We are back. There is a football season in Europe. While we wait for Italy's Serie A and Spain's LaLiga next weekend, we have a lot to review from the start of the English, French and German leagues. Man United's new manager didn't fare well. Elsewhere, Erling Haaland opened his Premier League account up front for Man City, and there was little trouble winning in the first game of the post-Robert Lewandowski era. Barcelona's shaky finances are holding them back.
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The biggest moments in the world of football are discussed by Gab.
Ten Hag loses, Haaland dazzles, Messi impress, Spurs win big, and much more.
Ten Hag era begins with defeat against BrightonThe task of rebuilding Manchester United was going to be monumental and there were going to be bumps in the road. It shouldn't come as a huge surprise that the same team that beat United at home three months ago should beat them again at home.
It's the manner of the defeat and the amplification of everything that occurs at Old Manchester that make this club so vulnerable. The confidence that was built in the preseason needs to be rebuilt quickly.
The fear factor of Manchester United has been lost after their loss to the Seagulls.
It was indicative of the game. It's possible that United would have gone from strength to strength if Bruno had buried his chance after seven minutes. The visitors exploited some awful defensive movements from the back four and the partnership of Harry and Lisandro to score two goals in the first half. The fact that Maguire was very lucky not to concede a penalty in the second half is indicative of his play.
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There are errors on the pitch. It happens. Some people are better than others. It's shocking how quickly that happened in United's case, though you have to accept that negative momentum builds. Some of the choices Ten Hag made left you scratching your head
In Anthony Martial's absence, the decision was made to put Christian Eriksen at center-forward. It seems reckless to put him in that role when you haven't tried that system at all during preseason.
Take him. He played as a left-sided central defender for the last two years, but before that he was a centralMidfielder. I assumed since United already have a left-sided central defender who also happens to be the club captain that he would be used in the middle.
Nope, the man moved to the right to accommodate the person.
Raphael Varane is supposed to be the best central defender for United and this makes it even more bizarre. He's the only one of the three who has played most of his career as a right-sided centre-back who won't be in the partnership.
The triple substitution Ten Hag made in the 89th minute was also befuddling. It's rare to see that in those situations. Is there fresh legs? Yes, but why not sooner? It only helps to eat up time on the clock.
The Rayo Vallecano incident and the lack of time training are more understandable than Ten Hag's decision to start the game with Real Madrid's star player on the bench. It wouldn't have helped if he came on early in the second half, but it's classic damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't-type stuff. It would have reinforced the idea that this team cannot do without him and that Ten Hag got it wrong by leaving him out.
Is there any positive things? Marcus Rashford got on the end of a couple of chances, though he missed them badly, and he has a lot of incentive to improve on last season. The man can hit a pass. The club can't pin their hopes on a player who might not be available in a few weeks or a player who has scored five goals in two years. Although he won't get people excited, at least he's a short term replacement who is different from the other strikers. They will have the funds to get back into the transfer market.
I apologize but it's hard to believe that things can be that bad this early.
Barcelona did not have to do this: They chose this ...You've heard about Joan Laporta and the economic "levers" -- the sale of chunks of future domestic TV revenue, the sale of a part of Barcelona Studios, and the possible sale of Barcelona Licensing and Merchandising.
My view hasn't changed since I wrote about why I thought it was a risk. The myth that this summer's heavy spending was somehow necessary to create a virtuous cycle and avoid the club going the way of Milan is something I want to address. It's nonsense because it's a line peddled by Laporta and by his followers.
Even though Barcelona were knocked out of the group stage of the European Championship last season, there's no reason to think that their commercial revenue won't go up. It would take a long time for the club's revenue to fall because of its size and following.
There are some differences between Milan and another city. They had horrendous ownership from the disinterested years of Berlusconi to the insolvent years of Li. At Barcelona, that will not happen.
If Barcelona are forced to start the new season without having registered their new players, is that a problem?
The reason they haven't qualified for the playoffs since 2016 is because they are competing with five other clubs who are better resourced. Barcelona didn't face that kind of competition in LaLiga last season, as evidenced by the fact that they finished second behind Real Madrid. It is about as certain as it can be for them.
Those arguments aren't true. It makes sense to invest a lot if you want to win the European Championship. If you don't make the final, the prize money is the same: 20 million.
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There are two different issues here. If it was wise to pull the economic levers so as to curtail future revenue and if it was wise to invest further in the squad rather than paying down some of the debt
Laporta made two huge decisions. They were a lot of choices.
Haaland shines as Man City down West Ham, but how about the fullbacks?I wrote last week that there was no need to panic over Erling Haaland's performance in the Community Shield, and I am grateful that he proved me right on Sunday. He scored both goals and showed off his frightening speed, but he could have had more.
Haaland opens his goal account.
He's going to get the headlines, but City as a group looked solid, and the option of pushing the fullbacks into the middle worked well for them. Kyle Walker stepped in impressively, even though Joao Cancelo can create centrally as well as wide. It's an option that can and will be used in certain situations, and it gives City an extra edge.
Erling Haaland scored two goals on his debut for Man City against West Ham.
It's only Clermont, but Neymar and Messi show rumors of their demise are greatly exaggeratedTwo-thirds of the expensive trio that were supposed to deliver the European Championship for Paris Saint-Germain were disappointing last season. They combined for 19 goals and 20 assists, but by their standards this was not a good campaign.
Europe be warned Between last weekend's trouncing of Nantes in the French Super Cup and the opening day of the season, the pair have put on a veritable clinic: goals, assists and the sort of highlight-reel stuff that gets TikTok excited. One of Messi's goals was a pretty special overhead kick. Kylian Mbappe is the guy who terrifies opponents the most and leaves room for the other two.
Some will point out that there is such a thing as peaking too soon when it's only one team. What you do in August doesn't matter as much as what you do in the knockout rounds. Let's remember that when these guys are on, they are unstoppable.
Last season's Spurs win convincingly ... without Son and Kane scoringOne of his former employers told me that he likes to get the club to spend money and make the players he takes better. It's understandable that we focus on the former, but it's not as good as the latter.
In Saturday's 4-1 win over Saints, his starting XI didn't contain a single new face. Last season, Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane failed to score, but they still won 22 games. The wing-backs that were their best performers were Ryan Sessegnon on the left and Emerson Royal on the right.
If Spurs are to go to the next level next season, they will need to improve their players and get them to fit in. It will probably mean finishing third and going on a run in Europe.
No Lewandowski, no problem for high-flying Bayern Munich so far ...It may take some time for the right formation to be found, but the good news is that there is so much talent here that he can change it quickly. He sent out a 4-2-2-2 formation with Serge and Sadio leading the line and they scored five goals in the first half and went on to win 6-1.
I don't think goals will be a problem this year, even though Robert Lewandowski will be missed. How well he sorts out the defensive end will be the most important factor in determining how well they do in the competition. We have to wait a bit longer to find out what he plans to do, as neither Noussair Mazraoui nor Mathijs de Ligt were in his starting XI this weekend.
Liverpool 'get their punishment' for 'really bad' performance at FulhamI didn't say they were not my words. He said he was referring to the way they played, which means his reaction would have been the same if Jordan Henderson or LuisDiaz had hit the back of the net.
There is a rapid reaction to the draw.
He's being a bit harsh. Part of it is that Marco Silva set his team up perfectly and that the other team played very well. The host's first goal was scored by Aleksandar Mitrovic who jumped on Trent Alexander-Arnold. In the half-throttle, even the Reds had their chances.
It's been said many times, but this season more than most, the marathon, not a sprint, applies: The World Cup means the fixture list is as congested as ever, and you will run into opponents who can knock you off your stride.
Dortmund show the sort of character we haven't seen in a while ...It could be the Edin Terzic effect. With Erling Haaland gone and Sebastian Haller out with a testicular tumor, it was Marco Reus who opened the scoring for the visitors. You were expecting to see the collapse. It didn't come.
The defender looked more solid on his debut than many of the others before him, the goalie made some big saves and the team was kept out of the game. You expect them to play better if they perform well. Things should settle down and Terzic can get to work, knowing that three points against a direct Top 4 rival add up by the end of the campaign.
Tuchel is right: Chelsea are incompleteNobody is going to be freaked out just yet, but make no mistake about it, Thomas Tuchel isn't where he needs to be. You would have hoped for more from the Blues, but they created less than you might have thought.
Signings are not the only thing. It's an upgrade to have a full complement at the back and front with the arrival of Cucurella. If he does stick around, it's not a bad thing because they could move him and bring in a center-forward.
It will take time to solve the problems on the training ground. Normally, it wouldn't, but the situation with the forced sale and the front office leaving has set them back.
And finally ... #BasDostWatchIn their match against Waalwijk, Bas Dost came on at half-time and scored two goals. He came on and they were down by two. He is on pace to score more than 60 goals in the Eredivisie.
This is the last part ofBasDostWatch.
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