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Free Weekly Episode - Retegui Breaks Records For Italy, Sacked Antonio Conte’s Next Club, Messi To Inter Milan? & Much More (Ep. 309)
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From Italy's mixed bag results but overall poor performances in EURO 2024 qualifiers against England and Malta, Mateo Retegui's historic Azzurri debut, the criticism of Robert Mancini and Antonio Conte's future after Spurs sack to crazy Lionel Messi links to Inter Milan, Nima and Carlo break down all the talking points from a jam-packed weekend in Italian football.
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Transcript
Introduction & Italy Match Previews
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian Football Podcast. Hello, everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Italian Football Podcast. I'm Carlo Garganese, joined as always by Nima Tavalli. And international break, of course, this week, usually during international break. There's not too much to talk about, but this is Italian football and there's always stuff going on. So we're going to be, first of all, reviewing the two Italy games. Italy played against England in Naples.
00:00:32
Speaker
on Thursday and lost, and then played against Malta on Sunday in one. So we'll be reviewing those two matches, positives and negatives, Roberto Mancini, Matteo Retegi, very, very eventful debuts. And looking at Mancini's future, is he still the right man? Does he still retain our
Debate on Italy Kit Design
00:00:55
Speaker
faith? Which play should we be going forward with?
00:01:00
Speaker
Italy kit. I want to do a little segment on the Italy kit. There's been a lot of criticism here. I absolutely hate
Antonio Conte's Future
00:01:06
Speaker
it. I don't know what Nima thinks so we'll talk about the Italy kit and then also from the club side of things, Antonio Conte was sacked on Sunday evening. We're going to look at where he could go next. I think he's going to be returning to Italy so
00:01:21
Speaker
Who could be his next club? We're going to discuss that.
Messi to Inter Rumors
00:01:24
Speaker
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been involved in some beef with the Swedish media. Nimr's going to take that away. Very, very interesting topic. And also,
00:01:36
Speaker
fantasy football. This surely will be or is it or will it be fantasy football? That is Lionel Messi going to enter in the summer. There's been reports in Spain over the weekend that Lionel Messi could join in on a free transfer. I think that's very unlikely but
00:01:52
Speaker
Let's discuss that as well. And of course, Badger and Prem Face of the Week.
Supporting the Podcast
00:01:56
Speaker
So yeah, it should still be a very, very fun show today. For all our first time listeners, this is our free weekly episode, which we do every Monday review in the weekend. Action in Italian football and all the biggest talking points. If you want to support the Italian football podcast and receive all of our content throughout the week, including our weekly Q&A episode, which we do every Tuesday, where we answer the questions sent in from our patrons, plus our weekly Thursday midweek review show.
00:02:20
Speaker
Plus interviews, post-match reaction, and much more. Then go to patreon.com slash T-I-F-P and become a subscriber for $2.99 a month plus VAT. And for all of you listening on Spotify, iTunes, Apple podcasts, and more, we'd greatly appreciate a five-star rating. Give us a follow, subscribe to us. That really, really helps us to grow.
00:02:42
Speaker
Okay, right, let's get into it.
Italy's Tactical Challenges
00:02:45
Speaker
Okay, let's start off first with the most recent game, Malta versus Italy, because first of all, Italy did play England on Thursday, England 1-2-1, and Nimmo's already done a post-match reaction on that, which he did on Thursday night, and that's for our Patreons only, so for those of you that want a specific
00:03:07
Speaker
analysis of that match alone then then go to patreon.com slash T.I.F.P and become a member for two ninety nine as I said and you can and you can listen to Nimitz analysis we will we will talk about the the Malta and England games as a whole in a bit but first of all I want to just focus on on Sunday night's game against Malta which Italy won two nil
00:03:33
Speaker
Given the level of opposition, Nimr, probably not too much we can read from this game, but what were the takeaways for you from the win? Yeah, that is that. Exactly that. With all due respect to Malta, they...
00:03:48
Speaker
This is not a very good team. This is a team that Italy should beat even with their under 21s. And I'm not reading too much into it, but I do what I don't like. And I will reiterate this. And if Mancini is going to continue to do this, he's going to get himself sacked and he's going to cost Italy a lot. And that is the formation. The four three three needs to go. It's been read to death.
00:04:14
Speaker
by Italy's opponents, and if Italy don't have higher ambitions than beating Malta, this formation needs to go. I don't understand why he's insisting on it. He played a 3-5-2. Before it looked really well. He's played a 3-4-2-1. He's tried different formations. I don't understand why he's continuing to
00:04:35
Speaker
I don't know what happened since last time, that he sort of fell into this trap of, oh, 4-3-3 is the only way forward with two bowl retaining midfielders, deep-lying midfielders, and like Giorgio Enverati, although they didn't start in this game. But you know what I mean? This attitude of this kind of play that he's got is just, to me, I'm sorry, I just don't get it. And I think it's going to be bad for Italy.
00:05:04
Speaker
He needs to change that, you know. To what systems would you change to?
00:05:12
Speaker
I think you should play a 3-5-2. I think, first of all, Italy, okay, we're going to get to Rettegi, who's been outstanding. But I think with the players Italy have got, the problems they've got in the squad, the best way to get out of it, what you get the most out of this squad is playing a 3-5-2. Why? Because you get the three central midfielders, which I think Italy always should have on the pitch, given the quality they've got.
00:05:37
Speaker
um you have given the the defenders they have the central defenders they have they can most of them can play in a back three can do so really well um the wing backs from DiMarco to Udoji to Palmieri to whoever he wants to play on the left side Espinazzola all can play as wing backs. Di Lorenzo can play to the right of the right center back or as a more defensively
00:06:01
Speaker
defensive wing back. I think he's shown the intelligence that this player has and the quality and adaptability. I mean, when Spalletti spoke of him about if Napoli were a school, Di Lorenzo would have the highest mark, not because he's the best player, but because of
00:06:18
Speaker
you know, all these other attributes of the intelligence and how to, you know, sacrifice yourself for the team and adapting and, you know, putting yourself forward. And also upfront, I don't think Italy can play with a single striker. I think with whether it's Nionto or Keza or Skamaka or Retegi or Raspadori, they would work better in a two-man attack.
00:06:42
Speaker
and I think the 3-5-2 gets the most out of what Italy have and also it makes Italy so less easy to read. When you've got Giorginio Verratti on the pitch you've essentially got two holding midfielders who don't move forward and that makes Italy static and teams have read in the Euros they could get past that because of
00:07:03
Speaker
You know, they had Kiesa, they had Pesina, they had, you know, and some players that were mobile in front of them. But the number nine problem was still there. They had Leonardo Spinazzola, who was essentially a wingback. So it kind of made up for lots of these things. Now they don't have any of those things and they're just easy to read.
00:07:25
Speaker
Yeah, we'll come on to what Italy should do moving forward first. But I mean, just on this Malta game, I would say that first half was decent. I think they were obviously fortunate not to go behind early on, when Don Aruma saved the one-on-one from Satteliano, I think it was. But, you know, Italy created three big chances in the first half. They scored two of them. Griffo should have scored the third one, then Italy should have had a penalty.
00:07:53
Speaker
start more penalty that wasn't given.
00:07:55
Speaker
The second half was very poor, though, from Italy. They created nothing. Maybe they took their foot off the gas. Malta actually had the best chance in the second half. So that's kind of how I view the overall game. In terms of positives, I think Politano was man of the match. He showed that he's much better in this 4-3-3. He's much better than Berardi in this 4-3-3. Berardi was dreadful against England. But Politano, what he brings is the ability to beat a man and his pace.
00:08:24
Speaker
And when Italy are predictable, like you said, you need players. Every team needs a player that can eliminate a man to create an overload and to create a numerical advantage. And that's what Politano does very, very well. So I thought he was excellent. Sonali, although his overall game I didn't think was outstanding, he did show that the creativity and the delivery especially that he has, and he got to assists.
00:08:50
Speaker
for you deliverable when he's on song that better than Tenali. So, you know, he was he obviously lots of positives there from Tenali. But also ship Pasina, which I think goes in with the point that you're making them is that I think that Pasina along with Tenali brought something to the Italy central midfield that
00:09:06
Speaker
that is often lacking. Italy generally needs more goals and assists from the midfield through it. And in fact, even going into the Euros, this was my big concern is that even though Verratti and Giorginio at that time of the Euros were at their peak and they were absolutely well-class players, absolutely fantastic at winning and controlling the central midfield,
00:09:27
Speaker
You know, when you have the rat in Virginia both played together with Burello, who I think can bring goals, but obviously is absolutely exhausted and has been in general for much of the last two years, is that, you know, these players, they rarely, certainly with a rat in Virginia, they rarely get into the box, they rarely score, they rarely even assist. You know, if they get the ball on the edge of the box, you know, they're not going to be able to not going to be a threat with a shot.
00:09:51
Speaker
you know and that is where they become easy to read like you said so plain to gnarly in piscina you get that you get that threat there's more of a goal threat there and piscina for both of them but certainly piscina he makes those late runs into the box you know like the frank lampard kind of runs and he gets into positions
00:10:11
Speaker
that you won't see the other central midfielders, and you'll never see Verrazi and Giorginio get into those areas. So, you know, and obviously he scored, he scored the second goal in this game, and I think that that is something that whatever formation Italy play, they need to have at least one central midfielder that's always getting into what I would say too,
Midfield Analysis
00:10:29
Speaker
I would say in modern football,
00:10:30
Speaker
you need to be getting men into the box, other ways you do become too easy to play against and just to sit deep against. So I think that is something that Pacina brings. He's got five international goals now in 16 games. I'm not sure that Pacina is good enough to play against bigger teams.
00:10:51
Speaker
but I think he has his value, and certainly against the lesser teams, like in qualified, I think he's useful, because he offers that goal for it. So those are the positives for me. The negatives, I have to single out Skalvini, and I really want to ask Unima what your thought is, because I like asking people about Skalvini, because I've watched a lot of him for Atalanta over the last two years, and I totally get he's really young. Was he still 19, Skalvini? I think it's fantastic that he's playing so much, and he's developing,
00:11:19
Speaker
But I honestly for everything I've seen in Scovino, I don't get what the big fuss is about him so far. I mean, I believe in his potential. I'm not saying that potential, but what I've seen of him until now, I don't see what this wonder kid is about him. And he in this game, he was very disappointed in this game. He got outpaced on that early chance and the only one and one that melted. It was just a simple ball over the top.
00:11:41
Speaker
that Satoriano ran to and he got done for pace on that, which was very worrying for me. And then he got booked in the second half and he also got outpaced, he got done with a quick burst of pace from a multiplayer. So, you know, I think his lack of pace is a concern because in modern football, we know that if you lack pace, certainly playing in a back two, you can be in trouble. So I don't know, what's your opinion on Scalvini?
00:12:10
Speaker
I think it's, look, there's no doubt, like you said, that there's a talent. It's a talented player. There's a player there. He could maybe one day become really great. But I think the fact that he already at 18 or 19 is in the Italy squad is because Italy has no
00:12:29
Speaker
no future in the heart of defense except for Bastoni, no player that is of that level that Italy is used to. Bastoni is the only one that comes close in central defense if you want to play a back four. You saw what an unmitigated disaster it is when you have Acherbi and Toloy playing together, which is a decision that Mariberto Mancini has to answer for. That was an insane decision against England.
00:12:59
Speaker
I think dulorento on the right is no one gets near him. And on the left wing or wing back, same thing there, there's no problems. But the heart of defence does have an issue. Bastoni is the left centre back in a back four or the left centre back over back three. So it remains what else do you play? And Scalvini at 19 has played at a reasonably high level, is far from the finished product.
00:13:26
Speaker
But I got to say, I don't get, this isn't the reincarnation of Paolo Maldini, this isn't the rebirth of Andrea Barzali or Giorgio Cellini or anything like that. I think he could become a great player, top class player, but I don't see the wonder kid that everyone is raving about and I haven't ever. But I do think it's right to have him in the Italy National School. I think Roberto Mancini's decision to bring in youth, to bring in
00:13:54
Speaker
to do all the things he's doing. Mancini's young revolution and challenging Italy's ideals of what Italian football or national team football is, I'm with him all the way on that. I support his Azzurri revolution 110%. I just have
00:14:10
Speaker
issues with particular decisions that Mancini makes. And one of them, of course, is playing a back four with the players he does. Do you not think, though, and I think that and this is the case for Skalvini, but any anyone that's coming through and potentially could be called up to play centre back for the Italy national team, is that
Defensive Strategies
00:14:30
Speaker
All pretty much everyone in Italy now are playing back threes. Nearly everyone's played back threes. I mean Milan, and even Milan played back three now. I know they don't understand the defenders, but it's a... It's only Latio and Napo in the top. That's a lot to play back three with Scovini. So, I mean, this is the problem that when you go from always playing a back three to suddenly playing a back four, you know,
00:14:56
Speaker
especially when you've never played in a back four, like Scalvini. Has Scalvini ever played in a back four? I think that's really... I've tried it a little bit, didn't he, when he was kind of, you know, experimenting over changing the style of play, I think. But it didn't work, you know, it's just gone back to a back three. I mean, so this is an issue. It's not easy for him either, or for anyone going from a back three to a back four, especially when you lack pace. And that's my biggest concern. But yeah, I haven't seen it. I don't see any standout
00:15:24
Speaker
physical or technical attributes of Sculvini, to be honest, that really stands out. I think he's obviously positioning. I think he's pretty good. I think he reads the game pretty well. He's obviously very well built and everything.
00:15:37
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not. Yeah, I don't know. I'm not for me. I'm not still young. So you could easily develop. Exactly. But but I think the reason why he's being hyped this much is because there is no other 19 year old or young Italian center back that is anywhere near the level that he's played at. And that's why everyone's raving. But
00:15:59
Speaker
And that says everything you need to know about where Italy are. And that's why I keep saying that 3-5-2 is the way forward for Italy. I really think so. Because regardless of who you play, if you're going to have Gianluca, if you're going to play Mancini, if you're going to play Acherbe, if you're going to play Toloi, if you're going to play Scalvini, Bastoni, and so on and so forth, they all play in a back three.
00:16:23
Speaker
and you're lucky and blessed enough to have an intelligent player like Di Lorenzo who can interpret many other roles because he's just that intelligent. He's got such a high football IQ in terms of interpreting roles and adapting and putting the team's best ahead of his own. We've seen it with him for season after season after season. I think that that is the way forward, I really do.
00:16:51
Speaker
As for Scalvini itself, I'm with you on that. I don't see the new reincarnation of the next great Italian
00:17:01
Speaker
defender in him. I really don't. I really don't. Okay. But let's, let's move on. Like I said, I mean, it's only 19 years old. So, you know, Oh yeah. In 19 most Italian players are playing. So yeah, we have to give him that. Um, okay. Let's move on to another problem position for Italy. And that is the center forward. And we've had this, the call up of Matteo Rotegi who, who, you know, that was the talking point ahead of these, uh, head of the double header.
00:17:29
Speaker
and he scored in both games, so what did you make of his overall performances? I think what I said in the first, in my post-match reaction pod, is pretty much where I am with this, and that is that I think that he... I think from, you know, it's still very early days, I know he scored in his first two first games for Italy, which is a very good sign, but my overall thing of him is
00:17:58
Speaker
This guy is a fox in the box. He is a killer in the box. He smells a goal and he goes for it. He's not the most technical player. He's not gonna dribble six, seven players. He's not gonna, you know, he's not the guy who links up too much. He's kind of invisible until he gets a sniff in the penalty box. And that usually that's when he comes alive. And I mean, to be honest,
00:18:26
Speaker
that, you know, that don't really already have that in Cheerio Immobula. Do you know what I mean? But he's just, you know, he's younger than that, you know, a fox in the box. That's why I think that as a lone striker in a 4-3-3, he just doesn't work.
00:18:40
Speaker
I think, again, next to Skamaka, next to Rasbadori, next to Kiesa, someone in a front two, that's what I would, I think he would be absolutely lethal. Again, you know, this is international football. You can't pick and choose. These are the players you have.
00:19:03
Speaker
Italy should just get the best out of what they've got. And I do think that Italy do have a good squad. Every international side has weaknesses to some extent, one way or another. Maybe France is the only one that doesn't. But other than that, every other country does have weaknesses. And I think as a national team coach, your primary job is to get the best out of what you've got. I do like Kretegi. I'm really interested. I hope to see him in the Serie A soon.
00:19:32
Speaker
He does, there's a little bit of a, like I said, a Mauroica de Ciro immobile kind of vibe around him in the sense that he's a killer in the box, but he doesn't really link up that much. He doesn't move that much outside the box. You know, he's good in the air, but his first touch might not be the best in the world, but he's a killer.
00:19:52
Speaker
You know, well, listen, we can't. Yeah, I agree with that. And listen, everything that Dan Edwards said, and for those who haven't listened to it, you know, we did a profile on on Rategi last Wednesday, which you can free for everyone, which you can listen to. And everything that Dan said really was true played out in this. You know, he's a goal scorer. He seems like he's a clinical finisher. I mean, if you look at them, he had one
00:20:19
Speaker
one chance, one clear chance against England, he buried it. He had one big chance against Malta and he buried it so he seems like he's a very very good finisher. Obviously we're only judging this off a couple of games but
00:20:34
Speaker
He obviously comes alive in the box. I would go further than saying he's good in the air. He looks like a beast in the air. Just looking at how he jumps and leaps over his opponents. He looks fantastic in the end. The power he generated in the goal against Malta as well. He looks fantastic, really.
00:20:57
Speaker
Yeah and you know to score in both his first two games having never played in Europe and I think it's the first player Italy plays since 1968 to score in both their first two games for their country I mean you can't argue with that that's fantastic but you know also like Dan also like Dan said he is not the best at coming deep holding the ball up bringing others into play he didn't really do much of that and he didn't really look comfortable doing that and
00:21:25
Speaker
Yeah, for absolutely for sure. Some of his first touches were incredibly heavy. I think the first touching international football was a bit of a mccarky touch against England with about 10 yards in front of him. You know, so that is that is the area that he needs to improve, you know, outside of the box, bringing others into play.
00:21:44
Speaker
because that is important as well. You see what Harry Kane did against Italy. He was absolutely fantastic. That's the thing. It was absolutely fantastic. This is what I mean. When you don't have that striker, you can't play that kind of football.
00:21:59
Speaker
I mean, it's again, I think the schematic on paper can do it, but obviously we've seen the but it's not there yet. Yeah, we've seen the like, again, you have to cut with a cloth. You're dealt you have to you have to make do with what you've got and get the best out of what you've got. You can, you know, you can do in club football, you can do what content does and
00:22:19
Speaker
continue to be stubborn until the management buys you what you want or you walk out. You don't have that unless Mancini intends on scouring the globe, looking for a player that we have never heard of who's the new Harry Kane with Italian blood.
00:22:39
Speaker
that he can neutralize and naturalize, that's not going to happen. So you have Rettagi here, he's only 23 years old, he looks like a killer in the box. Skamaka will leave England in the summer, build around them, but build a system that gets the most out of them.
00:22:57
Speaker
But he plays in the front two for Tigre. And that is again another thing that Dan said is that he is best in the front two. So I guess that's something else to back up your suggestion. Roberto Mancini as a whole. We need to talk about this. Other than the formation which you've made pretty clear that you think he should change the system.
00:23:19
Speaker
What else can we take away from these games in terms of where Roberto Mancini should go? The big question is, do you still retain faith in him? Do you still think he is? I think what he's trying to do, like I said, Roberto Mancini's Atsuri revolution of changing the mindset
00:23:41
Speaker
reintegrating young players, giving young players more of a chance, the fact that he brings in the Njontos, the Retegis, all these young players that would never have had a chance, the fact that he even brought Salvatore Esposito from the Serie B to play in the Nations League. I love that. He's opening up the windows and airing everything out, and he's doing it playing a very modern, progressive football. When they won the Euros, just look at how they played. That was not the traditional Italy, right?
00:24:10
Speaker
But again, I love him for that and I want him to continue doing that because I think that's exactly what Italian football needs. However, he also needs results. And winning the Euros is historic.
00:24:24
Speaker
failing to get to the World Cup. I'm even willing to give him a pass on that because I think as we discussed millions of times before, there's specific reasons for that. But now there needs to be, he needs to show that he's the right man to lead Italy. And if he's going to continue insisting and turning the 4-3-3 into some sort of a project where he's looking at Spalletti and saying, oh, look at how he plays, that's how I want to play, but not having Caratrelia, Lobotka or Osseman,
00:24:54
Speaker
No, then he needs to go because he's just wasting two to four years of Italian national team football. If this is the square peg round hole debate that he's going to continue having on the pitch, then he needs to go. If he again, I support him on every other aspect of what he's doing, everything he's saying. I love it. I agree with it. I think it's the right thing for Italian football, but he needs to get the results and he needs Italy to start believing in themselves again. And before this becomes a mental block,
00:25:21
Speaker
And I think that that's where I'm at. So I'm kind of on the fence. I don't want to sack him. But I do think that he needs to show that he's the right man to, you know, to do what he wants, did himself reinvent himself, you know, when he first came on and took over Italy after the historic dreadful Ventura era.
00:25:39
Speaker
where he came in and opened up the windows and changed everything around and start building around these young players, changed Italy's identity. They went unbeaten for, what was it, two and a half years, 36 games, you know, stuff like that. That's what he needs to do, to do that again, but challenge himself this time. And I don't mean change the identity. I do think Italy should continue down this path of playing a progressive modern passing game. I just think they need to have more dynamic players in the box.
00:26:09
Speaker
And that won't happen unless he changes to a 3-5-2. I think it's inevitable. And never ever playing Giorginio and Varati together again. I'm sorry, but that's been read to death. Those two just never again.
00:26:25
Speaker
Yeah, no, I think absolutely, that would be my main point. I think that he has been, listen, one of the reasons why Italy didn't qualify for the World Cup is he retained too much of his faith in the older Euro players.
Evolving Italy's Squad
00:26:42
Speaker
And still now, even after that, he's still, some of the older Euro players, and he specifically said even after the England game that they still have a part to play, he's still,
00:26:52
Speaker
retaining too much faith in the old era. He's doing what Lippi did again in 2010. He's making every single mistake that every Italian national team coach has made throughout history when they've won something. And I don't understand why. I don't understand this.
00:27:10
Speaker
Sometimes it's not because they're too old. Although I think it is the case in some of these players that they're on the slide. I think it is like you said, it's because you know, winning teams do get found out. And that's why you have to change. That's why Pep Guardiola changes and tweaks his his system almost and his and his
00:27:28
Speaker
Yeah, he tweets his patterns of play and his little movements every year because you get found out after a while. It's actually one of the reasons why, whether you love him or hate him, Luciano Modri used to also say, this is why after every two or three years, I move players on because you create that, also the hunger as well. But
00:27:50
Speaker
you know, you it's the opposition, you know, you can't you don't find them out. So I think maybe there is a case that is maybe the case, certainly with the midfield. But I think Georgina definitely, yeah, he was really bad against against England really, really bad. And I think variety, I don't know what the hell has happened to variety, and it could just be
00:28:11
Speaker
a bad run of four maybe he's not full match because he hasn't been good for psg recently even got booed and there's even been caught talk that he might even leave psg which seems always been unthinkable because he's basically been a caliphi slave basically like you're not allowed to leave ever you know in the last few years even that he's even talked of him possibly leaving psg um so i don't know what happened to verati against england but giorgino was terrible and i think yeah giorgino
00:28:35
Speaker
has to move, has to move on now. No, I still have him in the squad. My issue isn't, look, I mean, if we... But it's in so many great central midfielders. It's different in other positions. No, but look, he's playing at the highest level still. I think he's going to win the Premier League with Arsenal.
00:28:55
Speaker
which will be his first title, EPL title. And a funny stat, apparently Mario Balotelli is the only Italian who has won the Premier League as a player.
00:29:07
Speaker
which is insane. And if Giorgini were to win it, could Giorgini would have won it with Chelsea. I double checked. He didn't win it. I checked on it. Surely. No, he was backup goalkeeper in Mourinho's first season. He must've won it. Unless it's the, because you had to get 10 appearances. Yeah, I think that's what it was. But you definitely. Yeah, that's what it was. Cause I checked his like page and there was no, he didn't win it. But regardless, he, he, um,
00:29:36
Speaker
And Balotel is the only one that has a winner's medal. But Giorginio could win it. I think Arsenal will win it and I think he'll be important there. So he just goes to show that there is a player there and you can still use him. I just don't want to see him together with Verratti, either or. Either Giorginio or Verratti. But both of them together, it's boring.
00:29:56
Speaker
I think Barilla, of course, Fratesi is someone I want to see more involved. I think Pellegrini is a good player. I think Pisino offers something Tonali for sure. Again, there's so many players in the central midfield that I don't have. I think Italy
00:30:11
Speaker
are fine there.
00:30:28
Speaker
you know, names, he believed, well names, but because he believed this is my strongest 11, you know, this is the, this is, this is Italy's best team when everyone is in form. The problem is that so many of those players at the time of when they played Macedonia were out of form. They were all, they were exhausted.
00:30:44
Speaker
And it was the same thing with this England game. And when we knew going to this England game, we said it. Both of us said, look, we'll take a draw because so many of the FC players were out of form. And that includes players that didn't even start. So it was difficult. It was difficult going into that England game. But at the same time, Mancini in that England game was playing players horribly out of form or horribly just exhausted. And when you've got so many top in the centre of midfield, when you've got so many great centre midfielders to choose from,
00:31:14
Speaker
you can afford to just play the players who are best in form. You don't have to play out of form players when you've got so many options. I can understand it in other areas like the set like striker position or the centre of defence where you don't really have many options and it's kind of like where you're kind of forced to play who you've got. But when you've got so many, you've just got an abundance of excellent centre midfielders.
00:31:39
Speaker
play the players that are in form. Don't play, you know, even Verratti who, you know, everybody knows, you know, I love the player in the last 10 years. He's been in really bad form in 2023. So just drop him for now. Bring him back when he's back in form, you know. And I'm the same way. I'm the same. I'm agree with you 100%. I think you should, you have to play the players who are in form and you also have to keep
00:32:02
Speaker
Because the thing is, when you've been found out, you're trying the same thing over and over again, you're playing Verratti Jorginho, you have no movement in midfield, you're looking static, and they're in bad form, well, it kind of becomes its own self-fulfilling prophecy. You know, you're breaking the players even more, mentally, when you do that. So, no, look, I think it's, I think that the personnel is there. I just, I'm thinking minor tweaks, if you know what I mean.
00:32:27
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, also the injuries as well. We actually have got a lot of injuries at the moment and you know. But the central defense is something I wanted to talk about. That is a problem. That is a problem. She needs to leave. A cherbine needs to be leave. Stop. I don't want to see Rafael Tollei ever again in an Italy shirt.
00:32:47
Speaker
Okay, Bastoni was injured. I want to see Casale integrated. Okay, well that brings me on nicely which players should go and who should be promoted in their place in this squad moving forward when we pick our next Italy squad for the nation's league, but more so the qualifiers. Who do we, from those that were in this squad or in general, who do we not want to see again? Who needs to be basically moved on now? Toloy.
00:33:10
Speaker
I don't want to see Tolo ever again. He's not good enough. He simply isn't good enough. The fact that this man has a Euro 2 2022 winner's medal is just unbelievable. He was the worst player on that squad and he shouldn't be a part of this team. He wasn't good enough then and he certainly isn't good enough now. So he needs to move. I think Bastogne needs to be reintegrated.
00:33:33
Speaker
as soon as possible when he's injured a fit fit, and he will be a charity. Look, I think he's doing a great season with Intel, but still he's way too old. Bonucci. I have no idea what like someone needs to explain that one to me. I don't get it.
00:33:50
Speaker
at all. So yeah, I want to see him start to move in players, to start to reintegrate younger players. Who's your first choice in the back two, if Manchini continues with that, or in the back three? Who would you play as your back three or back two?
00:34:10
Speaker
I would play Bastoni as the left center back regardless of if it's a back four or a back three. That's his position. That is without a doubt. To the right, whether it's a right wing back or a right full back, that's di Lorenzo. Left, whether it's left wing back or left back, it's either odo gi spiransola di Marco, whichever you want depending on, because I think you've got options there. The question really comes down to the right center back.
00:34:39
Speaker
No, I'm the centre centre back. Who's the centre centre back? If you're playing a back four, I mean, who do you play there? Yeah, that's the problem. I haven't got a clue. I've no clue. No, it gets trickier there, yeah. But I mean, I'd rather play, in a back three, I'd probably, I'd be open to actually giving Scalbini a chance to the right centre back and having Romanioli as your centre centre back, in a back three, for example.
00:35:06
Speaker
That was a murder. The lack of pace. You've got three slowest centre backs in the world all playing together. You get murdered. What are you going to do? Well, I don't know. Again, this is international football. Unless you're going to ask, what's his name? The Olympic sprint champion for Italy to start playing football, you're going to have slow centre backs.
00:35:27
Speaker
And, you know, you could also, if you wanted to, I think play Di Lorenzo as a right centre back and then play, you know, Dan. Yeah, that's what I would do. Di Lorenzo has to play right centre back. I don't know who you then play as right wing back, though. You could have D'Armee on there, that's fine. You could have someone like that there. Or you can even move Spinazzola to the right because he's played there at times as well. Possibly, yeah. I mean, what I mean is that you need to, they need to start getting into this 3-5-2 as soon as possible.
00:35:54
Speaker
And you've got options there. I really think you do have options there. I think someone like Roman Joly, people may laugh at it as much as they want, but just go look at what he's done, look at how he's playing.
00:36:11
Speaker
he's good enough. I mean, even if you play a back three, you could play a cherby in the middle just for now. I mean, you said next call up, but I mean, moving on, no, it's not going to work. I like Alessandro Bonjorno. I remember we had a question on our Q&A pod for patrons a few weeks ago about young, under 21 central defenders in the Serie A, and he was one of my picks. I think that's a really interesting player.
00:36:34
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, you know, Scalvini, Bongiorno, Bastoni, di Lorenzo.
00:36:42
Speaker
Casale, Romagnol, these are the guys that really need to build around for the future. Like, not the immediate future, but moving on. Because age, Acherbi's not getting any younger, Bonucci's finished. You know, Toloy, same thing there. I'm not convinced by any of them, with the exception of Vasudani. I have to be honest, I think there's a total crisis there at Cinébac, and there's a total lack of pace as well, which is a huge worry. I mean, if the multi-players are out pacing them, then we are in trouble.
00:37:11
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, midfield, well, actually, talking about the defence, first of all, about who I'd bring in, I think that Emerson actually played well against Malta, but, you know, again, that's a decision I can't understand from Mancini in terms of, you know, you're
Key Players for Italy's Future
00:37:30
Speaker
trying to build. I mean, we've got so many great young left-backs and left-wing backs, and Padeezy, Adorji, one of those two.
00:37:39
Speaker
One of those two has to be... Parezi, Udoji, DiMarco, Spinazzola. I mean, again, in Italy, you're spoilt for choice there. Yeah. I want to see one of Parezi or Doji just a regular in the squad all the time now. I want both of them in the squad all the time, especially Udoji. What are we talking about here? Well, yeah, I know. The problem is you've got DiMarco, you've got Spinazzola. I mean, you can't call all four of them up. Well, you can if you play Spinazzola to the right where he has played before. Like, you know, I think for me, I choose the best players and adapt accordingly.
00:38:10
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, the midfield, you know, Giorginio, I think I'd move him on now. And I'm again, someone that's been his biggest fan. I think you have to move him on. One of Giorginio and Virati, you know, Virati, I still believe, and I think he's just going for a bad, bad period. Christante, you know, I just don't, again, I don't think he's, I just don't think he's to the level required. But again, it's got so many great sentiment fielders yet they call up Christante. It's just, it's bizarre. It's bizarre. That is bizarre. To me, Christante is nowhere near good enough.
00:38:37
Speaker
for Italy. With all due respect, there's no, no, no need. I think Lucatelli and him, the role they have in the Italian national team is very similar because they're very dynamic midfielders.
00:38:57
Speaker
I wouldn't play them together, I'd play either one of them and there I always prefer Locatelli over Pacino, always. But I do think he has some traits that warrant a call up at least. Well on form Locatelli should have been called that because you've been playing very well for Juventus recently. Without a doubt. So like I said I want the men to be picking the players that are in form.
00:39:19
Speaker
Barella, I really don't know whether I should start to be worried now about Barella because, you know, I thought he was coming back this season. But he's got five goals by November. Wasn't October. Yeah. I thought he was coming back. But then I look at him now and he looks exhausted again. It's England. He was absolutely out on his feet. I mean, this guy is 26 years old. He shouldn't be like, you know, I don't I don't understand what's going on there. Barella, I don't know. I don't know what's happening with him. It's starting to concern me a little bit now. Me too.
00:39:47
Speaker
Because it's the same for Inter. There is cause for concern. And in attack, I mean, there's so many. I mean, Kieser, assuming we can get, I mean, again, it's a concern of Kieser, this chronic knee problem he has, this tendonitis, he's going to a specialist to have a look at it. That is a worry. I mean, you know, we need him. We need Kieser badly.
00:40:08
Speaker
I want him on one wing and I want Nianto on the other. If you're talking about 4-3-3, regardless of who plays in the middle, if you have Kieser on one side, then Nianto on the other side, then a wing. That creates havoc. Yeah, that's fantastic. In an ideal world, that's what I would have.
00:40:24
Speaker
I was really impressed. Even against England, I thought he did well. I would have Raspedorian Politano in the squad. So you've got Kiesa, you've got Njonto, you've got Raspedorian Politano. These are players that are dangerous, dangerous players. Obviously, you still have the problem in the centre. Rettigy started well. We'll see how he does. I think there is quality there. There is goals. It just needs to all come together.
00:40:47
Speaker
For me, Italy's four words, there are four players that they need to build around. Scamaca, Raspadori, Quieza, Nianto, those are the four. Everyone else around that, you build around those four. Those are the players you build around and you get, you know, you can put in a Rettegi if he plays next to whoever. Scamaca, Quieza, I don't care, but these four are the ones that I want Italy to build around.
00:41:14
Speaker
Yeah. And Berardi, I think move him on. And he doesn't, the problem with him is he doesn't beat his man. He doesn't take on his man. He doesn't dribble past. He's like a bit like Kolesevski. I'm comparing very much Kolesevski. Kolesevski can beat his man. This guy can't. He doesn't know how to beat his man. I don't think either can, to be honest. Griefo as well. Griefo as well. I mean, he's not at this level. He's not at the level.
00:41:38
Speaker
performed is too young. He's not barely playing for Odinerese right now. So I don't understand this notion. Like, I don't get it. Well, again, that's mentioned, you look at the bigger picture, which I get, which again, I think that's right. But that's him trying to change the culture of Italian football. But yeah, anyway, let's move on. Let's move on from that. But I want to talk about the Italy kit before we finish off. I want to have a little winch fest on that, did you?
00:42:04
Speaker
Well, I think the Italy kit is the worst Italy kit in the history of the Italy national team. I think Italy just celebrated their 125th anniversary at the FIGC, so 125 years, and this is the worst Italy kit ever. It's disgusting. It's absolutely disgusting. Whoever designed this should get sacked.
00:42:24
Speaker
I mean, the design I hate full stop. The Adidas design just does not look like a national team kit. It looks more like training gear. Training gear, yeah. That's what it looks from close. It really does look like training gear. Yeah. That's my biggest critique. It doesn't look like grand and not saying that national team kit should be really formal, but just the feeling. It doesn't feel like a national team kit. The color is not Italy at all. It's Greece or Japan color.
00:42:54
Speaker
It actually looks like a lot of few people have been joking. It actually looks like my local team, Bedford Town. If you look at the Bedford Town's kit, it looks like Bedford Town's kit because they've actually got Adidas as a sponsor as well. I mean, it's not the Azuri Blue. It's not the Azuri Blue. Actually, people that have played Pro Evolution Soccer, they used to be the blue custom Pro Evolution team. That's what it looks like. And the way Italy played against England, they played like the Pro Evolution custom team as well.
00:43:21
Speaker
And you know i mean this this italy kit you know i mean that we're blessed with such a beautiful azure blue. The beautiful green white and red flag to use on the show i mean it's such a gift yet they do they did they do this me how do you destroy something for you beautiful it's like a beautiful woman that then get so much work done that she destroys her face.
00:43:44
Speaker
That's what I would compare it to. You've got a beautiful woman. She's so naturally beautiful, yet she keeps getting work done, plastic surgery, all this stuff done, and she ends up becoming ugly. This is what has happened to the Italy kit. I mean, how can you destroy the Italy kit? It's so naturally beautiful. The color is so naturally beautiful. Yeah, no, it's easy colors to work with. You've got red, white, and green, and then you've got the classic blue that they've always worked with, the Azuri.
00:44:10
Speaker
And the badge as well, I mean, you always go on about calling Deserbi Bankarella pep, you call him. The badge, the badge looks like a badge you got. I don't have a problem with the badge. I think it's cool. The badge looks cheap. It looks like the badge where, you know, when you get a replica Seria shirt or an Italy shirt, replica Italy shirt from the beach in southern Italy, they have those really cheap badges. That's what it looks like. It looks like that printed badge. Yeah, that ironed on.
00:44:37
Speaker
Yeah, I am done. I think the white away kit, which we haven't seen yet, that's even worse actually. It's not a proper clean white. The colour should be clean, really clean. I agree. I'm more for the minimalism as well. I think there's too much. There's too much. This and that and there and this. No, I don't like it at all either.
00:45:00
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I hope they don't know how long the contracts were, but I hope at least they get rid of this straight away, just design and you can't get a proper blue in because it's horrible. And for me, you know, it doesn't inspire the players, you know, you should be inspired when you put on that shirt. Well, you know, you're putting on a Bedford Town shirt or Japan shirt. No, no disrespect to this.
00:45:19
Speaker
to those teams, but you know, it's not the Italy shirt. It doesn't look like Italy. You know, if you saw that on TV without knowing who the players were, you wouldn't think it's Japan or Greece that were playing. You wouldn't think it's Italy. Yeah.
Match Day Mishaps
00:45:35
Speaker
Okay. Right. Let's move on. Just just quickly. Other winners and losers from the break. The national anthem you spoke about, didn't you? Jesus.
00:45:45
Speaker
What was going on there? I mean, it was such a cluster F of a disaster. First, you have that poor lady who can't hear her own voice. And so she's not in sync with the music and she's trying to catch up while singing God Save the King. And it just it was horrible. It wasn't her fault. It was a technical glitch or what a problem and she couldn't hear herself. And anyone whose son knows that when you don't have any, you can't hear yourself.
00:46:15
Speaker
Well, what are you going to do? You can't hear what's going on. So I don't blame her for that. That happens. It's unfortunate. I think the people running the tech should be apologetic like hell for that, because they're the ones that caused it, because they made her look stupid as well. But second, Italy nationals.
00:46:35
Speaker
anthem. What in God's name was that? I thought it was a parody. I literally thought it was somebody someone was doing. Like it was some sort of like Sacha Baron Cohen had like infiltrated it and it was like it was what type of music? What?
00:46:53
Speaker
What's up? It's EDM. It's electric. It's EDM. They turned the Italy Nationals anthem into an EDM. I think it was Gigi. Wasn't it Gigi Dalles? Yeah. Which is like, why? It's like France getting Sebastian. What's his name?
00:47:10
Speaker
the EDM DJ who solved racism famously after George Floyd died and said shout out to remember that the cringiest moment. Like if we're talking top 100 cringiest moment in human history that is among the top five over the last 50 years with when George Floyd had died and he's standing on a rooftop
00:47:39
Speaker
in New York and he's playing Bob Sinclair, was it him? No, no, no, Sebastian. Sebastian. No, I can't remember what his name is, but he's really, really famous and he does EDM and he goes, this goes out. Oh, it's so bad. Shout out to George Floyd.
00:48:04
Speaker
It's just, it's so cringe. David Guetta, thank you, not so. David Guetta, yeah. David Guetta, sorry, yeah. It is, I mean, Google David Guetta, George Floyd, and try not to cringe when you see it. That's how far, how far do you get before cringing to the point where you want to crawl out of your skin? That's the challenge. I got about two, I get about three and a half seconds in before I literally have to stop it, turn it off, because I can't do it.
00:48:31
Speaker
But yeah, it literally sounded like it was like, it was like, I don't understand the idea. What were you thinking? You remember when the Queen died and one of the Linekas at the Lineka Bar, they had that weird tributa at Ibiza, one of their bars with a bunch of rocks. Yeah. Like when they had a bunch of like young hot girls in dressed like, you know, British salt, like these, what do you call them? These soldiers with the
00:48:58
Speaker
with a with a black, furry, you know, the British soldiers. Yeah, you know what I mean? The red. Yeah. Well, they had them in the sexy outfits and marching and singing, you know, singing God Save the Queen when everyone was like off their faces at stupid o'clock in the morning. Like it was so cringe. It was so, so cringe. I don't know who thought that was a good idea. Don't do that. The National Anthem's are the National Anthem's. You don't need a remix by anyone.
00:49:28
Speaker
And it just, it looked so bizarre. If you look at the faces of everyone from Italy to England, they didn't know what to do with themselves. They really look like what is going on. It was such a cluster F and it was, you know, it was funny, but please don't do that again. Ever.
00:49:47
Speaker
Yeah, again, destroy, let's destroy the kit and they'll destroy one of the most beautiful national films as well. I mean, well done. Um, into releases as well, aren't they Nima? Um, how many more injuries? Yeah. Defry. I don't know what happened there, but the, he was called up because of some viral infection because apparently some, somebody, people ate a chicken that wasn't cooked enough for some weird thing.
00:50:15
Speaker
And then he was called, he was sent back again because of an injury or whatever. The whole thing was weird. It really was like... But I was just exhausted, right?
Inter's Injury Concerns
00:50:24
Speaker
Yes, but I was exhausted. Jekyll, what happened was that he didn't play against Iceland because of a back injury. The Bosnian national team coach said as much. And of course, Bastogne and Dimarq already injured.
00:50:39
Speaker
So that was not a good thing. But one thing that was good is Romelu Lukaku, for instance, scoring a hat-trick against Sweden.
00:50:46
Speaker
And if you look at it, when he gets the service he needs, he can still score goals. And he got the service. He really did. But he looked fresh against Sweden. Now, having said that, Sweden are a dreadful side defensively. They really, really aren't. Sweden are an awful national team right now. But he did look very fresh. He looked fresh. He looked up for it. He looked happy. And he looked hungry.
00:51:16
Speaker
he looked really, really hungry. He didn't look heavy like he's done all season, Arinta, or since leaving Inter two years ago. He didn't look heavy, he looked happy, he looked relaxed, he looked hungry, and that's good for Inter because they need him firing on all cylinders if they're going to
00:51:36
Speaker
to do anything of note this next month and a half until the season ends. And I think that is a good thing. I think he needed minutes and the fact that he scored a hat-trick will only do his confidence a world of good.
00:51:49
Speaker
Yeah, sure, and Rasmus Hoyland as well, five goals, five goals in two games, although they lost one of them, Denmark lost to Kazakhstan, 3-2, haven't been 2-0 up, with like 15 minutes to go.
Conte's Potential Return to Italy
00:52:00
Speaker
Okay, away from international football, Antonio Conte sacked, we knew it was going to happen on Sunday evening, his assistant Stellani, surprisingly. Stellini. Stellini, not Roberto Stellini. I always mix him up with, I know,
00:52:18
Speaker
It's like in your head. Yeah, yeah, Kristian Stellini is a caretaker till the end of the season. So Conte sat, listen, we've talked Conte to death about, you know, Tottenham and, you know, the job he's done and Tottenham's decision and how they're not a serious club and all that. Let's just talk about where Conte goes next. I'm sure that
00:52:42
Speaker
he will return to Italy as much for family reasons. He's had a tough year, Conte, with his health. He had the operation. Also, he's lost a few close friends as well. And I think he wants to be back in Italy, back with his family. So I do believe he will return to Italy. The question is, where does he go? I think that there's...
00:53:09
Speaker
in terms of positions that could be available at big clubs that I don't want to say can afford to Conte, we'll come to that because I'm not sure they can afford him unless he accepts less than he's been paid up until now in his career. But in terms of just windows for him, you've got Inter because in Zaki could leave, Simone in Zaki could leave.
00:53:31
Speaker
You've got Milan, if Milan don't get top four, which is possible, Stefano Pioli, his job could be on the line, could be on the line anyway, maybe, who knows? Juventus, I mean, Max Allegri, again, it depends how the season ends for Juventus and also the situation with the legal situation and the board and everything. And then Roma as well with Jose Mourinho and his future is also in doubt. So, I mean, those are the four clubs, aren't they? I don't think we can
00:54:02
Speaker
There's no other club other than those four. So I mean what where do you see him coming? I think club level Those are the jobs. I do see unless PSG want him You know PSG Milan Roma. Those are the clubs. I don't think Real Madrid will go anywhere near him I don't think I'd let it go Madrid want anything to do with him. I
00:54:25
Speaker
Inter and Juve, they just don't want that drama. So I think for me it's either PSG, Milan or Roma because I think Milan with purely, I think Jerry Cardinal is going to get suckered into that sickness that all new football club owners do where the urge to
00:54:47
Speaker
the win now becomes too big. Whether or not that's a mistake, like it did with Suning and Inter, costing them pretty much the mess that we've seen since they won the Scoredetto financially, we'll have to wait and see. But I do think that Milan to me, and also Kante would love that challenge, to become the first coach to win a Scoredetto with all three.
00:55:13
Speaker
that's something that he would love to do in basically what Ibrahimovic did as a player he wants to do as a coach and they're very similar as characters those two uh like that so I think Milan and Roma would be incredible as well but then again Roma don't have the money to spend and he would like no regardless of where he goes do any of them have the money though yeah well unless unless he goes to PSG unless he goes to PSG
00:55:38
Speaker
This is what this is. He's on 15 million. He was on 15. He's not going to get anything like that. It's just not going to happen. It's as simple as that. No one's going to pay him anything like that. He might get six, seven, eight net something like that, but he's not going to get anything like that. He needs to understand that neither he's not at that level. The jobs that pay that are not interested in him because of his antics, good or right or wrong. People don't want that drama.
00:56:05
Speaker
Nobody wants to pay anyone 15 million a year and then have abuse hurled at them at the drop of a dime. It's just, that's just how it works. As for whether or not it's right or wrong is a different thing, but Conte, you know, it's not the first time, you know, you can't say that it's the first time that this has happened. This happens time and time and time and time again, where he
00:56:29
Speaker
just throws people under the bus in a public way. He doesn't just throw them under the bus. He throws them under the bus, then sits on the bus and drives over them back and forth until they are a spot on the asphalt. This criticising
00:56:44
Speaker
your players that's criticising your club, and then there's going nuclear. Conte goes Chernobyl every single time when he's unhappy, and nobody wants that. Nobody wants that. I think he needs to understand that from here on out, he's not going to
00:57:01
Speaker
I think... Can I just throw something in there? Honestly, Italy. I want him at Italy. If I could choose, I'd give this Italy squad to Antonio Conte. I think Italy will win the World Cup with Antonio Conte in charge of this squad. That's how confident I am.
00:57:21
Speaker
Yeah, but then you get the same problem that you always get with Conte in a tournament when they're playing every three days. We know what's going to happen, Nimr, because it's happened this whole career. After three, it'll be okay for the first game of the tournament, the second game of the tournament, they'll be flat. And the third game of the tournament, they'll be flat. So this is the problem that we've had with Conte, his whole career, unfortunately. And that's why he's always done batting cups. So, yeah, I think, listen, I wouldn't go back to
00:57:53
Speaker
for Conte, but I think that the options for him, yeah, I mean, there isn't, I don't know if there's that many options for him. If I was Conte, I would take a year out. I think he needs to refresh. I think he looked very, very tired at the end. He's obviously had a tough year on and off the pitch. I think he should have a year out and recharge and then be ready to go. I mean, I guess he's going to get a little bit of time off now, seeing as he hasn't finished the season with Tottenham, but I just think he looks exhausted.
00:58:17
Speaker
to Italy.
00:58:22
Speaker
And that's maybe why he hasn't shown his best this season. But I do think that's probably it for his career in England. I'm not sure whether he'll ever coaching in England again after this. Yeah, no, I think his coaching career in England is over. That's for sure. I don't think anyone wants to go near him after this. But we'll see. I don't think he's finished at the top level, but I do think he needs to understand that he can't you can't you need to you can't go thermonuclear every single time.
00:58:52
Speaker
And he does do that. Even though he's right, I think he was right on what happened at Spurs. I think everything he said at that press conference is correct.
00:59:01
Speaker
And I think Spurs did the wrong thing. And I think it just goes to show the culture of that club. So I don't hold that against him, but it's just it's a pattern. It's not just one time it's over and over and over again. Yeah. Okay. Talking about over and over and over again, the Latin versus the Swedish media. Nima, can you just give us a little bit? I want you just to take this away. Let's make this your thing. Just tell us what exactly happened with this, this big beef.
00:59:26
Speaker
Well, it's not even a beef. What happened is that he was called up to the national team and he had a press conference for the first time in a year or two, two years, and he was at a press conference and he was getting annoyed. He was getting visibly annoyed by two journalists in particular, one from Afton Blaudet and one from TV4, Footballs Canal, at their football site, because they were fishing for controversy and they were fishing for
00:59:52
Speaker
for comments and they were fishing for him to say things and do things so they could build something around it. The question preceding the particular issue I want to talk about was when they asked him who he thinks is going to win the Swedish league. Now, that may on face value seem like a harmless question.
01:00:09
Speaker
But when you take into account that he owns 49% of Hammarville and that he has a history with Malmehfeh and the statue that they built that they put outside there and their fans burnt it down and sabotaged it and vandalized it and
01:00:24
Speaker
You know, the history he has with Malmehfeh for being treated like absolute dirt when he was a child, you know, read the book and how loyal he's been to them from his perspective and how they've pissed in his face, as he calls it, after that, and that he's been too kind to them and so on. So obviously, they asked that question just because they wanted to stoke up some controversies. He was all really annoyed when that question about Qatar was asked.
01:00:50
Speaker
And he basically asked him, how did you experience Qatar being there for the World Cup Final?
Zlatan Controversy in Media
01:00:56
Speaker
And he replied to say it was fantastic. It was as brilliant as it gets. I was there for two days with the family. I mean, the organization, 10 points. The experience, 10 points. The match, 10 points. Crowd, 10 points. The food, 10 points. The journey over, 10 points. Everything was 10 points.
01:01:14
Speaker
And then he looked at the journalist smirking and saying, is that not the answer you wanted me to give you? And then the journalist says, no, I mean, there's been talk of human rights abuses and this stuff. And he says, 10 points.
01:01:30
Speaker
And then he did speak with Swedish media before, afterwards, I think it was before or after, with Swedish national TV, like the Swedish version of the BBC, where he was asked about Qatar, and they asked him about Qatar as a country, and he said, look, Qatar is a country, I think it is a system that works. Are there any drugs? No. Is there crime? No. Is there crime in Sweden? Yes, very much. Are there drugs? Yes.
01:01:57
Speaker
Qatar's system works. The Swedish system, it works, but if it works 100%, I don't know. And then he goes on and talks about, you're asking me about politics, and I don't want to talk about politics. Which I think is too late, because he's fallen into the trap already there. And that's precisely the point I wanted to make.
01:02:15
Speaker
What they do in Sweden is what they do in every other country in the West, and that is to politicize non-political contexts and to start demanding answers from celebrities and sports stars and scrutinize them at a level that they do not do their own politicians.
01:02:36
Speaker
I mean, it's bizarre. It's absolutely bizarre. Stadtani Brahmovic is a footballer. He's not a politician. He's not in charge of Swedish foreign policy. He's not in charge of Sweden selling weapons for billions of euros and pounds to Qatar and Saudi and so on and so forth, or not just that everywhere in the world, to every country in the world. Anyone who has a functioning credit card and isn't sanctioned by the United States gets to buy weapons from Sweden, right?
01:03:01
Speaker
It's, you know, that is weird. Why are you asking Slaton Ibrahimovic questions about human rights in Qatar? He's not responsible for that. If you want to do that, if you want to hold people to account for human rights violations, first of all, don't just ask, don't just whinge about Qatar.
01:03:19
Speaker
There's lots of countries that your government is allied with that doesn't give a shit about human rights. Second of all, that's a question you should be asking the public elected officials, not sports stars. We get back to this over and over again. I don't care what Harry Kane and Harry Maguire and Zlatan Ibrahimovic feel about anything political. I don't care. That's not their job. They're not famous for that.
01:03:43
Speaker
You know, that's not what they are famous for. That's not their primary function. Their primary function is to play football. If they want to take a stand for something, which Latin Ibrahimovic has done on many occasions, on his own accord, whether it was for the UN World Food Programme to stop hunger for children, whether it was, you know, when he took a stand for when gay footballers have come out,
01:04:06
Speaker
whatever, that's on him, that's his choice to do that. But when you're trying to shove down a narrative down someone's throat, great. Then you're going to get this answer from people like him because he's not going to, he's not your monkey, he's not going to dance after your tune. He has his political opinion. If he wants to share it, he'll share it. Personally, I'm not, I don't care what celebrities feel about complex political issues because I don't think they're the right person, people to ask.
01:04:33
Speaker
I think no one embodies this more about how infuriating it gets than U2's Bono. Who cares? He's think of a more annoying human being in the last 40 years. I can't think of a more infuriating, pointless, ridiculous caricature of himself than that man. I liked the music that they did.
01:04:57
Speaker
I get all I did in the early stuff especially, but they're decent musicians. If you have something you want to say, then you can put it in your music, whatever. But this notion of them trying, I'm 100 percent behind Ricky Gervais on the last monologue he did at the Golden Globes when he spoke about you're in no position to lecture the public on anything. If ISIS had a streaming service, you'll call your agent.
01:05:24
Speaker
That's exactly where they are. I agree 100% with that. It's exhausting to listen to, especially when the mainstream media in all countries tries to shove a narrative down people's throats.
01:05:37
Speaker
I mean, he's not your monkey. I probably react the same way he did, if somebody tried to say that. It's like, yeah, 10 points. What do you want to say? What do you want me to do? Like, get away from me. And it just continues all on and on and on and on and on like this. And it's exhausting to listen to. It really is. And that's the funny thing, because I got a hand at this last time.
01:05:59
Speaker
God bless him. He pissed off the right people. God, I love how he pissed off the exact right group of annoying self-righteous Swedish douchebags. It was hilarious to watch. The meltdown was so funny. They were trying to outdo themselves about how
01:06:21
Speaker
outrage they were. There was so much pearl clutching going on. It was so funny, and I loved every second of it. For that reason alone that he pissed off the exact right group of people, he's the badger of the week for me.
01:06:37
Speaker
Yeah, no, I can't argue with any of that. You know my view on the MSM. It's exhausting. Let's move on to just before we finish with Bad Jam, Prem Face of the Week. Messy to insist. Just to make clear, I don't agree with what he said. I don't agree with his take, but I'm just exhausted of this, like we say in Sweden,
01:07:02
Speaker
You know, filter mosquitoes and swallow elephants. You have no problem with your government doing all sorts of heinous shit, right? But then you hold sports stars to account. You hold this working class, self-made kid, immigrant kid to a higher account than your public elected officials. What? Get out of here.
01:07:24
Speaker
That's the point, just to clarify. No, I totally agree. Messi too into that. Are we here again? From the ridiculous to the sublime. Yeah, from the ridiculous to the even more absurd. And pay him with what? Monopoly money? Pizza hut vouchers? I mean, what? Is Joaquin Correa basically going to be his asado chef? Like, how are you... Intercan't even afford a month of his wages. Like, what are we talking here?
01:07:54
Speaker
Simple as that then, yeah? I mean, I mean, we know that his friends with Xavier Zaneta, we know his friends with Lautaro, you know, he gets along, he's Argentinian and to have the Argentinian, you know, contingency. We know that Suning wanted to buy Inter before, sorry, wanted to buy Messi before the whole, you know, disaster with Covid and the financial meltdown that they've undergone since and problems they've undergone since. We all know that, right? But
01:08:24
Speaker
I think he will leave PSG, but I don't see where he goes from now on. I think Saudi Arabia are all over that, to be honest. You've got both Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi in the same league. Are you kidding me? The word is that Messi wants to stay in Europe. He wants to stay at a high level before the Copper America next year.
01:08:46
Speaker
You know, there's obviously Barcelona, there's PSG, you know, do they give him a new contract or not? Messi's not sure he wants to stay, you know, he's leaving his options open, you know, because there's obviously a lot of uncertainty at PSG. Who's the next man she's going to be? I'm sure Gaultier will leave. What the transfer policy will be? Will Neymar stay or leave? Will Mbappe stay or leave?
01:09:06
Speaker
Messy as well. So there's a lot of uncertainty. Barati, as we said earlier in the show, PSG, Woody Sony contract there, then obviously there's Barcelona, Inter Miami, and then Saudi Arabia. Those have been the concrete options so far. Inter would be amazing. It would be absolutely amazing for Serie A unless some kind of external sponsor comes in and just basically pays all the money.
01:09:30
Speaker
It's not going to happen. Of course, it's not. No, it's not going to happen. Because of the salary and with interest cost cutting, it wouldn't go down very well, I don't think. They couldn't afford 4 million euros for Alan Mathurro in January. Now they're going to pay Lionel Messi a stupid amount of money every month. I mean, can we be serious, please? But I do think it's fun because every time
01:09:56
Speaker
He is good friends with, you know, there's an Argentinian contingency. Lautaro and him are, you know, they get along really well. Chavia Zanetti absolutely adores him. He adores them. Mamorati absolutely adores him. He adores Morati. So, you know, and we know that his dad moved their finances to Italy to take advantage of the Krita Kreshita. You know, so there is that link there, of course, but, you know,
01:10:27
Speaker
Yeah, more likely someone like Matteo Retigui, if it's gonna be an Argentine. Yes. An Argentine Italian. Okay, Badjo and Primface of the Week to finish off. Badjo? Oh, for me, it's... Retigui. Retigui, Zlatan, for pissing off the right people, and Lukaku, Hatrick. Those are my three. Okay, Primface, have you got one? I've got one.
01:10:57
Speaker
Tim Sherwood, you go with that, but that has to be like, that is just amazing. Tim Sherwood is prolific.
01:11:08
Speaker
So Tim Sherwood accused modern managers of brainwashing people with their terminology.
Football Terminology Debate
01:11:15
Speaker
He basically had a massive rant about standards of modern management, modern coaching. And he basically accused modern managers of using buzzwords such as low blocks or mid blocks or high press to try and baffle supporters.
01:11:33
Speaker
And he goes, listen, the game is exactly the same as it was way back in the day. The terminology has changed. You are getting baffled by science talking about half spaces, low blocks, mid blocks, nonsense. He told, he told talks, but it's all about counterattacking, pressing, all this rubbish about press on the front. No one can die like you're doing.
01:11:57
Speaker
He was a centre forward. I was a midfield player. Now that is pushing from the front. The game is exactly the same as it was in the past. The terminology and the brainwashing, what is coming, what is coming from these modern managers is just incredible at the moment.
01:12:11
Speaker
But basically what Tim Sherwood is saying is how dare these foreigners come to our country. They take away our kick and rush and long ball and start using low block. It's not foreign managers. I don't even think it's that. I think it's basically, you know, it's like how dare they pretend that things are any different today than they were 30, 40 years ago. I'm a boomer and I mean, it's the most boomerant in a very, very long time. It's basically how dare they try and be smart.
01:12:41
Speaker
No, it's the professionalization of football that he can't deal with because in his day, remember, who was it? Was it Brian Robson who said that the problem before you used to go round a pub and have a few pints and fight it out? Was it last season? I remember a quote about that, that the problem at United was that they didn't get drunk together enough or something like that.
01:13:04
Speaker
I mean, it's like sometimes you have to understand that the world has changed. And I'm not saying it's better, but it's different. I'm not making a moral judgment. It has changed. The players have changed. Everything around it has changed. The signs around it has changed. The preparation has changed.
01:13:19
Speaker
the nutrition, the knowledge of the human body, all of these things have changed and improved. You are getting baffled by science. No, Tim, you're stupid and don't understand these multi-syllabic words, and so you're getting annoyed. That's what's happening here. You're having a proper- It's astonishing that Tim Sherwood continues to be a pundit.
01:13:46
Speaker
No, it's not. It's really not. That's what I mean. It sums it up. That's what some it sums up the state of the countries in England, that, you know, people like Tim Sherwood get punditry jobs. And this is their level of analysis, basically.
01:14:06
Speaker
I think it's hilarious. These two sentences, I don't know how many times I've played this back and forth since I saw this. Listen, the game is exactly the same as it was way back in the day. The terminology has changed. You are getting baffled by science, talking about half spaces, low blocks, mid blocks, nonsense.
01:14:32
Speaker
Yeah. It's brilliant. Dim showered, as I call him. Dim showered. He's not very bright. But it's very, very funny. But that's like a Hall of Fame premise.
01:14:51
Speaker
I don't know. This Hall of Fame is getting getting very big now. Hey, it's like it's as if there's like football has one Maradona and one Pelé. Primfacerie has like the equivalent of 10,000 messes every week. Like it's just. This is brilliant. I love that the Karen, the boomer Karen rant that he goes on is just fantastic. You are getting baffled by science.
01:15:20
Speaker
What does that even mean? You are getting baffled by science. Using the word low block and mid block. As if that's a scientific discovery. As if that's a scientific word, like he doesn't even know what he's talking about. Oh, it's so, so funny. So they've just discovered that the world is round.
01:15:44
Speaker
Just discovered a sort of picture from the moon of the earth from space and it's like completely blown away. It's very it's so funny. I can't get enough of this rant. It's genuinely one of the best rants I have ever heard. Now, God bless talkspot. Like it's an endless source of free entertainment.
01:16:04
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think he's a regular on Talk Sport, actually. I think this was... Well, they should. They should give him his own show. Yeah, he definitely deserves his own show, definitely. He and Jason Cundee and Joe Cole and Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville should just have, like, they should live in, like, a big brother house and just one stupid... Like, just basically throw in. Like, they live there, right? And they've got this, you know, they've got cameras everywhere. And then every hour,
01:16:30
Speaker
On a giant screen, the name of a topic is shown and they have to debate it for an hour. Yeah, they have to debate it for an hour. It should be a pub. Yes, yes, yes, of course. No, but you know what I mean? But it has to be just them in a pub, in a bar, and then every hour
01:16:49
Speaker
On the screen a topic surfaces and they and these guys have to break it down and solve it. I mean like David Guetta solving racism This is what I want. I want these four to just solve the world's problems I would pay to see that now that is must see a big Tim Sherwood. I'm not gonna say what I was gonna say
01:17:10
Speaker
Let's leave it at that. We'll be back on Tuesday for Q&A. I call it Big Prem Face. That's what you need to have. Everyone will tune. It'll be the most watched TV show ever, believe me. Pitch it, maybe. Sorry? Yeah, I should.
01:17:35
Speaker
Yeah, so Tuesday Q&A, Thursday we'll have a midweek review show. And yeah, I haven't missed anything else, have I? No, no, no. You always correct me at this stage. Yeah, I do, but I'm not. You actually got it right.
Show Availability & Social Interaction
01:17:47
Speaker
And it's only available for patrons the Tuesday and Thursday show on Patreon.com slash TIFP, $2.99 a month, XVAT. Monday show always free on all platforms. Please do give us a five star rating and subscribe because it really helps in the algorithm.
01:18:05
Speaker
Oh, and also one thing, if we don't follow you already on social media, please do send us a message on Patreon and we'll follow you back. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, right. Let's leave it at that. Have a great week, everyone. See you on Tuesday. Ciao, ciao.