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00:00:01
Inter in Command: The Scudetto Race Shifts (Episode #43)
23 Plays1 month ago
Vos and Motts are back with another episode of Calcio Culture, breaking down a huge shift in the Serie A title race. Inter takes the top spot after another solid performance, while their closest challengers struggle to keep pace. Can anyone stop the Nerazzurri from running away with the Scudetto?
In European action, Juventus crashes out against PSV, while Roma moves on thanks to a masterclass from Dybala. With Inter, Roma, Lazio, and Fiorentina still fighting in Europe, we look at their chances heading into the next round.
Matchday 26 delivered plenty of talking points—Roma dominate Monza under Ranieri, Como stuns Napoli, and Milan’s inconsistency continues after a tough loss to Torino. Juventus gets past Cagliari, but their lackluster performance raises more questions about Thiago Motta’s approach. Elsewhere, Venezia impress against Lazio, Atalanta put five past Empoli, and Parma finds life under a new manager.
The episode wraps up with a look ahead to the Coppa Italia, a rescheduled Milan-Bologna clash, and a crucial Matchday 27 featuring Lazio-Milan and Inter-Napoli. Plus, the hosts give their Culpi di Luna betting picks.
Tune in to Calcio Culture and join the conversation on X, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube @calcioculturefc. The season is heating up—don’t miss it!
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Transcript
00:00:07
Speaker
Kaizans, welcome back to another episode of Calcio Culture. We're here, we're talking match week 26. We're talking a little bit of Champions League, little bit of Europa League, little bit of Conference League.
00:00:19
Speaker
But as always, this is your host, Vos, and I am joined by my co-host today, Mats. Yo, yo, yo, how we doing? Another crazy week of Calcio, more dropped points, unlike, or for everybody, almost all the teams besides Juventus, which is good because they are slowly climbing and who would have thought that they would be ah eight points out of the lead.
00:00:42
Speaker
Other teams are climbing as well and a lot of teams are dropping out of the race as well. So was crazy week, a lot of movement in the standings, which you love to see. um Actually, I don't think too many technically moved, but lot of implications on the standings and future standings for the games to come.
00:00:58
Speaker
Yeah, a lot, a lot of changes with with the amount of points that were dropped this weekend. There weren't only draws that were dropped points. There were some major losses, notably Milan, lots of Torino, which really kind of screwed things up for them in the table. Roma picked up some points.
00:01:12
Speaker
But I think the most significant thing is Napoli is no longer at the top of the table. And I was thinking you about this today, and I don't know how long it's actually been, but they may have been first for like four or five months at this point.
00:01:25
Speaker
Yeah, they were first for a long time. That's a good point. I don't know how long it was, but it's not surprising that they let their best player out go and didn't replace him. And now they're starting to stumble. And that's what I said last episode. I don't think that they have the juice anymore to win the Scudetto. It's looking like, will they have it to even finish top four with how Juventus and Atalanta are starting to to kind of storm ahead and Napoli is just stumbling. But with a hard schedule coming up that will break down more later on.
00:01:56
Speaker
But yeah, they they they had the throne for a while and it is gone. And I wouldn't be surprised if Inter never looks back. And this week coming up, which we'll talk about later on, is very pivotal as they are they are matching up head to head.
00:02:12
Speaker
Inter and Napoli, that is. Yeah, very big one. ah The other notable one that I wanted to just address, Roma are somehow two points off of sixth place now.
00:02:23
Speaker
we I don't know how we've gone. It's slowly been Claudio Ranieri, I guess, riding the ship. But i I didn't even think they were going this close this early. I knew it was going to go well. I predicted it last week on our our episode.
00:02:36
Speaker
But this is kind of astounding that they were kind of counted out. I mean, they were in the relegation battle for like three or four months. And the the fact that they've turned this around is is outstanding.
00:02:47
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it definitely flowers to Roma in terms of how they've turned it around, especially Ranieri. Imagine if they could have they went to him before they went to Juric, where they would be at now.
00:02:59
Speaker
But it's also a reflection on the other teams in the Serie A just not capitalizing and kind of showing off the inconsistency that we've seen this year from every single team um from top to bottom.
00:03:13
Speaker
But I don't want to put it on... the poorness of other teams and the lack of productivity on the other teams. It's been Ranieri and the Roman players really riding the ship and and being like, this is what we could have been all year. It just took us a little longer to ah kind of get the engines running.
00:03:31
Speaker
um And they've been unstoppable. They haven't lost a game in the league. And I think eight or nine matches now, they obviously moved on to the Europa League, which we'll talk about. They've been, they've been amazing. It's been amazing. um And just let's just let's just get into it here. Last week we were recorded on Tuesday.
00:03:49
Speaker
So we had seen Milan and Atalanta get knocked out. So just to guy give you guys an update on all European competitions here. We said Juve had one leg into the next round going into the second leg of two to one on aggregate.
00:04:01
Speaker
Things fell apart in the Netherlands. That's putting it in a very, very nice way to this Juventus team. Things fell apart is an understatement. they Juventus got taken to school in a to a by a team who's in crisis right now. They're not doing well in their league, and they absolutely just showed Juventus what will, what desire, what passion is, what want is In the second half, Juventus was not even on the pitch. there It wasn't a game. It was just inevitable for PSV to score. um They scored the first goal an extra time. And even when Juventus was losing on aggregate, PSV had all the um dangerous chances and they should have scored another goal an extra time. It shouldn't even gotten to extra time because PSV had so many chances within the first 90 to put it away.
00:04:51
Speaker
And Di Gregorio had an amazing game and made amazing saves. but the lack of fight on the, on the pitch. It's not the first time I've said it about this team. constantly in the second half of games, they look scared of the moment. They don't know how to finish off a game.
00:05:07
Speaker
They don't know how to go get a win. And then to top it off, to make it even worse, their press conference after the game was awful. I mean, there was totally different messages from the players and then the coach and Tiago Manor.
00:05:18
Speaker
He said, wouldn't change anything. they They wanted it more. They outperformed us, but we gave everything we had and I wouldn't make it. I wouldn't change a thing. Men. And then Locatelli goes to the mic, the captain of the team and says, that was awful.
00:05:33
Speaker
We had no desire. We had no fight. They wanted it more than us. We're Juventus. We need to show more. So just that miscommunication not miscommunication, but those, those two are on completely different pages, which goes to show that they're not on the same page in the locker room. It's they are in shambles and, and, and,
00:05:54
Speaker
It came at the worst time ever because they just beat Inter. they They won two games in a row in the league or three games in a row in the league. And you thought, hey, look at this Juventus team figuring stuff out.
00:06:05
Speaker
And then this happens. So it it seems like every time you think Juventus is going to figure it out, they take one step forward and two steps back. Happened earlier when they beat Milan and then lost to Napoli in the second half with that dog shit performance.
00:06:18
Speaker
And once again here, beat Inter and then get knocked out in the Champions League. And... it's it's It's also terrible because of what you said earlier. Atalanta, Milan, and Juventus all out of the Champions League.
00:06:31
Speaker
The fifth spot is we can kiss that goodbye unless Romo Lazio play in the final of the Europa League. Fiorentina win the Europa League. at gonna It's going to be very, very tough, and we need it because we we already know how much of a disadvantage the league's at terms of money-wise. So absolutely terrible for Juventus in terms of the showing, terrible by Milan and Atalanta to not get it done, and just overall not the best look for Calcio and the Serie A.
00:06:57
Speaker
Definitely. To wrap on the Juve piece, I could be way off on this, but just in terms of looking at the squad and kind of like even Tiago Mata, there's nobody there anymore.
00:07:10
Speaker
I think this is like the first time in a really long time where there's nobody on Juve who has that like Fino, Alifine DNA. like All these guys are now being like brought through that, but there's nobody left. Like Chiellini was kind of like the last person that was like part of that winning mentality.
00:07:27
Speaker
And now it's just a complete turnover. and And maybe they're just not ready for like a Champions League night where they need to get it done kind of thing. I don't know. 100%. 100%. And I've talked about this before. They not not a lot of these players have the Juventus DNA, which is like final of Fina afina and grind it out to get the win.
00:07:43
Speaker
There's a couple that do or they're on the brink, right? Like I think got to had, I see it some games, combi also as well and Locatelli, but none of them have the kind of the balls to, to go and grab the game and take the game you ah hype up the players on the pitch and let them know what this moment means. And Tiago Mata being a first-year manager in terms of the Champions League in three competitions, you see him on the sidelines just not saying a word, really timid. don't want say timid, but just quiet, observing.
00:08:15
Speaker
He also doesn't have it as well. And I think it goes back a little bit to June to lead just deciding that he can blow everything everything up and buy and sell whoever he wants. When it comes to Juventus, there's players that have the Juventus DNA and there's players that don't.
00:08:29
Speaker
And June really doesn't care about that. He just kind of goes with what he wants and players he wants. So I totally agree. That's that is a problem. And. one last thing, their age is also a factor. They're like the youngest, one of the youngest teams in the Syria and in Europe. I think their average age is 24.
00:08:46
Speaker
So hopefully last season, this season, they're learning and then itll they'll figure out what these moments mean. they're They've been in these moments more and more and now they can figure out and go how to learn how to win in those moments.
00:08:59
Speaker
Well, lucky for us on Thursday, Roma did play in the Europa League and they bailed out all things Calcio and they won their game. They won four to three against Porto on aggregate.
00:09:12
Speaker
They beat Porto at home basically because Paulo Dybala dropped an absolute masterclass. They went down 1-0 early, then Dybala went off, scored two goals, and spent like 10 minutes.
00:09:23
Speaker
It was just vintage Dybala that I don't really think we've seen all that much this year. And this just goes to show we're capable of doing. Just completely took over the game, was unstoppable, was getting picking up the ball wherever he needed to to go and get it.
00:09:37
Speaker
um And Rumble looked really good. Porto's probably one of the better teams in the Europa League this year. and Roma just beat them. So I think they have a really good shot now at kind of making, turning this into a run at the final, especially when you look at what they've been able to do in the league over the last several months and really turn things around.
00:09:53
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, Paolo Dybala showed his class and why he's been one of, if not the best players in the Serie A and Calcio over the last 10, 12 years.
00:10:04
Speaker
It's just obviously his lack of playing time due to injuries, but he we we know he's world class, right? And I'll tell you what, Juventus could have used him on the pitch against PSV. If you got a player of Paulo Duvalo's stature and his experience, he probably understands how to go win that game like he showed in the Europa League against Porto. He fully put the team on his back and delivered two masterclass goals to go and take the lead. And then Roma did what they had to do the rest of the game to see out the win on aggregate.
00:10:37
Speaker
But I mean, yeah, Paulo Dybala, we know what he's about. We know he's been doing this year over year. It's just always the one knock on him. Isn't it really his consistency? Because when he's on the pitch, he's always good.
00:10:48
Speaker
It's him being on the pitch. It's his health problems. And yeah, with Ranieri, And they're the way that they're defending and the way that they're rotating, even in the Serie A, their guys are going be rested.
00:11:01
Speaker
Their guys are playing with continuity. They're playing compact. And they're they're scoring goals. So the the sky is the limit for Roma. They're getting hot when you want to get hot at the end of the season when the games matter more.
00:11:14
Speaker
And yeah, may they... Nothing but good things to say in Roma right now. Yeah, and to wrap on European competitions here, that's all the knockout or the playoff rounds that happened. So now we're into the next round. The teams that had buys are now playing again.
00:11:30
Speaker
And looking forward in the Champions League, Inter have drawn Feyenoord, and they have actually a pretty good path to the final, I think. And I think Inter are actually going to get that one done. and Roma, Drew, Athletic, Bilbao, which going to be a pretty hard matchup for them, but I still feel good about this team.
00:11:45
Speaker
Lazio is playing Victoria Pelzin. I don't know who they are. Lazio right now is the best team in the competition in theory, so feel good about that one. And then Fiorentina have drawn Greek side Panathiniakos, who I mean presume is in Athens, but could be totally wrong.
00:12:00
Speaker
um I know that his poll came out and I saw Lazio was the favorite to win the Europa League. So that's good that we have at least a favorite representative. I would love to see. i don't know if it can happen. I didn't look at the Europa League bracket, but I'd love to see yeah rome Roma Lazio final. That would be amazing.
00:12:16
Speaker
And then in terms of Fiorentina, I know that Not this exact team, but a Greek team did beat them in the competition last year. so So, you know, I mean, obviously i would i like Fiorentina's chances, although there they got some big players injured that we'll talk about later.
00:12:33
Speaker
But I just want, like I said, I want Serie A to represent. I want them to go far. So hopefully they can get this done to possibly get the fifth spot, which I'm obviously not banking on. That wraps up Europe. We tried to go quickly and cover all our bases.
00:12:47
Speaker
And now we're going to get back to Italy. Match week 26. Great match weekend overall. i would Honestly, actually, maybe not. There some really bad games, I'll say. More so implications for the table, which would be the interesting thing.
00:13:01
Speaker
The game we want to start talking about is the one that happened today as we recorded Monday. Roma hosted Monza. and They blew their doors off, won this game Aleksa Salamaker scored, Elder Shmurodov scored, Angelino scored, and then Brian Crestante capped things off.
00:13:18
Speaker
The reason we wanted to lead with this one is because we were already kind of highlighting Roma a little bit, and we don't think we've talked about them quite enough over the last, I don't know month or two when they've gone on this incredible run. Like Mott said a little bit earlier, i think it's nine eight or nine games now unbeaten in the league.
00:13:34
Speaker
And this is Claudio Ranieri being able to get something done with this team that nobody else had. In this game, especially, he rotated the hell out of the squad. We're talking no Dybala, no Dovbic, no Kone.
00:13:47
Speaker
It was pretty much essentially, and no Pellegrini, and still getting it done. And I think that's the notable thing. They're scoring goals even without their best players on the field. Yeah, the ball did get subbed on. But yeah, he was not starting in this game. And we looked at the lineup. And at first, we kind of questioned why he's rolling out this squad.
00:14:07
Speaker
Then kind of taking a step back, seeing that who they have coming up. They got a hot Como coming up. And then they have the Europa League game as well. So they're going to have two games next week.
00:14:19
Speaker
And so Mons is obviously in last place. So actually very smart move by Ranieri to rotate as much as he could get those guys rested and fresh. But the level of play did not dip, which you absolutely love to see.
00:14:33
Speaker
So just great, great move by Ranieri there. But this game was a complete domination from start to finish by Roma. Manza didn't even have one big chance in the game at all. It was fully Roma all game long.
00:14:48
Speaker
And yeah, I mean, there was just complete domination. So what what more can you ask for by Roma there? Yeah, what I loved about this one was Sule and Baldanzi I thought worked really well. Baldanzi kind of playing the Pellegrini role a little bit, and Sule was kind of able to get in spaces that he wanted to.
00:15:06
Speaker
He started off the left, and then at times he moved off the right. Alexis Salamaker scored a great goal off the right, um cutting in on his left and scoring. um But we're just seeing what we what we were crying out for all season, I think, under Ranieri.
00:15:17
Speaker
Getting like the balance of the team a little bit more right, bringing some of the younger players through. I think Pizzilli has been one of the best players on this team all year. On Halino, for me, has gone under the radar as one of the the best performers on the team. And I think he's been one of the best left back slash left wing backs because he was even producing when they weren't playing great. And he he had to play left center back at one point.
00:15:39
Speaker
Has just really been a team player all season. So it's good to see him get another goal. But my question for you, Mots, because I have not been able to figure this out. What has Ranieri done to make this team perform? like Because they're essentially running the same formation that they did months ago. I think under De Rossi, this is how they started, essentially. Yeah, 3-4-2-1.
00:15:59
Speaker
um I even think against Juric, they play a little bit of 3-5-2, but it was it was like a 3-4-2-1 for the most part. And I really don't have a great answer for that. I'd love for some of the Paisanos to maybe comment and let us know. But yeah here's my opinion. Here's what I think happened.
00:16:15
Speaker
They know what their game plan is in each game. So they don't play the same way necessarily. So when they're playing this the the lower level teams, they know we're going to go dominate the ball, dominate the game and win.
00:16:28
Speaker
Right. Whereas when they play, Well, yeah, when they play some of the higher level teams, they're going to sit back more like they did against Napoli and understand like, hey, we might not have as much of the ball as we want to normally.
00:16:43
Speaker
Right. and And so I think he is doing a great job kind of expressing that to his guys and just game planning. But then, I mean, I'm looking back now at the games and you go look at the Venezia Roma game. They had 37% possession.
00:16:57
Speaker
So ah that that's not the case there. But against Parma and against Monza, they had over 60% against both games. So I really generally just think that it's one thing ah good Good game planning, good good communicating, good man managing by Ranieri.
00:17:15
Speaker
And also, it just took all of these guys this much amount of time to learn how to play together. Because we know once you overhaul a squad like that, it's going to take some time. It's not all sunshine and rainbows right away. And we're seeing that with Milan. We're seeing that with Juventus.
00:17:32
Speaker
So it's going to take time for these guys to learn how to play together and get confidence. And I think Ranieri has been able to do that but by one game planning, the messages he's sending, obviously, and then they just figured it out at the right time and they're gelling now.
00:17:49
Speaker
I think those are all fair points. It's hard to say. i Even part of this could be they had De Rossi and they had Juric who are more of those hard-nosed kind of guys like Mourinho was. And that was that was the culture for, I don't know, three or four years now.
00:18:03
Speaker
And that's not what really Ranieri is. And maybe that's what the... Maybe these are players just need to be coddled. I don't know. We're definitely seeing better Pellegrini. He hasn't even really gotten to the level that he needs to be at to really be effective in this team.
00:18:16
Speaker
But he did play really good against Porto. And I think another storyline of this is that Pellegrini's best position by far is that left wing role where he's like kind of an attacking mid and he's really struggled in other places.
00:18:29
Speaker
and So I think that's a, that's a, that's a bigger conversation that's going to go out to Spalletti and his the decisions he's going to have to make in a year two. But I agree with you. And do you think they can finish in that chat in the European spot now?
00:18:43
Speaker
I've been saying that I think that they can, I think that they will finish over Lazio. I want to take a quick little peek at their schedule coming up to see who they who they face. Because what a lot of teams in the Serie specifically Napoli, Lazio... No, Lazio isn't too bad.
00:19:02
Speaker
Napoli and Atalanta have very, very tough games coming up. And so, pending on Roma's schedule, i mean, they have... Oh, wow. They got... i don't know.
00:19:14
Speaker
They got some tough teams coming up. They got... Roma versus Juventus versus Lazio versus Inter versus Fiorentina versus Atalanta in their next 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 games. Those are tough.
00:19:29
Speaker
But I think that they still can. I really think that they will make a run for the Europa League. You got remember, Fiorentina's got two major guys like that we'll talk about later that went down, and we don't know when they're coming back.
00:19:41
Speaker
Milan, we have no idea what's going on there. Bologna, they're right behind Bologna. So it's going to be a a neck and neck race. And I generally think that they will end up getting it done. They have the quality.
00:19:52
Speaker
It seems like Ranieri's really figured out more than most of these other managers have. And so I do think they make this push and they get to a Europa League spot or a conference league spot.
00:20:03
Speaker
One of the two. Yeah. Important to note in this one, I think. This was against mom who are are more or less going down. sir Certainly going down, I would say. But I think what has warranted this conversation is what they've done before this game. And this was kind of the culmination of that, which is why we're giving them the flowers that we are right now.
00:20:20
Speaker
ah But that's wrong. And that we just want to talk about it first because it's, it's something that everybody needs to be aware of for the rest of the season. Now, I think they're still in ninth technically, But they're right there. And if you're not watching them week in and week out now, you're missing like a really exciting team to watch.
00:20:37
Speaker
And they're going to be a team that's around for a while. A couple other big games. The first one we're going to, the battle at the late. Napoli played Como and they drop points.
00:20:48
Speaker
In this one, a brutal own goal from Amir Rahmani. Went to play it back to Alex Moret from probably like 40 yards outside the box. And just Moret was nowhere near the goal. And he just, it just went straight in really bad.
00:21:01
Speaker
Giacomo Raspidori then answered in the 17th minute. He started at left wing this game, so it's nice to see him get on the scoring sheet. It had been quite a while. And then later on in the game, 77th minute, a guy, Mons, has been gassing up a lot recently. i think he's it's pronounced Asandio.
00:21:18
Speaker
He scored final score two to one Como beats Napoli. Yeah, I mean, right on cue, I said last episode, I think Napoli don't have the firepower to to score goals and win games. Logan also said they're lacking concentration in the final 15, 10 minutes of the game. and sure That's true. That's a good point.
00:21:36
Speaker
They don't score enough goals, one. And two, they let up a late goal to Ascendiao, who has been he has scored three straight games now. ah He's 19-year-old. They signed from Barcelona.
00:21:48
Speaker
him and Nico Paz have been taking this league by storm. And it goes to show that it's very, very against the classic Italian culture where it's like, we don't want the young kids to play.
00:22:02
Speaker
Look what happens when you let the young kids play. They not only do well, but they succeed. They score goals. They make impact on games. And, uh, So it's why are you not giving these kids a chance? This guy is this guy scored against Juventus, Fiorentina, and now Napoli. Those are not small clubs. Those are the best of the best in Italy. He's 19 years old, and Nico Paz is doing the same thing next to him.
00:22:27
Speaker
So they are they're firing on all cylinders. They're pretty – I don't want to say they're – Como now is is confidently staying up, but that win puts them at 28 points, seven points off of the 18th place, and they're only three points behind eleventh place Torino.
00:22:48
Speaker
They have momentum. They're playing well. They have a great style of play. They have a manager who's a fantastic in Cesc Fabregas, and I think there's more to come with Como, Nicopaz, and Ascendi out. We've got to keep watching them.
00:23:00
Speaker
Yeah, we do. I think all the players, and I think you nailed it. I would be very surprised they went down at this point. We talked about a little bit, I think, last week or two weeks ago. They're by far the best team that are technically and in the relegation battle.
00:23:13
Speaker
I think seven points clear now. theyre They're going to be going to be good. um It'll be interesting to see what they can retain next year, if they can retain Fabregas, if they can retain all these players. They got money. They got money. So they might even get better. They they put a bid in for Tio Hernandez.
00:23:27
Speaker
they Like I told said in the beginning of the season, they got like the they're the richest owner. Now he's got some tobacco company. And if they keep doing their strategy of let's just go poach Barcelona and Real Madrid youngsters that they don't need,
00:23:41
Speaker
and let them play. They can't even go the next thing you know, they're probably going to go poach somebody from the event is next gen because we sell all of our young players for, because we're stupid and don't want them to play. And they're going to tear up the league and then sell them for 40, 50, $60 million where they keep playing.
00:23:57
Speaker
It'll be the next Atlanta to just buying buying those like in between guys, the 15 and 20 million euro guys. So I people have compared them to Atlanta, but I think the owner is so rich that he will he's going to go get like brand name players and pay him pay them.
00:24:12
Speaker
like They tried getting a lot of brand name players in the summer um and paying them. They didn't all come because you don't know what the experiments can be, but they did get some Barcelona like retirees. It didn't always work out like Bilalty didn't work out for it. But having the balance of some of the older guys that have been there and some of the younger guys that are hungry want to prove themselves is great balance to have.
00:24:32
Speaker
and And Como and Seth Fabregas are really figuring it out. So I do foresee them to be here for a long time because of their the funds that they have. And I think that the owner will just pay those guys to make them stay around. And why would you not want to stay in Como?
00:24:46
Speaker
Very true. We got to flip the script to the other team, though. Napoli, like we said, first time, not in first place in a really, really long time. I think this game really showed what we have been crying out for. They needed another forward.
00:25:01
Speaker
Raspidori scored, but Raspidori cannot be the answer when you need to rotate somebody. And David Neres was a massive step down from Kovaritskelia. But when he's out, the step down is even further because I don't think Politano or Raspidori are even close to his level at this point, that being David Neres.
00:25:21
Speaker
So in a game like this, Lukaku was basically non-existent to me. So like you really don't have much Raspidori's goal came from kind of a weird one on one press. And yeah yeah a he did have a good fast and I always should. I'm Raspidori, but I'll give him that.
00:25:36
Speaker
They're they're not going to be able to keep up with Atalanta anymore, in my mind, after what Atalanta just did. i I don't see because they're not defending that well anymore either. And that's yeah a bit scary.
00:25:48
Speaker
It's tough. It's I mean, Conte. There's not much more he can do than he's already done. He's already overachieving, right? He's in second place. I don't see him staying there. Atalanta, yes.
00:26:00
Speaker
What I will say about Atalanta, we'll get into when we talk about them, they also have a tough schedule coming up. But so do Napoli. Napoli play Inter next game. If they lose that, that's going to be so bad for them. And then Fiorentina next.
00:26:12
Speaker
But Conte, he's really out of ideas here. He's going back to his 3-5-2, which i I don't think so either. think part of the problem he is a little bit going back to the more, think it's more 4-3-3 3-5-2 from what saw. Like,
00:26:28
Speaker
from what i saw like If you're going to go back to your 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 Conte, play another wingback because Politano did some good defensive work, but like you you're not... He's not a wingback. Yeah.
00:26:44
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I mean, that's the side they scored on as well with Diaz. So I just think Kante's like out of ideas. And like like I said, what he's pulled off already is already an insane accomplishment and not replacing your best player unless Lukaku starts to kind of have some of his earlier season form or find some of his inter form, which I think those days are obviously behind him.
00:27:09
Speaker
I don't see where the goals come from. Scott McTominay, he's a good player, but can he score goal every single game? Probably not. And then their defense, I don't really know what exactly has been happening defensively. These last couple of games, they're they've only really allowed...
00:27:26
Speaker
I mean, the Rachmanino goal was pretty – that's not going to happen every game. So you take that away, they've allowed they allowed one goal from open play. They let Lazio get two, but other than that, they've allowed one goal in every game since or since the Juventus one. So, yes, they are lack it's it's when they're allowing the goals in terms of lacking concentration, but there's just no answers offensively because if you go – four straight games with allowing one goal and you get you're drawing three of those four games. That's that you're lacking that offensive firepower that Cavada brought.
00:27:57
Speaker
Yeah. And I guess with Cavada, it was the the plan was kind of win two to one versus like Conte, maybe like two or three years ago was win one, nothing. And this team isn't good enough really to win 1-0. And without Kovar at Skellia, you're not necessarily going to get that second goal. and i think i also think you can't but push as many guys forward as the opposing team because you know Kovada can be out in four dribbles.
00:28:23
Speaker
So you you have to leave guys back. So it makes it harder to score because you're parking such a low block and you have the numbers advantage. With Kovada not there, Raspidori does not. even come close to holding the same threat. Neither does Spinazzola, neither does Pauly Tano on there was just just a straight counterattack. I'm not talking like opportunities in the final third either.
00:28:43
Speaker
So they don't need to pay as much attention to those guys, which means we can send more guys forward, which which means there's no more numerical advantage for them defensively. it's It's now one-on-ones and we can string passes together and do give and goes in order to get by them.
00:28:58
Speaker
And then you have these mental lapses and errors that they can shoot themselves in the foot. So Napoli are going to have to play pretty goddamn close to perfect in every single game to get results because they don't have a superstar that can bail them out like they used to have in Oseman and Cavada.
00:29:15
Speaker
They have nobody now. Yeah, one other thing i want to pull out from this one. Bongiorno kind of still getting full up to fitness, getting back up to matchups. I didn't think he played very well in this game. And granted, like not a goal didn't come from that side. And there was one own goal, but just something to watch.
00:29:32
Speaker
The other thing I noticed, he kind of did, made a couple of runs forward and he's just so much worse than Bastoni. Like no matter how good Vance. And Califiori. I forget, like when you walk, like a good defensive center back, run up with the ball.
00:29:46
Speaker
It like puts in your mind how good those two guys are. And it's kind of insane. ah But here's a question for Vance, because I'm looking at Napoli right now. And they're going to finish probably top five, like worst case scenario, right? Like it probably won't get much worse than that.
00:30:03
Speaker
And this might be a little bit of an overreaction for me, but looking to next year, i feel really bad about this team because we're talking Lukaku's older.
00:30:15
Speaker
Palatano's older. Spinazzola's older. Zombo's a free agent. Yeah, Zombo's a free agent. Like, content not ready They are going to have to reinforce heavy.
00:30:25
Speaker
And I don't think it's going to happen because of how De Laurentiis is. in context you I think is going to quit. like he might least out He might quit. He might fully quit. they I completely agree.
00:30:37
Speaker
Unless De Laurentiis makes some heavy investments. which listen De Laurentiis, is he cheap? Yes. But he does always get players. like They had Koulibaly. They Insigne. They got Oseman. They did have all these players. Yeah.
00:30:51
Speaker
he So he he has to see like, hey, we're not where we need to be. I need to invest. He might not do that. And I can very much see Kante leaving. And if Kante leave, this Napoli team are right back down to where they were last year in the middle of the table.
00:31:07
Speaker
And they're in absolute shambles. I mean, like I said, I think 90% of this, not 90, I'd say 75% of this has been Conte and how he knows how to what what this league's about, how to condition his players, how to how to position them, what a game plan for each week.
00:31:26
Speaker
Without Conte, these guys are nowhere near first for this long and even second place. probably sitting somewhere comfortably in that mosh pit of where the Milans and the Fiorentina and the Roma and the Bologna are.
00:31:39
Speaker
And I think next season, without having Kovada at all, they're even, yeah, they're 10, 11, and Kante, it is not an attractive job, and he might fully be like, I'm done with this. I did ive performed a miracle last season.
00:31:52
Speaker
Let's go see another manager do what I just did. I agree with you. And it the other thing is it becomes like a kind of a difficult job to sell. i think like not an easy situation to go into, especially knowing like how the ownership behaves.
00:32:09
Speaker
They're just one to watch. I think that's going to be a story. And when we get to the summer, um but just wanted kind of get your thoughts early on that one. um Another game that happened this weekend, we had Milan go to Torino and lose.
00:32:23
Speaker
We had another own goal in this one. Malik Shah took one off the dome from Mignon, trying to boot it up, winning the net. Dijani Reinders then answered 70 minutes later in the 74th minute.
00:32:34
Speaker
And then two minutes later, Torino score off of a quickly taken free kick to win it at home, 2-1.
00:32:42
Speaker
i mean, just more of the same from Milan in terms of lack of consistency. They have no... i They don't know... They have no leader. They have no identity on how they want to play. They're in absolute shambles.
00:32:58
Speaker
I was watching that game, and I told you before we when we were loaded this up, I was like, what were they trying? They crossed it 400 times. They could just get the ball to Pulisic and have him whipping across, have him whipping across, have him whipping across.
00:33:11
Speaker
And i the the technical players that they have, They don't need to be whipping in crosses. They need to be playing give and goes and taking on their mans and beat. like They have Liao, Joao Felix, Pulisic, and who's the striker they just signed?
00:33:26
Speaker
Santi Jimenez, yeah. Santi Jimenez, who they can all take on their guys. They all can play within a tight space. Like, why are you, as the game plan, crossing it? It makes no sense. And Santi Jimenez, while I think he's good in the air, I don't think he's necessarily the biggest aerial threat.
00:33:44
Speaker
he's better finding space, showing to the ball, picking up the ball, taking out his man and and scoring. So is Jao Felix. So is Liao. So in my opinion, I don't know why they're trying to play wide and cross it.
00:33:55
Speaker
um I'd also say i don't understand why he continually picks or Conceição picks Moussa over Fafana. The Milan's, one of their biggest issues, and I think Lopes has said it all year, they do not have progressive center backs. And Juventus is pretty similar when they when they had Gazi and Kouloulou.
00:34:12
Speaker
Their center backs, whether it's Tamori, Pavlovich, whoever it's back there, do not progress to play. So that's why Fafana was so key. Moussa doesn't know how to progress to play either. Reinders does, but Reinders wants to get forward.
00:34:26
Speaker
So I think you you have to pick Fafana to help progress to play and get the ball further up the pitch. I'd also say... While I think Jao Felix has been good, when you play somebody who occupies the 10 space so much, it hinders Reinders because Reinders likes to get forward and occupy that space. But I don't think he necessarily is a 10.
00:34:48
Speaker
he's in it He's in a great role where it's the double pivot and he he shoots forward. But when you have somebody already in that space, you can't really shoot forward. And I believe his goal came, I think Jao Felix was subbed out and then Reinders scored.
00:35:00
Speaker
He was either subbed out or pushed out wide. And then Rinders had that space to go forward. So Milan, just to me, like I said last episode, very similar. Lack of identity, lack of leadership, and then lack of consistency for their star players and consistency.
00:35:16
Speaker
Last point. And that goes to show again, Mike Mignon, probably their one, two or three best player. You do not need to go clear that ball. You could have easily waited for that ball to come to you for whatever reason you thought to go clear it. The center back could have gotten out of the way.
00:35:30
Speaker
Yes. Hard for him to see with his back turn and the ball are trying to shield the defender or the off offender from the ball. So put him in a tough spot just thinking, I have to go clear this when you totally could have waited for that ball to come in and pick it up.
00:35:45
Speaker
So lack of consistency there. Yeah, important to note on this one, Christian Pulisic missed the penalty. um Vodja Milikovic-Savage had some really good saves, and Mike Mignogna had some good saves. ah The XG battle, Milan kind of ran away with, but i I will say a lot of that was because of the penalty, and Reinder's goal was inside the six-yard box.
00:36:03
Speaker
So I think the stats paint Milan in a better light than really how this game went, because I think Torino did create a lot of good chances. And Torino, we've been saying, are a bad team to play against, so I'm not i'm not shocked. that Milan drop points I just didn't expect them to lose this game in all honesty And for me, I'm starting to get the sense from Milan.
00:36:22
Speaker
and ah And this might be because you've been saying, Amatsu, you take on the identity of your manager, you take on the identity of your players. They think that they're like as good as Real Madrid my mind. And that's how they show up for every game. It's like, we're just going to play everybody off the pitch and it doesn't really matter how hard we try because we're that good.
00:36:41
Speaker
And that's not what happens because they're not good enough to do that. And I think Carino's second goal is like the prime example of that. Like, oh, we fouled, like we'll switch off, we'll figure it out, like not a big deal.
00:36:54
Speaker
And then Torino is in like, we're grinding games out mode, quick, free kick, boom, goal. Milan doesn't even know what happened because everybody thinks they're like the pretty boy players. And that's fully...
00:37:06
Speaker
just yeah yeah i i know Yeah, it started with them. I think Zhao Felix is even a little bit of that. Like I feel very much like that. And they they've got to figure out their culture. I think conscious out could be that guy.
00:37:17
Speaker
What I don't like about the new squad and look, say they reinforce the squad fully agree. They have a lot better players than they did in January. The problem is now conscious. I was defensive coach.
00:37:29
Speaker
And to get the most out of the team, you need an offensive coach because most of the players in the team don't want to defend and don't want to sit in a 4-4-2 block and then hit on the counter. So you you've got to find a happy medium between being a creative, expansive, progressive offensive team, but then also realizing you're not good enough to be that every day and being able to grind out games. And they're not that right now. And
00:37:55
Speaker
It's the same issues. Like it's just been the same. It is the same issue here. Just different like points of emphasis. Yeah. There was a point in this game where Milan had four passes and they were in the box and a great opportunity and they didn't score.
00:38:08
Speaker
And that goes to show like what they can do when they play within their front four that they have. And Konsei Sao has never been that guy to play with and within their front four. He's fully, we're going to defend, we're going to counter and then we'll score on the counter, which You're right. I mean, Milan play better that way, but they don't have the discipline players like Joe Felix and Liao and Tio to want to do that consistently. And the amount that he does it and he did it at Porto and did it effectively at Porto.
00:38:37
Speaker
So it's it's I don't know if he's going to be around. come next season because of that and his tactical ability. Also, if you don't finish in the European spot, I don't think you would deserve to be around as even though you were hired halfway through the season. But with the money they spent in the summer and the players that they got, I know theyre those players lack leadership and consistency.
00:38:59
Speaker
They have to be but doing better than Lazio and Fiorentina, which I don't know if they will because of how inconsistent they are in the leaders they have in their locker room. And it's funny you bring up Real Madrid because I saw on Twitter that Tio wants go to Madrid. And it's like, is he does he have though the ability to play for Madrid?
00:39:18
Speaker
Yes. Does he have the consistency? Absolutely not. If he were to go to Madrid, he would get lost in the rotation there because he doesn't have the discipline nor the consistency that all those guys at Madrid have.
00:39:30
Speaker
Yeah, you... I think, I don't know if people haven't watched it. You should watch it. David Beckham documentary. It's it's really good on Netflix. David Beckham, I think he'd said it perfectly. And obviously this would be the guy that knows. He said at Real Madrid, there are the Galacticos and then there's the workers and you are one of them. Like Danny Carvajal, like obviously a worker.
00:39:51
Speaker
Casemiro, obviously a worker. Taylor Hernandez, not really either. Like if he goes there, like I don't like. He's a hard guy to get into, like, like get into your team correctly.
00:40:04
Speaker
So even moving on from him, I don't think Milan would be able to get the money that they that they think he's going to command even at this point. Yeah, I mean, his contract's winding down, so if they don't extend him, then they're going to have to sell him for cheaper. at the At the end of the day, I don't think you have to get top dollar for him. Just sell him for 30, 40, like kind of what it looks like Juventus is going to do for Doosan.
00:40:26
Speaker
Just kind of cut your losses. i don't It's not even a loss because it's not like you guys splashed the cash on T.O., right? You guys kind of did make him. So did you not sell him at his for his peak?
00:40:37
Speaker
No, that stinks. But at least you made money on him. You know, don't let him go for free. Yeah. Which they've been done by a lot. Donald Romo, Kessier, like you go through all those guys. There's a lot.
00:40:48
Speaker
I'm going to wrap on this one. want to talk about Torino for just a second. Vanoli is a great coach and they, they had a little bit of a slip in the middle of the season where they, they were really bad after they lost, um,
00:41:01
Speaker
Duvon Zapata, and they fully figured it out. you You can see the Vanoli is a Conte kind of product using Sysencode, and you can just see the Conte fingerprints and DNA all over how this team plays.
00:41:15
Speaker
It is just relentless work. Everybody's rolling up their sleeves, doing the hard work. Even Cesare Casadai, who's like this young up and coming Italian guy who could be like this kind of like pretty cute guy that can play fancy.
00:41:30
Speaker
Now, in the pivot with Ricci, running up and down the field, getting it done, he looks phenomenal out there. Ricci hasn't missed a beat all season. He looks all amazing up there. And just just want to give a quick shout-out to Tony Sanabria because I think he's had a really good season.
00:41:44
Speaker
He hasn't really showed up on the score sheet all that much, but he's been the guy that's been a lot of these games, like helping Che Adams score goals, making the run for the team, and... Yeah, he's been around the league for a long time, and I think he's a guy that's gone under the radar this season.
00:41:59
Speaker
And then we've said it a whole bunch. Vonja Mullen-Kibbit-Savage, for me, is one of either the goalie of the season so far. If not, he's number two. He's kind of bailed this team out a couple of times.
00:42:10
Speaker
And then ultimately, you have to give your hats off to the center back pairing. They've been great all season, and now Torino is one of the worst teams to play against in the league. Yeah, I mean, Torino's been, they've figured out, maybe not, i don't want to necessarily necessarily say right the ship, but they figured out how to float.
00:42:25
Speaker
there're And they're doing it by draws, which you got you lost your best striker. Che Adams bent and of the lineup. So at this point, it's just make sure you guys are respectful or you're staying in the league and they've doing they're doing that. They've drawn...
00:42:38
Speaker
a lot of their last games, but the games that they're, the team that they're playing are not walk in the parks. They've drawn Juventus. They've drawn Fiorentina on a red card. They drew Atalanta. They just beat Milan. So these aren't walk in the park teams and they're getting results against them. And then they can go out, play a Monza this week, get three points, play a Parma next week, hopefully get three points and just kind of do what Torino do. They're not doing anything.
00:43:01
Speaker
over-performing like last year i believe they finished 10th with 41 goals and 41 goals allowed they're right around that pace now we did think that they would be better they've been plagued by injuries so we'll see what they kind of bring next year and who they reload but those two pairing in the midfield if they can keep them in the summertime oh i don't they'll be really good to go i don't know if they'll be able to they did just richie did just sign a contract so I mean, if they're selling Ricci, he's going to be sold for a lot. And they're signing.
00:43:27
Speaker
<unk> What's his name from Chelsea? um That's right. I see. Yeah, he's there. I mean, he was playing. He put signs. wow And if you just you bought him, you sign a contract. I don't know how long that is. But so both those guys are going to have to go for top dollar if they sell them, which it sounds like Torino wants a ton of money for Ricci. So if he is to be sold, it's probably in the prem.
00:43:47
Speaker
But we'll see. The other thing with Ricci is he's a captain right now. like He is. So like you make if they can keep Ricci Kasadai and then add a couple pieces, they are very quickly like kind of in that Bologna-level squad when they made that run if they add the right pieces around them kind of thing.
00:44:08
Speaker
but yeah It's going to be an interesting one, but they definitely got to reinforce correctly. But to keep us rolling here, we'll go straight to Bologna because that's a good one. They visited Parma, new coach. Parma got the manager bump, beat Bologna 2-0.
00:44:24
Speaker
There was a penalty in this one converted by Boney. And then in 79th minute, Simone Somm doubled the lead to seal this one at two to nothing And Parma got it done. Parma counterattacking got it done. Bologna had 75% possession, 16 shots, only one on target.
00:44:41
Speaker
And this is what we saw at the beginning the season with Parma. Maybe they just needed a new manager to light a fire under their ass or something. Yeah, I mean, hey, man and last last with the last manager, that they might get a red card, lose their head. So, yeah obviously, small sample size, good win against Bologna. Great win. i but we Yeah, great win. and And it's huge for them in terms of relegation.
00:45:03
Speaker
But... can We need to see consistency now. Bologna obviously absolutely dominated this game. So I don't want to take too, too much from it because we have seen Parma get great wins before against teams like Milan and teams like other teams like that.
00:45:20
Speaker
But can they carry over? Can this manager do it again is what I want to see. One thing I want to shout out about Parma, and I'm going to probably butcher his name, their goalkeeper,
00:45:33
Speaker
Suzuki so suuki is a beast. We didn't talk about it too, too much but last week. He had a double save against Roma. That was probably a double save the year, the save of the year.
00:45:44
Speaker
He's actually really good. I wouldn't be shocked if he gets bought by a team next year. And yeah, I just wanted to give him his flowers. He's a very, very good player. mean, he's definitely and in the conversation for like one of the best top five, I would say this year.
00:45:59
Speaker
And he's really good with his feet, which I think is a little bit different from the other two guys. I mentioned De Gea and Vance Malikovic-Savage. So he's he's a young and up-and-coming guy. He's definitely going to be in this league for a long time as if he stays and just a matter of which club he's going to end up with.
00:46:13
Speaker
But I totally agree with you. And for Fiorentina, I do want to say that's the i not Fiorentina, Bologna. Big loss. hey us It's like even getting one point out of that would be massive because now you got Milan at the weekend.
00:46:30
Speaker
You have the makeup game against Milan coming up. You're even on points. There was pressure to win that game. The pressure get points out of that game. Now it's kind of doubled. Mm hmm. And you, these the games you got to get, you got to get one yeah out of the end. I think that this, this was a game that was almost perfectly timing on what you said last week about Italiano and how it's the best part, but also the worst part because they, yeah, they had 75% possession, but they had no big chances. They had 0.67 XG. They weren't,
00:47:00
Speaker
xg they were Like they had the ball, but they were doing nothing with it. And we've seen it an Italiano team constantly do that. Just recycle the ball, recycle the ball, recycle the ball and never actually put in a good chance or have a good opportunity.
00:47:14
Speaker
And i don't really understand why they they, like obviously they were going for it, but they weren't, Like even when Parma scored that second goal, yes, Bologna, they overcommitted too many men forward, but they weren't creating or developing anything dangerous in Parma's final third. Parma was essentially just waiting but the right for them to mess up a pass, which they did, and then they pounced.
00:47:39
Speaker
So you need you just need to see an Italiano team just like, go grab the game by the balls. It's too many times that they don't do that. Yeah, I mean, that's, no he was like that of Fiorentina, though.
00:47:50
Speaker
I don't know what, when it's going to switch. Maybe he just needs a couple better players. I'm not sure. But I mean, that's what he does. Like, they Bologna will be Italiano in general. It was the same thing with Fiorentina. They'll look like a top five team in the league.
00:48:04
Speaker
And then all of a sudden, they'll look like Juve for the first month of the season where they literally do nothing but just hold the ball. Yeah, I mean, that goes to show that obviously the most important stat in soccer is goals. It doesn't matter how much possession you have, how pretty you play, how many passes you have, many crosses.
00:48:20
Speaker
All that matters is who has the more so most goals at the end of the game, obviously. Another big team that dropped points. Lazio went to what we claim to be the hardest place to play for quite a bit of time. They went to Venice and drew a game nil to nil.
00:48:36
Speaker
And Mots thought that Venezia should have three points in this one. I think they outplayed him. You know what i liked what I like to see about what I saw? What I liked, what I saw from Venezia was the physicality they played with. And you so you said it. You were like, I think that there should have been a lot of yellow cards on Venezia in the second half.
00:48:55
Speaker
I disagreed. Anytime that Lazio player had the ball, they won they made they made sure that they felt them. They were there. They were... pushing them, grabbing them, which I love from a team that's going down. you You saw the fight in them.
00:49:10
Speaker
At the end of the day, they created more chances, in my opinion, in the second half. I know the game is going to say Lazio had more XG than them, but Venezia had the chances in the second half.
00:49:22
Speaker
and Lazio kind of, i don't want to say it gave up, but they looked they pulled the Juventus. It didn't look like this game mattered at all. And this game mattered for Lazio. They dropped more points.
00:49:32
Speaker
Juventus now has a two-point cushion on them. Lazio is going to have multiple games a week now that they're in Europa League. So, yes, you were away. So it's tough to win away. But a team that's going down or is in right now in relegation zone, you got to get all three points. And not only do you have to get all three points,
00:49:52
Speaker
You got to look like you want it. I mean, that coming from me, who's seen Juventus not look like they want anything. I saw this and i was like, am I watching Juventus? They didn't care at all. They weren't going for it.
00:50:04
Speaker
And um they kind of just rolled over and let Lazio have this game, which is why I thought that they deserved. Or Venezia had this game, which is why I thought they deserved all three points. yeah think it's fair. They didn't. Lazio did not have it. what I will say.
00:50:17
Speaker
And this has happened several times this year. No Rubella. They are a completely different team. He was not available in this game. And they they like kind of lose their ability to create chances without him.
00:50:31
Speaker
it's It's really weird. yeah He's a good player. Yeah, it's good player. I mean, it's hard. It's tough to replace a player like Ravella who pulls the strings so much and dictates their tempo.
00:50:44
Speaker
I'd also say that not the best game from Nuno Tavares, who's kind of had that steaming start. And since then, we haven't seen the form. I know he's been a little banged up.
00:50:58
Speaker
ah But nothing to ah too good for him. He actually got subbed out. And then same with Diaz. He also yeah had one good opportunity. and Yeah, score. But for somebody who was putting away chances left and right at the beginning season, he's kind of cooled off. And then one other big, big miss that they had is not in terms of a chance, but they're just missing Tati Castellanos. They don't have that goal scorer anymore. And I think he's going to be out for another month.
00:51:24
Speaker
So that's a big loss for Lazio in terms of their best or that one of their best goal scores that they do not have. Yeah, I agree. um Another big team, Inter Milan.
00:51:35
Speaker
Got it done at home against Genoa, one to nothing. And I think got it done is what sums it up best. One nothing game. Lataro Martinez kind of popped up. He's been popping up the season when they needed him to.
00:51:47
Speaker
In those tight games, he has tended to be the guy that got it done. mean, that's a big one. This Genoa team has has been tough to play against for a little bit of time now since um Patrick Vieira took over.
00:52:00
Speaker
And they've been hard to break down and a one nothing game you'll take realistically. I mean, nobody's going to remember this game other than they got three points. Yeah, this was a lucky game. Inter are very lucky that they skated away with three points. They got a corner kick goal by the tarot. It did hit off a Genoa defender. So the goalie was kind of caught flat footed because he didn't expect to go that way. But the tarot did get his head on it. But I mean,
00:52:24
Speaker
They scored in what the 78th minute. This game was very close to being a zero zero draw at home to Genoa, which would have been a terrible for Inter um in terms of dropping points and great for you. So I was very upset when I saw the Taro did score.
00:52:39
Speaker
But I had and some questions about the lineup here for Tezi was just playing so well when he was requesting a transfer in January. Is he injured? They haven't played him in a long time.
00:52:51
Speaker
Mkhitaryan is like he is. I don't know when Nzaghi is going to just move on from Mkhitaryan. I understand that he's a good player and he can do things that maybe for Tezi and Zelensky can't.
00:53:03
Speaker
But he's old. You're not going have him next year. Why do you rely on him so much? It's every single game he's playing. I don't understand it. Also, what I thought was interesting was Juan Correa.
00:53:15
Speaker
but You have a lot of different options in Toremi, who I think has been very underwhelming this season. You try to you want to get his confidence up coming with but you have the Champions League and still the Coppa Italia.
00:53:26
Speaker
And I don't think Correa played well at all. You also have... Arnautovic, who is a good player who once again hasn't got that many opportunities. So it's like, why are you going to somebody who who was, I don't think has played at all this season. I think he's got one, one game and it's kind of the same build slash style of play as Lataro Martinez is. You need ah like Lataro clearly plays great with. Yeah. i That's like, it would make way more sense to do like, but like you said, Tereni or Arnautovic with Lataro, like,
00:53:56
Speaker
Correa is the guy you rotate Lataro like for, like very clearly. So I agree with that one. That's a very weird one. On the Moketarian one, what I think it is is...
00:54:07
Speaker
I mean, we've seen this with Inzat. He really does not like to rotate squad, period. like If he can play the guys that he wants to play, he will do that. And I think with how close the Scudetto race has been, Makhatarian has been one of his most consistent players the entire season. So like he wants to keep rolling him.
00:54:25
Speaker
And I think he's a little bit unconcerned with the whole... Why am I supposed count on his name? Who, Tremi or Natovic? Fertesi. Fertesi. Like, he doesn't care. Like, if Fertesi's going to stay, he's going to stay. If he's going to leave, he's going to leave. He's not worried about developing him. Like, he's worried about winning today.
00:54:44
Speaker
And i I think that's how he approaches the club. Possibly. i just don't, I don't love it. Like, even if you're worried about winning today, I think for Tezzy, it's just better than Mkhitaryan. I mean, Barella and him don't play amazing together, but yeah like we kidding you don't give them opportunities to play together. Exactly. They have to learn how to play together.
00:55:03
Speaker
One thing i I also wanted to say that I forgot too, was first start for the goalie that they signed from Genoa Martinez. He played great. He made some big saves to keep this three points for them.
00:55:15
Speaker
And he didn't have one start of the season, which once again, Ananzagi, why are you not rotating? You bought this guy, get him, get his feet wet, like a little wet. But Jan Sommer went down.
00:55:26
Speaker
He's going to be out for a month. So I think this will give Martinez some well-needed reps on the inter team and ah at this high level, maybe in the Champions League against Napoli and the Coppa Italia and things, so on and so forth. So he did play a good game um and made some great saves.
00:55:41
Speaker
That's also interesting one because Jan summer is pretty old. um So if he plays well, he's got a spot next year. Like yeah he, they just roll. he's gonna be harder Yeah. A hundred percent, which is why I don't know why they haven't played him at all.
00:55:52
Speaker
Also just one last thing about this game and Zagy. Someone's give that man a card for not. He's never in his coaching box. He was, he was taking the corner kick one time screaming at his players.
00:56:04
Speaker
and no card, no nothing. And also he just sweats so much. He's a great manager, great style of play, but I question a lot of his decision-making in game. Going back to when he first started with Inter, I thought he made too many subs and pushed too many guys forward.
00:56:18
Speaker
Now I think he doesn't make enough subs and doesn't ah get his all of his guys enough playing time. So... well While he does have an amazing system and it's very fun and pretty to watch Inter play, he has some very questionable decisions, in my opinion.
00:56:34
Speaker
Also, really quick, Inter just have tough schedule coming up with the Coppa Italia. And we do know Inzaghi loves to win the Coppa Italia. I think he's won like three or four already in his small career. And then they have Napoli, who are obviously in second place coming up.
00:56:47
Speaker
with Champions League right around the corner as well. So Inter's schedule is starting to get really, really tough, and so and they're going to see multiple games a week, especially if they go far in these tournaments. Agreed.
00:57:00
Speaker
um Moving it on. Another game that happened in Verona. Fiorentina went there and lost one nothing Really, another one, really bad drop of points for Fiorentina. um They lost at 95th minute, 96th minute, something like that. was really late on in the game.
00:57:15
Speaker
but And what even one point here would have gone a long way. You can't be dropping dropping three points to Verona, who have been a a dumpster fire for a lot of the season. On the flip side of things, really big point big point for Verona in that relegation battle. They were the team that I said are going down last week.
00:57:30
Speaker
So it means a lot for them. But the bigger thing that we need to talk about with Fiorentina now, and we we alluded to it a little bit earlier, Moise Thien got hurt. He got like a he got kneed in the face, falling over, essentially got back up, played a minute or two, then collapsed on the field.
00:57:47
Speaker
So he's presumably out. I would assume everything, I mean, and cover brily two weeks, like yeah probably worst case, four to five weeks. Right. Grubenson is out. He's he's hurt. he He was sick and then he got hurt. So he's also out.
00:58:03
Speaker
Fiorentina in their next four games, they have Lecce, then they have Napoli. They have a Europa League, a conference league game, Juventus, Atalanta, Milan.
00:58:15
Speaker
And presumably they're not going to Moise Keane or Albert Gubenson for two of those games. They're in trouble with that. They, I don't know what they're going to do. They also, those Europe or UA, the conference league games are coming up as well, which I know you mentioned, but that's just, they have,
00:58:35
Speaker
six games in the next two and a half, three weeks. Like it's a lot of games coming up and they don't have their goal scorers. After Moise Keene came off the pitch, they were completely sterile. There was no opportunities, no chances.
00:58:50
Speaker
There was hold up play. There was basically nothing. And I don't know who or how they're going to replace them. I know they had a good... summer with bringing those players but it is seeming like uh paladino's not necessarily implementing for jolly in the right spots once again playing up a little too far up the pitch not in his best role and yeah i they're in a tough spot because i really had them going to make a run late on in the season but after dropping points they've lost three straight intercomo verona they got to get right against leche right but
00:59:30
Speaker
are they yes Where do the goals come from? Because the other problem is that Colpani's hurt too. So that that's kind of forced them to use Zanjolo as the right mid. And the they cop and he was just didn't really understand the role.
00:59:44
Speaker
Zanjolo has always been like, in when he's played as a winger, it's been like an inside winger when you think of how traditionally Romo was playing Mourinho. Pellegrini left wing, technically Zanyolo, technically right wing.
00:59:57
Speaker
He's an inside forward. He's a striker more. And they did that to get Beltran back at the 10, who was playing the 10 when Goodmanson was hurt. But they can't play him there. And presumably, in my mind, i think Zanyolo has to be your striker now.
01:00:11
Speaker
Because it's either him or Beltran. That is worrying for me. because i don't i'm not um i'm I'm close to saying i'm out fully on Zaniolo.
01:00:22
Speaker
He had a pretty freddie good chance that Fuller Run show kind of flicked over to him. He somehow put that over the net. and He kind of bailed out. He was scared of getting hurt and bailed out. And then the other thing, he got some chances on that. He just looks uncomfortable when he's in wide areas. like Simply. He got into crossing areas and then kind of looked up and didn't know what to do with the ball.
01:00:43
Speaker
they They're fucked, I think, without King. It's tough, I know. Because that that was it. That was the two kind of strikers. And they don't have a thicker striker other than Zagnolo, really.
01:00:55
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, maybe they throw Fuller Run Show. He played kind of well, but he's not a striker at all. He's more of an attacking mid outside player. impressed with him. I actually think Fuller Run Show has been really good. And that that's looking like it's going to be like a season-saving kind of pickup with all these injuries.
01:01:11
Speaker
Yeah. But I don't think there's a way to recover from this. You you just lost. You have your three best players essentially are out. Yeah. And then Fadroli is probably your fourth now. And it it's going to take him some time no matter what to implement. Just his new team, new and tactics, new role.
01:01:28
Speaker
But like... Their defense is still solid and De Gea is good, right? So that that is the what they can kind of hang their hat on now. they got Verona did get lucky. It was a very lucky deflection goal.
01:01:40
Speaker
So they were unlucky to take at least one point away from this. But like you said, like there's going to be no... and don't We don't know where the offense comes from. were gonna be It's going to probably have to come from set pieces, corner kicks, because...
01:01:56
Speaker
I mean, sometimes Moise Keane would take on the whole, like take out one. It'd be one pass to Keane. He would hold up the the player, get by the guy, and then shoot the ball. Like it wasn't a lot of creativity, and it's a lot of crosses to Keane as well. He's scoring a lot with his head.
01:02:11
Speaker
So it's going interesting to see. They might be screwed. I really hope that they can at least figure it out in this UEFA league. leg so that they can at least advance or the conference league leg. Sorry about that.
01:02:23
Speaker
ah So they can at least advance and then hopefully get Keane back in the next week. um But I agree with you. I don't know what's goingnna happen with them. For sure. ah One game I skipped over here in the planning.
01:02:34
Speaker
um On Friday, we had Udinese at Leche, which was a rock fight of a game. It was not a very good game. ah But the one goal came from a penalty, and I'm sure everybody saw online.
01:02:46
Speaker
Lorenzo Luca Cook said penalty and did score it. However, prior to that, it was kind of a shit show because he was not supposed to take said penalty. Yeah, he basically, the captain, i don't know if the, I forgot, the captain was supposed to take the kick? Yeah, Florian Talvin is supposed to be their penalty kick taker. And Luka Lorenzo just fully pushed him off, did not, would not put the ball on the ground until he left.
01:03:12
Speaker
absolutely buried and then immediately gets subbed off by the coach which is pretty funny and then udonese do not score another goal they had some chances but it was other than that was pretty pretty uneventful but that pretty much to me goes to show that luca has he's approaching the 10 goal mark he is i don't understand Oh, that was 10. He's an up-and-coming striker in this league, and I think that's him saying, like, fuck this team.
01:03:41
Speaker
I want out. And this is how i'm going to show you guys I want out. However, if you're another team, it's like, do I want to buy a guy who's going to, like, do that on my team? I'm sure he probably won't do that when he's he knows that he's around players that are better than him.
01:03:56
Speaker
But yeah, that was crazy. i now I don't think I've ever seen that before. I've seen arguments happen on the PK spot, specifically when like Neymar went to PSG and it was him or Cavani. But they would always like eventually agree.
01:04:09
Speaker
This guy literally just like would not ball They were trying to rip the ball out of his hands. And they hit an iron grip. They were like sneaking behind him to punch and freeze.
01:04:19
Speaker
And he hit an iron grip on it. It was insane to watch. Imagine if he didn't make it it would have been disaster. He fucking housed it, though. you mean it And then the manager just goes to show, like, you got to listen your fucking captain.
01:04:34
Speaker
Yeah, and fair enough. That was the right decision. Definitely the right decision. But to keep it moving on. I lost my place. Oh, Atalanta went to Empoli.
01:04:45
Speaker
beat the hell out of them. This is vintage Atalanta, vintage Gasparini ball. One. Oh, they, they, they, what's this game in, in Bergamo? No. Yeah, this is in Bergamo. Okay. No, no, no, no. This was in Empoli. This year, right. This was in Empoli.
01:04:58
Speaker
So they beat them five, nothing notably here with Teddy scored another one. Adam, other look men had a brace and Davide Sapa Costa scored as well. This is what you want to see from Napoli. Pick up points when other people are dropping points.
01:05:10
Speaker
yeah had to learn to They're at Atlanta. I apologize. They are very much in this race, three points behind Inter, same amount of games played. Yeah, I mean, listen, Atalanta have some tough games coming up, so we'll have to see what happens. But we we know what they do. They beat up on on the lesser opponents, and they they sometimes struggle on the higher opponents. But I don't think that this is breaking news from Atalanta. I think the news that came out of Atalanta is from off the pitch, right? So in the Champions League league at game, second leg, Luckman got subbed on.
01:05:48
Speaker
Scored a goal. So was feeling good. And then Atalanta drew a penalty. Lookman took it, missed it. Atalanta obviously lost the game. Gasparini came out and said, i don't know why Lookman's taking the penalty. He sucks at taking the penalties. If you go back and look at Lookman's penalties, he is probably 50-50 on conversions. He either fucking buries them or he absolutely shanks them and hits them right at the goalie and misses them.
01:06:15
Speaker
But still not something that you want your manager to say about you, right? You want your manager to only come to your defense and say good things about you. And so Lookman took offense to that and came out with a statement and was like, I don't know why Gasperini said that.
01:06:32
Speaker
I'm kind of hurt by it. I'm probably going to leave the club in the summer. And then later on in the week, Gasparini comes out and is is saying, hey, all good things have to come to an end. It's been a great run at Atlanta. My contract runs out, not this summer, but next summer.
01:06:48
Speaker
Maybe I'll even leave this summer. So lot of news coming out of Bergamo. And it is kind of funny timing because both you did say last episode, I don't know who can stay. I don't know who's coming back. We did think Luckman might leave. I didn't think Gasparini was going to leave, especially based on the conversations he had last summer when they won the the Europa League. And I want my players to stay. They made a lot of investments this summer buying really good players. So...
01:07:14
Speaker
Gasparini just goes abandons them. i would be shocked there. It does look like he might do that. Lookman looks like got one foot out the door. i don't know how a team doesn't go and buy Rettegi after the season he's had this year.
01:07:25
Speaker
So a lot is going to happen, I think, to Atalanta in the summer. Great game by them. This is a classic Atalanta game, but I think that was the headlines coming out of Bergamo. i what i was what i'm What I hate about this whole thing is it was almost like the Champions League thing happened and Gasparini just forgot they were still competing in the league.
01:07:47
Speaker
Like in that, that statement is something you say, like when you're dumb, like you're, you're, but you're dumb with this project, right? Like you don't have, you were trying to win Champions League. If you're not going to do it, then you don't care.
01:07:59
Speaker
It's like kind of what I feel. And it just sets the stage for them to not compete, like going forward. Now, like you're ruining the vibes at the club. arguably your best player if not the best second best and look man you're kind of showing him the door and it's just bad like it's it's a really bad look so i think that this was gasparini being able to kind of fire back at look man because he's been one foot out the door for last summer now tried to do it in january as well and as much as we praise gasparini for his tactical genius and
01:08:31
Speaker
his system is amazing. He scores a ton of goals. He's the Adelante is always in the mix. They get the most out of every player. When a player leaves, they're not the same. He we've seen this before. He struggles with man managing. That's why he can't go manage an enter or a U of successfully because those players have bigger egos and as bad it is to say, they don't want their egos damaged and they want to be supported by their coach and Gasparini time and time again, doesn't do that. He doesn't manage big personalities well.
01:09:02
Speaker
And that's why he's been so successful in Atalanta because they usually don't have big personalities, but a player like Luckman who won the African player of the year, who scored a hat trick in the Europa league, he's got an ego obviously, and rightfully so because of what he's done.
01:09:15
Speaker
And we've we've seen it before. Gasparini just is not a man manager. And it goes back to that. And you're right. It's not the right time to take the shot at somebody who's got one foot out the door when you should be praising him to try to keep him like Conte was with Cavada.
01:09:30
Speaker
And that came down to a money thing and whatnot. But just not the right timing, not the right thing to do if you're Gasparini. And this might be the beginning of the end of this great Atalanta squad.
01:09:42
Speaker
It started to look like that for sure. um But the last game we had, Bianco Neri got it fucking done in Sardinia. Really hard game to win. um They squeaked this one out 1-0 courtesy of Dusan Lovic.
01:09:57
Speaker
Yeah, and I will i will preference that. It is tough to go get three points away at Cagliari. With that said, your Juventus And being that, ah once again, the people closest to you in the table dropped points, right?
01:10:12
Speaker
Napoli dropped points. Lazio dropped points. Fiorentina dropped points. Milan dropped points. So this, getting three points here is and was absolutely massive for Juve because it just gives us more of a cushion to the in the fourth place. um And we're now closing the gap. We're even...
01:10:30
Speaker
Eight points out of first. The Scudetto is not in my sight. We have no chance of winning Scudetto. I don't want any Juventini thinking it, but it is something to be said with 12 games left or eight points away.
01:10:42
Speaker
With that said, this was once again a classic 2024-2025 Juventus-Tiago Mata performance. First half, utter domination.
01:10:56
Speaker
They couldn't sniff their 18. It was all Juventus all the time. They should have left this half up 3-0. Yildiz should have had two goals.
01:11:07
Speaker
Vlaovic should have had one, which he did have, which great start by Mata. I think you've got to, you're probably going to part ways with Vlaovic. So you need to get the most out of him in order to sell him for at least some fee and not kill all his value.
01:11:21
Speaker
And so he, he, he has eight goals and 11 games against Cagliari. So I think great start. hes He's successful there and great play by Dusan. He read the play, stole the ball, great finish as well. Got around the keeper and scored it.
01:11:35
Speaker
And then in the first half, Dusan was doing things that I've never seen him do in my life. He was, he was playing as a false nine. He was receiving the ball. He was passing it. He was getting other people involved. He should have had an assist to yield is because the others really should have scored that goal.
01:11:47
Speaker
And then we go into the locker room, second half comes, and we're scared of the fucking moment again. We are wasting time to try to get three points on this team when we should be going to try to kill the game off and score the second goal.
01:12:04
Speaker
We did not have a shot on target until the 80th minute or so when the game was just but so wide open and it was just attack. Juve would attack, they would attack, Juve would attack, just attack after attack.
01:12:16
Speaker
And it was it was we the the game felt like they were going to score and we were going to tie again, as we always do, because we don't have fight desire. We look scared. We don't have a leader on the pitch, just like kind of like Milan. There's no real leader.
01:12:32
Speaker
And the last thing I'll say is Mata's subs were awful. Number one. I don't understand why Coop Miners is still playing over Taram. Taram is playing every game he plays and every time he's in, he plays amazing. Coop Miners still figuring out how to play.
01:12:48
Speaker
I get he spent more money on Coop Miners and you want to get the money worth out of it, but play the better player. Stop having favoritism, Mata. Play Taram. Number two.
01:12:59
Speaker
You subbed in Douglas-Louise before you subbed in Taram. And so the midfield was McKinney, Locatelli, Douglas-Louise that I thought played well in the first leg in the Champions League against PSV. But when you play Locatelli and Douglas-Louise, they kind of do the same thing.
01:13:13
Speaker
And so they don't know who should do what because they they both want to receive the ball from the center backs, progress to play, pick out a pass. Also, Douglas Luiz missed the PSV game because he was injured.
01:13:27
Speaker
so mr the we Douglas Luiz got subbed in in around the 60th minute and was taken off for injury in the 80th. Why are you subbing him on if he's still possibly injured? Number one.
01:13:37
Speaker
Number two, why are you subbing him on before Taram if he's possibly injured? Sub on Taram in the 60th and then Douglas Luiz in the 80th to be the closer Makes no sense.
01:13:49
Speaker
um So I question Thiago Manor's leadership. What he says at halftime, because constantly at halftime, Juventus comes out not hungry and scared. I question, I know Locatelli's the captain, but is he a really is he a good leader? I know Gatti likes to lead, but is he a good leader?
01:14:07
Speaker
Although I do think Gatti has been probably our best and most consistent player because he plays every game this season. But at the end of the day, Gatti should be ah ah third center back.
01:14:21
Speaker
Gatti should be the third center back of this team. We should not be the best center back that we have and the most consistent center back that we have. So was it great that we got three points? Yes. Are we closing in on stumbling Napoli?
01:14:33
Speaker
Yes. That was our fourth win. This is a terrible stat. That was our fourth win in the league in row in three years. That's fucking terrible. But it's not trending in the right direction. that was We got lucky. We hung on with the with our fingernails to that game to a team that we are miles better than. They look more hungry. They look like they had to the desire, the fight to go and tie the game.
01:14:59
Speaker
Not us, which is not what you want to see from your team. Well said, Mons. I don't think I've ever seen more than I don't. I really don't. I'm lucky for you.
01:15:11
Speaker
Juve is back in. Oh, that's not that's metric 26. Sorry. Jumped the gun there. Juve is back in action. Midweek Coppa Italia hosting Empoli. There is no way they don't get this one done. Right. like You'd hope so. I mean, I'm i'm interested to see who he goes with in terms of up top with Doosan and Kola Mouane because he did start Doosan last game and Doosan did play well.
01:15:33
Speaker
But um Kola Mouane is obviously in form and you don't want to waste his form by just benching him continually. But the Coppa Italia is usually where the not reserves, but the second stringers get more time.
01:15:45
Speaker
So I'd assume he'd go with Doosan. I'd love to see him both play. but we'll see what happens there. i do think this will be the debut game of the first winter signing that Juntali decided to sign that, in my opinion, made absolutely no sense in Alberto Costa.
01:16:00
Speaker
$15 million dollars for a right back when we already have Weah, who has been having a great season at right back. We have Kalulu. I know he's injured, but we'll be coming back. We have Savona as well. I don't know why we splurged $15 million on that position, but we should see him.
01:16:15
Speaker
And listen, I'm not... yeah yeah we are Juventus. You need to win trophies to have successful seasons. Even if Juventus win the Copa Italia this season, which I don't think that they will.
01:16:26
Speaker
I still don't think it's a good season. would be the same thing as last year, finishing the top four, winning the Copa. That's not a good season. But I do think like if Juventus get knocked out at this point in the Copa, oh my God.
01:16:39
Speaker
To Empoli at home. The media will go crazy. So it's a must win. It's an absolute must win. I think every game from here on out for Juventus is must win. Yes, the other one is Inter at Lazio. I forgot this one. and um They're playing on Wednesday and then Inter's, I think they're going to Lazio tomorrow, Tuesday.
01:17:02
Speaker
um So that's going to be a really good game. I am curious to see what Inzaghi does with his squad there because I could totally see him rolling out the the best 11 in that one. I'm not sure that would be the the right thing to do maybe.
01:17:16
Speaker
Now Napoli coming up in the Champions League game. But yeah, I mean, no one in Zaghi. He's going to play eight of his ah best 11. Yeah. And then the other game we got this week, we have the match week number nine rescheduling Milan at Bologna on Thursday.
01:17:32
Speaker
Massive game for table implications. They're both level on points right now. So that one's going to be massive. Tonic culture this week. Holy shit. If one of those teams loses that game, that will set them back tremendously. Like if one of those teams loses, they will be on 26 points, 40 or 26 games, 41 points.
01:17:53
Speaker
That's only one ahead of Roma. And think about how we were talking about Roma, the start of the season. How are you one ahead of them? Granted, have Roma turned it around? Like we talked about in the beginning of the episode and not lost the game in so long.
01:18:07
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. You had a 10-point head start on them, and now they're you're going to be one point. Even if you tie, you're two points behind them. So massive, massive game for Milan and Bologna. And if Logan's prediction, which we both don't think is going to come even close to correct, and Milan's going to get in top four, that's a must win.
01:18:26
Speaker
Must win. If they lose or even tie that game, that's not good. Bologna is thinking the same thing, though, so it' be it'll be interesting to see how that one plays out.
01:18:37
Speaker
ah But we got Batch Week 27 at the weekend. Running against two the games. Lecce is going to Fiorentina. I mean, I i think Lecce is going to get points out of that one at this point. Venezia going to Atalanta. I don't see a way. That's not a bloodbath.
01:18:51
Speaker
Inter at Napoli. People are saying this is the match for the Scudetto. i think that it will get the hype, that hype, because it's one versus two. As I mentioned earlier, Napoli are stumbling. Inter on the rise. I really think it's already Inter's race to lose.
01:19:06
Speaker
I think this is better for the lower teams. Atalanta and Juve can really capitalize on this result because if Napoli... lose and Atalanta and Juventus win, Atalanta will jump them.
01:19:20
Speaker
Juventus will be like three points behind them, right? If they both tie, Atalanta and Juve are now four points away from Napoli and but eight seven points away from Inter. So it's really, really big.
01:19:32
Speaker
The worst scenario for Atalanta and Juve would be if Napoli win, which I don't really see how that happens. I don't either. i think Napoli are not in a position to compete with Inter right now.
01:19:42
Speaker
Could be wrong. yeah Could be totally wrong, but... yeah It is in Naples, so it gives that gives them the slight edge, but... I don't see how they get it done. Yeah. A couple other ones we got. Parma at Udinese.
01:19:57
Speaker
Rino at Monza. Empoli at Genoa. Cagliari at Bologna. Como at Roma. That's a great game. Great game. that commo Como beat Roma earlier in the season in Como 2-0. So now that was the last time Roma lost in the league.
01:20:13
Speaker
So let's see if they can kind of get their revenge game. Both teams are very, very hot. This is a good game. Both teams need to win, too. And then we got Lazio at Milan. That's another really wow big week for Milan. That's a really big week for Milan. Wow, that's true. I mean, if you tie or lose... I'll tell you what, though. latio Milan, Lazio, I would love and love a draw. And then Juve win, and we have more more of a cushion on Lazio.
01:20:38
Speaker
Milan have to win one of these games. They have to beat Bologna. They have to beat Lazio. Realistically, if they want if they want a chance to finish top four, they should they have to win both.
01:20:50
Speaker
Because if you're tying, if you're getting four points and Juve gets three, Juve's just still increasing that that gap between them. But if they Milan can get all six,
01:21:01
Speaker
then they're full, not that they're not in the race now, but they would fully be back in dangerous. If they draw, draw, draw tie, they are still in the race, but they're not they're not dangerous, i don't think. No, i agree. And then to wrap it up, we got Juve hosting Verona again. Must win.
01:21:16
Speaker
ah every Every game for Juve is a must win. And we got to wrap it up. Colpi di Luna. Colby was bad last week Colby went 0-3 but there was a lot of weird shit to happen yeah there's also that we were due for an 0-3 we've been so hot i mine I picked the goal scorer which you never should pick before see the lineup because he didn't fucking start so he got 40 minutes not even 35 so he came close to scoring though But yeah, I mean, once I saw Kolo wasn't starting, I was like, well, my leg didn't hit, but we were already 0 for 2, so it didn't matter at that point. Yeah.
01:21:52
Speaker
So even mentioned let's get back back on the scoreboard. Back on the scoreboard. We're starting with Logue here. Logue sent us about six picks, so we we picked our high conviction pick here. Como at Roma. He's got both teams to score minus 120. I like I like it a lot. I like it as well.
01:22:08
Speaker
Although last game, I didn't just mention Como won 2-0. Roma's a different team. They've been on fire. They've been scoring goals. So yeah, I like this pick by Lokes. Minus 120. A little value there. It's a good pick.
01:22:20
Speaker
I will go next. I'm going back to the old reliable that has led me to a 57, 56% winning percentage. And that's the over because we never bet the under.
01:22:31
Speaker
And I have Inter at Napoli over two and a half. Typically in the last couple Napoli games, they've allowed ah goal in at least once a game. They can usually score one as well. And we know Inter is a,
01:22:46
Speaker
always going to have the opportunity or capability to put at least two, three home. So whereas people might think this is a defensive battle, I think goals will be scored. And I think at least three goals will be scored.
01:22:59
Speaker
Plus 115. And that's a wrap it up. I, picked this and I'm not sure why I did. ah this is terrible. yeah I've got heat and a lot.
01:23:11
Speaker
I've got you've minus one and i have a half at home against Verona as a terrible pick. It's an absolutely terrible bad dude. Verona are bad, but listen, Juve beat them earlier in the season 3-0. Juve also beat Como earlier in the season three nothing They sneaked out a win against Como the last time, like 2-1.
01:23:29
Speaker
They beat PSV earlier in the season 3-1. They lost PSV this time. uve and Juve have gotten worse since the beginning of the season, and they don't know how to go kill a game off. Like, if they're winning one nothing they're fine with being like, oh, Allegri ball, Corto Musso, 1-0.
01:23:46
Speaker
We're scared. Hopefully hopefully we win. So I hate it, but there's no way Verona can go back to bad games against great teams though. That's I feel like it could be riding. or They could be riding that high.
01:23:59
Speaker
They could be. But that brings a whole Colpia plus 688. We probably should have gone with some easier picks given that we went over three last week. But we can't do that. We cannot do that. So we're here. We're probably one week out from Slump Busters if we need them.
01:24:13
Speaker
But for now, we're going to ride it plus 688. That's it for us, guys. Thanks for tuning in. As always, follow us on all the socials at Cultural Culture FC. We're Spotify.
01:24:24
Speaker
We got video on Spotify now. It looks really good. They also figured out their audio. We're Apple pods and we're on YouTube. there's anything you guys want us to talk about, feel free to reach out to us. I know some of the listeners, but you other guys that are tuning in every week, feel free to shoot us a note.
01:24:37
Speaker
We're more than happy to talk about whatever you want. Yes, sir. Great. Greatly said there, Vose. Please subscribe and like on YouTube, especially. It helps the ah video reach more Calcio fans. Also want to give Vose a nice shout out, making all those thumbnails. Those are great thumbnails on YouTube. So attaboy, Vose.
01:24:56
Speaker
Great episode here. We will see you all next week. Do not be a God, Goots. Forza Calcio Culture.
01:25:40
Speaker
you