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Free Weekly Episode - Napoli’s Kvara-Osimhen Europe’s Best Partnership, Di Maria Lights Up Juve, Immobile Is Back! & Much More (Ep. 298)
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From Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia tearing it up for Napoli, Inter beat Udinese and resting 4 starters, AC Milan keep winning 1-0, Allegri rattled despite Juventus win and Immobile back scoring for Lazio to Mourinho's Roma having Serie A top in sights and much, much more as Nima and Carlo break down another eventful weekend in Italian football.
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Transcript
Introduction and Serie A Highlights
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian Football Podcast. Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Italian Football Podcast. I'm Carlo Garganese, here, as always, with Nima Tavalli. Another fantastic weekend of Serie A football. Napoli winning again. Inter getting back to winning ways. Milan, their resurrection continues. Ciro Immobale, some people say he was old. Well, he is back with a bang for Lazio. Three goals in a number of days.
00:00:30
Speaker
Ole sold back in scoring his first goal for a decimated Roma. Max Allegri is a very, very angry man at Juventus, while Atalanta suffer a shock loss to Lecce. We're going to be debating all of that. We also have the Champions League to look forward to this week with Napoli and Inter in action, plus the second legs of some big games in the Europa League.
Podcast Structure and Support
00:00:51
Speaker
and the conference league, so lots to talk about. For all our first time listeners, this is our free weekly episode, which we do every Monday, reviewing the weekend study action and all the biggest talking points in Italian football. If you want to support the Italian football podcast and receive all of our content that we do throughout the week,
00:01:08
Speaker
including our weekly Q&A episode every Tuesday, where we answer all the questions sent in from our Patreons, plus the weekly Thursday midweek review show, plus interviews, post-match reaction, and much, much more, then go to patreon.com slash T-I-F-P, and you can become a subscriber for just $2.99 a month plus VAT.
00:01:26
Speaker
For all of you listening on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Podcasts, etc, we'd greatly appreciate a five-star rating and a follow or subscription as this really helps to spread the gospel of Serie A and Italian football. Okay, let's get straight into it.
00:01:45
Speaker
Let's start at the top then, the top of Serie A and Napoli winning
Napoli's Star Performances: Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen
00:01:49
Speaker
again. 2-0 this time at Sassuolo on Friday evening. They played a little bit earlier because they're preparing for the Champions League. Same old story for Napoli. The same two men shining. It was the Clara-Ossiman show yet again. Both of them scoring. Clara's first goal, absolutely incredible. He dribbled from the halfway line past two players.
00:02:15
Speaker
and then deliberately, I should add, shot through the defender's legs to make it one. Osseman doubled it with a missile of a goal. It was not the best goalkeeping, but it was an absolute rocket of a shot. He probably should have had a hat trick. These two are
00:02:32
Speaker
are unstoppable. They have 28 goals between them now in Serie A and only one of those goals is a penalty, which I find astonishing. Between goals and assists, they have 46 goal contributions in all competitions this season. Remember, we're still in February.
00:02:48
Speaker
Clara has 12 goals and 12 assists in all comps. Ossimun is racing away with the capo canieri. He's now scored seven games in a row, which makes him the first Napoli player to score seven successive Serie A games for 28 years.
00:03:05
Speaker
And Napoli now have two players in double figures in Serie A which as of Saturday when I checked the only other team teams in Europe on Europe's big five leagues that have more than one player on double figures and this season in league play was PSG with their front three and Monaco with Ben Edda and Embolo So yeah, these two players, I mean they're absolutely world-class players There's no other way to describe them. But the question I want to ask you Nima is
00:03:34
Speaker
Are they the best attacking duo in Europe now? I think it's difficult to say that they're not. Who would be better? What combination would would be better than then? And it's just it's it's not just the gold it's
00:03:59
Speaker
the individual quality of these two, especially Kvaratskhelia. I don't think Viktor Osimen will ever become a candidate to win the Ballon d'Or. I'm becoming more and more convinced that Huicha Kvaratskhelia will win it at some point. He is this talent that he has, he is a talisman. The technical ability, the ability to dribble with both feet, the ability to shoot with both feet, the low center of gravity, these are the kinds of players who become
00:04:27
Speaker
you know, poster boys of football who win the Ballon d'Or. That's the level of talent that he's displaying that he is. It's just bizarre. It's genuinely insane. That first goal was just, that was greatness. To me, that's not a player just in good form. That's a superstar in the making.
00:04:50
Speaker
And he's played at this level consistently this season. Even though he was a little bit injured, he came back. And now he's looking better than before. This kid is, I mean, what have Napoli bought here? It's just insane. And then you've got Osseman, and look, Gabriel Battistuta should maybe look over the shoulder.
00:05:12
Speaker
because, you know, Battistuta set the record on Cagliarella match there, although Battistuta doesn't believe that Cagliarella did match it, but 11 goals in a row. And there's 11 matches in a row in the Serie A. Ossemen is at seven. Battistuta needs to start looking over that shoulder.
Napoli's Tactical Adaptability
00:05:29
Speaker
I'm looking at the fixture list here and it's not impossible that this run could go on and, you know, they play Empoli and Napoli play Empoli away.
00:05:40
Speaker
on the weekend and then they have Lazio at home and Atalanta away and then Torino and Milan these are difficult games of course but does anyone really bet against Aussieman not scoring in every single one of those games even if Napoli lose or drop points? Not the way that they're both these two up front are playing I mean they're just so complete in their own ways I mean Aussieman
00:06:09
Speaker
Can you tell me a single weakness in his game, Osseman? Yeah, I think sometimes he's a little bit too eager in the finishing. But now you're right. Yeah, that's that's the only thing. But other than that, no, I mean, he has improved his finishing so much. In fact, in a weird kind of way, this game at the weekend is probably the first time we saw some of his old snatchy finishing. Yeah. Because he he missed two that he should have put away the post. He hit the post with the first half of one, which he should have buried really had the whole
00:06:35
Speaker
Corner to put it in I think he just got rushed a little bit at the end because the defender kind of closed in at the end And then there was one where he slid it wide in the second half. So, you know, but I mean the thing with ossie men is
00:06:49
Speaker
And the same with Clara, but with Osseman, if you're lining up a team to play against him, what do you do against him? Because if you go into a low block, he's so strong with his back to goal. If you try and press high up the pitch, he can play on the last man and run in behind you. He's got fantastic movement. If you get tight to him, he can roll you, he's so strong. If you give him a few yards, he'll do a moment of magic and he'll get a shot away.
00:07:19
Speaker
you know, how do you play against him? And with Kavara, in a different kind of way, but the same, it's like, will you defend with a low block? Well, he's absolutely fantastic in tight spaces and breaking down, you know, breaking down deep defenses with a clever dribble or a feign or a little pass or a little one-two.
00:07:41
Speaker
But you defend the pitch where he will destroy you on the counter and on the transitions with his pace and his dribbling. And you know, it's like there's no way, you know, like when sometimes you say teams get found out, you can say with some teams like we said with Milan, you know, Milan got found out to an extent because everybody saw that in Serie A anyway that
00:08:01
Speaker
most of their danger was coming down the left-hand side with Teo and Rafael Liao, so that's how they stopped them. Even with Pep Guardiola teams, teams know that, well, if you go toe to toe and you play with a high line, well, they'll kill you. But if you go
00:08:18
Speaker
deep with a deep defense, well, you can sometimes make their possession a bit sterile sometimes. But with Napoli, it's like, what do you do? If you play one way, well, they'll just change and they'll use their other weapons. So I think this is the thing with Napoli. And also the other difference, I would say, with Napoli, compared to the big three,
00:08:41
Speaker
is they go 1-0 up but they push for the second goal. They blow you away and this is something we'll come on with Juventus because there's been a lot of criticism and allegory over this in the non-game where they went 1-0 up and then he just contained and controlled. Napoli blew Sasualo away in the early stages. They went 2-0 up
00:09:02
Speaker
uh destroyed them and then they took their foot off the gas and in truth because i swallow actually probably a little bit unlucky in this game i actually thought they did all right so i swallow but you know napoli they they get ahead and then they can preserve and conserve their energy uh later on in the game yeah they do they do they do play like that it's pedal to the medal until the game is won
00:09:20
Speaker
and they rotate, and then they bring on Cholito Simeone, who scores every 15 seconds he plays. He scored again in this, but it was just proud. Yeah, it was his offside. No, look, they are in the form of their lives. This is going to be a coronation. It's not a race, it's a coronation, but...
00:09:46
Speaker
But I'm not, you know, beware after the Napoli, after the Empoli game on the weekend, it's Lazio at home, Atalanta at home, Torino Way, that's a difficult game for everyone, and Milan at home. In between that, they've got two games against Eintracht Frankfurt. So
00:10:07
Speaker
This is where they're going to be tested, because after the Milan game, it's Lece, Helas, okay Juve, but I mean after that, if they have a 15-point minimum lead after the Milan game,
00:10:25
Speaker
then I think we're talking all-time record-breaking Serie A wins here. What's the level, the distance between one and two? Yeah. What is the all-time record? We'd have to find that out.
Napoli in Champions League and Controversy
00:10:40
Speaker
Yeah, we will. I know the highest distance anyone has ever finished. I think Napoli are going to win this correct. It's obvious to anyone who isn't superstitious and from Naples.
00:10:53
Speaker
But the question is, are they going to reach 100 points and are they going to break the all-time record in terms of distance between the first and second when they win it? That's the question we're asking here. That's the question I'm asking anyway.
00:11:08
Speaker
Yeah. And also, can they go through against Eintracht Frankfurt, which I think it would be, you know, that would be a failure if they didn't. Yes, Eintracht are a good side. They're flying in the Bundesliga, but Napoli are a better side. And there are goals to be had, and they're a leaky side. They attack teams, Eintracht. Yeah. Well, we'll come to that. We'll come to the Champions League after. One thing that I do want to raise, I want you to talk about, Nima, is this Napoli-black face.
00:11:37
Speaker
Okay, so a little bit of a background here. So Napoli magazine, it's not a club outlet. It's an outlet that covers Napoli, right? They did a story and they posted on social media of a kid, of a boy. I think he's like six, seven years old. I can't remember exactly how old he is.
00:11:57
Speaker
But he was in the hospital, he was three months in the hospital, he was paralyzed for three months for an illness, and he recovered miraculously from it. And as a tribute to his hero, Victor Rosimán, he paints his face, him and his parents paint, you know, the parents obviously allow it, but he paints his face black, full with a mask that, you know, dyes his hair, the whole thing, and this was done as a tribute
00:12:25
Speaker
to Victor Oceman. Now there was of course backlash to this and they deleted the post and they deleted the article and it kind of raised the issue of well
00:12:39
Speaker
obviously this wasn't done with malicious intent, the history of Blackface in what country and so on and so forth and what it means and all that stuff. So we had two of our listeners sent in and they kind of a little bit disagree with one another. And I'm going to read what they both sent because it's incredibly well thought out. And I think it's very well explained.
00:13:07
Speaker
One of them is Vincenzo Bertillo, who's one of our patrons. He says, my thoughts on this is, is this appropriate? No, it's not. Did this kid and his family do this out of hate to Aussie men or black people? No. Blackface was historically mainly a big issue in North America. Hence, we all know it's wrong.
00:13:24
Speaker
To support Coulibaly after he was racially abused, prominent Napoli fan and chef Gino Sorbillo also painted his face black as to say, we are all with you. He had good intentions, but it was the completely wrong way of expressing solidarity. Hopefully they will learn with time, but it's the Italians who chant monkey noises and throw bananas that I feel we should be battling against first and foremost.
00:13:49
Speaker
Now, I was also sent a, I was also sent a message from another listener of ours, Rafa, who sent a really thoughtful message who disagrees a little bit with Vinny here. And he says, and they've got their own podcast called the Napoli rant. His name is Rafaella. He says,
00:14:13
Speaker
Growing up in New York City, one of the most diverse cities in the world, it's practically required to understand and respect various different cultures. That said, a young Napoli fan emulating his hero, despite maybe a poor decision as to how to do so, he was maybe and was inappropriate and hopeful that it did not come from a place of racism. Blackface in North America is, however, unmistakably historically racist.
00:14:39
Speaker
And for context, Ra'i in 2021 has made it policy to not display any blackface performances in their broadcast after Afro Italian citizens complained. It is something that has been acknowledged in Italy.
00:14:54
Speaker
Napoli has grown to become a global brand. We as Napoli fans must consider the feelings of others internationally if we want to continue to grow. In this case, the fault, in my opinion, lies within the social media page that made the original post. They should know better. But we as people should forgive this young boy and his family while at the same time being aware that such actions are not ideal to express your admiration for your favorite athlete.
00:15:21
Speaker
These are the growing pains of becoming bigger and more influential. My feelings about this lay somewhere in the middle here. The historical connotations of blackface being racist
00:15:41
Speaker
is just there's no, you know, everybody knows this, right? And especially in the Anglo-Saxon culture in the United States and England. But the early histories of this
00:15:54
Speaker
There's a book, there's a journalist and cultural commentator called John Straussbaug, who's written fantastic books about this, of blackness, of how they were displaying blackness for the enjoyment and edification of white viewers, as he calls it. It dates back to at least 1441, where captive West Africans were displaced in Portugal.
00:16:20
Speaker
You know, this is history in it. For example, white people routinely portrayed the black character in Elizabethan and Jacobian theater. For example, in Shakespeare's Othello. However,
00:16:36
Speaker
he writes that Othello and other plays of this era did not involve the emulation and caricature of such supposed innate qualities of blackness as inherent musicality, natural athleticism, etc., that Straussbauch sees as crucial to blackface. Now, this is, as we known it in
00:16:57
Speaker
I can really recommend, he's a scholar, he's probably the most leading scholar in this field and I can really recommend reading what he's researched here. There is no doubt, but I do kind of agree with Raff as well, that look, you're growing now on a global stage and more people will look at you and although you may not in your culture in Naples and Italy be aware of the historical connotations
00:17:24
Speaker
in your neighborhood and in your city, but you have to be aware of, as you're growing on the global stage, that this is an issue. This is a fact. This is a racist caricature. Maybe not in your country, but in other countries, right? And as such, you have to be more careful with that.
00:17:43
Speaker
And I agree with that. I agree with that. I also don't think anyone can, you know, seeing that would say that that was a casual racist expression of casual racism in terms of intent. I think it goes back to what, again, what Spalletti said last year when he was talking about Koolibaly and Oseman in a European, Europa League
00:18:08
Speaker
pre-match saying that black players tend to have muscle fibers that recover quicker than other players, right? We know that Luciano Spaletti is not a racist because he stood up to his own fans when he was the coach of Zenitz and Petersburg, but Luciano Spaletti is almost 60 years old and comes from a different era and as such he will have been
00:18:29
Speaker
you know, inherently unaware of the racism that he has, that he doesn't understand himself. You know, there's this subconscious racism, we know that there is that, or racist perceptions. And I think this is a complex issue. I understand, I agree with Rafa when he says that, with his statement that, stop doing it. Ra'i, the public broadcaster, has spoken up against this and decided not to do it. So therefore you should pay aware, you should be aware as well.
00:18:58
Speaker
Yeah, it's an education thing. Of course. That's what I was going to come to. That's what I was going to end with. At the end of the day, we have to acknowledge that the act itself was incredibly inappropriate, but we also have to acknowledge that there was no intent here because you're talking about a child who had been paralyzed for three months. He loves Victor Rosimel. He's not trying to demean Victor Rosimel.
00:19:22
Speaker
that's it. And that's the key point here. That's the key point. You know, if if the intention wasn't to be racist, it was actually the intention was it was a loving is an act of love, you know, so for that reason, you know, this, you know, this not go hard. There's nuance, there's nuance. Now he now that he knows now that he's educated now next time he that won't happen. It won't happen. Hopefully you would
00:19:45
Speaker
not not they certainly weren't for him, but you know, it takes time. The difference is when the act, you know, the intention is, is to be discriminatory, you know, and that's the difference. And that definitely wasn't the case here. So you know, everybody learns, we move on.
00:20:01
Speaker
Let's move on to. I can really, really just before we go, I really recommend people to read up on these things because I think this is an education issue. What is blackface? How? When did it first turn up? What were the defining characteristics of the racist aspect of blackface? This is academic stuff and this is part of human culture. It's a part of human culture that we may not like, but the only way we can evolve as human beings is to study it, learn from it and move on.
00:20:29
Speaker
No, that's it. Absolutely. And, you know, sometimes people will be unknowingly racist and they won't know they're doing it. You know, I remember when Kovani, I remember when Edison Kovani first came to to to play for Manny Knight and he did something, didn't he? Well, he said something, but that's a Latin American culture. Again, you know, the I'm not condoning it. I'm just explaining that what is racist in England can sometimes not be racist in Iran or in South America. It's different cultures. But what we have to understand is that
00:20:58
Speaker
when we are living together, we have to understand that also it's not a defence either. When you're working on the global stage, everyone is looking at you. No, absolutely. But is it also impossible to know every single little thing about a country that you've never been in before? Of course. So, you know, it goes both ways. Okay, right.
Inter's Strategy and Key Players
00:21:21
Speaker
Inter, Inter versus Danese. Inter, rest players and win.
00:21:26
Speaker
Yes, look, resting Scrinyar Chalanoglu Lautaro was a good thing ahead of the Porto game by Simoni Nzagi. The Handanovic decision to play him again was just, I genuinely don't understand what he thought he was going to gain by doing that, because it's an unnecessary risk. When you start Samir Handanovic,
00:21:50
Speaker
you and it goes well no one's going to thank you for it but when you start Samir Handanovic and it goes to hell you will be crucified so it's an unnecessary risk that he took and luckily it went in his favor although I must say I don't blame Handanovic as such for the finish but again interconceived from the very first shot on target and and that's just a fact but
00:22:19
Speaker
You know, I know that you might take a different approach to, you know, the goal, the shot was straight at him, he died out of the way. I know that, and people say that, and I think that's fair enough.
00:22:29
Speaker
but it's a good finish. But regardless, Handanovic should never start for Inter again. I don't even want to go into that shot. He shouldn't start for Inter again unless it's a Copa Italia game against Parma. It doesn't make any sense either because I mean, rest in outfield players, yes, but you don't need to rest at goalkeeper. You don't gain anything from rest in the goalkeeper. In fact, you only probably lose rest in a goalkeeper. You don't need to rest a goalkeeper physically. A goalkeeper doesn't need rest.
00:22:54
Speaker
They don't need rest physically. So I don't really see what there was to gain from playing Handanovic at all in this match. No, I don't either. And the risk versus reward was the only risk, no reward. But if we go move on from that and we look at the game itself, Brozovic getting minutes and starting was very important so that he gets back to match fitness.
00:23:23
Speaker
But we saw that when Hakan Chalanoglu plays, Inter's midfield is quicker, the passing tempo is higher, the passing is sharper, more direct, and he is, together with Barela and Lautaro, the most important players Inter have this season. There's no doubt about that. And they Inter really
00:23:55
Speaker
But we know that, you know, there's no denying that Chalanoglu is becoming one of the most, one of the pillars of the sinta. I think what Brozovic does is his positioning and the fact that he runs and covers more space on a football pitch than any human being can and should be able logically to do is something that he's better than Chalanoglu had.
00:24:08
Speaker
really played well once those changes were made.
00:24:19
Speaker
and the calm with which he passes, the calm with which he controls and dictates the tempo. But Chalanogli was much more direct and sharp and higher passing tempo on the ball. So ideally, you have both of them playing. And then you have Barela, who's a Toto Campista and does everything really well. So ideally against Porto, if Brozovic has those minutes in him, I'd love to see Brozovic, Chalanogli and Barela play together.
00:24:47
Speaker
That's what I was going to see. Interesting, yeah. I thought, I actually thought that, I mean, if you look at the game overall, Inter definitely deserved to win this game. They had many more chances than Udenezi if you look at the XG. But I actually thought that for long spells of this game, Udenezi pretty much played on equal terms with Inter. And they were a little bit unlucky on the retake and penalty. I think by the rules it probably was the right call.
00:25:12
Speaker
just as a separate point i want to make personally i'm not a fan you know my opinion on penalties i feel that um and there was an incident like this a couple of weeks ago as well personally i think that the the penalty takers are are too much is given in favor of the of the penalty taker you know already when a foul is made
00:25:31
Speaker
a foul can be a 0.001 chance of scoring and they're given a penalty which is a 0.75. So already that's outweighed already in favor of the attacker. But secondly, the idea that a penalty can be taken, the keeper saves the penalty
00:25:49
Speaker
and then it gets retaken for encroachment and there was encroachment here and by the rules it probably was the right decision but there's encroachment and then the attacker team get to take another penalty with another 0.79 chance of scoring all again just you know and they just missed the penalty I mean I understand that the defender that encroached got there before Lukaku and he stopped him getting the rebound I totally understand that but I just feel again it's just another example of
00:26:15
Speaker
the attacker getting all the benefits. That's a separate talking point. And the other point I would make is that at 1-0, Isaac's success missed an absolute sitter at 1-0 just seconds before Makatarian went down the other end and scored. So again, this game could have been very different and we could be here sitting talking about was Zanzagi right, about
00:26:36
Speaker
you know, making these changes. But as it's turned out, I think it's been great for Inter because they've got to arrest some key players before this Porto game, and they're going to go into this Porto game a lot fresher than they would have been if they'd have played the, you know, Scrinya, Cellanogli, Lautaro from the start. So I think it's worked out pretty well for Inter altogether.
00:26:57
Speaker
No, it did. It really did. Because Inter won, they get some calm after that dreadful display against the santoria, where they were nervous. And of course, Lukaku comes out and says before the game, which I think is the most important thing, he says, look, if I were to go to war, and I choose someone to go with me, I choose Nicolo Barela. He's one of the best players I've ever played with. Our relationship is like this.
00:27:25
Speaker
And that puts an end to all the stories about their little spat. And that's good. That was good. It was a nice feeling. But overall, Lukaku, I know this leads nicely into our next point.
00:27:41
Speaker
Yeah, let me ask the question. So the question is, Lukaku took the penalty first, missed the penalty, terrible penalty, but then he was fortunate enough that he got to retake it and he put away, buried the second penalty to put into her head. But he gave the ball away for the Udineze equalizer, which not many people have picked up on from what I've seen. He gave the ball away with a terrible pass across the field.
00:28:06
Speaker
suicidal pass through the names he broke they scored and I have to say all in all his overall game was Wasn't terrible, but I would say it was average really at best Bottom line is he's a shadow of the Lukaku. We know right now So we're now in war nearly in March Should inter retain him at the end of the season I Don't think so
00:28:36
Speaker
I honestly don't think so, and I don't care if Inter can't get Marcus Taram. I think that money is best spent elsewhere, because I think Romelu Lukaku, given what he costs, given where he is in his career, will never ever again be the top level striker he was, and under which he consistently played for, under Antonio Conte. I think even if he will play better than he's doing now, he will never be that striker again.
00:29:04
Speaker
and Inter already have a striker who's passed his best in Edin Jekyll. And Inter already have players that are past their best and they need to be looking at players who are going to hit their peak, not players that are on their way down. And given how much he costs, his wages, I think it would be a mistake.
00:29:23
Speaker
I really think it would be a mistake. I think it's evident that he can't be that player again. We've spoken about how he's played elite football since he was 15 years old and he's pushing 30, so that's 15 years.
00:29:44
Speaker
I think that's a valid point. He's a human being. At some point, your body breaks down. You can't push it. And I think he's kind of maxed out his body and what he can get out of it. I think from here on now, what he can do is manage it so that it's a slow decline and improve other aspects.
00:30:03
Speaker
maybe to prolong his career. But I don't think he is what Inter need. And I don't think that at that price, Inter should keep him. As for Porto, that's a really interesting debate. Yeah, should Lukaku start against Porto? Look, you have Pepe, the Porto captain, the legendary, the Portuguese ballbuster in defense. And he's also older, but he's still physical and a mean SOB.
00:30:34
Speaker
If you're gonna play Lukaku, you have to play the ball at his feet with his back against the goal, and he and Pepe will clash. And that gives Lukaku an advantage, hopefully, over Pepe. Equally, you can play Jeko, who likes to drop deep and try to drag Pepe out of position and play Lautaro or whoever from behind. I think it's one of those tactical things because, remember, Porto are lacking. They have, I think, about eight players injured.
00:31:03
Speaker
and starting players injured. I think both arguments are valid. Personally, I'd rather start Lukaku because Lukaku is not an impact sub. He's never been an impact sub.
00:31:21
Speaker
And I think he's the kind of player who needs to start and work his way into a game rather than Jeko, who we know when he comes on, he immediately goes into the rhythm of the game and he changes, adapts to how, and he plays differently and interrupts as well. So I probably, I'm leaning to, I'm not fully decided yet, but I'm leaning towards
00:31:43
Speaker
But on an angle, of course, screening a chair, a chair be Bostoni, Darmian, Barilla, Brosovich, uh, Chala Noglu, DeMarco, Lukaku, Lautaro. That's how I would start against Porto.
Milan's Defensive Transition and Future Prospects
00:32:00
Speaker
Fair play. Fair play. Okay, let's move on to Milan then, who win 1-0 again. Who's in charge of Milan right now? Is it Allegri or is it Stefano Fioli? Another 1-0 win.
00:32:15
Speaker
The Milad improvement continues. Third game in a row, as I said. I think that they have sorted out the defense. That's one thing that you can certainly say. I mean, it wasn't a fantastic performance, but, you know, they look solid again against Tottenham and in this game against Monza. They barely conceded a single clear chance. I mean,
00:32:44
Speaker
I think the only chance really that Monza had was, it wasn't a great chance, it was a great effort, was when they hit the post at the end with a shot from the edge of the area. And that's it really. And against Tottenham there was nothing, there was just a header off a corner from Eric Dyer. And that's it. So, you know, in two games to basically concede what, you know,
00:33:07
Speaker
a couple of half chances. That's really, really good going. I think the back three were all excellent in this game again. Tomori, Kalulu and Tior, who's really, he's really developing into a really, really, really, really interesting player. Now, Tior, let's see if he can keep it up.
00:33:28
Speaker
I think that the attack still needs to improve. The attack isn't flowing in this 3, 4, 2, 1 formation. So I don't think Milan are out of the woods yet. They do have a tough run of fixtures coming up, you know, Atalanta, Fiorentina, and then Tottenham again. So those will be bigger tests, I think. But things are, yeah, they are
00:33:50
Speaker
much, much more encouraging. And they are also getting injured players back. Tomori's back. He played in this game and he was good. And we've just had the news that Ben Cera and Manon are expected to play this weekend. Manon is incredibly important for how they defend because I think playing that back three of Tomori Kalulu-Chao
00:34:08
Speaker
And with Manion, it'll take a while before his match fit fully. But again, his quickness, his control of the ball with his feet, his command of the area, he's the fourth central defender. And that will allow Milan to play with a higher backline again and to press higher up again.
00:34:34
Speaker
I gotta say, Ciao, Malik Ciao, I mean, whoa. I did not see that one coming. I gotta be honest with you. He's looking like quite the player they've discovered there. I mean, it's still too soon, but this back three, Tomori Kalulu Ciao and Mignon at the back, that's becoming, it's got all the makings of a really interesting defense, doesn't it?
00:35:02
Speaker
And with Tael doing Tael on the left, Ben-Assel Tonali and double pivot, it's looking interesting. And Liao looking better and better with every game playing as this kind of inverted winger. I've been saying that I think the key to Milan getting out of this is to play Liao more centrally, cutting in.
00:35:26
Speaker
And I think using Giroux as a target man is the right thing to do. And Brian Diaz has been outstanding in that other role. And I honestly believe that the Kettler, I think this system suits the Kettler more in order to finally get him to start showing the talent that we know he has, but is yet to show. My only question is, of course, again,
00:35:51
Speaker
again, the right side, the right flank. I think Junior Macias is a stopgap, is like a, you know, band-aid on this wound that Milan refused to administer to. Salamakers does a decent job. I don't think Calabria can play there. I think he's a right centre-back.
00:36:13
Speaker
And then you've got Florencia, but we don't know when is he coming back? Is he back already or what's happening there? He was definitely back in training last week. So maybe one of Florencia's cello makers, but again, regardless of what Milan do in the summer, if they're going to play a 4-3-3, if they're going to play a 3-4-3, or 3-4-2-1, however you want to play with the numbers, they need a right winger. Whether it's a wing back or a winger, they need someone to play down that right hand side. That is a clear weakness and they should invest in. That's where I'd invest in.
00:36:44
Speaker
Yeah, I actually thought, I thought Macias was a man of the match when he scored. I thought he was actually really, really good in this game. But yeah, is, is, yeah, absolutely. And we say that all the time about the right hand side. But right hand side is the new Lazio central defense issue. Like, say this year after year after year, they need to address this.
00:37:06
Speaker
Yeah, they do. But I mean, I think there's a lot more, there's lots of encouraging signs. Each game we're getting a new one. And I think Teo is definitely back to his best again. And he was, you know, in this game, certainly gets taught them, he was absolutely fantastic. And again, in this game, I thought he was
00:37:21
Speaker
He was good, you know, Giroud managed to get a bit of rest in this game, which is much, much needed. So, yeah, it was another good day. Just one final point on this, moving forward. If this is how Milan are going to play and they get to extend the contract with Liao and they keep him over the summer next season, I honestly believe that they shouldn't invest in a striker.
00:37:45
Speaker
they should invest in a right-wing bank because Lorenzo Colombo is someone they can integrate into this system. I think Lorenzo Colombo's size and stature, and he's actually a technical player, that's someone who can play and learn from Giroux in this system, and he's done really well and impressed at lecture. I'm not saying he's going to come in and be a starter at Milan, but I do think he will do a better job than Origi is doing, for one.
00:38:13
Speaker
And I think he should, I think, I really think that it also kind of ticks the box of Milan around homegrown and young players. I think Milan should really look to get rid of Origi, to be honest. And I think Slaton will probably have to call it a quits on his career because he's not played now for, what is it, a year.
00:38:30
Speaker
So that's money being saved. So no, I think Colombo is the way to go. Right wing back. Please buy a right wing back. You love talking about Colombo. I think he's going on your next bingo car. But look, if you watch Colombo.
00:38:47
Speaker
No, but I really think they will serve them well if they did that. I really like this kid. The thing is, he's not just big and he's actually pretty technical. No, no, he's technical. That's very technical. We saw the goal we scored against Napoli, didn't we, earlier this season? It's just whether or not the age of 20, whether he needs to be playing regularly or whether he should be playing as a bit part substitute, I don't know.
00:39:12
Speaker
When Tonali came in for a season and had his Faragaveta season where he learned one season, the Kettler is doing it now, so obviously Milano have that kind of that's their project, then why not bring Colombo in after having played one full season in the Serie A for a lecture that's doing really well and give him that season as a backup with Origi in the squad and give him that chance. I really see.
Elliott Management's Influence on Football Clubs
00:39:38
Speaker
I would like to hope that he can eventually take over from Giroud.
00:39:41
Speaker
We will see. Talking of takeovers, Elliott Management Corporation, there was a report over the weekend that the US hedge fund had provided its availability to finance the takeover of Managed United. And according to widespread reports really, that Elliott have informed RAIN, who are the investment bank that are handling the process of the Man United takeover,
00:40:11
Speaker
that they are available to provide financing and if man United are not sold we know that for up for sale that's a have also offered to provide financing to the current owners the glazers family so they basically offered the.
00:40:27
Speaker
their services to be involved in financing Manchester United going forward. So this has prompted quite an unhappy reaction from many United fans and that they are concerned. I think generally there's always a general concern whenever any hedge funds get involved over, well, what are their ambitions for the club? Is it just as what most hedge funds is, which is to buy in order to sell on for a profit?
00:40:54
Speaker
Is it an asset strip? These are the concerns that were there among Milan fans when Elliott took ownership of Milan in 2018. Just to rewind, this happened when Milan's previous Chinese owner, Lee Yong Hong,
00:41:13
Speaker
failed to repay his, it was a loan of 300 million euros that he owed to the hedge fund, he failed to repay, he defaulted and Elliot took over and there was a lot of concerns at the time. Milan were in complete shambles on and off the pitch, they were hundreds of millions in debt
00:41:32
Speaker
They just got, I think, a sixth season without even getting into the top four, without getting into the Champions League. They hadn't won the Scudetto since 2011. There were fears that Milan would be driven into the ground, really. To be honest, you could understand these feedings, because if you have a look at the history of the involvement of Elliot,
00:41:54
Speaker
with, I mean, just Google Elliot Argentina. Just Google that and see the history in that country and all the problems that happened there. To say it's too long and complicated to explain it here, but you will see. So there was a lot of fears, basically. But you know what? As we look back now, five years on and Elliot sold the club
00:42:15
Speaker
in September 2022 to Redbird Capital for 1.2 billion. If we look at the time, the four years or so that Elliot were in charge of Milan, we have to say they did an absolutely fantastic job of rebuilding and resurrecting Milan as a
00:42:35
Speaker
maybe not a European powerhouse because that's not really possible for Italian teams, but certainly it's a powerhouse of Italian football, which they weren't when they inherited them. And you know, there's a lot of successes which I'll quickly go through. They reduced Milan's debts massively. They still have debts, but they've reduced them hugely.
00:42:54
Speaker
they they did this really by by a couple of things first of all they they installed a salary ceiling and they were paying over paying players not particularly good players huge huge huge salaries um which was a legacy thing going back to the time of bella scone when bella scone took over of
00:43:11
Speaker
paying such huge salaries to players. Their transfer policy was based around scouting, buying and developing young players rather than established players. They went out and looked and sculpted for teenagers and young players. They brought back Paolo Maldini, who had been in exile for years since he retired as a player.
00:43:36
Speaker
Stefano Pioli was installed as football and there was a kind of a clear identity really from top to bottom. They modernized the club on and off the pitch. Pioli played this modern football kind of attacking, high intense, high press football and the transfer policy was magnificent. If you look at the players that they signed,
00:43:56
Speaker
as pretty much nobodies, or as youngsters, and the way they developed into stars. I mean, Rafael Lialteo Hernandez, the two big ones, but you know, you've got Tomori, you've got Kalulu, you've got Tonali, you've got Ben-Aser, and then you look at some of the other youngsters that developed there, they weren't necessarily signed, like, you know, like Don Aruma, for example. I mean, everything was about building a kind of a sustainable project, and, you know,
00:44:19
Speaker
look at the results they got back in the Champions League and then they won over achieved I would say and winning their first cadet in 11 years last year under Pioli and when they left in the last September they left them in a in a in a in a much much much infinitely uh healthier state both financially and and sportily so I think you know wouldn't you agree Nima that they did a did a very good job
00:44:43
Speaker
They did an absolutely fantastic job. And I think it started with who they appointed. They appointed Paolo Scarone, who is one of the most impressive Italian business people around. I mean, he's the guy he was. He was a CEO of Fortune 500 companies, Enel Any. You know, these these companies are not small companies and he's the chairman since 2018. They appointed Gazidis to put in a structure. We did a fantastic job until he left.
00:45:13
Speaker
And Paolo Maldini as the sporting CEO, quote unquote, and in my opinion, probably the best sporting director in all of Italy, Enrique Massara, who is brilliant at finding young, talented players.
00:45:30
Speaker
and a coherent project and matching a coach to that. That's what they did right. And everyone knew what they had to do in terms of the financial ceiling and the debt reduction. And look at the results. Since then, they've returned to the Champions League. They're now in the round of last 16 for the first time in a decade. At the second attempt back in the Champions League, they won the Serie A.
00:45:58
Speaker
You can't say anything, you know, you can't say that they did not do a good job there. No, I did. The scouting department as well, fantastic. Monsada, Jeffrey Monsada, that they got from Monaco. He was at Monaco during the years when they were developing. Remember all those great youngsters when Mbappe and Fabigno and all these kind of
00:46:23
Speaker
you know, all those great players, you know, they got him and he's come in and I think there's no, you know, it's no coincidence that when he came, the amount of great youngsters they were scouting, often from the French market, a lot of players from the French market, Manon, we should really include, even though he wasn't super young for a goalkeeper, he was and look what's happened to him. He's genuinely, I think, top five in the world now in this position. So,
00:46:46
Speaker
You know, I think um, they yeah, they they did a great job and there was there was a lot of doubts We all had doubts know anybody that says they didn't have concern lying a lion Everybody did everybody and i'm not going to lie included myself. I was very very worried Um, because we know what hedge funds generally we know what their modus operandi is, isn't it? It's to increase the value and sell but they did it in a way that benefited Everyone included themselves. So in that sense they did a great job whether or not
00:47:15
Speaker
Man United are in the same situation that Milan were, that it would benefit them taking over. I don't know. I don't know because it feels like, you know, Man United are in the Premier League with all the riches of the Premier League. And it's also Man United.
00:47:33
Speaker
Yeah, it's a different ball game in that, you know, you wouldn't go to Man United. They couldn't possibly go to Man United and run the club in the same way that they run Milan. Cost cutting and with low salaries, they just couldn't. They couldn't run it. They could do a version of it, which kind of Eric Tenhag is kind of already doing, isn't he? Like he's kicking out like the way he handled the Cristiano Ronaldo situation, the way that he's built again, this kind of credibility in the dressing room around players that you either deliver or you don't.
00:48:03
Speaker
And I think it depends on who takes over. I think I understand it more. I mean, I still think that the Qataris will take over and my money is on them. I could be wrong.
00:48:16
Speaker
Yeah, we'll see. But I mean, we'll see. But I do think that if Elia take over, they'll do a hybrid. And that's kind of what Sir Alex Ferguson did, didn't he? I mean, he didn't, he was very responsible. He had amazing success. But he was responsible. He didn't just hand out golden contracts left, right and center.
00:48:35
Speaker
And I think that's what Elliot will do at Manchester United as well. I mean, they're not going to run the club. So that needs to be made clear. They're not bidding for the club, to take ownership of the club. They're bidding to help with the financing. So it's different in that way as well. But I just wanted to talk about this, just to dispel the myth that I've seen all over among many United fans, and that it's kind of been spread that
00:48:58
Speaker
somehow Elliot were a complete failure and destroyed Milan. I have seen this widespread. I've seen this widespread. A man, a united influencer, said it, who I had to quote and make fun of. Was Goldbridge one of them?
00:49:16
Speaker
It was Goldbridge tweet, I quote tweeted. Oh, right. Did he say he did he say that Elliott, he said, I can read it for you because I mean, I'm just guessing because he's usually the first one to he said that the group from USA did a terrible job where they see Milan then sold them not a good candidate in my opinion.
00:49:32
Speaker
and I quote tweeted that and said, you're right. Elliot forced Milan to return to the Champions League and punish them further by winning their 19th Serie A title. And if that wasn't bad enough, they appointed Paolo Maldini as a director who rejuvenated the squad with lots of talented young players. Hashtag pray for Milan. I mean, he's an idiot. The man's an idiot. He literally is one of the dumbest people in the United Kingdom and that, and there is competition for that title. So well done.
00:49:59
Speaker
I love it. Okay, right. Talking about dumb. Great segue today. Although I disagree with that. I don't think that... Well, listen, I want
Juventus' Tactical Struggles and Allegri's Future
00:50:12
Speaker
to make this segue out. Let's talk about Juventus. I don't want to talk about that just unwatchable boring game that was Speccio against Juventus. I want to talk about the big talking point around Juventus based on the last two games, the last four days, which Allegri really has made it.
00:50:28
Speaker
has made this the talking point really by his outburst after the Nantes game and that is this idea that Allegri only wants to win by 1-0 and it came after he was heavily criticized after the 1-0 draw with Nantes and rightfully so I should add and he was asked in a post-match interview with Sky
00:50:50
Speaker
about wanting to win 1-0, and I'll read out what he said, he was very angry. He said, I never said I wanted you to win 1-0, you drive me crazy with this rubbish. It's the cliche that I want my teams to win 1-0, but that is not accurate. It's simple. Look at all the statistics of my teams. I've always had the best defense and the second best attack.
00:51:08
Speaker
You cannot escape from the stats. Look at Milan and Juventus. That is my record. My team's always scored 70, 30, 80 goals per season. You lot chat about nothing. I talk about numbers. That is a problem. I know you have to sit here and talk about nothing to kill time, but I don't. You imagine this, create the story, then keep spreading it. You see things abstract. I see what is concrete. You've got all the statistics. Look at them up.
00:51:28
Speaker
in football there is just one thing that counts winning games it doesn't matter if it's one nil or five nil nonetheless the fact remains that my team's always had the best defense and second best attack right okay so what i would say to this is um the evidence in in the last three games including this this game against Spezia
00:51:45
Speaker
as with pretty much all the season really, is that unfortunately this is what, and we could go further back, but let's just talk about this season, is that this is the way Allegri plays. When Juventus go ahead, instead of attacking for the second goal, like Napoli, like I said with Napoli earlier on, they sit back and they try to hold on to what they had. They play a controlling and containing game.
00:52:07
Speaker
and that doesn't mean they always play catanaccio or they play with 10 men on their own goal line. That doesn't always mean that, but it means that they're not actively going for the second goal, they're just playing a controlling and containing game. Against Fiorentino they were 1-0 up, he took Kieser and Di Maria off with the last 15-20 minutes, they brought on two central midfielders, they actually played a low block in that game, they were lucky not to draw. Jovic headed wide with a great chance and then they had a goal disallowed in the 89th minute,
00:52:34
Speaker
By VAR for the you know, a tiny hair breadth of an off-size then against non which I'm really so angry about him For is they went one nil up against it. Let me just add a terrible team. Not at all. They're dreadful I still think that you then as we'll go through by the way, but dreadful
00:52:50
Speaker
And they just he just contained they went up in the 13th and they just contained and controlled the game from the 13th minute Until the 60th minute when when nonce when not scored they created nothing in that in those in between them no clear chances Non-equalized and then that woke Juventus up and they created chance after chance after chance and they were unlucky They should have won the game. They got a the referee and called that went against them at the end And and then again in this game against Spezia where okay, Juventus won 2-0 so they think we won there but
00:53:18
Speaker
Really, they were pretty much horrible the whole game, to be honest. But at 1-0 ahead, again, they were defending in the area. They were under siege at the start of the second half, until Di Maria scored a goal out of nothing. The truth is that however Legri wants to spin it with this post-match interview,
00:53:35
Speaker
Is that this is how you venters play under allegory and you know, you know my view on it. It's it's an outdated style of football Um, you know if you venters were to go out to this dreadful non-team, they're dreadful. They're 13th in their league Um, this will be or this will be on allegory. It will be it will be on allegory I don't even want to talk about the referee era to be honest. It will be on allegory because at one nil they should have gone out for the second goal and They should have just killed the game just blown them away. Um, so
00:54:03
Speaker
Yeah, I think that Allegri, I don't know, I know he's feeling the pressure, I know there's a lot on his shoulders and I sympathise with him for that because the club is in a mess, there's no one, everything, he's getting asked everything, he's having to deal with everything, so I totally understand that. But what he said in that interview was just completely wrong as well. He scored 57 goals last season and it scored 70 last season and that was only in the top 12 of Serie A last season, only Torino scored less.
00:54:28
Speaker
So the 70 to 80 goals is a lie, as is the idea that he never said he wanted to win 1-0. He said it multiple times over the years. He said it many times. I'd rather win 1-0 than 5-4. I mean, that's one of the most... I mean, Corto Muso, do you like horse racing? Winning by the muscle. I mean, look, it's obvious that he's rattled. He's under pressure.
00:54:50
Speaker
He's not happy. He didn't envision this season becoming like it is. The 15-point deduction with everything, the criminal case, the five
00:55:03
Speaker
a separate investigation, both criminal and civil included, this is not what he wanted to do. This is not what he expected. He feels incredibly under pressure. For the first time since he's been at Juva, the first time since in Juva's history, there's no organization in place to protect the coach on the sporting project. There's nothing there. This will create pressure. You could see that in the Italian media yesterday, Sky Club Calco,
00:55:33
Speaker
Karesa, Bergomi, Marchejani, what's his name? Costa Curta. All of them, they were deep frying Allegri. Oh, really? What were they saying? They were talking about how he was rude, you can't talk like this. Karesa was talking about how you have been abject failure in Europe, if they've only ever beaten one Israeli side this season, blah, blah. They were going at him.
00:56:01
Speaker
Then it got so bad after eight, nine minutes of this that Carissa had to say that we have to calm this down a little bit because he's not here to defend himself. They did not take prisoners. That's unthinkable when Juve organization exists because any journalist will tell you,
00:56:30
Speaker
Juventus go after you. They don't care. They have no problem being rude and angry and mean and not threatening, but not far off against journalists who are critical against them. Because when Juventus underperform, like, no, the non-game, which is abysmal that they drew all that game against that standard of team, but everything goes on allegory. Okay, maybe he was to blame, you have to blame him in that game, but
00:56:56
Speaker
You know, before you had Aniele, you could criticise for the off-the-pitch stuff, you had Paratici and then the Areva Bene that you could criticise for the transfer policy. Well, if you want to criticise the eventus now, it's just a legacy. There's no one there answering the calls, and I get why he feels frustrated and angry. I've got to say, I think we're seeing the beginning of the end of Allegria Iuvena.
00:57:22
Speaker
I think regardless of what happens, I think he will not accept to stay at U of A under these conditions another season. That I can tell you straight away. He will not accept that. Well, you'd think they'd have a structure in place that they would at least have somebody that would face up. Yeah. And that's what he will demand. And I'm not sure. Otherwise, we're talking English football, aren't we? We're talking about what Antonio Conte was complaining about, how the
00:57:50
Speaker
He said the same thing about Inter. He was right about that. He was absolutely spot on about what he complained about at the beginning of the year, about how there's no sporting director. He also did it at Inter and he does it everywhere. He did it at Chelsea, he did it at Inter, he did it at the Woon, he was at the Italian national team. I mean on this specific issue. It's true, absolutely. But no, I think that Allegri is patient. I think we were
00:58:18
Speaker
I didn't want to say this because I'm scared of it. I fear it as an Inter fan and also because I like Allegri and I think he could do a job here. I wonder if both of those two clubs don't change manager next year. What, Inter? Yeah, Inter and Juve.
00:58:36
Speaker
Yeah. Really starting to get those vibes here where the groundwork is being laid for a separation. Well, the ownership, there's the, I wouldn't say the ownership of the event, but the upper management of the event has coupled with the ownership situation and so obviously makes both of their roles precarious. Yeah. That's always going to be the case. I wonder if both of them want to continue under these premises, under these conditions. I wonder, I really wonder.
00:59:05
Speaker
I mean, if Simona gets into a quarter-final, or even further than that, there's going to be teams in Europe that will look at him. Because again, I've always maintained, I think Simona Nzagis is the Italian coach in my lifetime that I can remember, whose playing style is the most suited to the Premier League.
00:59:23
Speaker
And I wonder how he's not going to be shy of offers if he does well against Porto. And that's what they look at. We'll come to the Champions League. I think with Allegri, if they go out to non-
00:59:41
Speaker
then I can't see how we can possibly... I don't see how there can be any justification for keeping him. Look, I think he's done okay in the league, you know, 47 points if you add those 15 points. I mean, that puts him in second. Joint second, yeah. That's, you know, he's still in the Copa Italia the same final, and I think they're going to win that tournament as well.
01:00:01
Speaker
the Europa League, I don't really think, you know, it would be hilarious if they won it, because then they would be guaranteed. They are prioritizing, I mean, they're prioritizing. Yeah, well they should, they have to. I mean, they risk the players with their specs. No, but they have to. They have to. They have to win. That's their only chance of getting to the Champions League, because even if they get the plus valenza points deducted back, they're going to be hit with the with managed points. Let me just say, I still
01:00:23
Speaker
still think Juventus should still go through even after joining. This non-team, let me say, is a dreadful team. It's completely unforgivable to not go for that second goal when you're 1-0. Totally unforgivable. That is all on Allegri. I don't even want to hear about the refereeing stuff at the end. Yes, okay, they were unlucky. They had lots of chances. And nine times out of 10, you're going to get a penalty for that.
01:00:46
Speaker
you know, they were 1-0 up and they were just go for the second goal, kill the game, go to your 3-0 up, rest players in the last half an hour, 20 minutes if you really want to, you know, rotate your squad around this busy period. Why are you playing for the 1-0 against a team of 13th in Ligue 1?
01:01:02
Speaker
You know, I mean, it's just, and had players missing as well. They had a tragedy in their squad. I mean, it's like, it's just drives you mad. It really does drive, especially when you see that when Juventus did attack in the lot after non equalised, they created a chance and off the chance. Every time they attack, they create a chance.
01:01:18
Speaker
You know, and it's the Juventus attack, which generally genuinely doesn't create many chances and they were creating chance after chance. So it's it just drives you. It drives you absolutely mad. But anyway, let's move on.
Roma's Challenges and Mourinho's Motivations
01:01:30
Speaker
The Roman clubs, then Roma and let's see, they both win both good weekend for the Champions League race for the Roman clubs.
01:01:38
Speaker
first of all Roma sold back and scores the winner his first goal and in a game which actually ends up being a good win for Roma because they were completely decimated without Di Bala without Pellegrini and then with Tammy Abraham then getting that eye injury which really frustrating he means he's probably going to miss the return leg against Salzburg in the Europa League which Roma were really unlucky in that Europa League game and they should have won the game
01:02:08
Speaker
and they lost it 1-0. So, yeah, good win for Roma. I thought Spin at Solar, the big positive from this game for me was seeing Spin at Solar actually play something back to the Spin at Solar we remember, because we just said on the pod last week, didn't we, Nima, about how Spin at Solar looks like.
01:02:43
Speaker
I just feel bad for Riccardo, I mean after the game. It's not like we've got kafu and mikon on right wing back is it? That's a direct quote by the way. Go and check it out. We literally said it. It's not like we've got kafu and mikon down the right through the right
01:02:50
Speaker
he's never going
01:03:04
Speaker
Was it before or after the game? I did see this quite in passing, but I was super busy, so I didn't really check it. Didn't somebody ask him about what you're expecting from Solback? And he says, well, not much. Or something like that. Nothing called it, nothing special or something like that. But he did say something. He's always ripping Solback. No, but he's saying, look, he sent out a real warning there.
01:03:32
Speaker
When they asked him about his future, he said, at the end of the season, I will tell I will say what happened, what has happened, and I will have a lot to say. But again, another direct quote. So I know, but don't rip soul back. And the poor guy, he's just joined. He didn't know. And it's just it's more in your style. And tactics as well. He doesn't understand anything about tactics. I can't play. Did you sign him? Oh, my God. Don't get me going.
01:03:58
Speaker
Yeah, but anyway, PSG apparently have got him on their list as a possible replacement. I mean, can you imagine Mourinho managing Messi? No, no, he would know how to do that. Like big players, he has no problem managing. That's never been the problem. It's the players. And that's the thing I think, look, I think he's got his eye on both PSG and Real Madrid. He's gunning out for that. And that's why I think
01:04:20
Speaker
Chelsea. Chelsea as well. There's been too much Chelsea. I don't think there's any way he returns to Chelsea. I just don't see that as... I wouldn't rule it out. I would be very surprised. I wouldn't rule it out. Todd Bailey, you never know. Yeah, but Todd Bailey can do what he wants, but Mourinho would be mad if he were to return. His family is still in London. His daughter lives there. Premier League, sure. Chelsea, come on. Third time? I mean, he didn't... The way that he left Chelsea as well, the second time, the way that he fried and went after... No, no, I just don't see...
01:04:50
Speaker
And that is different ownership and different management now. None of them are there anymore. So I wouldn't rule it out. I wouldn't rule it out. Put it that way. But I'll tell you this much. I think he now he doesn't care about anything else other than that fourth spot. He's got he's like a laser when he's got his target. He knows that the only thing that matters is finishing in the top four. And to me, Romer out of Europe. I can see he wanted the right colleague as well. He definitely wanted the right. They were very unlucky.
01:05:18
Speaker
they were very lucky. I mean, I'm split on that Europa League game, because in many ways, I think Roma should have won that game. So Salzburg hadn't played and played one game in three months were clearly short, they were there for the taking. Roma should have won that game. But again, the problems we've seen all season with their attack, they just don't, they just their attack just isn't I mean, I know that's a little bit comfortable.
01:05:37
Speaker
Yes, become increasingly a Mourinho problem as the years have gone by. But if you look at the XGs, you can't say it's a Mourinho problem when they create so many chances. Well, that was again, that was true at the beginning of the season, but it hasn't been true since there was that was only true in the first kind of couple of months or so of the season since then. But again, in this game, they did still create enough chances in that sort of thing. So I still think I mean, a lot of you just need to retire. I mean, don't be mean. I mean, God.
01:06:04
Speaker
I just feel bad for him. I feel bad for him. He's trying hard and he's not working for him and his body's not responding and he's so out of form and he's got Tammy Abraham in front of him who's actually playing really well. He doesn't get any minutes. No, he shouldn't retire. Don't be silly. He needs to go somewhere where he can play. But he is such a loyal player, this guy. I mean, he runs and works so hard for the team.
01:06:30
Speaker
He really sacrifices himself. But no, I do think that maybe it's, you know, unless he accepts being this kind of backup player, then yeah. And Vinaldum, you know, coming back is also something that we should, you know, applaud that. That'll help them for sure. But I think I'm looking at the, I look at that table and even with Juve,
01:06:52
Speaker
of the 15 points, Romar third tied with Milan for the same points. So, you know, he's got, Mourinho's a shark and a shark when he sends his blood in the water, like, yikes, you know, he's going for that third spot. And Milan, there's no room for a mistake. And
01:07:10
Speaker
Can you just, and with Lazio just two points behind, that roamed Arby. Yes. I'm not missing that. Well, absolutely. Because Lazio, I mean, it's immobile. You can never, you can never write him off, can you immobile? We were asking the question, we weren't really asking him, but we were saying, you know, he's got gold since he's come back from his injury.
01:07:29
Speaker
There we go. That was a good win in Europe because they got, again, another awful refereeing decision in Europe on an Italian team. They did well to get a 1-0 win out of that. I know it's not the best opposition, but still, you play the whole game with 10 men at home. They could have been in big trouble there and they got the 1-0. We should say happy 33rd birthday to Chi-Ri Morbula, who turns 33 today as we're recording this on the 20th of February, is now the eighth
01:07:58
Speaker
top goal scorer of all time in Serie A. I mean it's just...
01:08:04
Speaker
No, I mean, it's a great week for him. It's been a great week for him. He scored the two goals in the Serie A against Selenium. Yeah, the thing is with Lazio and the Sarri, it's like when you have Immobula, this is the thing, you start Immobula because it gives you profondita, it gives you like an attacking edge up front. But if it doesn't work, that's fine because you can bring in and play the false nine with the others. It gives Lazio the option, which they've not had before.
01:08:29
Speaker
And I think that that does them well. But one thing they need to stop doing is using Luis Alberto as a penalty taker, because he's dreadful as a penalty taker, and he keeps squandering penalties and stop it, like stop it, use someone else, find someone else, anyone else, but not Luis Alberto as a penalty taker.
01:08:50
Speaker
Yeah, okay.
Lecce's Unexpected Success
01:08:52
Speaker
So yeah, as we said, it's been a good weekend for the Roman clubs because Atalanta had a shock loss to Lecce. Bad, bad game from Atalanta. They look flat. They play very badly. They look like the team that had played in Europe during midweek, only they hadn't. And yeah, so just a huge blow for them in the top four race. It was deserved win for Lecce. It was another sculpt for Lecce and you know, we
01:09:16
Speaker
They drew with Roma the week before, beat Atalanta at the weekend. And in 2023, as well as those two results, they've also drawn with Milan and beaten Lazio. And then earlier in the season, they beat Atalanta early in the season, so they've done the double over Atalanta. And obviously, they're the only team this season to have taken anything out of Napoli in Naples.
01:09:41
Speaker
Yeah, they're having a really, really great season, Lecce, and they had plays missing in this game as well as Travettes, so it only started on the bench. Colombo didn't start. You know, Luntiti was injured as well. I mean, fantastic. Fantastic. Look, Lecce, again, Pantaleo Corvino, the local kid.
01:10:04
Speaker
is the sporting director who's back there. He started his career once at Leche, did great at Fiorentina, went to Bubolonia,
01:10:14
Speaker
didn't do, you know, brought them back to Serie A. They went to Fiorentina, didn't work out. And then now, you know, he's born in 1949. This is his, he's back in this old stomping ground and he's delivering. Their youth teams are doing great because the man knows how to find young players. And he's, you know, this is his like kind of final curtain call and he's probably, you know, doing the best he's ever done. I mean, they won the Serie B last year.
01:10:42
Speaker
No, look, again, when Italian sporting directors, you know, I keep hammering on about what a craft it is, good sporting directorship. Pantaleo Corvino embodies that. And it's so nice to see him back in his own stomping grounds, delivering one last time with players that
01:11:03
Speaker
from Starveza to Basquiatro to Ullmand to, you know, just finding Umtiti, you know, and just making that work. It's so impressive. It's so impressive. And, you know, they, I think they will stay up and I think they've got a chance at finishing 12th, 11th, 12th, 13th, which would be a great, you know, shout for them. And one thing that Lecce have done this season is they've slashed ticket prices, made them really cheap and season tickets. And that's why
01:11:32
Speaker
their stadium is packed every single week, and it creates a completely crazy environment around them as well. So I'm really happy that we have a Southern team that will stay in the city.
01:11:45
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Okay, right. And just one final thing on Pantaleo Corvino. He should have, given how good he is, been destined to be in charge of a sporting director at one of the big clubs.
01:12:03
Speaker
But unfortunately, you know, he's not maybe he doesn't dress like a sharply as a Luciano Modgi, and these things matter in Italy. You know, he's not as eloquent maybe and his physical appearance and stuff like that. And so he's never been given a shot at the highest level. And at this point in his age, at this age in his career, he'll probably never get that big shot. And I think that's a shame. I really think so, because I think he is one of the greatest sporting directors that Italy's ever seen.
01:12:33
Speaker
Yeah, no, he certainly is. Okay, the other games from Serie A this weekend. So, Sampdoria 1, Bologna 2. I think we know that Samp are going down. Fiorentina 1, Empoli 1. And on Monday, we're recording some Monday afternoon, Torino play against Cremonese.
01:12:51
Speaker
to finish off the Serie A calendar. Champions League returns again this week. We've already discussed that already. Frankfurt vs Napoli on Tuesday. Inter vs Porto on Wednesday. Those are first leg last 16 games. Europa League and Conference League are the second leg games of the matches that were played last week. Nantes at home to Juventus. That was 1-1 on the first leg. Roma
01:13:15
Speaker
1-0 down to Salzburg-Roma at home, but decimated. And then in the conference league, Fiorentino already threw. They won 4-0 against Baraga in the first leg. They're at home in the second. And Lazio go away to Romania. They're 1-0 up against Cluj. Okay. Just too quickly on the Champions League thing. Frankfurt are an attacking side.
01:13:39
Speaker
they're very dangerous in how they attack and Napoli needs to watch out. I think if Napoli fail to go through, that will be a failure because I think Napoli are better than Frankfurt. I'm getting this lump in my stomach that they won't go through. As for Inter and Porto, Porto are a very difficult site to play against. They're gritty, they have injury problems,
01:14:04
Speaker
Mehti Taremi, the Iranian striker, has become a complete striker under Konsi São and Konsi São's teams, no matter who starts, whether it's a youth player or a starter, whoever is on the pitch knows exactly what he needs to do and how much he needs to do it and when he needs to do it and how and when.
01:14:21
Speaker
Porto, I think Porto Inter is going to the wire. I think we're going to see a winner on penalties in the second leg. This is a really tough game. And I hope that Napoli and Milan can go through. But I'm a little bit concerned because of how Frankfurt play. And that might surprise Napoli.
01:14:40
Speaker
I could easily see that happening with Porto and they're the form team in Europe actually. They won 10 games in a row and they've conceded two goals in that time. So I think it's going to be tight and they're a horrible team to play against as well. And they play ball full facking too as well.
01:14:55
Speaker
He was fighting for formation. Yeah, so there'll be a horrible... And also, Consisto will want to prove something too, because I think he wants to return to Inter and coach... Well, he's already knocked out Milan and you've entered, so why not knock out Inter as well? Yeah, exactly. And not only that, and also because Consisto, I think, looks at Inter as... I think he wants to coach in the Serie A, and I think he looks at Inter as unfinished business because he flopped there as a player. Yeah. So, we'll see. Yeah, yeah. Did better at parliament, didn't he? Yeah, but yeah. And Lazio. South standing, let's see.
01:15:24
Speaker
Yeah, that could easily happen. And as for Frankfurt, I think they're a dangerous team as well. Randal Columwani, who I was begging the top Italian teams to sign on a free transfer in the summer. But they didn't. Milan decided to sign Origi instead. Oh my God. And now PSG are after him, from what I understand.
01:15:46
Speaker
He's, well, Frankfurt are asking for 100 million. He's a fantastic player. He's a fantastic player. And so he's definitely the man to watch, but they've got other good players, I think. Isn't Endica on a free transfer? He's on a Bozeman, yeah. So naturally, the Italians won't sign him. They'll go after Chris Malling. Inter will go after Chris Malling or Acherbi.
01:16:06
Speaker
Yeah. Kamada is good as well. I had a very good group stage. They got some dangerous players, Frankfurt. But you know, it depends how they go. They go toe to toe against Napoli. I mean, that could could play into Radha's and Osseman's hands. That's the thing, how Napoli withstand the pressure.
01:16:24
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. They will be goals. I was going to say it's going to be a goal. I think these two are like mirror opposite these two, these two clashes. Frankfurt, Napoli, goal, Orgy, Intervi Porto, nothing. Yes. Nothing. Yes. Exactly. Exactly that. Okay. Right. Just to finish off, we'll do bad Joe and prim face of the week.
01:16:46
Speaker
Okay, right. Do you have a Badgio? I've got a brown face. For me, Clara. Clara's dribble, Clara's, you know, that performance where he just, he was unbelievable. So I think for me, Clara Trelia's performance and individual brilliance for that opening goal is Badgio-esque. It actually reminded me a little bit of Badgio in World Cup 1990 against Czechoslovakia. No, there are some similarities, isn't there, between the two players, for sure.
Humorous Anecdotes and UEFA's Mistake
01:17:16
Speaker
OK, prim face of the week. Do you have one? Well, I think I already mentioned it. Our good friend Mark Oldbridge, who doesn't know anything, doesn't know what he's talking about. But then again, it's not. That's that's like, you know, in every day that ends with a Y is he says something stupid. So I don't know. Brilliant. OK, well, my prim face of the week is UEFA.
01:17:44
Speaker
Oh yeah, this is so good. So it was, so this is funny enough that Roberto Badjo and Gary Neville actually share the same birthday, believe it or not. When the gods were handing out their talent on this day, they obviously had run out of talent once they finished with Badjo, so they didn't have much left. I mean, had to give the slithers to Gary Neville. But yeah, so UEFA did a compilation video on the career of
01:18:13
Speaker
Roberto Baggio, or least they thought they had. And so they put out, you know, remembering the career, the amazing career of Roberto Baggio, and then did a compilation of Gary Neville's career, in which you basically just did bog standard slide tackles for a minute, like just the most like, totally unremarkable tackles that you could ever get, you know, like, just just nothing special about them at all. Just like a couple of them were just just like kicking the ball out of play.
01:18:42
Speaker
it was just hilarious and not every single comment was just like one of just absolute confusion like what the hell are we is what the hell is this what is this you know what am i looking at oh dear and it took them about half an hour before the before they noticed it but not before they didn't absolutely destroy it so it was funny that was really really funny it was hilarious funny it really was i mean the two players that you could put together robert badger and gary number and then
01:19:08
Speaker
I'm certain that somebody that UEFA was doing this on the wind up just to... No, I think it was a mistake. I think it was a mistake. I think they got their videos crossed and they were going to upload it and obviously they did. Someone's wilding us up. No, that's wild. No conspiracy error. I tweeted. This has taken anti-Italian discrimination too far. I mean, you could cheat us in games as much as you rather. Never ever mix up Adjo and Neville.
01:19:38
Speaker
I'll tell you about the time when I was at university at the time. So Juventus were playing against Man United in the Champions League. I think it might have been the year that Juventus got to the final Champions League. I think it was 2003. And I think it was in the second group stage. And Man United went to Juventus and they won 3-0 in Turin. And at 3-0 in the lead, Gary Neville tried to chip
01:20:07
Speaker
for fun, like 25 yards out and he hit the bar, he hit the bar, like of all the players, like this is probably the only time in Gary Neville's career where he ever did anything resembling anything skillful and he actually did that and I just thought this has just taken the piss, like this was just like, I couldn't, I just lost it, I lost the plot because I was already like angry and humiliated, getting destroyed 3-0 by Man United at home.
01:20:32
Speaker
But then to see Gary Neville try and chip the greatest goalkeeper in the world from 25-30 yards, execute it perfectly, perform beaten all ends up and then seeing it hit the bar. And I just lost the plot. I think the ball hadn't even hit the bar and I picked up my chair in my halls of residence, right? And I threw it against the wall, against the door.
01:20:53
Speaker
and there was a massive dent in the back that was created in the back of the door and that dent was there for the whole for the rest of the year and I had to remember for the rest of the year I had to put a suit up covering the dent in the door so that every time the cleaners came in they didn't notice the
01:21:12
Speaker
the dent because I think because I didn't want to like get charged for you know for damage or anything and I somehow managed to get away with it and I never ended up paying paying a fine or anything for the damage I did and that was because of Gary Neville trying to chip for fun and I just lost the plot for a chair at the door in anger.
01:21:30
Speaker
I'll never forget.
Podcast Conclusion and Upcoming Episodes
01:21:31
Speaker
And that was that that was that was the first memory that came back when I when I saw Yeah, you wait for mixing up bad show. No. Yeah, no, I get that. And no, we're not we're not condoning vandalism even though I'm not with you better see
01:21:49
Speaker
all overcharged and they can pay for it themselves. Right. Okay. Right. That's all we have time for today. We'll be back on, well, definitely on Thursday for Tuesday, tomorrow for the Q and A pod. Um, tomorrow. Yeah. Yeah. And then, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I was coming to that. I was coming to that Thursday for the review show because I like to go backwards forward. Tuesday for the Q and A. And then we might, we might have an interview episode. We are, we are, we've got one lined up, but we're seeing if we can do it this week, um, with her.
01:22:17
Speaker
We're a personality from the Italian football world. And yeah, if we do, we will, we will push that out during the week as well. Okay. Brilliant. Right. Let's leave it at that. We'll see you again on Tuesday. Until then, ciao ciao.