Gabriele Marcotti, Senior Writer, ESPN FCDec 16, 2024, 09:10 AM ET
Another European soccer weekend is in the books, we're fast approaching the holidays and the midway point of the season, and we've got plenty to talk about. Where shall we begin? How about Liverpool making a mess (thanks to Andy Robertson's early red card) and showing impressive resilience to battle back and earn a draw vs. Fulham? Or Bayern Munich stumbling in the Bundesliga, losing at Mainz without Harry Kane (injured) and with Jamal Musiala off the boil?
We also had a Manchester derby that delivered enough drama and talking points to sustain us for weeks, a frustrating Arsenal draw, more question marks about Juventus and Real Madrid, and another impressive performance by Chelsea as they continue to pick up wins in the Premier League.
So, let's get to it. Here is the first batch of reactions to the most memorable moments of the weekend, with much more to follow after the "The Gab & Juls Show" ...
Robertson red costs Liverpool, but there's plenty to praise in their performance
You're 17 minutes in, you're a goal down and a man down at home. This after a Champions League game you won without playing particularly well (away to Girona). Your opponent, Fulham, is in the top half of the table, is undefeated in four games and has taken points off Arsenal and Spurs in the past two weeks. You have to reshuffle your back four, getting your holding midfielder, Ryan Gravenberch to play center-back, a position he has never played. And still, you storm back to a 2-2 draw, racking up more than 2.00 expected goals along the way, outshooting the opposition and conceding a second only due to a deflection.
If you're Arne Slot, you either fret about Chelsea being two points back (albeit having played an extra game) or you remind your crew of what's in the above paragraph. Titles usually are won in moments of adversity. The best teams know how to contain the damage, ensuring a blip doesn't become a slump, and they find the energy to react when punched in the nose.
That's what Liverpool did after Robertson's red card. Twice, really, because after Rodrigo Muniz put Fulham ahead once more, they had to it all over again with 15 minutes to go.
There are plenty of reasons why Liverpool might not win the title. Even before Saturday, Robertson was showing signs of slowing down, Gravenberch is going to need a breather at some point, their three free agents-to-be (Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah) might yet let their contracts affect them, and there might be more injuries on the horizon. But what seems fairly certain is this: If they come up short, it won't be down to a lack of mentality or cohesion.
Musiala dependency rears its head again as Bayern Munich suffer first league defeat of the season
Maybe it's too easy to jump to conclusions, but sometimes Occam's razor applies (and Toni Kroos was correct). With Harry Kane still out and Jamal Musiala having an off day by his lofty standards, Bayern were blunted offensively away to Mainz, losing 2-1. An expected goals of 1.39 with just one shot on target won't get you far against a team that sits and congests the box, especially after taking the lead.
Make no mistake about it: Bayern weren't great defensively either, but there was a fair amount of bad luck on Lee Jae-Sung's opener and for the second, you feel like saying they are what they are. But you expect more efficiency and volume from a Vincent Kompany team in a game like this. Thomas Muller did what he could up front (not much, as it happened) and it's all the more evident that going into the season without a credible alternative to Kane (who, at 31, isn't the bionic man) was an unnecessary risk to take. And so when Kane's out, your options are Musiala or Muller out of position, or possibly Mathys Tel, whom Kompany doesn't seem to rate in that role.
2:07
Did Bayern Munich display an 'arrogance' in Mainz defeat?
Ale Moreno believes Bayern Munich displayed an "arrogance" against Mainz that resulted in their 2-1 defeat.
Again, Kane will be fit before and against most teams, even without him, it won't really matter. But trophies are won on thin margins. Oh, and if you're wondering what Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting is doing right now, he just signed for New York Red Bulls. It's a shame he couldn't hang around for another few months ...
STILL TO COME: Thoughts on the Manchester derby and Barcelona will follow after 'The Gab & Juls Show.'
Quick hits
League-leading Atalanta make it 10 straight wins: Is it time to ditch the 'upstart' tag? I'd say so. Not just for the fact that they finished fourth in Serie A last year, winning the Europa League, and this season, they're top of the league and recording a higher xG at home than Real Madrid. For me, it's the resilience. They weren't great away to Cagliari (Marco Carnesecchi made a string of big saves), but they nevertheless turned the game with their subs. When you can call on Nicolo Zaniolo (who scored his first goal of the season) and Lazar Samardzic (who may be the most technically gifted player in the squad) to turn a game? Well, that's a luxury usually reserved for big clubs.
Bayer Leverkusen go 'blue collar' again, and it's not a bad thing ... I'm not a fan of the more conservative version of Leverkusen -- with Jeremie Frimpong and Alex Grimaldo deployed as wingers and a midfield stuffed with ball-winners -- but I have to say, it's working. They dominated Inter in the Champions League on Tuesday (don't be fooled by the late goal and 1-0 scoreline) and on Saturday, they won 2-0 at Augsburg in league play. This time it was tweaked back to the more familiar 3-4-2-1 formation, with Martin Terrier ahead of Florian Wirtz and Nathan Tella, but it was still a low-key, safety-first performance. And that's OK. It helps to be able to play in different ways as they wait for Patrik Schick (who came off the bench) and Victor Boniface (targeting a mid-January return) to be ready to start again up front. That said, it's now seven wins on the bounce for Xabi Alonso & Co. ...
Inconsistent Juventus booed off again, though this time, it's a bit different: The headline is that this team is up and down -- beating Manchester City in midweek and then needing a lucky, but correctly awarded, penalty deep in injury time to avoid a home defeat against bottom club Venezia -- and that's undoubtedly true. Just as it's true that Thiago Motta's tenure is a source of great frustration to many Juventus fans (especially those in the Allegri camp). Even those of us who have been defending him, recognizing the many challenges he's faced, have to concede this team doesn't look right, though maybe there's some comfort from Saturday's poor performance being poor for different reasons than some of his previous outings. Juventus weren't overly conservative or risk-averse; they were simply way too slow and predictable in the buildup, like a kid trying to ride a bike for the first time. It's as if they're walking through Motta's schemes, rather than executing them at speed (which is when they work). Throw in some poor individual performances (Teun Koopmeiners, Nicolo' Savona, Weston McKennie) and some baffling choices (Kenan Yildiz stranded out wide, Francisco Conceicao taking a dozen touches each time) that helps explain the result. The direction of travel is the right one, it's just things are happening so slowly you wonder if, by the time they get where they want to be, Motta will still be there.
Arsenal have a Plan A and Plan B: they just need a C and D: We've said it before, Arsenal are devastating on set-pieces and with that righthand side chain of Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka. Beyond that, there's little in the way of creativity and danger, as evidenced in Saturday's 0-0 home draw with Everton. Mikel Arteta is obviously right when he says this was one-way traffic -- they shut down Everton (2 total shots, 0.09 xG) and Jordan Pickford had to make a couple of huge stops -- but that's the reality of facing Sean Dyche's Everton right now, they make no apologies for their approach to games (nor should they). So to give yourself the best chance to win, you need to be able to create from different sources, beyond the two cited before, and right now, it's not happening. Mikel Merino, supposedly the creative alternative to Odegaard, is offering little, Gabriel Martinelli even less. Arteta needs to find Plans C and D (maybe Plan E too): whether it's regenerating Merino and Martinelli, giving Ethan Nwaneri more minutes or figuring out the Riccardo Calafiori stepping into midfield thing (when he's fit again). As it stands, they're too predictable to regularly win games like this one.
2:26
How Vinicius Jr.'s absence was felt in Real Madrid's draw vs. Rayo
Craig Burley and Luis Garcia reflect on Real Madrid's 3-3 draw against Rayo Vallecano with Vinicius Jr. and Kylian Mbappe out of the lineup. :+1::skin-tone-2: 1
Real Madrid aren't a team right now, just grit and superstars... I wrote as much after their 3-2 win away to Atalanta in the Champions League, and it was much the same in the 3-3 draw away to Rayo Vallecano. Don't get me wrong: that's not a bad starting point, but it's hard to judge Real Madrid when you look at Saturday's lineup. Carlo Ancelotti ran his team in a 4-2-4 formation with Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham as a front two, Aurelien Tchouameni and Lucas Vazquez as the right side of the back four, 39-year-old Luka Modric pulling the strings. The stars deliver the goals -- Fede Valverde's wonder strike defied the laws of physics, Bellingham was on the spot -- and the grit got them over the line in a match they could just as easily have lost (3 goals off 0.69 xG to Rayo's 1.62 tell their own story) as won (Rodrygo might have won a penalty, Augusto Batalla made an exceptional save, Lucas Vazquez mistakes on both goals). It's a poorly assembled cluster mess right now and injuries make it worse. Ancelotti is bullish, saying they're still in the running for all of their seasonal goals, which is true, but there are only so many rabbits to pull out of the hat. They need help in January.
2:42
Burley praises Maresca for righting the Chelsea ship
Craig Burley praises Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca for turning his squad into a Premier League contender in his first season.
Enzo Maresca is still right, and Chelsea are still not ready: The gap may be just two points between them and league-leading Liverpool after the 2-1 win over Brentford, but the guy knows what he's talking about. Chelsea's manager pointed out after the game that they needlessly let Brentford back in by conceding that Bryan Mbeumo goal. He might have added that while they could have scored four or five, they also could have conceded three or four. (Robert Sanchez was excellent, which -- after his recent outings -- is encouraging.) And you can't have one of your most experienced players acting the way Marc Cucurella did. He should know better than to get a pointless yellow deep in injury time, follow it up with some theatrics to get an opponent sent off and then, after the game is over, get a second yellow card. Leadership, eh? But the facts are there. Chelsea have seven wins in a row, folks other than Cole Palmer are creating chances and we haven't seen this sort of buzz at Stamford Bridge since well before the Clearlake era. At this rate, they'll be ready real soon.
1:42
Why Burley feels Postecoglou's criticism of Timo Werner is warranted
Craig Burley says Timo Werner's form was rightfully called into question by Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou.
Southampton are the perfect tonic for Tottenham, but they won't get to play them every week: At least not with manager Russell Martin at the helm, since he has been let go. After the heavy criticism of the past week, Ange Postecoglou needed a big win and he got it, with Spurs scoring five goals before half-time. You hope he won't be under any illusions, though. It's not just that Southampton have been spectacularly bad (13 defeats in 16 games), it's also that their style of play is a perfect match for Spurs. They won't enjoy that luxury in the League Cup on Thursday against Manchester United, or in the league against Liverpool next weekend. Postecoglou says he doesn't mind being in the eye of the storm and that he can get Tottenham out of it. Maybe so, but it won't be against sides like he faced Sunday night that he'll be judged.
STILL TO COME: Thoughts on AC Milan, Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain after 'The Gab & Juls Show' ...
