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Serie A Matchweek 1 Recap | De Bruyne Scores, Cremonese Shock Milan, Inter Dominate
132 Plays29 days ago
Serie A is back with a wild opening weekend! Kevin De Bruyne wasted no time opening his account for Napoli, Cremonese stunned Milan at the San Siro, and Cristian Chivu’s Inter absolutely dominated Torino with a 5-0 win. Roma's Gasperini era began with three points, while Nico Paz lit up Como’s debut with a statement win over Lazio. Juventus saw Yildiz shine and new signing Jonathan David score on his debut, while Scamacca got back on the scoresheet for Atalanta in his long awaited return. We break down all the key moments, biggest storylines, and what it means for team heading into Matchweek 2.
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Transcript
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Coucho Culture. This week was match week one in Serie A. It is finally here. The season has begun.
00:00:15
Speaker
Kevin De Bruyne has made his mark with Napoli in their first win of the season. Creminesse unfortunately comes into San Siro, upsets Milan on an off-breast promotion. Gasparini era officially began in Roma with a big win.
00:00:30
Speaker
Christian Kivu era also started for Inter and started with a banging win, 5-0 at home against Torino. Our boy Nico Paz dominated for Como, leading them to a huge win over Lazio.
00:00:44
Speaker
There was a 95th minute winner out in Sardinia. Yield is shined in Juve's first game of the season, and Jonathan David got off the mark as well with his first league goal in his debut.
00:00:56
Speaker
And last but not least, Skamaka, off the injury last season, is back on the score sheet. A ton of storylines, a ton happening. This is why we love Serie A. This is why we do it.
00:01:07
Speaker
I am your host today, Logs. I'm here with both my co-hosts for the very first time in a very long time. Mott and Vos, we could not miss the coverage from this past week. Fellas, how we feeling?
00:01:18
Speaker
Great intro one correction. It was not a winner in Sardinia. It was an equalizer. And obviously i had to say that because it was my beloved Cagliari and they are back and they are looking very good this season.
00:01:33
Speaker
Great weekend. I watched almost every game. So I'm, I'm really happy that it's back. Calcio's in full swing. I think a little bit less drama than last year. Last year at the beginning, I just remember it being chaos for like three or four weeks.
00:01:45
Speaker
And this was kind of ten last weekend. Yeah, 10 weeks. True. And so we had no cold peace for a while. But yeah, it's back. I'm happy it's back. Things went well. Yeah, I mean, ah the long await of Match Week 1, the Serie A is finally here.
00:01:59
Speaker
Very excited for that. um I'm obviously thrilled because Juventus won. And yeah, so i'm i'm I'm very excited to be breaking down Match Week 1, getting into some of the storylines, breaking down some of the games.
00:02:12
Speaker
Very excited. Yeah, I mean, I guess you can say it's not very chaotic. I feel incredibly chaotic after this last this loss over the weekend. It's nice that Mott can say that his team won. It's nice that Vos can pick any team of the league and say that his team won.
00:02:28
Speaker
let's Call them beloved. The beloved. Listen, anybody that was listening to this for the last year knows how much I love those bottom-of-the-table matchups.
00:02:38
Speaker
Anytime Calliari's playing, I'm going to be watching. They're one of my favorite teams in the league. of that being said, it's great to be back, Paisans. We're here to cover it all. But before we get into the meat, we do have a huge announcement.
00:02:54
Speaker
This season, we will be doing a fantasy league for Serie The details in the notes on the league will be passed on by Mons later in the week, probably tomorrow. We're doing this on Tuesday, so possibly Wednesday.
00:03:08
Speaker
Details do be published. However, if you do want to participate, here are the rules. You must be following us on Spotify or on Apple Pods, and you must be subscribed on YouTube. We are trying to grow the brand.
00:03:21
Speaker
We need you, Paizans, and we're getting there. We are growing at an immense pace. Get on the trainer, get run over. But like I said, follow on Spotify, Apple Pods, subscribe on YouTube. We'll give you the lead code and the app.
00:03:33
Speaker
And like always, it's the usual bet. The winner gets kit of your choosing. So get in the league, follow, subscribe five stars. in know where to find us at Cultural Culture.
00:03:44
Speaker
fc on all the sites x instagram youtube tiktok and streaming on an apple pods and spotify i'll just get it out of the way now so the paisans listening can do it while they listen or we will post it later as well and if you have our numbers feel free to reach out because were we can text you it as well but basically just download the app PICCEST, K-I-C-K-E-S-T.
00:04:10
Speaker
And then the code is going to be and these are all caps TTWMN. That is code 87253-TTWMN. App is KICCEST. t t w m and and is code eight seven two five three dash tp w um n app is kick it um We will be posting that as well, um but feel free to join the league.
00:04:34
Speaker
It's going to be ah spicy season this year in the Sirius Fantasy League. spicy season in the couch. um And it's going to be spicy on the pitch, which brings us to our main segment. That's what we did. If you guys haven't tuned in last year, this is your first season with us.
00:04:48
Speaker
This is kind of our normal episode flow. We're going to go through all the games. We're going to pick a select few that we want to break down, which are really kind of like the big games. Maybe there was a big storyline. um So if you're going to be with us for the rest of the season,
00:05:00
Speaker
We're going to talk about everything. We might not be getting super into your team today, but we will next week. We will the week after. We really will cover everybody. But there was really one place to start. It had to be reigning Scudetto champions. Napoli, they went to newly promoted Svessefolo, who should be in the league. They're very much a Serie A team.
00:05:19
Speaker
um It was more of the same for Antonio Conte's Napoli. Two-nothing win. Kind of business as usual for the most part, I would say. Like we said earlier, Tevin De Bruyne got on score sheet. That was in the fifty seventh minute.
00:05:30
Speaker
And before that, to open the game, Scott McTominay gets his first of the year. Header in the box, exactly what you'd expect from him. More of the same. um Clearly going to be used in a different in a similar way this year under Antonio Conte.
00:05:45
Speaker
And what I really want to talk about, guys, here is not necessarily the result, but the way that Napoli set up and the way that Napoli played. Notably, Lukaku is out, which saw Lorenzo Luka start.
00:05:57
Speaker
And then we saw Antonio Conte go a little bit different direction in the midfield rather than more of like a traditional 4-3-3 that we saw a lot of last year. He kind of switched up and played Anguissa, De Bruyne, McTominay, and Labaka all together, which was kind of funky for him.
00:06:15
Speaker
And then Politano off the right. And then in the defense, we saw Gio Di Lorenzo, Amir Akhmani, and then kind of surprise Juan Jesus, which I think is more so a result of Bongiorno and Pukkema, presumably have some sort of knock.
00:06:29
Speaker
And then no surprise on the left, Mateus Oliveira, who really made a name for himself last season as kind of a left center back and playing as a left back at times. And then the other little bit of drama, if we do want to talk about it, I guess it's a good place to start because it's a quick one.
00:06:43
Speaker
Alex Moret in goal after they just went and spent 30 odd million euro on Vondja Milikovic-Savage. For me, I like that one. He's a guy that won the league last year. He was great. No reason not to play him. So I guess we could start there.
00:06:55
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, just going off of like not playing the new signings, that's just like a classic Italian Serie A Antonio Conte thing. For whatever reason, they feel like they need to let them get integrated into this the team.
00:07:09
Speaker
So that's probably all Conte is doing there. I expect to see Bongiorno and Sam starting pretty soon. Although Rachmani, we know what type of player he is.
00:07:20
Speaker
But I wasn't shocked to see the new signings, not necessarily... hitting the are starting right away besides De Bruyne because who he is and what he brings to the table. um But yeah, it was definitely, when I first saw the lineup, it was definitely interesting to see. I loved that Conte went for all four of the midfielders starting. We did see ah couple pictures on Twitter that he's been practicing with that lineup with all four of them on the pitch.
00:07:46
Speaker
They all bring something a little bit different, but still a lot of similarities similarities between them. And they can absolutely dominate any game with that, with those four starting.
00:07:57
Speaker
I was very interested to see how Scott was going to do specifically because he's in a completely new position being in like the left mid call it position where they did sign Noah Lang for that, for that flank.
00:08:12
Speaker
And he did exactly what he did last year. He made late runs into the box. He got on crosses. He was a workhorse up and down the pitch. And he scored a goal. And so it's looking like he's going to, doesn't matter where you play this man, he is going to do what Scott McTominay does. And that is run up and down the pitch, win the ball back and score goals.
00:08:31
Speaker
Not much more you can ask for there.
00:08:35
Speaker
I think what Conte did here with with surrounding KDB, Kevin De Bruyne, with the midfield trio that they had been running last year that had worked so well, is just allowing him to just be creative, which is what they certainly lost when Kvart Skellia went to PSG in the winter window last year.
00:08:52
Speaker
Letting KDB float and do whatever he pleases with the skill level that he has, I think really feeds into what they how they're going to get the best out of him. Because again, we've talked about this all summer long, the legs may not be there, but the creativity and the vision and the skill set is still there.
00:09:08
Speaker
So to surround him with... All three of those guys who we've we've seen been able to lock down anybody's midfield all last season really opens up De Bruyne's best part of his game. And that's, again, the vision, the progression, the creativity, which they lost.
00:09:23
Speaker
I think this was a great showing out of Napoli. And one thing that I don't want to go have gone under the radar here is that Sassuolo is a great team. I know they just got promoted. They did it incredibly well in Serie B last year.
00:09:36
Speaker
This front line that Sass runs is going to presumably run out for the remainder of the season. Berardi off the right, Pinamonte in the middle, and L'Oriente, who was actually or was actually sold to the Prem. Something fell through. He's back on Sass.
00:09:50
Speaker
that's not a That's not an easy front line to defend against, and even without their best, I would say their best back four playing against this. Obviously shut out. Great win. Great start to the season for them.
00:10:01
Speaker
Last year we saw Napoli get off to an incredibly slow start. Doesn't seem like that's going to be the case here at all. And I think we can't say it enough. But watching Scott out there just jump into the stands and just just live the life that he's doing right now.
00:10:15
Speaker
This man is a paisan through and through. He's never going back to England. Yeah, and just to kind of break it down a little bit tactically to give people a sense of kind of what it looked like. On paper, it was a 4-1-4-1, Labaka being that, like, number six midfielder.
00:10:30
Speaker
um And then basically what they did was Politano off the right was kind of there to keep the width. If you've ever watched Politano, it was more of the same. If you watched him last was more of the same. Just kind of holding that sideline.
00:10:42
Speaker
Behind him was Di Lorenzo. was more of a defensive-minded position. the right back, I would say. So he kind of was pinned a little bit deeper. So that's kind of how the right side of the field set up.
00:10:52
Speaker
And then Zombo Mgisa was like the inside right side, right side and midfielder is like that number eight box to box guy. And he was kind of anchored to that position the entire game. LaBaca as a six, did exactly what LaBaca does as a six.
00:11:05
Speaker
He goes in, picks the ball, progresses play, um all that good stuff. And then off the left side of the field is where we saw it a little bit more creative and I think a little bit more fluid than I would have expected from Antonio Conte.
00:11:17
Speaker
um And like we said, Scott McTominay on paper left mid, Kevin De Bruyne on paper left center mid with Mateus Oliveira as the left back behind them. Scott McTominay pretty much never played left mid at any point in this game. It was more Mateus Oliveira getting up to field to hold the width.
00:11:36
Speaker
And then at times we saw McTominay being as that left center mid where De Bruyne was technically set up. At times he was a second striker. At times he was the number 10. So he was kind of given the freedom to go be that like attacker and go attack space, which in turn then gave De Bruyne what we saw at Manchester City for so many years.
00:11:53
Speaker
At times, he was a alongside Lovaca. At times, he was in the back line. At times, he was a left wing. At times, he was on the right side. So really freed him up to go do what he wanted. And then Lorenzo Luca was just kind of a focal piece up front. Again, kind of more of what I didn't like about him. like He isn't really great at anything. He's the second tallest player in the league behind Vanya Milankovic-Savage.
00:12:17
Speaker
but he doesn't really do anything for you. Tactically, he doesn't really put in the hard miles. So i have I still have question marks there. But my big point on this and what I think is interesting now is last season we saw um Antonio Conte sometimes play a back three, sometimes play a 4-3-3. we'd see 4-1-4-1.
00:12:33
Speaker
now we'd see a four one four why What do you guys think he's going to do this year? Do you think this is going to be what he rolls out there? Or is it going to be game by game? We're going to do some rotation. Like you said, I think Mott's pointed this out a couple weeks ago.
00:12:46
Speaker
Everybody on the team is a starter. So in theory, I think he's got a couple 11s in his head. that they're going to use at different times. And I think he's probably just going to go with who's hot. I think that's a big reason why he played the Baca this game. It's like stick with the guys that got you there.
00:13:03
Speaker
But I do think there is going to be some malleability and some changes this year. Without a doubt. And I think that's what was so effective, how Conte was so effective last season.
00:13:13
Speaker
He didn't have the quality that he has this season at his disposal, but we saw him game in, game out, change his formation when needed, which we've never seen him do before. And we saw him win the Scudetto on a team that nobody thought could win the Scudetto besides maybe me.
00:13:31
Speaker
and point there But yeah, I mean, now he's got the he's got the quality at his as his disposal to run out of four, three, three when needed to run out of three, five, two if needed to run out this four, one, four, one whenever he wants to. And then, like you said, both whatever it is on paper, it can change on the ball, off the ball ah in the game at halftime when he wants to make those changes.
00:13:55
Speaker
So we'll definitely, in my opinion, going to see a lot of different formations from Antonio Conte, Antonio Conte's Napoli this season. But one thing I wanted to quickly go back to that you mentioned, Vos, is Lorenzo Luka, for me, did not do next to anything in this game. He didn't look very good to me.
00:14:14
Speaker
And it goes to show with Lukaku being out for maybe three months, could be more. we don't We're not really sure right now. We know it's going to be a while. they're definitely going to need to bring somebody else in. They are linked with somebody in Manchester United's Hoyland.
00:14:28
Speaker
I'm not the biggest fan of him, but they are going to need to bring in another option here because one, they don't really have anybody to turn to unless you're going to play like Scott at Stryker or a Noah Lang there.
00:14:41
Speaker
But that's one area now because of the injury that they're they are lacking and in depth. Yeah, I would say they ah they kind of need to get somebody because you you can't go.
00:14:53
Speaker
It's such a small sample size on Luka in terms of being on Napoli, but it doesn't seem like he's a guy that can kind of carry you through four months as you as your starter. What we talked about so much with Lukaku last year was like his ability when he wasn't scoring goals to be like a creative force that allowed other guys to go score.
00:15:10
Speaker
And I don't see Luka really doing that. And all he is there to do is put the ball away. But I also would say he's probably not the best guy that out there, which I, and I think the Hoyland link is interesting because I think he can do some of the creative passing that Lukaku did. And it's not like slinging balls across the field, but it's that little bit of link up play that is helpful. And I don't really think Luca has that.
00:15:31
Speaker
I think where he's better is he can make, he's he's he's a fast guy. He can make running behinds. Like he's scored a lot for Atalanta with their pace. And we all know what Kevin De Bruyne can do with a through ball into a a fast striker with running behind. So they might have to adjust the style of play with Hoyland because he's obviously not the best ah He's not Lukaku with no one's Lukaku with back to basket, back to goal play. So you're going have to adjust it a little bit, but those running behinds will be lethal with De Bruyne. And then one other thing I wanted to just quickly mention on Napoli, which is going to be scary for them.
00:16:06
Speaker
for every team that comes up against them is they have trees everywhere and they have Kevin De Bruyne to whip in a cross who scored on that on a free kick.
00:16:17
Speaker
No one touched it. But the fact that Napoli have four guys that are 6-2 and above, the goalie has to respect them getting ahead on it and he had to react late. And then Kevin De Bruyne has the most bend in you've ever seen and it just bended it just went into the back of the net. So that's going to be hard to stop for teams this season.
00:16:40
Speaker
Anything final in that way, Lux? Anything? good? No, I think I'm good. I think we we covered it all. And it will remain to be seen what they what they do around Luka. Because I've always had his best interest in mind, but I'm not going to comment on the performance this past weekend.
00:16:54
Speaker
Okay. Yeah, and Alcestral, I think you you said everything that needs to be said. I think they're going to be going to make this. Logan just talked about Lorenzo Luka like he was his agent. but but I'm not going to comment on this performance.
00:17:08
Speaker
All right. On SAS, I think Logue said everything that needed to be said. This is kind of the hardest game you're going to play. One or two of the hardest games. And it's a tough first game to open up your your first game back in Serie A. So I'm not going to read too much into it, but they definitely have some good players there. The the front three you just said.
00:17:25
Speaker
All guys that have been in the league, all guys that have had success in the league. Domenico Verardi is number five in goals toward in Serie of active players. So guys that have been there, guys that are good in this league. So I think they'll be okay.
00:17:39
Speaker
um But that brings us to a another team Two new teams, our two teams with two new managers at the San Siro. We had Inter Milan host Torino. Things went really well for one manager and things were really bad for another manager.
00:17:53
Speaker
Inter blew the doors off of Torino, five to nothing. Goals from Bastoni, who also notched an incredible assist on a cross from like 40 yards out. Marcus Terram. It was a classic best Stoney cross though. Like he's been doing this for years.
00:18:09
Speaker
It is true. Marcus Terram, not two goals. Lataro Martinez off the sheet early this year. And then Boney off the bench gets one. I thought he looked really good when he played. It looked like Marcus Terram was just out there. There was no drop in quality, which I think is really important and still being able to play in a similar fashion.
00:18:29
Speaker
From a Torino perspective, you know, we'll come back to Torino because there's not a lot to be said. ah We'll start on Inter. Christian Kieber's first game, we had a couple questions about how they were going to line up. It was very Inzaghi Conte. It was like a 3-5-2-3. Yeah, a 3-5-2 is what it was.
00:18:45
Speaker
um the The notable change was more so in how the midfield was structured. We still saw it be like a number six with two eights. The number six was Barella in this case. And then Moketarian off the left, Peter Surchis off the right, who had a exceptional game.
00:19:01
Speaker
um But the little bit difference was Barella being that number six kind of changed things up. That was a really different role for him. And then I think we saw a lot more fluidity than we would have expected in a midfield like this. I think under Nzadi.
00:19:14
Speaker
It was kind of your number six is always your number six. And then the the midfielders kind of stick to their side and push up the field kind of like in in that flank. Sometimes they'll come into that, to the back line to help progress play.
00:19:25
Speaker
But in this, the way I'm describing it, and I could be way off is calling it like a triple pivot because at one point in time, Sujic, Borela, and Makasaran were all on the same side of the field in a triangle.
00:19:37
Speaker
And then the three center backs were on the other side of the field in their own triangle. So was kind of like when Barella dropped in, Makatarian could take his place. Suchich could go to the right mid, Suchich could to the cam.
00:19:48
Speaker
Just a lot of moving pieces. And I did like it in that it was kind of progressive thinking from Kivu. Putting his stamp on this team, obviously it was very successful with five goals.
00:19:59
Speaker
With what I'm concerned about is at times I saw very, very large gaps in this team. particularly between the midfield line and the forward line. And Lataro and Saram were very much left on like kind of their own island, which they are good at.
00:20:16
Speaker
But in the past, under Inzaghi, they kind of had a number 10 under them, which was usually Mkhitary. And now with this team, it's kind of like you're pushing everybody a little bit further away from the goal in terms of starting position, which I thought was interesting. i am not sold. I think this game went as well as it did partially because of how bad Torino was.
00:20:36
Speaker
But at the same time, five goals, you can't really argue that. Partially?
00:20:44
Speaker
Torino was fucking awful. Yeah, we're talking about Torino. Focus on it. Torino was terrible. I know I'm i'm focused on Inter, but only because i one thing I will echo is that Suchich was awesome.
00:20:55
Speaker
Amazing that Bai is now part of the, is a candidate for purchase of this of the summer window. He was phenomenal. He's the new Brozovic. I mean, he he was doing it all.
00:21:05
Speaker
Beautiful assist to Taram. I can't even go through the cross of it. He's so much better, like, in the final third. It's kind of insane. He's very good. Winning balls left and right. Yeah.
00:21:18
Speaker
It seems to be like he's got a deep shot, so he could be a deep threat going into, you know, going into more games here. Well, and Taram's finishing ability today, or the other day, Martina's great finishing.
00:21:29
Speaker
What I will say, though, is... Torino was horrible, horrible, horrible. So the fact that this that this result just kind of, i would say, says more about Torino than it does Inter.
00:21:40
Speaker
I think if this is how Torino plays against Napoli or a Milan on a good day, like this is the same exact result because it didn't they it didn't seem very difficult and it didn't look like Inter was even trying that hard.
00:21:54
Speaker
I mean, the ball from Bastoni, don't get me wrong, absolutely fucking stunning, but Torino... I don't know what the defending was. Taram just had a, was a free, it was a free header. So to me,
00:22:05
Speaker
They said a lot about how bad Torino could be this season. Inter, a way to go out there and and get control of that. But to your point about the distance between the forwards and the rest of the squad, leaving Terram and leaving Latoro on an island will only work for so long.
00:22:20
Speaker
I think that that can be overcompensative or very quickly. So if that continues to be the trend and the four the tactic that they go with, I don't foresee Inter scoring this many goals that many times.
00:22:33
Speaker
It was a good showing for Inter. I did not expect a win. Obviously, Torino has been in the league. They are Serie A. They just are consistently in 10th. You don't normally have to ah worry about them getting relegated, although this year we'll have to see because, they like to Logan's point, they look terrible.
00:22:53
Speaker
um But I still didn't expect Inter to put up 5 on them, but they look very good. What I'd say is Barella was only playing the number six role because Hakan was suspended due to games from last season. So he was playing there because there was out of necessity, right? Like, I don't think Barella is going to be playing there a lot this year, although maybe he because he played very well in that position and he's so good, you can play put him in any position and he will succeed.
00:23:22
Speaker
But... In terms of like, I thought they looked pretty much like that they did under Inzaghi in terms of the fluidity. um It was just a little bit more direct in their attack.
00:23:33
Speaker
But I didn't like to I didn't like how we saw Mkhitaryan starting again. i don't really understand why they're still starting carrying when they have other options. Fertesi was hurt, by the way. Okay, perfect. I didn't see that one. but um they they They definitely were light in the midfield. But he was on the bench.
00:23:50
Speaker
Fertesi was on the bench. He had a knock, though. He was doubtful before the game. But, listen, they played well. um I think for Inter, if we're going to look the positives, like what you can take away from this game is last season, Latar Martinez did not have his best season, right? He was...
00:24:08
Speaker
He had coming off one of his best seasons ever, an amazing Copa America. And for whatever reason, he really didn't hit the ground running. Maybe he was tired. But this, he got on score sheet quick.
00:24:19
Speaker
And then same with Marcus Terram. Marcus Terram, two seasons ago, came off of double-digit goal, double-digit assist game. And last season for whatever, he started off extremely hot, but then very much cooled down. And we didn't really see the Marcus Tram we saw it two years ago.
00:24:35
Speaker
This game, Marcus Tram dominated with two goals as well. And then you have Bastoni as well dominated. So you have your best players dominating early, which is what you want under a new manager.
00:24:46
Speaker
making sure you hit the ground running and they all seem to play for each other. They were all united. So I thought that first game was good for them. We'll see what continues to happen, but their best players are hitting the ground running, which is a good sign for this team because they have ah an inexperienced manager. So I feel like the manager is going to have to lean on the players a little bit in some cases because the players have more experience in bigger games, in deeper runs and competitions than their manager.
00:25:14
Speaker
And in order, so for Inter to thrive, they need their players to really step up this year like they didn't do necessarily last year. Yeah, non-player personnel, Mons, I think your Makatarian point is very accurate. I think when we talked about Inter in the preview, we talked about them maybe playing with like a 10 or with a left wing. I don't thought Makatarian should we got to step into that?
00:25:34
Speaker
I think what we saw really shows that Makatarian is not the guy to play there. I think if they're going to kind of bring all three of their midfielders a little bit deeper, you There's no reason to play Mokotari. And then yeah when you have Cortese, Hakan, even Zolinski came off the bench.
00:25:50
Speaker
It just doesn't, it makes sense to move on. And I don't think he's going to be the guy going forward. And I would assume, I mean, to your guys' point, Suchich had a great game in terms of final third. lot. i There's no way you take him out. yeah and and And winning, he won so many balls back for them.
00:26:05
Speaker
near the Torino's 18-18 to create quick opportunities for Inter. So when everyone is healthy and not on a suspension, yeah I could easily see Varela taking his normal spot in the right center mid next to Dumfries.
00:26:22
Speaker
Hakann is the regista and then Suicic in the left center mid position. We'll have to see if they put him there, but I would be shocked if they don't run that three a lot this season.
00:26:33
Speaker
Yeah, then last piece on player personnel, not all that significant, but just want to mention the back three we talked about ah kind of at length in this preview, and they went to Bastoni, Acherby, and Pavard.
00:26:45
Speaker
I think Acherby was maybe a surprise for us, but I thought he played exceptionally well. kind of played good enough. where you have to play him again. And I think they're probably going to continue to roll this. But I think there's also defending Gio Simeone.
00:26:57
Speaker
that That is true. But he also played, he did he did a lot offensively for me again. I think that's the problem that Inter has, though, that, listen, Acherubi plays well. and i didn't when When we said they're thin, he's just an old man.
00:27:09
Speaker
yeah But he plays well. He gives you great 90 minutes. But Can he do it game in and game out in a 38-season Serie A campaign in the Copa Italia in the Champions League?
00:27:21
Speaker
I think we've realized last year, no, he cannot. and But because of the the high floor, as you and Logan like to say, Bo, that he has interfield, they don't necessarily need to move on from him.
00:27:34
Speaker
But in my opinion, in the future, in the long run, it's going to hurt them having a Cherby as their kind of center-centerback. Guy that they rely on. think it's a good show.
00:27:46
Speaker
Quickly on Torino, I guess I'll i'll talk about Torino because... Your beloved Torino, you mean? but i You don't want to add that? of it was god Beloved, but your boy Torino. Yeah, this is, I think this is their worst game of the season.
00:28:00
Speaker
I don't, I literally don't think it could get worse than this. It was so bad. It was really bad. It looked like they had just, this was their first preseason friendly, but they hadn't practiced before. they Like they just got like thrown out there before the game. Barone was like, okay, here's how we're playing guys. And then just like threw everybody out there. It didn't look like anybody knew what they were doing.
00:28:21
Speaker
I thought everybody played bad, like from a technical standpoint and from a tactical standpoint. And then on top of that, the goalkeeper situation is very elongating. There was some really, really bad goalkeeping from a Torino perspective.
00:28:36
Speaker
So not a lot to say. I honestly think this is going to their worst performance of the season. The other thing is they are getting Duvon Zapata back at some point here. He was on the bench, but didn't play. That does make a pretty big difference for them.
00:28:49
Speaker
And I will defend them with, they ah went very different formation from last year. New manager, lost their best player, didn't have their striker. So I have some excuses, but overall...
00:29:01
Speaker
I literally think this is the worst game of the season for that. I don't think he's for not playing Shea Adams. He came off the bench. It's hard to get worse. But how has he not started? There was just so many, I don't know.
00:29:12
Speaker
There were so many things that they could have done differently. But they also got picked apart, right? Like, again, you don't want Duvon back. You're going to bring in your band a new striker, Juicy Mione. You don't have Ricci, who is clearly just such a huge part of this roster.
00:29:24
Speaker
And Vanya, Molybosavage, who... I don't think Vanya, Valigas, could even save them remotely from this game. They were just getting they were getting murdered out on the pitch. But this Torino team in trouble. Colin is now early, early, early relegation candidate here. ah All right. We're going to do our our pred predictions and win them transfer. Yeah, exactly. Let them paisans know why we have not came out with the prediction episode yet.
00:29:50
Speaker
Yeah, we're going to do a full episode where we're all going to take our picks from 20. it's not even 20. Whatever it is. Is it 20? I think it's like 18. I always forget. Yeah. Oh, we're going to go bottom of the table. No, there's 20. There's 20. Okay.
00:30:02
Speaker
We're going bottom of the table, it's top of the table. We're going to pick who we think is going to finish in every position. We haven't done that yet because we want the transfer window to close. Last year when we did this, we did it before the transfer window closed and like a bunch of stuff happened.
00:30:15
Speaker
And it definitely changed. Definitely, I think we would have set it up. So we're just waiting for that to end. Not that we're trying to use the start of the season as an excuse at all. I never want the transfer window to end. I love the transfer window. Mercado. Also, like i always see it now like I always say, the Serie A doesn't really start until 10 games in. So we're not really learning anything in the first 10 matches in terms of like who's going to come in first. But that is why the episode has not dropped yet. But don't worry, we it will be coming out soon.
00:30:43
Speaker
All right, cool. That's interns for Reno. i guess, Barkey matchup of the weekend. Biggest game in terms of biggest teams. um Roma hosted Bologna. Again, like we said, first game under Gasparini. First competitive match under Gasparini for Roma.
00:30:58
Speaker
Hosting a very good Bologna team who we had a lot of good things to say about last year. A lot of kind of positive talk coming into this season. Roma did win this game 1-0 courtesy of a winner from their new signing.
00:31:09
Speaker
Brazilian Wesley, who plays right wing back. His goal was kind of a little bit lucky in terms of Lucumne rare error from Lucumne. passing the ball back, giving it away, and then he just snatched up on it.
00:31:21
Speaker
ah Other notable things in this game, Cyril Mobile started the game, started pretty well. um He got hurt. He's now out for, it looks like, one to two months. And then Simone Castro came in from him, for him off the bench. I don't know why he didn't start. He looked very good.
00:31:36
Speaker
He hit the post two or three times, um had some good movement. So fully expect him to be the starter going forward for this team. But it was a pretty good game. It was one nothing, but it was exciting. more of that Gasparini ball that we'd expect.
00:31:50
Speaker
And I think something that's significant is Roma won the possession battle in this game, which is kind of weird because Vincenzo Italiano's entire thing is we're going to keep the ball and not let the other team have it ever.
00:32:02
Speaker
So to see that from a Gasparini team, we're usually progressive as fast as you possibly can get it up the field, take every chance you can little bit surprising. um But I guess I'm not all that shocked. He's basically working with a better squad than he had at Atlanta.
00:32:16
Speaker
Similar formation. it it it It looks like this is going to work. If you beat Bologna at home 1-0 start the season, like that's ah that's a great start. You beat them in possession. They basically have every player they had last year minus Indoi, which is a big miss.
00:32:31
Speaker
And I don't think Bukema is the guy that makes the difference in this game. So I think from Roma perspective, you look at this like, here we go. One, nothing. That's one. We're doing better than we did last year already.
00:32:42
Speaker
And you can kind of just roll off of this. I think the other crazy thing, it showed the stands and Claudio Ranieri with Ricky Massaro, who had all that success with Milan. Everything for this club is lining up for them to have success this year and into the future now.
00:32:57
Speaker
I think we're going see the true Roma team that we were excited about at the beginning of last season come through. We're one year it where we own one year older and all for a lot of these guys. Typically, we would say one year older is poor, but these guys are young. there's a young core, young squad, a lot to prove. And I think that they've they're only going to get so much better under Gasparini.
00:33:17
Speaker
Another thing that I thought was interesting here, Evan Ferguson with the start and with a 70-minute start. So it wasn't just like he came in for 45 and Dobrik came in for 45. Dobrik only came in the 70th minute.
00:33:27
Speaker
Very interesting. I'm wondering if it was a tactic thing, it was a game situation thing, or if Dobrik is kind of sliding back in that depth chart and Evan Ferguson's playing well in practice. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case. We do know that Evan Ferguson from his bright end days is a talented striker.
00:33:43
Speaker
But I did have high hopes for Dobik coming into the season, knowing that what Rettegi did last year with Atalanta under Gasparini and how this team can emulate that same play style. It'll be interesting. Dobik has been linked away.
00:33:56
Speaker
um I do not think Roma is actually going to sell him, but he has not been in favor as of the last week. um But just an interesting interesting thing to keep an eye on if Evan Ferguson does become the number one starter consistently through the rest of the season.
00:34:09
Speaker
I think we can start there because I think that this is an interesting discussion and we can kind back into some other things that happened. um But after watching the game, he makes so much sense to me why they went with Evan Ferguson. He's a way more complete player than Dovick in my mind.
00:34:23
Speaker
I think a lot of the problems that I had with Dovick last year and i think we all had with Dovick last year was when you leave him on an island, like... He kind of struggles. Like he's good back to basket in terms of he can kind of hold the ball for a few seconds.
00:34:36
Speaker
But then he doesn't really ever do anything beyond that. Like he he looks at them like go get in the box to score. Evan Ferguson was all over the field. He was by himself for a ton of the game and still made things happen. In the first 20 minutes, he created like three or four chances for himself.
00:34:51
Speaker
Kind of unlucky to to not net one. And for me, there's no reason to go back to Dopec at this point. In terms of whether or not the club sell him, I think it would be very short-sighted to move on from Dovick because, again, you're in three competitions.
00:35:06
Speaker
Evan Ferguson and strikers in general are probably going to go through a drought. It's not like Evan Ferguson scored a goal this game. I think Dovick will get his chances, and I think Gasparini is going to create a system where you can play with two strikers at times.
00:35:18
Speaker
um So I think Dovick's going to get his chances. But for now, this is Evan Ferguson's position, and that it looks like he's going to hold Yeah, the reports I'm seeing on Twitter and the Roma Twittersphere is Gasparini isn't the biggest fan of Dovbeck and is a much bigger fan of Ferguson.
00:35:36
Speaker
For the 70 minutes that I saw Ferguson, he played really well. He had good opportunities. He was able to beat his man a lot. So I'm excited to see what is to come. But I do genuinely think that Dovbeck in a Gasparini system can be a beast.
00:35:52
Speaker
And them being in multiple competitions, like you said, bo I think it would be very dumb to move on from him. But for whatever reason, all the reports I see is that he's not the biggest dope pick fan. So we'll have to see what happens there.
00:36:04
Speaker
We also know what Gasparini is like with player of personnel. like it's He's very stubborn and kind. of i mean, the whole Lookman saga, whether it was Lookman's fault, Gasparini, he did not handle it, though.
00:36:17
Speaker
So little worry. Correct. And then just a little bit more than I was kind of surprised about was Cristante got a start next to Kone. um I thought he played pretty well.
00:36:28
Speaker
I thought he played very poor. i was going to that was hearing one of the things that I want to talk about. I didn't think he did awful. I was just shocked that he was starting, right? Especially with the new signing that Sam and Nate kind of mentioned that they were very excited to see. But like I mentioned earlier, Italian clubs integrate their new signings slowly, although Evan Ferguson got the start from minute one. So interesting to see. But then also defensively, Roma doing what Roma did last year, another clean sheet.
00:36:56
Speaker
um We did see Hermoso, who we thought was kind of on the outs, get a start. I don't think he necessarily played amazing, so we'll see what happens there. But they did sign another center back there as well to um kind of strengthen that line as well.
00:37:11
Speaker
But... The real person I wanted to highlight here was Wesley, the wingback. We know what Gasparini can do with wingbacks. Wesley was highly sought after by Italian clubs, Juventus being one of them, but Roma were able to land him and he played...
00:37:27
Speaker
extremely well in my opinion. I know that the goal was definitely a little lucky because Luke and me made a really bad touch, but he's still in the right place at the right time. And he still provides to finish. And he got extremely pumped when he scored, which is always good to see kissing the Roma badge, which is always good to see it because he's proud that he's on the Roma team, which I like to see as well.
00:37:45
Speaker
um But listen, this man can, can be a beast in the gas burning system, right? yeah We know what he's been able to do with all kinds of wingbacks. In this one game alone, he was all over the pitch, winning the ball back, putting in great crosses.
00:37:59
Speaker
He almost had an assist to Dybala. Just an overall great game, in my opinion, and very, very excited for what's to come for Wesley in this Gasparini system because of how effective the wingbacks are in gas in the system.
00:38:14
Speaker
Yeah, and I think I'll get in. I got to break down tactics. I think that's important how this actually played out. But on your Wesley point, I agree. And, you know, he really, really reminds me of Danny Alves and in the way that he moves and kind of what his skill set is.
00:38:28
Speaker
He's more of like a winger than a right back, I would say. in turn Yeah, I was going to say meloy when I was watching him, I was I was thinking quadrado, but that's because I'm. Yeah, he moves like, yeah, he moves like that. they He it's weak. He's so fast. too Like he could be a problem.
00:38:43
Speaker
for a lot of teams and that like that overload. And then the other thing that I think really helped this for Gasparini is how they set up task play, kind of what happens because a lot of the issue that De Rossi had and Rangieri kind of figured out was how to use Sule and Dybala and get other teams in the mess.
00:39:00
Speaker
in the mix. And with Wesley now, you have a win ah a wing back that can kind of satisfy your need offensively and defensively, be like a real winger when you do have the ball, and then give Sule or Dybala that ability to go play as like a number 10.
00:39:14
Speaker
Because on paper, they lined up in a 3-4-2-1 with Sule as a right wing, El Sharaway as a left wing. But in reality, what happened was Sule was pretty much never on the lane. He was more so number 10.
00:39:25
Speaker
And then El Shirawi was more of like a traditional left winger, kind of playing how we saw Lookman play a lot of time, maybe starting a little bit wider. Also got the captain back. So that was pretty crazy. And then from a midfield perspective, and including the win backs in there, Angelino, Manu Kone, Brian Christophe, Wesley.
00:39:40
Speaker
So you have a traditional guy in Angelino who's really good at crossing it. And then you have Wesley, who's like a dynamic kind of winger to have more kind of potency to your offense and then just a solid base and in Kone and Cristante um the other thing that I saw which which I liked I'm a little bit surprised about uh was Indica Mancini and Mosa really were given the reins to go join offense when they saw fit Indica played I think further up the field than I saw him at any point last season Mancini found his way into the box several times um which i what I didn't like and you kind of commented on it
00:40:14
Speaker
maybe not a negative way was Hermoso. I don't think he makes any sense to play there. He's not really mobile. He's not great on the ball. And it seems like these guys are going to have a lot of the ball this year and be, again, like I said, given the reins to go participate.
00:40:28
Speaker
So I would like to see a change there. What I thought would actually make a ton of sense is play divine wrench there. He's a big guy. He's really athletic and he's really good on the ball. So give him, give him that area.
00:40:39
Speaker
and then let him contribute offensively and have the legs to go back on defense. That's my quick thought on it. um i I just think if you're going to play Hermoso, it makes more sense play as the middle guy because he just isn't very mobile. He's just not great at anything for me.
00:40:54
Speaker
That's fair. One other comment I wanted to say, and this was in regards to kind of what you said earlier, Vos, in terms of the statistics in Roma dominating possession.
00:41:05
Speaker
They didn't let Bologna do anything that Bologna wanted. They were all over him. And this kind of goes to Sam and Nate's point on the Roma preview. of Roma just being extremely fit. They were all over Bologna. Bologna could not do it anything.
00:41:18
Speaker
They had some chances that were like not real chances. Like their XG was 0.58. point five eight They had zero big chances, but 10 total shots. So ah Bologna could not do anything against this Roma press.
00:41:33
Speaker
And Roma, if Roma are going to defend and kind of do this every game in a game out, it's going to be scary for every team in the Serie A.
00:41:45
Speaker
Vos, and I guess Mots too, I had never been huge on Bologna, and I would always get a sock stuffed in my mouth every time that Bologna would play Milan. But does this showing call i have a cause for any concern going forward, or do you think that this is a ah just a tough start, slow start to the season? They got a couple of things to to iron out, but they should be in a good spot. i mean, they lost won nothing and the the goal came off of like a really bad error.
00:42:11
Speaker
Like they each this game easily could have been 0-0 at the end of the day. Like they kind of got unlucky in what the goal did jump from. But they didn't didn't play bad, I would say. Like it just didn't really go right for them. I think Roma did more to go and win this game and did deserve to win it.
00:42:26
Speaker
But with Italiano and in the way that he wants to play, it always takes a little bit of time for them to get like back in the rhythm of like everybody getting on the ball. Granted, they have a lot of the same team. But like this isn't a bad result. I think that they go into locker room they're like, oh, lost 1-0 to Roma, who in my mind should be a Scudetto. Not a favorite, but that they're going to be in the mix this year.
00:42:49
Speaker
Bologna not really at that level yet. So you hold your own. You're open the game. the you open the season in Rome. Like this isn't the easiest game. So I think a one nothing thing. You're like, okay, we got our loss out of the system. let's just go back, bounce back next game. These things are going to happen. Italiano has been there. The players have been there.
00:43:06
Speaker
I still feel really good about them. I think they can compete for European spot again. And I'm not going to like look at this game as like a total failure for them. It's more so like getting you're getting started and one nothing thing is in the end.
00:43:17
Speaker
Yeah. Listen, I think that Bavos's point to Italiano slowing or starting slow. That is true. They started extremely slow last year and then they were able to pick it up.
00:43:28
Speaker
ah But it's a lot of the same players. So you would expect him to probably pick up where he left off and they were flying high and to your to kind of go against you both like they very eat they very much had a chance of champions league football last season and they're in the Europa League they won the Copa so I think Bologna this season said we can make this push for champions league football this year and so they had to definitely compete although I do think they did compete in this game but Italiano said in the press that like he got frustrated that the transfer market is still open because he had players.
00:44:02
Speaker
And I assume that the player is, look who me, yeah like it is wanting to leave because he's heavily linked to the prem, getting more money in terms of wages. So he was frustrated with that, but I don't,
00:44:15
Speaker
So not all the players were locked in for sure, but that's all. I also think some of this has to go on Italiano. And this goes back to why I was not a fan of Immobile coming to Bologna or even them getting Bernadeschi.
00:44:28
Speaker
Like, what are you doing getting old ass Italians who... left the league and one of them is 37 who gets injured in the first 20 minutes of the game and bernardeschi who couldn't didn't make it at juve and then went to the mls and hasn't played at that level in so long i think that they went after not necessarily the best players which i was shocked about because bologna do such a good job of evaluating talent buying for low and then selling for high but I can see Bologna having a being in for maybe a tough season this year if Lukumi leaves and then they don't replace him and they're older with the older guys they brought in.
00:45:09
Speaker
don't necessarily see them doing what they did last year. Yeah, and just one other thing that I think it's probably worth mentioning ah like... Big, of like taking a step back.
00:45:19
Speaker
Lewis Bergeson didn't play. So like he still like, did that's your best player really. And he was really not in the team at all last year, but but very late parts of the season. So you're gonna get him. Juan Miranda didn't play.
00:45:31
Speaker
He was hurt or he was suspended from last year technically. He was a massive part of the offense of this team. And then the other thing is Zorteya just got there. He got a few minutes, but he's being integrated and he provided a ton of offense for Calgary last year for wide areas.
00:45:46
Speaker
So those are three guys that are like realistically in your best starting 11 that weren't even really in this game at all. So that is just one other thing I think that's worth mentioning. Because this team with Lewis Ferguson is a lot fucking better.
00:46:01
Speaker
And I think they're going to be okay this year. I'm not really worried about them at all. but mean You should definitely be worried if Tommaso Bobega is in your starting 11. So that's always going to a fun time for him. It was like that last year, dude. and Someone smarter than Milan. You know who you should be worried is Logan, the Milan fan.
00:46:19
Speaker
After match week one. hidden And why why is that? All right, let's get into it. Let's get into it. The last game we're really going to get in deep on here. AC Milan, first game the season. and Opening it up at the San Siro against newly promoted Kremlin.
00:46:35
Speaker
Got to go and get after it. You got a new manager, some new signings. The sky is the limit for Milan. Not quite how it goes. They lose this game 2-1.
00:46:46
Speaker
Federico Bonazzoli from Cremineze scores one. And Federico Vastarono But Pavlovich gets one, Luggs. There's your silver lining back in the team.
00:46:57
Speaker
Luggs, initial top scorer. Before we go into the Luggs take on Milan, Kremner is a second goal already, arguably, goal of the season, potentially.
00:47:10
Speaker
if you haven't seen it, go look. It's basically like a bicycle kick or a side volley, whatever you want to call it. Very nice goal. um But obviously the headline here is Milan losing match week one at home in the San Siro to a newly promoted Cremonese, who, by the way, they got promoted and then they basically changed up everything in terms of their players, manager.
00:47:31
Speaker
So it's a very new team to the Serie A. And Milan is losing, picking up where they left off last year. ah Did that feel good, Mons? Did you like saying that?
00:47:44
Speaker
This, um yeah, unfortunately not what I was hoping to see out of this squad. What I will preface it with, and not to make excuses, but I guess it'll come across as an excuse. No, Leao, and this game picked up a knock in the Coppa Italia game against Vari.
00:47:58
Speaker
No, Jashari came in incredibly late into the game. I wish we saw more of him. Ricci did not play at all. Kony De Winter as well. I guess we're going back to that whole Serie A. We don't play the new guys, but in any case...
00:48:11
Speaker
The biggest thing for me was in something that we had last year, had the year before, a lot just a lot of pointless possession, a ton of pointless possession. And it really stems from the fact that and we we already knew this, so I don't know why we didn't prepare for it and why we haven't made changes to go to move past this efficiency.
00:48:31
Speaker
The center backs have zero ability to add anything to the offense of this team. They are incapable of passing the ball more than 10 feet in front of them to Luka Modric, who was just a lone pendulum in the midfield.
00:48:46
Speaker
Not what I was hoping that he would be doing for this team. i was hoping that he would be playing similar to how KDB was allowed to just free roam and be creative the entire time.
00:48:57
Speaker
Modric was literally the guy on the ball the entire game. And with that being said, it was incredibly easy to defend because all you had to do was just shadow Modric. And if you had to pass it Ruben Loftus-Cheek, he was just kind dribbling into no man's land. and And even worse, if you pass it to Fofana this game, he literally just booted it to nobody. i don't think anybody passed it to Fofana this game. but got i don't I don't remember any moment where invite you really had the ball.
00:49:26
Speaker
He had a couple moments where he either just bombed it up the field or eat or if he had gotten it on the top of the box, was just taking random shots from 40 feet out and getting it blocked.
00:49:36
Speaker
If you look at the stat sheet here, it does not tell a great story. It's 24 shots, two big chances, a couple on goal, two almost 2.0 xG. But if you watch the game...
00:49:48
Speaker
I would say 15, 16, 17s of those shots were just blocked at the top of the box. had no shot of even getting towards the net. So no quality offense here. Santi Jimenez continues to look like he's just a lethargic, lazy striker. Got an open goal on a corner. The one...
00:50:08
Speaker
Had an open goal on corner kick. What I will say is that his we know his finishing is good. Is it though? you can same Is it? You can see it on on the goal that got called back from being off sides. I mean, that left foot is just actually but awesome. um But for him to get in those positions and to get the service that he needs, like he's not he doesn't try hard enough to get into the positions that don't want him to get the shots. If you're a striker and you're only you're only good at finishing on your strong foot, is your finishing actually good?
00:50:36
Speaker
I would say his finishing is great on his left foot. Yeah, but if that's his only thing that he can do as a striker, he can't... he If he was good at finishing, he would have scored that goal on the corner with his head. He can't use his foot.
00:50:47
Speaker
I would just say that like if you look at Dusan Ljavic per chance, or for example, in years past, he can't finish on either foot. So having one foot is definitely a plus in my mind. Has he shown that he's good at finishing with his foot?
00:51:00
Speaker
Yes, he has. And if you watched if you watched him, I know you guys hate him. I think there's something there. it just so It's just so awful that he's so lazy. You know what this sounds like? This sounds like early days to some Vlahovic on Juve.
00:51:11
Speaker
Where it's like, oh, it's going to happen. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. I hope it happens. Although there are sneakily comments coming from Santi's agent that he wants to leave. leave I don't love that. guys brought in striker?
00:51:26
Speaker
and Anything else from the peanut gallery, Mots? I'm trying to tell the Paizans that Milan is going to be okay. are Actually, I'm just telling myself that. The other thing is that Pulisic playing as a second striker is just not, that's not it. He wasn't. He wasn't really. I know he wasn't, but he needs to either be playing as a wide player. Which he was. He was a left winger. He was a left winger.
00:51:48
Speaker
or playing more as that 10, but we don't even we shouldn't even need him to play as that 10 because we have Luka Modric, but Luka Modric is playing in the back line because our back line can't pass the ball. so let me just break down. like a whole disaster. And one more thing, one more thing. more thing The defense from the wingbacks is still fucking horrendous.
00:52:06
Speaker
Salamachers on one end, just the laziest guy I've ever seen on the cross to the bike. Then on the bike, Alex Jimenez is in God. He's just watching pigeons. he's watching He's watching pigeons as this guy is biking it over his head.
00:52:19
Speaker
So the outside back defense hasn't been solved yet. I guess that wasn't a last season thing that's now going to continue for years to come. We're going plagued by our outside backs. The ghost of Emerson and Davide Calabria are still here and we need to also figure that out.
00:52:32
Speaker
All right, Logs, that was a big info dump. So let me walk you back here. Give the paisans listening a little bit picture of what actually happened. This was my therapy session. I needed it. Your whole life is a therapy session, brother.
00:52:44
Speaker
So here's how Allegri lined up. I think it was a little bit surprising to it. No, it was not. You guys, did you watch him on Juventus the second? know, but it it it was still different because, so, okay, let me just say whatever. 3-5-2, backline Pavlovich, Gabby, Tomori. The only kind of surprise there i would say is Tomori off the right.
00:53:03
Speaker
There was, we were saying it be De Winter. So nothing really crazy there. Estupinian and Saul offers the wingbacks. Again, nothing crazy there. Midfield three, Buffon and Modric, Ruben Loftus-Chi.
00:53:14
Speaker
Ruben Loftus-Cheek was kind of like a like a right winger starting position a little bit, but really was coming in playing as like a number 10 essentially for most of the game. And then up to top, on paper, again, Santi Jimenez and Christian Pulisic.
00:53:26
Speaker
Santi Jimenez was very much a number nine. Pulisic, Morseur starting off the left. In a position you would expect like a Raphael Leao to be playing. Get wide, get on the ball and kind of attack from there.
00:53:37
Speaker
And then on the right side where you really expect Pulisic when Leao and Pulisic are playing, kind of being like they come in and play as a number 10. So then what happens is Salamakras becomes your right wing. In this game, Wofftus-Cheek, like your number 10, Santiman is your number nine, Christian Pulisic, your left wing.
00:53:53
Speaker
With S2 Pignon raffling around him. The midfield two of Fofana and Modric was very weird because Modric was essentially being a number six and dropping into the back line to go facilitate play forward.
00:54:08
Speaker
Fofada, I have literally no idea what his job was up until they got to the final third. It was the biggest. He basically did nothing in buildup other than take up space and run into other people's area.
00:54:19
Speaker
I literally don't know what his job was. And then in the final third, it was kind of like a Modric and Fofada were almost like in a pivot is what it kind of looked like to me. And then out of possession, it was a 3-5-2 with a flat midfield three with Wobtis-Tree, Modric in the middle, which I also don't think makes a lot of sense, and Fofana as the left center it.
00:54:38
Speaker
But that's what happened. Very kind of odd. Let me tell you guys from an Allegri expert here, why this setup went the way it was. Okay.
00:54:49
Speaker
This is a very similar thing he did with Juventus in the 2.0 stint, 2.0 Allegri. What he's doing here and what he's going to do is he's going to play Pulisic or Liao when Liao is healthy and can play in the Federico Chiesa role in the 3-5-2.
00:55:04
Speaker
That's basically a winger, but it's lined up as a striker. Okay. Okay, then you're going to have Jimenez or maybe your new striker in the Dusan Blavis role. That's the striker. The problem with that is, yes, folks, which the breakdown was good and and on when you're on the ball, looks like a 4-3-3, but it's really not because...
00:55:22
Speaker
He sets them up so deep, although they have possession, that they don't have enough guys forward to try and score goals. And that's why you're taking 20 shots from the eight outside the 18-yard line because no one is getting for forward.
00:55:35
Speaker
The reason why Luka Modric is playing in the middle is because Allegri will take his most... I don't want to say consistent, his best forward on the ball and put him in the middle, although that's not his right position because he trusts him there, aka Locatelli, using Locatelli as a register, although it wasn't good enough, although that's not Locatelli's normal position.
00:55:58
Speaker
So Modric, not his normal position, but he he's he has Allegri's the most trust, Allegri has the most trust in him to progress the play, to keep the ball, to not give it away.
00:56:09
Speaker
So he is going to throw Modric in the middle. Now you're going to have both Fofana and Loftus Cheek being the Rabiot role, which is just run up and down the box and like mash people and smash people. Fofana wasn't even like a lot pu to do that. That's what just didn't make any sense.
00:56:29
Speaker
But no, Fofano was all over the place, bro. He had looked like a chicken with his head cut off. He was fouling everyone at the top of the box. He wasn't even in the right defensive spot. But that's what that that's my point is that he's Rabiot didn't was never really anything besides running around and trying to win the ball back.
00:56:46
Speaker
And now I'm honestly forgetting who he even played and the right center mid under a lag. McKinney. Yeah, Wesley McKinney and other places people. But he and also Allegri is the king, the absolute king of playing the more experienced player or the older guy over the young players, which why Samori got the start, which is why Modric started over Ricci, which is why Loftus-Cheek started over Cesari.
00:57:11
Speaker
So that's what Allegri does. I wanted to be on the Milan episode to tell you guys this is going to happen with Allegri. I obviously couldn't. But now I'm telling you. However, what will happen is he will, he is good and people do.
00:57:27
Speaker
And his first stint, he was terrible at it in terms of integrating the young players in. His second stint, he got much better at it. He will do it. He will do it slowly, okay? um But I do expect...
00:57:38
Speaker
Ricci to come in and play in that spot and Jasari to come in over Loftus-Cheek and then put Modric in the final role. And I think that would be a very, very strong midfield.
00:57:49
Speaker
It will happen. I just don't know how long. I also think there was a part of me that said Allegri. uh said i'm gonna throw i'm gonna throw this game and go to the management and say we need this this and this for me to do to do well and those would be ah ah striker and a center back you guys are getting your striker some guy from sporting 20 years old makes no sense he's paying about almost 25 30 million for him you had the same player in camarda and you let him go classic syria right there doesn't make any sense
00:58:20
Speaker
I don't know who you guys would bring in for center back. don't think you're linked with anybody. So ah like you're a very incomplete team. You have an amazing midfield, but that's it. And then you have Liao, which is can help.
00:58:33
Speaker
You're on one game a week. Allegri knows how to win one game a week, but very a lot of question marks for me all over the pitch from Milan. Yeah, the striker is really ah ah big thing for me, and I actually hope that the deal doesn't go through for Harder coming from Sporting.
00:58:48
Speaker
It's actually done between the two teams. Harder has not given the green flag yet. Actually, he has not decided that he's ready to to come to this quote-unquote project, so I am completely out on that. I do not want another half-assed guy on the team that's not ready to play for this legacy that we have going.
00:59:06
Speaker
I don't want you to sleep on Pulisic. I think that he's still going to be an immensely important player for us. But if we continue to have Modric, who we need to be the creative force here, play so deep, we don't play if we don't play Richie, we're going to have issues.
00:59:19
Speaker
But again, I think first game here, to Mats' point about just Allegri's tendencies about not playing young guys so early, I think that this will turn around rather quickly once we do get those guys on the pitch because they're incredibly talented.
00:59:32
Speaker
This was a horrible showing. I will also say that Kremenese didn't look as bad as I thought Kremenese would be. They've got a couple of of good players out there. I thought Obrechti was actually pretty good. He didn't score, but was all over the pitch.
00:59:45
Speaker
And some of these guys on defense were pretty decent, although our offense just sucks. Jimenez made them look pretty nasty, I will say. I mean, i done as is mean, this is an absolute liability. I think part of the thing that was so frustrating about this is that the Luka Modric role, like it just makes so much sense to play Ricci there because everything that Luka Modric was asked to do is exactly what Ricci wants to do.
01:00:10
Speaker
So like you're putting your most creative player as like at the face of the team, like ah as far back as you possibly can get them. And like to your point, Luggs, part of the issue is that center backs get on the ball so much, but they're all inept. And they literally can't pass it more than like five or six yards.
01:00:28
Speaker
It's bizarre. And there was a couple of times where like they were just booting the ball up the field and Modric was standing in the middle of the field wide open. Yeah. Why did you do that? Like you just hit the ball.
01:00:39
Speaker
And it's it's really a problem because then it limits what you can do because you need to put play. Like for the reason Modric is forced to go back there is they can't play with the ball. So you don't bring people further down the field.
01:00:52
Speaker
And then you're leaving Jimenez isolated and getting the worst out of him because of that. And it was just, it was bad. But I will say i have one positive from this game. Please give me something. I could see what they were trying to do tactically.
01:01:05
Speaker
And at one, there was not a single point in time last year where I was like, this is what Milan are trying to do when they have the ball. I at least saw that in this game, which is a a step in the right direction.
01:01:18
Speaker
Yeah, what I mean, i think I think once you get the midfield pairing right, which I don't think it's hard to do, it's Ricci, Josari, and Modric. That will be lethal because they can play with the ball. They can help the center backs out, and they will be able to play in behind Liao and Pulisic.
01:01:35
Speaker
And if you guys get a striker and Estupinian and Salomarkers can put in good crosses. So I think there's a recipe for success here. It's just when is Allegra going to go to it?
01:01:47
Speaker
Hopefully next week against Lecce. Yeah. All right, well, we'll see. So Camarda doesn't make us look like full. We'll see. But to bring guys the rest of the games here, we had Lecce go to Genoa in a snooze pass, nil-nil there.
01:01:59
Speaker
Fiorentino went to Caliari. Like we said, that game ended in 1-1 off a 94th-minute equalizer from Leperto. And Madraga actually got on the sheet early in that one. In Como, they beat the piss out of Lazio. 2-0 win there. Like we said, Nico Paz scored a bang of a free kick. And Duvickis, new striker, right?
01:02:17
Speaker
He got off. He got on the sheet. He was there last year. But let's not forget that the pass from Nico Paz to Duvickis was phenomenal. And the turn before the pass was phenomenal wow Como,
01:02:31
Speaker
had sorry walk into como and he absolutely laid out a master class performance against his old manager and sorry sorry had sorry and lazio had no idea what to do como were pressing them all over the place they were all they had the ball at all times lazio did not know what to do they looked very bad Sarri does not turn this around. Lazio are going to be in big trouble, in my opinion, this season.
01:02:59
Speaker
I don't know why. Last part about this. I don't know why Sarri did not play Rovella. I what or did not start Rovella. He subbed him in. I don't know if he was hurt or if he was.
01:03:11
Speaker
what the reason was, but don't mess. Barone overachieved with this team by just relying on Vos' boys, Ravella and Gunduzi. Don't fix what's not broken.
01:03:22
Speaker
You rely on those two. They had great seasons last year. Stick with it because they could not do anything against Como and they're going to be in trouble if they don't switch it up. Back to Nico Paz really quick. For paisans that weren't with us last season, Nico Paz is a friend of Paz.
01:03:39
Speaker
This kid is absolutely stupendous. He's the leader of the little lads by the lake. ah Just after this game, Tottenham sends over an offer of $75 million for Nico Paz.
01:03:50
Speaker
Como says... Get the fuck out of here. Never leaving. Except he's going back to Real. There's a couple of things in the background as to why they said no. But in any case, this guy is worth $75 million.
01:04:01
Speaker
Keep an eye out. It'd be hard to miss him you watch Como. I definitely recommend Yeah, and he's also, what, 19 years old or 20, and he's he's going to be one of the best players in the world soon. Hopefully we can keep him in the Serie I don't know.
01:04:12
Speaker
Como have one of the ah they're the the richest owners in the league, so... they could potentially keep him. He likes playing at Como, but they're goingnna have to make a push for European football. But one more thing before we move on is Fabregas said, and then I want to talk, as Fabregas said in an interview, that somebody asked him, like, how come he doesn't have any young Italians? And he said, like, we try to scout young players because that's who we have to scout at Como to attract. And he said,
01:04:39
Speaker
We do not have any young Italians right now because it's really hard to find them. They would rather play for the Milan, Roma's, Juventus's, inters of the world, um which makes sense because they're a bigger club than Como. But he said that it's easier to find a younger talent in Spain.
01:04:55
Speaker
And that's why he's got to you a lot of young spanish Spanish players or a lot of young players that are not Italian. But he did say they're currently always looking. And if there is ever a question or a this guy or this guy and one of them's Italian, Fabregas is going to go with the Italians.
01:05:12
Speaker
But I do think it's a little frustrating that a team like Como that wants to play young talent can't find any young Italians because we really don't have any. So it's a little frustrating.
01:05:23
Speaker
just Love it from Fabregas. Yeah, i remember I mean, everything he does is is we are in agreement with. We love Fabregas here. Just my rant for the day. All right, well, we're kicking right back to you because Palmer went to Juve in a 2-0 win. Good start for Tudor. And Jonathan David got on the score sheet.
01:05:40
Speaker
And Dusan Vujovic off the bench. And off of that, he might be staying at Juve now, Mats. What happened in this one? Because actually missed it. Possibility Dusan Vlávich staying, hopefully not. First half, kind of a snooze fest.
01:05:52
Speaker
More of the same from Juventus last season, lacking creativity in the final third. Parma set up just so deep in the 18. They had literally all 10 guys within the 18, so it was very hard for Juventus to break down.
01:06:06
Speaker
and then But then in the second half, Kenan Yildiz, as I mentioned in the season preview for Juventus, we will go with how Yildiz brings us, was able to take on his man one-on-one and put in a very nice on-the-ground cross off of a corner kick. And Jonathan David, who I mentioned, also mentioned is a poacher's poacher, just knows where to be in the box, made an incredible run to just get a slight flick on into the goal.
01:06:31
Speaker
A very nice goal. And then Parma had to kind of open up a little bit to try to get the goal to equalize and that let them so set ah let you've had this counterattack. And Dusan Vlaovic actually scored a goal from Yildiz assist and Dusan provided the pass to Yildiz as well into space.
01:06:48
Speaker
But listen, this is a the most expensive super sub in the world. Do not let his two goals, this one against Parma and one against Atlanta, fool you. He is not a good player.
01:06:59
Speaker
Juventus cannot go into the season having him be the second striker behind Jonathan David. It will not go well. We do not need him on the team. I'm hoping, praying that this just allows another team, maybe Milan, to cough up the money needed in order to pay for Tucson and so he can offload him.
01:07:17
Speaker
But I know it's a lot of moving parts and it's going to be very, very hard to do. Awesome. I love the breakdown. i Keep it rolling. Pisa, nearly promoted Pisa. Went to Atalanta, won one game. So big, big result for Pisa.
01:07:31
Speaker
Isaac Heian had an own goal for Atalanta and then Skamaka got a start and got off the sheet. Oh, their notable one in this one is s Scalvini was fully back. ah He played, he looked good. So good to see that. And the last game, ah we have Verona go to Udinese. One to one in this one. Christensen and Sertar.
01:07:46
Speaker
I am officially decrying this game as the worst game of the season um in terms of the whenever these two team plays. Don't watch the game. um But i'll break that's somebody take over. I got the dog squeaking.
01:07:58
Speaker
Yeah, I was just going to say one thing about Verona. And they were the worst team I saw play until I saw Torino play. So it was a absolute shit show on Monday.
01:08:10
Speaker
Thank God I just didn't want to do my work. Don't tell my boss, but I just did not do any work. I just watched footy all day. And it was honestly one of the worst days that I had to watch footy because these teams were absolutely trash.
01:08:21
Speaker
um But with that being said, we've got some better matchups coming up in match week. Cool boys. We're rolling right into it. Shall we? Shall I just knock them off real quick? We've got Kretmanese at home against Sassuolo.
01:08:37
Speaker
Battle the newly promoted. They know each other very well. We'll see how that comes out. That's a Friday game. We've got Milan going to Lecce. Battle of Camarda's homecoming, except she's not going back to San Siro.
01:08:49
Speaker
And Sotil. And Sotil. Yeah, but Sotil just didn't really... I'm just going to forget that he even came. We got Como going to Bologna. That's going to be a great game. Again, guys, tune in.
01:09:02
Speaker
Two of our favorite teams on the pod. going to be a really exciting one. Atalanta goes to Parma. Cagliari goes to Naples playing in Napoli. Roma is going to the Leaning Tower. They're playing Pisa.
01:09:15
Speaker
Juventus is going to the Salamis, playing Genoa by the seaside. Fiorentina is taking it to the worst team in Serie Torino. We have Budanese going to the San Siro playing Inter.
01:09:27
Speaker
And to wrap it all up, we've got Verona Lazio. I'm calling that one a rock fight. All right, that's Matt week two, which brings us into everybody's favorite segment. It's officially back.
01:09:39
Speaker
We did miss that last week one. So going to match week two. Cool beat the Luna for people that haven't been with us. This is our moon shot pick of the week. Three leg parlay. We're giving you a leg and we would love to hear what your legs are out there.
01:09:53
Speaker
I'll start with mine. soa I've got Atlanta money line minus one Oh five. ah value I like this one. That's good value. and Atalanta at Parma, they're going to get goals. They're going to win this one. Listen, and dude, Atalanta is not under Gasparini anymore. I think you need to get out of your head that they're going to get goals.
01:10:15
Speaker
Their manager literally came out and said, we are not going to have goals this season. So that you're all reliable of Atalanta scoring and getting goals needs to change to probably Roma because Gasparini left.
01:10:28
Speaker
ah fur That's a good point. So why don't you let the Pai Jones know you're all reliable here. because do i that's a bit what about That's a good point. ah My own reliable is reliable because it is Juventus money line.
01:10:41
Speaker
We're not no longer under Tiago Mata. We only got draws. We're now under Tudor, but we only get wins and he delivers us Champions League football. no And so I got Juventus money line coming in at minus 115.
01:10:58
Speaker
And to round it all out, we're riding against the coldest team in all the land. We got Fiorentina Moneyline again going to Torino. Torino looked like absolute dog shit. We got plus 135, immensely good value.
01:11:10
Speaker
Stefano Pioli, the boy, the man, the myth legend. I'm not going to take the win here. This is incredible value. What this tells me is you did not watch the Fiorina game because you are fully betting on the man that you constantly shit on.
01:11:23
Speaker
And he's doing the exact same thing he did with Milan. You have a low recently said that I was wrong. And Lowe's of remember he, he announced or issued an official ah apology in Italian on this very last season.
01:11:40
Speaker
That's a good point. That's a good point. So we're back. I did apologize. All right. So Colby, we got Juve Moneyline, Atalanta Moneyline, Fiorentina Moneyline comes in at plus 741.
01:11:53
Speaker
Average Colby? You guys know the deal. Average Colby. 741? Not the fattest, not the lightest. Rather average. No slumpbusters usually. No slumpbusters in the first week. Certainly not. We're going for the hills, boys. But ah you know what to do with the Colby.
01:12:05
Speaker
All the paisans know from season one. All the paisans from season two need to know this is how you deal with the Colby. You bet all of them. You bet them singly. You bet the parlay. You bet around Robin.
01:12:18
Speaker
What you got to do is just bet the Colby. It's as easy as that. You put $100 in, you're getting $841 back. That's just how the math works. And we're here to make you money. If you bet every Colby from last season, you would be plus money. I don't know how much, but I know it for a fact.
01:12:37
Speaker
and That's that. All Well, that's it for us, guys. that was Match Week 1. We'll be back next week bringing you Match Week 2. And I think the transfer window is closing soon. September 1st. So we'll be on here as well to give you guys our full table predictions. That is maybe my favorite episode we did last year. So I'm really excited about that one.
01:12:55
Speaker
um But that's it for us. I think Lokes already told you guys where you can listen to us. Tell him again. Yeah, Lokes, tell him again. You know where to find us? Again, listen, we're doing Fantasy Serie A. Please follow. Please subscribe. Please give us five stars. We'll let you in the lead.
01:13:09
Speaker
It's immensely important for us to keep growing. We are. Growing at a rapid pace, like I said, get on the train or get run over. You can find us on all of your favorite socials, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, at CalcioCultureFC, and on all your favorite streaming sites, Spotify and Apple Pods.
01:13:27
Speaker
For the first time this season, after match week one, Mats, take us away. Paisanos, do not beat Agagutz and Forza Calcio.
01:14:14
Speaker
you