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Free Weekly Episode - AC Milan Go Full On USA, Man Utd Low Onana Offer, Giuntoli Juventus’ Saviour, Roma Scudetto Dark Horses? & Much More (Ep. 338)
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From AC Milan's Anglo-American revolution with Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Yunus Musah replacing Sandro Tonali, Man United low-ball offer for André Onana as Inter accept low offer for Marcelo Brozovic from Al-Nassr after Cesar Azpilicueta deal falls through, Cristiano Giuntoli to save Juventus after finally being let go by Napoli, to if Roma bring Davide Frattesi and Gianluca Scamacca back to the club does that make Giallorossi dark horses in Scudetto race and FIGC President Gabriele Gravina's stupid comments on the catastrophic domestic TV deal talks, this week's Baggio and Premface of the week and much, much more as Nima and Carlo break down all the talking points from a jam-packed week in in Italian football.
Every Monday episode of The Italian Football Podcast is free for all.
To get ALL and never miss an episode of The Italian Football Podcast (as well as support the show), go to Patreon.com/TIFP to become a Patron for only $2.99 USD per month (excluding VAT).
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Transcript
Serie A Transfer Highlights
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast.
00:00:06
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to the Italian Football Podcast. I'm Carlo Garganese here as always with Nima Tovale and the Serie A transfer market is now officially open as of Saturday and it's starting to get really really busy. Milan have officially sold Sandro Tonali just as we are recording this and they've already signed as a replacement Ruben Loftus cheap from Chelsea. Also they are working on a number of other deals. They're very very busy.
00:00:34
Speaker
So we're going to discuss all that today on the show as well as what is going on across at Inter. Marcello Brozovic set to leave and will David De Fretesi replace him? The Onana talks with Manchester United, the Aspilicueta deal falling through as a replacement for Milan Scrinia.
00:00:51
Speaker
Juventus have finally appointed Cristiano Junterli as their sporting director. What are his plans for Juventus? Napoli, the champions, Victor Rosseman has given Napoli fans some hope that he will stay after an interview where he speaks glowingly about the club and the fans and the city. Roma are getting closer to Gianluca Schumacher and are they building a team that could even be a Scudetto challenger next season?
00:01:18
Speaker
Elsewhere, away from the transfers, FIGC President Gianluca Gravina gave an absolute car crash of an interview where he's basically given us all no hope of Serie A football ever recovering under him.
Controversial FIGC Interview
00:01:31
Speaker
And also, it's the under 21s, also partly to blame for Gravina completely flopped at the Euros and we're going to discuss that. So lots to talk about on the show.
Podcast Format and Subscriptions
00:01:40
Speaker
For all our first time listeners, this is our free weekly episode, which we do every Monday, reviewing the weekend Serie A action and all the biggest talking points in Italian football. If you want to support the Italian football podcast and receive all our content that we do throughout the week.
00:01:54
Speaker
including our weekly Q&A episode every Tuesday where we answer all the questions sent in from our patrons, plus the weekly Thursday midweek review show, plus interviews, post-match reaction, and much, much more, then go to patreon.com slash TIP and become a subscriber for just $2.99 a month, plus
00:02:12
Speaker
VAT and for all of you listening on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Podcasts, et cetera, we'd really appreciate giving us a five star rating. Give us a follow, give us a subscription. We're on YouTube as well. All of that really helps us to grow. Okay, let's get into it.
00:02:29
Speaker
Just before we start, Nim, I have to ask, how are
Missed Q&A and Apology
00:02:32
Speaker
you feeling? Because you haven't been too good recently, have you? No, no. Sorry. That's something I wanted to get all the listeners. We didn't do a Q&A pod last week because I was incredibly ill. I had the worst flu I've had in adulthood.
00:02:48
Speaker
Um, bedridden for a week. Um, so yeah, sorry about that. We're going to do, we, we're going to do the Q and a pod as always. All the questions that you sent in last week will be carried on to this week together with the ones you sent in. So tomorrow, Tuesday for the patrons only, we'll have a mastodont, a ginormous Q and a pod, uh, covering two weeks. Um, so yeah, no, thank you for everyone. Yeah. Like I'm like a ginormous, like, uh,
00:03:16
Speaker
In Swedish, Mastodont, like ginormous, huge XXL episode of a Whopper, if you will.
00:03:31
Speaker
of a Q&A episode. I think it's going to be like 25, 30 questions. But yeah, we'll go through them. We'll do that
Sandro Tonali's Transfer Impact
00:03:38
Speaker
then. And then and of course, on Wednesday, it's the we're doing an Napoli deep dive, Mercato deep dive with a good friend Vincenzo Credendino from Calcianapoli TV. And yeah, so sorry about all that.
00:03:51
Speaker
um but yeah no i'm i'm i'm back now so yeah thanks for all the messages don't expect me to carry the show today because i'm not i'm aching my whole body is hurting today i did a festival yesterday and um yeah i'm trying
00:04:06
Speaker
Yeah, we'll start off with Milan, who are also hurting because Tonali has just been announced officially, we knew it was already happening, but he's been officially announced as a Newcastle player, leaving Milan club record sale, record signing in terms of the transfer fee for an Italian player in history, 70 million euros,
00:04:28
Speaker
plus add-ons. Now we've spoken a lot about Tenali already on previous shows, we did a big deep dive special podcast on him which you can find, all our Patreons can find from not last week, the week before. But now that the transfer has actually gone through and Tenali gave a really, a beautiful, he wrote a beautiful letter to the Milan fans explaining his decision and you could see pretty clearly that
00:04:53
Speaker
this wasn't a decision that he wanted. He wanted to stay at Milan for his career, as he said, many a time.
Inter's Transfer Strategy
00:05:01
Speaker
So it's one of these transfers that it's really hurt the Milan fans because he was a bandiera, he was a Midanista. I mean, from an inter-point of view, Nima, what has been your equivalent of a tonali in the past, like a player that's left the club and you felt devastated to lose that player?
00:05:22
Speaker
I think the biggest disappointment because of the way, regardless of any other similarities between here, would be the Ronaldo's backstabbing of Inter in 2002 after the World Cup, after he'd been nurtured back to health by Inter for a better part of two and a half, three years with his knee injury. The way that he became the best player in the world, he scored eight goals in the World Cup.
00:05:53
Speaker
after you know not offering anything to when Inter lost to Scudetto on 5th of May and then just basically did a did a 180 and said I'm out of here and fought his way out of the club. That was very heartbreaking and devastating but
00:06:11
Speaker
for me. So I think that that's the one that I will probably never forget as an interista or forgive for that matter. But that's not really comparable to this situation, is it? Because this is more of a financial situation. I think another one is obviously the nonsense that Carini-Canavaro thing, which was a certain moji in the
00:06:39
Speaker
in the doldrums behind the curtains, pulling the strings. That was incredibly annoying. But no, I mean, I can't really...
00:06:50
Speaker
I can't really remember one that is similar to this situation. It will probably be this summer, because when they sell Andro and Ana, because I'm very against that. But I understand why they have to do it, because it's the financial reality. They have to sell in order to buy. And since there are no other buyers for their other players, I mean, they can't even get 25 million from Marcelo Brozovic. No one wants to buy him, except for the Saudis. And they're using that situation to lowball.
00:07:18
Speaker
You know, from a Milan point of view, there's been quite a few in the recent past. There's been Kaka the first time when it actually didn't go through. I remember, and I still wonder whether Belisconi played that all out. It was just a Belisconi soap opera.
00:07:33
Speaker
and where he was going to Manchester City and then I remember that it was all done and then Bella Sconey kind of the the the night in shining armor saved and put the stop the deal from going through at the last minute and there was all the Milan fans outside Kakaz balcony stopping I remember that and that was that was just that was a lot was really a Incredible story back
00:08:00
Speaker
I think that was in 2009 and then six months later they sold him to realm Madrid for like 33%
00:08:09
Speaker
a third cheaper than they would have got. So maybe it wasn't a good deal in the end. But also, you know, Tiago Silva, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, those deals, I think definitely from Milan
Juventus Transfer Challenges
00:08:20
Speaker
point of view. From the Juventus point of view, for me, I mean, Roberto Batra was my idol growing up as a kid. And when he left in 1995, I was really sad that he left Juventus, and especially as he went to Milan.
00:08:36
Speaker
there was also the recognition that Juventus were league champions that year. And also they had Del Piero coming through, they had Ravinelli, they had Vialy. So I mean, they had so much other quality. And it wasn't like going from Tonali to Ruben Loftus-Cheek with all respect. You were replacing them with another top, top, top class player.
00:09:00
Speaker
So yeah, that one, Christian Vieri in 97, I've never understood that. I still don't understand that sale from Juventus. And they got in Zaghi as a replacement. I mean, not a bad replacement, fantastic. But I just think Vieri, just kind of like, he was just an absolute monster. I've never understood why Modji sold Vieri. And then more recently, Géal Cancello. I mean, apart from Bad Joe, none of these are really comparable on a kind of,
00:09:29
Speaker
human level as Tenali is, but in terms of stupid feels that anger you as a fan, the Zalconcello swap deal was just utter madness from Paratigy. That was the tipping point for me with Paratigy when he decided to swap Concello for
00:09:45
Speaker
for Danilo about just how incompetent you know para attitude was so that and then this summer definitely Kiesa sold again I'll be absolutely furious because it's Kiesa is a fantastic talent and they've basically chosen Max Allegri over Federico Kiesa which is just insane so yeah those ones are the ones I can definitely recommend
00:10:08
Speaker
Because one of the good things about being sick is you get to, you know, you're bored and you get to listen to many things. And I was listening to your interview with Romeo Agresti. That was really good. I can really recommend everyone who wants to know what's going on with Uber to listen to that. It's really great. Yeah, we'll come on to the event and we'll talk about that. Yeah, absolutely. But as I said, you know, when Inter and Juventus lost these players,
00:10:34
Speaker
Well, Ronaldo and Badio Vieri, you know, they replaced them with top, top players, because this was during the Golden Age. Now, Milan's replacement for Tonali is Ruben Loftus Cheek. They are still doing other business. They're trying to sign Unis. They're doing a bit of an American Revolution, trying to bring in Unis Musa. But he's actually a good player, I mean, Unis Musa. I like him. Musa, Tijani Reinders, who I have to say I don't know too much about.
00:10:57
Speaker
Pulisic and then exploring that other positions as well Chukwezi from from Villa Real but I mean just in terms of just a central midfield we're looking at Tonali we're looking at Musa for sure I mean
00:11:13
Speaker
What do you think of this? Going from, I mean, going from tonali to lotus cheap. To me, this tells me a few things. Milan are changing how they play. The midfield is, with Brahim Diaz out, tonali out, they're changing, they're doing a complete restyling of their midfield. And it's kind of similar to what I think Inter are doing as well, getting rid of Brozovic and wanting to bring in Fratesi. They're both looking to make their midfield much more dynamic and much more direct.
00:11:44
Speaker
Now, whether or not that is where you, you know, yeah, it's, I don't know if it's going to be a sip, but I just have to say, I gladly hold my hands up and say I'm wrong. I have never been a fan of Ruben Loftus cheek. I don't understand what it is. Everyone that Milan see, I don't understand
00:12:03
Speaker
I just don't see it. I just don't see it that he off what he offers together with Christian Pulisic. Musa, I understand, because he's a fan that I get. He's we've seen him for in Spain. We've seen him in the World Cup, what he offers. So it makes sense to me to have him and Benasa next to each other. But the others, I don't get it. I really don't get it. I get fine. You need someone to you know, they're finally addressing a
00:12:31
Speaker
a weakness in their squad, but the others, Reinders I understand also from what I haven't seen him play too much, from what I've understood the kind of player he is, he's needed in that midfield, but I don't get Pulisic, I don't get Ruben Loftus-Cheek, I really don't. From an image point of view, it doesn't look good because you're talking about players who are way, way, way down the pecking order at Chelsea.
00:13:02
Speaker
And when Milan are getting rid of one of their main men for such a huge amount of money, and they're replacing them with not even first reserves, we're talking about, you know,
00:13:17
Speaker
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, what position was he in the midfield pecking order last season? Sixth, maybe? Ruben Pulisic, what position in the attacking pecking order? I know Chelsea have a massive squad, but we're talking about players who are not even first sub or second sub in their
Milan's American Ambitions
00:13:34
Speaker
positions. It's not a good look. It doesn't mean they're not good players. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, I think
00:13:40
Speaker
he was a you know a very very interesting talent coming coming through he had was really unlucky with that that ridiculous injury that he got playing the most ridiculous game i can ever think of in a in a gay an end of season friendly in the united states and he was it his archilles i think it was that he ruptured and that those are horrible injuries to come back from uh and he was out for the whole of the next season and he's never really been the same player since then um you know they're i'm not
00:14:07
Speaker
There is talent there, but I think we're rubbing lots of cheek as he's quite physical, he's powerful, he drives, he drives forward with the ball, he can carry the ball.
00:14:17
Speaker
I'm not sure how many goals he gets, how many assists he gets, and I'm not sure how good he is in tight spaces. I don't know. I think he's quite versatile, tactically. I think he can play in a number of systems, which is useful. I don't think he will do badly. I think he'll do pretty decently, but I just think that, yeah, it's...
00:14:41
Speaker
It's just not a good look. And as for Musa, I liked him at the World Cup for the United States. But, you know.
00:14:50
Speaker
he's going to have to do something, and this is going to sound horrible stereotypical, horribly stereotypical. He's going to have to do something which no United States players have done and that is succeed at a top club, in a top league. The United States has come on leaps and bounds since we were kids in Emma. When you compare to them where they were in the 90s, the amount of players, American players, and I was speaking to an American colleague about this, the amount of American players who are now playing in the top leagues,
00:15:19
Speaker
but they've only kind of reached a certain level. They haven't made that next step to
00:15:28
Speaker
Flourishing for a top club in a top league, you know They've got to maybe Europa League level kind of teams and they've done pretty well But then whenever they've had to make that final step, they haven't quite done it And that's the same with all of these players Pula situation was very promising that Dortmund. He couldn't cut it at Chelsea Western McKinney didn't cut it a Juventus and
00:15:51
Speaker
who else is there, you know, I mean, I think it's the same for, I mean, Sergio Des at Barcelona, didn't cut it, didn't cut it in Milan, you know, so Musa, he impressed me a lot in the World Cup, but you know, now he needs to make the step up for,
00:16:07
Speaker
you know, for Milan. So I'm always going to have that little bit of doubt in my mind, because of that. And maybe that's unfair, just because he's American, I'm saying that. But you know, that is the history of the American soccer player so far in the top teams. So yeah, I think you go from tonali to these level kind of players, of course, you're going to be concerned.
00:16:31
Speaker
Yeah, no, I've got nothing more to add. You covered it. It is a risk, but this is where Mila want to go, and this is part of their new strategy. And you know, you got to, you know, you can't say too much personally. I think I understand Musa Reinde, Chukwe, I don't understand Puyo Lesic and Ruben Loftuszczyk. But again, if they turn out to be fantastic,
00:16:57
Speaker
I don't understand it tactically, I don't understand what it is that they're supposed to give that Imilan lack. But again, if I'm wrong, I'll gladly hold my hands up. From what I've been speaking to, what you said at the top was spot on. I think Milan are moving in a slightly different direction in that they're looking for more physical, intense players. They want intensity in their team.
00:17:23
Speaker
I mean, Tenali absolutely had intensity and pressing. So that wasn't a problem. I think that was just a financial decision. But yeah, these are the players they're going after. And I think that's what they see in all of these players. They see players that've got intensity, that compress, have lots of energy, can steal the ball off the opposition, can drive, can carry it into space. I think they see that from most of these players. And I think Ruben Loftus-Cheat can do that. I think Pulisic can do that. Jukwesi can definitely do that. So yeah.
00:17:51
Speaker
that's i think that's the direction they're going and whether or not they're good enough in terms of quality and that's where the doubt is but melanne have got a lot of going to be doing a lot of business i've got a lot of money to play with now so um
Inter's Midfield Overhaul
00:18:03
Speaker
Yeah, I'm sure we'll revisit this in a few weeks time. I'm sure we will. Let's move on to Inter though, because they're very, very busy as well. And before we get on to Nonana, let's start off with Brozovic because we're seeing reports today that is basically done now with our NASA. So is that, is it done or are we going to see another last video collapse like last week? And if it does go through,
00:18:25
Speaker
Is it going to be enough? Is that the sign that Protesi is going to come? Well, I'm not entirely sure because now the rumours are linking Samarjic strongly, heavily to Inter.
00:18:39
Speaker
who we interviewed four weeks ago on the pod, four or five weeks ago, which is an interesting signing, although he's not a natural metsala, he's more a number 10 than a metsala, but I think he's the kind of player that Mimsagi could with time mould into a metsala, the same way that he did with Chalanoglu. But of course, Inter want a like for like kind of situation, because if they sell, you know, now that Brozovic's going,
00:19:08
Speaker
They'll play Chalanoglu and Aslani in that those are the alternatives in the CDM role. They have Barela on the right. They have Mikitarian on the left. They'll bring in either Fratesi or
00:19:19
Speaker
Sam Arzic to play on that left side, and then they'll still need to buy a player for the right-hand side. Or do they reintegrate Stefano Senzi? That remains to be seen. But that's where we are with this. I think now it's finally over. One thing that I do find a bit interesting is that it seems that Inter seem very fed up with Brozovic. They really want him out. They really want him out.
00:19:47
Speaker
they feel that that relationship has come to an end. I can't remember Inter so, you know, not going to say ever because that would be too ridiculously hyperbolic. But I honestly, right now, thinking, can't remember the last time Inter so adamantly pushed out a starting player with such fervor as they are throwing. What? He called me, maybe.
00:20:12
Speaker
Yeah, Icardi, but that was exactly. Icardi is the last one that I can remember that they really threw out of the club in the same way as they are doing here. They are really showing him the door. They want him out. I don't think it's just financial.
00:20:31
Speaker
I think there's other things involved as well because there is a financial aspect. You have to remember his contract expires June 2026. He earns 11.5 million gross per year. That's about 34 and a half million euros.
00:20:47
Speaker
a year which they don't want to pay. They've already cut their wages by getting rid of Jeko and replacing it with Turam. To me, it's more than that, and I think things will come out gradually.
00:21:04
Speaker
I think Marotta will talk at the end of the mercato. When everything is said and done, he'll speak about Scrinyar, he'll speak about Brozovic, he'll speak about all of these things because they have to. They've said that they're going to talk about it. Now they have to talk about it because there's so many questions. There's been so many weird things going on that they deserve an answer. Even if they don't want to go into detail, something has to be said to put this to bed with Scrinyar. What happened?
00:21:31
Speaker
and also with Brozovic, because it's quite clear that those are two players that the relationship has soured. Now, who's to blame and what? Nobody knows really, other than the information that's out there from Scrinya's agent and Scrinya himself to the Kurmanord, but Inter have to also give their side of the situation and then people have to decide who they believe and what happened.
00:21:59
Speaker
It is rather curious that the relationship has soured like it has with two players the way it has because there's no doubt about that the situation is soured because Brozovich is pissed. He's reacting the way that Brozovich reacts by being facetious, by being silly on social media, posting emojis of circuses and stuff like that.
00:22:22
Speaker
So he's not happy. Scrinya's definitely not happy. Inter aren't happy with either of them. So that's just how it is. But what I do think we should be talking about more, where a player that they are happy with and who is happy with Inter but seems to go, is Onana.
00:22:47
Speaker
That is an issue that I think we should focus on because I think the Brozovitch after eight years is kind of, well, that's it, really. But the Onana situation is very interesting because Inter from based on what Pedula and these guys are saying is that they want 50 million euros in fixed payments and they want another 10 in easily attainable add-ons. Spring brings 60 million euros.
00:23:15
Speaker
the overall value. Now, some would argue that's too low. Some would say that's pretty much what he's worth. Others would say selling him now is too premature because in a year's time, you could maybe get 100 million. But then you have to look at this from introspective and that is they
00:23:42
Speaker
They're not getting any offers for Correa, for Dumfries, for any other players, for Gossens. Nobody wants to pay the prices that Inter have, even when Inter have reduced those prices. In fact, when Inter are willing to part ways with Brozovic for 18, 19, 20 million euros, no one is beating down Inter's door. That suggests to me that no one is interested in Inter's players.
00:24:06
Speaker
And so you only can deal with the players that you can sell. And the players that you can sell are the players that there are offers for. And those are Onana, Bastoni, Barella, Lautaro. Those are the players that you have big offers for. And out of those, Inter look at Onanas being the most expendable one.
00:24:34
Speaker
because they're going to extend with Chalinoglo. Just to come in on the price, I find it insanely low. I can't believe 50 to 60 million is just ridiculous. When I consider that Kepa was 75 million and we're seeing the other supposed, you know, 75 million is kind of the figure that is, if a goalkeeper is considered one of, if not the best,
00:24:59
Speaker
in the world. 75 million is the record price for a goalkeeper, that kind of figure. So at a minimum, that should be the price for me. But you are right at the same time. You can only sell for what the
00:25:14
Speaker
what the teams are prepared to pay. And if no one is prepared to go higher than 50 to 60 million, then you have a decision to make. Do we sell or do we keep? Now, if it's up to me, I say 50 to 60 million. If no one's prepared to pay 75, which is what his minimum value is for me, I don't sell it. Because for me, that's too low. That's way too low. He's worth more than that.
00:25:40
Speaker
So, you know, this is this is partly the issue that I had with Chelsea with their with this ridiculous arrangement they have with the PIF selling their plays to Saudi Arabia and they're selling Kooli Bali for, you know, pushing on 30 million when there's no market for him, you know, there's zero, there's no market. No one wants to pay a penny for him yet they're selling him for 30 million.
00:26:02
Speaker
So, I see both sides of it here with Onana. If it was up to me, I do not sell him for 50-60 million because I think that's too low. I say, if you want to buy him, you pay 75 million. If you're not going to pay 75 million, we keep him. We'll sell someone else if we have to sell. But, you know, that's me. Look, I wouldn't... Again, who would you sell? Bastoni, Barilla, Lautaro or Onana?
00:26:29
Speaker
Those are the choices. And I don't think that out of those I'd sell Onana. Those are the choices you have to make. Then Onana's the one I sell. It doesn't mean I want to sell Onana. Of course not. I think it's stupid because of the way that he plays and then because you have to find a goalkeeper who can offer you that because now
00:26:51
Speaker
especially in the build-up phase, Onana's the best goalkeeper in the world. It's not just that he's good with the ball at his feet, it's the craft, it's the vision, it's the ability to execute those fantastic pinpoint passes on the floor, in the air, with both feet. He has no masters, he has no peers at that level, and we saw that. Man City, Guardiola said what he said, we all saw the game against Man City, the best high-intensive, high-pressing team in the world,
00:27:21
Speaker
they didn't even bother pressing Inter because they knew that they couldn't go near him. I definitely do think there was a line that Inter were not getting enough for these players. There was a hilarious post on social media before Twitter went down.
00:27:37
Speaker
Before Twitter went down. Before Twitter went down. I honestly believe that if an actual baboon, a real life baboon had bought Twitter instead of Elon Musk, the baboon would have run Twitter better. Honestly, an actual baboon. I don't care, personally. I don't either, no, but it's like, it's just the incompetence. To be honest with you, I'd prefer the free speech that we have now, even if it means reading less tweets than having the 1984 Big Brother that we had.
00:28:05
Speaker
But that's not even the choice anymore, because now he's adhered to every law that requires him to censor, and he's running it as more incompetent than an actual real-life baboon from a zoo would.
Italian Football Marketing Issues
00:28:21
Speaker
He's so incompetent when it comes to running this social media platform that it's genuinely astonishing. Anyway, I try. By the way, the hashtag baboon2024.
00:28:35
Speaker
Okay. Okay. So yeah, I saw a tweet saying, Marcello Brozovic transfer fee, 23 million. And then next to it, they had a picture of Brozovic, but with an England shirt superimposed on top of his Insta shirt, Mark Brozo Smith, 100 million.
00:29:00
Speaker
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. There is truth, there is absolutely truth in that. And I think it's the same with like Onana going for 50 to 60 million. At the same time, Man United are negotiating to sign Mason Mountain for like 65 million from Man United from Chelsea.
00:29:17
Speaker
And it's like, I mean, in what world? I know attacking players, offensive players, midfielders generally go for more money than goalkeepers. I know that. Attacking players that score goals, create goals. I mean, that's just how football is. And they go for more than defenders and goalkeepers. But, I mean, Mason Mount.
00:29:36
Speaker
You know for for more than on Anna and it's the same team. So you can't tell me many not I don't have the money I know there's a there's an ownership change and that's a takeover That's a total mess as things are and that's holding things up But you know if they're prepared to pay that much for Mason Mountain He's just had an absolutely horrific season and let's be honest is a is a good player, but he's not you know He's not a he's not a top player You know, I know there is a top goalkeeper and so for me it
00:30:04
Speaker
It doesn't make any sense. And I just don't buy this whole kind of English tax thing either. You sell players, you sell them for what they're worth. It's simple as that. Well, there are factors as well. People know that Inter are in a position that they are. And so they're going to leverage that. And there is an English tax thing because of the homegrown rule.
00:30:28
Speaker
which is a really smart thing that the EPL did, is essentially guarantee that EPL money stays in the country. That's essentially what it is, what they've done. We can't really say too much about that. It's the reality. We can have feelings about it. I don't think in any... Look,
00:30:50
Speaker
People look at the transfer market, and I understand that they do that, because logic dictates if one player is worth this much, then a player of a higher quality should be worth as much. But it doesn't. That's not how the market works. It's completely deregulated, meaning you have to look at every single deal in its own isolation, because that's just how the market, that's how it works in a completely deregulated market. Meaning what things, factors such as the seller's financial strength,
00:31:20
Speaker
the player's will, all these kinds of things, which league he plays in, how much interest there is in that player, etc. All of these things dictate. I don't buy it. Chelsea can pay $75 million for Kepa, which is from Athletic Bilbao.
00:31:38
Speaker
And if Premier League clubs are breaking every single transfer record as they have in the last year, last summer and in January, and they're just spending obscene, absolutely obscene amounts of money in this day and age, they can pay more than 50 to 60 million for a nanometer. Yeah, of course they can. But again, if you look at the actual thing, I mean, it's all of them. Well, you can get it out of them. That's the thing. I don't think you can with Man United because Man United are in the situation they are. Let's remember that.
00:32:05
Speaker
They have financial fair play problems that they need to adhere to. And so far they can't spend more than a certain sum. And there's no other clubs wanting to buy on Ana. Chelsea were interested for a while, then they pulled out. Barcelona don't have the money. United are the only ones standing, and only ones left, and there's no one else who wants to buy him.
00:32:27
Speaker
Again, this isn't the godfather where Vito Corleone and Luca Brasi go to a guy and say either your brains or your signature on the contract. You need someone to buy the players in question. I mean, come on.
00:32:40
Speaker
I think that goes on a lot more than you think, actually. Well, fair enough. Not from the Italian team. You know what I mean? You can't do that. This is the market as it looks and Italian teams are in a weak position. But I honestly think that selling
00:33:01
Speaker
Onana, although I think it would create, it would change how Interplay and it would force Inzagi to change again for the third year, rebuild everything from scratch. I do think that it does give Inter some stability because if they go after Fratezi and they get him, or if they even get Samardic, they'll get a young player with a high resale value, low wages at a five-year contract, and they'll do the same with the goalkeeper because the goalkeeper they're looking to bring in is someone like Trubin,
00:33:30
Speaker
and someone more expertly. At this point, we're talking of even extending Samir Handanovic's contract as a backup goalkeeper for one year, bringing in a third choice goalkeeper as well, and let someone, you know, someone younger like Trubin or Karnasecki or whoever it is to grow into that role.
Inter's Defensive Focus
00:33:49
Speaker
That's essentially what Milan are doing as well. That's what all Italian clubs are doing. So it just follows a natural trend with Italian football. I'm not happy about it.
00:34:00
Speaker
But this is the reality, which kind of brings me nicely into the next point, and that is thank God in heaven, or if it's his wife, or whoever it is, for stopping Aspiliqueta joining Inta. I think that would have been an absolutely disastrous signing.
00:34:17
Speaker
And I'm glad it fell through. I'm incredibly happy it fell through. Because enough with these stopgaps, enough with these putting Snoopy Band-Aids on gunshot wound solutions, because that's exactly what Nacho and Aspili Coeta would have been. Now I have to actually do something and look to replace with someone younger and more long-term. And that's a good thing because you have Acherbi, you have Darmia, you have Bastoni,
00:34:44
Speaker
Great. Now, you're going to extend with the FRAI. You need to buy, BSSEC has come in, this young kid, who before we started recording, Aarhus went on their homepage and confirmed that Inter have activated the clause at seven million euros. So he's coming in. So they're looking to bring in a more experienced starter, like someone like Demiral, who is not 33, 34 years old and at the twilight of his career. This is a good thing for Inter.
00:35:14
Speaker
So to me, these are the, you know, the Internet and all Italian clubs have to start doing what Atalanta has been doing, but at a higher level, if that makes sense. Yeah. Okay. Right. Let's, let's move on from Intel. Let's talk about Juventus now. And Cristiano Giuntoli is officially, finally,
00:35:36
Speaker
and joined Juventus as the sporting director and Napoli left Juventus waiting right until the final minute before they got this done, before the transfer market started. So, I mean, first thing's first and that is that this is the first step of Juventus' recovery now. They needed to put in a management structure which they just didn't have
00:36:04
Speaker
after the whole board was signed last season and before Christmas and generally having somebody that can can build the build the club up again and the transfer market someone in charge of the transfers in charge of just the building of the squad and
00:36:22
Speaker
What he did at Napoli was an amazing job. Eight years there. Just look at the list of players that he signed for Napoli. Look at the budget that he worked with. Look at how together with De Laurentiis Napoli were always profitable. They were selling players at the right time. They were bringing in players who were not that well known.
00:36:43
Speaker
And just look at the squad, the team that won the Scudetto last season. And that shows you the players that Juntali brought in. So Juventus will be hoping that he can do the same. I mean, we had Romeo Agresti, Juventus transfer expert journalist on the show. He really is the best Juventus transfer journalist out there. I mean, let's not. Romeo really is the best. He is the go-to guy. So I can really recommend that episode.
00:37:13
Speaker
Yeah, he's fantastic. And, and, you know, he doesn't oversell things. He just, you know, he just says it, you know, if there isn't anything happening, if it's, he was pretty clear on the pod, you know, Juventus have to sell first juntily, his first his first things he has to do is sell players. Once he does that, then we can start talking about players who can, who can come in. And there's a lot of players that Juventus are looking to get rid of all the players that are coming through on loan, McKinney,
00:37:42
Speaker
Artemello, Zacharia, Luca Pellegrini. Then you've got, you know, the attack. If Juventus are going to sign any attackers, Romano says they have to sell Blauwitsch and or Chiesa if they want to bring someone in. Otherwise, they won't bring anyone in. The midfield, Rabio, has now stayed. So, you know,
00:38:04
Speaker
Again, they've got so many midfielders, they'll probably have to sell before they can buy. Even left-back, Romayo confirmed that Juventus generally want Parisi, Fabiano Parisi, who I think is a fantastic player, but Juventus have already got four players in his position because Romayo said that Juventus are going to play a 3-5-2 next season, something I'm not a fan of. And in that position, they've already got Kostich, Ealing Jr.,
00:38:35
Speaker
Cambiaso and even Dachilio once he's back from injury. So again, he's very clear, Juventus have to sell before they can buy Parisi. So anybody that's kind of expecting Junzli to come in and
00:38:47
Speaker
immediately by this player and that player and remember you just have to make 140 million profit on transfers as well at the end. This is something that Ramea also confirmed. Anybody that's expecting this big revolution from James Lee, well you know it's not going to happen. They've got George Weyer's son Timothy Weyer that's come in and we spoke about him on the show last week.
00:39:11
Speaker
You know, there's a lot of work for Junzli to do and it's going to take, it is going to take time. Yeah, no, it's going to take time and I think U of F fans need to have patience. I think this is an interesting...
00:39:29
Speaker
This is the start of something really interesting. It's going to take some time to get everything going and also because of the fact that you ever have to end the transfer market, if I'm not mistaken, Carlo, they have to end the transfer market on a net positive, on a profit. How much that is? Is it 80, 90? How much is it? 140. 140 million euros. 140, yeah. And that's what Romeo said, right? Yeah, 140 million euros. That's incredible.
00:39:55
Speaker
difficult job to do. Well, now it's 152 because they've just wasted, just spent another 12 million on Timothy Weyer. So it's now over 150 billion. So I mean, they have already, they have already got some money from Kolesevsky, 30 million plus they sold a couple of other drag cuisine and another guy for I think about 8 million. So they've already kind of taken 38, 38, 39 from that, from those players already.
00:40:25
Speaker
Yeah, so a lot of work to do, a lot of work for Juventus to do. And I think it's going to be a bit of a slow burner, Juventus' transfer market. It's not going to be like interim Milan where there's players in, players out, bang, bang, bang. It's going to be a slow burner. Well, it's because it's very simple. It's because Inter and Milan are on a plus minus zero budget, whilst Juve are on a profit. So they have to really think before they do something.
00:40:49
Speaker
That's right. That's right. And Pogba is staying as well, Rameo said. So he's been working very hard. Pogba is already back in preseason training. He's been doing a lot of extra work already. And he's trying to strengthen his legs. He's trying to strengthen his muscles, trying to avoid these injuries that he's been getting nonstop for the last few years.
00:41:13
Speaker
I hope, I hope he's fit, but it's a big ask, to be honest, from everything we've seen. Let's move on to Roma, though, because Roma is a very interesting situation. They've already signed Ivan Indica and Hussemois on free transfers.
00:41:28
Speaker
And they're now working on signing Gianluca Schkemaka. And they're also, and this is something Romeo also said on the pod, that he says that the two teams in the race for Fratesi are Inter and not Milan, but Roma. I mean, Milan could still yet come in and try and, you know, try and
00:41:45
Speaker
try and come in, but it's Inter and Roma who are the two teams that are really head-to-head for Fortezi. Renato Sanchez has been mentioned as a possible alternative to Fortezi if Fortezi doesn't go to Roma if he goes to Inter because of the good relationship that we know Roma have with PSG. We saw the dealings they did last year with Bijnaldum.
Roma's Scudetto Aspirations
00:42:07
Speaker
So, I mean,
00:42:10
Speaker
Could Roma be a, I mean, it is very early in the market, but could they be a potential dark force for Scudetto with the business that they are trying to put together? Yeah, they are. They can, absolutely. The Serie A is incredibly open. Jose Marwar, as you know, Endica, as we already said, Scamaca and Fratesi, both Rome lads, would they come back? And Roma is a club that is very,
00:42:36
Speaker
very, very built on having Romans at the club, if they can sort out the Scamaca deal, if they can also bring in Fratesi, who they have a 30% salon fee when they sold them to Sasolo, so they can, you know, that actually works in their favor. So, yeah, I mean, the way things are looking, they absolutely could be a dark horse for this Corretto. I mean, as we saw last year with Napoli, if you can
00:43:04
Speaker
hit every single one of your transfers, starters, then you can have a fantastic season and if you get it all right, if everything comes together.
00:43:21
Speaker
Of course, Roma have a problem with, because if I'm not mistaken, they're in the settlement agreement with UEFA, aren't they? They fell short. They fell a few million short of reaching the required money that they needed to make to break even. They're going to get a fine. Yeah, exactly. They're going to get a fine for that.
00:43:42
Speaker
yeah so that's not good by the way just on that point i found it interesting that carnevale admitted publicly on live tv that they sold they sold players to to roma to help them with their with their with their with their ffp as a faith no they bought players from roma to help them from roma and to to help them with their ffp so i found that quite interesting and i want to see
00:44:04
Speaker
I want to see what is done about that. That's all I want to say. Nothing's going to be done about that. Why would anything be done about that? They bought young players like Volpato and who was the other one they bought? It was an Above as well. Yeah, but he's publicly admitted that they bought them to help Roma with their FFP. I mean, you know. Yeah, but they still bought good players. I mean, they bought talented players. It's not like, and we'll have to wait and see how much that was and if there's anything illicit going on there.
00:44:34
Speaker
But I don't think there is. You're talking about young players who are who are seria who are just broken onto the seria and sassolo are the kind of club who do that. I mean, that's also that they did with locatelli, with fratezi, with all these scamaka, all these other places. This is what sassolo do. So we'll see. We'll see. But I think it's I think it's.
00:44:56
Speaker
I think we're all more building on something really interesting, as are Lazio and quietly in the background.
Serie A Competitiveness
00:45:02
Speaker
It's going to be tight, Seria, the top four. It's going to be really, really tight. I think we're having the top six of the Seria, I think, are even more putting distance between themselves and the rest of the Seria. It's a very, very top heavy league, even more so than last season. These are the early indications I see. The top six are just going to be in a complete world of their own.
00:45:26
Speaker
which is ironic because it is in the sense that, on the one hand, it's a weaker seria, which is nothing like the seria we grew up with, but on the other hand, this top six, top seven breaking away completely the way that they're doing is exactly the seria we grew up with, isn't it?
00:45:47
Speaker
So it's kind of a paradox there. It's exactly. I'm not sure if they are breaking away, but you know, because I mean, they just had so many defeats last season, the teams from second downwards. Well, compare the points. I mean, compare them to, you know, what was it? How much did the difference between seventh and eighth? Yeah, there was definitely a gap there, but it wasn't. I think that gap is going to do. It wasn't. They're just the first.
00:46:13
Speaker
team from team one to team seven were taking points off each other. I mean, they were losing points throughout the division. They were, but my point is that the top six, top seven are even further ahead than the rest of the league, which is very similar to the Serie A we grew up with. You had the seven sisters in you who were dominant in the Serie A year after year after year.
00:46:38
Speaker
And I think it's a top heavy league, even more so this season. These are the early indications that we see, but we'll have to wait and see. Like you said, I mean, it's impossible to say anything definitive. All we can definitely say definitive is that the Italian team is the Italian league is not strong enough to hold 20 teams. And that's been obvious for years. And they should definitely be. It should. There's no doubt we should be down to 18.
00:46:58
Speaker
They should be at maximum, they should be 18 teams in the league, but they've never shown any willingness to do anything about that obviously. They're not going to do that. They're never going to do that. They're never going to do that in a million years because less matches means the TV deals are going to be worth
00:47:16
Speaker
Well, that brings us on nicely to the TV deal because Gravina, the FIGC president, gave the biggest car crash interview I've seen for a long time. And it just sums up everything that we've said in this podcast for the last three years about how clueless these people are and how they just... The simplest way of saying this is they just don't get it.
00:47:39
Speaker
They just do not get and understand how to sell a product. Selling life jackets on the Titanic. Italians are so bad at marketing. I can say that because my parents are Italian. I can say that. I don't care if you call me
00:47:56
Speaker
stereotypical. Italian people in Italy cannot sell anything. They haven't got a clue. They are absolutely clueless. I disagree with that. I disagree with that because Italian food sells itself, sells itself. Italian fashion, Italian music, all of these things sell, but Italian football is the thing that has problems monetizing. That's because the people in charge of Italian football are
00:48:21
Speaker
corrupt, incompetent, and archaic in how they run things. Those things sell themselves. Italian food, Italian... Why doesn't Italian football sell itself? It's dead in the 90s because it had all the best players in the world. Now it doesn't have the best players in the world. Well, this is what I'm saying. The people in charge. Not because of how they were selling it. It wasn't because of how they were selling it. It had all the best players in the world. It was nothing to do with marketing. It was just that now they haven't got a clue how to market.
00:48:50
Speaker
No, I think it's an Italian football problem more than anything else. I think Italian football is run by incompetent, corrupt people who have an archaic mindset, and the footballing world is so
00:49:08
Speaker
The competition is so fierce that if you're not top of your game, you don't succeed. That's the overall arching generalization that you can make on Italian football. His comment, I have to read it out, it is so clueless. It's clear that the offer must also be directly proportional to the quality of the product that is placed on the market.
00:49:32
Speaker
We all thought, perhaps we were a little deluded, that the results of the Italian teams would give them an appeal. But the question we must ask ourselves about Made in Italy, which Italy has because it has a force engraved in history, is whether the quality of the product we offer is right. On this, we probably need to reflect on a much broader and much more complex project. No shit, Sherlock.
00:49:57
Speaker
That's my only reaction to that. No shit Sherlock. You thought Fiorentina reaching the conference league, Inter reaching the Champions League and Roma reaching the Europa League was... Because this is exactly what I'm saying. This is the way that they've always been. They think that the league will sell itself. They think that just because they've had three teams in the final, that automatically, that by the way, all of a sudden, the league, the TV deal was going to double just because they've got three teams in the final. I mean, it doesn't work like that.
00:50:25
Speaker
It doesn't work like that you have arcade stadiums that are not fit for purpose you don't know how to market your league you put your marketing eggs in the wrong baskets time and time and time again.
00:50:41
Speaker
from North America to the Middle East, North Africa, to Europe, to everywhere. You had a genius chance, a brilliant chance. You literally won the lottery when the CDC deal came before they went to Spain. You turned that down because you were too greedy and you couldn't look past your own nose. Now you're wondering why everything's going tits up. You have a social media team that run the social media who
00:51:10
Speaker
speak English like my... Borat. Borat English. Borat, yes. Borat English. It's Borat English. No, no, it's Borat English. It's literally Borat English. The stat overload, that doesn't mean anything. I was going to say average apex height. What the...
00:51:28
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. I mean, they still use that three years on and no one's corrected it. I was gonna compare it to my grandparents who were in Italy, sorry, were in England. They moved over to Italy, moved into England in the 1950s and they were here for
00:51:45
Speaker
40 to 50 to 60 years and they're all passed away now and in that time between them they probably learnt about 10 English words and they would do a better job on the social media selling the Selya than these clowns. This is what I mean about the corruption. Look at the people they've hired to run these things. It's not based on
00:52:10
Speaker
It's not like there are people in Italy who aren't competent. Of course there are. They don't even realise it's a problem. They won't look at their social media feed and think to themselves, oh wait, hang on a minute.
00:52:25
Speaker
we're not doing a very good job there. They think they're doing a good job. This is exactly what I mean. The reason for that is because the wrong people are hired because they're hired on basis of whose uncle or son or daughter or niece and nephew they are.
00:52:42
Speaker
or who they know as opposed to what they know and what they can do. That's true, but at the same time they cannot recognise, because they don't understand marketing, they cannot recognise what is a good marketing campaign, how you're supposed to sell, even as simple as how you put out a tweet or how you put out a Facebook post. Do not get it at all. You could go on and on and on. I was speaking to somebody in the media that was telling me how they're going big about trying to sell
00:53:11
Speaker
Serie A in North America at the moment and they're making all these investments to try and build Serie A in North America and then and then what did this what did the Serie A then decide to do they decide to they make an announcement that there that Juventus are going to be playing many many more games next season at Harper's 12 in that you know the midday game the 1230 game 1130 a.m. in the UK so what types of that's likes
00:53:40
Speaker
5.30am. 6.30am East Coast. And so what time would that be in the other side of the country? I mean, you are by far the most popular Serie A team. You want to break North America, right? You spend all this supposed investment. These people, these execs, I've been told are boasting about what an amazing job they're doing at growing the league out in North America and growing the league around the world.
00:54:10
Speaker
which is a lot of nonsense by the way and then they go and make the decision to put the games at a time when the people in North America are literally just two hours into their sleep from a night out. You just have to laugh. You just have to laugh for them. This is what I mean. It's like they're clueless.
00:54:32
Speaker
completely clueless. And I mean, this is simple stuff as well. I mean, this is stuff like, honestly, I think this is something like the 12 year old me would would get, you know, and I'm thinking, you know, they're not getting it. And these guys, they don't have a clue. They don't have a clue. And it's
00:54:51
Speaker
And that's the reason for this domestic TV deal, which if you listen to our show last week, we discussed about this and what a disaster this is about the gap in TV revenue being absolutely astronomical in terms of overseas TV deals, which we've known about for a long time between the Serie A and the Premier League.
00:55:12
Speaker
and the other leagues actually, the other top five leagues. Now we're seeing that the domestic TV deals in Serie A are a complete disaster as well. And they had been okay. They'd been comparable to all of the leagues and actually not that far, but still quite far behind. I think it was 900 million to get it right this time. 900 million was the last one. And that was compared to I think about 1.8, 1.9.
00:55:38
Speaker
billion in the Premier League. And now in the first bid, I think it got to about 500 million. So it's a total disaster. It's a total disaster. And also the fact that they gave it to Dazon, who have run an app that doesn't work. I mean, it's ridiculous. And internet connectivity in that country is an issue.
00:56:06
Speaker
And these are government problems. No, it is what it is. Unfortunately, the football is beautiful, but the people who run it are grossly incompetent and care only about their paydays. And that's why nothing will change until everything goes to hell. Because that's how it works in Italy. Things have to go so badly pear-shaped before any change. Do you know what I think, Nima? I think that the only way
00:56:33
Speaker
that this area ever gets saved in terms of, from a marketing point of view, I mean, this is only one of many things, is bringing in some people from England to run it. I honestly think, we sit here and we're critical about the privilege. Yeah, but I've said for years that this is why I want more North American owners.
00:56:55
Speaker
English or Americans, but I think English would be better because English understand football culture better than Americans understand. Americans understand marketing, they understand the numbers and the spreadsheets, but they don't understand the culture of football as well as the English do.
00:57:13
Speaker
No, I think you need a majority of foreign owners in the Serie A, so they can, first of all, agree on a president, so they can agree on having a structure and then vote that way through so that we can have some order in this league. Because at this point, the people there are just, they don't care. It's about lining them up. Just hire a team of English people to market the league. Simple as that, because they get it. They understand how to do it.
00:57:40
Speaker
Italians, I've got no faith in Italians ever being able to do it. Just do not get it. And everybody that I speak to that are in Italy, have worked in the league, that have come from outside Italy originally, they all say the same thing. And then you know that because we've spoken about it as well. They all say exactly the same thing. They just do not get it at all.
00:58:02
Speaker
I'm speaking to Adrian Del Monte who works for, you know, he says exactly the same thing. He just sometimes, he just finds it unbelievable sometimes.
00:58:12
Speaker
Anyway, enough of that rant. Let's move on to another rant. Italy under 21 euros.
Italy's U21 Euros Exit
00:58:21
Speaker
This was a disaster of a tournament for Italy, who picked a very, very strong squad for these euros. They picked Tonali, Scalvini, Nianto, all Italy senior internationals, but also a very, very strong group of players in the defence, the midfield and the goalkeeper.
00:58:41
Speaker
When we previewed the tournament before, I said two things. I said, there's two things that I'm concerned about for Italy. One, the lack of quality and attack, goals in particular, firepower. And two, the coach. And in the end, both played out, both cost Italy in this tournament. And they've gone out in the group stage.
00:59:05
Speaker
with one win and two defeats and while they were absolutely robbed in the first game against France they should have got a draw at least because they were robbed by just absolute scandalous refereeing as bad as I've ever seen and that would have actually taken them through still
00:59:22
Speaker
if you actually take a step back and look at the overall performances and the fact that they lost to Norway in the last game, then you have to say that, you know, this was not going to say deserved, but this was just an abysmal tournament and an embarrassment from Italy. I'm going to like for me, I am tired of Italy not appointing competent coaches, in my opinion.
00:59:50
Speaker
The Italy under 21 team has not had a competent under 21 coach since Cesare Maldini in 1996. I'll read you the names. From 76 to 86 at Celio Vicini, 86 to 96 Cesare Maldini, then Rossano Gianpaglia, Marco Tardelli, Claudio Gentile, Pierluigi Casiragi, Chiro Ferrara, Devis Mangia, Gigi Di Biaggio, and Paolo Nicolato.
01:00:19
Speaker
What, I mean, when you list, this is the most depressing list of names, coaching staff I've ever, I've ever read. None of them are good enough to coach city cheat teams, let alone the Italy under 21. Why do the Italian, again, what we, when we're talking about the very previous topic, giving it to your friends and not to the right person.
01:00:44
Speaker
None of these coaches are good enough to coach the Itali 121 teams and it continues to cost the Itali 121 team. What meaningful career has Claudio Gentile, Casiragi, Ferrara, Mangia, Di Biaggio and Nicolato have? Or Tardelli for that matter.
01:01:01
Speaker
Just in defense of Tardelli and Gencili, they both won the Euros with Italy under 21. So I mean, from an under 21 point of view, you can't be critical of their management of these teams. Tardelli, fine. But they're still not good enough.
01:01:18
Speaker
What meaningful careers have they had? Yeah, you can question their suitability and qualifications for the role, absolutely, as a coach. But I mean, just in terms of how they did, I mean, they won the tournament. That's fine. Fine, fair enough. But since then, like, who are these names? No, no, I'm with you there. I'm with you there. I mean, Kaziragi... Serana Manja Di Biaggio.
01:01:43
Speaker
Why? And Italy have had golden generations in these under 21s. Di Biaggio had a team of Barella, Quieza, etc. I mean, can we please have someone who knows what they're doing? There's so many competent Italian coaches out there that would kill for the Italy under 21 job. Can we please give it to them?
01:02:08
Speaker
No, no, absolutely. Nicolas Fabio Grosso, for example, has just had a fantastic success with Flossy Nona. Why not? If he's interested, why not give it to him? I need to find out how much the pay is for this role. You know, my thinking is maybe the pay is so low that, you know, no managers want this role.
01:02:27
Speaker
it's got to be. It's got to be because you think it's actually a good stepping stone to a bigger club. You do well for the under 21s, you get the glory, you win, even if you get to, you know, tournament football is always a good place for a coach to show himself because everybody's watching. But Nicolato was a disaster. I mean, you just
01:02:50
Speaker
For one, I never wanted the 3.5.2. I just don't like the 3.5.2 unless there's a really, really good coach that can make it work, like Nzaghi has, for example, at Inter. It was just the way that it was used. Again, there was no structure, there was no
01:03:08
Speaker
cohesion. It was all staccato. The gaps between the defence and the midfield and the attack, especially in that Switzerland game in the second half, it was absolutely horrible. It was awful. I mean, you could see on TV and you're just thinking, what is Nicolato doing? Why is he not telling them, get your defence, the midfield and attack closer together, tighten it up, you know? And there were such big gaps there. And there was not, I mean, it just wasn't a team. It wasn't a team at all. And
01:03:38
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the performance in the second half, they were tired in the second half of the last two games. That was, again, down to the manager. The substitutions were terrible. I mean, he took off Nionto at nil-nil in that game against Norway. I mean, what on earth? You're only forward that's doing anything, that's showing anything in this tournament. You take him off. Yeah, I mean, it was terrible from Nicole Otto. But the other thing to say is,
01:04:05
Speaker
Italy has a real problem with attackers. And we've seen it with the senior team for a long time now, especially the number nine position. But I would say the whole attack, Italy just not producing anywhere close to enough attackers at all. And we saw it again in the other 21s. I mean,
01:04:24
Speaker
Non so had a few flashes. But apart from him, I mean, cambiaga, who's actually cambiaga, he was actually finished, finished the season quite well. He was terrible. Pellegri, awful, horrific. Colombo, not good. I mean, he's been bad all all kind of the and he's a player that I like was spoken about him. But
01:04:41
Speaker
he's had a terrible calendar year. He hasn't even signed, he's even scored this year. I mean, these are the players that we're picking for under 21s. Colombo, no goals in 2023. Pellegri, I think one or two goals in 2023. Are these the players? Is this who we're relying on? This shows the crisis that Italy has in forward production that these are the players that we're having to choose for under 21s. I mean, you go back to the days of
01:05:10
Speaker
well, Gentile and Tardelli and Maldini as managers. I mean, the options that Italy had in attack, we know the 1990s, there was just such an abundance of attackers in the senior team and in the U team. And this is a problem across the board, even with the under 21, under 20s, we saw, you know, there was a certain bluntness in the Italy lost in the final, you know. So, yeah, I don't know what is the cause of this. I don't know,
01:05:38
Speaker
I don't know if there's something, I would love to find out, I'd love to speak to a coach, a youth coach in Italy to try and explain what they think is being done wrong. There has to be something that's going wrong, grassroots, that Italy are not producing attackers anymore. We can understand why Italy are not producing as many good defenders because
01:05:57
Speaker
you know, the rules have changed. And we'll discuss that. We were going to discuss that today, we'll hold that for another, for next time, about the offside rule changing. But, you know, we know why it's not producing so many defenders, because it is really hard to defend nowadays, all the rules are against you. But in attackers, they should be producing more attackers, really, because everything benefits, benefits forwards. Now, why can't Italy produce any top attackers?
01:06:21
Speaker
Well, yeah, I mean, I think things go in cycles. I mean, there was a point where Italy had so, it was an embarrassment of riches. For 20, 30 years, it was an embarrassment of riches of goalkeepers, defenders, and attackers, and not so much midfielders. Now, still, goalkeepers are good, the defenders decent, midfielders are fantastic, but not so much attackers. I mean, I think it's one of those cyclical things.
01:06:49
Speaker
But I do think that you're right, there is an issue here. We're not producing the strikers, the natural strikers that Italy used to. They're really not. And that is a big problem. But I do think that it'll turn itself around because it's still the position, a very popular position. It's about scoring goals. So it's always going to be a very interesting position.
01:07:17
Speaker
popular position. But yeah, no, it is a concern, no doubt. Yeah, we have to find out what the cause of this is. And I think it's definitely a coaching issue. There's no doubt about it coming from youth level. It's been going on for too long for it to be a coincidence. And when was the last time Italy produced a great number nine? I mean,
01:07:42
Speaker
If you discount, say, Immoble, who never did it at a top level in terms of European or continental or international. Well, at the top level, he didn't. Well, yeah, he did domestically, but I mean, yeah, outside. No, I mean like in the Champions League. Yeah, that's what I mean. At the top level, aside from him, Balotelli for a very short period of time,
01:08:05
Speaker
maybe a couple of years, you know, kind of like 2019 to 2012, 2010 to 2012. And then who else? I mean, you're probably thinking what, Luca Tony maybe, and even he had quite a short shelf like at the very top, you're probably talking 2005 to 2008. You know, we're going back
01:08:26
Speaker
almost 20 years to the end of Inzagi, Del Piero, Totti, you know, when they were coming to the end of their careers, you know, and hitting 30. That's kind of like, since then, you know, it's, and these guys are pushing 50 now. No, but they are. You're absolutely right. It's insane. Yeah. All right. Let's finish off then with Bad Joe and Prim Face of the Week. Right. Bad Joe.
01:08:53
Speaker
I don't really have one. I've been sick for a week. My immune system is my bad job for a week. Yeah. Listen, if I'm going to pick out from the other 21s, some players that came, let's pick some players that came away from the Euro and the 21s, that means with some credit.
01:09:15
Speaker
The only two of them, yeah, the two wingbacks, Melanova and Parisi. I thought they were both fantastic for Italy. They're the only two that come out with any credit. I mean, we criticized the attack. I mean, the defense, I mean, Scalvini was terrible. We should have touched upon him.
01:09:35
Speaker
you know, I'm starting to have doubts about, you know, I just don't see this wonder kid and with Scalvini. We talked about this last weekend. So maybe I'm being a bit harsh. But yeah, he was really bad. And but the midfield as well got overrun. I blend that more on the coach because there was just no cohesion there in the midfield and they were too. The players were all kind of like too similar. The players that he picked, they didn't kind of compliment each other very well. Richie Sonali and
01:10:04
Speaker
and Ravella, I think, and he didn't make it work. So I blame that more on the coach. But the wingbacks were great. Basically, Italy's own game. That's all their game was in the Euros, was the wingbacks in Parisi and Villanova. They were up and down, up and down, non-stop. They were brilliant.
01:10:22
Speaker
They really were. I really like both of these players. I really, especially Parisi, is just fantastic. Parisi has a better end product than Bellanova. Bellanova has got that
01:10:38
Speaker
He's quite comparable to Hakimi, actually, a young, raw Hakimi. Raw. Exactly. The Hakimi that would just... Slightly less in terms of quality. I know what you mean. Yeah. You know, yeah. Hakimi did have more quality because Hakimi would get to the byline and make a cutback or smash a ball across the six yard box on the field. Poor man's raw Hakimi. Yes. Yeah. Because when he gets to make those final crosses, he, yeah, he can improve. And I hope that, you know, one good thing of going to Torino with Yurich is that he will be
01:11:10
Speaker
He's a taskmaster, he's a drill sergeant and he'll get the best out of him. Yeah, over and over and over and over. But he's got some real qualities that you cannot teach. So that's good. And Parisi, again, the same.
01:11:23
Speaker
he's uh i think they used to call him in penvolino in um other lino yeah i remember yeah we did it we did a profile on him didn't we so make sure that's right yeah yeah you can do lino right prim face of the week i've got one what is it
01:11:39
Speaker
I was just trying to find the tweet now, but I've hit my limit, so I can't. Oh, my God. Is there limit things still going on? No, I'm joking. I'm joking. I'm joking. But I can't find it. It was Bastil Sports. Somebody linked us in. Somebody sent the tweet to us. Apologies, I should have saved this, but apologies for the person that did. And they called them because they're like an American media, sports media, aren't they, Bastil Sports? I think they're kind of a bit of a like a talk sports. Yeah, they are.
01:12:09
Speaker
America and they so the United States won six nil against some small nations it set kits and kits and never saw someone like that and they did oh yeah they did a tweet say would the US men's national team win the Premier League question mark
01:12:28
Speaker
I saw that. I saw that and I couldn't believe it. Yeah, you're right. And I can't remember what was put on it, but it was something like, this is like the American version of a prim face. I don't know what you're right. Yeah. I don't know that you mentioned it. Yeah. I saw that tweet and I think I died
01:12:49
Speaker
I don't know what we, what could we, we've got to come up with a name for an American version of a prim face, like Uncle Sam head or something like that. Scudetto, Jerry Cardinal speaking Italian is my guilty pleasure. Io Sono Italo Emericano. I live for it when he speaks, when he speaks Italian. Forza, Forza, Forza Milan.
01:13:16
Speaker
That was on thinking of the Parma Rayna, what's his name? Oh, Kraus, no. Kraus, yeah, Kraus. Forza Parma. Forza. My favourite, yeah. Kraus, yeah. Yeah, no.
01:13:28
Speaker
in and out or whatever his business is called. I can't remember. Come and go, I think. In and out of Serie A. Yeah. Come and go or something. I can't remember. Anyway, no, it's Jerry Cardinale speaking Italian. I don't know why it is. I live for it. I just can't get enough. Jerry Cardinale speaking football, I think as well.
01:13:52
Speaker
Right, let's leave it at that. We'll be back on Tuesday for Q&A, an extra-long Q&A, and then we will be back again Wednesday or Thursday, Wednesday, I think, for the Napoli... Deep dive. Deep dive on the transfer market. Yeah. And yeah, those are for patrons, of course, all of those. Absolutely. Okay, right. Let's leave it at that. We will see you again on Tuesday. Have a great week, everyone. Ciao, ciao.