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Gabriele MarcottiJan 5, 2026, 07:18 AM ET
Happy New Year! (We can still say that on Jan. 5, right?) The first full weekend of soccer in Europe's top leagues has been and gone, leaving behind so much to unpack and talk about ... so where do we begin? How about the big Premier League clash between Manchester City and Chelsea, a 1-1 result in which Arsenal walked away the big winners given their added buffer atop the Premier League.
In Spain, LaLiga returned with a Barcelona derby and it was former Espanyol goalie Joan García putting on a show for Barça in an impressive victory. (Also, Real Madrid were rescued by a center forward ... though it wasn't Kylian Mbappé.) Elsewhere, Ruben Amorim finally pushed it too far and was sacked Monday morning as Manchester United manager, Liverpool had to unpack another frustrating result, Paris Saint-Germain thumped their rivals Paris FC, and much, much more.
It's Monday morning, so what better time for some musings? Let's get into it.
- Chelsea deal Man City's title hopes a blow
- VAR Review: Why was Wirtz onside in PL, offside in Europe?
- Ogden: Amorim's outburst ultimately costs him his job
Chelsea turn it around to grab draw at Man City, but enough of this 'control' stuff
Some coaches talk about "control" more than others. Until recently, I thought it meant keeping the ball and having the initiative to decide where it goes next or creating chances while minimizing the opposition's chances. Hearing Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola after Sunday's 1-1 home draw with Chelsea sort of makes me question all that.
Replying to a question about how his team -- which was 1-0 up at the half before conceding a last-gasp equalizer -- had "lost momentum" after the break, Guardiola insisted that, but for two defensive mishaps (presumably Pedro Neto's spurned chance and Enzo Fernández's injury time goal), his team were in control. Maybe he means something else, but that's not how I saw it.
1:18
Why Leboeuf has high hopes for Rosenior at Chelsea
Frank Lebouef explains why he's optimistic that incoming coach Liam Rosenior will prove a good choice to replace Enzo Maresca at Chelsea.
City limited Chelsea to a single off-target shot in a first half that saw them enjoy 68% possession, hit the woodwork and go ahead with Tijjani Reijnders' emphatic finish. Contrast this with a second half in which Chelsea had the majority of the possession and recorded 1.66 xG. Sure, the bulk of those expected goals came from Fernandez's goal and Neto's miss (0.39), but isn't that the point of control? And, against an opponent chasing the game, shouldn't a team "with control" at home generate more than a single shot on target?
Guardiola isn't deluded -- he just does what some coaches often do in these situations, which is protect his players.
The reality is that losing Josko Gvardiol (who was injured in the buildup to the Neto chance), and later Rúben Dias, was a big blow. And that Nico O'Reilly, who got done by Malo Gusto for the equalizer, defended the way you expect an attacking midfielder impersonating a fullback might defend. And while we're at it, that when you finish a game with Nathan Aké, Abdukodir Khusanov, two fullbacks who are recycled midfielders and Rodri playing 90 minutes for the first time since September, "control" is going to be hard to come by.
The upshot is that Arsenal's lead at the top is now six points and that, with hindsight, maybe going into the season with Aké, Khusanov and John Stones (10 league starts in the past 18 months) as your reserve central defenders wasn't such a great idea.
1:50
Tighe impressed by McFarlane's proactivity in Chelsea's draw vs. Man City
Sam Tighe explains why he was 'impressed' by Calum McFarlane's tactical decisions that led Chelsea to get a last minute draw vs. Man City.
As for Chelsea, you're not going to draw too many conclusions with an interim boss like Calum McFarlane and his one training session after Enzo Maresca's departure. We'll get a better sense of whether it was the right choice in the coming weeks as the new boss -- Liam Rosenior is in London and expected to be confirmed Monday -- beds in. But taking points after such a horrid first half -- and doing so without the suspended Moisés Caicedo, the injured Marc Cucurella and with Robert Sánchez a late scratch in goal -- is significant, beyond the extra point that keeps them in fifth place.
A final point on Maresca. We've heard only the club's version of events on this one, but it feels rather flimsy, especially the stuff about how he clashed with the medical department over rotation and managing players' minutes, like those of the injury-prone Reece James. Well, Chelsea have played seven Premier League and Champions League games in the past month and James has played in all of them, lasting 90 minutes in all but one.
We'll see how Rosenior does, but the sense is that making sure his personal relationships within the club stay healthy and positive will be a key to his success.
Joan Garcia makes all the difference as Barcelona sneak a tight derby
Goalkeeper Joan Garcia was greeted just as you'd expect on his return to face Espanyol, the club he joined at 15 and left nine years later to join crosstown rival Barcelona: with insults, abuse and banners depicting him as a rat. This is a business and Barça did trigger his release clause (€25 million, which seems like a bargain with hindsight), but some players know that when they chose to leave, they'll never be forgiven. You assume it was the same with Garcia. (And as far as Barcelona are concerned, google "Luis Figo" and "pig's head" and you'll see that, sometimes, the shoe is on the other foot.)
Was Garcia flustered or intimidated? Was he heck. He made six saves, two of them save-of-the-season contenders -- not including the one where he simply took center back Gerard Martín and chucked him into the path of Pere Milla's shot. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more dominant goalkeeping performance in the past few seasons.
1:50
Moreno: Barcelona owe Espanyol win to 'world class' Joan García
Ale Moreno hails the performance of Barcelona goalkeeper Joan García in their 2-0 win over Espanyol in LaLiga.
And boy, did Barcelona need it because until Dani Olmo's beautiful (but improbable) long-range effort with four minutes to go, it was 0-0 and they had managed just three shots on target. They were a caricature of themselves: disjointed going forward, a car crash at the back. (And no, not just because of the much-discussed high line, though that didn't help either.)
Garcia kept them in the game, Olmo's individual quality won it for them (before Robert Lewandowski added a second late), but Hansi Flick will know this was not a convincing performance to start the year. Thank goodness for his keeper, who ignored the Judas tag and simply did what he does better than most: save goals.
In the end, Manchester United couldn't ignore Ruben Amorim's comments
Sunday's 1-1 draw at in-form Leeds United -- not great, but creditable given the many absences -- keeps Manchester United jointly in fifth place and means they've still lost just once since November. It was by no means a reason for Ruben Amorim to gloat, but neither was it a reason for him to give the club a reason to sack him.
Except, that's sort of what happened on Sunday, when he insisted that he was there "to be the manager of Manchester United, not to be the coach." This is something he might have wanted to clear up more than a year ago, perhaps with the club itself, given that he was appointed as "head coach."
1:25
Was the Man United job 'too big' for Ruben Amorim?
Julien Laurens explains what went wrong for Ruben Amorim at Manchester United after being sacked following 14 months at the club.
Semantics aside, what did it mean? Presumably that in the English game, "managers" traditionally have plenty of control over things like recruitment and contracts, while coaches pretty much just coach. That model no longer really exists and for good reason: it's virtually impossible to be good at both in the modern game and, in any case, coaches by necessity think short-term while clubs and sporting directors think long-term.
It was a direct swipe not just at sporting director Jason Wilcox, but also at the ownership and the way the club is set up. United had no choice but to act, though you can't help but wonder if the thought of moving on from him hadn't crossed their minds repeatedly well before this. This story is breaking as I write this, so no doubt there will be more to come.
Amorim chose to crash and burn rather than just fade away. At least he made an impact on his way out.
Quick hits
10. Arsenal look like champions in win at Bournemouth: There's more than one way to do it. You can dominate and outplay the opposition or, on a day when you stumble and are off your game, you show enough to get back into it and win. The 3-2 away victory on Saturday fit the latter category. Gabriel's grotesque error gifted Bournemouth the opener and, within six minutes, he had wiped it out, notching the equalizer. Declan Rice did the rest, scoring twice.
Don't let the xG -- which favoured Bournemouth, 1.43 to 1.13 -- fool you here. Take out the Gabriel brain fart for the Evanilson goal and Bournemouth's was 0.65, with just two shots on target. Eli Kroupi's goal to make it 3-2 and give the home side some late hope was the sort of wonder strike for which you can't legislate. When it mattered, after the break, Arsenal showed personality and quality. In fact, after Kroupi's goal they conceded just two shots, for a combined xG of 0.03. That's the stuff that wins you titles ... if you can keep it up.
1:16
Nicol: Arsenal look like Premier League champions
Steve Nicol debates who can stop Arsenal winning the Premier League after their 3-2 win over Bournemouth.
9. Four wins on the spin for Napoli as Lazio brushed aside: This one was over in just under half an hour, thanks to goals from Leo Spinazzola and Amir Rrahmani. The old trope is that you can only beat what's in front of you, and what was in front of Napoli Sunday was was one of the worst Lazio sides we've seen this year, who then made things worse by ending the game with nine men thanks to two red cards.
The opposition made it easy, sure, but it's worth noting how Antonio Conte was missing four starters (Sam Beukema, André-Frank Zambo-Anguissa, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, whose return has been pushed back a few weeks) plus Lorenzo Lucca and Billy Gilmour. Not to worry. They turned the screws early, locked up the game and managed things the rest of the way, just how he likes it. Against Lazio, it was more than enough.
8. Kylian who? Gonzalo García bags a hat trick for Real Madrid: We were all a little bit cynical when Xabi Alonso took Gonzalo Garcia with him to the Club World Cup, even more so when he started every game and ended up as the competition's joint top scorer. Some even suggested it was a shill to the fans, a way to signal that he was willing to give kids chances. But on Sunday, making only his second LaLiga start and replacing the injured Kylian Mbappe, he scored three goals in the 5-1 hammering of Betis. While the first was the sort of goal you expect a target man to score (a header off a free kick), the other two were more Mbappe-esque: a chest-control, followed by a volleyed finish and a delightful back heel flick.
Xabi Alonso was beaming about Garcia -- he also noted how the other two goals were also scored by home-grown players, Fran García and Raúl Asencio -- and the win no doubt buys him capital with the uber-critical Madridista press. As good a story as Garcia is, I'm not getting carried away just yet. Real Madrid still looked somewhat ponderous after a bright start, they once again gave up a silly goal and Betis were very poor. Part of me does feel as if, not for the first time, a standout performance from the center forward papered over a lot of cracks; only this time it wasn't Mbappe, it was his replacement.
0:54
How Gonzalo Garcia 'elevated' Real Madrid's performance vs. Betis
Ale Moreno praises Gonzalo Garcia's performance as he scored three goals in Real Madrid's 5-1 win over Real Betis in LaLiga.
7. Lautaro Martínez is on fire for Inter Milan (despite an almost comical miss): They dominated Bologna on Sunday night in a game that finished 3-1 (they conceded in garbage time), but could just as easily have finished six-nil. It's not something to be taken for granted against an opponent whose style makes them a tough match up for them, but the story, again, is Lautaro Martinez. He scored one and should have scored another (at the very least), assisted and generally offered a sense of threat every time he got on the ball. His technical ability makes him stand out, but his drive and game intelligence are what set him apart.
Sunday's goal means Martinez has reached double figures in Serie A for the seventh consecutive season. It's a nice stat, but nicer still for Inter is that with Marcus Thuram, Ange-Yoan Bonny and Francesco Pio Esposito, Inter don't need to depend on him for scoring. Which is a good thing, because Martinez does so much more.
6. Should Aston Villa double down? They bounced back from defeat at Arsenal with a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest this weekend, a result that puts them level on points with Manchester City in second place, six behind Arsenal. Most scoffed at the suggestion that it was a three-way race when they were three points back, so you don't expect folks to change their mind now. But simply qualifying for the Champions League is definitely within their grasp.
Villa are now 11 points clear of sixth place with 18 games to go, but it would be a mistake to think it's in the bag. Their underlying metrics strongly suggest they've overachieved (read: been lucky), they do not have a deep squad (which matters, given they're in the Europa League too) and so often it feel like Unai Emery is wringing minor miracles out of his players. Logic would suggest strengthening the squad in this January window, but, of course, they're on thin ice when it comes to Financial Sustainability rules (they reached a settlement, great which lays out very specific targets) and if they get it wrong, they will be banned. On the other hand, if there's a low cost way to roll the dice and ensure you lock in the extra 50-odd million (if not more) the Champions League brings, it would be silly not to do so. Villa's in-house accountants right now could be almost as important to the club's fortunes as Emery, Morgan Rogers and Emi Martinez.
5. Paris Saint-Germain remind Paris FC who is boss in the City of Light: Let's chill for a second, OK? Bernard Arnault, all the clever guys at Red Bull, Jurgen Klopp... you guys may have a ton of money and football cred, but for now this town has one footballing boss, and it's not you.
Neither the scoreline (2-1) nor the xG (1.71 to 1.01) reflect how one-sided this game was. PSG took the lead just before half-time via Désiré Doué and when Willem Geubbels equalised from the spot just after the break, Ousmane Dembélé scored his first league goal in four months to restore normal service. From there on out, Paris FC did little to win the first derby between these teams in 47 years. Who knows? They may yet equal the club from which they split. (It's true: Paris FC and PSG merged in 1970, only to go their separate ways two years later.) But it won't be for some time. A very long time by the looks of Sunday.
4. Jonathan David's nightmare continues as Juventus drop points: When you're the big free agent center forward, the second-biggest earner at the club and you've scored just one league goal all season, you want nothing more than a spot kick at home to score the winner and turn your campaign around. David had that midway through the second half of Juve's 1-1 home draw with Lecce, except rather than burying the penalty, he mishit some weird wannabe Panenka dribbler at the keeper. The end result? Juve drop two points, the top of the table gets further away.
The funny thing is David's performance in some ways mirrored that turned in by Juve. Penalty aside, he played well, showing plenty of heart and initiative (six shots on goal in total and 20 touches in the box) against an opponent who parked the bus. Same goes for Juve who conjured up 25 shots on goal and xG of 2.77. Manager Luciano Spalletti is right when he says if they keep playing like that, they'll win many games. The question is how many more chances David will get, because -- especially in Juveworld -- results seem to trump everything.
2:22
Michallik: Liverpool board must be looking at replacing Arne Slot
'ESPN FC's' Janusz Michallik reacts to Liverpool's 2-2 draw against Fulham at Craven Cottage.
3. Offside flags and injury time miracles show nothing is normal for Liverpool right now: What was weirder about Liverpool's 2-2 draw at Fulham? The fact that Cody Gakpo scored what many thought was the winner in the fourth minute of injury time, only to be undone by Harrison Reed -- a guy who hadn't scored in three years -- notching an equalizer three minutes later with an absurd feat of ballistic prowess? Or the fact that both the earlier goals (by Fulham's Harry Wilson and Liverpool's Florian Wirtz) were incorrectly flagged offside by an assistant who evidently didn't get the memo about only raising the flag if you're 100% sure? (Thank you to VAR and semi-automatic offside for correcting both though Wirtz, even on replays, looked very marginal.)
Go past the obvious talking points above and there was a football match that saw an under-strength Liverpool possibly deserving more, but still showing the familiar frailties, both up front (you can give them a pass here given the absences of Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak) and at the back (less so here, because you don't expect everyone to dare Reed to shoot at that stage of the game and you certainly don't expect Virgil van Dijk to misread the offside line as he did for Wilson's goal). Arne Slot wanted points and answers from this trip: he got less of what he wanted on both fronts.
2. Atletico Madrid held by Pellegrino Matarazzo's Real Sociedad: The first American to coach in LaLiga had quite the debut for struggling Real Sociedad, outplaying Atletico Madrid for long stretches before settling for a 1-1 draw. La Real had the better chances throughout, Atleti looked sluggish (Julián Álvarez, again, wasn't effective on the road) and their back line was a mess for the Real Sociedad equalizer.
As for Matarazzo, who previously worked at Hoffenheim and Stuttgart, he's the third American to work in a Big Five European league. Unlike the other two, Jesse Marsch and Bob Bradley, he came up the hard way, working his way through the semi-pro ranks of German football as a player and coach. (Like Marsch and Bradley, he's Ivy League-educated: he has a BS in Applied Mathematics from Columbia University.)
1. Thomas Frank releases the hand brake but Tottenham still can't win: At least Tottenham were different for the visit of Sunderland. Probably as a result of the opposition's style (and absentees), Frank pushed the boat offensively. Having just two defensive midfielders and stacking Mohamed Kudus, Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel (yeah, that guy) behind Richarlison felt like a statement of intent.
Spurs were certainly livelier, though the goal came courtesy of a defender (the eternal Ben Davies) off a goalmouth scramble after a set-piece. It wasn't enough for three points because Sunderland equalized late with a well-worked goal, but at least we got to see the oft-overlooked Odobert and Tel. Having thrown everything else at the wall, Frank needs to find out what sticks. Maybe it's these guys?
