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Full Free Episode - Dominant Donnarumma, Inter 8/8, CR7 & Juve Explode, Torino Finally Win & Much More (Ep. 85)
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Transcript
Introduction & New Year Wishes
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast with John Solano, Carlo Garganese and Nima Tuvali.
00:00:24
Speaker
Hello, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the Italian Football Podcast. We hope you are doing very well. Happy New Year. Buon anno to all of you. We hope you had a very safe, relaxing and enjoyable New Year. Obviously, we all hope that 2021 is infinitely better than 2020.
Patreon Subscription Details
00:00:43
Speaker
As per usual, since it is the first of the month, we are making this episode of the podcast for free.
00:00:50
Speaker
if you would like to gain access to all of the episodes which includes our weekly review episode and our weekly interview episode as well as our written work and match reaction podcasts you can go to patreon.com slash T I F P it's $2.99 per month but again you get much more than just the two weekly episodes that we put out
00:01:12
Speaker
Again, patreon.com slash T-I-F
Milan's Resilience in Serie A
00:01:17
Speaker
-P. All right, Carlo and Nima, let's jump into everything as we will start out with Milan, who remain at the top of the Serie A table.
00:01:28
Speaker
Okay, so we start out 2021, similar to how 2020 ended, and that's with Milan at the top of the table. So we keep asking these questions about Milan, right? Can they win without this player? Can they win without that player? And they continue to win. And ultimately, regardless of what you think about the refereeing decisions that have gone their way, I think really at the end, the first conclusion you have to draw about this Milan, Carlo, is that they just keep winning.
00:01:58
Speaker
Yeah they keep winning regardless of having important players out. In this game they didn't have Zlatan again, they didn't have Benacer, they didn't have Teo Hernandez and they still found a way to win. But it's not just finding a way to win without players, it's finding a way to win
00:02:16
Speaker
regardless of, of the circumstances. And, you know, everything was against them in this game, because Sandra Tanali got sent off just off the half an hour of the games, they played an hour with 10 men. And, you know, they're on the back foot for much of the game. And
00:02:31
Speaker
and you know they they back to the wall job and they still they still found a way to win and they defended defending was heroics at so many blocks uh last ditch last ditch tackles and by the defenders everyone just throwing their you know throwing their bodies on the line to show just just how together this squad is
00:02:50
Speaker
And I think Pipo Inzagi said at the end of the game that the Benevento manager, that Don Aruma is the best goalkeeper in Europe. And I don't know if that's true. I think I would probably put
00:03:06
Speaker
Alison and Oblak of let's go. I put those two for me. Those are the two best goalkeepers in the world right now. But I think on the, on the, on this season alone, on form this season alone, I don't think you can find a better goalkeeper than Donna Ruma. He is so imposing. He's so big, so commanding.
00:03:23
Speaker
And I think you even saw that with the penalty miss of Ben Aventus but Caprari's penalty miss where you know you see this big man mounted in front of you and and you just have you think right I have to put this right in the corner and in the end you miss it and you put it wide and you know he made a number of great saves as well so whether they're attacking whether they're defending you know they're getting the job done and in Donnarumma they've got an absolute just phenomenon in goal who is just
00:03:50
Speaker
You have to beat him. You really have to beat him to score against him.
Milan's Penalties & Refereeing Debate
00:03:54
Speaker
I think for me, when it comes to the penalties thing, I've looked at this and I don't have an issue with any of the penalties Milan have received to be perfectly honest with you, because some of them are horrendous. I mean, yesterday against Benevento, what was that?
00:04:07
Speaker
the benefit the one yesterday was. I mean, what was that? I was actually surprised by the number of people who took issue with it. I mean, it was an assault. It wasn't a challenge. It was an assault. And same thing with most, they've been on the receiving end of some horrific challenges. I think barring the one against Lazio, which was not a penalty, but then again,
00:04:28
Speaker
our dear friend uh what's his name was uh was was the officiating that um but so so you can always expect him to screw everything up but but for me they've they've all been crystal clear the issue i have is that when you apply one set of rules in Milan's games consistently they're not applied to the others consistently and that's where the drop-off is for me if if for example
00:04:55
Speaker
you give that penalty away that Milan received in the Lazio game, then the one that the Juve should have had at least one against Fiorentina when clearly Castro Vilo charged into Cristiano Ronaldo. I think that's where the, you know, these are complex issues and you have to, like you said, at minimum maintain two thoughts in one head. And that's what the issue is for me. It's the lack of consistency in the other games, not the fact that Milan have received
00:05:23
Speaker
penalties. I think every single one they received has been solare, as the Italians say. It's not except for the Lazio one, the one they received against Lazio. But then they were given a complete gift to even out in classic Italian refereeing logic. But having said that,
00:05:41
Speaker
This Milan is the real deal. They've done it with Arebra, Teo, Benacer.
Growth of Milan's Young Talents
00:05:46
Speaker
They had Tonali sent off yesterday for a very stupid challenge, clumsy challenge, similar to the one that Quadrado got sent off for, against Fiorentina.
00:05:57
Speaker
to me it's there's no we have to start taking Milan seriously I've been banging on this drum for for a long time now I'm telling you they will be there until the very end I'm not saying they're the favorites but they're definitely one of the teams that will fight for the scoretto this is no longer
00:06:12
Speaker
uh an issue of Milan being you know having being in form and all that no they keep winning and they keep not losing when they play badly they manage to scrape out draws and and that is and they have a defensive solidity and that is really really impressive and the the youth uh
00:06:31
Speaker
The amount of young players they have that are so talented and all eager to prove themselves, like Leao, he can have a bad game, but then he just shakes it off and works harder in training and comes back and scores that goal against Benevento. I mean, they have so much talent in them. And the same thing applies with Tonali, and this is something I want to raise.
00:06:51
Speaker
You know, you mentioned Gijo Donaruma. He's had four seasons of inconsistency and howlers in derbies, et cetera, to learn from before he reached this fantastic moment in his career where he's becoming, if not, as you said, he's not the best in Europe yet, but he's top three. The same thing should apply to Sandro Tonali, who's making his second Serie A season now. And the same thing with Federico Chiesa, who's been historically mismanaged.
00:07:20
Speaker
in his career so far in a Fiorentina that is just not up to par. And that's why the criticism against him and Chieza is so over the top. Young players, the reason why you give young players a chance and you have to keep on believing them is that they have to prove on the other hand that they are worthy of the chance and that they learn from their mistakes. So these instant
00:07:46
Speaker
conclusions people are making is ridiculous and reductive and pointless because, you know, no one has said that Sandro Tonali is the finished product today. No one has said that Federico Chiazza is the finished product today. Just like no one said at 16 that Gijo Donaroma was the finished product. That's not how this works. This isn't FIFA. This isn't a video game. You give young players a chance because you see the potential and then you say, OK, if I give them the chance,
00:08:14
Speaker
they will earn the experience and hopefully they will learn from it and then they can take the next step. And that's why you give young players a chance. And to me, Dona Ruma is a brilliant testament to that because Milan have believed in him consistently through the difficult times, even when people were berating him and saying, oh, he was a one-hit wonder, et cetera. But they believed in him because they saw the talent and he learned from it. And what do you have now? You have 22, 21, how old is he? 21, 22, and he's got one of the best goalkeepers in Europe.
Ronaldo & Juventus' Challenges
00:08:43
Speaker
All right, moving out to Juve, Carlo, they begin the new year with a stellar performance. Now, Utineze, I think I've made my opinions on them very clear, but nonetheless, they just keep rolling right along and they really are sort of finding their feet now with Pierlo, yeah?
00:09:06
Speaker
I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know about that. I wasn't impressed with them against you. I have to be honest. I mean, Ronaldo, astonishing. I mean, you know, New Year, same old Ronaldo. He's nearly 36. It's going to be 36 next month. And he's, you know, he's he scored more goals than than anyone in Europe's
00:09:28
Speaker
top five leagues in the calendar year of 2020. And he's top scorer in Serie A this season. He's got 14, 14 goals now. Juventus have only scored, Juventus has got 29 goals, 29 league goals this season. Ronaldo has 14 of them and he has an assist as well. So he's contributing to over half of their goals. And he scored two goals. The first one was, you know, vintage Ronaldo cutting from the left.
00:09:54
Speaker
smashing finish into the far corner. His assist was even better. I was going to say that assist was gorgeous. Yeah. I mean, I've watched it three or four times and I don't still don't know how quite how he done that. How he because it was like the way that he kicked the ball was really just I've never seen anyone.
00:10:13
Speaker
It was breathtakingly beautiful. I've seen him do it once or twice before, but that's why I think that he could actually prolong his career if he started doing things like that, because he does have the vision and creativity to put other players in position. And that was gorgeous. He's done that a few times. I remember, especially at Man United, actually, I remember him doing some of these insane assists. But he does. I mean, that's an aspect of his game that could prolong his career, maybe by a couple of years as well.
00:10:41
Speaker
Yeah, he's definitely underrated for his, you know, the way that he brings others into play. But, you know, I thought Chiesa was good, very, very good as well. What about Ramsey? My gosh. Yeah, I mean, Ramsey, I've always liked Ramsey. The problem with him is
00:10:59
Speaker
he is he's always injured he's always either injured or he's coming back from an injury and not at full fitness and and as a result you know he can't play at his best if he's fully fit he's actually a very very good player and i think that out of all the options that i mean you've entered we know they've got a problem at central midfield
00:11:17
Speaker
And we know that they have a problem in finding in this PLO system, finding the most advanced of the three cent midfielders, the guy that has to support the two attackers. They haven't really got anyone naturally for that role. But I think that from what we've seen, Ramsey is probably the player that has done best so far this season in that role. And I thought yesterday, I mean, he was important for the first goal because he pressed and he won the ball high up the pitch from DePaul, actually. And and
Juventus' Consistency Issues
00:11:46
Speaker
and then Ronaldo scored and then he actually had a goal disallowed himself as well. That's where I want to see Coluseppe in that role. I wanted to hear your thoughts on that because I think that's where he would shine in that advantage.
00:12:02
Speaker
They've tried him then, it hasn't worked. They've tried him once, really. He's been played on the wing as a wingback since then. Yeah, he's not a wingback. I mean, he's, I mean, he's no, no, he's definitely not a wingback. And, you know, he played, he's been played up in the front two as well. Yeah, that's not really. Yeah, hasn't, hasn't quite worked for him. But I'm not worried about Kudicevsky, because I think the talent is definitely there. The system maybe is not the ideal system for him, even in that that role that you just mentioned, behind the front two.
00:12:31
Speaker
That's where he thinks that that's his ideal role. I mean, when you ask him, he says my ideal role is to play as a tréquartista, the number 10 behind two strikers. That's interesting. That's interesting. I mean, yeah, tactically, he's very good position. He's very good. So, you know, let's see, let's hopefully let's see if you can get some more, get some more starts there. I think, but overall, I wasn't impressed with Juventus. I mean, Udinese had a goal disallowed at 0-0, which
00:12:59
Speaker
could have gone either way because the handball, we're talking about referees, but the handball rule for that type of handball is a very grey area because the rules are basically like that if a player handballs
00:13:16
Speaker
handles the ball and then scores like Ramsey did in the second half, then you disallow it regardless of whether it's deliberate, however it comes about. But if you handle the ball earlier on in the move, it's a bit of a gray area. It depends
00:13:34
Speaker
how long before the goal was scored that it was handled and how far up the pitch and was it the player before the player that scored that handled it or was it the goal scorer that handled it? In this case, it was DePaul handling the ball.
00:13:50
Speaker
passing it to another player, a teammate, then getting the ball back and scoring. So he did handle the ball, but there was another two passes before he scored. So it's a very gray area. No one really knows whether it should have been disallowed or not. It's a gray area. So that could have gone against them. And if they'd have conceded that, they might not have come back. And Udonasi also hit the woodwork twice as well.
Atalanta's Strong Performance
00:14:15
Speaker
So yeah, Juventus are, I mean, we're going to talk about it in the questions. Now we've got a question on this, but now Juventus are 10 points behind Milan, nine behind Inter and they got Milan on Wednesday. That is a must-win game for Juventus. Absolutely must win. For me, Bentancore was, I mean, I love Rodrigo Bentancore. Anyone who will follow me knows that. And I thought he was absolutely phenomenal yesterday.
00:14:34
Speaker
Again, he's the player that Juba should and will build their midfield around. He's absolutely fantastic. And if we're talking about young players, I don't know what Agricola breakfast they're feeding Matais de Licht. He is an absolute monster.
00:14:50
Speaker
I mean, when Interplay Juventus, Lukaku and Delicht, butting heads, might knock the earth out of orbit. It's insane how strong he's become and how good he's become. And him and Lukaku, the strength, the sheer strength, and they're pretty quick as well. Now, I'm really looking forward to that battle between those two, because it's really impressive.
00:15:12
Speaker
Just one final thought from me. It's good to see Di Barla get a goal because he needed it. Boy, did he need it. His confidence levels really at rock bottom. He didn't particularly have a great game. He was okay. He tried hard, but he still looked way off his usual levels.
00:15:32
Speaker
but you know he got that goal right at the end so hopefully that will give a confidence boost and that was needed because he'll probably play against Milan because Morata's injured and seems like Morata is going to be unlikely to be back so Di Barla will play again probably against Milan.
00:15:47
Speaker
I think that's a blessing in disguise for Juve, Carlo, to be perfectly honest, because I think in this system, what we saw yesterday, I can see Dybala doing a job there for Juve. If he's allowed to move and roam the way he, you know, if he's allowed to do what he does best, and that is to be able to pick up the ball and link a play and cross and move a little bit freely, then that's when he's at his best. And I think maybe Morata being injured and him being forced to be played,
00:16:15
Speaker
Could be a blessing in disguise that it would it would kind of bring him back into full Fitness and full and his timing and confidence and all that so I think that's a that's a blessing guys You've answers need another striker. They've only got three they have to buy someone this this this month. There's no doubt about that
00:16:32
Speaker
Atalanta back on track. They absolutely roll Sasuolo. And I don't know if you guys watch this one, but they could have had at least another two to three goals. We all expressed some concerns with them. Do they look like they're back on track now? And when you add to that, the whole Papu situation. What are we thinking the second half of the season holds for Atalanta?
00:16:59
Speaker
Well, they're definitely getting back towards their best. There's no doubt about that because we can see that by their performances, especially at home. They've scored nine goals now in the last two games. Nine goals in their last two home games, 12 goals
00:17:16
Speaker
in their last three home games so they're scoring for fun. They absolutely destroyed Bologna in their last game away which they drew two all and just were sloppy at the end giving away two late goals to draw two all and they should have won that and they obviously got that really good
00:17:33
Speaker
win away to Ajax and that really good draw away to Juventus. And this has all happened since the Papu Gomez incident where he basically, you know, pretty much got frozen out. I mean, I know he came on against Juventus and he played against Ajax, but, you know, since this run has basically coincided with Papu Gomez's, you know, let's say exit from Atalanta because he's, you know, it looks like he's almost certainly going to leave this month. So, yeah, I mean, they're showing that they really, they're not really missing Papu Gomez.
00:18:01
Speaker
at the moment. I mean, the proof is in the pudding, as they say, so we'll see over a longer period of time whether they can still do without him, but they seem to definitely have got their system going, and they're on big form, and they've got a good run of fixtures coming up as well, so I think they can go on a run.
00:18:19
Speaker
Yeah, Pesina, we have to talk about him. He looks really good. And Muriel does what Muriel does. He scores. And Zapata, it's kind of clicking together once again.
Gasperini & Atalanta's Future
00:18:32
Speaker
This Gasperini ball, this 2.0 at Atalanta is coming together. And it's coming together without Papo Gomez, who
00:18:42
Speaker
Atalanta hope to keep, but who clearly doesn't want to stay there, who's at an odds with Gasperini. And Gasperini is as stubborn as a mule, so he's not going to give in. This is a situation they need to handle. The sooner they do that, the better. But given that they have already financed their entire annual wage budget by going through to the last 16 of the Champions League, they don't have to sell. So they can sit there quietly. They can do what de la rentes always does. Everything is paid for.
00:19:11
Speaker
He has, there's no urgency to sell. So he just sits back, you know, back in the rocking chair, lights a cigar, and then says, my way or the highway. And Atalanta can do that. They can do that here. And that's why I think it'll be really difficult to see Papu Gomez stay in Italy, unfortunately.
00:19:28
Speaker
What about Inc. Dad, Nima? They continue to roll.
Inter's Title Race Prospects
00:19:32
Speaker
You were adamant that they are not winning the Scudetto. They're not winning the Scudetto. Biting Krotona 6-2 and then we're like, come on. If you watch the game, you see the first half Inter all over the place. Arturo Vidal and Aleksandr Kolorov have now cost Inter so much.
00:19:53
Speaker
And these are players that were going to bring in experience to win this Corretto and these are players that are on the fringes of the project now after Conte himself exploded on Arturo Vidal because of yet another
00:20:04
Speaker
headless chicken and steak. That was funny. Of course it's funny, it's really funny when Conte foams at the mouth and yells and swears in his dialect. It's absolutely hilarious but it's still not, you know, it's these mistakes that they make and you cannot afford to gift away two goals per game the way that Arturo Vidal does on a quite regular basis now and he won't play now again and he's earned six million euros a year net
00:20:33
Speaker
So that's another, that's another high wage player that Inter can't use and they won't be able to sell either in the summer because he's, he's too old. They won't be. I think Costa, Costa Curta, Alessandro Costa Curta summed up Vidal's problems perfectly last night when he was talking about the, the Vidal, um, Vidal giving away that penalty, um, which he's done. How many times has he done that this season given away a penalty? It must be at least three times. Yeah, it's three against Real Madrid. Um, he's done it now. I mean, he did it.
00:21:01
Speaker
He's done it twice in the Serie A. He's done it once in the Champions League. He kind of did it at least twice. He cost into two Champions League games with rash moments. He did something else, didn't he? And this is the thing, he did this... I got sent off, didn't he? Then he does this thing that he's been doing all this season in the Champions League in the Serie A.
00:21:24
Speaker
You know, when a player is running and then slows down, that's not what Vidal does. He stops dead in his tracks, like a fish that's been gutted. He just stops. Just stops. And this causes goals. And he does this all over the pitch. He did it in a set piece on the corner against Crotonne. Just stopped moving. Literally just stopped. Like you switched, like the electricity went out. Just switch went off. He does it in the Champions League, in the mid-field. Just stopped running.
00:21:53
Speaker
And it's, it's weird. It's weird. It's a 33 year old that is still trying to play as he did when he was 25, 26. And I think that's absolutely spot on because Vidal is obviously very, he's a winner. You can't deny that, but he still, he's not
00:22:14
Speaker
you know, changing his game, tailoring his game to someone who's aging, you know, you can't do the same thing. Because he's a limited footballer. The only thing that he was good at was the energy levels and the combativeness and the and the green time the alpha male BS that we saw with him at Juventus and Bayern Munich. He doesn't have anything else to his game. This is exactly why I was against bringing him to Inter in 2020.
00:22:35
Speaker
because the good characteristics of his game, the good traits, they're long gone. And all you're left with is this insane man that walks around and hacks people in boxes and stops running because he can't maintain the energy levels. So it's a complete wasteful signing. This is why I was against him coming to Inter in 2020.
00:22:54
Speaker
I have to say though, John, questions for you, intro won eight games in a row, went into, went into go 15 games in a row. Do you think we'll still have Nimbus saying, oh, they're not doing it. Yeah, it's unbelievable. No, listen, it's not. I mean, I don't know how you can deny it at this point. I know you're, you're, you're not going to say it, but you are doing the reverse drinks. No, I'm really not. I'm not, I'm not because when I, if you remember,
00:23:22
Speaker
Before we remade the show, I said Inter were going to the final of the Europa League. I knew after that shit show against Atalanta, I went contest through everything and everyone under the bus. I was sure, like I know, I understand this isn't, I understand what works at this club and how this, how they meant the mentality at this club.
00:23:37
Speaker
It's not about an anti-reverse jinx. It's not about guffata. It's not about none of that. Inter have too many question marks surrounding them. You have a you have a central defense of three players that are good. The backups, Kolorov, Ranokya, D'Ambrosio, are not good enough. You have a central midfield issue with Arturo Vidal and Roberto Galliardini. You're forced to play them. And then you have a goalkeeper who loses his mind every now and again because he's also passed it. You have too many question marks, a team
00:24:05
Speaker
There's definitely issues there, but who's going to take advantage? Milan clearly are taking advantage. Juve are clearly going to do that as well because you have to look at Juventus. The question marks they have are better question marks to have at this point in your season than Inter, who have an ageing squad and who have players who are past it and they lack the financial resources to address those issues in January. I think that Inter, this is one thing we haven't talked about yet,
00:24:34
Speaker
one thing in to have is absolute guarantees of scoring goals with Lukaku and Lautaro. I mean, I mean, Lautaro got hatchet, Lukaku scored again. How many, how many goals has Lukaku got this season? Now it must be 12, at least, instead of Jan. And, you know, however many he's got in all competitions. I mean, he's absolutely on fire.
00:24:54
Speaker
And I mean, the guarantees are, I mean, and also if you look at the underlying stats, the number of chances that into create every single game, I mean, they're basically guaranteed to score three or four goals, most games because of the number of chances they're creating, they keep doing that doesn't matter about all these weaknesses.
00:25:10
Speaker
true because if you know that's not true and quite simply the reason why that's not true is because we saw what happened in the Champions League we saw in the early parts of the season they overload and leave themselves exposed and then if they don't score goals the other team scores and you change the entire complexity and the psychological advantage of the game and they end up losing and drawing that's the issue here when you play you know this is why you know arguing about the Champions League we know that into a useless and the champion that content is useless in the Champions League
00:25:36
Speaker
But this is the illness is the same thing they did the exact I mean you saw against Borussia Munchingladbach in the first half intercompletely dominated that game but failed to score and then made two stupid mistakes and they were two no doubt you know what I mean like this is this is what I mean you if you overload like this you leave yourself exposed now obviously Konte has learned from that you know got to give credit where credit is due he's moved the center of the gravity of this team about 10-15
00:26:01
Speaker
meters further down because he understands that they he doesn't have the central defenders it took him 18 months to understand that Milan Scriniad is in a 100 meter dash sprinter but you know at least he learned that and now now Inter aren't as exposed and they don't have to you know they play to their to their strengths much more defensively and in terms of balance something Inter have lacked but having said that in order for you to see to win the league
00:26:25
Speaker
I understand that this season is one of those seasons where you have so many question marks and it's tighter than before. But it's also down to who concedes the least and who has the most solid defense. And Inter don't have a solid defense. The ones that concede the most, it's Milan and it's Juve and all these other teams. It's not Inter.
00:26:48
Speaker
not playing in Europe is absolutely massive. Because even more, much more this season than in a normal season, because of the sheer amount of games that teams that are in Europe are going to have to play between now and May is absolutely obscene. I mean, it's obscene. I mean, Juventus have to play
00:27:11
Speaker
a maximum now because they play just a maximum of 37 games between now and May, 37. They've got 24 in Serie A plus a maximum of seven in Champions League, maximum of five in the Coppertalia, Super Coppertaliana, the Napoli game that's been rescheduled, 37 Inter have got a maximum of 23 in Serie A and then obviously the Coppertalia games as well.
00:27:36
Speaker
So, you know, maximum of five, so, you know, they're playing 10 games less than, than, than Juventus, you know, potentially. Um, so, or even more, if they go out of the Coppertalia early. So, so, you know, is that is a huge, that is a huge, huge advantage, especially with, you know, playing twice a week, um, the, you know, Corona virus, you know, we don't know about what's going to happen with that. I mean, you know, it seems to be more contagious now and more players are going to, are going to get it in the next few months and inter have got, you know, such a big squads as well. So, so yeah, I think that,
Inter's European Absence Advantage
00:28:06
Speaker
um,
00:28:06
Speaker
for me, into our favourites with the bookmakers for a reason. Well, I mean, the way I look at it is this. Getting rid of Nangolan was imperative because he offered absolutely nothing to anyone. He was just walking around sulking. And you know that with a character like that in Conte,
00:28:22
Speaker
fireworks will spark. We'll see. Now we have to see what they do with Christian Ericsson and whether or not they bring in another striker or not, because clearly Andrea Pinamonte is not suited to that. And Mathias Vesino has had a serious knee injury. Can he be reintegrated back? I actually think that Mathias Vesino has a role to play in this inter.
00:28:44
Speaker
I think with Stefano Sensi and Brozovic and Vicino, because they run a lot, especially Brozovic and Barrella, they never stop running, like the Energizer bunny, those two. And if you have Vicino as well, who's also very dynamic in how he plays and always comes up clutch for Inter. I think he has, if he can stay fit, I think he does have a big role to play at Inter. But again, like you said, I don't think Inter have such a massive squad. I think they have big names.
00:29:12
Speaker
But in terms of quality, I don't think they have such a big squad at all. Bigger than anyone else is. Only Juventus can contend with them in terms of depth and squad. No one else can. I think U of Annapoli in midfield are better stacked than Inter, for sure. There's no doubt. And even, you know, not so much Roma. I think they're on level terms with Roma.
00:29:38
Speaker
But Milan are showing now that they are also able to compete. Although they have young players who are unproven, they're proving that they are as good. The only thing that I think can really harm into is if Lukaku gets an injury and he's out for a long period of time, then there's a concern there. But you can say that about Juventus without Ronaldo. You can say that about, you know, well, same Milan with that. Well, exactly.
00:30:05
Speaker
But but but Lukaku doesn't get injuries, you know, he's had he's not had he's
Parma's Relegation Concerns
00:30:10
Speaker
injured now since since no, but since since since 2015 I was looking this up yesterday since 2015 so six years ago He's only once had an injury that's that's kept him out for longer than than a week or eight days So now only one in two months we can all blame you then for jinxing him if we're doing well, that was that was the whole
00:30:33
Speaker
Moving on, in other action, we had Roma defeat Sampdoria 1-0 and we had Torino defeat Parma 3-0. I know we wanted to talk a little bit about Torino, but Parma, man. We all liked Livarani, but...
00:30:50
Speaker
the decision to get rid of diverse and just sort of blow the entire thing up i mean in hindsight it looks awful because they i don't know what they have no way of playing their their their football is essentially a hoof it to jalvino and pray you get a goal i i mean they they are so lucky that there are the likes of kurtone and spezia because they i mean they
00:31:14
Speaker
They look so bad. This whole Parma thing, I know Torino they've struggled under Gian Paolo, but I'm more shocked by Parma because there really was no need to do what they did. You know, it really wasn't and they didn't invest either properly in the squad. If you look at the quality in that squad, I had them at the bottom of when we predicted the league for a reason. I'm really worried that Parma could get relegated and I don't want Parma to get relegated.
00:31:42
Speaker
I think it's between them and Genoa for that last spot. Croton and Spezia will go out. They are awful. But the rest of them, it's Genoa and Parma, and I worry for Parma. I really, really do, because I think Genoa have an experience to this situation. They know how to handle it.
00:31:59
Speaker
you know, they just revert, they just sack some whoever it is, bring ballardini back or sack ballardini and bring whoever it was before back. And then they've got the experience of the situation. Palma, not so much. You know, they were newcomers and then they had a good season and then they lost Kulosevsky and now they're, they didn't invest and they had an ownership change and they got rid of Daversa. It's, it's a lot. It's a lot. I'm really worried. They're paying the price, like you said, for a terrible transfer market. I mean, I don't want to come across, you know, ignorant, but
00:32:37
Speaker
Who the hell are these guys you know and and you know they've proven to be I still don't know who the hell they are
00:32:45
Speaker
you know that's how bad they are. The one thing that I thought might save Parliament this season is I thought they might still have enough firepower and attack. I thought they've still got Trevino, they've still got Cornelius, the Danish lad,
00:33:01
Speaker
He's pretty good in the air. I thought Inglés says he'll score some goals. Caramo from Inter might do it. I still thought they might have enough. Kuchko in midfield, I thought, you know, I've always liked... I thought they'd still have enough there going forward.
Belotti's Impact at Torino
00:33:13
Speaker
But, you know, they've only scored 13 goals. They're the lowest scorers in Serie A. They just can't seem to buy a goal. And, you know, so I am worried for them. I'm very worried for them.
00:33:26
Speaker
But Torino, we have to give credit to Bellotti, who yesterday was un... Wow, he was good. His two assists, how he wins the ball, how he runs, how much he fights. Again, Roma, John, this is who you should replace Jeko with. He would be perfect for Roma.
00:33:44
Speaker
I don't know. I'm still not convinced by this Torino. Again, I think that the beneficiaries of two other really, really bad sides being in the league simultaneously, but I just, I don't know. You look at some of these teams and they just have no direction. Genoa, I don't even want to get into Genoa.
00:34:03
Speaker
What they've been doing over the past year has been criminal. I'm not even going to discuss the managerial situation because I feel as if he's sort of like the guy. The more you say his name, the more he reappears. I just don't want to say his name. So I'm just going to leave it at that because he is this poor guy. Who are you talking about?
00:34:25
Speaker
No, come on. Nima, you say it because if I say it, I'm going to bring this guy. I don't know. He'll end up at Rome as like the as a caretaker at some point. Ballardini or Gianpaolo, which one of your favorites are you talking about? Come on, Ballardini. This is the guy who has zero managerial ability. His only, I guess, defining quality is that he answers the phone when Genoa calls him for some reason. This guy knows he has no, no long term prospects at that club, but
00:34:54
Speaker
He wears some cool sunshades. Yeah, he really does. I just don't understand. His coaching career is phenomenal. Do you see theme there?
00:35:13
Speaker
He's been at Genoa on four separate occasions in the last decade. Just as we're going on a tangent, though, I would like to echo about Bellotti. I mean, this season, he has really has got back to his best and the levels that he kind of showed a few years ago when we all thought this is a guy that could even become one of the best.
00:35:32
Speaker
best strikers in Europe and then just kind of stagnated because he was at Torino. But, you know, even in a terrible Torino team, I mean, to say that he's carrying Torino is an understatement. I mean, he scored nine goals this season, but he actually has four assists, which is again, one of the highest in Serie A. The only players that have more assists than him in Serie A this season are Tala Nogolu, Mertens, Mikitarian and Maratta.
00:35:54
Speaker
So he's fifth in Serie A for assists as well as the number nine and he should have had a hat trick of assists actually yesterday because Verdi did an awful mess. Verdi, what the hell has happened to him? So yeah, he's doing incredible. Thirteen of the goals are he's contributed by Bellotti. They scored 25. So again, like Ronaldo, he's contributing over half of Torino's goals. That's how important he is.
00:36:17
Speaker
Now Torino, I think Torino will make it and then in the summer they have to rebuild and properly rebuild and either keep Ciampaolo or bring someone in that's adapted to the squad. This can't go on, this mismatch, the square pegs round holes things can't continue.
00:36:32
Speaker
Very quickly, just getting to some transfer news. So the window, now officially open. Just a couple of rumors that I'd like to get your guys' opinions on.
Demiral's Playing Time at Juventus
00:36:42
Speaker
Juve's Demiral is reportedly unhappy with this lack of playing time and is evaluating offers to leave Juve according to various reports in Turkey. Carlo, what do you think?
00:36:53
Speaker
Yeah, I really, really like him. I think that Juventus must do everything they can to not let this guy go because he's the future along with the licks. Like he said, he's come from a strong source. So, you know, I think there's definitely some truth to it.
00:37:10
Speaker
Well I have to say I haven't spoken to Romeo who we had on the show last week and Romeo will definitely know how much is in this. But I think one thing that Demaraldis needs to remember is that he had a serious ACL injury only a year ago and he only came back and when you have an ACL injury you have to be very very careful not rushing the back and you'll know that John
00:37:34
Speaker
Better than anyone with what happened with zanyala you've got you really have to be careful with them So I think maybe demo Ralph does need to just just take that into account. I think For once I'm gonna side a little bit with the event is that I think they've done the right thing? Easing him back into action because I think that you play him too much There's the worry that he does it again, and then you know your your cold career is at risk
00:37:55
Speaker
Milan transfer expert Vito Angeli. He said that Inter's Beppe Marotta made a call to Milan's Donnaruma about signing him on a free, but he was told by Donnaruma that he wants to remain at Milan. Meanwhile, our favorite manager Luciano Spalletti.
Spalletti's Rumored Coaching Role
00:38:13
Speaker
Oh, I also have to add Vito will be on the show this Thursday for the interview episode. So make sure you check that out.
00:38:20
Speaker
Our favorite mad manager, Spaletti, recorded the Intox to become the new manager of the Chilean national team. Spaletti in South America, everything about that seems so perfect. Football guards make this happen. They like their bald coaches, don't they?
00:38:42
Speaker
They really do. They like their bold, mad coaches. And Spalletti showing up there with his pet duck, Bianca Neve, is exactly what the world needs in 2021. Incredible. I will push for that as hard as I have to. Oh, yes. Whatever we have to do to make that happen, I will intervene in whatever way possible. Whatever dance or prayer you need to do to make this happen, you need to make it happen. Yeah, please football gods make this happen.
00:39:08
Speaker
Again, before we get to Bajio of the week, Vito Angeli, Milan transfer expert, will be on the show on Thursday for
Upcoming Interview on Milan's Transfers
00:39:15
Speaker
the interview episode. We'll be talking all things Milan, the transfer window, who may be coming in, who may be going out, and of course the contract situation of Don Aruma.
00:39:24
Speaker
make sure you do that and that is for that will be a patron only episode if you would like to become a patron of the Italian Football Podcast go to patreon.com slash T I F P it's $2.99 per month and you get access to not only the two episodes that we have weekly one review episode one interview episode you also get access to our written work our match reaction so again it's just more than the two weekly podcasts you get
00:39:54
Speaker
all kinds of stuff with that. So let's go now to our Baggio and our Ventura of the week.
00:40:03
Speaker
All right, Carlo, you're taking the Baggio of the Week and great minds think alike because I also wanted to somehow work this way, work this one into the Ventura of the Week. So for those of you who are just joining us for the first time, instead of the player of the week or our team of the week or our winner of the week or loser of the week, we call it our Baggio of the Week for the winner and the Ventura for that one Italian national team manager, who again, I prefer not to use his full name.
00:40:34
Speaker
We use those in place of winner and losers. So for Boggio of the week, our winner of the week, Carlo, who is it?
00:40:41
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I hate to bask in the schadenfreude of Frank Lampard. No, you don't. You absolutely love it. OK, OK, I love it. I mean, it's not personal. I'm sure, you know, I'm sure Frank Lampard is a lovely guy. And the issue is not with Frank Lampard. The issue is with with the, you know, I would like to say Norman Abramovich.
00:41:08
Speaker
Well, I'd like to say minority of Chelsea fans, but I think it's a majority. It's definitely the majority of the locals and definitely the English media who, when Maurizio Sarri was coach of Chelsea, I mean, the guy was treated accordingly. I mean, he was abused constantly. He was hounded. He was treated like an idiot, like a village idiot. I mean, it bordered on xenophobia.
00:41:35
Speaker
really at times. And, you know, this was this was a guy who, who, you know, he was criticized for so many things, like laughable things, not playing in Golo Conte as the defensive midfielder, not not not not trusting the youth. I mean, I don't know if you saw countries passing yesterday, laughable. Just just just put his name in Twitter yesterday.
00:41:56
Speaker
you know not playing the young players so many things anyway and you know in the end of the season he managed to win the Europa League he got them into the top four all with with a squad who were totally a bit like Juventus were totally ill-fitted for his style of football in the end he did a fantastic job you know the season that he was there with everything that you know that he was put through
00:42:17
Speaker
And then, so in comes Frank Lampard who, you know, replaces Sarri, he's the overwhelming, he's the darling of the Chelsea fans after, you know, he had a great career there. And, you know, I don't want to say he's been a disaster, this season has been a disaster, but, you know, he's right now, you know, Chelsea are in eighth position, they got hammered again yesterday, they've won one in their last seven games.
00:42:39
Speaker
During a pandemic, they spent 250 million euros on new signings, including 130 million on these two German youngsters, Timo Werner and Kai Havert, supposed to be the two big things of the German football. Both of them have been in complete shambles so far. He's on the brink of the sack.
00:43:02
Speaker
and you know it's just about the double standards really the way that Frank Lampard has been treated despite how badly he's doing and the way that Maurizio Sarri has been treated and you know I would also add to that that look at Juventus's situation Sarri won the league last season with who I still
00:43:18
Speaker
insist to this day was an age in decline in Juventus squad who I think were there for the taking from others in Serie A. He still managed to win the title with them and look at Juventus now. As we said before, 10 points off the top of the table and potentially after this Wednesday when they play Milan, could be out of the title race altogether if they lose that game. So Sarri is here looking at what's going on at Chelsea with Lampard, what's going on at Juventus and thinking,
00:43:45
Speaker
It's not going too badly for me while I chill at home and pick up my my Juventus paychecks. I think he's also making a nice little uh wage Having to sit on his backside and watch these two uh two situations unfold. That's The only thing missing from that scenario is like the cigar or something
00:44:04
Speaker
All right, well that was going to sort of be my ventura of the week I was going to I wanted to put chelsea as the ventura of the week because it really is the um I don't want to say, you know, be careful what you wish for sort of thing, but it really is that um the way sahri in my opinion was slagged off by them was borderline embarrassing and as you said carlo it
00:44:30
Speaker
It really did get personal at times, so to see them where they are now with Lampard, again, I'm not going to say I bask in it, but I'm also not not going to say I don't bask in it, so I don't know. It's an interesting situation, but you guys are forcing me to relive this stupid
00:44:51
Speaker
If there's one thing I couldn't care less about when it comes to football, it's the personal lives of players. Nico Lozano, this love triangle thing is something that, again, I couldn't care less about. I just want you, everyone to know that's listening to this, I am being forced to discuss this against my will. I didn't want to talk about this.
00:45:11
Speaker
it's insane nonetheless come on it's it's i it's i see the thing is i don't i don't find it insane so for those of you who missed it nicolas zanyolo finds himself entangled in a sort of i guess you would call it a love triangle i guess not really not really so
00:45:28
Speaker
I don't even know what you call it. You can call it a bad, cheap remake of keeping up with the e-Kardashians, is what I would call it. Here, I'll just spell this out very plainly. Okay, so, Zaniolo, for a very long time, she's sort of become like a cult figure with Roma supporters, his ex-partner.
00:45:51
Speaker
Sarah Scaparrota, they dated for on and off. I believe it was two years. It might have been just under two years. They were on and off. And now they're off. However, earlier this week, Sarah announced that she is pregnant with Nicolo Zagnolo's child.
00:46:14
Speaker
Now, I am going to chalk this up to immaturity, but after word got out about this, Nicolas found it in his best interest to give a very weird interview to Corriere Terosport. And in this interview, he admits that
00:46:31
Speaker
Yeah, you know, I told her I'm not ready to be a father, so I wanted her to take care of the situation. We're not mature enough. So you have that. I don't want to turn this into an abortion versus not an abortion thing, but Zanielo hinted that's what he wanted.
00:46:51
Speaker
And in the meantime, just a couple of hours later, it gets, it becomes known that Zaniolo is now dating someone who I think is 13 years older than him, which again is not a big deal, but I saw people mentioning it and they took issue with that. So I feel obligated to mention that for one reason or another. He is dating, I think she's either 33 or 34.
00:47:15
Speaker
And I believe she is a Romanian? Yeah, she's a Romanian model. But she's grown up in Italy because she speaks perfect Italian. So, Madalina Genia, she's a model and an actress, and she is the one that Zaniolo is reportedly now dating.
00:47:36
Speaker
However, yesterday, she goes on her Instagram because, of course, in this world of social media after it gets learned that Zanyolo left his former partner Sara for Madarina when she was pregnant, she starts receiving abuse.
00:47:56
Speaker
She goes on her Instagram and says, oh, I've never met Niklo Zaniolo. We've met once. We're not dating. Mind you, this is like 48 hours after she had previously posted a reply on his Instagram saying, oh, I'm so lucky I get to kiss your lips this much. And then you add Zaniolo's mother to this discussion. Francesca Costa is
00:48:24
Speaker
Frak77, as she's become widely known in the internet, is somebody who I have followed ever since Zagnolo arrived at Roma. Zagnolo basically doesn't want to discuss this situation, but for one reason or another, his mother
00:48:43
Speaker
and his agent go on a local radio station in Rome, radio, radio, and they both give these very wide ranging and very odd interviews about this entire situation. Zagnolo's mom says that Sarah had an abortion seven months ago. I don't know how in the world that is even remotely relevant, but apparently she found that it was
00:49:08
Speaker
Basically, this has turned into an unnecessary drama and ultimately, late yesterday, Zanyolo deleted his Instagram account. After, this is the best part, when the Romanian model has her lawyers send a cease and desist letter to Italian media. Yes.
00:49:30
Speaker
Saying to lawyers basically put out a statement saying these two are not in a relationship. Anyway, I explained that very poorly, but then goes up on his Instagram stories and says that he will take his responsibilities and that he's happy with as a father. Yes. So I think we should make I think we should make this a regular segment on the show. No, this I can't tell you how much this sucks. Yeah. Let's get into our user questions. I need to get out of this.
00:50:02
Speaker
Okay, user questions. Thank you to everybody who submitted your questions. So let's get to the first one. This is from Joseph Fiscetti on Twitter, and he asks, who would you rather have, Piotr Zielinski, or Utinez de Paul, which is a fantastic question. Nima, who would you rather have? If it depends on who your coach is. If it's Antonio Conte, Rodrigo de Paul. If it's everyone else except Antonio Conte, the answer is Piotr Zielinski.
00:50:31
Speaker
Okay. I think Paul is perfectly suited to Kante's style of play. I think that's why he dreams of him. Or as Gianluca Di Marzio so eloquently said, he would take the Paul to Milan tomorrow if he could. Yeah. Romeo confirmed the same thing on Romeo Gresti in our interview episode last week. He said that Kante badly once de Paul in January.
00:50:55
Speaker
If you look at the type of players that Inter are linked with, you see a red line here. These are hard-working players, and these are players that run a lot, and they give him the dynamism he wants in his 3-4-2-1 or 3-4-3. It's very clear that that's where he's going. It's got a great goal, though. Fantastic goal of the week, maybe.
00:51:17
Speaker
Now that can't be scored the goal of the week. I mean, did you see? Yeah, I did. Yeah, that one. That one was that was unbelievable. All right, Carlo, this next one is for you. It is from Chris from Wakefield on Twitter. And he asks what you will we see versus Milan? They have been so inconsistent.
00:51:37
Speaker
Yeah, that's just it. That's their issue. Every single time that you think that Juventus are starting to hit a little bit of a run of form, starting to click into gear, all of a sudden they have another bad result. It's just impossible to say. I've said a few times that in November,
00:51:54
Speaker
having started the season pretty slowly, they had this good little run where they drew with Lazio having played, dominated the game and then beaten Callery and were absolutely fantastic. Then they went on this really awful run where they just beat Ben Ichvaros, they drew with Ben Avento, they played bad against Dynamo Kia, they played bad against Torino and he thought, what the hell's going on? You know, they're in a bad run of form.
00:52:14
Speaker
Then all of a sudden out of nowhere they beat Barcelona 3-0, they follow that up with a good win against Genoa, they play well against Atalanta, they destroy Parma and you think that's it, Juventus are back, they're finding their form, we're going to see them move up the table. Then again,
00:52:29
Speaker
Well, out of nowhere, they lose to Fiorentina at home 3-0. So, you know, it's impossible to say. As I said before, I wasn't impressed with them massively against Udinese. They won. The only thing I would say is they have to win this game. So, you know, they can't get it wrong.
00:52:45
Speaker
All right. I will take this next one. And Jefferyn on Twitter asks, which city art clubs do you expect to look most different from today to the end of May due to change of manager, potential injuries with congested schedule or players expected back from injuries or perhaps incoming transfers in January? This can be for better or worse. Oh, well, that is a nice little caveat. Hmm.
00:53:14
Speaker
That is a good question because I think you could make a number of arguments for each side. As far as better as to who will be different, I think that's Sasool or I'm sorry, they would be for worse.
00:53:31
Speaker
Sasualo is going to be my team I would say for worse because I think they are starting to regress to the mean. I think most of us would agree that they overachieved in the first half of the season. So I think we'll see a drop off from them. I wouldn't be surprised if they finished.
00:53:49
Speaker
I don't know, eight, nine, ten, something like that. I just didn't think that they could keep up the current pace. As far as for the better, though, I actually think Sampdoria could be one of them. And I say that for two reasons. I do think that from an individual standpoint, you could upgrade just about every department of their team.
00:54:12
Speaker
um if you look at like the individual quality it is not oozing from the squad um we talked about that earlier uh in our transfer review show i i thought samp had one of the worst markets alongside parma and uh ranieri has shown that that doesn't matter i mean he almost got the result yesterday against roma and that that's how he is um it's really the same guy that we saw at lester he can i mean he just he
00:54:41
Speaker
ramps up the tactics and he just chokes you, chokes you to death and it doesn't really matter where he lacks quality. So I do think if Ferrero can stop being a Colleone and bring a decent, I'm not even saying like a top level, I'm saying a decent level guy in in January, one who can make a difference, maybe a wide player who can make a difference because News Flash, that is not Antonio Cantareva,
00:55:11
Speaker
I think maybe we could see them shoot up the table a little bit For and maybe maybe maybe Triangle for a run for the Europa League now I'm not expecting that but I I do think if they get another player or two they can do really really good because I think it on yeti is perfectly suited for that team because they they really do I mean they are the definition of shit housing and
00:55:38
Speaker
Next question is for you, Nima, and Paolo Ericso asks via email, should we be worried about Tonali's form with Milan? He's been really poor this season, having been built up as the next big thing when he was signed. I don't think so at all. I think you have to remember this is a kid, this is his fourth season playing senior football. This is his second season in the Serie A.
00:56:04
Speaker
And he's only 20 years old, he turns 21 in May. There's absolutely nothing to be alarmed about. As I said earlier, the Gijo Donaruma experiment, the Delicht thing, Delicht made some horrible mistakes when he came, but the talent and quality was there. Tonali, it's the same thing.
00:56:23
Speaker
And the quality and talent and the key is the same thing there. The talent and quality is there. You just need patience and you need them. It's not just about having patience with them. It's about them also being open to learning from their mistakes and to improve on them. And I think that Tonali and Kies has shown that. Donaruma has shown that. Delicta has shown that. And I think Tonali will show that as well. So I'm not in the slightest bit worried at all.
00:56:50
Speaker
Carlo, this final one is for you. It's from Pep Perone and he asks on Twitter, is the Scurrato race over for Juve if they lose to Milan on Wednesday? I think it could be, yes, because Juventus are 10 points behind Milan. As I said, they're 9 points behind Inter.
00:57:09
Speaker
If they lose to Milan, then Milan go 13 points clear, in to go 12 points clear. Even though there's still well over 20 games left in the season, it's a lot of points to make up when there's such an intense calendar when Juventus are playing in Europe. I can see that
00:57:37
Speaker
if Juventus are 10 points behind Milan or 13 points behind Milan, that they wouldn't be too worried about that. They could think, right, if we go on a run, Milan can drop the points. But Inter, no, I can't see that with Inter. I think with Antonio Conte teams, they don't collapse when they're ahead. So, yeah, I think it's an absolute, absolute must win game for Juventus against Milan.
00:58:00
Speaker
For sure, that should be a very entertaining affair. So that is where we are going to leave it. We will be back on Thursday with the interview episode with, as we already mentioned, Vito Angelou. If you want to listen to that episode and you aren't a patron yet, again, you can go to patreon.com slash T-I-F-P to access that episode as well as all of our other previous interview episodes. So we will talk to you in a few days. Until then, bye bye.