The Weekly Take, Issue 324: Getting There Is One Thing, Staying There Is Another

Following a historic 2023-24 La Liga campaign at the end of which they qualified for the Champions League for the first time ever, Girona understandably expected to back it up with another season at least close to that level in 2024-25. However, two matchdays in, the Catalan club have been served a harsh reality check.

The second matchday of the fledgling La Liga saw Atlético Madrid host Girona. Last season, Girona defied the odds to finish third in the league, five points ahead of Atlético. Prior to 2023-24, Girona had never finished higher than 10th at season’s end in Spain’s top flight but went on to stun the football world with a season virtually nobody saw coming. However, if this most recent match is anything to go by, Girona have serious work to do if they’re to avoid being a one-season wonder.

This should have been Girona’s opportunity to prove that they deserve to be regarded as perennial contenders for Champions League qualification. Instead, Girona never even looked close to Atlético and crashed to a 3-0 loss. Shortly before half-time, Atlético legend Antoine Griezmann put the Madrid club a goal ahead with a free kick sent into the bottom corner after Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga committed a handball outside the penalty area.

Atlético doubled their lead soon after the interval via a spectacular goal scored by Marcos Llorente. The wing-back received the ball in his own half, after which he took advantage of the open space in front of him, running with the ball to just outside the penalty area where he unleashed a powerful shot that left Gazzaniga with absolutely no chance at all. In stoppage time, club captain Koke scored Atlético’s third goal - a tap-in after being set up by Llorente.

Last season was truly unprecedented for Girona in many ways. In addition to clinching their first-ever qualification for continental play at all, let alone the Champions League, Girona also had a player win the Pichichi award as the league’s top scorer for the very first time. Ukrainian Artem Dovbyk scored 24 goals to lead the league, edging Villareal’s Norwegian striker Alexander Sørloth by just one goal. Despite losing Dovbyk to Roma and midfielder Aleix García to Bayer Leverkusen while watching winger Savinho’s loan deal expire, Girona had a busy off-season, signing seven players and bringing three more on board via loan deals to cushion the blow.

Girona began the season with a draw against Real Betis - a result that did raise some eyebrows. This was now a match in which Girona would’ve been expected to pick up the win. Instead, despite having almost two-thirds of the possession, Girona were only able to muster two shots on target. Although at the time the result was regarded as being no more than “just the first match”, this most recent clash against Atlético has clearly revealed that there now ought to be cause for concern.

Girona were outplayed in almost every facet of the game. Despite once again having the bulk of the possession, they were completely unable to turn their time with the ball into high-quality goalscoring chances. To add to that, Girona’s many new acquisitions haven’t yet gelled. Their play in both league matches so far has seemed rather disjointed and largely devoid of cohesion - something that has to be addressed if they’re to make another push for a Champions League spot.

Girona’s struggles in front of goal are especially notable - it’s evident that they’re sharply feeling the effect of Dovbyk’s and Savinho’s departures. As of right now, they look nothing like the team that scored 85 league goals last  season - a figure second in the league, only behind Real Madrid by two. Though it’s only been two matches in, Abel Ruiz hasn’t quite seemed to be able to keep up; admittedly, however, part of this could be fatigue linked to his participation in Spain’s gold medal-winning Olympic team. That being said, there’s no getting past it - he as well as Portu and Bryan Gil have been misfiring thus far.

Throughout football history, there have been many teams which put it all together for one remarkable season only to flame out in the immediate season after. If Girona are to ensure that such a fate won’t befall them, it’s obvious that they’ll have to make adjustments from this point forth - what they’ve shown so far simply won’t cut it.

The Weekly Take, Issue 323: Shuffled the Deck and Drew a Brick (Again)

The highlight of the opening Premier League matchday of the 2024-25 season was undoubtedly Chelsea’s home match against reigning league champions Manchester City. Having spent in excess of £160 million across eight new signings while also adding Tosin Adarabioyo on a free transfer, Chelsea entered this season seemingly reloaded and ready to prove that they weren’t just carried by Cole Palmer to sixth place in the league last season.

Instead, the clear gap between the two teams was more than evident. City were never really threatened as they eased to a 2-0 win over the Blues. Erling Haaland opened the scoring in the first half before Mateo Kovačić added a late goal against the club at which he’d spent four seasons.

For Chelsea, this was nothing short of a reality check. Heading into their opening fixture, many Chelsea fans had high hopes for the coming season due to their strong finish to the prior campaign that saw them climb into a Europa League spot, the hiring of Enzo Maresca who left Leicester City after coaching them for one season in which he helmed the Foxes to promotion into the Premier League, and their many new signings. However, as has so often been the case at Stamford Bridge since winning the league in 2014-15 (their league title two years later notwithstanding), it was once again a case of “back to the drawing board” for the London club.

Aside from Roméo Lavia and Cole Palmer, Chelsea brought absolutely nothing to the table against the Citizens. They were outplayed right from opening kick-off and never stood a chance. Chelsea’s back four in particular have to be questioned, in particular full-backs Malo Gusto and Marc Cucurella who were, for the majority of the match, easily outplayed by City wingers Jérémy Doku and Savinho—and on top of that, Doku and Savinho weren’t even close to City’s best players this time around.

For this same reason, Maresca’s selection of the starting 11 has to be questioned. While it’s understandable that the Italian might have prioritized continuity by benching all of Chelsea’s new signings, the real question ought to have been “is continuity even a good thing in this case?” That’s because Chelsea’s main issue last season was their over-dependence on Palmer (more on that later). Given the current starting 11’s struggles, perhaps it would’ve been a good idea to throw one or more of the newcomers into the fire and see if that would’ve changed anything.

Maresca also started Enzo Fernández at the attacking midfield slot which, while a position he can play to some extent, is far from his ideal. There’s a strong case to be made that Enzo ought to have started at his usual central midfield slot, moved Palmer to attacking midfielder, and started new signing Pedro Neto out wide, benching Ecuadorian midfielder Moisés Caicedo in the process.

On a related note, the off-season incident in which Enzo uttered racist epithets while celebrating Argentina’s Copa América victory has clearly impacted the team as a whole. It not only understandably drove a wedge between Enzo and his black teammates; it also dampened the morale of the team in general. The friction within the team was evident against City - and what really didn’t help was Maresca’s decision to delegate the captaincy to Enzo in the absence of regular captain Reece James and vice-captain Ben Chilwell.

Even more alarmingly for Chelsea: if this keeps up for too long, how many more years will Palmer remain one of theirs for? There’s every chance that if this ineptitude goes on for too long - and there’s no reason to assume it’ll stop any time soon - the Mancunian who even at age 22 is already Chelsea’s best player will seek a move out of west London to a club where his career can truly blossom.

Of course, this is just the first match - and one against the reigning league champions who are expected to defend their league title without too much difficulty at that. However, even with that in mind, it can’t be denied that the signs at Stamford Bridge are clearly concerning. Chelsea clearly haven’t fixed enough of the issues that have plagued them in recent years. A third consecutive season outside the Champions League spots - and plausibly worse - is likely.

The Weekly Take, Issue 322: Again Backed by La Masia, Another Dominant Era Beckons

The 2024 Olympic football tournament culminated in host country France taking on Spain at the Parc des Princes. La Furia Roja’s under-23 squad emulated the success of their European Championship-winning senior counterparts by beating France 5-3 to clinch the gold medal for the second time. It was also Spain’s first time winning the gold outside home turf; their previous triumph was in Barcelona in 1992.

France got off to a hot start when Enzo Millot scored the opening goal in the 11th minute. Spain then responded with three goals in an 11-minute span: two from Fermín López before another from Álex Baena. They would take this 3-1 lead into the half-time break.

France pulled one back in the 79th minute after substitute Maghnes Akliouche finished off Michael Olise’s free kick. Then in stoppage time, Real Betis defender Juan Miranda fouled Arnaud Kalimuendo in the penalty area, setting up Jean-Philippe Mateta to make the resulting penalty. There was still one additional twist prior to extra time: Beñat Turrientes’ shot struck the crossbar, ensuring that an additional half-hour and change would be played.

Spain would then take over in extra time. Rayo Vallecano striker Sergio Camello, who had earlier entered the match as a substitute to replace Abel Ruiz, scored both of Spain’s extra-time goals to put the result beyond doubt and ensure that the home crowd wouldn’t get the result they’d been hoping for.

Following the senior team’s triumph at Euro 2024, this Olympic title by the under-23 team is clearly an ominous sign for the rest of world football. It must be kept in mind how relatively young their main squad still is. Couple that with the fact that the junior unit just claimed the Olympic gold medal and it becomes clear that for the next decade-plus, Spain are primed to remain a powerhouse of world football and a leading contender for multiple European Championships and World Cups.

A key point to note when looking at this under-23 Spain team has to be the influence of La Masia, Barcelona’s legendary youth academy. Of Spain’s starting 11 in the final, seven players were La Masia products. Similarly, many of the key players of the squad that recently won Euro 2024 such as Pedri, Gavi, Lamine Yamal, and Dani Olmo came through La Masia. If it hadn’t been already obvious, La Masia is far and away the single greatest youth academy in world football - and these recent achievements have just solidified its place as such.

This also bodes well for Barcelona. Over the years, Barça have always tried to lean on La Masia products as the foundation of their bids for La Liga and Champions League titles. This was never more evident than during their dynasty years spanning from the 2008-09 to 2014-15 season when they won three Champions Leagues, five league titles, and three Copa del Rey titles while - at least in the early portion under Pep Guardiola - revolutionizing football through the implementation of tiki-taka. The list of La Masia alumni of that era is truly staggering: Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Cesc Fàbregas, Gerard Piqué, Carles Puyol, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba, just to name the most notable.

While it’s highly unlikely that the current crop will match the standard set by the greatest generation that La Masia has ever produced, the signs are nonetheless extremely promising. Barça are now well-positioned to win multiple league titles and perhaps even Champions Leagues over the next decade. Although the Catalan club have made the Champions League semifinals just once over the past nine seasons, this statistic might very well change before too long.

The absolute peak of both Spain’s and Barça’s dominance from 2008 to 2012 overlapped; both were built on the foundation that La Masia had set. What’s really striking about Spain’s victory at Euro 2024 is the fact that despite being clearly a cut above every other team except arguably Germany, it felt as though they always had another gear they could’ve gone to but never need to - simultaneously a truly frightening prospect for the rest of international football and a great sign for Barça in the time to come.

Spain and Barcelona at their peaks were arguably the greatest international and club football teams of all time. Though even approaching that status is obviously a tall order, La Masia has now put both of their current versions in extremely strong positions.

The Weekly Take, Issue 321: Underwhelming Once Again

In recent years, the rivalry between France and Argentina has emerged as the pre-eminent rivalry in international football. Having split the matches in the 2018 World Cup’s round of 16 and the final of the 2022 World Cup, the two powerhouses’ Olympic squads were now set to go head-to-head in the quarterfinals - this time on France’s home turf.

The home side came out on top by a 1-0 scoreline. Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta’s early header was enough to ensure that Les Bleus’ under-23 unit would advance to the semifinals. As for Argentina, on the other hand, their bid to claim a third Olympic title ended here. While there were multiple figures who could easily have been singled out as being particularly at fault, one player who certainly deserves his share of the smoke is centre-forward Julián Álvarez.

The Manchester City player, selected as one-third of La Albiceleste’s overage trio for the tournament, seemed almost non-existent in this match. This really has been the case throughout the entire tournament - “La Araña” has looked a shadow of the player whose performances were vital in helping Argentina claim the 2022 World Cup title. This is undoubtedly a clear indictment against the player who one would ordinarily have expected to have been among the best, if not the single best, players in this Olympic tournament.

Is it possible that fatigue caught up to Álvarez after he’d just been part of the squad that won the Copa América less than a month ago? That’s certainly not out of the question; however, it also has to be noted that for the majority of the Copa, Álvarez was overshadowed by Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martínez - the player who he’d consigned to the bench during Argentina’s victorious World Cup run in Qatar. This latest showing in France against what are ostensibly easier opponents could only have hurt his case.

At this point, Álvarez has become one of the more overrated players in world football today; he still largely seems to be living off the reputation he developed during Argentina’s World Cup triumph. Even in his two seasons thus far at the Etihad Stadium, Álvarez has been somewhat underwhelming. This is especially true of last season, his second with the Citizens and his first as a regular starter. Álvarez scored just 11 league goals - a somewhat pedestrian return considering the fact that City found the net 96 times on their way to clinching an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title. With this figure, Álvarez also significantly underperformed in comparison to his xG of around 14.

On the surface, Álvarez seems close to having it all. He’s a high-level playmaker and dribbler as well as a capable set-piece taker; his pressing skills are also somewhat underrated. However, so far the story of his time at City has been “the sum of the parts is less than the whole” - he just hasn’t been able to put it all together except during the World Cup almost two years ago.

Recently, Pep Guardiola, who’s about to begin his final season coaching City, said in an interview that he remained uncertain about selecting Álvarez in crucial matches and that there were many other players wanting to play in them, not just Álvarez. While Guardiola’s comments were indirect as expected, they were clearly not anything like a ringing endorsement of Álvarez or his future at the club.

Thus, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that City are supposedly looking into moving on from Álvarez. Atlético Madrid are now reportedly considering bringing him to the Spanish capital for €60 million; however, with all due respect to Atlético, this would be quite obviously a step down for Álvarez. It’s starting to become clearer and clearer that though he might not be a scrub by any means, Álvarez is just not at the level which City need if they are to win the Champions League for the second time in three seasons.

While at just 24 there’s still time for Julián Álvarez to turn it around, it’s becoming less and less likely that there’s a place for him in Manchester City’s long-term plans. For all we know, he might not even be a City player at all by the time City begin their Premier League campaign against Chelsea in two weeks’ time.