Another European soccer weekend is in the books and as always, we have plenty to unpack. Manchester United turned in another brutal home performance in defeat to Brighton, a result that prompted Ruben Amorim to take the criticism for a team whose problems run much deeper. Did he really need to do that? Meanwhile, in Serie A, Antonio Conte shrugged off the January exit of Khvicha Kvaratshelia as Napoli wrapped up an impressive win over Atalanta that has them in pole position to win another league title.
Elsewhere, Tottenham's injury crisis wasn't helped by some baffling tactical choices by the under-fire Ange Postecoglou, and Barcelona's LaLiga slump continued with a tough draw at Getafe that means they need to be perfect from here if they're to remain in the title race. Oh, and we got plenty to talk about when it comes to Darwin Núñez, Arsenal, Juventus vs. Milan, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen and Phil Foden, to name just a few.
Let's get to it. Here are musings and reactions to the most memorable moments of the weekend.
Ruben Amorim holds himself accountable ... but did anyone ask him to?
Sunday's 3-1 home defeat to Brighton was pretty brutal for Manchester United. Take away Bruno Fernandes' penalty and the xG was 0.69 (to Brighton's 1.93) with zero shots on target.
But guess what? So was their previous outing, Thursday night's 3-1 win over Southampton, a game they were losing until Amad Diallo's hat-trick beginning in the 37th minute of the second half. If you grade on a curve -- based on the fact that Brighton are battling for Europe, while Southampton are on pace have the fewest points of any team in Premier League history -- that one was about as bad.
I get that, but I'm not sure it was necessary for Amorim to go all doom-and-gloom after the Brighton match, saying his was "maybe the worst team in the history of the club," that they "need to survive" and that he's "not helping [his] players in the moment."
It's not because they are nowhere near the worst team in United history -- that would be the 1933-34 team, who avoided relegation to the third flight on the last day of the season. Rather, it's because nobody is calling for his head right now, nobody is accusing him of scapegoating others, and nobody think he's deluded. United fans -- and neutrals who frankly miss them as a serious club -- simply want him to keep working and see if he can turn the club around.
Lack of accountability is a thing, sure, but not with Amorim. However, too much accountability isn't a great thing.
Most observers understand that Amorim had three things to do when he took over: assess the players and figure out who may need to be replaced (and you presume he's doing that), teach them his brand of football (and they obviously have a ways to go in that department, but then it has been less than three months) and move the club up the table so they can get the revenue they'll need to strengthen in the summer (he's not getting it done in this department).
But nobody is calling for his head. Nobody is blaming him -- not yet, anyway, and given how long the club put up with Erik Ten Hag and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (and given how expensive it is to fire someone) that won't happen for a while. All he has to do is say "yes, we all need to do a better job but we'll get there."
What seems evident is that, individual errors aside, United have started to metabolise some of his defensive mechanisms, though their use of the ball and patterns of play in possession leave a lot to be desired. That's why, incidentally, they've looked better against better sides like Liverpool or Arsenal, especially on the road, than they have at home where they've had to try to take the initiative. We can debate whether he has the players to do that, but that's what he needs to deliver if United are to progress. And that will take time.
There may also come a point -- maybe very soon, if they lose at Fulham next Sunday -- when they'll be tempted to "tank" the league and focus on the Europa League and FA Cup. The fact of the matter is there are 12 points (and eight clubs) between them and the Champions League places -- eleven points and six clubs to the Europa League spots. That is a lot of ground to make up with 16 games to go.
Might they be better off concentrating their energy on the cup competitions and using the Premier League as a chance to learn and grow in Amorim's system? It's going to be a big call to make and Amorim, no doubt, hopes it won't come to that.
Antonio Conte is on his way to doing it again after Napoli's huge win at Atalanta
We may end up remembering this as a season-defining victory, not just because Atalanta were third in the table, but also because the last time they played they whupped Napoli 3-0 away. On Saturday night, Napoli took what Atalanta (who played very well going forward) threw at them, weathered the storm, punished opposition mistakes and won 3-2 thanks to a late Romelu Lukaku header at the end of a riveting 90-plus minutes.
Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini said losing like this "hurts," and presumably he was referring to the fact that you can pinpoint a defensive error on each of Napoli's three goals. He's right, but there's a lot to be said for Napoli's ability to both neuter their attack -- they were outshot 15 to 6 and still won the xG battle -- and be ruthless in exploiting their chances.
Games like this feed the Conte narrative about hard work and intensity, and they further cement his grip on this Napoli team. We scoff at this at our peril, but there is no question that he's one of the best in the world at getting immediate buy-in from his players. He said so himself after the game, when asked about whether he expected the club to sign a replacement for PSG-bound Khvicha Kvaratskhelia: "If they ask my opinion I'll give it. But if somebody comes, it needs to be someone who can contribute right away, not just some promising youngster. Otherwise, I'll stick to the guys I have, because I trust them and I know they'll go to war with me and won't let me down."
The fact is Napoli have no cup football and only need to play another 17 games between now and the end of the season. He doesn't need more bodies: the ones he has will run through a brick wall for him.
Lest we forget, of the Napoli XI that won the title two years ago, four key pieces -- Victor Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia, Piotr Zielinski and Min-Jae Kim -- are now gone. Their replacements are Lukaku, David Neres, Scott McTominay and Alessandro Buongiorno. Except for the latter, the other three, on paper, are evident downgrades and yet, once again, he has shown the ability to make players better ... at least in the short-term.
Injuries ravage Tottenham, and Ange Postecoglou's 'fixes' make things worse
Julien Laurens slams Tottenham for their 3-2 defeat to Everton and blames Ange Postecoglou for the result.
And yet, you can only blame him to a point. When you have 11 unavailable first-team players, you can either plug in some youth teamers or you can devise a new scheme to accommodate whatever fit ones you do have. Postecoglou chose the latter, shifting to a back three and playing Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison as wide men. It's a set-up we hadn't seen before from Spurs and, by Postecoglou's own admission, it "probably made things worse" as they went into half-time 3-0 down away to Everton.
We can second-guess all we like and try to reconfigure the Spurs puzzle with the ill-fitting pieces available, but there was no obvious "better solution" -- just a lot of Monday Morning Quarterbacking. And, possibly because Everton had not actually won a game since Dec. 4 and had just sacked their manager, Postecoglou thought he could get away with it.
The fightback in the second half to 3-2 suggests that Spurs aren't lacking spirit; they're mostly lacking players. That's the good news. The question is when the injured players return, what the table will look like when they do and at what point folks lose faith in Postecoglou. Because the fact of the matter is that this already stretched squad has Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup commitments too. And while eight points from the relegation zone feels like a lot, it can go away pretty quickly once you start to slide...
Pepe Bordalas' Getafe ties up Barca and now league position leaves little margin for error
It's not quite the uber-physical, hyper-defensive, ultra-provocative Bordalas-ball of yesteryear, but Getafe know how to make life unpleasant for opponents, and that's what they did to Barcelona in Saturday's 1-1 draw.
When Hansi Flick's team took the lead early with Jules Koundé, you thought Getafe might open up a bit. Nope -- there they were, deep and narrow. And they got a stroke of good fortune too with Mauro Arambarri's equalizer, which further ratcheted up the pressure on Barcelona.
The numbers show Barca did enough to win -- 21 shots on goal, and incredible seven of them from Lamine Yamal, five big chances missed, 2.35 xG -- but there's little question question they looked less fluid than usual. (Bordalas-coached teams will do that to you.) And maybe this was also where the lack of a Plan B (where have you gone, Luuk de Jong?) was telling. Robert Lewandowski probably should have come off sooner and when he did, it was Ferran Torres who replaced him. Not exactly ideal against a parked bus.
Sid Lowe reacts to Alejandro Balde saying that he was racially abused by Getafe supporters in Barcelona's 1-1 road draw.
It's now six points in their last eight games for Barcelona, and they've gone from being nine points clear one early November to finding themselves seven back now. It's not insurmountable -- their remaining LaLiga Clasico in May is at home, though their Atletico clash on March 16 is away -- but it's pretty darn close. And they can't afford too many more slip-ups.
The game also saw Alejandro Balde report racist abuse to the referee. The protocol was applied, with an announcement made over the loudspeaker. As we've said many times, that's great in the immediacy of the situation. Now you expect authorities -- with Getafe's cooperation -- to follow through, identify those responsible and take action like others have done.
Quick hits
Alejandro Moreno and Luis Garcia heap praise on Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe for his impressive performance against Las Palmas.
10. Kylian Mbappe shows what is possible as Real Madrid go back on top: It's not as if the 4-1 trouncing of Las Palmas was all about Mbappe, but it's worth talking about him because apart from his two goals (and the disallowed one), his movement and involvement offered a glimpse of the sort of forward Carlo Ancelotti wants him to be. Sure, let's take it with a grain of salt. Las Palmas were terrible -- Real Madrid's xG was a whopping 5.90 and that's obviously without the three goals that were disallowed for marginal offsides -- and, of course, Vinicius was suspended. The trick is getting Mbappe to do this when both are on the pitch. But with Atletico losing against Leganes, David Alaba returning to the pitch after a 392-day layoff and the team back in first place, Madridistas couldn't ask for much more.
Gab Marcotti says why there may be issues in the AC Milan dressing room that goes beyond the manager.
9. Juventus defeat underscores Milan's woes: This ended up being far more of one-sided than the 2-0 scoreline (or the xG, which were 1.08 to 0.97) suggests. Juve dominated possession, but this time it wasn't the sterile sort we've seen before. Manager Thiago Motta played his way, and his choices were vindicated, including the decision to play Nico Gonzalez at center-forward and only using Dusan Vlahovic for the final seven minutes. As for Milan, they played defensively and looked to counterattack, oozing a small club mentality that doesn't suit them (and no, the absence of the suspended Álvaro Morata and the injured Christian Pulisic is not a justification here). Milan boss Sérgio Conceição slammed his players' lack of hunger and intensity, saying fatigue wasn't an excuse and he expected more. Conceicao's football is more counterattacking and less possession-oriented than that of Paulo Fonseca, but the reality is he's facing the exact same issues as his predecessor. He says he wants new signings -- fine, but he'd do well to remember that it's easier for a club to replace one manager than a dozen players. Though, of course, that's exactly what Milan did when they sacked Fonseca and brought him in to replace him, so he might have a point...
8. Darwin Nunez gets the last laugh, and it feels right: I think it's fair to say Nunez belongs in the bucket of the "failed-to-live-up-to-his-transfer-fee" signings. A €75m ($78m) fee for a centerforward who thus far has scored 39 goals in 123 appearances is not value for money. Yet even when Nunez's finishing is all over the place (as happens too often), his athleticism and physicality still wreak havoc. When he came on against Brentford on Saturday, he was jeered by the home fans who compared him, uncharitably, to Andy Carroll. Had Diogo Jota been fit, he might not have come off the bench at all, but on a day when the Brentford goal seemed cursed for Liverpool -- they'd end up with 37 shots on goal, a Premier League record for an away team, and an xG of 3.43 -- Arne Slot had no other options. This time, Nunez's finishing was on point, materialising to turn in Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross in injury time and doing it again a minute later on the counterattack. Given the abuse he's taken -- and the fact that Liverpool deserved the win -- you can only be happy for him.
Janusz Michallik reacts to Liverpool's 2-0 win against Brentford in the Premier League.
7. Xabi Alonso changes it up and reaps rewards as Florian Wirtz shines vs. Gladbach: After the more conservative versions of Leverkusen we've seen in recent weeks, Xabi Alonso took the handbrake off against Borussia Moenchengladbach, with Florian Wirtz and Patrik Schick supported by genuine wingers in Nathan Tella and Martin Terrier. The chances flowed again as they rolled to a convincing 3-1 win powered by the irrepressible Wirtz, who had two goals and an assist. Yes, he's the best player in the Bundesliga right now, and this more front-foot version of Leverkusen is a lot more fun to watch (and a lot more efficient, too).
6. Phil Foden's hot streak continues as Man City romp at Ipswich: That's now five goals in the last three Manchester City league outings for last season's Player of the Year Foden, who has been M.I.A. for much of the season. It's somewhat odd that so much of the focus of City's difficult season has been on other issues, whether it be Erling Haaland or Rodri's absence or the wayward defence. Foden is the value-add in attacking midfield, and if he is indeed fit and has regained his mojo -- we can't be certain since Ipswich were really poor, as the 6-0 scoreline shows -- though it's obviously a critical boost ahead of a really tough stretch. City's next eight games include Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Arsenal, Newcastle, Liverpool and Spurs (who seem to have the hex over them). That said, equally important (though, again, usual caveats apply) is the clean sheet: only the third for City in the league since October.
Janusz Michallik reacts to Manchester City's 6-0 win over Ipswich and looks ahead to their upcoming run of fixtures.
5. Bradley Barcola fires PSG forward as they take a big step towards the Ligue 1 title: Lens away was a trap game for Luis Enrique, coming as it did ahead of Wednesday's potentially decisive Champions League clash with Manchester City and after a string of indifferent performances. Especially since PSG chose to rest several key men (Ousmane Dembele and Marquinhos, above all) with an eye towards Kevin De Bruyne & Co. in a must-win game. In the end, it all worked out as they came back from a goal down and snatched the win with a gorgeous Barcola finish. With Marseille held to a point the following day, their lead is nine points and if the goal means Barcola has rediscovered his scoring form -- his last league goal was in early November -- then PSG can consider this one heck of a weekend.
4. Lautaro Martinez hits form at the right time as Inter keep pace with Napoli: It's no secret that the first half of the 2024-25 season hasn't been kind to the Inter forward. So it's encouraging that since Christmas, he has notched four goals in six games and his performances have picked up too as he showed in Sunday's 3-1 win over Empoli. Inter's goals came in the second half, but they were solidly in control throughout. And with Marcus Thuram coming off the bench and scoring (he's now up to 14 on the season), Simone Inzaghi has his strike partnership back. Just as important, the win allows them to stay second, three points off the top and with a game in hand over leaders Napoli.
3. Atletico shouldn't worry about the Leganes trap ending their streak: The 1-0 defeat against relegation-threatened Leganes ends their winning streak at 15 games and Real Madrid's victory means they're no longer top of the table, but Diego Simeone is right when he says his team did enough to win and simply did not get the breaks. Antoine Griezmann missed his first penalty for Atletico in eight years, Clément Lenglet laid an egg for the Leganes goal, they put together an xG of 2.42 and failed to score. On another day, it's three points, easy. The worst thing that Simeone could do is second-guess himself here. I don't think he will.
2. Finishing is still an issue for Bayern despite a 3-2 win: Regular readers will know that I'm more concerned with creating good chances than finishing, since the latter is more linked to variance and randomness. But here I'm making an exception. Bayern put together an xG of 3.07 and scored three goals in the 3-2 win against Wolfsburg, so at first glance you'd think everything was fine. Except their first two goals were low-percentage, long-range efforts (the latter with some help from keeper Kamil Grabara), and the third was a collective snooze off a free kick from the Wolfsburg back line. Kingsley Coman devoured a couple clear-cut opportunities and Harry Kane, despite seven shots, still hasn't scored from open play in two months. Meanwhile, the usual defensive wobbles meant Wolfsburg pulled it back to 3-2 and an unnecessarily nervy ending. There was good news, too: midfielder Leon Goretzka had his best game in ages and Bayern showed they are less dependent on Jamal Musiala than some thought (he only played the last 15 minutes). But there's work to do.
Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens discuss whether Arsenal will cope without William Saliba for their upcoming fixtures.
1. About that William Saliba-shaped hole in the Arsenal back four: Two seasons ago, when Saliba suffered his season-ending injury, the Gunners were five points clear at the top of the table. They would end up losing the title to Manchester City by five points. According to reports out of France, his injury -- this time, a hamstring -- is not as serious, but Arsenal's 2-2 draw against Aston Villa served as a reminder of just how critical he is. At 2-0 up following Kai Havertz's goal, you figured Arsenal could just see out the game; at that point, Villa's xG was 0.12 off three shots. But just as you needed to hunker down, cracks appeared. Youri Teiemans improbably pulled one back after mistakes from Thomas Partey (deputising at rightback) and Mikel Merino. Then, with the back four in chaos, Tielemans hit the post and moments later, Ollie Watkins made it 2-2 after more unsteady defending. Sure, Arsenal had chances at the end too, including a disallowed winner, and it's not a given that Saliba's presence and leadership would have prevented those goals. But the ghost of 2023 is real. Somebody needs to step up or, with Bukayo Saka out too, things could go South real quick.