Did Davies unnecessarily push to play in the third-place match of the CONCACAF Nations League?
On par with Bayern Munich’s standard issued luck when it comes to injuries, the German Rekordmeister have been dealt a massive blow with Alphonso Davies having torn his ACL while away on international duty with the Canadian national team. Canada lost their CONCACAF Nations League semi-final match against Mexico in Los Angeles and then beat the USMNT 2-1 in the third-place match.
Unfortunately for Davies, Canada, and Bayern, the left back/left winger wound up tearing his anterior cruciate ligament after initially picking up the injury in the semi-final clash against Mexico. In that match, he played the full 90 minutes in the losing effort for Canada, but he was taken off in the 12th minute of the third place match against the United States and he was clearly in a great deal of discomfort; playing through the initial phase of the injury from the Mexico match was clearly the straw that broke the camel’ back in this sense.
Per information from The Athletic, sources close to the Canadian soccer federation have reported that Davies himself pushed to make himself available for the third-place match of the competition against the U.S (via @iMiaSanMia). They also report that in a team meeting led by manager Jesse Marsch after the loss to Mexico, the team was informed by the manager that Davies would likely miss out on the U.S clash, making it seem that Davies was the one who ultimately forced the issue.
Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
It is understood that Davies himself felt that he was fit enough to play in the third-place match against the U.S and that the Canadian physios were in agreement that it would be okay for their captain to play a part, just not for 90 minute. With that said, on the surface, it is hard to blame Davies for wanting to play a part with the blessing of the physios, especially contrasting the uproar from U.S fans at the lack of attendance at the SoFi arena in combination with the team’s poor performance. Former USMNT players Tim Howard and Landon Donovan were both rather critical of the team’s demeanor, attitude, and performance from the two matches, but at least Davies wanted to do everything he could to lead his team out against their rivals immediately to the south of them.
The finger can be pointed in a lot of different directions in this situation, but the fact of the matter is, it possibly could have been handled better, but it does not change the fact that Bayern will be without their star left back for a handful of months. Vincent Kompany will have to call on other members of the squad to step up for the Bundesliga and Champions League run-ins like Eric Dier, Hiroki Ito, Josip Stanišić, Konrad Laimer and Raphaël Guerreiro, especially since Dayot Upamecano is also out injured for several weeks.
Looking to unpack your feelings on Bayern Munich’s latest injury crisis? Check out the Bavarian Podcast Works — Emergency Edition, which covers the season ending injury to Alphonso Davies and Dayot Upamecano’s long-term issue as well. You can get the show on Patreon, Spotify, or below:
Be sure to stay tuned to Bavarian Podcast Works for all of your up to date coverage on Bayern Munich and Germany. Check us out on Patreon and follow us on Twitter @BavarianFBWorks, @BavarianPodcast @TheBarrelBlog, @BFWCyler, @IredahlMarcus, @2012nonexistent, @TommyAdams71 and more.
