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Free Weekly Episode - Italy Win Nations League Group, Harry Maguire Vs Fikayo Tomori Debate, Does Dusan Vlahovic Regret Juventus Move Over Arsenal, & Much More (Ep. 259)
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From Federico Dimarco and Gianluigi Donnarumma the stars when Italy beat England and Hungary to win Nations League group, Giacomo Raspadori's potential, AC Milan's Rafael Leao contract talks to if Juventus's Dusan Vlahovic regrets not going to Arsenal, Carlo, John and Nima break down all the important talking points in world of Italian football.
Every Monday episode of The Italian Football Podcast is free for all. To listen to all full episodes of The Italian Football Podcast, go to Patreon.com/TIFP to become a Patron for only $2.99 USD per month (excluding VAT).
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Transcript
Introduction to the Italian Football Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast with John Solano, Carlo Garganese and Nima Tuvali.
00:00:24
Speaker
All right, everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Italian football podcast. We hope you are doing very well. A lot to get to. We have the Azzurri in Nations League action, like all things being equal in the universe, earth revolving around the sun, the Italians defeating England.
Italy's Victory Over England Analysis
00:00:49
Speaker
All is right. There is finally or I should say there continues to be
00:00:53
Speaker
in this chaotic world and universe, some sense of balance that stays. This is essentially the footballing equivalent of homeostasis. This is how we maintain balance. All things remain the same. So even though they are not participating in a World Cup, Roberto
00:01:16
Speaker
Manchinis, man, they beat the English national team once more. So, again, all remains right in the universe. Really, no major concerns other than, again, the Italian national team not participating in the World Cup, but depending on your view of this World Cup.
00:01:38
Speaker
Well, that may be, you know, some people like myself, this World Cup really is a kind of a toss away, but whatever we can, we can get to that. Let's, let's get into everything because a lot happened over the international break. So let's start first off with the Italian national team.
00:02:01
Speaker
Okay, so no World Cup. So apparently we need to take these matches somewhat, uh, I won't say too serious, but I guess embrace them a bit more because while everybody is participating in the World Cup, uh, the, uh, supporters of the Azuri will, we will be watched. Um, who are we supporting? Who support Iran? You can support Iran, but we can, we all need to adopt like an unofficial. Yeah.
00:02:28
Speaker
Yeah, it's called Iran. It's called Iran. You can support Iran. It's done. You need to support Iran. It's done. We can't live in America and support Iran. You can. You can. You can. I mean, I'm not trying to get... I'm not trying to get... Canada are in the world, but I'm not trying to get John deported to Guantanamo Bay here. They're in the axis of evil, aren't they, in America? Well, according to the governor Bush,
00:02:52
Speaker
who started a couple of legal wars. But let's not get into that. But one of my point is simply that, you know, I'm already on any sort of list when when I received my ballot in the mail for the Italian elections, which anybody paying attention to the news has little, little did I know the implications of me submitting that. But anyway, so I'm looking at the list right now. I mean, Canada just has to be I'm trying to find the most random
00:03:22
Speaker
Well, I mean, so you can, you know, of course, being American, you can support them. I suppose. But I mean, I'll go with Canada. Yeah, I'm supporting Iran. I'm supporting Iran. Thank you. Thank you. For Brian Chris, not the two is on the Roman. I believe he's half Canadian. Yeah, that's true.
Italy's Tactical Mastery and Mancini's Strategies
00:03:41
Speaker
Yeah, that's true. So well, I will embrace that. OK, so it will.
00:03:46
Speaker
Italy, they beat England, they beat Hungary. Let's start with the one that everybody I'm sure is most interested in. So they defeat England 1-0. Raspadori scoring the only goal of the match in the second half.
00:04:02
Speaker
what did you two make of it because when I see them playing like this I get really annoyed because it is I won't say blasphemous but it is somewhat of a comedic joke how they are not in the world cup how they you know they can go outperform like this but when it comes to beating the likes of you know Sweden all right they're not able to do it but a match like this
00:04:27
Speaker
They pull it out consistently. So I honestly, I don't even know how to react. Part of me wants to be mad. And then the other part wants to, again, be somewhat impressed. What what did you guys think? I'm just sorry. I'm just laughing because we've got our we've got our plan here in front of us. And I've spelt DeMarco's name deliberately with DeMarco. And it drives me crazy. Because I know that it annoys Nimr. Nimr is here and it's in our Google Doc live.
00:04:58
Speaker
Listen, it literally makes me go Michael Douglas and falling down. This has been three years now and we've got a segment on him and it drives me insane. It's not hard to spell the guy's name right and it's like it's demonical. One word
00:05:15
Speaker
The only word, the only letter that's capitalized is the D in the beginning. Stop it. Well, in fairness, most people would probably, yeah, most people would probably spell it D, I, space, marble. Half of the people that live here, they don't have vowels to end their surname. So it's, I mean, this is nothing, but in all seriousness, I'm going to be spelling it like that forever now just to, just to annoy them.
00:05:44
Speaker
Well, to be serious, though, I thought that let's start with the number of players. I mean, yeah, the number of players Italy had out, John, I fought 11 players, they had out Italy, at least 11 players who could have played in this game. And, you know, to play like they did and deserve to win be the better team, I thought, you know, it was it was fantastic.
00:06:04
Speaker
Yes, it's the Nations League. It's not the biggest competition in the world. Considering Italy are out of the World Cup, it is a trophy. I think Italy has done amazingly well to come top of the group in the England game.
00:06:20
Speaker
There was lots and lots of positives, you know, some youngsters played. DeMarco, we've got a segment on him, so I won't go into too much depth about him. He was my man in the match. Raspadori's got a brilliant winner. It was like an insignia-type, del Piero-type guy, wasn't it, from the left cutting in and curling it.
00:06:39
Speaker
I thought that they were in control of the game. Even though England had most of the possession, it was England's possession was all just played around the back. They didn't really concede many chances. I think Donnarumma only really had one save, unlike the Hungry game, which we'll come to. He didn't really, I think he had one double save from Kane. That was really the only time that England threatened.
00:07:00
Speaker
The Italy defence breezed through the game, the back three, and I thought the 3-5-2 worked really, really well. I thought that in these two games, it just gives Italy another option because one of the criticisms since the Euros is that Italy have become predictable. Teams have worked out their 4-3-3 maybe. It's just good to have a different option. I'm not saying I wouldn't use the 3-5-2 in every single game going forward because
00:07:27
Speaker
I think you need to pick it for the right opponent and against the right formation. I'm never comfortable playing a 3-5-2 against, say, for example, a 4-3-3 when that 4-3-3 has been played by a top team. I think it doesn't match up well. But against teams that play the same system, like England were playing a back three and Hungary were playing a back three, I think absolutely it's a good option. And I thought it worked well in both of these games, but especially against England. So I thought I was very proud of being Italy against England.
00:07:55
Speaker
What I really like the most is Roberto Mancini's ability to, and this is something that we also said on the questions part, which we had on Monday, as this is obviously the free one that everyone's listening to, but patrons can always send in questions on a weekly basis, and we answer them on patreon.com. But yesterday we had a question about this, and we discussed this, and my opinion is that Mancini's ability to, he's always been criticized for not being able to change things mid-game.
00:08:24
Speaker
But one thing he has been able to do throughout his career is that he's evolved as a manager tactically. When he came through at Lazio and Inter he played a 4-3-1-2, a completely different kind of football. When he went to Manchester City he completely revamped and changed.
00:08:39
Speaker
And then he continued that development and changed. Then he came back to Inter, he played a different kind of football, and then he went to Galatasar. Every time, wherever he's been, he's always changed and he's always evolved. And when he came to Italy,
00:08:55
Speaker
brought on this revolution in Italy, the possession base, the 4-3-3. Why shouldn't Italy, with the players they have, have a possession-based game and go for it? And they won the Europe because of it. And obviously, that was easy. Because they won, when you're the champ, everybody wants to beat you off your throne. And obviously, the team studied Italy. And so now, he's showing again that he can change. And the 3-5-2, I think, is really the way to go.
00:09:24
Speaker
I think it speaks to every aspect of Italy's strengths, and it addresses their weaknesses. It maintains the three-man midfield, which I think, where Italy are spoiled for choice, it's an embarrassment of riches, and that's really important for the balance and how you construct and build.
00:09:40
Speaker
But what it also does is it addresses two weaknesses, and the two weaknesses are the number nine position, the two striker positions, where Italy don't have, you know, they've struggled demonstrably, and also the back three. Now, what I mean by that is that someone like Chiro Imobile, when he has a Raspadori or a Scamaca next to him,
00:09:58
Speaker
It just looks much more natural. He's used to playing in a two-man attack, and that's why he's gotten the most out of himself. But also Raspadorian and Skamaka, or when Kiesa comes back next to one of those three, I think will work really well. The second thing is the back three.
00:10:15
Speaker
All of Italy's central defenders, every single one of them, are adapted to playing in a back three. Bastoni's never been better when he's played in a back three. Acherbi's never been better when he's played in a back three. And Bonucci had his absolute peak of his career playing in a back three. So they know what they're doing. And also, when you look at the wing backs, Spinazzola, Udoggi, and even di Lorenzo, et cetera, you get the best out of them. So I like this 3-5-2. I really like that. I think the 4-3-3 and 3-5-2 is how he should alternate.
00:10:43
Speaker
between them that makes Italy difficult but it also gets the best out of Italy and it also addresses the weaknesses that this Italy squad has. I agree on that yeah I agree on the wing backs and on the centre backs I think it will definitely lengthen the careers of some of those centre backs I mean even if you take Benucci for example who's been let's be honest for most of 2022 has looked really badly on the decline but you know he was fantastic in these two games especially against England he put on a clinic
00:11:12
Speaker
against England. I mean, England's forwards, they did nothing against him. He completely dominated Kane for pretty much the entire game apart from that double shot that I just mentioned before. But some of his long range passing, he did the pass for the goal for respiratory. He was back to his best, but even Toeloy and a Cherby, they were so comfortable the whole game. I think that these players, it will give them a chance to
00:11:41
Speaker
to maybe make the Euros when one of my doubts was some of our centre backs, will they be too old at Euro 2024? And I still do have that concern, even in a back three, to be honest with you. But I think it definitely worked out well. I thought the wing backs were outstanding in both these games. I thought they were absolutely fantastic. I'd see your point on the forwards as well. I do see your point.
00:12:11
Speaker
But we have to see how they do because I still think if there was one criticism from these two games, certainly against England is that Italy didn't create enough chances. They didn't really create many chances against England at all. And the goal came from just a moment of brilliance, really, from Raspadori. And they didn't really create anything.
00:12:31
Speaker
too much clear, clear cut. I think Gabi Adini had a chance late in the game. DiMarco hit the post. Apart from that, not too much clear, clear, clear chances. But it's done well. And you've got to remember England are going to this World Cup as
00:12:49
Speaker
third favorite, I don't agree with that at all. And as we discussed on the Q on the Q&A episode on Monday, you know, I think that England goes this World Cup, they've repaired things a little bit in the Germany game, they got a draw, they got recovery, that will give them a bit of confidence.
Critique of Southgate's Approach
00:13:06
Speaker
But
00:13:06
Speaker
I mean, when you compare Mancini to Southgate, for example, you see the difference that a manager can make that tactically knows what he's doing. And Southgate really doesn't have a clue. I mean, I said on Monday, I've seen more than a few people that have described Southgate as the English Allegri. And that is really what he is. He's just a low block.
00:13:30
Speaker
you know, an encounter attack. And, you know, and that's all he is. And I think that England are, they showed in the Italy game, England, that they're, they're full of players who are out of form, like Maguire. And we've got a segment about Maguire and how he keeps getting in above, above Tamoori coming. And, you know, but also overrated players and Declan Rice, for me, the most overrated player in world football.
00:13:53
Speaker
and he showed that in his Italy game, I mean he got outplayed by Christante, sorry John, no offence or anything, but it's Christante, it's not Berazzi, it's not, you know, Pique Varela, it's Christante and Christante can play him off the park.
00:14:08
Speaker
in this game and I just don't rate Declan Rice at all and I know it triggers people that are in England but you know for me he's just a good player and nothing more he charges around the pitch puts tackles in defends pretty well he's pretty smart tactically he screens the defense pretty well given that
00:14:27
Speaker
But for a big team, you need a player that can use the ball, that can control the game, can dominate possession, dominate territory, set the tempo, do the short passes, play the short triangles, play on the half turn into the half space, which is incapable of doing. You know, if you can't do those things, you're not top midfielder and it shows, you know.
00:14:47
Speaker
Yeah, well, let's talk about one of the players that really garnered a lot of attention, and rightfully so, and a guy that I have been on the record as saying I absolutely adore as a player for a variety of
Player Highlights: Di Marco and Donnarumma
00:15:02
Speaker
reasons. But the technical, not so quick, full back with a ton of technical and tactical awareness are my all time favorites, which is
00:15:12
Speaker
Why Federico de Marco is one of my favorites at the moment for the Azzurri. I mean, Carlo, as you alluded to, he stood out. He was phenomenal. What do you make of him?
00:15:27
Speaker
Well, I think Nimmer will certainly give more detail than me because I know that Nimmer has been a fan of him for a long time and a long time before it became popular to be a fan of him. You've now seen a lot of people jump on the bandwagon now.
00:15:44
Speaker
you know, praise DiMarco. And I'll be honest, I was never hard on him. The doubts I've had of DiMarco are, and I'm still not 100% convinced how suitable he is in a back four, but there's one thing that there is absolutely no doubt with DiMarco, his delivery.
00:16:01
Speaker
his left foot is world class. I'm not calling him a world class player, of course he's not, but I'm saying his delivery is as good as anybody in world football. If you put him in an area on the pitch that's within 30 yards of the goal on the left, he will put it in
00:16:19
Speaker
on a six pencil, wherever you want it. He will put it in the dangerous area, he'll whip it in with pace so you can attack it. And his left foot is unbelievable, whether it's from a cross, whether it's from a free kick, a dead ball, whether it's from a shot on goal, whether it's from a corner, he is as good as anyone in the world with his left foot. And if you can just put, just Italy can just play him and put him in a position where he can use that left foot, then he's a huge weapon. And he showed that in these two games.
00:16:48
Speaker
One would almost almost say that his left foot is a cheat code. Someone once said three, four. Yeah, well, it's true. I mean, this is what I saw. I mean, it wasn't hyperbole because I've seen him do this exactly like you said. I mean, my first thing with him was during the 1819 season when he when he when he was on loan at Parma and he scored an absolute screamer against Inter at the San Siro to beat him.
00:17:13
Speaker
That's when I was like, okay, hang on, what have we got here? And then of course he got injured after that and he came back after the midway point of the Serie A season and didn't exactly make much fuss at Palma, but we are talking about someone who is born in Milan. He's from Calvairata, it's a quarter in Milan.
00:17:38
Speaker
And his parents have a otto fruta in Porta Romano, which is a fresh fruit and vegetable shop. And he's got his younger brother Christian, who's also a football player. This kid came up through, he's an interista through and through, grew up going to the Corvannord, grew up watching inter, grew up playing in every level at inter, as just like his brother.
00:18:03
Speaker
And he's also from Milan. Now, those of you who are listening to this, he said, well, it wasn't Christian, it wasn't Biragi from Milan. Well, technically not. He's from Cernusco Sol Navilio, which is about 11 kilometres northeast of Milan. It's part of metropolitan city of Milan, but not really the city of Milan.
00:18:22
Speaker
Di Marco is and this is this is something that I believe is good for every club you know the same way that Roma has always has you know the captain of Roma has to be a Roman guy I think this is good for Inter and for Milan to have I mean Maldini was born and bred in Milan I think this is good to have players of high quality who are from the city I think this you know that the fans can identify with and also it's a bridge between the fans everywhere and the squad
00:18:51
Speaker
But if we're talking about him as as a player himself, I mean, like I said, a part might went really, really well or that goal. And then he was injured and he didn't do so well. And then, you know, he was sent to to he was returned to Intel and Antonio Conte didn't really believe in him as much. He preferred Kistiano Biragi, which I was a vocal opponent of because Kistiano Biragi is not my favorite player in the world.
00:19:19
Speaker
And I'm really disappointed because Cristiano Biragi was a player who I actually really wanted to do well at Inter, but he's just not simply not good enough. Then something happens and then he's sent to on the 31st of January 2020, he's sent to Verona on a loan with an option to buy.
00:19:37
Speaker
And that's when the when when even your each gets his hands hands on him that's when the change in transformation comes that's when you start to see the player that the development that really really surprised me and everyone else and I started taking note and I watch pretty much every single game of an honor because of your each and him.
00:19:57
Speaker
And and of course the 2021 season winning to win this correcto He scores five goals one more one more beautiful than the other in the Serie A and it's and I'm really thinking well unless you know Verona you you have to bring this guy back because he's an interista for all the reasons I mentioned and It is that that's the thing. He's not a very tall players 176 centimeters tall. He's not very good in the air. So 175 he's not very good and he's not very
00:20:25
Speaker
pacey, but what he can do, he's decent in short bursts and in sprinting, but what he is good at is that left foot, and it's everything from free kicks, long shots, crosses, hard, low, and overlaps to provide those crosses. If you provide him with the right players and the right environment around him, he can really, really hurt you.
00:20:50
Speaker
You can really do a job for you and hurt your opponents. I'm a big fan of this guy. What does he need to improve on?
00:21:01
Speaker
He needs to improve on his positioning without a doubt. He needs to improve on his positioning because he can still get caught out of it. We've seen it time and time again. Understanding and greed of the game of when to drop and when to push up. That's still something he needs to work on. He can improve on also if they can get him to be a little bit more physical. Obviously, they can't teach him how to be good in the air, but he can improve that as well. And also the physical aspects.
00:21:28
Speaker
I was impressed with how he battled in these two games. I thought he showed a good mentality. That's mentality, but I'm talking about the actual physical attributes. Sometimes he runs out of gas in games and it's as if he's got
00:21:49
Speaker
You know, he's he's so tired, he can barely walk. I mean, the only thing that the only thing that I thought that he the only negative in these two games with him is he had he's and I've seen it a few times for intro as well. He had a few bad clearances where just sloppy clearances where he just put it into the center of the field and allowed the opposition to have, you know, counters. And because he gets stressed, he doesn't have the experience yet. But I think I mean, these are things that you can adapt. He's never going to be a world class, you know, aerial, you know,
00:22:19
Speaker
good in the air. He's never going to be world-class in the air, but which is also why Simonin Zaghi needs to stop playing him as a left centre-back. That's something that Ivan Joric did sometimes when teams used to block the wing, and he would want him to have somewhat centrally run forwards and provide crosses, and teams were prepared for that.
00:22:41
Speaker
But he has to play. He's a wing back. He's a left wing back. And that's his position. And that's where he should be played. And I hope that Simon Inzagi watched these two games and saw that, because he can hurt Inter. When Lukaku's back, when all these other players are back, when Lukaku's back, especially given his aerial presence that he, you know, the threat he possesses, he can really hurt teams.
00:23:03
Speaker
And I'll just say one thing, though, before we move on to Aspadori, that, you know, we we shouldn't gloss over from The Hungry Game. We have to talk about Donnaruma and his and his I mean, it was unbelievable his performance. I mean, you know, as well as Italy played.
00:23:18
Speaker
you know they won this game also because of Don Aruma and I mean he made absolute miracles in this match. I mean that triple save for starters especially the third one of the three and then the save he also made at 2-0. I mean absolute miracles and you know he has been criticized since the Euros had a bit of a difficult season at PSG, wasn't managed very well with the rotation with with Kayla Navas
00:23:43
Speaker
you know, there was some question marks after the Germany, heavy Germany lost in June, where, you know, he made some mistakes. But, you know, he showed he showed in this game, you know, just what a monster he is when he's when he's on it as a shot stopper. Absolutely unbelievable. So he definitely we have to acknowledge that. For sure. For sure.
00:24:05
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know if it's a, well, I won't say that it's certainly a bad thing when you get performances like that, but he really seems particularly with the Azzurri, more like a feast or famine guy. I mean, I think we would all agree. The less amount he has the ball at his feet, the better, which is also why I think playing three at the back for Dona Ruma is
00:24:31
Speaker
uh without a doubt should be the priority because it just fits everybody and the again um the less you can put the ball at his feet the better just if you turn him strictly into a shawn stopper as you said carlo i i think he's phenomenal but yeah let's go to uh raspadori now
00:24:48
Speaker
What do you think of him? Because clearly, we are moving into a somewhat of a new chapter with the adduity in Signe, Bonucci, not done, but you would imagine that they're going to start integrating or Mancini is going to begin integrating different guys, you know, with a view towards the longer term.
00:25:13
Speaker
What do you think of Raspadori? Because, I mean, if you just look at that goal that he took, I mean, so wonderfully taken.
Raspadori's Development On and Off the Pitch
00:25:23
Speaker
He's really starting to turn it on now. Well, we've seen what he's done for Napoli. He's been phenomenal as of late. What do you make of him? Because
00:25:35
Speaker
He's one of those guys where he can just pull that out of his backside at really any given time. I don't think the ability or the skill set is really the question mark with him, right? Yeah, I think he's he's as a finisher. I have no doubts. He's an absolutely fantastic finisher. You know, when he has a chance, he hits those bottom corners. He hits the spots. He's brilliant finisher.
00:26:01
Speaker
five goals and 15 games for Italy. Pretty impressive considering he's at the start of his career. A lot of these will have been substitute appearances. Compare it to all the other players. He's probably got a better ratio than everyone else already. He started well for Italy.
00:26:24
Speaker
I think that there is a lot to improve there. I mean, to be honest with you, I thought he was maybe Italy's worst player against England until the goal. And also when he scored that winner for Napoli, I remember he had an awful game. Was it against Spezia? When did he score the last minute goal for Napoli to win in the game a couple of weeks ago? Was Spezia, wasn't it? Right at the end. And he was dreadful in that game.
00:26:48
Speaker
everything he touched was miscontrolled and then he scored the winner with an excellent finish. I think there is a lot of improvement there. I think he does need to improve and we saw it again last night, he does need to improve his first touch when he's
00:27:04
Speaker
when he's kind of coming for the ball and then wants to come receive it play it to someone else he his first touch is not always spot on there and i'm still not sure to be honest with you i'm still not sure what his best position is i don't really know i don't know whether he's a first strike or a second striker whether he's a an outside forward like in a free man attack
00:27:26
Speaker
or maybe a bit of everything, I don't, I'm not sure or support. I mean, he also for Saswali, sometimes played as the, like the number 10 in a 4-2-3-1, like the trequartista in the central trequartista. So, you know, I don't really know what his best position is, to be honest with you.
00:27:42
Speaker
But I mean, the technical ability is definitely there. He's both footed. He's a great finisher. He's got a good shot. He can go both ways. He's nippy. The qualities are definitely there. It's just how now he develops. And I think he couldn't have picked a better place than Napoli. I'm glad he went to Napoli instead of Juventus, because he's got Spoletti working with him instead of Allegri.
00:28:02
Speaker
Exactly what I was going to say, the fact that you've got Luciano Spalletti there, someone who we know is brilliant at getting players, regardless of their age, to take the next step, and provably so, is really the right place for him. I'm really happy to see that. And I think the fact that he plays as a right winger sometimes, as a number nine for Napoli, and also for the national team, look, I think
00:28:27
Speaker
He I think the three five two really suits him in the two-man attack. I don't think it's my chance that he scored That he scored in both those games. I think right now in this moment in his career He needs to have some someone else to play off of And close to him up front and I think he can he can he can do lots of damage there for Italy
00:28:49
Speaker
Well, he definitely needs someone to play off of. Not the most physical of characters, as you could probably tell by one glance at the guy. Actually, I was surprised to see like Sky Sport, or I should say like the UK version. I thought for sure we would get some real gem clip thing.
00:29:07
Speaker
how how tall and imposing and physical Raspadori could be and then they pan to him and they see then he's a nano barely barely above the height of like flood Enzi or something I was hoping for that but we didn't receive he's also a very like he's also like a role model for young kids I mean he I think he studies finance at the University I think he he doesn't have any tattoos he's always talking about how you know you need to it's the most boomer thing you've ever
00:29:34
Speaker
No, but I'm not talking about I don't care if you're tattooed in the face. I don't care. My point is simply that, you know, he he's the kind of he's like an old school Italian footballer in the sense that an off the pitch, you know, he he takes care of himself. He takes care of how he presents himself. He wants to be a role model for
00:29:50
Speaker
for young for young players he doesn't have that kind of let's say you're tying that all back to his height at which no no he's not he's not let's just say that his personal life is not similar to nico lo zanyolo if we put it that way he doesn't have that kind of approach saying he's a clean cut kid
00:30:05
Speaker
Yes, he's a clean-cut kid. He doesn't, you know, he wants to be a role model. He's got, you know, he always talks about how important it is to have the education is, you know, on the side of football and all that. And he's an interesting guy. Is the Gary Lineker of Italian football only that it's actually real and it's not.
00:30:23
Speaker
He doesn't own a bar called Lineker's where strippers go out and play- That's his brother. If I'm not mistaken, he's the financer of that, isn't he? Doesn't he own the bar as well? I don't know. That is the most bizarre clip I've ever seen when they wanted to pay homage to the head of state, the Queen dying. And they bring out these strippers when we're playing bagpipes in Spain, and it was just absolutely bizarre.
00:30:52
Speaker
Okay, moving on. All right, well, Carlo is probably salivating at this one. Let's take it Tomori versus Harry Maguire, the debate, or I guess I don't even know why it's a debate. Clearly. I mean, makes no sense. Yeah. I mean, if it, I guess if it is a debate in one's own mind, then clearly you are dealing with somebody who is not watching Syria.
00:31:19
Speaker
Well, Gareth Southgate clearly doesn't watch much Serie A, although he was in Italy recently, maybe a couple of weeks ago. Yeah. Yeah. And I think he was at a Milan game. Well, I might be mistaken. Some reason thinking he was at the Milan Derby, but I might be wrong. But yeah, he was definitely in Italy. But yeah, I don't know. I honestly don't know. I mean, it is, it's embarrassing, Maguire. And
00:31:45
Speaker
You can't blame him really for being bad in these two England games because he's not playing for Man United at all. He's been dropped from the Manchester United team since the second game of the season. I think he's only played one Europa League game since then. Obviously, he's going to be way out of form. Just look at these numbers for Maguire. Did you know that Harry Maguire
00:32:08
Speaker
hasn't won a game in which he started in for either Man United or for England for 10 games. His last 10 matches for Man United in England, Harry Maguire has drawn three and lost seven.
00:32:21
Speaker
you know and he's still and then self-get is still starting I mean if that if that doesn't tell you everything that you need to know about Maguire and to be honest with you I thought that Maguire as a footballer I thought that he's been got a little bit of a hard time for most of his career ever since he had that big world record move to Leicester in was it 2019 I think that he's had a hard time and it's been a bit over exaggerated sometimes I've always thought he's done you know decently I've never thought he's a top
00:32:51
Speaker
You know top-class defender or obviously not a world-class friend and definitely not the world's best defense or most expensive defender But I've always thought he's done a decent job and I actually thought of the euros I thought he was he was very good for England at euro 2020 You know and such a big threat from set pieces and with headers and you know as well with me
00:33:11
Speaker
I mean, yeah, and at the World Cup. Yeah, I thought he did really, really well. But, but and here comes the but last season, he was an unmitigated disaster for many, for many nights. And anyway, total disaster. He had I remember, I remember doing a piece on this last season, he did he had 16 errors last season leading to goals 16 just just just picked just imagine that 16 errors leading to leading to goals to the opposition and
00:33:34
Speaker
And he's still getting picked by Southgate. And when you see that Tamori, who over this international break now didn't get a single minute for England, which Milan would love, obviously. Milan, purely, must be absolutely loving that.
00:33:50
Speaker
But I mean, it's yeah, I mean, it's it's a bit of an insult. He reminds me for me, for me with with McGuire, I think he would he doesn't work in a back four. I think his strengths are better suited to a back three. And he reminds me a little bit that the mistakes he makes remind me of when of the absolutely incredibly stupid, hair raising, annoying mistakes that Andrea Ranoque used to make over the last decade, especially five, six years ago, when
00:34:20
Speaker
when he created a situation that wasn't a situation, unattacked, just on his own, tripping over his own feet kind of thing. That's the kind of stuff that Meguiar makes. And he becomes like, and when you see him, he looks big, he's not very technical, he looks a bit clumsy. So he becomes like this kind of easy,
00:34:38
Speaker
person to pick on, but regardless, he shouldn't be stuck. I mean, I don't understand how Tomori's on the bench. I just don't get it. The easy to pick on is the mug. Come on, man. He has one of those faces.
00:35:00
Speaker
We don't condone bullying from facial expressions, like for our physical appearance here, so don't, let's not. He's called Slaphead for a reason, isn't he? Yeah, he's got massive head. I mean, he does remind me of that cartoon in the 90s, the head, where an alien used to reside inside of the head of a guy on MTV, if you guys remember.
00:35:19
Speaker
Who was that? What character was that? Well, it's it was called. It was there was a cartoon on MTV called The Head, I think. And it was essentially an alien moved into the head of this guy. And his head was just be careful in Googling that. Oh, come on. You must remember that. Come on, John. You have to remember that. It was it was like during the Beavis and Butthead era. And there was a cartoon when I think it was. Oh, yeah, I can see it now. Yeah.
00:35:41
Speaker
Yeah, I think, I don't know if it was Mike Judge, the guy who did, maybe somebody who also drew that, but essentially that is, that's his head, the head. It looks like a balloon head. Yeah, exactly. I remember immediately when I saw him, I was like, yeah, that's, that's, that reminds me of that cartoon. Anyway, we get sidetracked. Sorry about that. Yeah, let's, let's... But yeah, Tamoori, I mean, I mean, right, if England play Maguire at the World Cup, I mean, they're just...
00:36:10
Speaker
even your Iran might have a chance. I mean, I fancy today me and as I mean, I know his moons not having a good time of things, but I don't fancy them. I fancy anyone against McGuire right now. He's he's so out of form. He's so low in confidence. And you said he works better in a free than a four, which I agree with. I mean, England played in a free in the both of these games. And, you know, so I think it almost doesn't matter where where he what he plays. And he's going to be out and he's not going to have much match fit inside because he's not getting back in there in the Man United team over the next couple of months either.
00:36:39
Speaker
No, absolutely. Yeah. Okay. Well, let's, uh, let's move on to some club related stuff. And the first thing here that we, uh, the first thing that we have on our plan here, I, you know, it's written by Carlo, when the introduction to this segment is did, did Lavovich make a mistake going to UVA over Arsenal. Um, you mentioned Allegri earlier.
00:37:09
Speaker
Those two are undoubtedly tied at the hip. You can't bring this discussion into play without considering one of those things.
Vlahovic's Career Choices and Juventus' Financial Concerns
00:37:23
Speaker
Isn't that with any Juventus discussion right now? Jesus Christ! Oh, dear. Well, with that in mind, have at it.
00:37:34
Speaker
Well, I just want to say I didn't bring this up just as a reason to slack off Allegro. I brought this up because, you know, there has been a lot of reports going around in the last few days about Arsenal potentially coming back in for Blauwitsch in the
00:37:50
Speaker
in the january market we know that the arsenal tried to sign vlawovic in january of this year 2022 and vlawovic basically told them he had no interest in going there he never had an interest in going there and he only wanted to join the event and he did join the event for a lot of money for 80 million euros and
00:38:10
Speaker
At the time, I think most people would agree and understood why he joined Juventus instead of Arsenal, because Arsenal have been, you know, haven't qualified for the Champions League in six years or however long it's been. And they've always been, didn't really look like they were building anything at the time. You know, now we fast forward nine months and, you know, Arsenal are top of the league. Yes, OK, they didn't get the Champions League last season, but I think they I think they certainly will this season. They really are building a really exciting young team.
00:38:39
Speaker
playing well, and you look at Juventus and it's just a total crisis and disaster there. We've discussed it at length, we don't need to explain why. But in terms of Vlovich himself, you look at number one, how bad the team's doing, and he's thinking, well, am I at the right club?
00:39:03
Speaker
Then you look at him as a player. How is he doing himself individually? How is he developing as a player? I mean, he's got one goal in open play this season in all competitions. Since joining the Juventus, Vlarevic has got 13 goals in 29 games, which is fine. There's nothing bad about that. It's just under one in two.
00:39:27
Speaker
But it's way down, if you look at the numbers that he was doing with Fiorentina, I mean, in 2021, he scored 41 goals in the calendar year, and he scored the joint most Serie A goals in a calendar year for, I think, 70 years, I think it was. I think the same was the same as Ronaldo, and only Lewandowski, Robert Lewandowski, scored more goals in Europe's big five leagues in 2021. I mean, this guy was, you know,
00:39:52
Speaker
breaking all kinds of records and was establishing himself as genuinely as one of the best strikers in Europe. I mean, that's not an exaggeration. And, you know, I look at how he's done since joining the event as a player. And I've said it before, and I'll say it again, he has not improved at all since joining the event. And actually, I would probably I would actually argue that he's actually regressed. He certainly regressed in terms of numbers. I've just given you the numbers. But
00:40:21
Speaker
even his overall game in terms of the weaknesses that he has in his game haven't improved. I think his first touch with his back to goal and his link up play with others, I think these were areas that he needed to improve and he hasn't improved him at all. I think they've regressed. Certainly in this season, he's been really bad with some of his first touches.
00:40:41
Speaker
um and you know there can only be here he comes there can only be one reason for that and and that's allegory and you know if i'm vlawovic i'm looking at playing under allegory and i'm thinking am i under the right manager i'm 22 years old and this is a key part of your career you don't if you don't develop
00:40:56
Speaker
during this time, you don't, it's very difficult to develop later on. And yeah, so if I'm blah, which I'm not saying I would regret it, because the event is the event. So you know, and you know, he's still young, he's got the career ahead of him. But I definitely would be asking the question, did I make the right choice joining you? Well, can't argue with that.
00:41:18
Speaker
No, you can't. I still think it's a little bit too soon to say anything, but I think the question does need to be asked. That's especially where Juventus are going in terms of the club as a whole, and it does feel like there's no direction. They've started a direction, but it's not exactly going to plan.
00:41:39
Speaker
I mean, Milik has been better than Vlalovic so far, in terms of his overall game. I mean, if you take those two brilliant free kicks, and they were amazing free kicks, so, you know, that shows, you know, let's not forget that he scored. The class is, the class of the player is not up for debate. I still think that it's, I think he'll come good for Juve, and I think he will do good for Juve, but I think that he hasn't exactly gone according to plan. No. Yeah. That's for sure.
00:42:06
Speaker
Yeah, I think he needs he needs just to finish. I think he needs, you know, he needs a new manager at Juventus. If Allegri stays, I think he will risk regret regretting joining Juventus. And I think, you know, they need a new manager, someone that can get the best out of the attack and help developing.
00:42:27
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. I don't think you're going to get much pushback about about Allegri's role in this. But anyway, let's move on. We also wanted to bring up the financial stuff. Yeah, I mean, wow.
00:42:43
Speaker
They beat Inter, Juve beat Inter for the biggest fiscal year loss a football club has made. And this last fiscal year, 254 million euros. That's insane. That is just absurd numbers.
00:43:07
Speaker
How worried should Juventus play? I mean, John is, you know, the big, you're, you're the financial expert here. I mean, shouldn't be worried. I was about to say, I, um, I, I'm not using this as well. Maybe I am. I don't know. We can revisit that later, but, um, they do have the benefit of some sponsorship. Um,
00:43:33
Speaker
I hate to say that a lot of these numbers are just made up, but anything I say, I just harken back to what happened to Barcelona.
00:43:44
Speaker
I mean, we're hearing about the club going down, the, you know, bankruptcy and all this stuff. They go out, they spend how many millions on a 69 year old Lewandowski. They go out and they spend all this money on Raffina. At this point, you know, we are basically operating in clown world where it is monopoly money. It's all fake. I mean, anything I say,
00:44:14
Speaker
It could be easily canceled out by just citing one or two examples of the PSJ. I mean, we've been hearing about them being at risk for financial penalties. Nothing ever happens. Yes, they were in that recent block of punishment along with Roma, Juve, Inc.
00:44:37
Speaker
But let's be serious. UEFA, FIFA, I'm just at the point where I can't ever believe they would allow anything to happen. What has happened with Barcelona in these last months is nothing short of criminal, in my opinion.
00:44:56
Speaker
I don't know how a club so close, we're hearing about being so close to bankruptcy, they're selling parts of their media center and then they go out and they have a spending spree as they did this past summer. Clearly I know nothing about anything finance related. Well demanding some of their players to take pay cuts.
00:45:19
Speaker
at the same time. And withholding money from the coronavirus period as well and deferring payments to later and then not paying them and while buying other players. And that's the thing. We keep hearing all of these excuses as to coronavirus. Once we get past this difficult period, everything will be back to normal.
00:45:44
Speaker
250 million is a lot for Juventus, a record loss of 254 million euros in the financial year. I mean, that is going to have a big, unless X will come out and bail them out, but will they come and bail them out again? I mean, they bailed them out last year, this time last year. I mean, I can't see them doing it again.
00:46:04
Speaker
I don't think they will. I think that was calculated. I think they know that that's why they made a cash injection of 400 million. It's like John said, a lot of these numbers are fake and it's not like it's a loss, but it could be bigger, it could be smaller. It depends on how it's a lot of accounting tricks as well, like John said, but it's not a good number. It's absolutely not a good number.
00:46:29
Speaker
I mean, it's the fifth consecutive year that Juve loses money. I think Inter are up to their tenth, seventh or eighth or something stupid like that. It's it's it keeps doing this for all these clubs. Yeah, no, it's it's it is what it is. And it's it's these Italian clubs keep losing money and they can't compete. The TV deal isn't worth a shit. Let's be honest. It's worth it's absolutely useless.
00:46:55
Speaker
And they can't market themselves. And that just keeps showing because they still want to compete at the highest level. They can't afford the highest players. And yet they're the best players in the world. But in order to get at least decent level players, you have to pay high wages.
00:47:14
Speaker
And they can't compete, which is what we've spoken about before. But I mean, obviously, it didn't help with the pandemic. Let's remember that this is also still highly affected by what happened in the pandemic. So yeah, no, it's not good.
00:47:31
Speaker
let's move on to Rafael because Rafael is in contract renewal talks right now with Milan and it's quite a pivotal moment actually in his future with Milan because his contract at Milan runs out in June 2024 so we're approaching the 18 months away from his contract expiring and
Milan's Strategy to Retain Rafael Leao
00:47:58
Speaker
you know the way that player contracts work in football is that you know football clubs generally nowadays try and try to avoid at all costs letting their letting their letting contracts run down to within 12 months of expiry you know in fact most clubs will always try and do it within
00:48:22
Speaker
two years. You don't sign a contract when you're two years out, then they're already preparing to sell you basically. That isn't always possible and it hasn't been possible with Raphael yet, but they are in a pivotal moment and I think if they don't manage to
00:48:37
Speaker
you know, to make some headway in the next few months, then they are gonna have to consider, you know, selling him for certain. And, you know, so we'll have to see what happens. I mean, Paolo Maldini gave an interview the other day where he seemed quite confident, I think, about getting Rafael to sign a new contract. It seems like they're prepared to pay him what he's asking for. He's asking for a big, big increase. I think around about seven million euros a season.
00:49:07
Speaker
and you know so that they're prepared to meet what he's asking for but we do know at the same time that there is interest from Manchester City, Chelsea we know try to sign in this summer they bid over 100 million, PSG as well are big fans of him you know there are other clubs big clubs I mean he is wanted by the biggest clubs in Europe so
00:49:31
Speaker
I think this is very, very important for Milan because we know what their project has been over the last few years. After Elliott came in,
00:49:42
Speaker
and obviously the state of Italian football, which you've just alluded to with money not being in the game like before, they've decided to go with a project of buying young, up and coming players, developing them, raising their value, selling them once they've become established for big money, then bringing in the next batch of youngsters to take their place. They're now at this point where they've won the Scudetto, maybe ahead of schedule, maybe you could argue. They've won the Scudetto, they've clearly got
00:50:12
Speaker
three or four or five players who have, in my opinion, the ability, the potential to become top-class, maybe even world-class players, some of these guys. Roughly, I was one of them as the potential. Teo Hernandez, Tonali is another. Tomori is maybe another. Mike Manion, as I said before, I already think is there. You know, they've got five there, really, that you can build, you know, backbone.
00:50:35
Speaker
They're getting to the point where these players are all going to now be wanted by the best clubs and the richest clubs in Europe, because they're that good. They're becoming that good. So where do Milan go now in their project? Obviously, money, finances will come into it. But are Milan going to be able to keep these players and carry on building around them? Or are they going to accept, well, unfortunately, we can't compete?
00:50:59
Speaker
with the biggest clubs in Europe and Rafael Liao. We're not going to be able to keep him now. We're not going to be able to give him what he wants or compete with Man City and what Chelsea would offer contractually and financially and you know we go. So I mean how do you think Milan should play it and how do you think it will will pan out?
00:51:18
Speaker
I think Milan are doing this. Well, they can't. What are they supposed to do? They can't do anything more than they have. If he's asking for money that they can't afford and they need time to see if they can find that money, obviously, they've been they've been in the middle of a ownership change kind of partnership coming in. But now, obviously, Redbird and and Jerry Caridina have taken over completely. But so that was an ideal and that pushes things back. Now they have to look at look at things. I think they will do they will move heaven and earth to
00:51:48
Speaker
to extend his contract, but I'm not sure Milan can really afford seven million net per season. And I wonder if we're not looking at the last season of Rafael Liao in Serie A. I think someone, some club, I think Real Madrid next summer will be, will come in for this guy. We know that Chelsea and Premier League clubs are really keen on him as well.
00:52:13
Speaker
But I don't think Chelsea's, I think, I think Real Madrid, somewhere like a Real Madrid man's city PSG, I think that's where he wants to go. That's the natural next step for him in his career, because he is already, I think him and Manon are pretty much world class. You know, there's still obviously there's so much room for improvement with Liao, which is why it's just what's so impressive about him. But I think I think we could be headed to a situation where next summer is he'll leave.
00:52:40
Speaker
Yeah, I do fear that as well, to be honest. I think if Milan don't get him signed up before the World Cup, if he goes and has a fantastic World Cup, and he started the other night, and I think did he score the other night? I can't remember, but he definitely started anyway. He explodes at the World Cup, then his contract demands and his value is going to increase even more, then it becomes even harder to
00:53:05
Speaker
to sign him to a new contract and maybe prices may land out. So if they can possibly try and sign him up to a new deal before the World Cup, I think that would definitely be wise.
00:53:15
Speaker
Okay, right, before we finish off with Bad Joe and Prem Face of the Week, just a little kind of a hypothetical question here. So we've seen a lot of injuries in the international break and as we're heading back into the Serie A calendar and Champions League will be back next week as well. I mean Milan have got a hell of a lot of injuries.
00:53:39
Speaker
right now and so have Juventus and Juventus have had loads of injuries all season. Roma are starting to get quite a few injuries as well and Inter have just lost Brozovic from the Croatia game the other night and I know Inter are very very angry about that. So if we if we can just go through the major teams, who do you think is the the most irreplaceable player on
00:54:05
Speaker
on each team. We'll go through the major teams. So let's start off with Inter because, you know, Brozovic here is the one. Is Brozovic the most irreplaceable player for Inter? Yes. I mean, we've seen that. When he's not there, Inter doesn't work. It's as simple as that. And he's going to be up for a month, they reckon, right? Yeah, absolutely. Which is, they're really pissed off about. Is that game over for Barcelona then, do you think? Pretty much.
00:54:34
Speaker
Well, unless Christiane Aslan, he turns out, you know, all the youth merchants who yell online about, oh, play young kids, play young kids. Well, here's this chance. And I hope he does play. I really hope Simone plays him. And I hope that with all jokes aside, I really hope they play him. And I hope that he shows that he's mature enough to
00:54:53
Speaker
to handle it, because it's going to be difficult. And the option is instead to play Barilla, Barilla Chalanoglou or Mikitarian or Galliardini. And Galliardini is just not good enough at this level. So I think, in all honesty, I'd rather play either Mikitarian or Aslani against Barcelona, for sure. Galliardini just doesn't offer anything at all. So, yeah, no, it's...Brazovitch Gone is really not what Inter needed.
00:55:23
Speaker
Okay, Milan, who's the every replaceable player do you think? I think it's Liao in terms of
00:55:34
Speaker
I mean, Tata Rosano has done it well when he's replaced Manion was injured for last season for a little bit and they still won the Sconetto and they still delivered results. I think Milan without Rafael Liao just lack and just don't hurt teams in the same way as with him. I think he's absolutely replaceable.
00:55:54
Speaker
Yeah, no, I agree. I've always thought it's roughly, although then Milan really did impress me, though, against Napoli. And they only lost that game because they were, let's be honest, they were just really unlucky. They deserved to they deserved to beat Napoli. They dominated much of that game. So, you know, that's why, you know, they they surprised. But then I do think that over a longer period, you know, then it probably does tell having not having the hour over a longer period. I don't think we can judge it just on one game. But I do worry for Milan. They're going to miss Manon for a month now.
00:56:24
Speaker
Tatarizano, Champions League against Chelsea. They could miss him, I think. I just think that Manon is such a calming influence. But like you said, they did well without him last season. And this seems to be a strength from Milan. They do seem to have a really good team spirit that when they have players out, they seem to come together and
00:56:44
Speaker
and do well. So yeah, they've answered every question really, Milan. We'll see how they do with all these injuries in the coming weeks. Juventus, any of their players are playing well for them to miss anyone right now, but I would probably go with Vlawovic. Even though, as we said before, he's not really doing very well, and he only has one goal. I think that at the moment, Juventus just don't create any chances.
00:57:13
Speaker
and they don't have enough goals, enough scorers in their team. I think you take Vlawovic out and then you're just thinking, well, there's just no goal threat at all on paper anyway. So I'd probably go Vlawovic. No, I think it's Vlawovic as well. I think it's Vlawovic, which says everything, really.
00:57:35
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Okay, Roma Lazio, Imoble for Lazio, obviously Roma. Minko Itzavic for me at Lazio. At Roma, I think, I actually think Di Bala is pretty irreplaceable for them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe. Yeah, I'd probably go with that.
00:57:56
Speaker
I'll probably go with that right now, anyway. Or Pellegrini. Pellegrini is such an important player. And Fiorentina, I'm going to go for Nico Gonzalez, because I think we saw how they'd done when he was out. I think that's a fair shot. I think that's a fair shot, because I don't think Mandragora and Amrabbat are yet as important to Fiorentina as they should be, in my opinion.
00:58:17
Speaker
Yeah, Atalanta, I don't know, I'd maybe go Coop Miners maybe right now, because I think he's become such a... Yeah, I'd go with Coop Miners as well. I think he seems to be the focal point of everything they do. Okay, just before we finish off with Badging Prem Face the Week, just for everyone, all our listeners that are based in and around London,
00:58:39
Speaker
So next week, next Wednesday, is the Chelsea vs Milan Champions League game at Stamford Bridge. The day before that, on Tuesday, September the 22nd, Milan are actually hosting a free-to-attend event.
00:59:01
Speaker
with the support of Milan Club London and basically it's a fan event. It will be held at Box Park Wembley which is right close to Wembley Stadium. The events you can find it on if you google from Milan to many fan events you can find more details about it but it's a fan event and Alessandro Nesta the Milan legend
00:59:27
Speaker
is going to be there. Milan will be bringing the 2021-22 Scudetto trophy for fans to see. And there will be a Q&A with fans, which Alessandro Nesta fans will be able to ask questions to Nesta. There'll be lots of other stuff going on. There'll be prizes to be won. They'll be screening a historical Milan match. And there'll be lots more. But if you Google from Milan to many,
00:59:55
Speaker
fan event Boxpark Wembley Tuesday the 4th of October you can find more about it you can register and it's completely free so any Milan fans in and around London that want to go there's yeah feel free to go. Okay just to finish off then Prem Face and Badjo of the Week, Badjo has got to be Dimarco surely
01:00:21
Speaker
Yeah, it can't be anyone else but him, given his performance as these two games. I mean, maybe Raspadori, because of the goals he scored, but I think DiMarco's overall performance warrants it. OK, and Prem Face of the Week. We did this long segment on this on Thursday's show last week, so check that out. Graham Souness, right?
01:00:45
Speaker
Yeah, and also it's not a prim face as such, but the cringiest thing, the cringiest ad I think I have ever seen in my life was just released by Calvin Klein featuring Romelu Lukaku. Try watching that without
01:01:01
Speaker
without cringing to the point where you start biting yourself. It is beyond cringe. He's standing there in a white pair of boxes, looking intellectually into the camera, and they zoom in on his bulge. And he's talking about, I don't know what, about how hard it was growing up. And it's so incredibly cringe. So that deserves a special mention of its own.
01:01:29
Speaker
Yeah, it's the weirdest thing I've ever seen. But soon as, Graham Soonness is the clear winner for his comments. Oh yes, of course. His comments on Roberto de Zervy. Yeah, but I mean... We've got nothing else to add on that. No, no, I mean, if we're talking cringe, that look like it was Calvin Klein at this, way, way worse.
01:01:48
Speaker
watch it and try not to cringe that's the challenge yeah okay right okay that's all we have time for today thanks everyone for listening our usual Q&A with our patrons went out on Monday so it's already been published so check that out and we will be back on Thursday
01:02:11
Speaker
Oh, actually, yeah, we're preparing an interview episode. We're going to get back to those as well. And those are all going to be free, just like this, the Monday usual show is. And the Thursday review pod, we always, and the Q&A pod and the post-match reactions and all that stuff is free, is behind a paywall for $2.99 per month, XVAT on patreon.com slash TIFP.
01:02:35
Speaker
And everyone, obviously, if you're listening to this, you know, we really appreciate it. And I got to say, I got to say this, we've we've really we've never had as many people listening to the pod on various platforms. So thank you so much for that Spotify, Google podcast, etc, etc. Yeah, big thank you. We were averaging over
01:02:54
Speaker
over 1,200, I think, listeners. 1,300, yeah, 1,400. We've barely been on for the year, like free for a month. So keep doing what you're doing. Please give us five stars. Thank you. And check out our YouTube page as well, which is, we'll just go onto YouTube and type in Italian football podcasts and look for our green logo. You'll find us. Yeah.
01:03:19
Speaker
That's my boomer explanation of how to find it. Yes, it is. It really is. Right. Okay. Thank you, everybody. We will see you next time. Ciao. Ciao.