Liverpool are for real, Man United need work and Barca score seven: Marcotti recaps the weekend

The final weekend of European club action before the international break didn’t disappoint, with talking points galore across the top leagues. In the Premier League, Liverpool humbled Man United at Old Trafford in front of United’s new midfielder. In LaLiga, Barcelona look as good as they have in years with a 7-0 win while Kylian Mbappé got off the mark for Real Madrid in another wobbly team effort.

In the German Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen‘s 462-day unbeaten streak was snapped by RB Leipzig, and Thomas Müller grabbed headlines with a brilliant goal in his record-setting 710th appearance for Bayern Munich. We also got plenty to discuss around AC Milan, Chelsea, Tottenham, Atletico Madrid, Napoli and more.

It’s Monday. Gab Marcotti reacts to the biggest moments in the world of football.

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Liverpool are for real, while Ugarte can only help Man United if used properly

One bald Dutch manager was in his third game for the club; the other is in his third season. If you watched Manchester United vs. Liverpool without knowing who’s who, you might easily have mistaken Arne Slot for Erik ten Hag and vice versa.

Liverpool look like a team with a coherent identity. Sure, it helps that it’s the same crew from last season and yes, it’s true that Slot shares many footballing concepts with his predecessor, Jurgen Klopp. But there are major changes too, from the scheme — a quite distinct 4-2-3-1 — to the more possession-oriented approach, along with a greater sense of pragmatism and flexibility. (It’s not a coincidence that Slot mostly used a different setup last season at Feyenoord.) The way Liverpool have taken his message on board — and the way they seem to have improved in each of their first three games — speaks volumes of the job he’s doing thus far.

As for United, one of the frustrating things is that this still feels like a team in transition. Partly because the personnel keep changing — Bruno Fernandes, Lisandro Martínez, Diogo Dalot and Casemiro were the only starters on Sunday who were also regulars in Ten Hag’s first season — but largely because it’s difficult to pin down what they’re trying to do. United’s approach feels in continuous flux, and whatever that approach is, it hasn’t come close to looking like Ajax’s Ten Hag, which is presumably what got him the job in the first place. Sure, there are plenty of reasons and mitigating circumstances, but it has to be a source of frustration because it feels like three years of treading water.

There were individual mistakes, too. Casemiro gave away the ball twice, leading to Liverpool’s two first-half goals. It’s not a linear thing — in both situations, Liverpool had plenty to do before scoring — but he quickly became the scapegoat. Rightly so (probably) since he was poor, though if there was any doubt Ten Hag’s decision to replace him at half-time with somebody named Toby Collyer — a 20-year-old kid with zero Premier League minutes under his belt — left little doubt. Symbolically, with new signing Manuel Ugarte in the stands, it felt as if Ten Hag was turning the page.

Ugarte is 23 and in terms of work-rate, tackling and defensive ability in midfield is like a younger, higher energy Casemiro. But it’s worth reminding ourselves why PSG were happy to move him on and why he lost his place as a starter halfway through last season.

PSG boss Luis Enrique wanted a defensive midfielder who could pass well, do some playmaking and be press-resistant. Ugarte doesn’t excel in any of those areas, and it was mistakes in those areas that caused Casemiro to get substituted. It doesn’t mean Ugarte can’t be an upgrade, just that maybe he’s not the guy you want carrying the ball out of the back, like Casemiro did against Liverpool. Maybe it will mean using Kobbie Mainoo differently — though, you’ll note, he too lost the ball ahead of the third goal — or maybe there will be a greater role in the build-up for Mathijs De Ligt or Lisandro Martinez, both of whom are good passers.

Either way, for this to work, change has to come … again.

It wasn’t all negative for United. They played well in the first half-hour, Marcus Rashford looked sharp and Joshua Zirkzee missed a hat-trick of chances — a glass half-full take would be that United created those scoring opportunities and he was there to try to convert. But overall, it felt like a gut punch and the last thing Ten Hag needs is for the feeling of drift to return.

Across the way, it’s three wins on the trot for Liverpool, with seven goals scored and none conceded. If we want to nitpick, their intensity did drop at 2-0, which is why Alisson had to come up big with some critical saves. That 0.95 xG is suboptimal too, and they’ll want to figure out whether it’s merely a byproduct of attacking as much as they do or if there are defensive tweaks to be done (I’d lean toward the latter). Still, look up “dream start” in the encyclopedia and you’ll see Slot’s face smiling back at you.

One more thing on Sunday’s game: I don’t think Mohamed Salah reminding everyone that he’s in the final year of his contract and the club haven’t discussed an extension with him is a big deal. Yes, Liverpool did spend big (in wages, not transfer fees) on Federico Chiesa, who plays the same position as Salah. As a deal, it’s somewhere between an opportunity — he’s a great player if he stays fit — and a hedge against Salah moving on.

I have no problem whatsoever with Salah airing what everybody already knows, and I have less of a problem with Liverpool waiting to broach the subject of an extension. It’s just smart business.

Never mind whether Paulo Fonseca was right to drop Rafael Leão and Theo Hernández … did it actually work?

Leao and Hernandez are, arguably, Milan’s two best players. They’re also two of the most maddening. For all his talent, Leao occasionally goes AWOL for long stretches. Theo is a devastating force going forward, but sometimes exhibits the positional sense of a busted compass when defending. Both were poor in Milan’s first two games, so Fonseca dropped them for Saturday’s trip away to Lazio.

Most coaches go out of their way to defend their best players, at least outwardly. Those who do flex in such a public way are normally the ones who have built up a ton of sporting capital, because they’ve been in their jobs a long time and have trophies to show for it. This is Fonseca, who has yet to win a game as Milan coach and has won nothing since leaving Ukraine in 2019. At the very least you have to admit the guy has guts.

Initially, it looked like it was working a charm as Milan took the lead and created chances in the first half. (Fonseca is a genius!) Then, after the break, we got the defensive meltdown that has dogged them in recent games, and they gave up two in the space of four minutes. (Fonseca is a fool!) So he sent both of them on, and they immediately combined with another sub, Tammy Abraham, to notch the equaliser. (Fonseca is a genius!) Then came one of those cooling breaks and while all the Milan players convened around the bench to rehydrate, Theo and Rafa kept their distance, watching — some might say sulking — from the opposite sideline. (Fonseca is a fool!)

It finished 2-2 and because it’s in everyone’s interest to do so, everyone played down what happened. Theo said after the game that they didn’t join their teammates in the cooling break because they had only been on for a few minutes and didn’t need it. Great. But given the circumstances, it wasn’t a good look, and you assume they’re aware enough to know that.

Fonseca went out on a limb here. He can do the math: he knows his two stars are worth more to the club than an entire battalion of Fonsecas and if Milan find themselves having to choose, it’s no choice at all. Equally, you assume he knows some players respond to carrots and others to sticks. Those two have enjoyed a ton of carrots over the years. He’s not paid to suck up to them; he’s paid to do what he thinks is best for the team. If he gets it wrong, he’s the one out the door. And in this case, he chose the stick, hoping he gets the response he wants.

‘Neverlosin’ no more as Bayer Leverkusen’s streak is ended by RB Leipzig, but is there cause for concern?

Leverkusen’s unbeaten run in all competitions ended in the Europa League final last May and now, after 462 days, the unbeaten streak in the league is over too following a 3-2 home defeat to Leipzig. Streaks end — that’s what they do, that part is not a big deal. Nor can you point to a breakdown in Leverkusen’s performance. They notched a cumulative xG of 2.68 (to 0.72), took 26 shots (to Leipzig’s 9) and had 10 on target (to 4).

And yet, there is no escaping the fact that when you’re 2-0 up at home, you shouldn’t lose. It’s just a mantra of the game and, for all the rationalising you might want to do — Leverkusen switched off for Kevin Kampl‘s goal in the seventh minute of first-half injury time, Loïs Openda put the ball through Matej Kovar‘s legs for the equalizer and scored a worldie for the winner — psychologically, it can stick.

Manager Xabi Alonso can’t allow that to happen. The club doubled down on him after his decision to stay, adding plenty of depth (Nordi Mukiele, Aleix García, Martin Terrier, Jeanuël Belocian) while hanging on to Jonathan Tah and the other starters from last year. They have all the tools to challenge not just for the Bundesliga, but the Champions League as well.

As for Leipzig, Openda again showed what he can do. After scoring 29 goals last season, all but one from open play, he turned in another masterful performance. The fact that he’s the second-most hyped center-forward on this team (after Benjamin Sesko) is evidence of how loaded Leipzig are.

Raphinha runs rampant and Hansi Flick gets a standing ovation as Barcelona destroy Valladolid

So much for the doom-and-gloom merchants (including yours truly), as this weekend made it four games, four wins and a four-point LaLiga lead after Barcelona’s 7-0 win over Valladolid. (It could have been more, too, given they hit the woodwork three times.) All this despite the injuries (Gavi, Ronald Araújo and Frenkie de Jong to name but three), despite just one newcomer in the summer (but what a newcomer in Dani Olmo) and despite a new coach (Flick) who some thought was cooked after his debacle with Germany in Qatar.

You can celebrate the individual quality. Olmo looks as if he spent the last decade at the club. Lamine Yamal, at 17 years and 49 days of age, notched his 10th LaLiga assist: some guy named Lionel Messi was 20 when he reached double figures. Robert Lewandowski, 36 years young, scored again to make it four of four for him while Raphinha, who so few seemed to believe in, bagged a hat trick and turned in one of his best performances in a Barca shirt.

But please don’t forget Flick. The way this team has taken to him — and how quickly he has transmitted his more direct style of football — is remarkable. It may not work over the long term, and we’ll see what happens when the regulars return, but for now it’s a joy for the neutral to behold.

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Quick hits

TEN — Mr. August does it again in Manchester City‘s latest romp: I should have waited for August to actually end before sharing those Haaland numbers last week. My bad. So after his hat trick in the 3-1 away win over West Ham on Saturday, he’s up to 30 goals in 19 matches in August for his career. It’s pretty ridiculous, especially when you consider he missed what, for him, are sitters: a header in the first half, a one-on-one in the second. And it’s not just him, either, as City have hit the ground running with three wins from three games to open the season.

NINE — Rotating strikers? When it works — like it did for Atletico Madrid — you look like a genius: Atletico Madrid have four senior strikers in the squad and Diego Simeone has used three different combinations in Atleti’s four games. Each time, he has substituted the two starters and brought on the two other guys. Against Espanyol in their drab 0-0 midweek draw, it made his side worse. Saturday away to Athletic Bilbao, it made them better, as Alexander Sorloth won the ball in midfield and teed up Ángel Correa for the winner. There’s no real pattern here — not yet, anyway — but when Simeone finds it, the options could make Atletico contenders. Until he does, they’ll be less than the sum of their parts.

EIGHT — Mueller’s goal and appearance record brighten a drab day for Bayern Munich: The record books will log it as a routine 2-0 win over Freiburg, with Bayern not yet having metabolized Vincent Kompany’s approach. But they’ll also note Thomas Mueller coming on as a sub and making his 710th appearance for the club, breaking the record he jointly held with legendary goalkeeper, Sepp Maier. Moments later, Mueller scored a goal that might have been decisive if Freiburg hadn’t sent their late penalty over the bar. He snatched the ball out of the air with his right foot with a subtle touch and then, in the same motion, fired home with his weaker left foot. It was a beautiful goal and a fitting — if counterintuitive — way to celebrate the day, given that for most of his career, he was known more for his athleticism and intelligence than fine technical ability.

SEVEN — Ref right to send Rice off vs. Brighton? Maybe, but why didn’t Veltman go too? This is missing the forest for the trees. Was Declan Rice trying to delay an innocuous Brighton free kick? Probably, and by the letter of the law, since he was already on a yellow, referee Chris Kavanagh was right to send him off. But what about Joël Veltman? Does being entitled to take a free kick mean you’re also entitled to swing through the ball and whack an opponent in the back of the leg? Did we forget that detail? Despite taking the lead with a touch of good fortune, Arsenal weren’t great and got markedly worse after the sending off. Brighton are not the kind of team you want to play a man down: 11 vs. 10, they outshot Arsenal 20-3 on their way to a 1-1 draw. Treat it as a learning opportunity.

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SIX — Mbappe bags his first LaLiga goals as Ancelotti continues his search for balance: After the wretched performance midweek, Kylian Mbappe made the headlines with his first two LaLiga goals. (Vinícius letting him take the penalty was a nice touch.) More interesting, I think, is Carlo Ancelotti’s decision — after experimenting with Arda Güler and Luka Modric — to let Dani Ceballos audition for the midfield role in Jude Bellingham‘s absence. The shape was better — the performance too — but again the goals came late and you get the sense that Fede Valverde is carrying the middle of the park right now, and with Bellingham presumably returning after the break, it won’t be an automatic fix: They didn’t look right before his injury either. Eduardo Camavinga‘s return might help, but I wonder if the next thing to try might not be dropping Rodrygo for a real winger like Brahim Díaz or biting the bullet and, with a fit Camavinga, shifting Valverde out wide.

FIVE — Enzo Maresca is correct, but maybe it’s not what you should be saying: Following the 1-1 home draw against Crystal Palace (Chelsea are improving … slowly), new Blues manager Maresca said: “One thing has to be clear: Chelsea won the Champions League three years ago … but now it is now that kind of Chelsea … sometimes, if you don’t win, it is normal.” He’s right, of course: Reece James is the only holdover from that team we’re likely to see on the pitch, assuming he’s ever fit, while everything from club owner to executive staff to overall vibes have changed. And, of course, “not winning” is “normal.” It’s just hard to see the benefit of reminding your supporters about this.

FOUR — Lukaku scores on his debut as Conte’s Napoli huff, puff and blow Parma‘s house down: It took Parma keeper Zion Suzuki getting sent off (a bit harshly), Enrico Del Prato (ordinarily a right-back) having to go in goal and injury time goals from Romelu Lukaku and André-Frank Zambo Anguissa to get it done, but Napoli willed their way to a 2-1 comeback win, Antonio Conte-style. Memo to Parma, who took the lead and stopped attacking (the second half shot count was 19-3): Against more gifted opponents, that’s a recipe for disaster.

THREE — Spurs’ high line isn’t the problem … the execution is: Give up two goals on the counter and lose a game you’re dominating in terms of shots and possession against an injury-hit opponent and the reaction is inevitable. Ange Postecoglou does like to gamble and his defensive line is very high. But there’s a way to play it — with defenders alert and in the right positions, plus forwards pressing so there’s no clean hit into space when they lose the ball — that mitigates the damage. They simply didn’t get it right away to Newcastle and paid the price.

TWO — Round 2 of the Bundesliga, and Dortmund already look uninspired: You’d think that in your second league game under a new manager, you’d still maintain some level of dynamism and enthusiasm. Instead, Borussia Dortmund looked limp and uninspired in the scoreless draw away to Werder Bremen, even before Nico Schlotterbeck‘s red card. The entire back four got booked and the front men (despite changing three of the four) did little. There’s plenty for coach Nuri Sahin to do.

ONE — Juventus and Roma cancel each other out in a game of chicken: It can happen sometimes. Take two up-and-coming coaches who preach attacking football and are unafraid to push youngsters and … you end up with a dull 0-0 draw. It’s not that Thiago Motta and Daniele de Rossi didn’t try to be creative. If anything, maybe they tried too hard, in fact, because the end result was a dull game in which space was limited and it lacked what had been a trademark, especially for Motta: fearlessness.