I know he hasn't even played one season yet, but ... is he our best import since Paul Ifill?
How good is Ulises Dávila?!
I can't be bothered googling for all the people who said he was a waste of money after R1, but... they're there
Yes. But, I think credit has to go to Talay and coaching team here too - both in terms of the strategy in how and where he's been deployed since R1, but also in terms of building the right squad around him. Arguably, Ifill could have been even better if he'd had the current midfield etc behind him too.
Yes. But, I think credit has to go to Talay and coaching team here too - both in terms of the strategy in how and where he's been deployed since R1, but also in terms of building the right squad around him. Arguably, Ifill could have been even better if he'd had the current midfield etc behind him too.
World Class
Love it that he links up with everyone around him so well.
The thing I like is the way he is constantly looking to be available and in play. Great skills, but great attitude also. Especially after that first game when, imho, and with hindsight, I suspect he simply was suprised by the Aussie physicality (and refereeing of it). Great adjustment from him.
And great adjustment by Ufuk, to get him where he needed to be on the field.
The thing I like is the way he is constantly looking to be available and in play. Great skills, but great attitude also. Especially after that first game when, imho, and with hindsight, I suspect he simply was suprised by the Aussie physicality (and refereeing of it). Great adjustment from him.
And great adjustment by Ufuk, to get him where he needed to be on the field.
He works his absolute ass off despite getting kicked all game, then still provides assists and goals - not many 10s in the world can do that, honestly. Most (especially at this level) are either all hard work, not enough flair or the opposite.
I don't think I've ever been so blatantly wrong about a player after their first game. He really did look lightweight against WU first up, though.
I think we were all guilty of "no love at first sight".When we played Brisbane Strikers I remember looking at Ball and thinking "Dear me what did we spend money on here" I am happy to wear this particular egg on my face now.
Actually think Ball has been pretty consistent, including that Brisbane game - works hard, good in tight areas, not the best finisher in the world and lacks a little bit of pace.
Neither of them looked like a good import in their first game. Particularly when we wanted an outright goal scorer from Ball.
Good thing that one game isn't all that counts, and that we've found enough goals elsewhere.
How the way that they both play fits, now, in this team, is pretty fascinating. And how the rest of the squad adds to that. Pretty good team overall. Those two add some quality but the rest of the guys all add as well.
Hopefully we're enjoying more of Hooper's stuff too in the New Year. And we stay healthy.
Have to say I don't think I was one of those to cast judgement on him straight away. I didn't get the dislike some showed after the first game, but I didn't think he'd be as good as he has been. He's a joy to watch. Proper talisman and not shy about getting kicked. We have a lot of interesting relationships developing in this team and i'm genuinely excited to see where it leads.
Kudos to the club and Talay for bringing him here. Please sign him up for longer.
Neither of them looked like a good import in their first game. Particularly when we wanted an outright goal scorer from Ball.
Good thing that one game isn't all that counts, and that we've found enough goals elsewhere.
How the way that they both play fits, now, in this team, is pretty fascinating. And how the rest of the squad adds to that. Pretty good team overall. Those two add some quality but the rest of the guys all add as well.
Hopefully we're enjoying more of Hooper's stuff too in the New Year. And we stay healthy.
Davila is probably the only player that doesn't have an automatic replacement in the squad (playing Ball in his role is probably the most likely scenario). In terms of depth, we're actually looking pretty stacked across the park. Even Scott for Cacace and Elliot for Payne would be like for like replacements. There's of course question marks on how effective they would be in the A-league but Devlin, who looked like he'd contribute nothing apart from a straight red in his first few games, has shown what a good bit of coaching can get out of a youngster.
Love it that he links up with everyone around him so well.
Class, all class. In a sense he's an old fashioned "link man", the perfect glue between midfield and attack. All the best players are hard to define positionally; were Pele, Cruyff and Maradona strikers? I'm not putting Ulises at that level but in this league it's a fair comparison I think. In fact, the player who I'd compare him to most that we've seen in the A League is Del Piero.
I love that he plays with a smile on his face too. He seems to be loving it here.
Davila's first few games were good, but I think we all were questioning whether he'd make the big impact we expected. For me the big change came when Uffie moved him to the central midfield spot and allowed him to control the game. Almost every attacking move comes through him. all helps him to get space by dragging defenders everywhere, Sotirio and Piscopo with their pace help as well. Without the defence duty on the wing he has gotten more involved in all aspects of the game - even defending cetrally which was unexpected. Great move from the coach and huge wraps to Davila for making this change work.
Davila has said he won't fight every minute of the road to the playoffs. Davila's wife is expecting their first child in March. They'll return to Mexico for the birth and be back before May for a crack at the A-League title
Davila has said he won't fight every minute of the road to the playoffs. Davila's wife is expecting their first child in March. They'll return to Mexico for the birth and be back before May for a crack at the A-League title
Wonder how many games he will miss? Tricky one for any club to manage, the birth of your children is a very special moment, and a lot of people want to be around close friends and family.
Didn’t Mandi have his child born in NZ last season.
Critical time in the season unfortunately.
Hopefully Piscopo will be back and we can deploy him or Ball in Uli's role while he's away.
Should've signed Rojas.............
As long as Hooper is hitting his strides by then, a front four of Hooper, Ball, Piscopo/McCowatt/Sotirio should be fine
Davila has said he won't fight every minute of the road to the playoffs. Davila's wife is expecting their first child in March. They'll return to Mexico for the birth and be back before May for a crack at the A-League title
Wonder how many games he will miss? Tricky one for any club to manage, the birth of your children is a very special moment, and a lot of people want to be around close friends and family.
Didn’t Mandi have his child born in NZ last season.
Davila has said he won't fight every minute of the road to the playoffs. Davila's wife is expecting their first child in March. They'll return to Mexico for the birth and be back before May for a crack at the A-League title
Wonder how many games he will miss? Tricky one for any club to manage, the birth of your children is a very special moment, and a lot of people want to be around close friends and family.
Didn’t Mandi have his child born in NZ last season.
Where does it say that? That would be so bad for the club if true.
Often players will only fly back in the final week or so before delivery - let's hope Uli takes the same approach, but in the end I totally get wanting to be there - I only had 2-3 days' leave when my first child was born as I'd just started a new job and really regretted not taking more.
Davila has said he won't fight every minute of the road to the playoffs. Davila's wife is expecting their first child in March. They'll return to Mexico for the birth and be back before May for a crack at the A-League title
Wonder how many games he will miss? Tricky one for any club to manage, the birth of your children is a very special moment, and a lot of people want to be around close friends and family.
Didn’t Mandi have his child born in NZ last season.
Where does it say that? That would be so bad for the club if true.
Often players will only fly back in the final week or so before delivery - let's hope Uli takes the same approach, but in the end I totally get wanting to be there - I only had 2-3 days' leave when my first child was born as I'd just started a new job and really regretted not taking more.
Davila has said he won't fight every minute of the road to the playoffs. Davila's wife is expecting their first child in March. They'll return to Mexico for the birth and be back before May for a crack at the A-League title
Wonder how many games he will miss? Tricky one for any club to manage, the birth of your children is a very special moment, and a lot of people want to be around close friends and family.
Didn’t Mandi have his child born in NZ last season.
Where does it say that? That would be so bad for the club if true.
Often players will only fly back in the final week or so before delivery - let's hope Uli takes the same approach, but in the end I totally get wanting to be there - I only had 2-3 days' leave when my first child was born as I'd just started a new job and really regretted not taking more.
Can you post his quote? I can only find what newshub have said
I like to think I'm a pretty progressive guy, but I'd be very surprised if we were giving Uli 5-7 weeks off for the birth of his child at a crucial point in our season. I absolutely get that his wife/partner would head back to Mexico for at least that amount of time, but surely not him (unless there's complications with pregnancy etc, in which case it's a totally different matter). But, in general, presumably NZ employment law applies, ie, 2 weeks, I think? Maybe we give him 3 as he has to travel overseas?
Technically he would only be entitled to a week's unpaid leave as he's been employed for less than a year.
This doesn't negate the fact the he might request, and be granted, additional leave (paid or unpaid) by his employer.
Surely the club will be hard at work behind the scenes to find a suitable solution that works both for Uli and the team.
Let's wait and see.
Not an ideal situation, but can't blame him for wanting to be at the birth of his first child. I'm sure Uffie has something planned for it, but there's absolutely not doubt that it's going to be a tough ask to cover his quality.
Lets just hope we have nailed down a top 4 spot before he goes. Think we can cover for him IF they all stay fit. Just have to hope we dont do our late season slump thing AGAIN.
I like to think I'm a pretty progressive guy, but I'd be very surprised if we were giving Uli 5-7 weeks off for the birth of his child at a crucial point in our season. I absolutely get that his wife/partner would head back to Mexico for at least that amount of time, but surely not him (unless there's complications with pregnancy etc, in which case it's a totally different matter). But, in general, presumably NZ employment law applies, ie, 2 weeks, I think? Maybe we give him 3 as he has to travel overseas?
Fair play too, more than happy for him to take the time to support his wife and bond with his kid, maybe he'll repay the Nix's generosity by signing an extension.
If we really want to keep him from getting stolen from other clubs then we shouldn't be praising him so openly on a public forums like this.
This is how we do it:
He's so dogshark that we're doing every other pro team a favour, btw you're welcome Chelsea ;)
5-7 games?!? Pfft! He’s a professional footballer in mid season.
Bring close whanau to NZ for a couple of weeks around the birth.
He misses 1-2 games max.
5-7 games?!? Pfft! He’s a professional footballer in mid season.
Bring close whanau to NZ for a couple of weeks around the birth.
He misses 1-2 games max.
Second thoughts, could be the wifey wanting to be near her family which is completely understandable. Still would have been good to get Davila Junior as a possible All White through FIFA eligibility.
I like to think I'm a pretty progressive guy, but I'd be very surprised if we were giving Uli 5-7 weeks off for the birth of his child at a crucial point in our season. I absolutely get that his wife/partner would head back to Mexico for at least that amount of time, but surely not him (unless there's complications with pregnancy etc, in which case it's a totally different matter). But, in general, presumably NZ employment law applies, ie, 2 weeks, I think? Maybe we give him 3 as he has to travel overseas?
Tend to agree. Think 3 weeks off is very fair.
Lets not forget, the A League has very long off season.
A League final is weekend 16-17 May.
He can probably be approved to spend all of June & July in Mexico, say 8 weeks off, if he promises to stay away from his Mexican mama's cooking, and do his PT sessions.
That's pretty favourable leave for most, in an employee situation.
The Newshub comments are too ambiguous at the moment.
I'm reading it as due date is in March (probably late March)
Club has said he can go (for a reasonable length of time) and be at the birth, even if its early/late
But at the latest he has to be back before May / Finals
It would be ridiculous to assume they mean take from March 1 to April 30 off.
Ufuk Talay clarified today that Davila is set to go and return during the fortnight at the end of March where the Phoenix have their bye.
that's a relief - not surprised that someone in the media got the dates wrong. (probably didn't even bother to check)
that's more like it and the real world
Rudan would have used it as a way of getting out of a contract
