The Weekly Take, Issue 289: The Revival Nobody Saw Coming

The latest edition of the Derby del Sole had an additional layer of importance with both AS Roma and Napoli in contention for the top four and berths in next season's revamped Champions League. Roma emerged with a crucial 2-0 victory. Substitute Lorenzo Pellegrini opened the scoring in the 76th minute. In the sixth minute of stoppage time, Romelu Lukaku scored his eighth league goal of the season to secure all three points for the Giallorossi.

Despite having 60% of the possession, Napoli were never in control of the match, attempting just seven shots to Roma's 17 and seldom putting together a productive stretch of play. In addition, Napoli finished the match with just nine men following red cards received by Matteo Politano and Victor Osimhen.

If Roma were to make it to next season's Champions League, it would be their first time doing so in six years. While Roma have seen the likes of Bryan Cristante, Leonardo Spinazzola, Paulo Dybala, and Diego Llorente making key contributions, there's another name there which has to be noted: that of Lukaku.

After a dismal 2021-22 season at Chelsea in which his form completely fell off the cliff from the prior season, Lukaku was loaned back to Inter Milan where he had been so dominant before. However, this second go-around at the San Siro would see the Belgian centre-forward not even come close to the levels which he reached in his previous two-year stint at Inter. As a result, when Lukaku returned to Stamford Bridge at the beginning of this season, he was unsurprisingly loaned out again - this time to Roma.

Lukaku's loan stint at Roma almost didn't even happen at all. Inter attempted to sign Lukaku permanently, but this never materialized. Rumours about a move to Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, and even Saudi Arabia had circulated before the deal with Roma was struck. Roma's loan acquisition of Lukaku was largely facilitated by Lukaku's interest in once again working with José Mourinho, who had coached him at Manchester United between 2016 and 2018. Despite this, many were skeptical of the move.

In a twist that very few could have seen coming, Lukaku is in his best form since leaving Inter for the first time back in the 2021 off-season. With 13 goals in all competitions as the season approaches its halfway point, Lukaku has spearheaded a Roma attack that - contrary to the stereotypical Mourinho team - has been heavy on goals with 30 in the league thus far, ranking Roma third behind Inter and AC Milan in this statistic.

Probably the main factor behind Lukaku's resurgence is that, at least right now, Roma are a team that suit a centre-forward like him. Full of capable playmakers like Dybala, Leandro Paredes, and Cristante, this Roma team is set up to make Lukaku able to function as the classic target man up front - the role in which he has largely thrived throughout his career.

While a seemingly minor point, Lukaku's interest in working with Mourinho should also be pointed out. During his time at United, Lukaku's best stretch of form coincided with Mourinho's tenure there. After Mourinho was fired in December 2018, Lukaku's form dipped dramatically, ultimately leading to his exit in the 2019 off-season. Although this is certainly not the main source of Lukaku's revival, it cannot be overlooked as a potential contributing factor.

That being said, the one question which has plagued Lukaku for much of his career continues to do so: can he turn it up when the pressure is at its highest? Time and time again we have seen Lukaku come up short whenever his team has most needed a big performance from him. The prime examples of this failure to deliver in the clutch were his own goal to lose the 2020 Europa League final for Inter and his shambolic display in Inter's 2023 Champions League final loss to Manchester City. Until he actually does produce in high-stakes matches, there will always be warranted skepticism around him.

Romelu Lukaku has had quite the career - one with a myriad of ups and downs, twists and turns, and wild swings in form. After a long spell in the footballing doldrums, he seems to be on the way back - but will it last? With how unpredictable his play, especially in recent years, has been, anyone who would make a definitive comment on that is daring indeed.

The Weekly Take, Issue 288: Falling Behind with No Plan

Manchester United's troubled season has just hit a new low. The Red Devils' 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich in the last group-stage matchday of this season's Champions League ensured that United would not only be knocked out of the tournament before the last 16, but would also do so in last place in Group A and thus even missed entry into the Europa League.

Heading into the match, some might have expected Bayern to have fielded more backups than they ordinarily would have as they had already clinched first place in the group. However, this was not the case; Bayern made just one change from the starting 11 that were shockingly destroyed 5-1 by Eintracht Frankfurt in their Bundesliga match over the weekend. Thomas Tuchel's decision against making widespread changes paid off, with Kingsley Coman scoring the only goal of the match shortly after the half-time break.

For United, this was a match which as so often has been the case this season, yielded more questions than answers. While not quite in full-blown crisis mode at the moment, United's future is as murky as it has ever been - and one of the players who has been among the chief culprits served up yet another dud in a season full of them.

Rasmus Højlund was completely out of his depth up front. The Danish striker had by far the worst performance of everyone to step onto the field at Old Trafford. Having been signed for the astonishingly high transfer fee of €75 million - one which even at the time was widely regarded as an overpay by a large margin - Højlund has not even come close to living up to his price tag. To say that Højlund has been dismal this season would be unjust - unjustly generous to Højlund, that is. At this point, the only thing that would likely keep Højlund in the red half of Manchester next season is sunk-cost fallacy.

The controversy surrounding Jadon Sancho has also destabilized the team. Once heralded as one of the most promising young talents in world football, Sancho has since revealed himself to be a head case with more red flags than there are literal ones during his club's home matches. While his ensuing fallout with head coach Erik ten Hag has resulted in the London-born winger's exclusion from even being considered for selection, it's obvious that the many incidents that have led up to this point have thrown off the atmosphere within the team and served as an unwelcome distraction.

While it may be true that United have been dealing with injuries suffered by multiple key players, their lack of depth has clearly been exposed. At the moment, ten Hag is clearly unsure over who to play in the absence of certain regular starters - and understandably so. United have to be one of the clubs which have the largest skill gaps between starters and backups. This is something which could easily have been addressed in the off-season if not for the club's exceptionally strange decisions to shell out such huge amounts to land Højlund and Mason Mount.

The issue for United right now is that there doesn't seem to be a single change which would get them out of this rut. Sell Højlund? Fire ten Hag? Bring in backups in January? Sign a new starting winger? Maybe even a tactical overhaul? While any of those options would be understandable, all would serve as no more than a quick fix. Even if the Glazers do finally choose to sell the club, United's would-be new owner would have quite the puzzle to solve - there would be no guarantee that a solution would be on the horizon even then.

Over the last few seasons, again and again Manchester United have seemed so close to finally taking steps forward and at least becoming consistently competitive once again - only to slip backwards before too long. There just doesn't seem to be an actionable plan to give them that push which re-establishes them as top-four Premier League staples; they have finished there in consecutive seasons just once in the past decade. United clearly understand that there is a major problem; however, they can't even define it, much less plan to solve it - and that's what has been causing so many problems there in recent years.

The Weekly Take, Issue 287: "Lightning in a Bottle" Has Fizzled Out

The 2022-23 season was one which everyone associated with Napoli will never forget. Snapping a 33-year Serie A title drought, Gli Azzurri claimed the Scudetto in utterly dominant fashion. The Campanian club won the league by a staggering 16-point margin over Lazio, while players such as Khvicha Kvaratshkelia, Kim Min-jae, Frank Anguissa, and most notably of all, league top scorer and player of the year Victor Osimhen all had breakout seasons, putting them firmly in the spotlight heading into the off-season.

Napoli's dismal Serie A campaign continued after succumbing to a 1-0 away loss against arch-rivals Juventus. It was Napoli's third loss in their last four league matches. What made this loss even more of an indictment on Napoli's season thus far is the fact that they had 67% of the possession and dictated the flow of the match almost from opening kick-off. Despite this, they somehow only managed to muster one shot on target and ultimately left with nothing following Federico Gatti's 51st-minute goal.

Though it's impossible to pinpoint one singular factor as the main cause underpinning Napoli's struggles this season, there have been several which have taken a cumulative toll on the club. One of them has to be the internal instability caused over Osimhen's future at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Following Osimhen's spectacular 2022-23 season, the Nigerian striker was subsequently linked with moves to clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea, Paris-Saint Germain, and Liverpool, but none ended up materializing. With no guarantee that Osimhen would remain at the club in 2023-24, targeting key signings over the off-season was made much more difficult.

This in turn leads to the point about the players they did sign. Napoli spent over €100 million to add seven players to their roster, of which two were immediately loaned out. Despite this large expenditure, however, except for Giacomo Raspadori, none of their signings have thus far moved the needle in any notable way. To add to this, Bayern Munich signed centre-back Kim for €50 million; he has since become a mainstay of the starting 11 at the Allianz Arena. Napoli, on the other hand, attempted to shore up the defense with the addition of Natan from Red Bull Bragantino; he has largely underwhelmed during his first few months at Napoli.

Napoli's success last season could also have contributed to their current struggles in two ways. It could be that they became somewhat complacent following one of the most dominant league title victories in recent memory. Napoli's decline this season could also be the result of struggling under the weight of their newfound expectations - perhaps finding it difficult to be the chased instead of the chaser for the first time.

This brings up another question: what's the plan for Napoli moving forward? While there have been transfer rumours surrounding the possibility of players such as Ferdi Kadıoğlu, Quinten Timber, and Arnau Martínez signing for Napoli in January, none are likely to be the catalyst that swings the race for a top-four spot and a Champions League berth in Napoli's favour. That being said, there is one player with whom Napoli have been linked who could play a key role should they land him: 20-year-old centre-back Giorgio Scalvini. However, Napoli would likely have to fend off interest from clubs such as Bayern Munich, Manchester United, and Manchester City to land one of Serie A's most promising young prospects.

It may also be time for Napoli to reconsider who the player they should build around really is. It might very well be the case that Osimhen turns out to be just one of many "one-season wonders" - and that Kvaratshkelia is the true club cornerstone for the future. At just 22, the Georgian winger's ceiling is more than a match for that of just about anyone not named Bellingham, Haaland, or Mbappé. Unlike Osimhen - and indeed, almost all of his teammates - Kvaratshkelia has actually improved instead of regressing this season, becoming a rare bright spot in a difficult campaign.

There were never any guarantees that Napoli's fortunes in 2023-24 would even come close to the iconic season they had before it. That said, very few thought they'd struggle quite like this. The "lightning in a bottle" they captured a year ago has almost completely disappeared.