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Scudetto Chase: The Battle Continues (Episode #45)
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Vos, Motts, and Logs are back to break down a chaotic week in Serie A, headlined by Atalanta’s stunning 4-0 demolition of Juventus in Turin. It was an embarrassing display from Juventus, who looked completely lost with no clear tactics or shape. With players out of position and no identity on the pitch, serious questions are being asked about Thiago Motta’s ability to lead this team forward. On the other hand, Gian Piero Gasperini put on a masterclass, proving once again why Atalanta remain one of the most well-coached sides in the league.
Milan may have beaten Lecce, but the performance left a lot to be desired. Vos believes it was their worst showing of the season, and Logs takes the opportunity to publicly apologize to Stefano Pioli for doubting him. Despite the win, there are still major concerns. Pulisic came up big in a clutch moment, but Rafael Leão’s decision-making in the final third continues to frustrate.
Napoli took care of business against Fiorentina, but the bigger story might be how little resistance the Viola put up. Meanwhile, Inter’s 3-2 win over Monza was another example of their impressive squad depth. Even with some key players underperforming, Arnautovic stepped up when needed, showing the value of a deep bench.
Roma managed to grind out a 1-0 win over Empoli, but it wasn’t without its moments of frustration. Some shocking misses from Pellegrini and Shomurodov could have been costly, but a great finish from Soule masked those mistakes. The good news for Roma is that they continue to pick up points while rotating key players, and Ndicka’s quiet consistency at the back has been a major factor.
With Serie A action heating up, European competitions take center stage as Italian clubs prepare for decisive second legs. Inter head into their return match against Feyenoord with a 2-0 aggregate lead, looking to finish the job and advance in the Champions League. In the Europa League, Roma hold a slim 2-1 advantage over Athletic Bilbao, while Lazio take a 2-1 lead into their second leg against Viktoria Plzeň, knowing there’s still work to be done. Fiorentina, meanwhile, face an uphill battle in the Conference League after a 3-2 first-leg loss to Panathinaikos, needing a strong performance to keep their European hopes alive.
Looking ahead, Matchweek 29 is set to deliver more drama, and the crew locks in their latest Culpi di Luna picks. Can they bounce back after a tough stretch? Tune in for all the latest from the world of Calcio, and be sure to follow @calcioculturefc on X, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
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Transcript
Introduction and Scudetto Race Overview
00:00:06
Speaker
Ciao tutti, welcome back to another episode of Calcio Culture. This is your host Vos, joined by both my co-hosts Logs and Motts. We just concluded match week 28.
00:00:17
Speaker
The Scudetto race is in full swing. We had a lot of crazy results this weekend. Some huge comebacks, some questionable comebacks, and some drop points up and down the table. But in any case, we are here and we're ready to talk about it how are you guys doing?
00:00:31
Speaker
Ciao, Baisons. We've certainly come a long way from three weeks ago when we said that this was a one-horse race for the Scudetto. So things are certainly at full heat. The oven is earned, and there are a lot of teams on the outside looking in.
00:00:48
Speaker
ah Hello, hello, hello. Back with the new equipment again. Love it. like the ah Like the sound quality on the last episode. ah So we're giving it another go here, obviously, because it's new equipment. So we're going to give it a go every time.
00:01:01
Speaker
um But other than that, I'm good. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't watch a ton of games this weekend. Had the sister's wedding. Congrats, congrats. Yep, that was a large success. I'm going to go ahead and toot my own horn here.
00:01:13
Speaker
Did a very good job officiating that wedding. So, yeah. Still a good weekend. Not for me, but not for my sister. But not for you, Ventini.
Mott's Wedding Officiating Offer
00:01:24
Speaker
If you need an officiator for any weddings coming up, you know where to find Mott's at all of our socials.
00:01:31
Speaker
CouchelCultureFC, X, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Come get him. Come find him. He's ready. thinking... my I was talking my family, maybe $100 per wedding. Easy, quick. It was like 12 minutes.
00:01:45
Speaker
It's nice, 100 bucks. Cheap, right? I'm getting married soon. but you do joke shot again All right, for of the case,
Current Standings and Team Analysis
00:01:59
Speaker
Mott said it.
00:01:59
Speaker
Not a good weekend for the Juventini. We got to talk about the table. That's what we're going to start with before we get into it, because there has been quite a few moves, some points, all over the place. Things are getting a little hairy.
00:02:12
Speaker
So kind of three groups still, I would say Scudetto chasers, middle you European spot kind of guys, and then kind of the rest of the the folks there.
00:02:22
Speaker
we're going to start with Scudetto chasers one, two, and three. We got three points separating everybody right now. Interim first on 61, Napoli in second on 60, and Atalanta, who we are going to talk, who we are going to talk about on 58 points third.
00:02:36
Speaker
third We thought they might be falling away. They certainly have not. Same thing with Napoli. And Inter just haven't been able to pull away quite yet. And we thought they maybe would with some of the games they've had.
00:02:47
Speaker
I can go here. I was definitely wrong. Not Inter's race to lose. Very much Napoli's in the race. I still don't know if I believe in Atalanta, although they just mercied my squad.
00:02:59
Speaker
But they have a tough, tough run of games coming up. I still think it's inter's race to lose, but based on inter when what we see week in week out, they very well might lose this race.
00:03:13
Speaker
Is it wrong to say that on their best day, Atlanta is the best team of the three on their very best day now enter on their best day for me still? Yeah, it's really at Atlanta off the park the first time they played and we got that game coming up and I don't see that going any other way.
00:03:31
Speaker
and it's just crazy It's crazy, though, that the Atalanta ceiling is where it is, and they consistently underperform that. But they still are in this race. I can see i still see them finishing top two. Or do they overperform? I mean, you have to think about it. Atalanta's wage bill isn't nearly as much Inter any of these teams. So you can argue that they underperform, but can also argue that they constantly overachieve as well. Yeah.
00:03:55
Speaker
I don't know. I don't know if the wage bill has anything to do here. I still think that their ceiling is incredibly high on any given weekend, and they consistently don't meet up to that expectation. They obviously did this weekend, but I do think that they have the ability to finish top two here, and I think one of these teams falters.
00:04:11
Speaker
How are they underperforming then if they're in third place, three points off to Scudetto? Because they easily could be in first. I mean, you could say that about we know that they underperform their XG all the time.
00:04:22
Speaker
All the time. Yeah, but this season of the Serie A, I think you can say that about literally almost... every team that's in like the top five, I would say like if they had a couple games go their way that didn't, they they're looking in first place just because it seems like this year the Serie A, the team's just, no, you don't have a perfect team. Everyone has their faults and they're very clear faults and they they those faults allow them to be beaten any week.
Juventus' Struggles and Manager Debate
00:04:50
Speaker
So I think you could say that about every team. That was most that was that was really well stated mods. I fully agree with that. And that is exactly summing up what we've had to see that nobody's perfect.
00:05:01
Speaker
There's some great things that everybody's doing, but nobody's quite there. Like we enter was last year, like enter was perfect last year is the only way to describe it. and Nobody's there. this year. ah But moving it on, it's like the European competing spots.
00:05:13
Speaker
it's it would It's a stretch to say any of these are in the Scudetto race, I would say. so we're probably going to know four four, five, and six are starting to go out in a place of their own. We have Juve and Forz in that last Champions League spot on 52 points, Lazio in fifth on 51, and the Bologna on sixth on 50.
00:05:32
Speaker
Interesting group here. i Any of these teams could still get into that fourth spot for me. We saw Juve stumble this weekend. We saw Lazio stumble today on Monday. And we saw Bologna get it done in a game where they, I think early season Bologna probably draws that game.
00:05:47
Speaker
But they've kind of been snowballing into a better and better squad. So that went interesting. you guys want to talk about that? you me going here? Roll it on. roll In seventh, we have Roma. They're four points off of the sixth place spot.
00:06:00
Speaker
Eighth, Fiorentina. one point behind Roma, Milan in ninth, one point behind Fiorentina. That's an interesting three, group of three right there, because I think Roma is the best looking team of everybody. Milan is probably the worst looking of all of them.
00:06:13
Speaker
And then Fiorentina kind of in the middle, maybe stumbling after this weekend. I'm not exactly sure. Fiorentina's had a rough run. And this is the second time this season they've kind of gone into the spiral. Granted, they they were missing their two best players for a couple of weeks. They are now back. And we're going to talk about that a little bit.
00:06:30
Speaker
But for me, I only see Roma having a chance to really break in. I would even take it a step further and say Roma is the best looking team out of from four to nine.
00:06:42
Speaker
i agree. Roma is one of the hottest teams in all of Europe. Forget Syria. I mean, they're they're certainly one of the hottest teams across the continent. And what Ronnie e is doing out there is just something out of out of a book that I have not read because this is incredible.
00:06:57
Speaker
Yeah, the game I would love to see, i don't know, if actually, i don't even know if it is happening, but Roma Bologna would be a really, really interesting game. think those are the two best teams in this group. ah but're Moving on, we're kind of a no man's land beyond there.
00:07:08
Speaker
I go into the bottom part of the table. Monza, dead last. They are 10 points off of relegation, but they're pretty much dead, I would say. Venezia, five points out of relegation in 19th place.
00:07:20
Speaker
And then Empoli has that third spot right now, 22 points. Ahead of them is Parma with a two-point cushion. Then Lecce, three-point cushion. And then Verona with a four-point cushion. And Cagliari, Tyler Verona, also four-point cushion.
00:07:33
Speaker
Still dangerous down there. This could still go down to last match day. Any updates from you guys who you think is going down? Because I believed in Emily, but I don't know. They've been really bad, and Verona has started to pick it up again. Like when they had that nice bit of form at the beginning of the season where they were a little bit more open, scoring some goals. They look good.
00:07:54
Speaker
And I still think Cagliari is better than these all these teams, but they haven't pulled away yet. Well, what's interesting to me is Venezia, three straight draws. And when you're at that that portion of the table, a draw is means a lot more than a draw at the top of the table. and And when you look at the bottom five, there is one win across those five teams in the last five weeks.
00:08:19
Speaker
So getting draws consistently could get you out of a spot there. Empoli playing as they are have been absolutely horrid. Parma can't seem to get get the job done, even though they are the one with the one win. And I still think Lecce is dog shit.
00:08:31
Speaker
I really do. But that's my my take here is it's Monza going down. Empley looks like they're going down. They have not played well in months. And I still think Lecce goes down. Venezia to pull out a miracle and stay stay in Serie A. Drake gets it done.
00:08:50
Speaker
i defended Venezia adamantly at the beginning of the season. And they're starting to do right now what they did at the beginning the season. Just impossible to play out at Venezia. and i know They're just not going to, they're going to revert.
00:09:02
Speaker
Like they lost all their, that like several of their best players in January. So I don't think they're going to, they basically committed to going down is what I had read January as.
00:09:13
Speaker
So I'm not going to, I'm not going to sit here and say they're staying up. I kind of like Lecce going down for whatever reason. I just don't believe in them. I also think those jerseys that are so ugly, so we'd love to see those go down.
00:09:26
Speaker
I kind of really want Empoli to stay up just so it's not even worse looking for Juventus that they lost. It's already bad enough that we lost to their C team. But then if we lose to their C team and they go down, it's just an even worse look.
00:09:41
Speaker
so But I also want Venezia to stay up. But I don't think that they can. And i Logan, I think I see what you're saying with the draws, but it's too little too late for them. They need to get wins because they didn't win any games in the beginning of the season. If they had wins and now they were getting draws, I think it'd be much more helpful than what it has been these last three games.
00:10:02
Speaker
I'm just saying the form at the bottom of the table, it doesn't take much to start moving up some spots. If Venezia get squeaked out a win in the last 10 weeks, That puts them even with Empoli.
00:10:14
Speaker
Parma can't seem to get out of their own way. Parma's staying Parma's staying up. I'm telling you, Lecce is bad, which makes this past weekend even worse. But Lecce is bad.
00:10:27
Speaker
Except for Kristevich. Shout out Kristevich. Nine goals this season. Yeah, they're bad. But let's get into match week 28. That was the table, guys. Just want to give you a little preview because it's important for the discussion this week.
00:10:38
Speaker
So match week 28. The game I'm going to start with is probably the match of the weekend. Atalanta at Juventus. I think we all expected fireworks in this game.
00:10:49
Speaker
ah don't know about Mott. He might be scared of every Juve game that goes on now. But ultimately, this was an absolute bloodbath. Atalanta played Juve off the park 4-0. Four different goal scorers for Atalanta.
00:11:02
Speaker
Matteo Rategi, Martin Darun, Davide Zabacosta, and Adamala Lukman. bad game for you right the thing is terrible game so i watched this game i watched the replay of this game knowing the score first 45 minutes i actually thought you've eight didn't look terrible and then one they didn't look good i'm not goingnna say they look good but they didn't look terrible then one goal went in and you could just see these guys are so mentally weak that they just fell apart and they could not compete from that point on the penalty
00:11:35
Speaker
Penalty. Penalty? Yeah, but Rategi had the penalty in the 30th minute, which is when the floodgates opened. I mean, this just goes back to what I kind of said against the Napoli game, the PSV game.
00:11:50
Speaker
There is no identity, no clear leader. What Mata's... modeta philosophy like what do we think it is besides keep the ball as long as possible because that's all they did this game and it wasn't it was wasted possession it was side to side it wasn't it wasn't direct it wasn't north to south at all it was literally just let's pass it side to side side to side you couldn't see a style of play none
Atalanta's Success and Gasparini's System
00:12:18
Speaker
of the guys knew what knew what they were supposed to do and how to how to do it mateo on the commentary constantly said this and i very much agreed
00:12:27
Speaker
Why is Nico Gonzalez playing on the left and Yildiz playing on the right when Yildiz's preferred position is on the left and Nico's preferred position is on the right? Doesn't make any sense.
00:12:38
Speaker
Coop Miners get subbed in. They subbed in at right wing. That is clearly on Mata right there. So what's on Mata is
00:12:49
Speaker
doesn't did clearly did not relay the message of how important this game is. Juventus wins this game, they're in the race. I never, ever said Juventus was in the Scudetto race. I still don't think that Even if they won, they would have been in the race, but they would have at least like you could have pretended like you could have sold like, hey, we actually have a chance.
00:13:07
Speaker
I don't I never thought we had a chance, but you need to. So number one, didn't relay how important the game was. Number two, no desire. Right. No one out there wanted it at all.
00:13:19
Speaker
Number three, what one person did. Oh, do glory one there was one player that he wanted it so bad. Number three, no style of play. Nobody knew what to do. No patterns of play. No nothing.
00:13:32
Speaker
Number four. I don't need no chances created. Like, what are we like? It was one of the worst games I've ever seen. And it's hard, hard, hard to sit here and defend him because all of like, we're out of every competition now. Copa's done. Champions League's done.
00:13:48
Speaker
Serie A done. Super Cup out of that as well. So just overall for Thiago Amado's first season as Juventus manager, very poor and it's hard to defend him. I really don't want him to be sacked because you can't we're just going be doing the same thing right with sacking a manager every year.
00:14:10
Speaker
he can't get his philosophy in. The player's got to relearn. um So I don't think that we should, but they These guys don't know what they're supposed to do on the field. So that's a at this point in the season, you have to at least have a style of play, which we don't.
00:14:23
Speaker
And then just to take it one step further, I'll let you guys go. I also put a lot of this blame on Junetoli pushing out whoever he wanted and get making sure he bought the players he wanted. Nico Gonzalez is a pure example. Why did you push out Chiesa and then buy Nico when Chiesa is a better version, right?
00:14:40
Speaker
um and and so on and so forth. So ah key Lloyd Kelly's another one, right? Dean Hoyssen, you sold, I don't know why, promising young center back. And then in the summer in the wintertime, we needed another center back. And then you went and bought Lloyd Kelly, who,
00:14:55
Speaker
look If you watch Lloyd Kelly play, he actually doesn't make a vertical pass. He only passes it backwards or sideways. And he's not a good defender. And so I put a lot of it on Junetoli.
00:15:07
Speaker
I put a lot of it on Mata. And I put a lot of it on the players. It's just very, very embarrassing. Poor performance overall. Bad, bad, bad. Question for both of you. And, Lokes, I'll let you answer first. I think we've all been on defending Mata.
00:15:21
Speaker
You're not sacking him this year. He should be around next year. At what point does that change? Because now it's been a long time and it nothing has really improved. The thing that you can point to is they've lost two games in the Serie A this year.
00:15:36
Speaker
But for me, this was a this was a little bit of a head-turning moment where I was like, okay, maybe he's not the guy. Because the way Juve set up in his player selection and the way that they played, it was almost like he had never watched Atalanta play before.
00:15:50
Speaker
They were just set up to be counterattacked nonstop, like two guys back. And it's just, you know
Milan, Napoli, and Inter Match Highlights
00:15:56
Speaker
exactly what Adelanta want to do. And he just played into their hand beautifully.
00:16:00
Speaker
And this is what happens when you let Adelanta do their thing. They just destroy you. you it was just shocking to me. So just want to get your thoughts there. yeah Yeah, I just want to do a quick review of the goals because I think it'll lead into where I discount some of this. But first goal penalty, not McKinney's fault. He's kind of flailing.
00:16:19
Speaker
i mean, you're just naturally your arm is going to be out there trying for balance. It was a handball. That's a penalty. Ritegi still doesn't know how to take penalties. I'm not sure that that was a great penalty. Slotted it home. Fine.
00:16:30
Speaker
Then there was two goals where that could have been saved. It was definitely a great penalty. do You were going to guess the right way. had a great jump and you put it right in the corner. I've seen better. Pulisic had a better one.
00:16:41
Speaker
In any case. Then you have the Lloyd Kelly turnover and Dusan makes the best pass of the season to Luckman. So those those are just pure turnovers.
00:16:52
Speaker
Vlahovic slipped. Kelly's bad. the second the The third goal was actually quality. I mean, in back yo when you have two Atlanta defenders combining for a goal like that, that's when you know it's not your day.
00:17:06
Speaker
So, okay, in my opinion, one real goal from a tactics point of view But this was the first game that I've watched Juve where 100% of the issue starts with Mota.
00:17:19
Speaker
And player selection, player positioning, it so he doesn't know where to put these guys. Cambiasso is certainly one of their best players, if not the best, on his best day.
00:17:30
Speaker
And he can continuously putting in so deep in that formation. I think, you know, Vos, you've said it the most. He's way better up the pitch and can be a defensive liability. He doesn't want to play back there. Stop playing him back there.
00:17:44
Speaker
Lloyd Kelly, bad. Injuries, fine. You have to play him, but he said he should be nowhere on the pitch. Yieldies, Nico Gonzalez, they probably should switch sides. And then the most frustrating thing for me, which Matt's already said, Kuhminer's playing off the right explicitly, not not him floating, him explicitly playing off the right is maddening to me.
00:18:02
Speaker
So from a player management perspective, this sits entirely on Mota. And it was the first time where that was the most apparent problem for Juve this season, in my opinion. So this was first day where I'm like, does Mota get sacked? And to answer your question, if they don't finish top four, I think there's the conversation has to be had.
00:18:22
Speaker
If they don't finish top four. Now, again, made a big jump coming from Bologna, even though Bologna is good. Made a big jump coming from Bologna to a big club like Juve. So that's one challenge in and of itself.
00:18:35
Speaker
Dealing with a ton of injuries, which we talked about at length. Bremer being the best center back when he goes down. Nico Gonzalez being in and out of the ah lineup. Yieldiz wasn't healthy the entire season.
00:18:47
Speaker
And obviously, Kalulu is an injury prone at any given time. He played a little bit this game. So... With all that, you still should know your players and know their strengths and played it none of them. this None of them.
00:19:02
Speaker
So if you don't finish top four, this is a game you can look back on and be like, yeah, that's why he got sacked. Yeah, I mean, so even if they do finish top four, I could see it happening, unfortunately.
00:19:15
Speaker
But the the conversation, to answer your question, Boz, that conversation has already started happening inside Juventus. Reports are saying that they're thinking about firing him or sacking him.
00:19:25
Speaker
Juventus have almost never sack a manager in the middle of the season. I know we're towards the end of the season, but they don't. let a manager go until the season is over. The first time they did that was like with Allegri last year and it was like one or two games left.
00:19:41
Speaker
So I don't and don't see it happening until the end of the season. But they are talking about it. There's talks that like Conte's in the mix. There's talks that even Gasparini's ah potential name for Juventus.
00:19:55
Speaker
I was seeing on Twitter that Max Allegri is back in the in the and the pool. And it's just classic, classic Juventus with these names besides Gasparini. But Conte's been like we constantly move on from somebody and then come back.
00:20:10
Speaker
Now, I know Conte, it's been over 10 years, so it's a little different, but seeing Max Allegri in the in the mix, it's like, what are you doing? Who is really in charge here putting out these names? Because you constantly do it. It makes no sense.
00:20:28
Speaker
I have nothing else to say. I mean, I i think Matt has had a terrible year. He clearly doesn't do what's needed to be done in terms of talking to the players, setting them putting them in the right position, having them understand his style of play.
00:20:42
Speaker
I don't remember how Bologna looked the first year under Mata. I'm sure it wasn't what they did last year. Give him more than one year to two to be with these players and have his ideas and whatnot take effect. i It's really tough to judge him on one year. That's just my opinion. I don't want to see him sacked, although I don't think he's doing a very good job at all.
00:21:05
Speaker
i'm a little bit I'm a little bit on the other side of things. i I think it's fine. I think it looks bad because in the last month, they got knocked out of the Copa Italia a game they definitely should have won, which I don't think is fully on him because the players are just good enough to win that game. like you Your squad should be able to beat Empoli, period. No tactics involved, just on pure skill. You've got to get that game done.
00:21:29
Speaker
The Champions League one was tough on everybody. I think all these are these are just piling on top of each other in last month. But fourth place with basically an entirely new squad. You have two losses in the league.
00:21:42
Speaker
i It's just tough for me to justify sacking somebody off of that. ahn for like I agree with that, but the Juventus fans and the media won't frame it the way that. yeah though The way they'll frame it is $150 million dollars spent in the transfer window.
00:21:57
Speaker
You finished. You won the Copa Italia last year, and now you're you didn't win that, and you're you finished in fifth last year, but you're not having the same year. So that's how it will be framed. The other thing that I just want to point out is this really reminds me of Vincenzo Italiano early Fiorentina.
00:22:16
Speaker
Did a lot of things well, kept the ball really well, and could never really score. like and they there was There was a base there, and they slowly got better and better and better, and now we see what Italiano is fully capable of.
00:22:28
Speaker
So you got to give them time. And I just, I still think it's crazy that this is a conversation right now, but I mean, that's just me. What I didn't, what I didn't like in this game was that there was no adjustment to dealing with Atalanta.
00:22:41
Speaker
Like I would have loved to see him play another center back in this game at either right back or left back to just kind of help deal with that. Because Lokes, I know you said that Juve kind of beat themselves, but it's also Atalanta brought the game to them, pressed the shit out of them. They had 19 So I don't think you can sit here and say Juve just beat themselves. Atalanta didn't do it enough.
00:23:00
Speaker
Atalanta just beat the shit out of them, I think. And in Mata did not set his team up for success with his team selection and playing a traditional right winger at right back in Timway, who's been great there all year. But this isn't the game to do that. And the same thing, Kambiasa on the other side, you're just setting yourself up for failure.
00:23:19
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I'm um the biggest proponent of not sacking managers after X amount of time, especially within one year, unless it's catastrophic. But the thing that all I want to touch on is, okay, they only have two losses and 13 ties.
00:23:34
Speaker
But unlike a lot of these other teams in the table where it's more of this game could have gone their way, those ties for the most part, and shout out Paolo, at this point today, most of those ties should have went against Juve.
00:23:50
Speaker
A lot of those have been dropped points through and through. And so I think that's a huge difference when you look at the season from a of A perspective. i don't, I wouldn't want to sack Malta. I can see why they do it if they don't finish top four, but I'm trying to figure out why Like, are we biased because of the name Tiago Mota that we shouldn't be sacking him? If this was another name out there, would we be more so inclined to be sacking him?
00:24:15
Speaker
I'm not sure. I do think that there's a little favoritism here because we love this guy and he's thoughtful and his time at Bologna was tactful and a beautiful rebound of a team. so I'm just curious if if there was a different name at the helm today.
Roma's Impressive Form and Future Stars
00:24:30
Speaker
would it be a different story? was Allegri, I'd be stomping my feet to get him out of there. ah you But wonder that's the difference. that That's the difference. This is an evolution of Ube. And we said this at the very beginning of the season.
00:24:42
Speaker
They're playing in a different way than they played for the last 10 years, right? Like 10 to 15 years. And there was always going to be speed bumps and getting to this new level where you're this kind of creative, open team.
00:24:54
Speaker
Like they've never really been that. But i first of all, I want to address something Logan said. This in no way, shape, or form could have bounced Juve's way. We had one shot on target, and that came in the 88th minute of the game. Sure, they had some cheapo goals, but that that was a domination.
00:25:11
Speaker
Then to your point, Bo, it's like, I agree it's different. There's gonna be road bumps, but what Mana lacks is, and Logan kind of said it, ability, and even you, ability to prepare differently or use his players differently in specific games. It's the same thing every single time.
00:25:29
Speaker
And even with the same thing every single time, they still don't know where to be and how to play. And so it's just like you have to react. You have to be proactive rather than reactive. And he's not even reactive. And when he is um he's not reactive, he gets them wrong every time. He gets it wrong every time. So that's where I think his his faults are and where he needs to improve. Also, what I will say, and then we'll switch it.
00:25:50
Speaker
Maybe the bologia Bologna is just good, right? Like, sure, they lost Zerksane, California, but they got players that work together very well. So they have a team that meshes where I think maybe Juventus doesn't have that as well.
00:26:03
Speaker
Should talk about Atalanta though? Yeah. Atalanta. Let's talk about Atalanta. Because i I think this was a very stark contrast to what we're saying about Tiago Mata. In this game, there was no CDK. There was no Brescianini. There was no real creative player.
00:26:18
Speaker
And Gasparini basically went conventional 3-4-3, played quadrado at a wing, which we haven't seen for probably six years, back to like his very early Juve days. and it worked extremely well. i mean, Lookman and Quadrado were playing very wide, and it just created a ton of issues for them, like very simply.
00:26:38
Speaker
And they were just countering with a lot of guys that were pressing. The man-to-man marking absolutely destroyed Juve. They had no way of dealing with it, and they were winning the ball back high up the field, and what happened? 19 shots on goal. Like, this is what Atalanta does on their good day, right? On their bad day, they'll maybe score one or two goals when they should score four.
00:26:58
Speaker
On their best day, they score all their opportunities. And this was just a pure demolition. They snuffed every Juve attack. Colin Mwani, was basically non-existent this entire game because every time he got the ball, they would just shuffle him outside and then just double team him.
00:27:13
Speaker
And just nobody had a chance to do anything. And they were so comfortable sitting low against Juve, knowing that Juve weren't really overly creative. And then the second they won the ball, the entire team would run forward and that was it.
00:27:27
Speaker
But they were, yes, they were comfortable sitting low, but they were even more comfortable allowing Juve to play out of the back. They they were like, please play out of the back. And it got to the point where, like, there was no option for Di Gregorio to pass to anybody. So it would be like...
00:27:44
Speaker
Kelly would obviously pass back to Diego Goya because that's all he does. And then Diego Goya would literally sit there for 30 seconds with the ball at his feet, not know who to pass to, and just boot it up to Nico Gonzalez and Juventus would lose the ball.
00:27:56
Speaker
It happened constantly. And then the few times that Juventus tried to play out of the back, it was turnover, very, very good, dangerous opportunities for Atalanta. And then when they allowed Juventus to come into their half, it was...
00:28:10
Speaker
you're going to make a mistake soon and we are going to pounce. And it consistently happened. And it was it was a masterclass from Gasparini. But at the same time, it was just what they do.
00:28:22
Speaker
And Mana just played right into it. Yeah, a couple shouts here from me. One of one, Quadrado. Phenomenal game. He's been playing super, super well for Atalanta, whether it's been off the bench or starting.
00:28:33
Speaker
um It's been filling really well for their injuries that they've had. But one thing that I think juxtaposes against Juventus this game that's really interesting is Was Coop Miners that good on Atalanta or was he just supported and propped up by the midfield two that Atalanta have consistently thrown out there this season and have been absolutely phenomenal?
00:28:57
Speaker
Ederson and Daroon, phenomenal games. Daroon, man of the match. If you guys saw our Twitter, he was the mystery man, the mystery player from FB ref. But these guys day in, day out last season and still into this season have been their most consistent and best players.
00:29:14
Speaker
I mean, ah obviously, Luckman and Rettegi are going to get the headlines for the for the scoring numbers, but Ederson and Darun being able to hold down a midfield two in a world where a 3-4-3 is very rarely executed well.
00:29:29
Speaker
I think the last time we saw a 3-4-3 done this well was the Chelsea years of Conte and Jorginho. But Ederson and Darun really need their flowers. I mean, this midfield two holding it down like that is just phenomenal stuff.
00:29:41
Speaker
I think this was Ederson's best game of the season. He... was everywhere and was the most creative I remember him being. Yeah, Ederson's good. He's also being linked to Juventus because Juventus don't learn their lesson. But anyways, have a theory about the gas, for how we always say the Atalanta or the water and Bergamo Gasparini.
00:30:04
Speaker
His, and I think I might've said this before, his system is just constantly go, go, go, go. go We try to score as many goals as possible. We try to create as many chances as possible to outscore the opponent.
00:30:19
Speaker
Because that is his system, Throughout a game, they generate chance after chance after chance after chance. And if you're generating 10, 12, 13 chances a game, these players are going to find themselves in goal scoring opportunities more often than a...
00:30:39
Speaker
under a manager who's not that that's not his philosophy so do i think coop miners was propped up by these two midfielders i don't know about these two midfielders i think i know for he was propped up by the system because the system is constantly go go go go go and coop miners being in that position enough times ah and having the player that being the player that he is with his left foot finished a lot of those chances, right? And we've seen that with a lot more, or a lot of other players in the Gasparini system who leave, go somewhere else and can't do it again, and and come into the Gasparini system, and then all of a sudden they look amazing.
00:31:16
Speaker
And it's because, and we we talk about it time and time again, it's because Adelante, every game, have an XG of 3.72. It's just sometimes they go in and sometimes they don't. But it's just his system, him, Gasparini relating to his players, we are going to, when we have the ball, we're going to try to score,
00:31:33
Speaker
Every single time, rather than this new complete football style where it's pass and wait for the opposition to make a mistake and then we pounce. He doesn't care. He's like, we will go and take the game to them. And I think that's why you see these players do so well in his system and not so well when they leave.
00:31:52
Speaker
The system is really interesting, and I want to pose a question to Vos because I think he's the most well-versed in terms of this play style. So Gasparini is doing this all-out, 100% counterattack press with guys that are ancient.
00:32:08
Speaker
Quadrado on his last leg. Zappacosta is getting up there thirty two thirty three Darun is old. Kolosnak is old. Jim Zitti is getting up there. But they consistently are able to play full 90s at this go-go-go.
00:32:22
Speaker
And the one thing i want to ask you, Vos, is... how do you compare this to a Red Bull system where they're, they're counterattack, they're go, go, go. They're always on top of the other team.
00:32:34
Speaker
Yet Gaspari is doing two things with this system. One, he's doing it with legs that are much older. Red Bull systems are done with guys that are 22, 23, 24 up and coming. then top of that, up and coming and then on top of that This Atalanta team is much more eloquent than any any Red Bull system that I've ever watched.
00:32:54
Speaker
How do you compare those two? I don't think it's as eloquent. I don't think Gasparini's system is as eloquent, I would say. In the main difference of the two, and this is why you see the like the Red Bull team. So the Red Bull teams press in a much more like structured sense, is the way I would think about it, where they're more covered. It's kind of like four lines, essentially.
00:33:16
Speaker
Right? So like you... you It's yeah. So it's basically like four lines of pressure. So you're covered at the back. Atalanta don't cover themselves at the back. That's the big difference. Everybody's pressing and everybody's man to man.
00:33:29
Speaker
Red Bull go to that man to man. They do more ball goes to a corner and we freak out and we try to get it. And then when we win the ball, we just kick it up as far, like get it as far up the field as we can.
00:33:40
Speaker
Atalanta way more off the cuff, I think is what I would say in that players have the freedom to kind of drive the ball with at the feet and like run into space rather than win the ball back and then kick it up to a winger. It's everybody's so far up the field already and just can go anywhere. That's just it's utter chaos.
00:34:00
Speaker
Red Bull is more control chaos. Atalanta is pure chaos. And that's we're gonna but what we're going to do. On the fitness side of things, I have no idea how to run is playing 90. I had zero idea.
00:34:13
Speaker
And it's insane. The whole system is insane. The other thing, when you look at another huge difference, Red Bull, Atlanta, you don't see Red Bull center backs playing one twos at the top of the box.
00:34:24
Speaker
Like that's, that's this Atlanta team. You can do whatever the fuck you want. It just chaos. I think the fitness is sometimes the reason why they might stumble every now yeah why i say adoan is adoant and Atalanta.
00:34:36
Speaker
Because some of these guys just can't do it. And Gasparini's like, i don't give a shit. Like, this is what I require you to do. And so then they have games where they draw 0-0 against Venezia, although they should have won that game.
00:34:47
Speaker
They should have won that game by a million. One of the reasons why sometimes the fitness of the players can be seen when they, quote unquote, stumble. I would also say the the other piece of this is Red Bull is more focused on creating high percentage chances than Adelanza are.
00:35:04
Speaker
Adelanza play with the wingbacks and they're much more concerned with, okay, we have an opportunity to get the ball into the box. Let's do it 100%. I would say they're probably the only team in the world that thinks that way. It's not, it's not let's let's wait until we have the best possible chance. It's, I have a chance to play a good pass.
00:35:23
Speaker
I'm going to play it 100% of the time, no matter what. If I think I can get it there, we're going to try it. I would take it a step further. I i have a chance to to put a ball in the box, not even a good pass.
00:35:35
Speaker
Who knows what can happen when goes in the box, but let's put it in. One more thing I'll say, and then we'll move on from this game. This was the clear showing of one team with an identity.
00:35:47
Speaker
They know exactly how they play. They play the exact same way every single time. That being Atalanta and another team who has no identity, don't know how to play, don't know who to pass to, don't know where to be on the pitch, don't know where they if they're going to play the same position game in, game out.
00:36:04
Speaker
And Juventus and you clearly saw the differences and that's why it was a blowout. First time since you've been in first time Juventus lost in home at in Torino for nothing since I'm good going out to another team. Not good. I don't want to spend too much time on this one because I would personally say nothing's really changed.
00:36:27
Speaker
but we got to touch on it. Milan went to Lecce and won that game three to two. I don't think that tells the full story. They went down to nothing in this game, ah courtesy of Nikola Kerstovich, scored a two great goals.
00:36:40
Speaker
um Milan then went on to battle back and got three goals. I literally don't know how they did it. For me, I thought this was their worst performance of the season, even with the win. And I kind of came away and I texted you guys.
00:36:52
Speaker
I don't see any positive takeaways from this game. I thought it was another lack of desire sort of thing. And I just think they were very lucky t to score three goals on the minimal chances that they created.
00:37:03
Speaker
One of them was a penalty, which Lecce really poorly gave away, I would say. it was they they did not meet It was a bad foul is what I would say. And I thought this was Lecce losing and not Milan winning. And there's no reason Milan should ever be down to nothing to Lecce.
00:37:17
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, this was really, really, really bad. This was a horrible game to watch from a Milan perspective. I'm not going to get too deep into it. I will say that there were a ton of chances actually created. We had 3.6 XG. We'll take away 0.9 from the penalty, but I mean, still, that's an immense amount of XG.
00:37:38
Speaker
A lot of that came from the second half. When layout came on, we were a completely different squad in terms of the want, which was different than the rest of the season. One takeaway that Vosie pointed out well while we were watching...
00:37:50
Speaker
When layout cross the ball, magical things happen. And the fact that he doesn't do that on a consistent basis or a calculated basis is beyond me. And that's that's something that needs to change.
00:38:02
Speaker
He's very close. Again, we we talk about his ceiling. His ceiling is immense. And if he can just be a little bit more pointed sometimes... That can change the game entirely. His ball into Pulisic was beautiful. Pulisic, all he had to do was just get in front of It could have hit the tip of his pinky and it would have gone in.
00:38:20
Speaker
So, Leao just needs to beat and we talk we eat the dead horse. Just needs to be more consistent. Mots, please go ahead. do you eat like his When he makes those crosses, that was an amazing cross.
00:38:33
Speaker
Do we think it's kind of a a shot and a cross and he doesn't know what he wants to do? No, because he's been doing this for so long. He just never crosses. i have When I first started watching this league and Leao was like coming out to the scene, I always was like, this guy should just play off the right. Because it was when Salamakos was off the right and I didn't think Leao was like a very clinical finisher. He clearly still isn't.
00:38:56
Speaker
And he would just cross it like this all the time. I'm like, let's just put him on the right. and let him cross it in because it's so much better. And I think now he almost refuses to do that because he's been built up as this guy. Like, you're not that guy.
00:39:08
Speaker
He's not that guy. And he's been built up as the goal scorer of this team. And really, he's more of a creator than a goal scorer. yeah His goals are not goal scorer finishes ever.
00:39:19
Speaker
He just drives it into the box and just hammers it in when he's at the six-yard box. if he If somebody sat him down and said, You're going have 10 assists this year. That's your goal.
00:39:31
Speaker
He would definitely do it. He should, and especially having ah really good nine it would is a total game changer. Speaking of said nine, one thing that boggles my mind as well is that Santi Jimenez continues to come deep and receive the ball in our half the field.
00:39:50
Speaker
Reitering what you just said about Liao, Santi's not that guy. He is not a pick of the ball in transition it to the front lines. He needs to be the last man but next to the defense at all times.
00:40:04
Speaker
His touch isn't that great. It's Doosan-esque, and his left foot is phenomenal. Just let him be in scoring positions. Let him be Giroux. Even though Giroux actually had a great touch when he would come back, just keep this keep keep this man at the front lines and don't let him come back. We don't need him there.
00:40:20
Speaker
Reinders is there. Fofana is there. Moose is there. Let them do their job if they want to do it. They don't they don't tend to do it. But Santi should not be the guy coming in receiving deep. They did it a couple times against Lecce. It was just completely and utterly frustrated.
00:40:33
Speaker
One last quick point before I make a sincere apology. I still think Pulisic is clutch. That guy has an engine. he's got He doesn't have any quit in him. Granted, a penalty is a penalty, but that i mean he created the the chance.
00:40:47
Speaker
Awesome PK. Was a little bit worried that he had to ask the ref again if you if he was allowed to go. that he must have had a lot of poop in his pants, but hammered it home. Read the game completely, perfectly well to see your layouts cross.
00:41:02
Speaker
Again, only needed a pinky toe, but he finished that. And so Pulisic is really driving us a little bit here. Layout needs to be on the field. In any case, the one takeaway that I had from this game is that I'm sincerely and from the bottom of my heart apologetic to Stefano Pioli.
00:41:20
Speaker
And I'm so apologetic to the point where I have issued... an apology in Italian. um As we prepare for our trip to Italy, I wanted to say this from the bottom of my heart.
00:41:41
Speaker
Mi manchi. Il mia sente la tua mancanza, abbiamo bisogno di te.
00:41:57
Speaker
gay flow sovachi ora if everybody has to see you that any way getting that in front of Pioli, get it front him, please. Please let him know. But for all of you that don't understand Italian like myself,
00:42:12
Speaker
In English, dear Stefano, my sincerest apologies for the horrible things I said about you. I miss you. AC Milan misses you. We need you.
00:42:23
Speaker
Please bring the joy of soccer back to our beloved San Siro. You're the only one who can save us. And I mean that wholeheartedly. I'm so sick and tired of seeing managers around the league just be man managers.
00:42:37
Speaker
I didn't know what I had when I had him. I miss him dearly. i would love to bring him back. And I'll leave it at that. I said it all season. so I have a question. Do we think that now, obviously when you're down to nothing going into the second half, like you're going to play differently.
00:42:56
Speaker
Do we think Milan can play the way that they played for the second half every single game? Because I, I don't even think it would matter. I thought they played doesn't matter. I thought they played bad in the second half.
00:43:09
Speaker
This was, they didn't, they didn't play well. They just, they tell you they didn't. Yes. They had a high XG, but they did not create a lot of chances. Like, They got bailed the fuck out.
00:43:19
Speaker
they They should not have won this game. We got bailed out. We had a lot. No doubt about it. We had a lot of chances. Let's just let's not get that twisted. But there was no system to it. There was no pattern. it was the classic Milan where we simply just, by the by the physical skill of some of our players, we just were better than Lecce.
00:43:41
Speaker
And Lecce maybe got a little scared. so me He was a little scared and they were skittish the entire second half. And so i don't I don't think it would have mattered if we played like we did in the second half.
00:43:54
Speaker
That was just us being better players 1v1. That wasn't any team skill. That wasn't anything besides we are just better than Lecce. And I don't think that that translates to any other game in the rest of the season.
00:44:06
Speaker
I mean, i would just, I'll say Santi Jimenez needs to stay on sides for that first goal. It could be a completely different game. So bad. I mean, that was horrible. there You shouldn't even be close to being offsides in that position. But this offsides thing is just completely bullshit. No, on that one, that there is zero excuse for being offsides.
00:44:25
Speaker
I don't care if you're at a pinky toe off sides. you his you His tricep was off sides. It doesn't matter. just He worked it out too much this week. His tricep was off. There's nobody there. You cannot be off sides. Like this team is just so mentally not in it.
00:44:41
Speaker
And they won this game, and I feel worse about them than I did last game. It was something I hoped to me. One thing I have to say that was also just crazy. Gabby and Shaw all what it like they played like this was a scrimmage.
00:44:57
Speaker
They started talking to Walker. means Everybody did. They were playing like it was scrimmage. Theo did his, like... Where he doesn't run back on defense as always. But yeah, that's one thing I was going to take away as well as that you guys need to figure out center. Like that is number number one in the summer is who are going to be our starting. Well, what I don't understand is how is Tomori not been given another chance yet? Like everybody has been so bad and he refuses to play Tomori no matter what. Tomori runs away because he plays with Pavlovich.
00:45:30
Speaker
and the family that you like the duo I think because Tamori, like, Kunse Sao, at the very least, when he's defending, is so structured. And Tamori runs around with the chicken with his head cut off, just doesn't know where to be and in terms of, like, the structure of the defense. Where Gabby especially is, like, the one guy who knows, the like, his role role and rules and where to be and in terms of to help the team.
00:45:55
Speaker
Chao is, oh, my God, brutal. Him and Pavlovich Pavlovich. I see it glimpses and then I see glimpses where it's like, whoa.
00:46:07
Speaker
No, I mean, Shaw hasn't had a good game since he played against Hoyland two years ago. And so, so I'm going to have to move on from him, but let's just move on from this game because again, it's the it's the same thing week in week out. We shouldn't have won this game.
00:46:21
Speaker
We stink. If I wasn't a Milanista, we wouldn't have been talking about this game as long as we have. So let's just move on to better teams. Moving on to a great team that Mott said was not going be keep up.
00:46:32
Speaker
And they very much have Napoli hosted Fiorentina. And this was an utter demolition of Fiorentina. They did score a goal.
00:46:43
Speaker
Napoli won two to one. They should have won by more. And Fiorentina should have scored zero goals. This was another Antonio Conte masterpiece. And I think it went on to show that Palladino is not prepared to be ah in the discussion with managers like Conte yet. And I think we knew that.
00:47:02
Speaker
And we liked everything he's done this year, but he is not used to playing in winning games like this. This was a massive game for Napoli and a massive game for Fiorentina. And Fiorentina basically couldn't get the ball the entire game.
00:47:15
Speaker
Napoli played with Billy Gilmore and LaBodka again, which worked really well. mean, it was a little bit more of like a traditional 3-5-2, 3-4-3 kind of thing with Raspidori playing a little bit more in inside and Politano being forced into a little bit deeper of a role.
00:47:31
Speaker
We got the best set of Aspidori and the best set of Lukaku in this game. And not i I was watching this game and it felt like Fiorentina from like three years ago. They had no business being on the field.
00:47:44
Speaker
And that is with Gudmundsen and Keane on the field. Just it was utter demolition. You said it last week, Luggs. If Napoli can play like the way they played against Inter...
00:47:55
Speaker
They're going to beat everybody. And that's exactly what they did. And it was, i I'm sitting here and I still can't believe I was watching this game like, oh, it's going to great game. Like, I really think you're going to be able to get something out of this.
00:48:07
Speaker
No, just snuffed them. And there was nothing to be had anywhere on the field. um Notably, I have to point out, Colpani, Fuloranchu, Mandragora, Zaniola all out.
00:48:18
Speaker
I don't think anybody on that makes a difference except for maybe Mandragora. I thought he'd been very good this year, but he's not going to help you create opportunities. He can help you sit in that low block. And on the flip side of things, Napoli are still without David Neres and Zombo Anguica, who are arguably their two best offensive players.
00:48:36
Speaker
Again, i mean, you you pointed out, I'm going to give myself a little toot of the horn here, but Napoli should keep the style. It's working. It works. They had... Eight of their 10 outfield players, their average positioning was in the front half of the field, which is not your typical Conte style.
00:48:54
Speaker
and And I think a lot of that has to do with Bill Gilmore. That's a huge difference for them. He's a different style player than Zombo, and Zombo does get forward. But I think that having Billy out there to work with Labaka on ball has been a great change for them and a great change of pace.
00:49:12
Speaker
Their ability to ah stay forward, not just get forward, but stay forward and stay on top of the opposing team is making a huge difference. It worked against Inter. It worked against Fiorentina. These are not bad teams by any stretch of the imagination.
00:49:25
Speaker
And so if they can continue to play this way, which I said hopefully they will, I think that this is a Scudetto winning team. the And one thing to, again, another pattern out there, and Vos, you said it right before you watched him score, though.
00:49:41
Speaker
Raspidori is allergic to finishing. He gets into the right spots. His IQ is high. He knows how to play the sport. But when he gets the ball to speed, he loses brain cells, and it does it it just doesn't weight to anything else in the fish.
00:49:56
Speaker
He did put another goal in. Game-winning goal. He's on a bit of a hot streak here. He's got a couple of goals in the last couple of games. Maybe it's a confidence thing, and he can turn that around. But every time he gets the ball, it tends to be a black hole and goes the other team. But this Napoli squad in this new style, you got to watch out if you're at the top of the table.
00:50:16
Speaker
First time this season, I'm saying it, I think they're going to win it. i I do. Well, so me me and Vos now on the other side of this, but Mats, you haven't been too hot on your favorites this year.
00:50:27
Speaker
i mean, listen, I said after they played against Inter and dominated Inter, I said Napoli are very much back. I was wrong. I was only wrong for, what, three weeks there? in And they were stumbling. But, well, Conte getting that draw against Inter, but the way that they dominated Inter.
00:50:44
Speaker
He now knows and Conte's won multiple Scudettos. He's won at one at Chelsea, right? Like he knows how to win trophies. So he's going to look at the remaining part of their schedule and they have a couple, a couple of games that are big, right? They got Milan coming up. This was probably one of them.
00:51:03
Speaker
the Milan game coming up, Bologna. And he's going to say, like listen guys, these are the three games that if we get all three points, the rest is just take care of business. Kante knows how to do what Thiago Mata can't do, and that is relay to his players how important some games are and how important they are to get all three points and to die for the badge and do whatever it takes to get a win.
00:51:29
Speaker
And you saw that today. They... They obviously handled Fiorentina. They could have had four goals. I think De Gea had a master class of a game. He was standing on his head back there making a ton of saves.
00:51:43
Speaker
And I really just think that this is all Antonio Conte going to his players before the game saying, if we win this game, we are in prime position having one game a week compared to Inter's every single competition.
00:51:56
Speaker
And we have an easier schedule coming up than they do. We just have this game, the Milan game, and the Bologna game. And then other than that, we're going to be favorites in every game. And we just have to do our job. And you saw it it was it was exactly like the second half ah that they played against Inter was this whole entire game.
00:52:13
Speaker
Constant pressure, constant attacking, wanting to score goals. and you really And even when they score, like you see all their players, even Kante, how extremely happy they get. And they're happy for their teammates as well.
00:52:26
Speaker
And that is what Kante does. He unites a group. And he's just doing a great job this season. And I want to give Lukaku some flowers as well because he's not the goal scorer he once was, but he creates so much with his back-to-goal.
00:52:40
Speaker
He has eight assists tied for first now. He has 11 in all competitions. And I know we don't think Raspardori is amazing at finishing, but kind of going back to, like I said, with Atalanta, you get in the right positions enough time, eventually you will get it right. And he's getting in the position time and time and time again, and eventually he got it right.
00:53:00
Speaker
And on more on Big Rom, he's tied for second with goal contributions in the league. Ten goals, eight assists out of Big Rom at this point. Like, you fucking taste that. That's really, really good. And yeah the other thing, which kind of piggybacking off of your whole Conte, this team loves playing, like loves playing for each other.
00:53:19
Speaker
I was thinking about it this weekend. and Soccer is one of... maybe two sports, though would say I would say maybe hockey is kind of the same way where like tactics, stats, like all of that, it only gets you so far.
00:53:34
Speaker
Like when you have guys that are willing to just suffer and run, gets you places in the sport. And there's no metric on that. It's just something that you either have or you don't.
00:53:46
Speaker
And teams that have it can overachieve. Leicester City won the Premier League with vastly... inferior talent in theory, but it was, it was the vibes were there and the effort was there and that willingness to suffer. Like if you've ever heard coaches talking or players talking about how you have to suffer in games to win, this is the only sport where like I'm out of gas and I, there's nowhere to run.
00:54:09
Speaker
Can't get off the field. Like you don't have, you can't get off for a second to take a breath. You have to just suck it up and run 70 yards to save the game. and Every player on Napoli is willing to do that. And that is the only reason that they're competing for the Scudetto.
00:54:23
Speaker
They do not have the strongest squad. They barely have any of the strongest players in the entire league. And they're still in this. And that is what is amazing about this sport. And that's also reflection on the manager because not every team does that. Not every player is going to do that. And the ones that do are the ones that believe in what their manager is telling them, agrees with it, and and goes out and executes, right? So that's that's fully Antonio Conte, like to a T. And and that was that was very, very well said, Boz.
00:54:57
Speaker
Ghost channeling his inner miracle speech right there. If Napoli needs some motivation for the rest of the season, give them that speech. But I do want to kick it to Fiorentina quickly before we move on.
00:55:09
Speaker
Matu said it, but De Gea solidifying himself in goalie of the year conversations. Nine saves this game. Obviously, Vanya and Torino is having lead season as well.
00:55:21
Speaker
nobody well Nobody's taking the crown from Vanya. He's having an insane season. No, Vanya's been unreal. ah But again, nine saves out of De Gea this game. That's why the scoreline is only 2-1 and not more.
00:55:32
Speaker
But one thing I do want to point out that Fiorentina and Vosie said it, Palladino maybe not ready for the spotlight here, but Noamir Richardson and no Yassine Adley, who are both healthy on the bench this game, they were huge parts of this team when they were playing at their top level. I'm not sure why they've moved away from having those two guys in the rotation at least.
00:55:56
Speaker
So interesting to see how these last 10 games play out if they don't get more involved. I'm not saying that these guys are top tier players or that would have made a huge difference in this game particularly, but certainly something to know going forward because again, these are are quality guys deep in the rotation that should be getting minutes in a game where they maybe needed to switch it up, turn it around.
00:56:15
Speaker
Yeah, what i did what i did it what I didn't like for Palladino here, and I think this feeds into directly what you're saying with benching benchching those two guys and kind of been like that for a little bit. um He went to the back three earlier in the year. He said, we can't play a back three.
00:56:27
Speaker
um He slowly tested it out. And I think that just got away from what got them here and having Moise Keane, who's been a prolific goal scorer. And you basically starve him of any chances by getting out of your four, two, three, one.
00:56:39
Speaker
When this is the first time in a long time where we had basically all of your best players. Granted, the the whole right mid situation is a little bit questionable. Robin Gozens wasn't exactly available in this one.
00:56:51
Speaker
I think it was a fitness issue. He did come off the bench. But I mean, you're in eighth place right now. I get trying to make my guess is he was thinking draw in this game. That's really how they played.
00:57:03
Speaker
But you've been such a prolific goal scoring team. Komuzo has been great back there in a back four. Ranieri's been great back there. you go through the little team. Dodo has been arguably like top three right backs of the season.
00:57:16
Speaker
I would have liked to say stick to your guns. We're good enough to beat Napoli. I think their player personnel is just as good as Napoli. Realistically, Moisey Keane is actually the best player on both teams.
00:57:27
Speaker
And you just you got away from what got you here and it burned you. So I'm hoping he will learn from this. And this is tough, right? Like he's used to being Monza and that's clearly your game plan where you're Monza going to Naples. We got to get a draw. We'll park the bus.
00:57:42
Speaker
You're a different team now. And you you need to learn. I have to go win some big games or I have to heat my foot in the door in the big games to get that result. Death by a thousand passes, winning with offense.
00:57:54
Speaker
And that's part of his game that he's going to have to learn. Taliano learned that and he we see what he's doing now. But yeah, I still like Balladino. And I said it, he's not quite at that level yet. I think he will get there.
00:58:06
Speaker
And this should be a big learning moment for him. another And that brings us to another big learning moment. And it's surprising because it's a learning moment for the top team in the league, a perennial top team in league.
00:58:18
Speaker
Mas, what happened with Inter Monza?
00:58:22
Speaker
i don't know. Inter Monza almost did it. they should they They actually they school looked really good. They looked really good. Great goals.
00:58:33
Speaker
You know what screwed Monza was allowing Inter to score before halftime. Like, you just got a goal, and then a minute later, it's now 2-1.
00:58:44
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, so what happened here in this game? Inter was at home. Monza basically stunned them, scored two goals in the first half. 44th minute KT ball. They scored a fucking great solo goal.
00:58:56
Speaker
Cut in, curled into the far corner. um So it's 2-0, 44th minute. Arnautovic scores in the 46th minute before halftime. And then they just go on and end up winning the game. Hakan Chantaloglu scored a fucking banger.
00:59:10
Speaker
And then Lattaro Martinez had a great, great header that crossed the line by about an inch. And they they did end up winning this game. Lattaro was scored as an own goal, but... ahtara was scored as an own goal but I'm not counting as an uncle. Yeah, it was the announcer. forget his name. He's some French guy whoever the old guy who does the game. He broke it down really well. It was like that right there comes down to just desire. Will passion. Latoura wanted it way more than the Monza player did.
00:59:37
Speaker
um But, dude, the Hakan goal was beautiful. Beautiful. Pure class from Hakan. I was his best game the too. He was running like he was fully fit again. Yeah, go ahead. Sorry.
00:59:51
Speaker
I was going to say, like, it had to be. Everybody, almost everybody's on inter's best game of the season after they went down to nothing immediate, like in the second half, because they knew like we can't drop.
01:00:02
Speaker
We came. This is a is a three point game. So everybody had to be on, quote unquote, best behavior, best, but best form. And they did get that from most of their players, I thought.
01:00:16
Speaker
But it goes back to Inter. I mean, normally you would see this Inter would do this, the mental lapse in the beginning part or the end of the game. And this game was in the beginning. So it's still Inter are still right where we kind of said they've been all season.
01:00:30
Speaker
Mental lapses that we don't understand why it happens, but have the the talent and the continuity and the chemistry to bail them out and allow them to be in first.
01:00:41
Speaker
But if you want to win the Scudetto, you cannot allow this to happen if you are inter. I think the one, one of the things that I want to take out of this game and granted his match score was incredibly high and had, it was on the ball a decent amount, but I still feel like it's flying under the radar and needs to be not under the radar needs to be at the forefront of this team is Barella.
01:01:04
Speaker
ah he had He had a great game mostly in the second half, but he needs to be leading this team in terms of performances, and it's still not coming through. Other guys are stepping up. Hakann had an absolute masterclass.
01:01:16
Speaker
Mkhitaryan did not have a great game, but Barella is the heart and soul of this team and needs to show it more consistently for this team to solidify that top of the table.
01:01:27
Speaker
That's just my take. Well, Maybe I'm too hard. i might be too hard on Barella, but I feel like everyone should be. He's at one point and was last year a top five midfielder in the world. And for that, he needs to continue that form for this team to play at the level that they are supposed to be playing at.
01:01:43
Speaker
Well, the point that I want to make kind of goes... in conjunction with Barella dropping the ball. And it's it's the squad, like the squad building here. And what's different about this squad building is the backups aren't like these young guys that are like, oh we're going to give them a chance.
01:02:00
Speaker
They're guys like Marco or not. Like this guy is a prolific, proven Serie A goal scorer. So at the beginning the season, Marcus Teran was carrying the team. He fell off. Litaro started stepping up for a little bit.
01:02:12
Speaker
Then he fell off. Now Arnautovic has basically two game winning goals in the last three weeks. And it's they have all of these guys. So if one person isn't performing, you just rotate in the next guy. Like Mkhitaryan's been great all year. That's why Zalinski isn't getting in. And that's why Fertesi isn't getting in.
01:02:28
Speaker
Frilla's been just good enough and does enough off the ball. But then Hakan was bad for most the season. And then he comes up big in this game. Denzel Dumfries was a machine in this game. They're without DeMarco right now. So Bastoni is an auxiliary left wing back who's doing a great job out there. And that is kind of gets you Scudetto wins.
01:02:49
Speaker
When guys are performing, you can just put another guy in and he's probably going to perform. And if he doesn't, then it's the next guy. And then it's the next guy. They don't have young and hungry players. They have experienced hungry players that have been in this league for a long time and know how to pop up in big moments all over the field.
01:03:05
Speaker
And that's why they are Scudetto favorites. That's why they were my favorite at the beginning of the year. The mentality has been the question mark the whole season. And that's still where it is, especially on the defensive side of things.
01:03:17
Speaker
What's hurt them a lot is losing DeMarco and also Carlos Augusto not being 100% fit and being forced to play Bastoni out there. DeVry and a Cheruby on the same, like as a center back and then as an outside center back is very uncomfortable for me. And I i think we're seeing that.
01:03:32
Speaker
And that's clearly the area of the pitch you can be exposed on because they're both used to being that center center back guy for the most part now. DeVry used to be able to play on the outside, but he's aged a little bit, lost some of that quickness.
01:03:44
Speaker
And that's a little bit scary now. Bastoni basically deleted a side of the field and Pavard's been great all year. But now this is a this is a little piece that Nzaghi has to figure out. I still don't love Bastoni as the left wing back. I would i would kind kind of just play somebody else there. I don't know who.
01:04:02
Speaker
it Luski? I think Zalewski's hurt too, though, is the problem because that was my first thought is he wasn't fit. I would even risk for Tezzy there. was going to say for Tezzy. Your worst possible outcome from a left wing back in the system is they don't produce all that much offensively, but they don't do enough for you defensively.
01:04:22
Speaker
If you just establish, hey, for Tezzy, we need you to do this a defensive game today or we need you to do an offensive game today. And then you get Bastoni back into his preferred spot. I would like to see that done.
01:04:33
Speaker
Maybe because they thought it was Monza, they could get away with it. But that that's that's something to watch.
01:04:39
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, to your point, they definitely have they have proven players who have been in this league, won Scudettos, have scored big goals, and have been there, done that.
01:04:50
Speaker
And for some reason, in my opinion, I don't think Nzagi goes to them enough um for whatever reason. And that goes back to the rotations. And that, I think, plays a little bit of a factor in Barella not having the best season.
01:05:02
Speaker
We have to think about Barella has played. He hasn't, most of the interplayers, Barella specifically, I'd also say Lattaro, They play every game for their, not Lattaro, but Barella definitely, for even for international, right? And Barella does the same thing for Italy. It's running up and down the pitch, game in, game out. And you got to find games where you can give them right?
01:05:25
Speaker
And I don't think Nzaghi does it enough, especially with having Fertesi in Zelensky. Like, he didn't play Zelensky at all in Zelensky's favorite or more preferred role in the Borelis spot.
01:05:38
Speaker
And it's like, why did you sign him if you're barely going to use him? But now... Zielinski got injured this game. He got subbed on in the 70th minute and subbed off in the 73rd, and I believe he's out for like a month and a half. So even less rotation for the games to come with the Copa Italia and the Champions League in the middle of the week. So It's going to be tough ah stretch of form for Inter.
01:06:00
Speaker
and And I just think Inzaghi's got to rely on the guys that he has because, like you said, Vos, they prove it when you give them opportunity that they can get the job done. And for whatever reason, I don't think he relies on his depth enough.
01:06:12
Speaker
One thing i just want to take away from Monza, again, looked great for the first 20 minutes or so. Two great goals. A lot of bright spots you can point to, but the one that I want to point out selfishly, Kevin Zeroli.
01:06:25
Speaker
looked awesome at points in that game. 18 years old, a Primavera player for AC Milan, had done more in a five-minute span for Mons in this game than I've seen Camarda do the entire season for AC Milan.
01:06:40
Speaker
Learning curve here, you need to loan out those players. You need to give them time on real teams. We don't do that. Zeroli, thank God he's gone out. He's going to get some experience. Come back to Milan.
01:06:51
Speaker
But there was one there was one play where Zeroli absolutely bodied the shit out of Jan Bissek. Now, if you guys don't are not familiar with Jan Bissek,
01:07:02
Speaker
Great player. He is 6'5", German behemoth. And Zeroli played him off the ball, held him off, drew the penalty, drew the foul.
01:07:14
Speaker
Great play out of an 18-year-old. Need to see it more from a lot of other teams to loan out their younger guys, give them real minutes. Good on Milan. Cool. On to the next team. Everybody's favorite team on this podcast. So we want to succeed.
01:07:27
Speaker
You know who we're talking about. They haven't lost a Serie A game since December 15th. And it's AS s Roma. They beat Empoli at Empoli at the weekend.
01:07:39
Speaker
And honestly, they should have won by a lot more. Pellegrini missed a sitter. Shamordov missed a sitter. And Mateo Sule scored amazing goal near post-strike. He's starting to heat up now.
01:07:51
Speaker
What I loved about this game is Roma once again rotating the squad. We've been highlighting Ranieri doing this so well. ah They're competing in the Europa League still. Rotating the squad. Still got it done.
01:08:01
Speaker
No Dybala. um No Dovbic. No Baldanzi. No Pizzilli. No Angelino. Like you go through the whole team and all these guys and they still managed to get it done. Really played Emily. They subbed some of those guys in.
01:08:14
Speaker
Yes. They didn't start. They didn't start. Right. That's my point. And... They're just absolutely flying at this point. and i I don't know who's going to stop them in the league, really. i Once they maybe play like an intern at Atlanta, it'll be a little bit more interesting.
01:08:27
Speaker
ah But they're just they're getting everything done. They have a system. They play that way every time, regardless of who's in. And it's going well. Pellegrini played well for the first time, I think, in five months, which was good to see.
01:08:38
Speaker
And I already said it, but Mateus Sule heating up is really, really important for the long term growth of him and of this club as a whole. The other thing I want to point out really quickly, very under the radar, Evan Andika has played every single minute of the season for this team.
01:08:57
Speaker
And i I think he's been great all year, even in the bad times. He was the probably the only good player on the team. So he deserves his flowers for that. that's This has been a really hard season for a center back to do that.
01:09:10
Speaker
And Dicca had a really tough, really, he struggled his first year coming out of the Bundesliga, but has been a stout defender, obviously, in all 90 minutes of the Serie game. And went hard attack also for Roma.
01:09:23
Speaker
But to to talk about the back line specifically, I mean, not to say that Empoli is the best attacking team in the league, but I mean, they they completely shut them down. One shot on target and Geekha, Hummels, and Vickner Nelson in the back was a phenomenal pairing. One thing to note, no Mancini. He's suspended, but they look great without him.
01:09:41
Speaker
And shouts to Ranieri, Hummels is playing phenomenally well. Really, really great to see him get into form here. And he's obviously shown it year in and year out throughout his entire career. But I think that it's great that he can slot him in.
01:09:54
Speaker
And then another thing to touch on here, this is... how you rotate a squad and still perform. We've seen a lot of teams rotate and get themselves into trouble this season. They were able to rotate the squad against a not so good Empoli team and still preserve legs for these upcoming games of which they have a really tough stretch.
01:10:12
Speaker
Pizzili didn't see the field. El Shiravi didn't see the field. Salamakis didn't see the field. So they're going to be fresh for their next couple of games. And that's really great to see um as you come into the last 10 games of the season. This is also fresh off of a ginormous win against Athletic, their Spanish, who are they playing, Athletic Club or whatever their names are. Athletic Bilbao.
01:10:34
Speaker
Yeah. wow 90th or stoppage time goal to get the 2-1 on aggregate going back to Rome. So that's huge. Oh, wait, no. That one was in Rome, wasn't it? Yeah, after're going they're going to Spain. Yeah. Yeah. yeah It's still huge to have the advantage.
01:10:50
Speaker
But in terms of the league game against Empoli, this was utter domination. Sule should have had a goal. He had a goal in the first man he should have had three assists. Pellegrini should have scored.
01:11:03
Speaker
Shomaradov should have scored. I don't know how the fuck you missed that. all you had to do was tap it and he fucking slammed it off the crossbar. Kone dribbled around the goalie and then hit the post.
01:11:14
Speaker
This was an absolute demolition from... Roma, and once again, i kind of go back to what I said against Atalanta. Roma now have a clear style of play.
01:11:25
Speaker
No matter who you plug and play, it's going to be the same way. And it works. They believe in it. They believe in their manager. And so no matter who plays where, it works. They know what to do. They know where to be. They know how to play. They know what they're trying to do.
01:11:39
Speaker
And that's what you get when you have when you have a system that works and players believe in it. And that's why Roma's finding the success. They can win 2-1. They can win 4-0. They can win 1-0. They can win whatever way that they need to.
01:11:54
Speaker
And they are riding this momentum. And who knows where they'll finish at the end of the season with this momentum. Yeah, and the last thing i just want to say about Roma that I don't think we've really talked about that it just kind of dawned on me now.
01:12:06
Speaker
With this season they've had, they've had to rotate. They've had to throw guys in there that they haven't really expected. And one of like with with what's happened last three months and Ranieri taking over and everything going so well, I think what may have been forgotten is this year, what they kind of stumbled upon that is going to be huge part of the evolution of this club going forward and competing for Scudettos the next three, four years.
01:12:31
Speaker
Baldonsi? Pizzilli. divine wrench. Like all of those guys are going to have a huge fart in this, whether they're starters in two years or coming off the bench in these big game where we need to rotate getting an even short off. I would put in that. I think he's been good all year. He hasn't scored ton of goals, but you combine that these kind of unexpected performers with your dove pick Manu Kone, like all the Sule, your big name guys.
01:12:57
Speaker
This is squad building to win Scudetto's and they're at the very beginning of that. They might, fuck around and keep Ranieri. Why would they let him, you know? I mean, yeah i know he's an old man, but... Yeah, he might be done. He might be done. yeah i would I would try to convince him to stay the way wait he's got these guys playing.
Serie A Match Rundown and Key Performances
01:13:15
Speaker
Yeah, mean he's even got Brian Christensen playing well. So, i don't know. I didn't think that was going happen. But keep it rolling. We got wrap up match week 20. ah Bologna went to Verona, won that game 2-1. They got a little bit lucky. Verona missed some chances, but Bologna just getting it done. We've been talking about it.
01:13:28
Speaker
Geno went to Cagliari. played out a one-to-one draw. Interesting enough, Picole, seven goals on the season. Very hard Caliura team to get goals in, so I really like that. I hope he goes to a bigger club in the summer.
01:13:39
Speaker
And interesting for Genoa, folks, you had pointed this out, Pinamonte on the bench didn't really make a ton of sense for me. I guess they're kind of playing with house money at this point. That's really what mattered all that much for them. They're going to be mid-table.
01:13:51
Speaker
But Pinamonte's got eight goals. We really like him. Venezia went to Como, tied that one one to one. i have no comments on this game because I actually did not get a chance to watch it. Anybody? Anything interesting? Venezia just squeaking it out.
01:14:04
Speaker
they just They're just grinding out some points here. Again, they could stay up. Como's good. I had my sister's wedding, so that was fun. um So Reno went to Parma.
01:14:15
Speaker
They were up one, nothing, then up two to one. And then Parma ultimately tied it to two game massive result for our, for Torino. I think it's a little bit like, how do we motivate to win every game now? Like we're going to finish mid table, but yeah,
01:14:29
Speaker
Torino still a scary team. And then the last game. j adams Shout out Shea Adams. Yeah, Shea Adams balling. like Fucking phenomenal. um and and Last game that happened today. Udinese went to Lazio.
01:14:39
Speaker
Massive drop of points for Lazio. They tied this one one to one. Udinese, Florian Thauvin got on the score sheet again. And I am completely spaced out who scored for Lazio.
01:14:50
Speaker
and I don't have the game up. Oh, it was Roman Gnolly. It was Roman Gnolly. Roman Gnolly did score. Yeah, Roman Gnolly scored. I just want to point out on this one, really interesting, no Ravella. Again, i just don't think he was fully fit. He was on the bench, but did not play.
01:15:03
Speaker
And they played bad without him. Still struggling for goals without Cassianos, which I think was a little bit expected. And last i want to say is this the first adversity that Barone's seen all season.
01:15:14
Speaker
Things have kind of just gone well. And now it's not. And he's he's got to be the guy to figure it out. Well, this is the shakiness that I was pointing at Lazio when we talked about them three weeks ago.
01:15:25
Speaker
Didn't come to fruition until maybe now. Really important they get back on track next week because this could be a snowball effect and they could drop extremely quickly. Oaks with the hot take right there. That's important for Lazio to get back on track.
01:15:40
Speaker
I'll go back to one of my hot takes that I that i said in the beginning of the season that's looking really good. Roma to finish over Lazio at the end of the season. Here come Roma, and there go Lazio.
01:15:54
Speaker
Yeah, and Lungs also has a jersey on a Milan finishing top four, so let's keep that the back of our minds.
European Competition Previews
01:16:01
Speaker
um Other things we got going on this week, guys, we got European competitions in the Champions League.
01:16:06
Speaker
Inter is hosting Feyenoord going into that game with a 2-0 aggregate lead. If Inter lose this game, I i don't know. That would be the biggest collapse in a long time.
01:16:16
Speaker
Really tough. Really tough it would be. ah We got Europa League. Roma, we already highlighted this, is going to Bilbao with a 2-1 lead on aggregate. And then Lapsio's coming home to host Victoria Pelzin, also 2-1 lead on aggregate.
01:16:30
Speaker
And then the last European game we got is Conference League. Fiorentina hosting Panathinakos. They are down 3-2 on aggregate after an insane game in Athens. That's a big one for Fiorentina, kind of getting this game in a bad time, I would say.
01:16:45
Speaker
Four losses in the last five, so that's a little bit scary one. That's a team I bet on to win the Conference League. So got some got some big moments here. Then at the weekend, we have Match Week 29. Take you guys through the games.
01:16:57
Speaker
We have Lecce at Genoa, Verona at Udinese, Parma at Monza. Massive game. Massive game, that one. Empoli at, you know, what, Luggs? No, we just, we love a massive game at the bottom of the table. I love the massive games at the bottom of the table. Are you kidding me?
01:17:13
Speaker
Did you say Como at Milan? He's about to. I'm about to. Potentially, I'll say Como at Milan, and potentially maybe Fabregas will show off his and stuff to say, hey, Milan, look at me for this open position going to have in the summer.
01:17:31
Speaker
Yeah, we need we need some secret agents at the bar scene in Milan after this game, because if you see Zlatan check Fabregas out for a couple drinks, Then you know what's going on. You look good. And I'm down for Fabregas. Let me tell you, if it's not Piole coming back after my apology, Fabregas, I can i guess speak a little Spanish too.
01:17:51
Speaker
I think he speaks Italian, but... All right. Evole is going to Torino. Napoli to Venezia. Lazio at Bologna. Big-ass game. Cagliari at Roma.
01:18:02
Speaker
Juve at Fiorentina. That's a really good one. And then Inter inter at Atalanta. We got some good games. We got some good, good games this week. We got slate.
01:18:14
Speaker
We got a slate. Yeah, looking forward to it. I did not realize all these games or all these big games or good games are this week.
Betting Picks and Strategies
01:18:22
Speaker
Yeah, when good games leads to very difficult Colby's, I fucked up again this week's Colby. Logs and Bonds hit.
01:18:30
Speaker
I took Lazio and I should not have. ah So that did not hit. Logs is really hot. I'm really cold. I'm actually really hot on all my other Serie A bets, though. That's the funny thing. Just the ones you don't share with the rest of us.
01:18:41
Speaker
Crazy. That gets us into the Colby. I forgot to hit the button here. I'm going to hit it now. Colby di Luna. so I'm going to kick it off because we're at an hour 19 right now.
01:18:53
Speaker
I'm taking Bologna, Lazio, both teams to score. and don't feel good about it. I don't feel good about it, but I'm taking it. That's a great start to the Colp. Minus 110. I thought I'd mix it up. I always go Moneyline or one and a half.
01:19:06
Speaker
I thought I'd go your guys' style. It's been going well for you, so we're going to do it. I like this. I think Bologna's been scoring goals. I worry about Lazio without Cassianos. That's true. um But is it Zaccani or hot? That's the thing. What's the two and a half line?
01:19:23
Speaker
I think it's probably 110 as well. Nah, it might be more. Who knows? I think it's probably positive. Yeah. I'd say it's positive. In any case. I'll go look what Logan tells us his pick. I'm still running with Genoa. I'm still hot on patty cakes over there.
01:19:36
Speaker
Genoa money line. They're at home against dog shit. Let's say let's say to go down. Jenna would be a massive part of that. Jenna would take three points home this weekend.
01:19:48
Speaker
You think so? I know so. Why is that? Because Genoa's good, and as long as they play Pinamonte, unlike last weekend, they're going to be just fine. I don't love that leg out of you, Logs. But, folks, the over 2.5 is plus 115, if you want to take that.
01:20:04
Speaker
think you sprinkle. I'm stick sticking. You're sticking? I think you sprinkle on that, to be honest. I'll be sprinkling. Well, I am going with what I feel is a very secure pick. I obviously was the first one to pick a leg because...
01:20:18
Speaker
pick a leg because um My pick is going to be like, why everyone should have picked that one. And I have Inter, Atalanta, over two and a half. That's old reliable. I like to bet the over two and a half lines. And last time Inter played Atalanta, was like five to one. Inter and Zaghi tends to be able to murder the Gasparini system.
01:20:40
Speaker
I... Think that'll happen again. I don't see why it wouldn't. Although Atalanta's riding high after that demolition against Juventus and Inter will be coming off the Champions League game. So could be a play in favor for Atalanta. But nonetheless, I think goals will be scored because both teams obviously ah play attacking football. So over two and a half.
01:21:00
Speaker
That brings the Colby to plus 635. Lokes, how much do they win if they bet the Colby? Listen, you bet the Colby, you bet all three legs. We're go to start tracking it for you guys to see how much you're up unit bettors.
01:21:15
Speaker
If you bet all three legs and the Colby, you're definitely cashflow positive out there. If you bet a hundred bucks, you're bringing it in 735. It's plus 635. It's a juicy one this week. It is above 600 again.
01:21:28
Speaker
Bet the Colby don't ask questions.
Community Interaction and Sign-Off
01:21:31
Speaker
And with storylines like we have for this weekend, bottom of the but battle of the bottoms, battle of the tops, couple of ah rivalry games in there. Juve Fiorentina, Juve and Juve's farm team.
01:21:45
Speaker
This is going to be a great weekend. Stay alive. Stay frosty. Bet the Colby. We're done. Follow us. rap Subscribe YouTube. You know where to find us.
01:21:56
Speaker
Follow us. Rate us five stars. Comment. Like. It helps us promote and reach. more potential paisanos. We appreciate you guys. Thank you so much.
01:22:08
Speaker
Keep commenting. Shout out to the Frasco bros. We had another comment this weekend. Who do we want to see come up to see from Siri B? I did note Chesna. This is their fucking badge. I am a stout Chesno fan.
01:22:21
Speaker
The Seahorses would love to see them come up. They're currently sixth in Serie B. Where's... Keep commenting. Where is Palermo. Palermo. Because, Vos, didn't you say that in they fell in the beginning? They fell They fell off. Yeah. Vos said that you could. It's looking like Spezia, Sass...
01:22:36
Speaker
Sessuolo's coming back up. Yeah. They should be up. So that's good. So should Palermo. So Manchester City should really figure that out over there. Yeah. They should. They should. But the city group is lacking.
01:22:47
Speaker
So you guys know where to find us. I said at the beginning of this episode, I will continue to say the beginning of episode because I'm not sure how many of you guys last this long. But you can always find us on twitter on X, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok at CouchalCultureFC.com.
01:23:01
Speaker
And on your favorite streaming sites, Apple Pods and Spotify. The real ones last this long. The real ones do last this long.
01:23:12
Speaker
Mats, congrats to Steph. New members of the family coming in. Take us ah away. Paisanos, thanks for sticking around. Like I said, the real ones are still here.
01:23:22
Speaker
And they know the famous sign-off. Do not be a gagoot. And Forza, Calcio Culture.
01:24:11
Speaker
Bye.