European football has given fans a lot to talk about. Rafael Leo led AC Milan to victory over Inter, Eric ten Haag’s Manchester United ended Arsenal’s winning streak, Haaland scored 10 goals in just 6 Premier League appearances, Liverpool, Chelsea and Bayern There are signs of concern in Munich, for example. rare. Meanwhile, Madrid’s trust and investment in young players is bearing fruit, with Rodrigo, Vinicius, Aurelian Chuameni and Eduardo Camavinga all doing well.

 

Rafael Leo and Mike Mainion’s lead Milan to victory in fierce derby

 

One aspect that defines Stefano Pioli’s Milan is the ability to get back into the game. And, thanks to Marcelo Brozovic’s goal in the derby, they did it, first capitalizing on Hakan Calhanoglu’s blunder and then Rafael Leo’s sparkling form to finish at 3 -2 wins. This is Milan picking up where they left off last season: strong, determined, hard-working, able to find sparks of quality when it matters, even when things don’t go well. And, let’s be very clear, some of Pioli’s starters have had a rough ride.

 

From Charles De Ketelaere (who made a mistake in Inter’s opener, otherwise poor performance) to Fikayo Tomori (who could have done better on most goals), to the likes of Theo Hernandez and Junior Messias Such players, their game is very quiet. But it’s one of the hallmarks of this Milan team. Most players, even on off days, will still contribute off the ball and create a platform for change for others. Sandro Tonali and Ismael Bennacer in midfield on Saturday, Meignan in front and Rafael Leo up front, with his footwork and creativity bewildering Inter’s backs line of defense.

 

The Portuguese striker, whose contract expires in 2024, feels his potential has only scratched the surface. Milan will want to keep him locked up and it will be interesting to see how the club’s new owners, Redbird Capital, handle this. Former regimes have often taken a hard line, offering “take it or leave it” offers to free agents, such as Gigio Donnarumma, Calhanoglu and, more recently, Franck Kessie. They were proven right on the first two and the jury is not out on Casey because it’s only a few weeks old.

 

As for Inter, it’s easy to despair over defensive errors, and, to be fair, Stefan de Vrij and Alessandro Bastoni have had a really tough time with Leo. (Samir Handanovic wasn’t great either, but that’s old news now). Simone Inzaghi was also bolstered by starting Joaquin Correa instead of Edin Dzeko (the big man scored) and waiting more than an hour for a substitution. I don’t have much problem with Inzaghi’s choice. Inter have Bayern out in the Champions League next, and Romelu Lukaku out, and you can imagine them starting Dzeko: at 36, consecutive starts might not be a good idea.

 

What’s more worrying, I think, is what happens in the middle of the park, with Nicolo Barrera and Calhanoglu being overtaken, which only makes the job harder at the back. The worst thing Inter can do now is despair. Because, lest we forget, they faced the defending champions without key man Lukaku, and the defeat could have been a draw or an even a win without a fine save from Meignan late in the game. Not to mention that as of now, they are still just two points short of what is bound to be a tight Serie A game.

 

Ten Haig’s big call pays off as Man Utd halt Arsenal win

 

For Eric Ten Haag: This man has guts.

At home to Arsenal, which has won all the league titles this season, he didn’t hesitate to leave Casemiro out of the starting lineup for the third straight game, substituting Cristiano Ronaldo (and, for those who keep the score at home) , has now made four consecutive appearances on the bench, the longest since 2005) and, perhaps most importantly, pushed the €100m Anthony straight onto the pitch. Every move of the ten witches may have received a lot of criticism, but of the three, Anthony’s addition may be the most surprising. The Brazilian has trained twice and hasn’t actually played a game in three weeks as he struggles to force him out of Ajax.

 

These calls could explode in your face. But his courage paid off: Anthony delivered some eye drops early before opening the scoring in the first half. He made a tangible contribution and offered more than a glimpse of what was to come. Ten Witch also showed that he was far more pragmatic than many expected. We talk so much about football philosophy and tactical vision that we sometimes forget that most coaches’ actions contain realpolitik, especially when the going gets tough. In this case, with four wins in a row, it means United look nothing like what we saw at Ajax.

 

The numbers prove it. Ajax averaged 62% of the ball in the Eredivisie last season. United have won 42% of their four wins. Ajax leads the league with 5.36 defensive passes per game (a good measure of how pressing a team is); Manchester United are second to last with 13.36. Ajax’s counterattacks (0.76) are near the bottom and Manchester United are near the top (1.67). It’s a bit like hiring a world-renowned sushi chef just to have them serve you a burger; a tasty burger, mind you, but definitely not what you’d expect.

 

The elephant in the room is in whether United can continue to achieve results this way going forward. Logically not. It’s foreign to Ten Witch, the team isn’t really built for it, and unless you score first, the risk is that you’ll end up drawing a bunch of games. How well did he handled the transition to a more aggressive front-footed team (as he did at Ajax) will determine his – and United’s – season. It depends not only on the different instructions Ten Haag gives them, but also on his players – especially players like Diogo Dalot and Marcus Rashford who have thrived since his arrival – How to adapt tactically to change in nature, handbrake turns.

 

As for Arsenal, I think they played well for the most part but paid for individual mistakes. I’m not sure if it’s because they were naive because the mistake happened at the wrong time, in the wrong place. And, maybe Mikel Arteta made three substitutions with 15 minutes left. I know he’s chasing the game, but when they conceded goals and put United under pressure, it seemed a bit rash to turn his team over completely because in hindsight.

 

However, Arteta can take a lot of positives from this game and you hope that confidence will only increase. The kind of mistakes Arsenal made were mental mistakes, not the kind that boiled down to not being good enough. This is an important message for Arteta to convey. Plus, there’s a parallel universe where Gabriel Martinelli’s goals can be established. (Personally, I consider it a foul, although it’s unclear to me why it took Paul Tierney so long to fix it.)