Whether you’re a committed or casual follower of Canadian soccer, you will likely have heard of the phenom Alphonso Davies’ meteoric rise in recent months with Bayern Munich, one of the biggest football clubs in the world. The Canadian, who is a left-winger by trade, has been converted to left-back by the German giants and hasn’t looked back since, making the position his own from late-October onwards as Bayern deal with injuries to some key defenders.

While many expected Davies to be simply an adequate stop-gap solution at left-back, he has become one of the standout performers for Bayern Munich ever since he was given his chance by former manager Niko Kovac. Now, Davies is seen as the long-term solution at left-back at the Allianz Arena.

Purists might not like the idea of Canada’s greatest ever attacking talent being played as a defender at club level, but the fact that he is turning so many heads as a 19-year-old is something to celebrate regardless. Plus, Davies might also end up becoming a forward again later in his career, who knows?

While assessing his performances at left-back over the last few months, I was able to spot many intriguing aspects of Alphonso Davies’ role for Bayern:

The tale of two halves:

No, by “the tale of two halves” I do not mean the first half of play vs the second half – I’m talking about the opposition half vs your own half of the pitch.

When in his own half, Davies operates in a far different vertical zone of the pitch than he does when in the opposition half. This is noticeable especially when Bayern are playing out from the back and eventually progress the ball into the final third.

A diagram which explains what area of the pitch the ‘half-space’ refers to

When in his own half, usually when Bayern are playing out from the back, Davies will hug the left touchline, and offer himself up as an option for his centre-backs or goalkeeper. Davies’ quality on the ball often means that he is the player that is progressing the ball from defence to attack, not the midfielders. His impact in the buildup is as big as anyone for Bayern.

On the other hand, when Bayern have advanced the ball into the final third, you will see Davies tuck into the half-space and play almost as an interior midfielder. This means he does not act like a traditional full-back, who would overlap the left-winger and look for space out wide and in behind.

While Bayern do operate with right-footed players on the left-wing, which often means there is more space for the full-back to stay wide left, the fact that Bayern prefer to attack through the right-wing and central areas means that Davies’ job is to offer himself up as an option closer to the middle of the pitch (which is also closer to the right side of the pitch, of course) as the more attacking players like Coutinho and Gnabry do their jobs in-and-around the box.

He essentially offers protection should his teammates lose the ball further up the pitch, and also gives them a simple backwards passing option should things get sloppy in the box.

An illustration of the areas of the pitch in which Alphonso Davies operates in. Sticks to the touchline in his own half, but tucks inside when the ball progresses up the pitch.



Why Davies is more suited to left-back than left-wing for Bayern Munich:

Bayern Munich dictates the play in most of their matches – obviously. For Alphonso Davies, this means that his quality on the ball actually matters more than his quality in defending, despite being played in a defensive position.

Over the course of the last few years, we have seen many forwards and midfielders converted into full-backs at the bigger European clubs, as the position becomes more and more influential in an attacking sense (Delph and Zinchenko at Man City, Roberto at Barcelona, Maitland-Niles at Arsenal, Joshua Kimmich also at Bayern, etc).

The most important defensive quality for a full-back in at a big team is not their natural ability to defend, but their ability to transition from attack to defence in a swift and intelligent manner. Davies does not have much natural defensive ability, but his speed and his athleticism mean that his work in defensive transition is top-notch, which is why he is adequate enough defensively to play left-back at a big club.

WOW. Watch Alphonso Davies speed and recovery run here to catch Son. 20 yards. 💨 Been excellent at LB for Bayern the last month and a half. pic.twitter.com/R37KoI38lb — Stu Holden (@stuholden) December 11, 2019 Here’s an example of how Davies uses his speed to transition from attack to defence, and prevent a dangerous scoring chance for one of the best forwards in the world – Spurs’ Heung-Min Son.

However, this is why it’s not exactly ideal for him to be playing left-back for the Canadian men’s national team in bigger fixtures. Herdman’s team likely won’t be dictating the play, and natural defensive ability will matter much more. Of course, it’s possible that Davies develops this quality over time.

Another reason why I believe Davies is more suited to left-back than left-wing for Bayern is that the position is more in line with his technical and physical qualities.

Davies is a powerful runner, and he is at his best when he is running into space, using his athleticism, speed, and skill to breeze past opponents. However, if you’re playing left-wing for a club like Bayern Munich, who dominate most of their matches and are forced to ‘unlock’ pesky defences who sit back against them, you don’t have much space to drive into.

When you’re a winger at a club like this, having quick feet in tight spaces and being able to beat a man 1v1 from a still position are the most crucial qualities, and Davies doesn’t quite have them. Therefore, he likely wouldn’t be as effective as a forward for Bayern.

If Davies ever plays for a counter-attacking side in his career, then a switch to left-wing would make far more sense, but based on the club he is currently at, he simply does not suit it.

When Davies is at left-back, he has much more space ahead of him to drive into, and we saw him do exactly that in late-December against Freiburg when he assisted Robert Lewandowski:

Alphonso Davies set up Lewandowski with this assist ⚡



He has only just turned 1️⃣9️⃣…pic.twitter.com/OWOjfidJjB — Goal (@goal) December 23, 2019

The above assist also displays a recurring pattern in Bayern’s play, which is specifically designed to spring Davies into space. Davies will take up the ball wide left, pass it vertically along the ground to the left-winger in front of him, and at the moment he releases the pass, Davies will burst forward in anticipation of the return pass, and drive into space once he gets it back. This is a drawn-up pattern straight from the training ground which allows Bayern to utilize the best quality in Davies’ game.

If you watch Bayern Munich play, you will see this pattern repeatedly – and it works.

Alphonso Davies’ future in the game looks much brighter after these last few months.

When Alphonso Davies made the move to Bayern Munich from Vancouver Whitecaps just over 1 year ago, many were sceptical over whether he would ever be good enough to earn regular minutes for the German giants. While left-back may not be the position where we envisaged his future, the fact that he is playing this well and this regularly for Bayern is nothing but positive, as Canadian soccer looks to hit a new level in the 2020s.

Alphonso Davies has displayed an acute understanding of the tactical and positional requirements of playing left-back, and he might even make it difficult for regular Bayern left-back David Alaba to get his spot back once their centre-back core is healthier (Alaba has been filling in at centre-back). His ability to burst into space suits the position rather well, and he has the quality to act as both a traditional full-back, who operates out wide and overlaps, or an inverted full-back, who drops towards the centre of the pitch.

Of course, Davies’ defensive qualities need a bit of improvement, but all-in-all, he is blossoming for one of the biggest football clubs in the world at the raw age of 19, and for that alone, he deserves all the praise coming his way. As we move forward into 2020, keep an eye out for how Davies challenges Alaba for the starting left-back role, and don’t be surprised if he comes out on top.

Like what you read? Become a Patron.

Mahith Gamage Website An avid football fan right from his first experiences with the sport, Mahith Gamage has been dabbling in football journalism for a few years now, creating his own world football blog and podcast, freeflow football, whilst featuring frequently on many other football media outlets, covering European football. With the start of the Canadian Premier League in 2019, Mahith began coverage of his hometown club, Valour FC, through NSXI. He enjoys spreading his knowledge and opinions of the beautiful game to fellow football fanatics in Canada and throughout the world, using articles and tweets, thriving particularly on tactical analysis and player scouting. You can find him tweeting about world football day and night, at @mahithgamage.

Share with a Friend Facebook

Twitter

Reddit

LinkedIn

WhatsApp

Telegram

Email



Like this: Like Loading...