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Inter Stumble, Politano-Spinazzola Madness, Napoli Continue to Slide (Ep. 39)
138 Plays6 years ago
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Transcript
Introduction to the City Ash Show
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to the City Ash Show! Hello everybody and welcome back to another edition of the City Ash Show. I hope you're all doing very well. Nima, Chloe, how are you two?
00:00:25
Speaker
Yeah, good. Thank you. It's good. New year. Buon annua to everyone. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. And this is this is the this is the we're going into the second year of the Saria show. We started this a year ago, didn't we? Yeah, that's pretty crazy when you think about it.
00:00:41
Speaker
Yeah, awesome. Well, let's reflect back very quickly on this past weekend. So there were some interesting results, and you might want to start with Inter, though.
What's Happening with Inter Milan in Serie A?
00:00:51
Speaker
They draw with Lece. They lose ground on Juve, obviously, in the Serie A table. How are you feeling at the moment?
00:00:59
Speaker
As I've been saying on this podcast through this entire season, I don't expect him to fight for the Scudetto and seriously challenge Uwe to win the Scudetto. I don't think that's a very... There's no reality attached to that expectation. But I think what Inter were supposed to do was to comfortably finish in the top four, which they're looking like they're doing.
00:01:22
Speaker
they should try to get as far as they can in the Copa Italia to preferably win it and also go far in Europe. Now, they failed the Champions League. We'll see how far the Europa League takes them. But no, for me, I think they're finished second. That's a good season. I expected them to finish second, third. And second is good for a team that's, for the past decade, been seventh, fifth, fourth, and stuff like that.
00:01:48
Speaker
This is good. This is a good start. And I think Lecce are a good team. I think a lot of people, myself included, maybe counted them, you know, we underestimated them a little bit. I think them and especially Hellas Verona.
00:02:01
Speaker
are really doing an amazing job. I think they'll stay up. They'll end up staying up, both of those teams. Well,
The Chaos of the Transfer Market
00:02:08
Speaker
do we want to discuss very briefly what they've been doing in the transfer market? Let's go into that, because that is one of the most absurd situations I think I've ever
00:02:22
Speaker
I mean, I want to hear from your side, from a role perspective, what's going on, because I know what they're saying on the intro side. What the hell happened? Well, first off, let me warn everybody, if I sound odd, it is because I had my tonsils removed yesterday. So forewarning. So if I get long winded, you'll know why. It's not because I'm angry about the Paletano not having arrived. So there is a WhatsApp group between one of Roma's press officers and
00:02:50
Speaker
a bunch of us who have websites who write about Oromo, so on and so forth. And when he was in the city, and I'm going to keep this tweet up forever, I said, Politano will be called up for Oromo's Coba Italia match against Parma, which the club informed us would be the case.
00:03:09
Speaker
After I tweeted that, it was almost as if I cursed something, because after that, everything went downhill. The thing that... Okay, so here's what I know for sure, because I spoke a literal to David A. Lippi, so if that last name sounds familiar, it is the son of...
00:03:31
Speaker
the famous Zodi national team manager, Lippi, his son. He's a very, very high profile agent. So, talked with him just a little bit and what he relayed was that everything was done, it was in place.
00:03:48
Speaker
And from Roma's perspective, it was done.
Why Did Roma and Inter's Deal Collapse?
00:03:52
Speaker
Spina Zola passed his medical with Inter. Politano passed his medical with Roma. Everything was done. But in the very last moment, Marotta requested that Spina Zola undergo these further medical tests, which he found to be odd, which Roma found to be odd, and they didn't approve of it.
00:04:16
Speaker
Right when that happened, I had a feeling that something was going to be happening and that the tide was changing for this. So once that happened, IncDAD, instead of doing a permanent swap between the two of them, they were both going to be swapped for 28 million euros.
00:04:34
Speaker
they wanted to change it to a loan with an option to buy, Roma wanted an obligation, and they couldn't come to terms on making it an obligation to buy and the number of appearances that would trigger the obligation. So it all went down from here. Now if you've talked to Roma,
00:04:51
Speaker
They will say that it was Pepe Marrota who never wanted this deal to happen in the first place because they were dealing with Alcirio the entire time. Once Marrota got wind of the figures that were being thrown around in this case,
00:05:10
Speaker
Roma will tell you it was him who put an entire stop to this thing and that they more or less blame those extra medicals or wanting further medical tests done on Spina Zola. They were more or less going to use that as their sort of
00:05:28
Speaker
get out of jail card for this one, even though they had an agreement in place. So that's what Roma will say. Roma will say that Osirio and Meralta were not on the same page, and that was what Roma sporting director Gianluca Petraki said at the weekend before the match against Genoa when he was asked about what had happened. He basically said that Osirio and Meralta didn't talk to each other and they weren't on the same page.
00:05:53
Speaker
Now, Nimazuno, Osilio, Meralta, well, Meralta spoke first, but Osilio hit back at Petrachi and said,
00:06:02
Speaker
you know, you would know all about not being on the same page, you're in Rome and it happens to you all the time, but yeah, from, from, from Roma's perspective, they will 100% and have 100% blame this on Meralta. And
The Personal Impact of Failed Transfers
00:06:17
Speaker
it's interesting now because Gianluca de Marzio Sky Sport just tweeted out that Politano looks like he's going to go to Napoli and
00:06:28
Speaker
Lorente could potentially be going to Inter on loan. So I don't know what's going to happen. Poletano, obviously, I mean, if you saw the poor kid's face when he was sent back, oh my gosh, even regardless of who you support from a human standpoint, I really felt for him. That was difficult to watch. He looked so miserable and upset. He looked upset like hell. And I think
00:06:51
Speaker
I don't think, the way I look at it is that I definitely think that Alcillo and what's his name are on the same page. I think the issue here was that Marotta wants to have the final word and final say and he wasn't comfortable with the numbers being thrown around and he probably felt that, you know, Politano we can cash in on, which they are doing now with Napoli and they preferred that to having
00:07:13
Speaker
to buying a full back for 25 million euros, especially when you can get Victor Moses for on loan with a cheaper redemption fee and also Ashley Young, which are players that remember these are players that Antonio Conte wants, especially Victor Moses, we know what he's done in the past with him. So obviously, it was the way they handled it was very weird because
00:07:37
Speaker
It's very unusual, but it's not like it's never happened before. I mean, for those of us who remember the Wuchenich-Guarin deal, with Wuchenich sitting in Inter's headquarters and Guarin in Juventus headquarters, and all of a sudden, Eric Tohir said, nah, not going to do it, in part because of the outcry online and the rage from Inter fans about why we're sending the only player we can cash in on.
00:08:03
Speaker
for Juve's fourth striker, this is an idiotic idea. So the outcry and the rage was just that made him back down pretty much. So I think what's happened here is basically Marotta was not comfortable with this. He didn't feel he was good. And now the fact that they're mentioning, like you said, Di Marzio, just put that out. They want that they're probably going to sell Politano to Roma for 25 million, but they're going to loan Llorente.
00:08:32
Speaker
That's something that even is, from a financial point of view, even better for Inte because that's just a loan with an option to buy. The Giroudil was a straight signing for four and a half, five million. So basically they're spending basically nothing and then they're getting two players on loan and they're addressing players that Conte wants and they're getting Politano sold.
00:08:57
Speaker
So this is all about finances, if you're asking. And the reason for that is because Christian Ericsson is much more important to them. And that's what I think this is all about. Marotta, if anything, he's good at keeping books in balance and knowing what's going on and how to move one resource from one point to another. So I think that's what this is all about.
00:09:23
Speaker
And obviously, Roma were fuming. And I can understand why. Politano'd already, that picture of him smiling, holding that Roma scarf will haunt him for the rest of his career. It's become a meme already. Then, you know, I felt so bad for him because he was crying, he was upset. And it was not, you know, it wasn't very well handled. But then again, as everyone knows,
00:09:49
Speaker
you know, a deal isn't a deal until everyone signs the contract, you know. So I guess that's what, it's just very unusual. And then Petraki was furious and through, and his exact words was they've short, there was a short circuit or their circuit shorted between them, which is kind of an insult.
00:10:08
Speaker
And then also you responded saying, well, you'd know all about that, wouldn't you? Which from my perspective, someone who absolutely loves when middle-aged men go all mean girls on each other, that was pure comedy gold. But I mean, at the end of the day, these things happen. When people are under stress, when people are under time pressure, when they have a lot of things going on,
00:10:34
Speaker
these things happen. At the end of the day they're also human beings and weird stuff like this happens. It's not pretty, it's not professional, but it happens.
00:10:44
Speaker
I think like both of you said really that the main thing I took from it was I felt sorry for the players themselves because through no fault of their own, they were caught up in all this whirlwind that had to do with a lot of other issues clearly that are going on around the transfer market, switching priorities and they were the ones that were caught in the crossfire and they were the ones that
00:11:12
Speaker
were having to face the cameras when they were turning up for medicals and you know all that kind of thing so it'll be interesting to see once they land at their new clubs how they are able to put this kind of episode behind them because I think for both players it really was a big deal and it really it must have really shaken them both I would think
00:11:37
Speaker
Yeah, and funny enough, Spina Zola, you can make the argument in Roma's victory over Genoa at the weekend,
Inter's Transfer Tactics Under Fire
00:11:46
Speaker
you could easily make the case he was one of the better performers on the pitch. And given the injuries of Roma, particularly at full deck, they're going to need him, so. Yeah, it was a kind of, right, I'm going to show you now, kind of performance. But I don't blame him for that.
00:12:06
Speaker
No, and that's the only thing I really want. I'm critical of what Inter did. And that is, you know, it's one thing that you don't want to make a deal, but this whole notion of him, you know, you have to remember, these guys have a reputation and they have a professional reputation. And I'm very critical of them attacking Spinozola's health in that way, because that is
00:12:26
Speaker
That's almost defamatory, because clearly there's nothing wrong with his health. Yeah, and especially when he's been quite injury prone in the past. Exactly. That really is an attack on... Yeah, and it really is. And it was unnecessary. There was no need for it. I mean, at the end of the day, you don't have to conclude a deal. No one is forcing you. You can simply say, we don't find it. We have better options. Sorry, this happened. It is what it is.
00:12:54
Speaker
But to create this whole, you know, this entire charade of, no, he needs to have extra physical tests. And then after they, you know, he obviously didn't do that because he felt offended. And then they say, OK, well, we want it to be we want to change the formula of the deal to be a loan that becomes an obligation by after certain presences. Roma accepted that. And then they turned around and said, well, you know,
00:13:17
Speaker
a presence is not just one minute on the pitch, it has to be 45 minutes consecutively and it has to be 80. I mean, that's just, you know, that is just childish. Then we're going into, you know, really into kindergarten mode. And I think that's very Italian football, though, to want to push the blame onto somebody else, to not want the embarrassment of saying, well, actually, we've changed our minds.
00:13:42
Speaker
or we've got other priorities and not just come out and be straight and say the truth. Amen. Always got to put smoke and mirrors and disguise something that it's not.
00:13:52
Speaker
Amen. Amen. Exactly. That is pretty much the what is wrong with not just Italian football, but you could say Italian society as a whole. This kind of smoke and mirrors and it's not my fault and it's him and it's, you know, he said this and she said that. And yeah, now you're absolutely right. No one wants to take responsibility. I agree with both of you. Moving on though, Chloe, you had to have been, had to have been very pleased with Fiorentina's 2-0 victory over Napoli. Now, Napoli, they did defeat Lazio yesterday in the Copa Italia, but
00:14:22
Speaker
they still continue this lack, this run of lack of getting results in the league. It's mind-boggling, but Kiesa's
Napoli's Struggles vs. Fiorentina's Rise
00:14:33
Speaker
goal was fantastic. Yeah, I mean, I think there were two things to take away from the match. One, how much improved Fiorentina were and how much clearly going back to basics and keeping it simple and not trying to push square pegs through round holes like
00:14:50
Speaker
Montella was clearly doing has benefited this team and how they were playing with a lot more confidence. They were enjoying their football. When Kiezer scored, he ran straight to the coach, which I just feel like there is a much, much better vibe now around the club. Unfortunately, Napoli are completely the opposite.
00:15:16
Speaker
their faces at the final whistle. I've never, I don't think I've ever seen a team that was so deflated and flattened and, you know, with a coach like Gattuzo and they were barely making eye contact with him at the final whistle.
00:15:35
Speaker
So if somebody like him can't fire them up, then there really, really is a problem. And I fear for them this season, you know, unless something, I know they went into Rittero, a short Rittero after that match. 24 hour one. Those always work well.
00:15:54
Speaker
And then obviously they got the result in a coppertalia like they mentioned, but I think the problems are still there. And yeah, it was really, really bad from their perspective. Nima, what do you make of Napoli? Because it's, again, it's just De Laurenti. I don't know how he could even be remotely pleased with changing Ancelotti for Gattuso at this moment. No, it clearly wasn't. That wasn't the issue. What's going on at Napoli is
00:16:24
Speaker
is something else. There's an issue. The issue goes deeper than that. I think we can pretty easily say that the issue lies. There's something rotten in the land of Napoli and it's not the coach. Gattus obviously is doing the best he can. He's trying to get them to work together, but there is something wrong there. It's just not clicking.
00:16:52
Speaker
I think that maybe winning a game like the one they did against Lazio in the Copa Italia can maybe give them something to work from, like they've hit rock bottom, and this is what they can push upwards from.
Are Napoli's Issues Deeper Than Coaching?
00:17:04
Speaker
Because the quality of the squad is there. There is something not working there, and I think it kind of goes from De Laurenti's all the way down to the dressing room. And I think there's going to be major changes this summer at Napoli.
00:17:18
Speaker
Gattuso, I think, is the reason why he was brought in, and that is that he's a kind of, obviously not a tactical genius, but what he is, is he's got this ability to kind of, and we saw that at Milan as well, he gets the players fired up and to care and to start, you know, to unify and to show that they really care and creates this kind of passion within them. And I think we saw that against Lazio for the first time this season, that Napoli looked like they cared.
00:17:47
Speaker
And that's important because passion in what you're doing goes a long way. And I think that Napoli will slowly begin their ascent up the table. And I think that they will... Because it's a good team. I mean, at the end of the day, this team is definitely good enough to finish in the top four. We'll see if they'll be able to do that. I doubt that very much. But I think top six for them in Milan and Atalanta, those are the teams that are going to fight for it. Let's not forget about Fiorentina either, because they're looking so damn good as well.
00:18:17
Speaker
Well, let's go to Atalanta because they lose to Spao in a result that I think we would all agree that that was absolutely shocking. But what are we making of this relegation battle? And what do we think about Atalanta? Because I don't think, again, anybody expected that result.
Atalanta's Unexpected Defeat and Relegation Battle
00:18:35
Speaker
I think I think they've got obviously they've got the ability to pull off massive shocks against the bigger sides at Atlanta but I think when you play like that and when you go all out for the win you've also you've also probably got a weakness there if if you catch them on the wrong moment I think they are a side that can be defeated I mean we didn't expect it to bottom of the table spell
00:19:01
Speaker
that's obvious but I don't think it's the end of the world for them either because I think they've got the right mentality to bounce back very quickly and the way that they play is, you know, they're not going to let their heads drop because that's not who they are. Spal on the other hand, they've signed a Brian Dabo in midfield from Fiorentina and
00:19:26
Speaker
He is, he is honestly an enigma to me because whenever I saw him play for Fiorentina he was excellent and such great passing, such great vision and strength, you know, he really was an excellent player in the midfield and for whatever reason several coaches at Fiorentina have not
00:19:46
Speaker
fancy him to play whether it was an attitude thing. I really don't know. I really don't know what the issue with him was because as far as I could see he warranted a place in the team.
00:19:57
Speaker
So the fact that he then goes to Spal and then his very first game, they beat Atalanta, you know, and he did get an assist. So I'm thinking, you know, maybe he will provide a little bit of quality in their sort of battling team that Saint-Pelicis created that has stayed up the last two seasons after they won promotion from Cerro B.
00:20:22
Speaker
that maybe this marks a little bit of a turning point for them. You know, I think it's very hard. I mean, Lecce were ever so good against Inter at the weekend. And I think often for sides like them who try to play football, they end up getting relegated because
00:20:45
Speaker
Teams like, say, Kievo in the past, Udinese, have worked out a formula of how to stay up in Serie A and they don't try and play football. I think sometimes if you do try and play nice to watch kind of game that you end up getting burned and, you know,
00:21:04
Speaker
I kind of feel that Leche might still drop but I'm optimistic for Spaal. I think they've got a really smart coach there and the result of the weekend proves that they maybe do have what it takes to stay up. I think so as well. If we remember the miracle escape that Spaal performed last spring
00:21:26
Speaker
last season when they won like four or five games in a row against Juve and all these teams where they just beat them in a row and then stayed up because of that. It looks, I mean, you know, one swallow doesn't make a summer, but let's see before we count them out, because if they've done it in the past, so we shouldn't count them out, maybe they can do it again, but we'll see. I think it's really interesting, the relegation,
00:21:55
Speaker
The relegation battle last season I thought was very exciting and amazing. But this year it is delicious. I mean, just look at them. Eight points between 15th and 20th place. I mean,
The Intensity of the Serie A Relegation Battle
00:22:09
Speaker
last season we had one team that was firmly in the bottom. Now it's six teams that have a chance to get relegated. And it's really, it's really, really looking exciting. And it's going to be, I think it's going to be down to the wire.
00:22:23
Speaker
But I still think that it's going to be Brescia, I think it's going to be Leccia, and I think it's going to be Spal. No, Genoa, sorry. Genoa, Brescia and Leccia. I think are the ones that are going to get relegated. I think Spal is going to make it. They look like they can. Genoa, however, are the worst team right now in this area. They look absolutely atrocious. And I think a part of me, I'm sick and tired of Preciosi and his absolute insanity and
00:22:51
Speaker
clownish behaviour of running a club that has all the history and everything in place to be a good club and a team that is a middle team in the Serie A, a mid-table team in the Serie A, but his utter clownish running of that club's affairs has ruined it again for them and I hope that this is the end of him at Genoa.
00:23:16
Speaker
Yeah, they were very poor against Roma. Lazio, they hammered. Sampdoria, Juve, also win. Milan, they get a victory over Utenese. Let's look ahead though to this weekend, the next match day. So there's two matches that really jump off the page. You have the Rome Darby and then you have Napoli Juve. So let's start with the Rome Darby.
00:23:38
Speaker
I want to hear what you, I want to hear about you here, John, because the Rome Derby, I want to hear like, how are you coping? How nervous do you get before? Is it just before kickoff? Was it the entire day? Like what part of the week grinds is the worst part for you when it comes to Derby week?
00:23:52
Speaker
I have to say, especially in recent years, I can't think of a more formidable Lazio side. And given now, we mentioned it earlier in the episode, but they have crashed out of the Copa Italia. They are out of the Europa League. Pretty straightforward for them now, yeah? No need to balance out more than one competition. Heads are focused solely on the league. And my god, their form.
00:24:20
Speaker
Can't argue with that, can you? 11, I believe it's 11 victories in a row. Yeah. Doesn't the Roma have 12 in a row? That's their record. I believe it's either 12 or 10, because in 2013, 2014, under Rudy Garcia, we all know how they started that season. And if I'm not mistaken, I believe the record in Serie A is 17 in a row. No, no, no, no, no, that's you've, you've undergone to destroy that record.
00:24:49
Speaker
Unfortunately, it was Intel's who had that during the season after the Calciopoli under Mancini was 17. But then then Juves Conte completely annihilated that the second or first season. I remember this. Okay, well I stand corrected then.
Can Lazio Sustain Their Form for the Rome Derby?
00:25:04
Speaker
I can't say enough about this Lazio side. I mean, we have all we all expressed our trepidations with them some months ago. In Zaghi, we all had some question marks surrounding him. We had some question marks surrounding their depth.
00:25:18
Speaker
But you really can't argue with what they've done this season. I mean, Immobile has been sensational at the back. They're strong, the midfield sensational. They've been under Inzaghi for a few years now, so they know how their manager wants them to play. They know the approach.
00:25:39
Speaker
It's really straightforward, and I'm telling you, as far as best teams in Europe on the break, it is difficult to find a more scary team on the counter attack than them. They are so strong. I really don't know what to expect in this one because it is such a clash of styles. Roma, obviously they like to have the bulk of the possession, build from the back. Lazio, obviously, as I just said, they love to go on the counter and hit you on the break.
00:26:07
Speaker
Yeah, I mean on paper you would think Lazio would be the favorites coming into this one, but truly in this derby you never know what to expect because anything can happen. It can go three zero one way and not the other of the team you expected.
00:26:23
Speaker
For me, though, it's a match like this where I think the loss of Nikolo Zagnolo is going to be felt more than the rest because he has a quality to carry the ball forward, break through those defensive lines with the strength and physical ability. I think this is a match where, now we didn't see it against Genoa, but I think this is a match where we will
00:26:45
Speaker
really really see and miss his presence because I mean there's no doubting he was the one of the one or two best players in the Roma and for those of you who don't know this by now he tore his ACL lost for the season
00:27:00
Speaker
uh the Euros remains to be seen there's still hope within I think his side his entourage I think he could do it but I I think it would be silly to rush back he's so young uh why risk your career for that but um I I fear that his loss in this match maybe felt more so than the others yeah um I think that
00:27:23
Speaker
It's difficult because obviously Laxio are in such, such good form and like you say, a derby match is really difficult to call.
00:27:34
Speaker
You'd have to say Lazio, it would be silly to predict anything else really, but obviously with the caveat that Roma have had some really good results this season, they've not quite found that consistency under Fonseca, but they're a quality side and
00:27:55
Speaker
it's the Derby. I actually think that having two Derby sides in form like this is really, really good, especially for a neutral viewer. It's a one to look forward to because you don't want two teams that are struggling and got loads of issues. You want to see
00:28:19
Speaker
two sides really going head to head up against each other and testing each other and I think that's what it'll be this weekend. Yeah, Nima, a question for you though. So as I just stated, they're not in the Copa Italia, they're not in the Europa League. Do you think that was done intentionally and should we make anything of that? I think given that they've won the Copa Italia quite a few times these past few years and the Super Copa and they've never finished in the Champions League
00:28:49
Speaker
places, I think it's only natural for someone like Inzagi to say, you know, we need to get our priorities straight. And I think, you know, they've won the two last titles, they won the Super Coppa, recently they won the Coppa Italia in May. So I think now they're, you know, they're not going for this, it will obviously, if they keep winning though, you know, they can probably threaten Juventus, but I don't think that's how they're thinking. I think
00:29:14
Speaker
Their goal now is to finish in the top four and to finally get that Champions League spot because that would allow them so much space to keep their great players and actually invest more and start building something really, really good. Because Simone and Zagie, as I've said so many times, he is the next big Italian super coach to come out of Italy. And he's shown that consistently. And he keeps winning. He's built this team with scraps. They weren't exactly big star players. They were rejects from other teams.
00:29:43
Speaker
and some hot prospects. And he's turned Luis Alberto into a world leader. Correa looks magical. Mobula is going to probably become the most prolific goalscorer in the Serie A in just one season in its entire history, if he continues like this. So this is a team that he's built together with, obviously, what's his name? The supporting director, Ili Tare.
00:30:07
Speaker
They, you know, so I think this is a, I don't have a problem with that because if you've already won the Copa Italia and the Super Copa and you have three titles and you have a shot at getting to the Champions League and actually building something that could help you build, maybe even go for the title, then why not do that? And that to me is not an issue.
00:30:26
Speaker
But I just got to say, you were right, John, I'm sorry, it is 17, interned 06-07. Juventus had 15 straight wins in 2015-16. And this is where it gets interesting. Roma's record is 11 consecutive wins in 2005-06, 12-13 and 13-14. Lazio is on 11. So if Lazio beat Roma on this derby, they will actually do one better. So this just makes this derby so much more interesting, doesn't it?
00:30:55
Speaker
Yeah, I'm really eager to see how it plays out because again, I obviously you would think lots who are the favorites coming into this one, but you just never know what to expect. Napoli
Juventus' Inconsistency Before Napoli Clash
00:31:06
Speaker
Juve. Now, that's my favorite game. I mean, Naples Stadium is just boiling and off.
00:31:16
Speaker
It's gonna be nice. Yeah, so on paper in previous years, we'd probably be probably a bit more excited for this one. I just... Juve have not been convincing. Now they've been getting the results. In terms of aesthetics, in terms of their actual play, I think they've been lacking, but you can't argue with the results.
00:31:43
Speaker
So I feel like this could maybe be an opportunity for them to maybe show some of that better football, actually play well. When they defeated Aroma a couple of weeks ago, I didn't think they played that particularly well. I thought Aroma were actually very unlucky not to come away with at least a draw.
00:32:03
Speaker
I would like to see something more from Juve, particularly, particularly with the Champions League starting up in some weeks. I feel like they cannot continue to afford to play like this. I feel like at some point it just has to click for them or else it just won't happen. So do you guys feel the same way or am I alone in that feeling that they just really haven't been convincing?
00:32:25
Speaker
Juve, I mean, what's that famous quote? That Juve winning isn't the most important thing. It's the only thing that matters. But that's the only thing that matters for them. It's about winning. And as long as they keep winning, who cares? At the end of the day, if they win the Serie A and the Coppa Italia and the Champions League and win a treble, the history books will say they won't treble. They won't say how poor they played. Now, personally, I think that Cristiano Ronaldo and Dibal and Higuain are looking to really enjoy life with each other.
00:32:52
Speaker
and more and more. Sure, it doesn't look quite there yet, but to me, it would be the ultimate Yuba thing ever for them to go out on the San Paolo and just mop the floor with Napoli. And that would be it. 45 minutes where they score three, four goals, boom, done. You know what I mean? They have this ability that is, whether it looks good or not, they still do it. Week in, week out. I actually think that's the scary thing about them. I think the scary thing about them is that
00:33:22
Speaker
the system that we're all waiting for, we're all waiting for it to click is still not quite there, but they are still winning. So what happens when it does click, you know?
Will Juventus' System Finally Click?
00:33:32
Speaker
I think against Palmer, you could actually, obviously Palmer played very, very well, but you could actually see the little passages of play
00:33:42
Speaker
It's not there yet. It's not quick enough yet because they've not got that sort of almost sixth sense of where each other are going to be. But like you said, Nima, the DiBala, Ronaldo, Iguayin, and also Aaron Ramsey as well in to attacking
00:34:01
Speaker
are looking very, very good. And I think once they can quicken up those passages of play and the passing sequences, they are going to be scare really good. I think so. And if you watch closely, you can, you know, I've seen people say, oh, you know, well, you they weren't very good. Well,
00:34:23
Speaker
I think that's because if they played just normal football, if Sarri said, okay, forget everything, just go out and play however you want, they could be really amazing. But they're deliberately holding back to try and perfect the system that they're getting used to. And when it clicks, I just think they're going to be incredible.
00:34:47
Speaker
Agreed, agreed. And I mean, if you look at Justibala, the way he does this, you know, the movement between those three and the short passing just between those three and the final third, and then you have what's his name, Douglas Costa coming on. And then now they're talking of sending Bernard Eski for Rakitic. I mean, they
00:35:05
Speaker
just say, I mean, they can play in so many different ways. I mean, I've said it on this podcast before that, when you play Juventus, you have to prepare for three games, because they can play in a three, three, five, two, they can play a four, three, three, they can play a four, three, one, two, and they play all those three formations throughout a game, which makes it impossible for you to prepare against them. And I think that, you know, is kind of their strength, because the style that
00:35:30
Speaker
that Sarri wants is this quick, quick short passing system with a lot of movement. And you can see, like Chloe said, I think you see more and more by every game, how the lines are falling into place. And again, they're supposed to be at their best in March, April. And it looks like they will be. And God save us all, because it's looking scary good.
00:35:56
Speaker
And just on Dibala as well, the improvement in him is astonishing. He was so, so poor and he was playing, he was just wandering in random positions.
00:36:12
Speaker
in midfield, you know, he was dropping too deep and he was looking disinterested and sulking and, you know, Sarri is like basically giving him a kick up the backside and said, look, I can, you know, I can get you back to form, but you're going to have to change your attitude. And to be fair to him, he really, really hasn't. And he's looking like the player that he was before and then some, which is, you know, real credit to the coach there.
00:36:41
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. All right. Well, in the interest of me not rupturing some sort of the stitches in my throat, I'm going to wrap this up. I really like your Janana Nini raspy, sexy voice thing. Oh, God. I think it's pretty nice. All right. Well, hopefully my wife doesn't listen to this one and heard that. All right. Well, we will be back next week. So as always, thank you so much for listening. And until then, bye bye.
00:37:12
Speaker
you