

Edited November 27, 2022 by VinceA

[Infernal]

8 minutes ago, VinceA said:

Davies not talking to international journos who wanted to do stories on him and Canada is poor form.

https://twitter.com/KaylynKyle/status/1596947432297754624?t=-q5r20YhxikDadZqB3w5mg&s=19