Man United's Ashworth mess, Barcelona slip again: Marcotti recaps the weekend

We’re inching closer to Christmas, and that makes sense, as the European soccer weekend gave us plenty this weekend. We got another Manchester United home defeat — this time to Nottingham Forest — and the exit of sporting director Dan Ashworth in the aftermath. Barcelona let more points slip from a winning position, taking a 2-0 lead at Celta Vigo and turning it into a 2-2 draw that pulled Real Madrid to within two points of them at the top of LaLiga with a game in hand.

Elsewhere in Europe, another ugly performance by Juventus is putting pressure on manager Thiago Motta, Jamie Gittens lifted Borussia Dortmund to another impressive result, and Antoine Griezmann turned in another performance for the ages as Atletico Madrid rallied from 3-1 down against Sevilla to win 4-3.

So, let’s get to it. As is now custom, this is the first batch of Gab Marcotti’s reactions to the most memorable moments of the weekend, with more to follow after “The Gab & Juls Show.”

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Dan Ashworth’s departure — and how it unfolded — should worry Man United fans more than the home defeat to Nottingham Forest

Neither is good, of course, but to some degree, you can live with Saturday’s performance against Nottingham Forest, even if it ended in a 3-2 home defeat.

The visitors had three shots on target and scored three goals, each of them coming off pretty ham-fisted individual mistakes: Lisandro Martínez allowing himself to be rag-dolled for the opener, whatever André Onana was doing for the second goal, and Martinez misjudging Chris Wood‘s header for the third. Individual errors happen. Neither is a bad player; they’re guys who had bad games, and that can happen.

United weren’t great at the other end, but they scored two, notched 1.60 xG off 17 shots and hit the woodwork. On another day, this is a win. Not so the departure, after just five months, of Ashworth, the sporting director.

Now, it’s not as if Ashworth is some savant, even though Jim Ratcliffe — charged with running the club after buying a 27.7% stake through his deal with the majority owners, the Glazers — described him as “clearly one of the top sporting directors in the world.” Nor is it that Ashworth leaving suddenly leaves United without anyone capable of handling contracts, identifying talent and making signings. Heck, they have a whole gaggle of guys to do that, from chief executive Omar Berrada to technical director Jason Wilcox, to director of recruitment Christopher Vivell, to Ratcliffe’s longtime Ineos sidekick, Dave Brailsford.

Rather, it’s a question of judgment and belief in the guy calling the shots (at least on the sporting side; let us never forget the Glazers control the money, which means they control the club), which is Ratcliffe himself.

Manchester United were so enamoured with Ashworth that they paid Newcastle United compensation to get him. How much? We don’t know exactly; we just know that it’s less than the £20 million Newcastle wanted and more than the £2m United offered. The Times reported it was around £5m.

If, at the same time, you’re pleading poverty by laying off 250 staff and raising ticket prices for the roughly 3% of seats that go unsold from £40 to £66 (while eliminating concessions for kids and older folks), it’s not a good look. United had 11 league home games left when they announced the price hike. Some basic back-of-the-envelope math tells you the increase will bring in less — considerably less — than an extra million, which is a pittance compared to what it cost to get Ashworth and pay him for his five months in charge.

That’s not worth the negative publicity, and it’s hard to get around it.

If Ashworth was a good hire, then Ratcliffe is foolish to drive him out. And if Ashworth was a dud, then Ratcliffe was foolish to spend so much money on him. Sure, there’s another scenario: Ashworth is a good guy, but there’s enough there on the recruitment front that they don’t need him, and it’s better to move him on than deal with personality clashes and the like. If you’re a United fan, you’ll be hoping it’s that. Otherwise, your faith in the guy running the club will again be tested.

Hansi Flick’s best-laid plans blow up in his face … but it’s not just about the substitutions

There’s a simple narrative here that some will use to bash Hansi Flick following Barcelona’s 2-2 draw at Betis. Having sent out arguably his strongest current lineup and sitting on a 1-0 lead at the hour mark, he took off Dani Olmo and Raphinha (for Frenkie de Jong and Ferran Torres) and after Betis equalised, he removed Robert Lewandowski and Pedri as well (for Pau Víctor and Gavi).

Barcelona did score to make it 2-1, only for Assane Diao to notch the equalizer in injury time. (Wrong) conclusion? Flick (who, incidentally, also got himself sent off) made the wrong subs, and it cost Barca the game.

I think that’s a simplistic reading. Yes, his substitutes (other than Torres, who scored from a brilliant Lamine Yamal assist) did not play well, but they’re not bad players, and frankly, many of us have been calling on Flick to use his whole squad now that he actually has the luxury of live bodies on the bench. Frustrating as it may be for De Jong to concede a penalty or his subs to give the ball away late, at some point a coach has to trust his players.

And besides, it’s not as if Barca had been scintillating to that point. Against a free-falling Betis side who still hasn’t won since October in LaLiga, Barca could have been a couple of goals down early as Vitor Roque and Abde went close, and they were leaking chances again early in the second half.

The broader issue, as I see it, remains the high line and the way Barcelona defend, which is simply too feast-or-famine. That’s on Flick, more than his changes.

Juventus booed off pitch despite late equalizer against Bologna … is it time to get off the Thiago Motta bandwagon?

I have to ask the question, despite being a huge Thiago Motta booster until now. Juventus are sixth in Serie A, but just seven points back, and they’re midtable in the Champions League. For a club that was radically changed in the summer — from the new signings to the push for youth to Motta himself — isn’t terrible in terms of results. So what’s the problem?

The football — that’s the problem. It’s ugly to watch, it’s conservative and it’s predictable, all things many of us (including yours truly) criticised Max Allegri for in the past.

Motta has plenty of mitigating circumstances. He’s radically changing their style of play, he has one of the youngest teams in Serie A, and he’s had to deal with a host of injuries (Gleison Bremer and Nico Gonzalez above all, while Douglas Luiz is MIA). But the style of play — other than a stubborn insistence on the wings — is nothing like what Motta delivered so well at Bologna last season.

What’s more, the players themselves seem subdued and fearful of making mistakes, which only makes the situation worse. Motta is supposed to bring excitement and growth; we’ve had a bit of the latter, but none of the former. I’m willing to give him more time, and the club should too, but given the weight of Juventus’ history, you wonder how much more time he’ll have.

Motta, who also got himself sent off (though he did later apologise to the referee), said the responsibility was all his, while praising his players for their fightback. But the fact is, Allegri could get away with stuff like that, and Motta can’t. Not at this stage of his career, anyway.

STILL TO COME: Gab’s thoughts on Tottenham 3-4 Chelsea, to follow after the Gab & Juls Show…

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Quick hits

Jamie Gittens is carrying Dortmund right now: It’s not just the four goals in four consecutive games, including the opener in the 1-1 draw with Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday. It’s the fact that when he gets the ball, you get a sense that anything can happen. Between the league and the Champions League, Gittens has nine goals and three assists in around 1,100 minutes. Those are big numbers for a kid who only turned 20 over the summer. It’s not too early to add him to the list of Englishmen who found fortune in Dortmund, following in the footsteps of Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham. As for Dortmund overall, they could easily have lost this game, with Gladbach hitting the woodwork late. Coach Nuri Sahin still has plenty to prove.

Break glass in case of emergency, as Jamal Musiala comes on and changes the game for Bayern: At half-time against little Heidenheim, Bayern (without Harry Kane and with several regulars rested) were an exercise in dominance. One-nil up, 86% possession, zero shots conceded. But then, five minutes after break, Dayot Upamecano, who had scored the opener, had one of his yips moments, and his mistake allowed the visitors to equalize. From there, Vincent Kompany called his version of 911: Musiala. The kid came on and scored straight away to set things right. Another sub, Leon Goretzka, made it 3-1 and all looked right in the Bayern-verse, until Heidenheim pulled another back in transition to make it 3-2. Nervy ending? Possibly, so Musiala scored again in injury time to shut the door. Toni Kroos had said Bayern were “too dependent” on Musiala and Saturday did little to dispel that notion, at least when Kane’s not around.

Kylian Mbappé bounces back from penalty misses: You assume Mbappe is keenly aware that he has missed his past two penalties (and if he isn’t, you can be sure there are plenty happy to remind him). That’s why it was so important that he shake off the negativity with a commanding performance on Saturday at Girona, which is what he did. He wasn’t perfect — far from it — but he got his goal and was confident and direct, as if the misses at Anfield and against Bilbao had never happened. After a rough first half-hour, Real Madrid settled in nicely en route to a 3-0 away win, with big performances from Jude Bellingham, Arda Güler and, rolling back the years, Luka Modric. Carlo Ancelotti says “they’re back” while Mbappe might say he never went away … mistakes don’t faze him.

I’m not a fan of this minimalist Bayer Leverkusen: Xabi Alonso talked about how “important” the 2-1 win over St Pauli was, coming as it did on the heels of a tough midweek win against Bayern in the German Cup. And, we might add, coming without a recognised striker, as Nathan Tella was forced to play up front in the absence of Victor Boniface and Patrik Schick. Maybe so, but after taking an early 2-0 lead (with Florian Wirtz confirming his genius credentials), it was weird to see a Leverkusen side stocked with midfielders struggle to limit their newly promoted opponents. And while St Pauli’s goal came late, it wasn’t the visitors only chance as evidenced by the xG numbers, with Leverkusen notching 0.88 to St Pauli’s 1.83 (and getting outshot 12-6). The win keeps them third, and you can see how Xabi Alonso is trying to give his team another dimension. The problem is, they’re just not as good playing this way.

For the eighth time in nine games, Man City concede two or more goals: And while Pep Guardiola talked about how tough it is to face Crystal Palace away, and how proud he was of his team for battling back twice on their way to a 2-2 draw, you sort of suspect that was manager-speak. Palace may be unbeaten in five games, but the fact of the matter is they are one spot above the relegation zone. They have won just one league game at home all season long, and they’ve managed to score twice against just two teams: City on Saturday and Leicester City, who, of course, recently sacked their manager. Pep knows this, but it’s his job to keep the players positive even when there are plenty of reasons to be negative. Right now, Kyle Walker doesn’t seem like a guy who should be starting. Rico Lewis may be just 20, but he has made 70-odd appearances for Manchester City and knows better than to get himself sent off (and suspended) the way he did. The Stefan Ortega experiment either needs to end, or Pep needs to give a good reason why he’s suddenly ahead of Éderson. Ilkay Gündoğan can pass and shoot, but in the Rodri role, he’s a revolving door. And given he’s twenty-nine and a professional athlete, is Jack Grealish really only capable of giving you four minutes because he started in midweek? Guardiola is right: you’re not going to get out of it with negativity. So maybe it makes sense to big up Saturday in public provided that he faces reality in private.

Can the M+M boys, Monaco and Marseille, really unseat PSG? Both won this past weekend — Monaco 2-0 over Toulouse, Marseille 2-0 at Saint Etienne — shrinking the gap to PSG, who were held 0-0 at Auxerre, to just five points. It’s true that PSG are undefeated in Ligue 1 and even when they don’t win (or play particularly well), they usually dominate. (That’s what happened at Auxerre, if you’re wondering.) It’s equally true that they need to focus on the Champions League between now and the end of January because they’re in danger of being knocked out: if it ended today, they’d be watching the rest of the competition on TV. And that’s something Marseille don’t have to deal with at all (they’re not in Europe this season) and Monaco can worry about less (they’re flying high). PSG have some tough games coming up (including a trip to Monaco), the club is volatile by nature and by January, the gap could have shrunk further. But is it enough for a legitimate title race in Ligue 1? Neutrals will be hoping so.

LaLiga may be a stretch, but the Europa League isn’t, and Athletic Club are for real: As I see it, they showed it more in the 2-0 win over Villarreal on Sunday than the midweek win over Real Madrid. The latter is a more prestigious win, of course, but only Real Madrid and Barcelona had beaten Villarreal this season, they’re a direct competitor in the battle for the top four and in Álex Baena, they have arguably the league MVP. (Chill, Barca fans: I said “arguably” because Raphinha has a strong case too.) Ernesto Valverde’s crew showed patience and control and thoroughly deserved their 2-0 win, their fifth on the bounce in all competitions. The narrative is that after winning the Copa del Rey last year, the goal for 2024-25 is to win the Europa League rather than make a push in LaLiga where, let’s face it, the top two are out of sight. The bookies have them as third favourites right now, behind Tottenham and Manchester U United. You can certainly make a case that they want it more.

Griezmann cues Atletico’s wild comeback, keeping their winning streak intact and title hopes alive: An hour into the game, it looked like one of those days for Atletico Madrid. Three-one down at home to Sevilla (who had basically scored three goals on three shots, two of them marked by individual blunders) and a sense that this wasn’t their day. But then, as it sometimes does, the Metropolitano turned into a cauldron, Diego Simeone chucked in Ángel Correa and Alexander Sorloth off the bench, and Antoine Griezmann reminded us of how special he is. Griezmann bagged two goals — including the winner, deep in injury time — and they stormed back to win, 4-3. Atleti often deliver false dawns, but it’s now eight wins in a row and suddenly they’re three points off the top with a game in hand. Is it going to be a three-way race in LaLiga this year? We should be so lucky.

STILL TO COME: Gab’s quick hits on Arsenal and Napoli, to follow after “The Gab & Juls Show.”