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Inter Milan Top Serie A | Napoli Crumble | Vlahovic Awakens | AC Milan HORROR Week | Atalanta Scudetto Charge & Much More (Ep. 497)
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From Napoli crumbling defensively to Como, poor Inter beat Genoa to go top of the league, Ademola Lookman scores a brace in the middle of war of words with Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini, Juventus win 4th straight match in league thanks to Dusan Vlahovic, AC Milan nightmare week continues in comical Torino loss, to Vanja Milinkovic-Savic saves another penalty kick, Lazio and Venezia both lose in goalless draw, and Lorenzo Lucca clownshow, Paulo Dybala wondergoals for Roma in Europa League, as well as this week's Baggio, Serie ASS and Premface of the week plus much, much more when Nima and Carlo break down all the main talking points from Match Day 26 of the 2024/2025 Serie A season.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:28 Napoli: Crumble Defensively In Como Loss
19:48 Inter Milan: Poor Performance But Win To Go Top Of Serie A
30:08 Genoa: Patrick Vieira Has Done A Good Job Since Taking Over
31:30 Atalanta: Ademola Lookman Brace In Middle Of War With Gian Piero Gasperini
49:31 Juventus: Dusan Vlahovic Gifts 4th Straight Serie A Win - Scudetto Outsiders?
01:01:34 AC Milan: Nightmare Week Continues In Torino Loss
01:19:18 Torino: Vanja Milinkovic-Savic Saves 4/5 Penalties - Ready For A Big Club?
01:23:16 Lazio: Needless Draw Against Venezia Which Helps Neither Club
01:26:36 Best Of The Rest: Lorenzo Lucca Clownshow When Udinese Beat Lecce, Moise Kean Injury Scare When Fiorentina Lose, Parma Win On Christian Chivu Debut
01:35:14 Baggio, Premface & Serie ASS Of The Week
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Transcript
Introduction & Serie A Recap
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian Football Podcast. Hello everybody and welcome to the Italian Football Podcast, the official podcast of Football Italia. I'm Carlo Garganese, joined as always by Nima Tavalli.
00:00:14
Speaker
On today's show, we will review the weekend's Serie action as league football resumed after a horrific midweek. in the Champions League for Italian teams.
Inter's Dominance
00:00:23
Speaker
A late Lautaro Martinez goal over Genoa took Inter to the top of the table as Napoli continue to crumble as they lose 2-1 at Colmo ahead of the big Scudetto match this weekend.
00:00:37
Speaker
Atalanta enter the Scudetto race though as they thrash Empoli 5-0. Juventus, like Atalanta, respond to their Champions League humiliation as they get a crucial win at Cagliari to move clear in fourth place.
Challenges for Top Teams
00:00:54
Speaker
Milan had a horror week as, in addition to being knocked out of the Champions League by finals, they lost 2-1 at Torino after another catastrophic blunder by one of their defenders.
00:01:07
Speaker
It was a bad week for all of the other top four chasers. Lazio struggle in a goalless draw. Bologna and Fiorentina both lose. And we also have our usual bad joke, Premface and Celia Ass of the week with Jamie Carragher making a hat-trick of three Premfaces in a row.
00:01:27
Speaker
For all our first-time listeners, I can't speak this morning. This is our free weekly episode as that we do every Monday, reviewing the weekend Serie action and all the biggest talking points in Italian football. If you want to support the Italian Football Podcast and receive all of our content that we do throughout the week, including a weekly Q&A episode every Tuesday,
00:01:44
Speaker
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00:01:58
Speaker
You can also sign up to be a paid subscriber on Spotify. We'll provide the link in the description. For all of you that listen on Spotify, Apple and iTunes podcasts, really appreciate giving a five-star rating.
00:02:10
Speaker
Give us a follow and a like. And also, please do subscribe to us on YouTube. um You can also become a patron on YouTube via YouTube memberships. Go to our YouTube channel on youtube.com slash it's a foots pod for more details.
00:02:26
Speaker
Okay, let's get into today's show.
Napoli's Struggles
00:02:28
Speaker
So, we'll start off with Napoli, who have lost top spot in the table. They lose 2-1 to Cuomo, which means that ahead of the big Scudetto match this weekend at the Maradona between Napoli and Inter, Inter are now one point ah ahead of of Napoli.
00:02:49
Speaker
And Napoli are really starting to to fall apart now. They are... four games now without a win. and They've only got three points in in that time.
00:03:00
Speaker
And they didn't they didn't play well at all here against Korma, certainly the second half. The first half, they they were okay. The second half, they were they were really, really poor.
00:03:11
Speaker
And um it's got to the stage now with Napoli that... Really, for most of the season, they've not been playing particularly well. They've been average, really, for most of the season. In some games, they've been playing bad, but they've been scraping wins.
00:03:26
Speaker
Now, they're playing bad and they're not getting points either. um And I think that there's a simple reason for that. It's something that i i said I've said in the last weeks, that you know eventually it's not sustainable to to keep winning by one goal by playing badly scraping wins uh and that's shown by as i said last week by the if you look at the the number of expected points that that napoli have this season um it's it's 10 points less than their actual actual number of points and that's what was the case before before this game against korma and
00:04:03
Speaker
um eventually you that's not sustainable. If you keep playing and like that, eventually you will return to the mean. That's just what happens. ah Even more so when you when you sell your best player in the middle of the season you decide not to replace him and not strengthen your squad.
00:04:20
Speaker
um And so I think that that's that's what we're now seeing with Napoli. um In this game, they just they they just they just still, as as has been the case, most they don't create enough. They they had an XG of one in this game. Their first half, they they their only chance, real chance, came from a mistake, from a terrible mistake from Koma, which they scored.
00:04:41
Speaker
And in the second half, the McTominay had a good chance and Guisa had a kind of a half chance at the edge of the area. And that's about it, really. um and But the the added issue to that now, Nima, is that Napoli can't defend now either.
00:04:56
Speaker
and That's what was keeping them going ah up until this bad run. They had the meanest defence in the league. They didn't concede at all. Now they're always conceding. I think it's six without a clean sheet.
00:05:08
Speaker
nine can Nine goals conceded in these last six games. And they're now conceding absurd goals, Milan-like goals, I call them, you know where they just gift goals to the opposition, like the first goal, which is just a comical goal. But even the second goal, the way that Carmel were able to get create that chance for DL to score so easily without even doing anything. it's And this is why Napoli are really starting to really fall fall look fall apart now.
00:05:38
Speaker
I think it's very obvious if you look at Napoli.
Scudetto Race Analysis
00:05:43
Speaker
I mean, you haven't won in four games, three draws, one loss. Very different draws if you look at each and every one of those.
00:05:52
Speaker
um The Roma game, they were pretty much in control. They were really, they was you know, they scored the first goal, they were in control. That goal by Angelino at the death really destabilised Napoli mentally, I think.
00:06:06
Speaker
Because since then, they those insecurities have crept in to what they're doing. um They're not able to, you know, that coupled with the injuries, which is forced to change in formation, there's there's insecurities now again. There's uncertainties creeping into how they defend, how they attack, how they everything about them.
00:06:27
Speaker
Whereas during that seven-win streak game, they looked much more... um certain there were certainties in everything they did everyone knew what knew what they were supposed to do everyone knew their roles and so on and so forth but ever since the disappointing january window the injuries teneres that equalizer by angelino the things that have crept into how napoli play it's it's insecurities there's an uncertainty about it and at this point in the season
00:07:02
Speaker
you should be you should you shouldn't have that. You should be pushing on. Everything should be in place. I can't remember ever seeing an Antonio Conte side from February looking this this much uncertainty and this much this many question marks around what they do.
00:07:21
Speaker
um I think and don't want to take anything away from Cuomo because I think you know we were speaking about this, that Cuomo away is not an easy game. Cuomo are a tricky side. um they can they can They can make life miserable for anyone, as we have seen.
00:07:36
Speaker
But it does suggest to me that Napoli have received a proper wake-up call now, um a big slap to the face going into that Inter game at home at the Maradona.
00:07:50
Speaker
um Whether it's a big blow to the Scudetto race or not, look, I think one thing we have to... look ah this season in particular, regardless of whether it's Inter, Napoli, Atalanta, or even Juve who come back into this race, regardless of who wins it.
00:08:08
Speaker
um I think it's evident that this season is not like the other seasons um where you had an outstanding Inter or an outstanding Napoli that just dominated from match day one to match day 30. And then one is was on cruise control.
00:08:24
Speaker
I think this is this season is a season where the first time since Sarri won the Scudetto, the team that wins it is a team that wins it with lots of question marks.
00:08:35
Speaker
Meaning the team that wins the Scudetto is the one that is over is is able to, despite all the question marks surrounding them, are able to handle this race the best out of the others.
00:08:49
Speaker
um Because there are question marks and deficiencies with all four of them. ah From in Inter to Napoli to Juve to Atalanta, various different question marks and various different insecurities and uncertainties.
00:09:03
Speaker
about how they perform and how they construct and how they build. um it's It's going to be, it's not going to be that like we we become used to where you have one clear winner. Even Milan, when they win won that 86 points, that their spring was unbelievable.
00:09:20
Speaker
You know, they amazing. They were so clear. There was just a certainty about them. Napoli, same thing there. Inter last season, same thing there. This season, it's I don't think we're going to have a high enough point tally.
00:09:33
Speaker
um compar I was looking and it's pretty much going to end. It seems like with this form, we're looking at a point tally, a winner of 82, 83 points, which is what what some of the lowest we've seen. I think the treble season, Inter won the Scudetto on 82 points, which was very low.
00:09:48
Speaker
um I think we might see something like that. um Because, ah you know, so so this is this thing is is very wide open. and And I do count Juve into that as well. I'm not prepared to write off Juve entirely either.
00:10:02
Speaker
I think it would be foolish at this point, given that if you look at where we are after 25, 26 games and how they perform, all of them, and how inconsistent they all are in their performances and their results,
00:10:15
Speaker
I think it's impossible to to say who's going to win it um at this point, but I'm not going to count out Napoli. I think there's more than ample enough time for them to recover.
00:10:26
Speaker
um And, you know, it's it's ah it's it's it's it's a it's a difficult, it's a special season. It's a very, very special season. Yeah, I mean, at the moment, it's looking like the best of ah of a bad bunch, Martin Nascretto, this season.
00:10:39
Speaker
but it is It reminds me of Sarri's Juve. If you remember, they limped over the finish line. That's the feeling I get this season. It's not like it's been since then, where you had a Milan and Juve, sorry, Milan and Napoli and Inter, who all just, they just looked so clear.
00:10:54
Speaker
when they when they storm to their troph to their titles. You're not going to get that this season. It's going to be... ah They're going to limp over the finish line. They're going to stumble over the finish line. Yeah, I mean, if we stick with Napoli on that first, um at the moment, Napoli definitely looking the worst out of the three the three yeah top the the three teams at the top.
00:11:15
Speaker
i mean Physically, this is what this is what's really poor. Physically, they they just look really poor at the moment. um Yes, they've got a few injuries, but not really that many injuries. And that that brings us on to the squad.
Inter's Performance & Challenges
00:11:27
Speaker
Napoli have got maybe two first-team players out at the moment. Their left-back, Oliveira and Neres, their attacker.
00:11:38
Speaker
um And and that's really that's that they're they're their only unavailable first players. So as soon as soon as one player is out for for Napoli, um the The player who comes in is is pretty much relegation standard or mid-table players at best. Anguissa gets arrested in this game because he's the fidelity list for for the the game against Interconte doesn't want to risk him getting a yellow card and being suspended.
00:12:09
Speaker
Who comes in? A Bournemouth reserve. Billing comes in and starts. He did okay, but you know it's a Bournemouth reserve. you know Mazzocchi, who's already you know a relegation zone standard player, is out.
00:12:22
Speaker
Politano has to play at wing-back. Conte needs to make subs in games, he has to you know he wants to try and win this game. He has to resort to a striker, Simeone, who's got two goals in two seasons.
00:12:36
Speaker
You know, this is this is this is what we're talking about with the with the squad. And, you know, I don't want to repeat myself all the time, but Mana and De Laurentiis have killed Napoli's season in January. They've killed it.
00:12:47
Speaker
selling cut I know I keep repeating myself, but it's so evident in these last matches. Selling... Kváratzkeli and not replacing him, either with a direct replacement or, as you've been saying in in recent episodes, you know just using that money to spend and the weak areas in the squad so you don't have to use Philip Billing in midfield or you don't have to use Politano as a wing-back or or you know these other players, Juan Jesus zeus as as a centre-back as he has played, not not this lot not this last game against Colmo but the the game three games before.
00:13:16
Speaker
you know, it's insanity. And I'm surprised that Antonio Conte, because you predicted, he said as soon as he goes behind Inter in the title race, he's going to let blow. I'm surprised he didn't. I think he will after this weekend. If if if if yeah they lose. If Napoli don't beat Inter and they stay behind him, I think he will blow.
00:13:33
Speaker
He will blow after that. um But, you know, is is i mean pat i mean it it looks... doesn't look good but i mean Patrick Kendrick said to me last week I don't know if you shared this publicly, but OK, I'm going to share it. He said to me that Napoli may have to soon worry more about the top four than the Scudetto race.
00:13:51
Speaker
Looking at their form, the condition, the squad... I'm not sure about that because I just can't see Juve, Milan, Lazio going on ah run, ah big enough run um to to to overtake Napoli.
00:14:09
Speaker
I think they've got enough of a gap and those teams are just not playing well enough, especially Juve and Milan. They're not playing well enough to suggest they can go on some amazing eight-game winning run or something. So I don't that.
00:14:22
Speaker
ah don't see that but I do think that... i do I do see the point that he's making, that right now, you know, Napoli, they just don't look good. Physically, they don't look good.
00:14:33
Speaker
um I mean, the first half, they were okay in this game. They had the play, they had the pressure, they were controlling the game, didn't really create much other than the goal that was scored from it from a mistake. But the second half, if you look at them physically...
00:14:46
Speaker
they were just They just looked they just look tired. theyd look They didn't have any energy. this I mean, this Napoli team looked, and it has looked in the last few games, it's looked what it is, which is an old team and a team that has no pace at all. There is zero pace in this Napoli team. As soon as you take out Neres and Kovar at Scadia,
00:15:06
Speaker
There's nothing. There's no speed in the team. So how how on earth can you can you pressure the opposition? Can you swarm the opposition? Can you stretch the opposition? You can't with this Naby team because they're too slut there's no pace in the team at all.
00:15:18
Speaker
um and And added to that is Lukaku. who really is starting to look old. I mean, he can't he can't low last longer than 70 minutes in games now. He gets subbed all the time, which I'm sure Conte does not want to do because Conte's Lukaku is so important to the way Antonio Conte's teams play and the way that he holds up the play, brifield brings others into play.
00:15:40
Speaker
Conte, trust me, Conte would not want to bring him off unless physically he he's literally just not up to it. He's not up to it. Lukaku cannot. um Once it gets to 70 mark, he's he's he's off on his feet. I mean, he's he's exhausted.
00:15:51
Speaker
It looks like he needs to go to bed. Simeone comes on and Simeone, two goals in two seasons, that tells you the story of the of the of of you know the level of replacements they have. So,
00:16:05
Speaker
Like I said before, if I'm Antonio Conte, I'm absolutely furious for for for for you know for for the January market. and And it's a shame because Napoli were in a position in January where, honestly, I think right now, especially the way that you know Inter have been stuttering, Atalanta have caught up because of because both this of the stuttering.
00:16:29
Speaker
ah Napoli should be, I think, if they'd have had the proper January, Napoli should be about five or six points clear now, in my opinion. And then now they're one point behind. yeah that's, that's how it should have gone, but it's a special season this year.
00:16:44
Speaker
It's a, it's a very special season, um especially at the top. And they are, you know, it literally is going to be the best out of a bad bunch. And,
00:16:56
Speaker
and in the sense that, like I said, they have all kinds of deficiencies, um which we're going to get to and go through each and every one of them later on. But with Napoli, the qualitative deficiency in attack is a real, real concern.
00:17:14
Speaker
I think the defensive issues, I'm not too worried about that because I think that's more just a glitch because of all the injuries that they've had and he's kind of had to tweak ah tactically as well.
00:17:25
Speaker
And his teams are not... ah Conta teams are not very good at minor changes. They have one way. They have a very structured way of playing, and in order to play like that, all the pieces have to fall but fall into their you know fall into place.
00:17:41
Speaker
Move one piece of a jigsaw puzzle, and the whole thing kind of comes out of rhythm. I think that that's the main issue here. I think I'm not too worried about them defensively. I think they'll they'll probably turn up against Inter and be outstanding defensively.
00:18:00
Speaker
um and And if they win against Inter, which is not impossible, I mean, if you look at Inter's big game record in the Serie A, it's atrocious. um And the kind of football that Simoni Zaghi plays, plays right into the hands of Antonio Conte in terms of,
00:18:17
Speaker
defending deep and counterattacking and and systematically breaking the play and going from... like Similarly to what Thiago Motta did, to what Concei Sauer's done, in the sense that you you win the ball high up, you force Inter to move laterally, and they just they they can't react after that because they just don't have the mental and physical strength this season to react.
00:18:36
Speaker
Last season was a completely different thing. This is a different Inter. So it's not impossible for that Napoli beat Inter. In fact, i i' I'm not... you know I think... If I'm perfectly honest with you, going into that game, I'm thinking at most a draw. That's what Inter should be trying to get. I just don't see them beating Napoli when they've got the Champions League coming up and they've got the Coppa Italia in midweek and they're already looking as tired as they are and they've got games coming every three days.
00:19:04
Speaker
um I just don't think he to have I think Napoli have to win this game if they if they I think if Napoli don't win this game I think we can we can probably start to think about writing off Napoli-Scanetto because I think they need they need the they they need the boost the boost that this will give them might be able to help cloud over some of the clear issues and weaknesses. momentum Give them the push, give them the mental push and then and then maybe, you know, they can they can ride the crest of that wave and and and go on a bit of a run.
00:19:37
Speaker
If they don't get that boost from this game, I think we're going to just keep seeing that these issues that we're seeing um and and and, you know, probably start to fall away, I think. um But if we talk to Inter, talk about Inter, Inter played badly as well.
00:19:52
Speaker
um they against Genoa. They won 1-0, a late, rather fortuitous goal, to be honest, from Lautaro, off a corner. um Yeah, I mean, Inter were poor, Nima, but they got the win um and they they they shut from the positive point of view, they showed, again, what I've been saying, Inter can force wins like no other team because off corners, off crosses, off set pieces, they are world class.
00:20:20
Speaker
They are, I mean, statistically, they are the best team in Serie A off corners. They've scored more goals off corners than than any team in Serie A and they have...
00:20:32
Speaker
the two best deliverers of corners in the league, in Di Marco and in Cialanoglu. And Cialanoglu got the assist. and And this just shows that even if Cialanoglu's not playing playing well and he's and he's been struggling, you know, Inter are just so good on corners that...
00:20:50
Speaker
that they're always a danger, even in games where they're playing badly and they're not creating anything. They barely created anything in this game until they go, to be honest. um And I think that this is this is a big this is a big strength that they have, I think, over over the other teams that they can force these i don't know. Look, its it is a sign of strength to win when you're playing badly.
00:21:13
Speaker
It is. There's no doubt about that. But Inter... are built to dominate. They're built to impose themselves, control the midfield, rip teams apart by movement, overlaps, you know, swarming teams, essentially.
00:21:32
Speaker
And they're unable to do that this season. um I think part of that is mainly because of mental and physical fatigue, but part of it is also the teams have learned how to defend against them.
00:21:44
Speaker
um and But more importantly, i think what Inter aren't able to do this season is that they're not able to do what they used to do in high enough speed.
00:21:55
Speaker
They do it, but it's slow. They don't have the energy. The ball isn't moving quickly enough. Um, the movements are happening is quick enough. It's like one fraction of a half a second too long all the time.
00:22:07
Speaker
And that gives teams enough chance to defend and formulate their defenses against them, which is all you need really. Because as I said, I think teams have started to find out a little bit how to play in, in Serie A for sure, not as much in Europe.
00:22:23
Speaker
Um, And that's that's a concern. And and this game against Genoa, look, I think we should give credit to Genoa. They were really good. I think they defended really well.
00:22:33
Speaker
They neutralized Inter. But then again, Inter didn't exactly make life difficult for them either. It is a sign of strength to win when you're playing badly. And given that this is such a peculiar season in the sense that there's not there's no consistency in performances from any of these teams, that could be enough to win the league.
00:22:54
Speaker
There's no doubt about that. But if I'm looking at, and and also defensively, they're looking much more solid. um They have recovered.
00:23:05
Speaker
defensively, but so so that could absolutely lead you to win a Scudetto. I mean, I remember watching Roberto Mancini's sides win Scudetti playing some of the most horrific anti-football I have seen in my life.
00:23:21
Speaker
um I've seen many Serie A team winners end up with a trophy despite playing anti-football, right? So it's not impossible. depends on the season that you're in. And this season, there is no clear.
00:23:35
Speaker
No one looks the clear ah candidate. So yes, of course, they arere they they are in a good position to win it. And it's matchday 26, and they're top of the league now. But i I look at this inter side, and I look at how they play, and it is like pulling teeth.
00:23:54
Speaker
It is so dreary and forced and just painful to watch. And you can tell that the players are getting frustrated as well. I mean, the fact that Lautaro celebrated the way that he did, like he scored the winner in the World Cup final, tells you how the players are feeling this as well. It's not working for them.
00:24:15
Speaker
It really isn't working for them this season. And right now, where you are in the season, you have to kind of let that go. We now know that Inter anno 2024-2025 is a team that is more Mourinho than it is Simon Inzaghi and Conte, in the sense that the Conte teams of in Conte's Inter team, Simon Inzaghi's last team,
00:24:42
Speaker
the two last Scudetto winning teams, they were teams who had a very clear attacking identity and they scored for fun. they They created, they dominated. This is not that. This is more than Mourinho 2009-2010 teams where they scrape through in the league and save their good performances for the Champions League.
00:25:02
Speaker
that's just That's just how I see it after 30 or however many, thirty two thirty three games. that's the inter we have It could be a something fantastic. It could end up you know being historic.
00:25:14
Speaker
But if we're talking about Inter as a where they are in their project, where they are in terms of for the future and so on, I think we really need to enter interter need to do something in the summer because it's they're looking older, the average age is higher, and it's starting to look stale.
00:25:34
Speaker
It really is. Now, like I said last week, I don't know if that means moving away from Simone. I don't know if it means moving away from whichever player.
00:25:45
Speaker
that's ah That's for Marotta and them to do their analysis and decide. I really don't know. I have no opinion on it. But what I do know is that they can't continue like this because if they continue like this, the post-treble...
00:25:59
Speaker
depression that lasted for a decade could come back to haunt them soon. They need to freshen things up in the summer. But until then, this is who they are. this is These are the players they've got. This is where they are.
00:26:11
Speaker
And they need to manage their energy levels. And that's why I'm a little bit worried when I see that Inzaghi is not going to rotate when he's playing in the Coppa Italia. And then he's got Napoli. And then he's got Feyenoord.
00:26:23
Speaker
And then he's got Monza. And then he's got Feyenoord. And then he's got Atalanta. and he's basically going on playing seven, eight starters, all of these games, that to me is suicide.
00:26:35
Speaker
but To me, that is a recipe for disaster. But again, if they get the results, winners write history. And if they would get the results and they come out on the other side, lead top of the league, beaten beat gone through to the semifinals of the Coppa Italia, beaten Feyenoord in the quarterfinals, which the draw looks really good for them, but then April is different.
00:26:57
Speaker
But I do think that it is it's it's a risk what Inzaghi is doing right now. He's risking it. And I understand why he's doing it because he feels he can't trust the others, which again, in and of itself is an indictment on the depth of this squad or the lack thereof.
00:27:14
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, Inter were very bad in this game and they have looked, like we saw in the second half of the Juventus game, they have looked like a team that's physically um flat and maybe a sign of, like you said, um a bit of an aging team, a bit of a tired team, a bit of a maybe a physically declining team. and And I agree with you over the looking further ahead of the future, where Inter go from next season. I think they definitely need to freshen up some areas of the team.
00:27:45
Speaker
um I think we've definitely seen a decline in midfield this season and that area, I know they brought in the youngster, Sujic, I don't know how much about him, how good he is. So I guess that's one player that they already have addressed there. But, you know, you look at Chalunoglu, you look at Mkhitaryan, even Barella,
00:28:05
Speaker
has been often hit and miss, I think, for quite a few years. Very inconsistent this season. Physically, very hit and miss. I would go via as far back as the Euro 2020 in 2021. I would say he's physically been up and down for a long time there, where some games he's looked exhausted, some games he's he's been brilliant.
00:28:22
Speaker
um So, you know, I think the midfield is an issue. um But if we're looking at this season, I think Inter should still win the league because... Napoli is so average.
00:28:34
Speaker
um Atalanta are so inconsistent and have a horror run coming up. I think Inter should win the league this season. and is But um I think it will also depend on Inter keeping their... I think, let put it this way...
00:28:47
Speaker
If Inter have Lautaro and Taram fit from now until the end of season, Inter win the league for me. Yeah, but Taram isn't starting though. That's that's what that's what I'm saying. If Taram and Lautaro are fit from now until the end of season, or for the 90% of the rest from now and until the end of the season, I think Inter win the league.
00:29:04
Speaker
Where Inter starts to struggle is when one of those two is out. And we saw that again in this game. Turan didn't play this game. And Inter offensively, their offense falls off a cliff because the players that come in are all abysmal.
00:29:20
Speaker
They're just all of them. Every single one of them are just not good enough. And we saw that in this game. Correa started, um did absolutely nothing. Nothing. Got injured. Taremi come on, um did a bit better. He's a bit better at linking the play and everything, but...
00:29:36
Speaker
is completely impotent in terms of of scoring or creating goals. So, Inter struggle. They struggle in attack. So, I think it's key for... If Turam and Toro both play regularly between now and then, I think Inter win the league.
00:29:50
Speaker
If not, then, yeah, we can we could get more of these kind of games, even against the smaller teams, where... without struggle to They struggle to break down ah teams, maybe, and which is what adds to what we were saying before, that it then becomes the best of a bad bunch.
00:30:03
Speaker
Right now, I still into ah i still think we'll win the league, but, you know, it's sir it was... Genoa played well. i have to say, from Genoa's point of view, um I have to say, Vieira's done a great job at Genoa. Fair play. i'll be I'll be honest, I didn't rate him um ever since I watched him go on TV before ah during yeah during the group stages of of Euro 2020. And I saw him talk the most biggest, most of rough the worst analysis I've ever seen, and where he basically said Italy...
00:30:35
Speaker
had no quality, had no lacked intensity in their team and couldn't press, which was completely opposite of what that team was at that time. And I just thought this guy clearly hasn't got a clue about football.
00:30:46
Speaker
um And from that, I deduced that this guy couldn't manage. He didn't do particularly well. I think he did all right at Crystal Palace, didn't He started okay, then he was then then they collapsed. um He's done really great at Genoa, I have to say.
00:30:58
Speaker
and off And he was one um as a player, I loved him. ah he was he's he one of the best players of generation he was he was incredible as a manager I thought he was a joke um he's done a great job at Genoa I have to say he's stabilised them he's really stabilised them in a situation that wasn't easy either I mean coming into some you know you had ownership changes and you had
Atalanta's Position in Scudetto Race
00:31:18
Speaker
you know all these other issues and they got you know they sold Goodmanson and Rettegui in the summer and and you know it was it was it was not an easy situation but he's handled it really well um but No, look, I i look at this Scudetto race and i I'm not even prepared to discount Juve from it.
00:31:35
Speaker
That's how poor I think the four of them are up front in terms of consistency. I think Atalanta are monsters in terms of chance creation and goal scoring.
00:31:46
Speaker
They're probably the best in the Serie A. They have the most potent in-form strikers. they have this Their football works the best right now.
00:31:57
Speaker
um in terms of attack, but defensively I have massive questions. um Napoli right now can't... Well, they've not really been good in attack all season. Defensively, they're cracking a bit.
00:32:08
Speaker
I think they'll address that. But the the attack is going to be a problem, even if Neres comes back. um Inter are look mentally and physically exhausted.
00:32:19
Speaker
We don't know what kind of Inter we're getting. where It looks painful when they attack. It looks like there's no energy or... geist about them. And then you have Juve, who have had a disastrous rollercoaster of a season, but are only eight points behind, with 12 matches left to play.
00:32:36
Speaker
So, and if you look at the run, i mean, it's not they don't have that many difficult games left, Juve. I mean, it's Lazio, Bologna away, Roma, or Fiorentina, Atalanta. I mean, the rest of those games are very, very winnable.
00:32:52
Speaker
I think Juve are looking upwards in the table more than downwards, if I'm perfectly honest with you. And... and it's it's It's a strange season. it's It really is a strange season.
00:33:04
Speaker
It has lots of twists and turns and they all have their problems. So I think the winner is going to be the best bunch.
00:33:15
Speaker
Yeah, Juve, I don't think we could be serious at this stage that at all, but the way that they're playing. But yeah, I mean, we'll see. we'll see and it We'll see after next week if they can close the gap a little bit. um If we talk about Atalanta, though, and they definitely enter the race.
00:33:31
Speaker
I mean, 5-0 thrashing of Empoli. It's a good response the Champions League exit after going out to to Club Rouge. um three points behind inter now two points behind napoli venezia at home next napoli play inter so if atalanta win um then their scudetto pusher position will be stronger they'll gain uh either three points on one team or or two points on two teams so um yeah that that's good but then they do have a horror run of fixtures i mean look let let me tell you this run of fixtures after that
00:34:01
Speaker
Juventus away, Inter home, Fiorentina away, Lazio home, Bologna home, Milan away. think they have Roma a few weeks after that as well. I mean, that's a horror run. It is difficult to see them put in there. But having said that, whenever we've had these horror runs by a Scudetto candidate, it feels that they've gone on and done really well. When Milan won the league, they had a horror run. They won every single one of those games.
00:34:29
Speaker
ah Napoli had a horror run. They went on a seven-win stretch, games, seven-win run. um So, you know, let's it's it's it's it defies logic a little bit this season, um or the Serie A a little bit. So we'll we'll have to wait and see. i mean But if they beat Mervenezia and Inter and Milan draw, they're what?
00:34:53
Speaker
They'll be one point behind Inter. And momentum is very important in football. Then they go into that Juve game, one point behind Inter, and then they play Inter the week after that.
00:35:06
Speaker
If it is a situation, if Inter, for example, lose to Napoli... um and they drop points against Monza, well, Atalanta could be in the lead. I mean, it's not it's not impossible.
00:35:17
Speaker
So what I'm saying is momentum matters. But yeah, they do have an absolutely horrific run. There's no doubt about that. And they're far from favorites to win it. Inter are still the favorites. There's no doubt about that. Make no mistake about it.
00:35:29
Speaker
But that, again, ties again to to my point about I think all of the teams and in the top four have deficiencies and there's no real clear front runner. I think you can make an argument for all of them, both in terms of weaknesses and also, strengths rather, and also against them in terms of weaknesses.
00:35:44
Speaker
it's It's going to be a very interesting Scudetto battle to the the next few four or five weeks. It's going to be very interesting. Yeah, for sure. um I mean, just a quick note on Atalanta and the game itself.
00:35:57
Speaker
um Rettigui scores again. 21 goals in Serie A now. Six ahead of second place. I think we can 100% crown him as the top scorer in Capacaniere now.
00:36:11
Speaker
The only thing I would say about Rettigui is he didn't play well in the Champions League this season. and No. So that's... That's the final step, isn't it? Yeah, that's the final step. Yeah, look, it's it's clear with him that he's taken huge strides this season.
00:36:25
Speaker
and And they have been huge in his overall play, ah his goal scoring and aerial abilities, you know, his killer in the box and and his heading. we know how he's always been good at that.
00:36:36
Speaker
But he's taken huge strides in his pressing, his passing, his link up, back against the goal, putting others into play. showing his read of the game, knowing when to drop, when to push forward, he working in a system, he's taken huge strides.
00:36:53
Speaker
But in order for you to become the elite striker, when it's mattered the most in the Champions League, he has come up short this season. But that's okay because he's not old.
00:37:05
Speaker
There's time for him to improve. And I'm glad in a way that he has, that he needs, that he still, that everything, that he didn't have this like magical season where everything just clicked, that there is still room for improvement.
00:37:18
Speaker
Because I believe that when you take these step-by-step improvements, I think that kind of, Makes you hungry as well. Yeah, yeah exactly. but work And keep keep makes you keep working as well. Exactly. It keeps you on your toes.
00:37:29
Speaker
It keeps you working hard. It keeps you focused. So I'm kind of glad, in a way, for the national team and for him, that maybe this season in the city are is it in the Champions League, he was a bit of a disappointment.
00:37:41
Speaker
That's good for him. But in the Serie A, he's been a certainty. And he's been, by far, the best number best striker in the Serie A. don't think if anyone comes close to him. um He's been so good at everything.
00:37:55
Speaker
Penalty taking is something he needs to work on. ah he he He overworks penalties, I feel. I feel think that when it comes to penalties, he should probably more rely on his power than he does with this kind of hop-skip nonsense.
00:38:09
Speaker
um But that's that's really just... that's talk Let's talk though, Nima, about Lukman. Adamola Lukman versus Giampiero Gasparini this week. The war that has erupted between the the manager and the and the star player. And it's not over after this game. On the pitch...
00:38:27
Speaker
Lookman scored two goals in this game, two class goals. I mean, the dribble for the first goal, the way that he put is his studs over the boot to to take it around the goalkeeper and then and then score.
00:38:38
Speaker
And then the second goal, step over to the left, finish with his left foot. I mean, magnificent. He was missed. first of all First of all, we can say that we can see how much he was missed in that tie against Club Rouge. If he'd have played both games against Club Rouge, would there have been a different outcome to that tie?
00:38:58
Speaker
I mean, we I think we've definitely seen the that Lukman, how much he elevates this Atalanta team. I mean, for me... I think there's an argument to say he's the best player in the league um this season.
00:39:13
Speaker
um I think he's magnificent, absolutely magnificent. um But obviously the big talking point is what happened this week. We spoke about it a little bit on the Thursday show, and but it's still rumbling on, whereby...
00:39:27
Speaker
in the game against k Club Rouge. Atalanta got a penalty in the second half at 3-1. 3-1 down, 60th on the hour mark. and The penalty takers are usually Retigui. Second penalty taker is De Keteler.
00:39:41
Speaker
and But Lukman... stepped up to take the penalty. He missed it. It was saved. And after the game, the game finished 3-1, Atalanta went out.
00:39:52
Speaker
And after the game, Gasparini publicly criticised, well, not just criticised Flickman, he absolutely hammered him. saying that he's one of the worst penalty takers he's he's ever seen, ah slamming him for for taking the penalty when when there's two penalty takers before him.
00:40:09
Speaker
um Lukman responded to that by putting out a statement on social media, which which I think both of us agreed was a really fantastic statement. ah very gentle. It hit every right note. Yeah, it hit every right note. It basically said how how disappointed he was, how he felt disrespected, but at the same time um said that said that you know that he will, you know he how much he loves the club, loves the fans, and that he will keep playing for them and and everything. and I thought it was great.
00:40:37
Speaker
Anyway. And then Gasperini comes out three days ago in a prega pre-game press conference or twoate two days ago and says that he's not going to extend his contract with Atalanta.
00:40:51
Speaker
It expires in June 2026, and we have to decide whether or not we continue past this season. So essentially saying that he's going to leave Atalanta, maybe even at the end of this end of the season. yeah But he also said in that same pre-match press conference that he, which is ridiculous if true, um if he really thinks this, he said that he um he didn't mean to offend Luckman.
00:41:16
Speaker
which which is ridiculous. I'm sorry. like if You can't say that he's the worst penalty taker of ah of of a player that you've ever had in your life. He can't even score in inra in training. And let's say that you meant no offence. I mean, are you are you serious? What happened is you embarrassed yourself.
00:41:34
Speaker
You made yourself look like an idiot by saying that he took a pen he took the penalty off his teammates, which he didn't, because evidently you you just confirmed by saying that, that Lukman was given it to...
00:41:45
Speaker
given the the ball to take the penalty by designated penalty takers. And he stepped up and took the responsibility. Now, the you know, you this this is what he does. that is This is why I think he can't work at a big club.
00:42:00
Speaker
he can read Everyone can read situations wrong, but when he does, he gets he he over-exaggerates. He doesn't need to say things like the worst penalty taker of a player I've ever had.
00:42:11
Speaker
He doesn't need to say these things. And when he does say these things, and it turns out that he completely got all the facts wrong, that Luckman didn't take the penalty, um from from anyone, but was offered it to by his teammates, then he can't even come out and apologize.
Lookman's Professionalism & Future
00:42:27
Speaker
And instead digs his heels in and says, no, I wasn't even offended. I wasn't offending him. I don't understand why he's offended. bla i mean, it's just, this is why he can't, this is why he couldn't work. This is why he will never be at a big club.
00:42:39
Speaker
And he can't work with big players. You can't humiliate big players like that. And Adamullah Lukman is a big player. And I think Adamullah Lukman has shown unbelievable maturity confidence class by the way that he handled this.
00:42:54
Speaker
i mean you know And also that it didn't affect his performance. because Absolutely not. He scores two goals. exactly i mean He has shown that he is a model professional, that he is this is how you behave.
00:43:07
Speaker
He has done everything perfectly. He's won this war with Gasperini by TKO. Brilliant. but just to Just to finish it, finish off, the at the end of this game, Gasparini in his post-match, again, praised, to be fair to Gasparini, Lukman and said, what an incredible player is, extraordinary player, fantastic, you know which is great.
00:43:33
Speaker
But he also doubled down by saying that you know he's he stands by what what he said in the sense that he didn't like that he took the penalty he he took the the the penalty off the off the other players, even though Lukman said that the other players were ah like Retigui and Di Ketelé wanted him to take the penalty.
00:43:54
Speaker
And Gasparini said that and he thought that a great champion like Lukman should have basically said to them, no, no, you take the penalty. Excuse me. Which is, you know. I mean, is stupid. That's stupid. Luckman, just to fit fight finish it, Luckman in his post-match to the to this gaming it's caught this game against, who did they beat 5-0? I can't even remember now. Empoli. Empoli. This post-Empoli game is so exhausting.
00:44:24
Speaker
um He was asked at the end, you know, have you you know is it all over now you buried the hatchet with Gasparini? And Luckman basically didn't answer. and then as he was walking away, he he said, finished?
00:44:37
Speaker
like question you know like Like, you know, finished? like As in, you know, basically saying it's not over between them. Of course it's not. Yeah, there's clearly issues there. won And it won't be over because...
00:44:50
Speaker
until Gasperini apologizes. And Gasperini is a stubborn old mule. He's never going to apologize. this is who he is. you know This is someone he threw Papu Gomez out of the club. he he he he He goes to war with players. I mean, this is the character he is. I mean, we all remember, I know it's funny and ha ha ha, but we all remember him getting into a into an argument with fans ah from his car throwing panini at them. I mean, it's like, this this is who he is, you know?
00:45:19
Speaker
like we've all seen that. Like, this is the character that he has. This is who he is. He doesn't admit mistakes. He's very, very Italian old school, even though the football he plays is very modern.
00:45:30
Speaker
similar to Sarri, his leadership style is archaic. I've met Gasparini and he was a really, really lovely guy, but obviously his man management with his squad is is just not it. I'm sorry, but these dictatorial things that he does and, and you know, telling say you know to telling players that they can't ride together to to work, to, you know, Mela driving, or was it Hoyland who drove nicola ah who who drove Mela to or the other way around. One of them drove the other to training, and Gasparini was furious at them for they were for they were carpooling together. That's right, yeah. Because he wanted the players to to to drive alone and focus. I mean, what the hell, dude? Yeah. I mean, it's like, who cares? He definitely has a bit of a weird weird side to him, doesn't he? Dictatorial things. I mean, what what does this mean? He wants to dictate to the players how they walk, talk, eat, breathe, drives, the sleep shit.
00:46:20
Speaker
I mean, dude... like what what what What this means, though, this doesn't change anything about Luckman's future. No, he's going to leave in the summer. Gasparini's will see. Look, Luckman, I can tell you, Luckman was always going to leave at the end of the season, yeah whatever happens.
00:46:34
Speaker
um that That's been decided. When he nearly left last summer, the PSG didn't play those games at the start the season. It was agreed with him, stay one more season, we'll sell you at the end of season. So...
00:46:45
Speaker
that this doesn't change anything that the only concern i had which i said before the game was is this going affect atalanta is this going to affect look one's performance or is it going to select the selection the the selection process of of gasparini i think we had that those questions answered it's you know it's not going to affect at all because look when is a model professional who understands is very mature and understands that he needs to deliver week on week out regardless of who the manager is and his ridiculous behavior and that he has won this war.
00:47:14
Speaker
Lukman is in in a fantastic position. He has shown throughout this entire ordeal how how a champion behaves, a true champion behaves, and his coach is made to has made himself look like an idiot and is stubborn and refuses to apologize.
00:47:29
Speaker
Lukman doesn't need to do anything. He just needs to continue being a professional, being calm, delivering in training, delivering on the pitch, And, you know, by the end of the seven then after the end of the season, if they do write history and win a true wind the Scudetto, it's like the most epic mic drop moment ever.
00:47:47
Speaker
I'm out. Goodbye. um you know I gave you ah won you the league. I won you the Europa League. I'm out of here. And that's that.
00:47:57
Speaker
Yeah, that is that. um Just finally on Atalanta, talking about inconsistency, very strange to 2025. Their record is very poor.
00:48:08
Speaker
1-4, drawn five, lost five in 2025 in all competitions, which makes it even more more remarkable. Yeah. They're back in the Scudetto race and three points off off the top of the table with with a record like that.
00:48:22
Speaker
I mean, i think that reinforces what we what we were just saying about the best of a bad bunch. and They can be three points off the top of the table with four wins in their last 14 games. I know this is all competitions, but still, just shows you how ah they're playing.
00:48:37
Speaker
And if you look at Inter, they're top of the table after losing to Juve, Fiorentina and drawing Milan. Like those important games. Yeah. Inter take four out of 12 and they're top of the league.
00:48:52
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's mad, isn't it? It's mad. But i mean, the inconsistency with Atalanta is very strange because despite ah that record, I've said that in 2025, they've had three 5-0 wins in 2025, which is mad. So but it's like, what Atalanta are you going to get?
00:49:10
Speaker
and it's It's really difficult. They've actually had, and this is insane, they've had six wins this season by five goals, but by the margin of five goals.
00:49:21
Speaker
Four 5-0 wins and two 6-1 wins. Absolutely mad. Absolutely mad. You don't know what you just do not know what you're going to get with Atalanta. um With Juventus, I guess you don't also know what you're going get with Juventus in games,
Juventus' Inconsistency
00:49:39
Speaker
let's say. Because...
00:49:40
Speaker
Juventus, the last three matches, they played one one good half and one terrible half in both games. um Against Inter, they they were were horrible in the first half and then were excellent in the second half.
00:49:54
Speaker
Against PSV, and when they went out the Champions League, they were they were good in the first half, didn't concede a single shot but it virtually in the first half, then got absolutely battered um from from in the second half an extra time with chance after chance for PSV.
00:50:09
Speaker
And then in this game against Cagliari, Juventus put in, in my opinion, their best best half of the season, in terms of performance, that is, in the first half.
00:50:21
Speaker
They were 1-0 ahead. they They should have been 3 or 4 up. They created lots of chances. they They dominated. They looked... like really good physically, they were pressing, they were putting some really good team moves together, good passing moves, the kind of stuff that we haven't seen at all ah this season. Even Vlaovic scored and and was um and was playing well after he was restored to to the line-up.
00:50:42
Speaker
um But then the second half, they just disappeared. They completely disappeared. um Apart from Vlaovic chance when he should have had the penalty, which we'll come to after, they they just disappeared. and They didn't concede any chances. Calgary created nothing. But just very strange how Juventus can go from from the difference between halves that we're seeing recently. But they won.
00:51:06
Speaker
The good news is that, you know, they've got four wins in a row. um And um even though some are are starting to to make suggestions of Scaletta, I mean, I think that's... I think that's crazy at this stage. just you know The way that they're playing overall.
00:51:20
Speaker
They're eight points off the top. let Let's wait a little bit. But what this what this weekend was was massive for Juventus is the top four race because it was a huge weekend for Juventus. All their rivals for the top four slipped up.
00:51:35
Speaker
Lazio drew... Milan lost, Bologna lost, Fiorentina lost, Juventus got the three points. It means that they move into fourth place alone. They're two points ahead of Lazio.
00:51:46
Speaker
They're now eight ahead of Milan, who who do have a game in hand against Bologna this week. But obviously that's that's not an easy game. But more importantly, this this weekend, Juventus have a home game against Verona, whereas Lazio play against Milan.
00:52:01
Speaker
So they they will gain, if they win that game, they will gain on at least one of them. And if they're lucky and that's a draw, they can gain two points on both of them. And then they are in ah they're in a they're looking like they're in ah they're they're in a in the certainly in the driving seat for that fourth place, which which has been...
00:52:18
Speaker
you know been well, all season, it's been very precarious position that Juventus have found themselves in. And we know how important fourth place is for Juventus this season because it's a financial meltdown if they don't go and get in the top four. So it was a big there was a massive weekend for Juventus. They just need to look at the ah look at it from that point of view, first and foremost.
00:52:37
Speaker
I think whether or not Juventus are Scudetto challenges or not will be decided when they win when they play Atalanta. If they win that game, their title credentials will be really put to the test in that game. If they win that game,
00:52:49
Speaker
then then we we have to say that they are in this because, like I said, there's not going to be a clear there's not going to be a clear team that wins by five, six points.
00:53:00
Speaker
This is going all the way to the wire, and it wouldn't surprise me if it's a three or four horse race all the way to the wire, the way that these teams are so inconsistent, all of them. Yeah, I mean, listen, I think there's no way that Juventus can and even start thinking about Scudetto. They need to focus on the top four, um make sure that they they qualify for the top four because that's going to be a a big battle for them. Juventus are not playing well enough.
00:53:23
Speaker
at all to think that they that that that they can the top four is going to be easy. So they and need to keep playing and they need to make sure that they win and this weekend and and hopefully, for Juve's sake, open up ah a little bit of a gap there um over Lazio and Milan.
00:53:44
Speaker
and They need to try and take the positives out of this game, which is the first half, as I said, she was an excellent performance. um And they, they the you know, Blaovic was a big positive in the in the first half.
00:54:00
Speaker
And and they need to try and avoid what what happened in the second half, which is they just stopped playing. um Physically, they don't seem to be able to play for 90 minutes at all at the at the same same pace or same level. They just completely fell away physically in that in that in that in that second half.
00:54:21
Speaker
um so So, yeah, it's a positive. It's a good response after the you know what was ah horrific, humiliating defeat to PSVs and and the the manner of that defeat, the way they got completely destroyed really from the from the second half onwards.
00:54:38
Speaker
um But, you know, there are negatives in this game. the The injuries, Juventus have had four injuries in four days um over the the last four days. The injury to to Cambiasso and to to to Douglas Luiz in the in this match. And then we had Vega um injured in the Champions League game and then also Savona's injury. So, I mean, Juventus' injury list is is now starting, think the injuries are starting to pile up again.
00:55:14
Speaker
It's a muscular injury for Kambiassi and he's so important. for Juve. It's a massive, massive blow. um so you know And also, who you know who's going to play in defence? They've got so many defenders out now.
00:55:25
Speaker
It's absolutely mad. I mean, Rui had to come on at the end of this game. And this guy is so off Serie A level. it's not it's not even It's not even... It's scary how far off the level. So he definitely can't play.
00:55:38
Speaker
um but so But yeah, Juventus get the win. um And yeah, but not really too much Not really too much to add, really, and other than that. i thought there was quite a few good individual performances in the first half, ah apart from maybe Koopminers.
00:55:54
Speaker
um and And that's it. The only other point I wanted to make was just a general VAR point um about this Vlaovic penalty. It didn't affect the game, but it's absolutely insane that this is not giving us a penalty.
00:56:07
Speaker
um He's clean through on goal. And Luperto... pushes him with two hands in the back. Blatant push. Makes no attempt for the ball at all.
00:56:19
Speaker
um Vlaovic is pushed off balance and does go down, but but after he'd you know as and after he he took the shot, which was which was safe. But obviously, the push...
00:56:32
Speaker
prevents him from scoring. um And yeah, the VAR, I think they looked at it. but Yeah, they did. it If the referee says that he's seen the situation and he thinks it's okay, there's not much. you know They can recommend on-field review, but the referee can say no.
00:56:49
Speaker
you know You have to remember that. The VAR can't force the referee to look at it. if that's what happened If that's what's happened, you know. Yeah, if they look over way by the way it... way, it's just ridiculous. It's ridiculous. laughed when I saw that because I've... Like, how... like what? It comes down to what we discussed. Like, it's... If...
00:57:14
Speaker
If the VAR has decided not to give that and it's the VAR's fault, it's ridiculous. But if, like you said, the referee has decided not to give it because he's still on the pitch... No, don't think that warrants penalty.
00:57:25
Speaker
Then it's a protocol. Then it again comes down to the VAR protocol and what what should be given and what shouldn't be given. And the VAR is supposed to be brought in to correct... you know it was insane to me how... like The reason I laughed is because...
00:57:41
Speaker
you can't... It's a proper push to the back. He's not anywhere near the ball. He's behind... Vlaovic is in complete control of of the ball.
00:57:53
Speaker
That's not just a penalty. That's a dog-soul. To me, that's a red card. Yeah, course it is. Well, it's a red card for a penalty if you make no attempt to win the which is what he did. That's what I mean. It's just... I started laughing. I was like, what? What?
00:58:09
Speaker
like That was my reaction to that. What? Yeah, it's insane. I mean, there's there's two other aspects to this. Number one, generally in history, penalties don't get given when the player doesn't go down.
00:58:20
Speaker
So the fact that Vlaovic is kind of naively honest here a little bit and tries to take a shot and score has probably cost him because, you know, if he goes down...
00:58:31
Speaker
then that that that that has to be given as a penalty. And then a red card, like you said. But he's tried to shoot and he's scored. And and and generally, you you know, historically, refs don't give penalties when the when the player doesn't go down.
00:58:46
Speaker
um So there's there's that. But it's also going against... And and we've seen a lot of this in the last week that, you know, they're trying to eliminate diving in a week where we've seen Teo Hernandez sent off for diving.
00:58:58
Speaker
Well... I'm sorry, but this is encouraging diving by not giving a ah penalty ah ah for this. Because what it's telling players is it's saying, well, see, this is what happens when when you don't go down, when you try and stay on your feet.
00:59:13
Speaker
you you you know you You don't get given a penalty. um so So really, this is a double double own goal, um I think, for... No, it was the wrong call. That's a penalty for crying out loud. It's not... It didn't matter. At the end of the day, it didn't matter. No, but it's a crazy decision.
00:59:31
Speaker
It's not a big deal. It's a big deal... No, but it's a crazy, stupid decision. It's a big deal when it affects the game, but it just hammers home like what farce VAR has become, really, in the last weeks. I think it's confused. i think it's just, think it's the the problem when you change things mid-seasons, the problem when you, when you do, when you, throughout the course of a season, when you don't have consistency and you don't seem to be able to communicate what's right and what's wrong and how you want to use it. And it kind of, it feels like it fluctuates their evaluation. And when you do that, you're messing with,
01:00:05
Speaker
with the stability of of the referees, and and the players don't know what what the what the rules are anymore, what the interpretations are. It causes chaos. It's not... They need to sit down.
01:00:18
Speaker
What they need to do, and I've said this from the beginning, they need to define... what clear and obvious error is much more clearer than they are doing now, where they say that if 10 people in a room say it's, it's the wrong decision, that's the definition. That's too wishy washy.
01:00:32
Speaker
You need to have clear protocols for one, for what constitutes a clear and obvious error, how it, how, how it works so that you basically protect the referees from this as well, because they don't, so they, they look confused right now.
01:00:47
Speaker
And it just hammers on my point that Rocky is useless. He is useless and he shouldn't be there. And the open VAR thing they do just creates more confusion.
01:01:01
Speaker
And then they punish one referee and then they, you know, send him to Serie B. And then, you know, it's just, it's all, there's no consistency to what they're doing. There's no clarity. They're not good at communicating.
01:01:13
Speaker
I really wish they would bring in someone else other than Rocky. I think he's utterly useless. I really do. I think you've always thought he was useless. And, Now, under him, it's become a complete farce. No, for sure. Unfortunately, though, it's not just a Serie It's not just Serie only. It's it's it's it's everywhere, and as we saw with the Champions League in the last fortnight, with Atalanta especially.
01:01:34
Speaker
and Let's move on to Milan, ands talking of Champions League. What a horror week for for Milan. Nightmare week for Milan. Out of the Champions League to Feyenoord and then lose to Torino. And I think that Sergio Conceicel, after the game, completely summed up everything that that I wanted to say about Milan after this match. And he said, ah quote, the last 12 to 15 goals we've conceded were pretty much all unforced errors.
01:02:05
Speaker
It's not about strategy or formations. These are things that I often wonder how they are even possible. Obviously, he's referring... um mainly, but I would even say for both goals, but mainly, obviously, for the first goal in this game, which is a a comical own goal from Tiao, who is... I think people are blaming Tiao, but I'm like, that's what's Manyan doing?
01:02:30
Speaker
Yeah, i think I think it's more on Manon, but i think it's ah a bit for both of them. A bit of both of them. I mean, Thiel's running back um and Manon's there to clear the ball.
01:02:42
Speaker
But he smashes it onto him. to try and make some effort to at least get out of the way. But at the same time, Manon should just boot the ball into touch. He shouldn't just kind of kick it straight through him. Like it like like like you're not going kick through a wall.
01:02:55
Speaker
Do you know what I mean? The ball can't go through him. Do you know what I mean? To me, that's Mignon. What is he supposed to do? Like, Tiao is trying to hold off you know to to give the goalkeeper enough time to kick the ball out, and the goalkeeper smacks it into him. Yeah.
01:03:13
Speaker
No, I think I agree. i think I think it's definitely much, much more the fault of Manuel. I see people making fun of Tiao and criticising him. i'm like, well, okay, you keep of course, there was miscommunication, blah, blah, blah. But gonna say there's nothing, what to what can he do when the ball is hit onto him? Yeah, there's there's a there's a communication issue. There's also, generally, defenders are taught that you know the last second when when this happens, you you should try and get out of the way to create a space, soon especially when he sees he's about to kick it.
01:03:42
Speaker
But yes, I think Magnon is definitely much, much, much, much much much much more... to blame than Tiel with that. I don't know why he's trying to kick straight through him.
01:03:54
Speaker
and but so But yeah, listen, and I think that that is a microcosm of Milan's season. It sums up Milan's season and it sums up even like what we've seen under Conceição. It's a mess. They are conceding not just conceding like goals like this, but they're throwing away matches with just the most ridiculous blunders and errors. Whether that's for a goalkeeping mistake from Manu on, like we saw in the first leg of the playoffs in the Champions League by against Feyenoord, whether it's an act of absolute madness from Mateo Hernandez getting himself sent off in the second second leg, whether it's defensive errors, you know,
01:04:36
Speaker
like some of the goals that they've conceded this season, like remember the game against Canary or those ridiculous blunders at the back post, crosses at the back post, you know, it's, or whether it's a Gabby a blunder in that game against Dinamo Zagreb, it's, um you know, or whether it's just self-inflicted with, you know, you have a penalty and and and you you steal the ball off your penalty taker and then they miss it.
01:04:59
Speaker
You know, the most inexplicable, just ridiculous mistakes that are cost in Milan, often in games where they are clearly the best team. In this game, in the first half, and Concey Sears said this, Concey Sears said at half-time,
01:05:14
Speaker
Torino hadn't even had a single shot in the entire match and were 1-0 up. And that kind of... that That did, that sums up... I mean, you look at the overall game in this match.
01:05:25
Speaker
They had 26 shots, Milan. They had an XG of 2.3 to 0.36. so naught point three six They miss a penalty um in this game. Vanya Milinkovic-Sovic who will come to was making miracles.
01:05:39
Speaker
Yet they lose this game because because of themselves. because they just They throw away points. They throw away games. yeah So it's not about strategy or formations. I agree with Conceição. The reason why Milan probably have 10 points less than they should have this season, because not because of strategy or because of formations, or even necessarily because of you know, Leal can't fit into a team. No, it's got is bigger than that. it's bigger this This isn't about Leal's inconsistency. this isn't a This is bigger than that.
01:06:09
Speaker
I think it's got to do... my my I put the blame squarely at the strategy of since Pioli left, where they have gotten everything wrong in the sense of how to construct a team. they have they they It's so confused and muddled.
01:06:29
Speaker
they They have players... The fact that you have this many individual howlers and cartoonish individual howlers, and it keeps happening over and over and over again, to me, that is... a that's that's on how you've built the squad.
01:06:45
Speaker
There's no coherent squad building here. That's what I believe. This isn't... that I put it on that. The fact that there's confusion at Milan.
01:06:55
Speaker
ah milan The players are confused. They don't know what what what what they're supposed to do. They've had three coaches in less than nine months. doing three different things. Players have been signed in September who were sent out in January.
01:07:07
Speaker
They wanted to send players away like Royale. They couldn't because he injured himself because he was playing when he was already in talks with... i mean, it's just it's it's chaos, complete chaos.
01:07:19
Speaker
And that kind of confusion, i think, is just why Milan are so inconsistent. There's no clarity and how they want to on how they want to play.
01:07:31
Speaker
the the The construction of the squad is a mess in terms of, again, confusion. And that's why it looks the way it does. this isn't you know This isn't about Teo Hernandez fake diving, getting sent off. This has been going on all season. They do they make they make cartoonish mistakes.
01:07:53
Speaker
to the point where you're wondering if if if this is a if this is for real. So I think he's absolutely spot on. I think his analysis of that i i saw that... I saw him saying that, and I was like, yeah, I agree with that.
01:08:07
Speaker
It's a comedy of errors. And they they concede comical goals time and time again. and I just i don't understand.
01:08:18
Speaker
i mean, is it because... is Have we reached a point with Milan where you have to say, okay, you need to clear out the sporting ah but people in charge of the sporting project, bring them bring new people in, and those people who are in, you have to give them the chance to clear to fix this to fix this squad. Is the squad mentally so broken and broken?
01:08:44
Speaker
Overall, I mean, not every player, but overall, is the construction of the squad so poor, mentally so broken that you need to clear them out? You can't salvage this. I don't know.
01:08:55
Speaker
I really don't know. But I think after after this season, you talk about Juve having a nightmare season. I don't know what to call what Milan have gone through this season. It's been weird. Like, high highs, winning the Supercoppa,
01:09:09
Speaker
you know coming back at the death, showing grit and desire, and then then this these kinds of matches and performances where, like you said, like Constance Gisela Torino were in the lead without having a shot on goal.
01:09:25
Speaker
It's like... it just sounds That's what I mean. It sums up Milan's season. and i actually you know i had the little i was studying through like Milan's games under Conceição. A lot of games, that they've they've they' they've had like really they've really dominated games under Conceição and not won those games. and You think, how the hell did they not win win those matches? and I include finaled.
01:09:46
Speaker
in that game as well. Absolutely. You know, this game, there was another one where they drew 1-1, wasn't it? and Towards the start Conceição's reign as well, where they completely dominated and they're the next G of like three or something and didn't win. There's a lot of these games. um So I do feel like, yeah, it's...
01:10:04
Speaker
They've not, maybe not got, they definitely have got not got as many points as they deserve based on the performances because of, you know, these just inexplicable. Brain farts.
01:10:14
Speaker
Yeah, brain farts. Like meltdowns. Like where they are in control of a game and you're just waiting for them to score and then someone loses their mind.
01:10:26
Speaker
Gabby and Moussa in the Champions League. that that like That game was a game that Milan should have won. had they won it they would have been in the top eight.
01:10:38
Speaker
you know like And then you have Mignon's howler and against Feyenoord. And then you have Theo's breakdown and in and that the stupidity he did there and in the return leg when they were in complete control.
01:10:54
Speaker
Like these these kinds of things, they break team mentally. When you are this much better, but someone loses their mind and gifts away wins and points like that, this this can this can break a team mentally.
01:11:09
Speaker
This can break players mentally. And that's why I bring up the point about complete overhaul of the project and both the technical staff and the the playing staff.
01:11:22
Speaker
Because... it it makes no sense. There's no logic to this at all. Yeah. Now, this is a very, very important week for Milan.
01:11:34
Speaker
Bologna and Lazio, they need six points. If they don't take six points, I'm ready to say that they're out of the top four.
01:11:44
Speaker
Definitely they need four, I would say. They definitely need four. need six. Because it's not just... It's not just Lazio. It's Juve. They've got Fiorentina ahead of them. Fiorentina are falling behind.
01:11:58
Speaker
They need to beat Bologna. i brings them on 44. They beat Lazio. They go equal with Lazio on 47. They need to be equal with Lazio. Otherwise, i struggle if they even overtake Lazio. I struggle to see that they do that.
01:12:11
Speaker
they they knew This is a very important week for Milan. Yeah, it very important. way they need to try they need they need to i mean They'll be level on games. They've been playing catch-up a lot because because of the fact that they yeah they they've always had this game in hand.
01:12:25
Speaker
um But they're eight points behind Juventus. So you know they they they definitely they they definitely need to to to close that gap. They could they can't be... At the end of this week, they can't be, let's say, six points or more behind Juventus. Otherwise, yeah, it is going to really be a very much uphill struggle to get fourth place.
01:12:44
Speaker
And you need fourth place, as we've explained. because Yeah, but for Milan, it's not a disaster because Milan are much better financially run than all the other clubs except for Atalanta and Napoli, who are actually really well run.
01:12:57
Speaker
But the other compared to the others, Milan or actually they can they can survive one season outside of the League. They can survive it financially. But if we're talking about the sporting project, you know everything that comes with it, keeping your best players, keeping everyone happy, attracting top players when they're not in the Champions League, you know it just it just puts the project back, doesn't it? And also… It adds to all the chaos off the pitch and the you know club, the fans who are chanting for Cardenale to sell every single game and and and and all that. I mean, it's you know then it's the coaching situation. Yeah, this comes to self-continue.
01:13:32
Speaker
It puts the project in in disarray. you know I mean, actually, yes, but Sporting, We bought and we got be in a situation in June where Milan bring in a fourth coach in 12 months.
01:13:43
Speaker
Yeah. If that doesn't tell you that the sporting directors and the sporting the technical staff in terms of the sporting management side have failed, I don't know what what what will.
01:13:54
Speaker
Because regardless how you feel about Zlatan, how you feel about Jerry, Jerry Cardinale and Redbird off the pitch, if you have four coaches in 12 months, you have failed in your recruitment.
01:14:07
Speaker
There's no ifs, ands or buts about it. It's as simple as that. Yeah.
01:14:14
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely absolutely <unk>s absolutely. There's no, that there's no, there's no, no arguing about that. Pulisic penalty miss. Pulisic was really poor. Obviously a bit of controversy this week about here. but We've seen denials about his relationship with Conceição and stories that the two don't, the two don't get on that. Pulisic even wants to leave the club. If Conceição stays past the summer, Pulisic denied it. um The club denied it.
01:14:42
Speaker
Um, And so, yeah, that that's should be the end of that. But obviously the performance on the pitch was not good. um And I think his performances have suffered under Conceição.
01:14:54
Speaker
He hasn't been the same player under Conceição that he was before. And I think that's also... you know partly the the decision to sign xiao felix as well has has complicated his role and where he plays and and his status in the squad and and that isn't working out either the homehel felix um again in this game we saw some great flashes and moments in this game it was one fantastic bit of play in the first half him and rinders when when uh jimenez went through what went through and he did one really great kind of del piero curler from the the the corner edge that the
01:15:28
Speaker
Willinkoic-Savage made a great save. but The problem with Gio Felix is it's always isolated flashes, isolated moments.
Milan's Needs & Criticisms
01:15:36
Speaker
We don't get enough of him consistently during games and we certainly don't get any substance. Since that debut goal against Roma in the Coppa Italia, he's got zero goals and zero assists.
01:15:48
Speaker
um And this is this is the problem. you know um z Felix, we need substance from him. Milan needs substance from if they're going to get in the top four, they need goals and assists from Gio Felix.
01:16:01
Speaker
a great bit of skill, a great flash here, a great moment there. We need substance. We need numbers. um We need big goals. We need big moments, you know, and we're not getting're we're not getting that. um And so that adds, I think, to the Pulisic issue and it adds to the kind of, yeah, like what does Conceitcel do terms of, you know, he tried the Fab Four again in this game.
01:16:26
Speaker
It didn't really work. Yeah. They, they got the equalizer when they threw Rinders when Rinders moved into his proper position, we then started to see Rinders play at his best. He nearly scored another goal.
01:16:39
Speaker
Um, And he's equalised with a great finish. So, you know, Concey Sal also has decisions now going forward. Does he stick with Gael Felix? Does he stick with the Fab Four? Which of these Fab Four misses out? um It all adds to the kind of, guess, the confusion of of what, you know, where Milan are and what what they do going forward.
01:17:03
Speaker
I saw something, i'm not sure if he actually said this, but one of these Italian journalists, Fabio Ravizzani, said about Joe Felix that he's as handsome as he's useless, which is ah bit too far, I think, in terms of criticism.
01:17:26
Speaker
Like, you can criticize ah players' performances, but I feel that you cross a line when you go into these kind of personal attacks.
01:17:37
Speaker
um But I wouldn't go so far as to say that he's useless, but I would go as to so far as to say that so far in his career, we've not seen him be able to express the talent that we all kind of expect him to have. He's not concrete um in front of goal in the sense that he doesn't deliver the numbers in terms of points and goals.
01:18:03
Speaker
um He kind of falls off. Like you said, he has a great start and then he falls off. um And like you said, flashes and moments. But I think the problem is, i think they've killed, i think Milan, the goal The road to redemption for Milan goes to Reinders.
01:18:24
Speaker
I would build around him. And everything else, i would build around. i would accommodate him. I think Reinders is the one... is the is If I was to bet on a horse to guide me through this, I would go with Reinders.
01:18:37
Speaker
i would i would I would build around Reinders. And if that means... you know sacking other players and and getting rid of other players, then I would do that because I think Reinders is good enough. I think he's important enough and has shown that he's is qualitatively good enough to be able to lead this Milan.
01:18:52
Speaker
um Playing Joao, Felix, Jiménez, Leao, Pulisic and Reinders just means Milan aren't balanced so far we've seen. And that causes insecurity and uncertainty in a team that has these mental collapses and brain farts.
01:19:09
Speaker
And that's the last thing min al Milan need, if that makes sense.
01:19:14
Speaker
Yeah, ah for sure. um Like
Milinkovic-Savic's Potential
01:19:17
Speaker
you said, big week. I do want to um ah do want to talk very quickly about Vanya Milinkovic-Savic for Torino, who was an absolute monster in this game.
01:19:30
Speaker
He saved the penalty from Pudisic. which means that he's faced five penalties this season and he saved four of those five penalties, which is absolutely astonishing. But it wasn't just that.
01:19:44
Speaker
He made world-class saves in this game from Jimenez in the first half where fingertiped it over. From Rinders in the in the second half, these are two shots. but that's The Rinders one, he's going the wrong way and he saves it.
01:19:57
Speaker
um Those have got shots that would have beaten 90% of goalkeepers, I think, in Serie A. He's having an incredible season. He's statistically the best goalkeeper in Serie He has the the highest...
01:20:11
Speaker
um how do I describe this, the the highest ah differential between the number of goals Torino should have conceded this season compared to their expected goals against um of over seven.
01:20:28
Speaker
So Torino or Milinkovic-Savic should have conceded seven goals more than they have this season. and um Thanks to Vanya, Milinkovic-Savic, they've conceded over seven goals less.
01:20:40
Speaker
um And that is astonishing. That's the best record in Serie A. and for a goalkeeper and I think that says it all and performances like this says it all actually I think four of the top ten performances of the season for but goals prevented in a game are Milinkovic-Savic and he's first as well so I mean he put in a clinic in this game he's ready for a big club isn't he Nima Yeah, I think we can say that he's ready for a bigger club than Torino for sure.
01:21:12
Speaker
um I still have some doubts. I don't think he's as bad with his feet as some make out. No, think great with his feet. I think he's good with his feet. Yeah, his distribution is good, but I'm thinking of teams that want to build from the back, if you know what I mean. um um'm i'm a little bit I want to see more before I say something there.
01:21:31
Speaker
But I do think he's he's geekye's good with the ball at his feet. I've seen some criticize him and say that, you know, he's he's not too good at blah, blah, blah. um um I don't share that criticism. i I want to wait and see before I make a i make a kind of call on that.
01:21:43
Speaker
But I do think that he's been consistently the best goalkeeper in the Serie A. I think so this season. I think he's been astonishingly good. um head and shoulders above everyone else. And to be honest, I think he's been underrated for quite a few years now in the Serie A as a goalkeeper. This season, of course, he's taken it to a different level and he's definitely ready for a bigger club than Torino.
01:22:05
Speaker
Question is where does he go? Personally, i think Napoli should be looking at him because I don't rate Mered. I've never rated Mered. um And I think Vanya Milinkovic, the character he has,
01:22:19
Speaker
um the the fiery character he is and and the way that he dominates his box. And I think i think Napoli should probably go after him. I don't see Inter doing it.
01:22:30
Speaker
he doesn't i don't think he fits the character of what they're looking for with Josef Martinez there. And you know they they just spent quite a bit of money to bring him in. They got Jan Sommer there, who they still believe in.
01:22:42
Speaker
Milan got Mike Mignon, and they want to extend his contract. You got Diego Gordio at Juve, who they just bought. i And then, of course, Atalanta have got Karan Ezecki, who also is is incredible for making meant mental saves that no human being understands how he makes them.
01:22:58
Speaker
So you remove all of those, maybe then then it's like, okay, well, Napoli, if they finish in the top four, they should probably go for him. um and Or Lazio, if Provadel is having a, which we've been talking about, he's good enough. Well, let's talk about Provadel's Lazio then.
01:23:17
Speaker
But yeah, I agree with you. I think he is ready for for for a bigger move. Yeah, well, let's talk about Provadel's
Lazio, Lecce, and Controversies
01:23:22
Speaker
Lazio. They draw nil-nil against Venezia. Draw that's really no good for either team. Venezia needed a win desperately in the relegation fight and that there they well they fall further away because from the relegation fight. Actually, some of the other rivals won this weekend.
01:23:40
Speaker
as we'll come to. But Lazio needed the win for the for the top four. and they Now they fall two points behind Juventus. And just like all the all the other teams in the top four, or even all of the teams at the top, really, apart from Atalanta and Juve, very poor performance. Lucky to draw. i think the first half was tight.
01:24:00
Speaker
No chances, really, except for a big D, a chance. Second half, Venezia completely dominated. They missed a number of chances. They fluffed so many transitions in this game, Venezia, where Lazio, I don't know, they lost the ball so many times in the centre of the pitch, allowing Venezia to to to to break on them like four on four. And Venezia kept fluffing it so many times because theyre their attack is just not very good.
01:24:25
Speaker
um Yeah, Lazio, for the first time, after after us jinxing them, praising them how physically good they look this season... um They physically looked really flat in this game, really flat.
01:24:37
Speaker
um And they really fell away in the in the second half. I don't know if it was just a case of, yeah, finally, yeah, all these matches caught up with them. um Don't know if it was, yeah, they missed Ravella in midfield, I think, probably. They couldn't really control and construct control and construct the play with them without Ravella.
01:24:55
Speaker
um And maybe missing Castellanos, his help in like building up the play. Castellanos and Noslin really struggled. um Yeah, just just maybe just an off day for Lazio. Everyone has them now and again.
01:25:09
Speaker
Just really poor. Venezuelan should have won this game, in my opinion.
01:25:14
Speaker
It's hard to disagree with you there, but i'm I'm surprised about what happened, that Lazio struggled as much as he did. um they they I mean, the second half particularly, Lazio had a lot of possession, but they didn't create much, didn't create anything.
01:25:33
Speaker
um But it's ah it's it's a weird one. I didn't expect Lazio to do that. But then again, you know we have to be kind to Lazio in the sense that this is you know they're kind of overperforming.
01:25:43
Speaker
um No one is expecting them to push for a top four position. No one expected them to win the league stage of the Europa League. um and And they're actually in a good position to go farther. And and I hope that they do.
01:25:55
Speaker
I've got this manifesting the Derby della Capitale final in the Europa League into reality. And now they're on the opposite ends of the draw. So I need a Lazio-Roma final ah in the Europa League. And and if if Roma don't make it, well, I hope Lazio go all the way. I like their draw. I think they you know they're overperforming and they're playing well. And um you know sometimes there's going to be a reaction. Like you said, everyone's going to have an off day.
01:26:21
Speaker
um but it's ah But I'm surprised that it came against Venezia. um I really am. but that that That I'm very surprised by. I expected them to kind of win this game rather comfortably without...
01:26:32
Speaker
too much problems, if I'm perfectly honest. Okay, um rest of the weekend fixtures. Lecce nil, Udinese won. Let me just pause on there because I in ah an incredible incident with Lorenzo Luca where Udinese won a penalty, which I also want to say is a ridiculous penalty.
01:26:49
Speaker
Drives me mad that these penalties get given where, you know, the arm across... And at least so the Serie A referee came out and said it was a bad call. but ah So at least they agreed it was a terrible call. But ridiculous penalty for the arm across the player.
01:27:05
Speaker
and It's in his face. Yeah, absolutely mad. No, but it's in his face. Like you can't, you're fighting for the ball and you put the arm into a player's face. Yes, Lovridge exaggerates the contact. There's no doubt about that.
01:27:19
Speaker
But you can't, yet you're you're you're responsible for your feet and your arms. And if you put your arm or elbow into the face of a player, of another player,
01:27:30
Speaker
and he goes down, the referee doesn't see it, VAR picks it up, the referee looks at it, there's always going to be one outcome there. Well, again, it's down to natural movement of a player. that that in that In that scenario, it's a completely natural movement. If we're given a penalty for that... If we're given a penalty for that, we're also given a penalty for the for the ridiculous Hien one um as well.
01:27:50
Speaker
I don't think so, because the difference is with Hien is that Hien's got... He's first to the ball. He's holding off a player. They're not fighting for the same ball. Hien's actually... in control of that ball and he's pushing away the player.
01:28:02
Speaker
um So there is, the the the issue there is that did the contact warrant enough of a penalty? Well, it doesn't because his fingers isn't in his in the opponent's eyes. It's towards his face and it doesn't warrant a penalty, that contact. Here, they're fighting for the ball and you use your arm in ah in ah in a wrong way to gain to gain control and win that battle by going to your opponent's face.
01:28:26
Speaker
Yes, again, Lovric completely exaggerates and rolls over. He could have rolled all the way to the Nile for all I care. It doesn't matter. The contact is there. You can't do that. And they are referees are You know, listen.
01:28:37
Speaker
The referees are told to protect the health. That's a completely natural movement. When two players are battling for the ball... It doesn't matter if it's natural. You're not allowed to put your arm into the face of an opponent. Well, listen.
01:28:49
Speaker
I've said that. you know Everyone knows my opinion. I think it's ridiculous. All I'm saying is also the referee came onto DAZN and said it was ah it was the wrong call from the the official representative. so But they want to protect they want to protect the the health, the the safety of the players, which includes the face and eyes. They don't want eye gouging.
01:29:07
Speaker
So they're told to... to two two to to to prioritize these things to prevent that from happening. Again, is Lovridge exaggerating the contact? Of course he is. Anyone can see that. It was a Neymar rolling.
01:29:22
Speaker
But still, the contact is there. they're He's not in control of the ball. They're fighting for the ball. He puts his arm in his face. Lovridge goes down. And the referee didn't probably didn't pick that up. The VAR did.
01:29:33
Speaker
there's always There's only going to be an one outcome from that. So don't think this is an outrage. Not according to the referee representative and the same. So that just adds to the confusion because he said it was an incorrect call.
01:29:45
Speaker
So, you know, what what do you want me to say? So that adds even more confusion then because then we don't know what what is enough contact or what is the constitutes and and what doesn't constitute.
01:29:57
Speaker
yeah and and But if you compare to the Heian thing, Heian is in control of the ball. Nilsson isn't anywhere near him. He's trying to get himself into the ball. Heian pushes Nilsson away and there's contact to his face. that's That doesn't warrant enough. The is that we don't know, but we don't know based on the law. You you know what I think. I think it's an absolute disgusting that penalty can get given for something that's a complete natural movement for anyone that's ever played football.
01:30:19
Speaker
But okay, there's the law. The law is the law. But based on the law, we don't know either because the official referee is coming on to and TV and saying it was the wrong call. And then we have the Hien one where we're having referees come on and and also be a little bit confusing as well. I saw that the referee representative go on to CBS and she wasn't really quite clear either on whether that should be a penalty or not. and And so what is a penalty for these kind of people? Yes, there is there is confusion here. I think it's, ah and again, I think it all goes down to the protocol of the VAR, what constitutes a clear and obvious error, what doesn't.
01:30:53
Speaker
And they they they're not clear in their communication. this wasn't even the most controversial aspect of this penalty, now was it? No, no. I mean, Lorenzo, look, that is one of the most embarrassing things I've seen on a football pitch.
01:31:06
Speaker
Like when Biol is there yelling at him to stop behaving like a child because Tovan is the designated penalty taker. And he just, Alexei Sanchez talks to him.
01:31:18
Speaker
Tovan talks to him. Biol talks to him. I mean, everyone in this everyone except for this Udinese president spoke to him to kind of get him out of this. And he doesn't give a damn.
01:31:29
Speaker
Buries the penalty, good penalty, and then he's substituted off three, four, five minutes later. It was it was it was it was a cartoonish cartoonish phase. and And Runiaic correctly took him off because you can't piss on your teammates like that.
01:31:47
Speaker
you know it it was It was really, really, really an embarrassing situation. It was genuinely cringy. um Even the Lecce players were like... but so Even them were trying to take the ball away from him and save him from himself. Like when your opponents are trying to save you from yourself, maybe that should be ah a sign that you should probably re-evaluate your actions and your decisions.
01:32:13
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. But he didn't.
Fiorentina's Issues & Verona's Strategy
01:32:15
Speaker
The last two games, quickly, Parma 2, Bologna 0. So a win on the debut for Christian Kivu. um for on the bench of Parma. Very important win for them in their relegation race.
01:32:25
Speaker
A blow for Bologna in the top four race. And then Verona won Fiorentina nil, which was a very late goal. Three defeats in a row for Fiorentina since that 3-0 win over Inter.
01:32:38
Speaker
And their top four hopes now, they they're starting to fall away from the top four, which is kind of what was always expected, to be honest, what I always expected. um But more... Strangely, the January signings haven't been working. On paper, they look good, but they're not working, those January signings. They seem to have destabilised team, if anything, those January signings.
01:33:00
Speaker
um But the most worrying aspect was the Moy Sakhin incident, wasn't it, Neymar? I don't understand why he wasn't taken off immediately. Yeah. I don't understand since when like head injuries are serious.
01:33:15
Speaker
Yeah, the Fiorentina medics and doctors are getting a bit of a hammering over this decision to set him back on. Yeah. I mean, if it's a head injury and you saw how he looked, he didn't it was looked like a concussion.
01:33:30
Speaker
Yeah. Swelling on the face as well. which is yeah and he didn't look good at all. I don't understand why he was back on.
01:33:39
Speaker
yeah To me, this is mind-boggling. i don't understand what happened there. and And I hope he's okay. I hope he doesn't get any serious like issues from this because, i don't know, man, and and the collapse afterwards and it's Fiorentina again. like You think of all the clubs in in Italy or the world that would be on top of these situations, it would be Fiorentina after what they've been through, no?
01:34:02
Speaker
Yeah. yeah Exactly, yeah. Mad. Yeah, mad. It really is insane. i hopeful It was horrible scenes. I didn't like that at all. It really gave a lump in my stomach watching that.
01:34:13
Speaker
Yeah, hopefully yeah hopefully he's going to be he's going to be okay and everything. It's obviously not heart-related, so that's and hopefully he will make a full recovery and everything. um right But Verona winning that is crazy.
01:34:27
Speaker
Yeah. Like, yeah, they're they on 26 points now and they're ahead of Cagliari, Lecce, Parma. I mean, they're going to stay up, aren't they? I mean, they just keep doing it.
01:34:40
Speaker
How do they keep doing it? It's, it's mental. It's, it's, it's like, like I think it was Patrick who said on the Q and a pod that like every season Verona, look at the, look at the teams below, look at all the teams and they go, like okay, two, at least two of them are going to suck.
01:34:54
Speaker
Yeah. They're going to be at the bottom. All we need to do is be better than one more and we stay up.
01:35:01
Speaker
And they keep doing it. I think it's it's extraordinary to me. It really is. Yeah, for sure. Okay, let's finish off. Roma Monza, by the way, on Monday evening. Let's finish off with Baggio, Premface and Serie A of the week.
01:35:15
Speaker
So, Baggio, very simply for me, I'm going for Paolo Dybala.
Dybala's Brilliance & Broadcasting Woes
01:35:20
Speaker
Two magical goals in what was a horrific week in in the Champions League. Roma did save it a little bit for for Italy.
01:35:27
Speaker
and Gave us something to watch, at least, for the rest of the season. and magic Two magical goals from Dybala in that game, out of nothing. They're losing 1-0 as well to Porto. It looks like they might go out. And then he two brilliant goals. The first that plays the 1-2 and then outside of the boot. But the second one was vintage Dybala. A bit like his goal against Barcelona for Juventus, a famous 3-0.
01:35:50
Speaker
ah Very similar to that. Picked up the ball in the the right channel, left foot, whipped it in near post. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. and Amazing to watch. and Also because, and I tweeted this, because, you know, Paulo Dybala, these kind of players are a dying breed. We just don't have these kind of fantasistas, these kind of magicians, number 10s, these players can score goals out of nothing. That...
01:36:11
Speaker
you want to watch the game just for them. They're individuals and we just don't have these players. They're all just robots and runners and pressers and, you know, system player players. Yeah. And and so Dybala is 32 this year. Yeah. He's not going to have that much long left.
01:36:26
Speaker
and And obviously he's not the same player he was, but he can still produce moments of genius like this and just cherish it now because... Absolutely. But I've got to say, Athletic Bilbao next round is a Tough, yeah. Very tough game, yeah. If they can go through from that, then then then then i'll you know then then then we can start dreaming of a... Yeah, if they go through that, then we can start thinking of the of them getting to the final. yeah Yeah, with and hopefully against Lazio. Derby della Capitale final. Very tough, because they're six points off the top of La Liga.
01:36:58
Speaker
Athletic Bilbao. They're having a great season. Yeah. And if I'm not mistaken, isn't the final of the Europa League played in... Bilbao, yeah. Yeah. So the the refs won't be giving Roma any favours. Ranieri's going to be... Ranieri's going to be going off on Roberto Rossetti again. The Rossetti wars will rage on.
01:37:17
Speaker
if if if Roma ah feel that they are treated in ah in a disadvantage. Rem face of the week, Nima. It's Jamie Carragher again, three times in a row. A hat trick for Carragher. She used to just name this the Carragher of the week. I mean, at this point, he had a bit of a had a bit of a shocker. He's being absolutely destroyed. And and this the funny thing is,
01:37:42
Speaker
The funny thing is that Michael Richards tried to save him, but he wasn't having it. Like, Michael Richards did his best to save Jamie Carragher. He even says, I mean, they're on, I think it's on Sky Sport, they're talking about Mohamed Salah and whether or not he should be in the conversation for Ballon d'Or and so on and so forth. And...
01:38:02
Speaker
Carragher says something that, you know, along the lines of, yeah, but he doesn't play in in too many big competitions. Okay, Champions League, Premier League, but the AFCON is in a big tournament or whatever he says, or a big enough tournament or um or a major tournament.
01:38:16
Speaker
And Micah Richards literally tries to save him by saying, just to be clear, AFCON is a major tournament because otherwise you're going to get criticized for that. And he just moans and scoffs at him.
01:38:28
Speaker
And Sky Sports have just cut that out, that entire clip out, that part out from there the the thing they put on YouTube. It's just this guy, man, this guy.
01:38:42
Speaker
Yeah, Jamie Carragher. um Serie A's of the week. We've got quite a few. Lorenzo Luca, as discussed. Gian Piero Gasparini, as discussed.
01:38:53
Speaker
Serie A's Champions League ah humiliation, as discussed. As discussed. Last Thursday. And then finally, the best of all, though, which we can we can discuss now, Serie A TV rights, which everybody knows is a complete shambles.
01:39:10
Speaker
um And it it reached a new low this week because we have been getting numerous complaints from Serie A fans in Australia as they're basically the last few weeks been at best...
01:39:26
Speaker
struggling to watch Serie games, at worst, just unable to watch them full stop. and Because the games on the on BN app are just, the app is barely workable right now. it's it's is it's The games keep ah cutting out, freezing. The app keeps, it's fuzzy, it's going down.
01:39:47
Speaker
um It's impossible for them to so even contact anyone to to to correct it. There's no one there's no one to contact. um And yeah, Australian Serie A fans who already get up at stupid o'clock watch these games. Yeah, they're literally on the other side of the world. like they Like it's already difficult for them to enjoy these games because of the time difference.
01:40:08
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Especially as a lot of them are Juventus and Milan fans and and it's not been pleasant getting up at early in the morning to watch them recently and then you can't even watch them at all.
01:40:21
Speaker
Yeah, is this has been going on for a few weeks now and no one can seem to get... get get a get hold of anybody to correct me. They're desperate. So they they're reaching out to so people like us. Like, what the hell do we do? we were trying We can't watch the games. There's no one to contact. I mean, 2025 and there's no customer service in 2025. You cared about your product. you made sure You make sure that this doesn't happen. You you put guarantees in place that there is You don't just sell it off and then don't care about it anymore because you understand that you need to protect the image of your product, but they don't.
01:41:00
Speaker
They don't care. they they And after everything that happened with B in sports and Qatar and the the deal in the Middle East and North Africa region, I mean, of course they're not going to care. Qatar don't give a damn.
01:41:14
Speaker
um So, who own being sports, by the way. So it's, ah no, this is this is just, it's a mess. that All of those TV deals need to, it's like at this point you need like a crisis commission to come in, an external commission to come in and review the entire TV deal structure of the Serie A.
01:41:34
Speaker
outside of Italy, including inside Italy. Like basically just go through it and say who did what, how and when, and how do we fix it and start over again. It's it's an absolute mess. Yeah. And also just, just, just to go into more detail here.
01:41:48
Speaker
I mean, yes, we know that obviously Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the big problems they've had there and that as a result, you know, Qatar, and you know, they, they, they don't care at all. BN don't care about Syria at all.
01:42:02
Speaker
But, from ah From a Serie level, first of all, they should be, yeah again, like we said last week, they should be um looking at who they sell the TV rights to because if they can't but on but on put on a good show, i mean, if they can't even show the games, which is the basic requirement, then that's a problem.
01:42:18
Speaker
but Wait, maybe don't piss off beating sports in other deals and then sell them the deals in other areas. Do you know what mean? like Well, yeah, but listen, that's that's that's, yeah, for sure. That's the bigger picture. But, but I mean, if you if you're in charge of Serie A TV rights, you know, Ana Guanario and her team and the teams the people that are in charge, right, what are they doing to monitor all the markets that have and all the companies that own Serie A rights? What are they doing to monitor it.
01:42:48
Speaker
Because they surely have to be aware that in Australia, people haven't been able to watch the games for weeks. What they doing? Do they even know? Do you think they even know? bet they don't even know. I think they know. So they should be on top of this. But also, obviously, first and foremost, being they should be on top of it. They should, you know, it's their product.
01:43:06
Speaker
And if people were paying to watch Serie A, then they're responsible. First of all, they should be able to watch it. But if things go wrong, and occasionally things will go wrong, occasionally. I mean, I never see it happen in England, but okay, this is the rest of the world.
01:43:20
Speaker
If something does go wrong and you can't watch Serie A Australia, then BN need to fix it. And they need to have customer service that theirre people... you know, contact them to report, you know, things that are going wrong, that they should be able to be, be you know, and the they haven't even been able to contact them, let alone try and fix it.
01:43:38
Speaker
But also, Serie A, Ana Guanario and her team should be monitoring this. They should be aware. And they should be kicking the asses of being in sports and saying, look, you know, you bought the TV rights and you're not even showing it.
01:43:52
Speaker
But the... And it least it's not just here. I've seen... I also saw this this weekend um in a lot of complaints in England. People couldn't... Yeah, the one football. One football, yeah. They couldn't watch the game one football either, so... Yeah, I saw that. There was... The the the the videos looked like like they were like Nintendo 8-bit from when I was a kid.
01:44:13
Speaker
yeah That was the graphic level, the imagery. But um this is what, you know... Do know what it looked like? It looked like ah One Football, ah the one the One Football ah app this this this this weekend. It looked like, you know, like about 30 years ago when you used to record like a movie on a on ah on a on a VHS cassette and you've watched it so many times that it... You've worn it down. you worn it down and that you get lines coming across. That's what it looked like.
01:44:41
Speaker
It looked like VHS 1992. Yeah. which is which is very... It's kind of right in in character and on brand for the Serie A and how it's marketed.
01:44:52
Speaker
um But it's... um it's ah I just feel that if this were the Premier League, they would have been on top of it. They would have demanded answers. They would have cared. They would have been on... like like It would not go to that level. like Or if it if it something had gone wrong, they would have...
01:45:10
Speaker
They would have addressed it. Honestly, I can't. i mean, I don't watch every single Premier League game, but I can't even remember this ever happening in not in England. Anyway, I can't ever remember like you not being able to watch a Premier League game yeah or even being not being able to watch, a um you know, so another game that but say Sky Sports, for example, are showing in the UK. I can't remember that ever happening.
01:45:34
Speaker
um because they're professional and they're competent. you know I can't remember that ever happened. They also take care of their product. They care about their product. They care about their product all the way from production to sell to sale to marketing to delivering to the consumer because they understand that they have to be involved in all of these different steps. otherwise Because at the end of the day, regardless of who buys your product, it's your product.
01:46:02
Speaker
you know The Serie A, So if B in sports or whoever buys a rights, they can just dump it the next cycle and go somewhere else. You're the one who has to take care and and care enough to make sure that your product is is is sold, marketed, presented in the right way so that it continues to be attractive.
01:46:25
Speaker
You know, that's how it has to be. And, and, and it doesn't, doesn't seem like that, but the Serie A does that, unfortunately. As for reasons we've explained a million times, and I'm frankly getting tired of talking about it.
01:46:36
Speaker
If I'm perfectly honest with you, I'm fed up of talking about this incompetence. It's, it's cartoonish and embarrassing at this point. It's just 2025 and we're, we're, this is, this is where we are. I mean, yeah,
01:46:50
Speaker
sorry but it's just i'm fed up i'm as fed up with this as you are about talking about the stadium no i know i know but it's it's this is just genuinely hilarious it's just the thought that you know yeah people the seriab fans in australia are like paying to watch seriab and then they can't on an app but that that doesn't have customer service and doesn't work And I mean, I don't know what to say. To be fair though, I do think that in 2025, generally customer service all around the world is at a record low. It's awful. Like if anything ever goes wrong, like with, with no one's in charge to call a call service and they're always like based out in, you know, in another country where they can't even speak language.
01:47:30
Speaker
And then, and then, you know, you never, it's impossible to, to, to get any, any customer service generally. But, you know This is different though. this is this is you know You're paying for a private service here, I guess you could call it, couldn't you? And and you can't even you know you're paying for and you can't get hold of them.
01:47:47
Speaker
It's just crazy. You would think that you you know people care more about what they're selling and and the product. And the fact that they that it's on B in sports after what happened with those TV rights where B in sports were on the war path, literally on the war path,
01:48:04
Speaker
feeling that they were treated like mistreated by the Serie accepting a lower money offer for MENA, for the Middle East, North African region, prompting them to essentially vow that they're never going to work with Serie A again.
01:48:18
Speaker
and they still have their... I mean, it's just... ah It's so cringe.
01:48:23
Speaker
It's so cringe. The whole thing is so cringe. Yeah, for sure. Okay, let's leave it at that. and We'll be back for later in the week for Q&A. Until next time, ciao, ciao.