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Serie A Returns, Coppa Italia Final Set (Ep. 46) image

Serie A Returns, Coppa Italia Final Set (Ep. 46)

The Italian Football Podcast
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Transcript

Return of the Seria Show

00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to the Seria show!
00:00:16
Speaker
Hello, everybody. We are back. It is not a mistake. This is not an accident. You are hearing us. The Syria is resuming. The Copa Italia has resumed. We have the final on our hands. We're going to discuss the return of the Syria. We will discuss the Copa Italia final. Chloe Nima, it's been a little bit.

Reflections on the Break

00:00:36
Speaker
Yeah. How are you too? Yeah, good. I miss doing this, certainly. Yeah, for sure. It's been surreal for everyone listening and everyone.
00:00:45
Speaker
living on this planet right now. It's been very surreal. But as long as you got your health and your family's alive, and I guess that's, you got to be happy. And now we got Calchill back as well. But before that, I was going to say happy birthday, John. I think we should agree. Yeah, happy birthday. I was going to sing you in my Marilyn Monroe impression. No, actually, that would be a gift you not do. Exactly. That's my gift.
00:01:13
Speaker
All right.

Copa Italia Finals Discussion

00:01:14
Speaker
Well, Nima, football resumed, and it took all of like 24 hours, I'm sure, for you to wish it had not. The Copa Italia, the finals are set, Juve Napoli as... What was that, Nima? Because I saw that, I watched, and I was like, ah, I mean, I could have done without this a little longer. But that's the thing. I don't have a problem with the lack of entertainment that people talk about or whatever, you know, or whoever.
00:01:40
Speaker
has a problem with the level of, you know, these guys have been not moving for three months, and then all of a sudden, two weeks, they're training together, and they're social distancing while training, and then no friendlies, and then all of a sudden thrown into a tournament, into a semi-final, so I don't think, you know, you can complain too much. I mean, if we compare it to the Bundesliga, I mean, seriously, I tried watching one, two games, it hurt my eyes.
00:02:03
Speaker
I wanted to jab them with a spoon, like gouge them out. That's how painful it was. So, I mean, it was better than that.

Critique of Conte's Management

00:02:12
Speaker
But I mean, in all honesty, the thing that pissed me off to no end is Konta. It's his attitude, it's his body language, it's the way he goes about it, it's the way he
00:02:23
Speaker
Either way he forms, you know, the way that he doesn't, you know, now they've got five substitutions and he waits until the 77th minute to make, to take off a Lautaro Martinez that is clearly not, that is clearly not imbalanced mentally, emotionally. He's out of form. It's clear that he's a young kid. You know, he's been completely affected by these Barcelona rumors. Again, Barcelona have managed to destabilize a player.
00:02:48
Speaker
at another club that they want to get the transfer fee down because they can't afford to pay what the selling club wants. If we could turn this behavior into some sort of renewable energy, Barcelona just the past two years could power the galaxy.
00:03:11
Speaker
just without without any you know without without even hesitating because it's they always do this they always destabilize players at clubs that they want and and then they bitch when when psg did it to them about an amar which you know it's just i loved every second of that not because i like psgs because i cannot stand the hypocrisy of mesh keon club
00:03:32
Speaker
Um, so no, but I mean, if you look, look, look beyond that, the game was annoying for several reasons. I thought it was good that he played Erickson. I thought Barela and Brozovic were great, but it's the wing backs. These are the ones he chose. Ashley Young, not good enough. Uh, Candreva, we know Candreva is Mr. Inconsistency. No, so Victor, you know, Victor Moses, um, you know, he, he, he got him on and that
00:03:56
Speaker
Biragi, Ashley Young, you know, these players that he's hand-picked are not good enough. The midfielders are good, the strikers are good. He should have brought on Alexis Sanchez sooner. You know, I was really annoyed with the second half. I thought the first half was okay, but the second half really annoyed me, and that's why I'm so frustrated. But the thing that really put me over the edge with Conte is his
00:04:16
Speaker
passive aggressive mean girls bitching after the game about why not that made me laugh but it did it's just this this bitching about but they play defensively so
00:04:29
Speaker
like and your point being it's just this is this is why this man this white man drives me insane and and it's just he's such a cranky little loser when he does that and it just drives me insane and and you know all credit monopoly i think they deserve to go through they over the two games no doubt about it um inter didn't and that's the end of that it's interesting so first off i hate when a manager loses and didn't he say that we dominated and that like their goalkeeper was a man of the match and that was
00:04:58
Speaker
yeah basically we deserve to win we did enough to win it's like yeah but you didn't win yes stop whinging stop whinging matter what you say you're lost just take the defeat gracefully and don't bitch and moan about but they play defensively so they're allowed to it's not it's not against the rules
00:05:23
Speaker
You know, they're allowed to play defensively. It's your job to score more goals. That's kind of what the game is about. So this is classic content. This is him, a hundred euro restaurant and ten euro notes. This is, you know, saying we've we've owned, you know, we can't expect to win trophies this year because we've bought players from Sasso and Caliari when those players from Caliari and Sasso are the best.
00:05:46
Speaker
players on the team. I mean, this is classic content. You just can't help them. Yeah, see, it had a little bit of the air of John Piero Ventura, who is just in terms of managers that I despise as both human beings and football managers.

Gattuso's Impact on Napoli

00:06:01
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. That is Ventura's MO. So I remember all the time, Torino would lose against Roma. He would say, well, we dominated the match, so that's all that matters. It's like, well, no, he lost. So I don't really think that's all that matters. But Chloe, from an Napoli perspective, I mean, once again, I think Gattuzo, I mean, what can you say about this guy? He's really stable to ship.
00:06:27
Speaker
You know, it seems a long time ago now, but when Angelotti was Napoli manager at the beginning of this season and we were talking about how, you know, how much that project needed scrapping and starting again, well, they've managed to bring in a new coach and they didn't need to completely scrap all the players and put it in the bin because he's turned it around. And, you know, he had the tragic news that I'd lost his sister
00:06:53
Speaker
just for a week. But he never lets anything, talk about the opposite of Conte, he never lets anything get to him. He doesn't make excuses. He turns up and he does the job and he's so reliable in that way. And I just think Milan should be kicking themselves. They really should because they should never have got rid of him. He's done a great job at Napoli. And how ironic would it be after all the talk of how brilliant Saru was over that three seasons?
00:07:22
Speaker
if Gennaro Guttuso comes in and wins a trophy with Napoli after Sarri didn't win any, it'll just be absolutely remarkable and I just think
00:07:36
Speaker
Yeah, he's probably not going to be a top, top coach, but I certainly think he's got everything he needs to be a very, very good coach in Serie A and get struggling teams out of the doldrums and back where they need to be. I agree. I think Gattuso, I think he's done excellent at Napoli since taking over. He's given them the stability that Ancelotti failed to do.
00:08:00
Speaker
But having said that, I think they still need to do and they need an overhaul of that squad in the summer. They need a revolution. So I think what he's done is basically stabilize the ship. But building on your point, how awful isn't
00:08:17
Speaker
How awful isn't, I mean, how much are Milan kicking themselves for what they did? I was just about to bring that up. Great point. This guy, I think we all would agree, right? Gattuso certainly lacks something from a technical and maybe a tactical point of view. I don't think anybody would disagree with that. But man, does he have Napoli playing with an attitude that they were just lacking? I mean, they're finally playing with some balls, you know? I mean, that is, if you want to talk about what Milan could use at this moment, I couldn't agree with you more, Nima.
00:08:47
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, he and the thing is, I mean, if you talk about someone caring about that club, he's a Milanista through and through. They had a Milanista through and through. I mean, after having burning out in burning out and ruining the legacies of Seder and in Zaghi, in Zaghi, thank you. And all these others. Yeah, Filippo, who's doing actually really well with Benevento. And he so no, it's it's I think after burning them out and then and then, you know, bringing
00:09:15
Speaker
you know, bringing in somebody like Yatuzo who actually did a decent job with them. You know, he did a really decent job with them. And then they bring in Gianpaolo, which we all said was going to be, all three of us said is going to be a failure. And it was, even though we all three like Gianpaolo.
00:09:29
Speaker
And then, you know, and then, and then they bring in Padre Pioli and it's, it's like, it's okay. It looks all right. It looks decent. He'll get them. I mean, they did, Milan did really well defensively against Juve. I was impressed. And looking at that squad again, that's another, that's another situation of, I think they need, they need a proper project. They need a, they need a sporting director that knows what he's doing and they need a coach because I don't, I like Milan squad. I think it's a young, interesting squad.
00:09:53
Speaker
They did really well against Juve. And I think they just need a little bit of tweaking. So now it's, you know, it's interesting. There's a lot of interesting things in Serie A right

Roma's Sale and Pandemic Effects

00:10:05
Speaker
now as always. It's never boring, as you always say, John. It's never really boring because, I mean, just looking at what's going on in Roma. Can we go into a little bit of that? What the hell is going on there? I mean, basically, correct me if I'm wrong. They were going to sign the papers. Friedkin was just on the verge of buying Roma from Palota.
00:10:23
Speaker
then the coronavirus happened and obviously yeah is that before or after he slagged me off publicly was that i think well to be honest i don't feel sorry for you because you kind of destroyed him well okay so here's a
00:10:39
Speaker
The problem with Palo Alto is he can dish it out, but he has a problem when you say things to him. Um, he's barely talked to me in the last three months. Does that happen? But nonetheless, um, because you humiliated him publicly. So here's, here's the timeline. Okay. Because everybody, first off, I apologize for not being able to predict when global pandemics are going to hit. That is absolutely my mistake. I will never make that one again. So we all know middle of March. So.
00:11:08
Speaker
Football, CDA, stopped on that Sunday, right? So two days before, deal is done, we're signing the papers. Roma, they even had a communication ready for Konsab, which is really, or effectively, the body that, because Roma's publicly traded, they're the body that overlooks the stock exchange, more or less. So since Roma are publicly traded, anytime there's a sale of a player, sale of the club, whatever it may be, any transaction,
00:11:35
Speaker
They have to report it to consob with, uh, with the communication communication was done. Um, before it was published on Monday, that Sunday, everything stopped and that halted everything. So yeah, it was a mess. And like just a few minutes before we got on, Palota gave this stupidly long interview where he really doesn't answer anything at all, other than putting pressure on the Friedkin group to come with a new offer.
00:12:04
Speaker
And as we've been recording, a lawyer for the freaking group just said, quote, unquote, Dan is pissed. So he's not happy that Colossi gave that interview. I think we've got the title of the podcast right there, Dan is pissed. Well, yeah, that is a good. Yeah, I can make that one two hours long. But anyway.

Challenges of Serie A's Return

00:12:28
Speaker
real quick so we got the Copa Italia finals are set now we didn't even get into Juve Milan um other than for maybe like five minutes that match was in terms of in terms of entertainment just as bad as Eat Dead and Napoli that was very I thought the first I thought the first half was pretty pretty okay I mean I think
00:12:49
Speaker
I do. I think the first 10-15 minutes, Juve were really good. They were parking. I guess it depends where your expectations are. Perhaps mine are still a bit too high for where we are. Three months of not anything. Yeah, it's understandable, I think. Yeah. I thought I was impressed with the level of movement that they played, the tempo that they had. But of course, they're going to be rusty. They've not played a game for three months. And not even any friendlies either. So I'm not surprised at all.
00:13:17
Speaker
I have to say though that, you know, all things considered, even before this stoppage, our opinions on Juve were pretty split. Now, after such this long time off, I really don't know what to... I really, really don't know what to make of them. I don't know what to expect. I really like not police chances for this. I really, really do. Oh yeah, for sure. If this game was, you know, if this, under normal circumstances, I'd say Juve are the favorites.
00:13:46
Speaker
But given that it's, you know, this is just the second game coming back and given how Sarri plays and how Gatuzo plays, I really, really, really rate Napoli's chances to win this tournament. I really do. Yeah. I mean, Chloe, do you feel the same? I just really like the way, again, it's not even the tactical point of view. It's just the attitude that Gatuzo has passed along to them, it seems like.
00:14:11
Speaker
Yeah, I think at a time when they're struggling to find their rhythm, a team that are so united and play for their coach in that way have got a massive advantage over a team that's trying to
00:14:27
Speaker
perfect a particular style of play because that obviously takes a bit of time to get back into the rhythm and back with the patterns that Sarri wants but Napoli because they play with intensity and aggression they can snap right back into that and I think you know that that is certainly something that Napoli will try and impress onto you Vayne and I think that means that
00:14:53
Speaker
they've got every chance because it's not a norm nothing about this is normal nothing we can't fall back on old stereotypes really it's you know it's it's it's completely different
00:15:05
Speaker
So just in general, before we go, we will preview all of the matches next week. But again, just generally speaking, how do we feel about this return? I have been very adamant. I think returning has been stupid. And then when you add to the fact, there's going to be five substitutions. We're going to be playing a match essentially every 72 hours or teams are going to be playing matches essentially every 72 hours.
00:15:29
Speaker
This just seems like a recipe for disaster, in my opinion. What do you two think? Because I just don't see this ending positively for anybody. I mean, let's be honest. The only reason they're playing is because they need the TV money to survive. That's the only reason they're playing. Personally, from a moral point of view, I think that, you know, when 30,000 people die in two months or one month or one and a half months,
00:15:54
Speaker
or however time it is, that's like Italy hasn't lost that amount of life in that short period of time since the second world war. It's a trauma. It's a national trauma. And I think the respectful thing to do would be to not play at all. But having said that, I completely understand the other side of it. And that is that the clubs will go bankrupt. The league will go bankrupt unless they get those TV money. I completely understand that.
00:16:22
Speaker
But I do agree with you on a moral point. I think this is, you know, this is, why are we doing this? But at the same time, I mean, except for the president and his puppet of the other team in Rome, who is hell-bent on playing. He was thinking of, I don't know, he was talking about suing everything and everyone under the sun.
00:16:40
Speaker
if they didn't play, most every single human was against this because on a moral level, because it was, you know, it's people have died 30,000 people, especially in the north of Italy in Bergamo, where the military had to come in and get the dead bodies out. Like that's a trauma, you know, and I think we should respect that. But other than that, I completely understand why
00:17:04
Speaker
from a financial point of view. They need to do it, otherwise the league will go bust. It's literally that simple.
00:17:11
Speaker
I think for me, it's a case, obviously, like Mima said, they have to do it for financial reasons. But I think we all need to adjust our expectations a little bit that right now we should be settling into Euro 2020. And instead, we're about to watch the end of the series and nobody could have predicted that at the beginning of the campaign. So people have been through a lot. There have been players and squads
00:17:41
Speaker
Sam Dorian, Fiorentina, just two of them who've had an awful lot of players who've had the virus. And we're going into completely unknown territory, and we don't know what the standard's

Impact of Fan Absence and Campaign Validity

00:17:54
Speaker
going to be like. We don't know what the matches are going to be like. I already think that it's completely not the same without any fans. I don't like the echoey sound of it, you know, from a personal point of view.
00:18:06
Speaker
It's just completely different, but it is what it is. We've got some football and I guess we'll be hearing to comment on it regardless. And we're also going to be treated to listening to Antonio Conte scream and shout on the sideline.
00:18:25
Speaker
is quality content right there. All right. Real quick, though, before we go, my favorite boomer Zennig Zeman gave. So out of like the 10 interviews he does, really only one of them has quality verbiage within it. So he did say, in fairness, he gave a lengthy interview when asked about returning what football would look like. And he more or less said, and I'm summarizing this is not an exact quote, but
00:18:52
Speaker
Having five substitutions makes the rest of the campaign fake, more or less. Is that something you guys agree with? They're playing in Italy in the middle of July. What the hell do you want from them? Anyone who knows how hot it gets, of course they need to. And they're playing every 72 hours. They need to have these substitutions, otherwise the players are going to get injured.
00:19:14
Speaker
I mean, like you said, he really is a boomer, isn't he? Like, it's just be quiet, don't talk. Like, sometimes it's better to, you know, just enjoy retirement and not talk about things. I mean, it's just embarrassing. Like, stop talking.
00:19:29
Speaker
It's July in Sicily. What? In Naples, in mid-July. Or Florence, Jesus. Have you been just in Florence in mid-July? You want to kill yourself, it's so hot. That's why they're playing so late. And it's the humidity. And they're playing every three days, which elevates the chances for injury even more. I'm glad they're using five subs. I think it's only logical. Obviously favors the bigger squads. Well, of course it does. Yeah.
00:19:59
Speaker
Well, yeah, sure. But at the end of the day, it kind of, you know, whether or not you have, then you should remove substitutions altogether, because any substitutions favors the bigger teams, because they have a higher quality of squad of players on their bench. I mean, I don't know, I just find this discussion like this obsessive notion of some people are finding this millimeter justice that everything has to be equal. It's like,
00:20:26
Speaker
you guys have kids, you know what I'm talking about. It's like when they start fighting and you got an inch of the pie bigger than me. It's like, go to your rooms. Everyone go to your rooms. That's where I am. I don't even have kids. At the end of the day, they're just doing the best with what they've been given, which it's rubbish for everybody, isn't it? Yeah. You do the best with what you've got. I mean, this notion, again, like you said, every 10 interviews, you get something right.
00:20:55
Speaker
Uh, Zama nowadays. I mean, it's, it used to be fun 10, 15 years ago, but now it's just turned sad. Stop talking. Yes. Stop talking. Be quiet. Enjoy retirement. You've got money. You can go to a vineyard, wherever you go. Just pick grapes and shut up. All right. Well, we will be back next week to preview all of these matches. We're back to regular programming here. We're so excited to be talking with you again. As always, thank you so much for listening and until next time. Bye bye.