Alphonso Davies reflects on the DFL-Supercup win and growth under Hansi Flick at Bayern

By now, Alphonso Davies is already a player that needs no introduction. The 19-year-old has quickly become one of Bayern Munich’s most consistent performers at left-back and is, without a doubt, one of the best up and coming talents in world football, let alone Europe.

After Bayern’s 3-2 triumph over Borussia Dortmund in the DFL-Supercup, Davies sat down with the Bundesliga for their “Midweek Interviews” segment to talk about the win, the Bundesliga rivalry with Dortmund, and how much he’s grown into his role playing under Hansi Flick.

The DFL-Supercup marked the fifth piece of silverware won by Bayern in 2020 in addition to the UEFA Supercup, Champions League, DFB-Pokal, and Bundesliga titles. Simply put, it’s been an immense year for Flick’s side despite having no football for two months during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite picking up their fifth trophy of the year earlier this week by beating Dortmund, Davies said the hunger in the squad is still at its absolute highest.

“The hard work in this team is top quality,” Davies said. “Even though we won these trophies, we want more and more ,and each time we step on the field we want to show that we are out there to play football and to win games. This is what we are doing and we are happy that we can win the trophies that we are winning.”

Despite winning the league with weeks to spare this season, the threat from Dortmund and RB Leipzig is always there for Bayern to keep in the back of their minds. Dortmund, in particular, has strengthened significantly in the past two transfer windows. Of course, Bayern still has to play them twice in the league and Davies recognizes that they’ll always be there to compete with Bayern both head-to-head and for the league title:

“Dortmund is a very good, young team and so are we,” said Davies. “Every time we play Dortmund, it is always a good game and a tight, strong game. Playing that game yesterday was tough and I am happy that we could come away with the win.”

Davies also said that some of Dortmund’s younger players like Jadon Sancho, Erling Haaland, and Giovanni Reyna are particularly exciting and partially represent the future of the Bundesliga.

“All these players are great,” Davies said of the trio. “They have a good young side full of young players and they are the future of the Bundesliga.”

It did take Davies a brief while to acclimate to life at Bayern, but he’s especially hit the ground running as the club’s starting left back under Hansi Flick. With Flick, Davies said, part of what makes him so effective and successful as a manager is his willingness and devotion to taking the time to talk to all of the players in the squad, especially some of the younger players, like Davies.

“He is a good mentor and he talks to his players, especially his young players” Davis said of his manager. “He wants everybody to thrive at this club and him being the manager is good for everyone at this club. He is a down to earth guy and he was a player once, so he knows what we go through and how hard it is to play this game, especially with the schedule we have right now. We are playing every three days and it is not easy. It is truly a blessing that he is there for all the players.”

Photo by Matthias Balk/picture alliance via Getty Images

Davies also said he draws a lot of inspiration from teammates and Polish talisman Robert Lewandowski. The prolific number 9, he said, is someone who always inspires him to maintain the mentality of always wanting to better oneself in every aspect on the pitch.

“Lewandowski is a guy who scores goals for fun and he is a great player. The thing that upset most of us was that he did not win the Ballond’Or this year because they cancelled it,” Davies remarked. “This year was his year because he won everything that there is to win at club level and he was the best goal-scorer and best player. What I take away from him is his mentality and his will to always work to get better, to score goals, and to help the team to win.”

Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images