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Free Weekly Episode - Roberto Mancini Resigns As Italy Coach, Juventus Fans Rovella Anger, Arnautovic & Augusto To Inter, Nemanja Matic Betrays José Mourinho At Roma & Much More (Ep. 350)
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From Roberto Mancini resigning as Italy coach, Luciano Spalletti and Antonio Conte the favorites to taking over the Azzurri, Juventus fans angry as Nicolo Rovella Lazio bound, Chelsea pull out of Dusan Vlahovic - Romelu Lukaku swap talks, Inter wrap up Marko Arnautovic and Carlos Augusto while Lazar Samardzic talks descend into chaos, to Napoli close to extending contract of Victor Osimhen whilst wrapping up two gems in Jens Cajuste and Gabi Veiga with Piotr Sielinski Saudi Arabia bound, dream debut by Sandro Tonali for Newcastle in the Premier League, as well as Nemanja Matic betrays Jose Mourinho but Roma bounce back signing Leandro Paredes and Renato Sanches and much, much more as Nima and Carlo break down all the main talking points from a jam-packed week in in Italian football.
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Transcript
Introduction & Agenda
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast.
00:00:06
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Italian Football Podcast. I'm Carlo Garganese, here, as always, with Nima Tavalli. So today's show is absolutely mad. I have no idea how we are going to fit everything into it, as there is so much to talk about.
Mancini's Resignation & Legacy
00:00:26
Speaker
Already, the show was too full, and then we had the news on Sunday evening that Roberto Mancini had resigned
00:00:34
Speaker
suddenly as a Italy manager. So we're going to start with that today. We're going to look at why he resigned, his legacy, who could replace him, and then we're going to get through. We'll try and get through a ton of transfers and transfer topics. Juventus are selling half their squad. They've caused great anger by selling Nígolo Rovela.
00:00:57
Speaker
Fiorentina have signed two attackers in the last few days. Inter are set to sign two players as well. Maybe another two more. They're also selling Robin Gosens. Roma are selling the Maniamatic, who has reportedly betrayed Jose Mourinho. Leandro Paredes looks like he's going to be his replacement. Renato Sanchez is set to join Roma too. Duvan Sapata is close.
00:01:20
Speaker
Then we have Napoli, they've finally sorted a new contract for Victor Osseman, they're about to sign two midfielders, they've already signed one of them, a second one is about to arrive and he's a real gem. Nígolo Zaniolo has a bid from Aston Villa, Wilfred Nionto has gone on strike at Leeds.
Italian Players in the Premier League
00:01:38
Speaker
And we also had some brilliant debuts from some of our Italians in the Premier League this first weekend of the Premier League season. So we're going to try our best to get through all of that. It's going to be difficult. We know Nimay is a champion talker and I'm not too far behind, so it's going to be tough to get all that in today, but we'll do our best.
Podcast Extras & Promotions
00:02:00
Speaker
For all our first-time listeners, this is our free weekly episode, which we do every Monday, reviewing the weekend Serie A action.
00:02:06
Speaker
and all the biggest talking points in Italian football. If you want to support the Italian football podcast and receive all our content that we do throughout the week, including our weekly Q and A episode every Tuesday, where we answer all the questions sent in from our Patreons, plus the weekly Thursday, midweek review show, plus interviews, post match reaction, and much, much more, then go to patreon.com slash TIP and become a subscriber for just $2.99 a month plus VAT.
00:02:33
Speaker
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Speaker
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Why Did Mancini Resign?
00:03:54
Speaker
Okay, so we'll start off with the news, the southern news, shock news really in some ways that Roberto Mancini has resigned as manager of the Italy national team. And this is a developing story, so we don't have all the full details
00:04:12
Speaker
of exactly why he left and suddenly resigned as Italy coach. So we'll start there. My understanding is that there is a number of issues that led to this. Some of them have been brewing for a few months now. There are some issues behind the scenes with his backroom staff. We had Alberico Evani.
00:04:37
Speaker
resigning, one of his closest assistants resigning in the last few weeks, reportedly over disagreement over a number of issues, but especially over
00:04:53
Speaker
Manchini's reluctance to stop playing Leonardo Bonucci, who he played in the Nations League semi-finals, to disastrous effect in June. And also Manchini reportedly unhappy with some backroom appointments, which went without his OK. None of this isn't confirmed. These are just reports. And recently we saw, of course, it could be a coincidence, we recently saw G.T. Buffon
00:05:23
Speaker
coming in as the replacement to the late Gianluca Vialli. That was only a week ago or so, so who knows. There's also reports mentioning he's tired, tired of fighting the Italian system by himself.
00:05:42
Speaker
He was recently named as the coordinator for all of Italy's various youth teams, trying to get a kind of synergy between all the various youth teams from the very youngest Italian youth teams right up to the senior team. And also, a couple of other things. First of all, the losses to two of his dearest friends, Gianluca Violi and Sinise Mihailovic this year.
00:06:08
Speaker
And also, we can't show away from it. He has an offer from the Saudi Arabia national team and I'm sure that has played a role in him making the decision to actually go ahead and resign. So Nima, first of all, what's your reaction to the resignation and why do you think it has come to this?
00:06:29
Speaker
I think it's a combination of many things. I think he's been there for a few years. I think he's tired of fighting and he's tired of things not working the way that he wants. And this isn't the first time he's done this. Let's remember when he had enough at Inter that summer as well, when he was just exhausted, he was like, no, I'm not doing this anymore. You know, he'd been there a couple of years, in total four and a half years,
00:06:56
Speaker
before leaving four or five years before leaving. And it's something similar now. He feel he has to feel that things improve behind the behind the scenes for him in order to be able to do his work. And he's not he doesn't feel that that's what's happening. You know, this is not he's not where he was when he took over. He's changed in the sense that he wants to he wants to grow. He wants the Italian football to grow. He wants Italian football to
00:07:25
Speaker
to improve and they're not improving and they're really not improving in his mind, that is. And, you know, so he's got an offer, he's been there for a long time. I think it's a combination of many, many things. He's got the Saudi Arabian big money offer. They are, you know, if he goes there, he'll probably have much more power to build something more long term. He's he doesn't seem I know that he was
00:07:55
Speaker
rumored or I know that there was interest from PSG a year or two ago and he was kind of mulling that over but I think he's kind of in a position now in his career where he wants to work more long-term with the national teams and in order to do so I think Saudi Arabia just maybe offered him a better solution altogether.
00:08:18
Speaker
Offered him more money as well. Let's not forget that. And we're looking at 18 million a year. I'm sure that helped him make his decision and he looked at it like this. You get paid more, less stress, a more efficient organization. You know, you have more power. People do more. You know, you get to decide more how you want to work. You get paid more. You don't have to argue with with with with with
00:08:44
Speaker
seria owners and seria presidents and you don't have to argue with FIGC presidents and FIGC's internal structure and all the politics that goes with that. It's just at some point you feel, I'm done with this, I'm done with this, let's go somewhere else. Yeah, I think what's underpinning this is definitely his frustration at being unable to and we'll come to it in his achievements in a bit but
Mancini's Impact on Italian Football
00:09:13
Speaker
He's done an amazing, amazing job in trying and obviously winning the Euros in 2020 or 2021 was thanks to that in terms of changing the culture of Italian football, moving away from many of the backward outdated facets of Italian football from just from the start of starting from the start of football, trying to play a positive progressive
00:09:40
Speaker
Modern type of football as opposed to a defensive low block counterattacking type of football through to try into and I know
00:09:51
Speaker
this will come to that, whether he actually went against that in the end, trying to give more opportunities for youth, trying to encourage more youngsters getting chances, looking outside the box, partly by necessity to find youngsters like Wilfred Nyong'o, like Mateo Leteki, you know, trying to
00:10:14
Speaker
you know, change the culture of Italian football. And I think that he'd become exhausted trying to do that, because we've seen many try to do that, whether it's from an ownership point of view, when we've had foreign owners come in, like American owners, to clubs and trying to build stadiums or, you know, all the all the things, you know, that we complain about on this podcast all the time, even the simple things like how you market the league, how you
00:10:41
Speaker
broadcast the league, you know, all these things that Italy is so back within and that has a knock on effect on everything, including the Italy national team. I think he'd become frustrated and exhausted that basically he was on his own because he was the one man fighting against the system. And, you know, in the end, you can't win alone. And I think he just I think that just in the end, I think he just has enough of that.
00:11:11
Speaker
And I think that we'll see, it's gonna come out in the next days.
00:11:16
Speaker
No, I'm sure. I think it's all of the above. And he's been there for many years. And I think it's something like I said, I think when you're at a job for four or five years and you've had great success like he's had and and, you know, your your goals and what you want to do changes with that evolves with that. And he wants to do something else. And he's tired of butting heads and fighting with Serie A clubs, the Serie A organized Lega Calcio. He's not exhausted of fighting with FIGC.
00:11:43
Speaker
And so you know saudi arabia is a different project and the asian cup is coming up in january february you know that's what you know he's gonna be targeting wave and of course i think they're gonna bring him up bring their to do you know to work towards.
00:12:02
Speaker
the next World Cup and maybe even beyond until whenever Saudi can host their own World Cup, whether that's in 10 years time or whenever that is, 10, 12 years time or whenever that is. But I think he's just tired of arguing with people, to be honest. I think at some point you reach a point where you're like, enough for this, you know, enough.
00:12:24
Speaker
Yeah it is strange how things changed very quickly but let's have a look at his legacy and his achievements and obviously there is one achievement of course that stands out and we'll make him a legend forever and that is winning the euros in
00:12:44
Speaker
in 2020 or 2021. And I mean, what an achievement. I mean, where he took Italy from, you know, failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, a team that was in an embarrassment, not just a national embarrassment, a world embarrassment, a team under Ventura with no identity playing the kind of football that was stuck in the dark ages and no young players coming through, no real hope. No one had any hope. None of us had hope.
00:13:14
Speaker
especially when you marry that with the struggles of the Serie A and Italian football as a whole in the last decade. No one gave Italy any hope of being a challenger for Euro 2020, certainly not when Mancini took over. And then to go from that to winning the Euros, I mean,
00:13:36
Speaker
absolutely incredible. And people forget now, he was, the world record, Italy have the world record unbeaten run. It went three years without defeat under Mancini from October 2018 to October 2021. People forget about that. So that just shows
00:13:58
Speaker
Yes, the last two years of Mancini's reign, you know, things started to go stale. Things went wrong. He made some mistakes. But those first three years, Nima, I mean, absolutely unbelievable to go three years unbeaten and then to join the middle of that to win the Euros. Incredible achievement.
00:14:19
Speaker
For sure. I think, you know, in his career, he's got a very interesting career because if you look at how he started out and the kind of football he played when he was at Lazio or Fiorentina and Inter, and then how he metamorphosized, you know, changed completely into, you know, we went through this, you know, almost crazy metamorphosis tactically when he came to Manchester City and started playing some sort of
00:14:46
Speaker
passing possession football where, you know, focus was more on dominating possession and imposing yourself on the opposition rather than having, you know, what he had at Lazio and Inter, which was a safety first kind of approach. I mean, in Inter, essentially, it was just Ibrahimovic and Inshallah, let's be honest. It was give it to Mykon, Mykon, go with God, then give it to the Swedish God and hope that he will win. I mean, that was just how Inter played for three years.
00:15:13
Speaker
Under him and that's why essentially got sacked as well because they it was dreary and unwatchable In Europe and they didn't and they failed continuously There was no there was no balance and lines and then it just didn't work That and also of course he is a he's a visa temperamental person in temperamental person. I mean he resigned
00:15:35
Speaker
at the end of it. He said he was going to resign at the end of the season after the Liverpool loss. Just by the way, the way he dropped it, I never forget that press conference where he goes, Oh yeah. And by the way, I'm, I'm leaving Intel at the end of the season. And yeah, this has nothing to do with the Mercator or anything like that. And I just walked out.
00:15:51
Speaker
very very matter of very very calmly just drop that and then of course everyone's jaw dropped and the next couple of weeks were spent trying to walk that back and he decided to stay on um and and and of course you know by then in mori no morati contact mori no and everything the rest is history but um then he goes to city and then he changes completely who he is the tactics how he plays of course with their money it's easier to do that with that with with with with that wallet than it is with
00:16:21
Speaker
with Morati's wallet and the Seria's wallet, Seria Club's wallet, until, you know, he goes to, you know, he went to Galatasaray, won a cup. He was quite the cup coach, wasn't he?
00:16:33
Speaker
and also the Turkish Cup and he won the FA Cup, if I'm not mistaken as well. He's a Cup coach and then when you take that into, he goes to Inte, does a decent job, the year and a half he was there, got fed up with the chaos that was, walked out.
00:16:55
Speaker
De Boer came in, ruined everything, Suning stepped in, because they'd already bought the club but they weren't all hands-on, Suning stepped in, threw out Tahir and his ilk, and then we're from here. But then if you look at when he takes over Italy and where Italy were, like you said, and to where they ended,
00:17:17
Speaker
It was, to me, in my opinion, that Anzori team, for me, those two years, those two and a half years leading to the
00:17:32
Speaker
European Championship win. I think those are the greatest achievement he has had in his career. And he has a lot of achievements. Let's not forget about that. But what he did there is the high mark, the high point of everything he's ever done. And I think this might be it. I don't think we will see Roberto Mancini
00:17:58
Speaker
coaching another big side, I don't think we'll see Mancini coaching another big national team in the sense, like the traditional sense of Brazil or Argentina or Germany or Italy or France or anything like that. I think he now goes to Saudi Arabia to try to win the Asian Cup. And then from then on, I think we're talking about someone who will take more technical appointments and that kind of thing. I don't think we'll see him.
00:18:26
Speaker
on the pitches after the Saudi Arabia. Well, it depends how long he plans to stay at Saudi Arabia. I mean, seven years until they potentially host the World Cup. I don't think he's going to be there seven years. Yeah, but I don't think he's going to be there seven years. I do think that he will go there to over the Asian Cup, which we know Saudi want to win. And also the next World Cup. I think that's the those are the main things, the main targets.
00:18:52
Speaker
Yeah. And what are your most memorable moments for Mancini in Italy? In Italy? As the coach of Italy. I mean, from the Euros, there's obviously so many from the Euros. Yeah, but for me, it's his Azzurri revolution when he took over. I mean, you know, because I remember I was tweeting about this when he took over, I was very, very happy that he was the appointment. And I was not, there was not many people who were happy except with me. And the reason that I was very, very happy and I knew that he was going to do well is because I've seen him. He works well with youth.
00:19:23
Speaker
And he's not afraid to give young players chances and important moments. He's given unknown players their Serie A debuts and Milan Darby's, you know? Njokori, for example. I was there. It was crazy. Like, who? Who's starting?
00:19:43
Speaker
Um, it was, it was weird. Everyone in the press. He does have a good eye for a talent. Have you seen that in the transfer market? Like he's always, he's always identified players as a club coach. Even like, if you look at Manchester city, the players that you've got, he's always had an excellent eye for it for a talent. He's always been able to, he was also the guy, he's also the guy who gave a 17 year old Mario Balotelli, his debut against you and the Copa Italia. And he scores twice. Yeah.
00:20:10
Speaker
He is unbelievable in that aspect, but for me the most, his Azzurri revolution and the midfield, the way that he structured this 4-3-3 and the possession-based football and Taylor building it. Nobody thought that Giorginio and Verratti could work together. That's exactly what I was going to get. The Taylor-made role for Verratti and Giorginio in midfield.
00:20:34
Speaker
was truly, truly, truly remarkable in the way that they could retain possession. And so for me, it's everything. It's the Azuri revolution that he took over. Yeah, and it was all deserved as well. It wasn't a fluke. You don't go three years unbeaten.
00:20:52
Speaker
I don't know. That was structure. He built something for three years. He built a fantastic team that were the best team at the Euros. Italy were the best team at the Euros. They deserved to win the Euros. They had a little bit of fortune, of course, if you win two penalty shootouts, but you don't win a tournament without a bit of luck. If you win two penalty shootouts, you've had a bit of luck, but they were the best team at the tournament. They played the best football at the tournament.
00:21:15
Speaker
which you don't usually say about Italy, you know, Italy national teams. They're not usually teams that are good on the eye. Well, that depends on what your definition of beauty is. I think the most beautiful, you know, for me, I love that. Attacking beauty. Let's say attacking beauty. For me, Euro 2000, Italy siding Euro 2000 with that defense of Nesta, Cannavaro, Maldini, Iuliano, Zambrotta is truly
00:21:42
Speaker
Unbelievable. OK, well, let's say let's reframe that as attacking beauty, modern attacking beauty. Yeah. But here's the thing, like he what he does for me, like that's what I'm saying, like the fact that he changed not just Italian perceptions of Italy and what Italian football and Italian national team is, but also foreign ones as well. A lot of people were completely surprised by Italy, you know, people who don't tune in to football that much. They were like, whoa, since when did Italy start playing like that, like this? I mean, just the opening night.
00:22:10
Speaker
Yeah, but the embrace with the alley the crying those to the embrace of the alley I think is the moment if we're talking about man. He means man. He himself. Yeah, absolutely iconic. That is obviously with the alley then passing on not long after and you know 18 months or so after then, you know, of course that that is even more poignant and but so it's so many great memories from from those euros and
00:22:37
Speaker
you know, that opening night, which was beautiful with the opening ceremony and the, who was it, the singer? Bocelli. Bocelli, Andrea Bocelli. And then all the way through, you know, Kiesa's winner against Austria, the insane singer against Belgium, Giorgio's penalty against Spain. And then, of course, the final, I mean,
00:23:08
Speaker
It's just Italian old school, you know, defending just on the line, you know, getting a yellow card. That's not a red card offense, but that is a yellow card offense if there was one. And to do it the way it just shamelessly did it. All the memes after the final as well, a lot of them involved in Mancini, like Mancini is the queen and
00:23:28
Speaker
and Mancini as the Braveheart as William Wallace from Braveheart and all that sort of stuff. It was magical. Just before we move on, I have to say the one personal thing. I think he's one of the most
00:23:45
Speaker
elegant human beings I've ever met and never had the chance to ask a question of. He's got this superstar aura about him.
00:24:01
Speaker
you know, everyone he walks into a room and he's very, I'm gonna miss him, Italian football, because he's also a rebel as well, you know, he doesn't, you know, if you look at his own playing career and the kind of player he was. No, no, he was a very, he's a very emotional and impulsive person and he was. He is a rebel, he is a rebel and he goes his own way and if he's not happy with something, he explodes. But I mean like Sven Goran-Erikson said that
00:24:30
Speaker
when he's been on our podcast twice, that look, Mancini was already a coach when I had him as a player. He used to ask me details, Sven used to say this, he asked me details, but basically Sven said at Santori already, he let him run the training sessions.
00:24:51
Speaker
Yeah, just before we move on to look at who could replace him, we have to obviously touch on kind of what he did wrong and his failures and disappointments of his spell because, you know, there is one big elephant in the room and that is that despite winning the Euros, he failed to qualify Italy for the
Mancini's World Cup Failure & Successors
00:25:10
Speaker
World Cup. We've gone into that kind of, you know, why that happened. Some of it was bad luck, some of it was
00:25:18
Speaker
you know, mancini maker mistakes. And I think he did make some mistakes in those second two years. And I think he made the classic mistake that's often made by Italian national team coaches in the past in that he held on for too long to certain players from that Euro winning team. And Bonucci, I guess, Leonardo Bonucci is the player that stands out the most, but there were others as well. And
00:25:47
Speaker
I think that cost him as well. Even now, if we're looking at why he's resigned, I do think that that's played a part, hasn't it?
00:25:56
Speaker
Absolutely, you can't get past that because a lot of that was it was a silly thing too as well because it was just they had match points, three match points, didn't they? And they, you know, use it continuously using Georgina as your penalty taker. This ridiculous stubbornness, which he had it in that as well or throughout his coaching career, which used to be like there's no need like you turn small, insignificant details into
00:26:23
Speaker
battles of morality, of life and death. It doesn't need to be that. It's just in your head. You just make a minor tweak to refresh things and stay with things. Everything does not need to be... You don't have to go to war. You don't have to die on every hill. And that's a little bit munchini as well. He does pick like many coaches, great coaches.
00:26:46
Speaker
they pick peculiar hills to die on. And he picked a really weird hill to die on with Bonucci, Giorginio as a penalty taker and stuff like that. Yeah, and I also think that the lack of the plan B also, I do feel like Italy started to become found out, like their style of play, their little movements, you know,
00:27:10
Speaker
teams worked them out after a while. That happens to everyone. That happens to everyone. And that's why, yeah, exactly. And that's why the great coaches, the greatest coaches always, you know, especially in modern football, this is probably more true in modern football, they have to reinvent and tweak their tactics and their movements. Has anyone ever been better than this, than Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola in the modern era?
00:27:39
Speaker
Sir Alex Ferguson used to tweak and change all the time. He won a title with a team that last season where that was
00:27:48
Speaker
I mean, that team was barely seventh. Ferguson changed his players a lot. But Ferguson would change. This is something like the great Juventus did in the 90s. They would often change their players because they felt that players would lose. And this was probably more down to players losing their determination and their hunger. And they would sell those players on and bring in new ones. Ferguson would do that a lot as well. He would sell players on, bring in new squads, and he was great at, you know,
00:28:16
Speaker
creating totally new teams that would still go on and win. Whereas I think Prep Guardiola, what he is brilliant at is he is a genius. I mean, he's the best coach of his generation. There's no doubt about that. Just tweaking certain things on the pitch, like, for example, last season, the inverted.
00:28:35
Speaker
fullbacks putting John Stones into a central midfield position or the right and left fullbacks coming into midfield. You know, things like that, you know, that is what Guardiola's doing. And that's something that Mancini wasn't able to do. You know, Italy became sterile. They couldn't score. They couldn't create chances. We know they had a problem in attack, but I think that was more down to teams just had worked out all their movements. They knew all the patterns of play. They knew where the players were going, and that needed to be changed.
00:29:03
Speaker
and he did try and change that in the last few months too late like went going to like a three four three three five two but it didn't really work and maybe that's why it potentially could be a good thing that he's moved on that now Italy will have someone fresh someone new to give to the opponents will have to try and work out the question is there of course and the key thing will be who replaces Manchini because this will be key in determining whether
00:29:31
Speaker
it can be a good thing for Italy that Mancini has moved on. So the front runner at the moment is Luciano Spoletti. The issue with him is that he has a three million clause which Aurelia de Laurentiis has put in that if Italy or any other team want to sign him, now this season they'll have to pay three million.
00:29:56
Speaker
So there's Spalletti. That's something that has to be able to be negotiated. I mean, the reason he put that in is because he didn't want to go to another Serie A side, which I understand, but this is Italian national team. And I think that is just, you know, Aurelio needs to, there he can back off, I think, no? We hope so. We hope he's not, but we know De Laurentiis. Yeah. But I mean, for the love of God, this is a national team. It's not a direct rival. It doesn't impact you in any shape, size or form. This is silly.
00:30:28
Speaker
I get the claws to protect you going into the season. I get that. Absolutely. But we're talking about a national team level. It's got nothing to do with club football.
00:30:37
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. I totally agree. So there's only two qualified candidates, basically, Juciano Spoletti and Antonio Conte, that are available. Then we come to the other names that have been bandied about, Fabio Cannavaro, Daniela Garossi, Rina Gattuzo, Fabio Grosso, due to his very, very close friendship with Gavina. So watch out for Grosso if we know anything.
00:30:59
Speaker
We learnt anything from Italian football. And then, of course, Max Allegri, who was heavily linked in the days leading up to... I don't see you allowing Allegri to leave a couple of weeks before the season starts. It's just not going to happen.
00:31:12
Speaker
Well, a few days, but yeah. So anyway, the FIGC say they're going to make a decision in the next few days. So for me, there's only one man I want, and that's Luciano Sparetti. Sparetti, without a doubt. And the three million, they need to sit down with the Laurentiis and basically sort that out somehow.
00:31:32
Speaker
It's, you know, if we're talking about the good of Italian football and the national team, Spalletti is the perfect candidate. He's at the right age. He's coming off the back of his greatest achievement to crown a fantastic career by winning the Scudetto with Napoli. He plays a football that is the natural continuation of what Mancini tried to build on. It's the next step, if you will. And
00:32:02
Speaker
you know, he's also in the 60s. This would be a way, and he's also, you know, I think he's also the kind of character that could unite all of Italy and Italian football behind a banner, because we've seen him do it at his clubs. And the character he is, he's very charming, a bit crazy, people like that, he's a little bit of an audible. No, I think Spaletti just ticks every box. I really do.
00:32:30
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I agree for all those reasons. I want Spoletti over Conte. For starters, I think Conte will be too expensive. Conte's salary will be too expensive, for starters. But I want a continuation of Mancini's vision of how football should be played. I don't want them going to a Conte who will come in with a bat three, play a three-five-two or three-four-three and, you know,
00:32:57
Speaker
I just think Spoletti makes sense the way that the football, I think that the adaptation to Spoletti will be smoother. And we've got to remember, you know, we've got World Cup qualifiers in a few weeks. This is not good timing. And we have to win these games. Euro qualifiers, sorry. In a few weeks, we have to win these matches. You'd just, Antonio Conte would be, again, throwing everything out and bringing him in again.
00:33:24
Speaker
you know how volatile he is, you know how emotional and moody he is, and you've only got three weeks to do it, and he's gonna start arguing with everyone and everything under the sun. You're gonna restart. And also, exactly, and I think Spelletti's more fitted to this so-called, we'll say, so-called vision project for the future, which Mancini has tried to put into place, trying to make it sort of, you know,
00:33:50
Speaker
progressive and modern.
Juventus Transfer Drama
00:33:52
Speaker
And not saying Conte isn't, but I'm saying that he will come in and I think disrupt that to play and to manage in the way that Conte manages. It's a completely different style of football. It's Calcio Verticale, which is very rigid and system-based in that sense. It's not as fluid, it's much more
00:34:10
Speaker
It's more like a marching band and Manchini and Spalletti is more progressive rock. You know what I mean? You go there A, B, C. It's very, very system-based. And what we've got there is you've got possession-based football. It's much more fluid. It's much more flowing. And Spalletti is a continuation of that, of what Manchini has put there, although it's slightly different.
00:34:40
Speaker
Of course, in how they play. But no, for me, for me, it's got to be Spalletti. And Narelio, for the love of God, this for ours, preventing the national team from having a coach for 3 million euros. Like, sort yourself out, mate.
00:34:54
Speaker
Yeah, let's hope because if we cannot be going with someone, as much as I love them as players, legends, we cannot be going with De Rossi. That would just be disastrous. I mean, it's a ridiculous. De Rossi and Canavaro are not at that level. Grosso did well, if I'm not mistaken, he got frozen on a...
00:35:17
Speaker
promoted from the Serie A or Serie B last season. We're talking qualifications. Exactly. Yes, as a player, but I mean, and also none of those guys, especially De Rossi and Grosso, they're in the beginning of their careers. They should let them grow. We don't want to burn out coaches this early in their career like Juve did with Andrea Pirlo. We never know what could have happened with that career if he had time to grow and mature as a coach. Putting Grosso in charge of the national team and him flopping
00:35:46
Speaker
would be would be another Roberto Donadoni from Euro 2008. That's the kind of appointment that it'd be. You know, you just don't make that kind of a point, unless you really are trying to cut costs and not and pay a really small salary. And
00:36:02
Speaker
So anyway, let's move on to the to the to the Medcarton. We've got so much to get through. We'll start off with Juventus. Juventus are really, really busy at the moment. They're selling a host of players. And if you want to listen to the players, if you really want to listen and understand what they're going to be doing in the last
00:36:21
Speaker
fortnight of the market then listen to my podcast from Thursday last week it's for patreons only on patreon.com slash TIP and I've done a did a deep dive going through every single big team in in Serie A and looking at the players that they they could potentially buy and sell 50 I named actually more than 50 50 possible Serie A transfers between now and the end of the market and
00:36:46
Speaker
and I went into a lot of depth on Juventus and all the players they could sell. But one player, they are definitely selling, the deal's already done.
00:36:54
Speaker
and it will be official soon, is Nígolo Ravella for a fee of just 17 million euros. It will be a loan with obligation for just 17 million contracts sorted for 2028. Luca Pellegrini is also going to go for around 4 million. But this sale of Ravella to Lazio has really infuriated Juventus fans. They're very, very angry and very, I would say understandably,
00:37:21
Speaker
So for a number of reasons, number one, Ravello is somebody who, I mean, I think he's got a big future ahead of him. He's a register that Juventus need. Juventus don't have any other natural registers in their squad, someone that can dictate and build up the play. And that has been a huge problem in the midfield for Juventus in the last
00:37:43
Speaker
for the last few years really. He's a youngster, he's only 21 years old, he represents the future of UVA. I thought he did really, really well at Monza last season. To sell him
00:37:58
Speaker
But to sell him for $17 million, I mean, all the praise that Junzli has got for selling Zakaria for a good price, I think, for like $22 million, $20, $22 million, to only sell Ravella for $17 million, and then he was bought for $26 million. Terrible, terrible, financially a terrible deal. So from Juventus' point of view, yeah, I don't think it's good business. What do you think, Nemo?
00:38:28
Speaker
Yeah, I think, but again, it's business they have to do. Ravella's clearly not in the first team plans. He needs to play. They need cash. He's not really... Zacharias played at European level.
00:38:45
Speaker
Ravella's not. He's played for Montza or in Juve last season. So I think it's a mistake, but it's a mistake that they have to do because they have to raise money. They have to balance their books. It's as simple as that. 17 million is way too low.
00:39:05
Speaker
for a player that was bought for 26 million. Ube bought him for 26 million. He's a much better player than the player they bought for 26 million. Why are they selling him for 17? Why are they selling Ravella but keeping Western McKinney? Ravella is a much better player than McKinney now. That's forgetting about the potential, the ceiling, that Ravella has. So I don't get it. The only way that
00:39:34
Speaker
I can, the only way this can be salvaged for me is if Juventus then use the money to sign someone, I mean, we know Juventus want to sign another century midfielder if it's possible before the end of the window. If they were to use this money to sign someone like Kefrin Taran, for example, then it's salvaged. Then it's like, well, they use this money. They needed the money quickly. The deal was on the table. They use this money to sign someone like Kefrin Taran, who is a, you know,
00:40:03
Speaker
is a better player than Ravela, with a higher seeding than Ravela, then absolutely. But I don't know if that deal's possible. He's gonna be very expensive. There's other teams that want him. Liverpool will probably come back in for him, I would think, now that they haven't got Moises Clisado. So it's a difficult deal to deal with. If they manage to salvage it with something like that, then it starts to make sense. But otherwise, I just think they've undersold him. From Ravela's point of view,
00:40:29
Speaker
And from Lazio's point of view, I think it's fantastic. It's a great sign for Lazio. I think he will flourish under Maurizio Sarri. Sarri adores him. It was his number one choice, along with Samuel Ritchie. Ritchie was his number one choice.
00:40:42
Speaker
Ravella and Richie were his favorite choices and he will become a key player under Sarri. He will fit Sarri's system and Allegri didn't value him. So I think it's better for him. I think it's better for the Italy national team as well because he'll go to a coach that will be capable of developing him and give him the game time.
00:41:07
Speaker
Absolutely. I think this is a fantastic thing for Ravella. Sarri has a fantastic ability with midfielders.
00:41:20
Speaker
Giorginio was great at Hellas, but he didn't reach those levels until he came to Napoli under Sarri. And not just that, you see the system that he builds. And if you're a midfielder who can adapt to that and learn from that, you can look like he can make you look so good.
00:41:40
Speaker
Even better sometimes than you are, maybe, in some instances. I think he's got a fantastic... I mean, someone like Philippe Anderson is not as good as he looks, unless he plays in a Sari system, for example. Same with Zakani. I like him, but he's not this good. It's Sari's system that makes him this good. And I think that is true of many, many players that Sari's had. But then again, he is a fantastic coach.
00:42:05
Speaker
Yeah, no, he's great for central midfielders. There's so many. You can just look at the list of midfielders that Sarri has worked with and what he's done with him. So, yeah, I think, yeah, it's a deal that doesn't make much sense. Obviously, you do have to raise money. Philip Kostich is also now on the market as well. But one person that isn't on the market, well, he's still on the market, potentially, but he's a player that I think he looks like likely to stay now, and that's Dusan Vlawovic.
00:42:35
Speaker
Chelsea have pulled out of negotiations for a potential swap deal with Romelu Lukaku. It doesn't mean Lukaku couldn't still potentially end up at UWE, but that swap deal is closed and I think now looking at the other potential clubs, I don't really see
00:42:53
Speaker
and any other options for Wlawic. Bayern Munich have signed Harry Kane, so that's off the table now. That was for me the most likely destination for Wlawic if the Kane deal didn't go through. PSG have signed Gonzalo Ramos, Kylian Mbappe is now going to stay. They're also signed Dembele. I don't think that's off the table as well. So really there's not anyone left. I think the only ones that potentially left Real Madrid, a long shot, but I don't
00:43:23
Speaker
I don't see that happening either. They've also got to sign players for, well, they've got to sign another defender now because they've had another ACL to Edemir Atal. And I mean Tottenham potentially, Lukaku's actually been linked to Tottenham as well. So I mean... So they're basically buying all of Antonio Conte's players when he's not there, Tottenham. It's a joke.
00:43:48
Speaker
Sorry, just had to, I find that absolutely insane. If he goes there and content's not there and you've got this thing. I don't see him suitable to the Angelus Postogolus system. Of course he's not, but he would have been perfect for Antonio Conte. Yeah.
00:44:04
Speaker
So anyway, so yeah, I think Blauwitsch is, yeah, it looks like Blauwitsch is going to stay in and maybe this also explains why Juventus are going too progressive with selling players like, like Ravela, players they probably, well, they shouldn't be selling, but they need to raise the cash because they're not got the cash that's going to come in for,
00:44:20
Speaker
for for Blauwitsch. So Blauwitsch and Kieser could end up staying and that didn't look likely at all that no one would have would have would have said that Juventus are going to keep Blauwitsch and Kieser it was going to be one of them is going to be sacrificed this year. So we'll see yeah we'll see if we'll see it's still time to go things can change but it's that that's how it looks and at the
Inter's Transfer Challenges
00:44:43
Speaker
moment
00:44:43
Speaker
Talking of strikers with heritage from the Balkans, Marco Analtovic are close to signing him for probably 8 million plus one or two in bonuses and also plan to sign another strike on top of Analtovic.
00:45:04
Speaker
They pulled out of signing Fodering Balagun, obviously failed to sign Shkamaka before that as well, and Lukaki before that. They've now got to, they've moved down the pyramid to another village. Because of principles. Inter have really, really won the treble of morals and principles in the summer. They really are the treble winners of moral high ground.
00:45:30
Speaker
and principles this summer because, let's remember, Lukaku, they didn't sign him because he did the great crime of belonging to Chelsea and talking with other clubs.
00:45:43
Speaker
when he, before Inter had signed him. And then we go to Skamakan and how dare West Ham accept Atalanta's two million offer, which was two million euros higher than Inter's offer when they hadn't accepted Inter's offer. Because we are Inter, we have principles and morals, how dare you? We don't participate in auctions. And then of course the creme de la creme of principles.
00:46:09
Speaker
is the Samardic deal where they allow the player to have a medical knowing full damn well that there was problems with the commissions, that has not been resolved. And so he sat in a hotel and instead of paying 300, you know, just making this problem go away,
00:46:28
Speaker
They have their principles and their morals because they don't refuse to pay that extra 300K to make it go away and they'll probably end up with Roberto Pereira. So congratulations on your morality treble. Marotas, Zhang, Auzilio, everyone take a bow. Congratulations. You've made Inter decisively worse.
00:46:47
Speaker
You've gone from Romelu Lukaku to Marco Arnautovic in a few weeks, but you have your morals. Congratulations. I hope that helps you win that second star. You have three stars in morality and moral high ground. It's a joke. It's gone to the point where
00:47:06
Speaker
You wonder if these people are drunk at their work. When they punch in every morning, do they start drinking? It's embarrassing. Clown Show doesn't even begin to describe the absolute cluster F that is inta right now.
00:47:25
Speaker
It's embarrassing, utterly embarrassing. And then you talk to me about morals and principles. For the last two, three years, these people have been harping on, like a broken record, about financial sustainability. Where the actual F is the financial stability, the financial sustainability of buying Marco Arnautovic for 10 million euros at the ripe old age of 34. Where's the financial sustainability in that?
00:47:51
Speaker
What, you think you're going to make that money back? Come on. It's embarrassing. Absolutely embarrassing. They just lie. Let's be honest. At this point, if Marotta, Ozilio, Zhang, Bachine, Antonello were to come out and say that the sun goes up in the morning, I wouldn't believe them. They are professional liars. All they do is lie after lie after lie after lie. And clearly, they're clueless. They don't know what they're doing. They do not know what they're doing.
00:48:21
Speaker
And with the summits, the summits stuff is absolutely insane. Some of the stuff we can't actually, we're not even allowed to talk about. Some of the stories have come out about what's going on behind the scenes of summits. It's absolutely batshit. I can only say that the people I've spoken to that are involved in that say that it's the most, they have never seen anything like it. Never seen anything like that. And to, this is the thing though, but the thing is the problem is when you piss in the face of the fans and you lie to them,
00:48:50
Speaker
It reaches a tipping point now. And most Interfans, 90%, they're still the occasional idiot who's deluded, but 90% now have had enough. Well over 90% of Interfers have had it with this ownership. Do you think the summits each day will go through? No, I don't think it will. I do not think it will. Why would they? What they don't understand is that at the end of the day,
00:49:17
Speaker
the player is holding all the cards. If he goes to you, Van Napoli, and you end up with Roberto Pereira, who's the loser? You or him?
00:49:28
Speaker
You have your morals, congratulations, but who's the loser here? You could sign Lazar Samadzic and you could turn him into a prophet. What exactly are you going to do with Pereira Arnautovic? What prophet are they going to prove? Well, is Pereira going to come? Is Pereira the alternative? It's either him or Stefanos, or playing the let's hope Stefanos sense he doesn't break game again.
00:49:51
Speaker
It's absurd. And the thing that pisses me off the most with all of this is that Samardic was not a priority signing. That's not what you need to put your money. You needed to sort out the third striker. You need to sort out a replacement for Milan Scrinha.
00:50:08
Speaker
No, it's luck. Well, Inter will still have some money to play with. Here's the thing with this management. They can do individual brilliant deals. Individually, they can do on specific deals. They can work out some brilliant things. But there is no coherent structure at Inter. It literally is throwing shit at a wall and hope something sticks. Continuously.
00:50:35
Speaker
That's not something we usually associate with Marotta. Marotta is not the only one there. Yes, he's responsible, but he's not the only one there. He has to have an organization surrounding him that works. At Juve, he had a machine, a well-oiled machine. And Inter, he does not. He's got this...
00:50:56
Speaker
Wasn't you making the whole club happy with the content? I wasn't around looking like a K-pop star, thinking that if he says things like talking big words, like we have a vision and we're always going to be competitive as long as I'm here, Inter always going to be competitive. Yeah, okay, great. But what exactly are you doing every day to make that happen? How are you, as the club owner and the representative of the ownership, creating an environment for people to succeed? You're not. You are not.
00:51:26
Speaker
Okay, well, let's talk about Carlos El Gusto signing, coming in on another loan. Inter, a loan with obligations. That's another thing that some people need to understand. This loan with obligation to buy for financial, for play purposes, it counts as a transfer. All that is, is about when you start doing the payments. So if it's a loan with an obligation, it's a signing.
00:51:48
Speaker
And it's not a loan. A loan is if it's a dry loan or just a paid loan without an option or just an option. This is an obligation. They have to buy the player. So it's a signing. And it's a signing that.
00:52:00
Speaker
um, I think with go sense is actually Look if it happens, I am happy with that because carlos agosto, you know go back two years check the tape on this podcast when when i've spoken highly of Agosto since uh, I had him as my breakout player in the seria last season in our preview seria season preview
00:52:24
Speaker
He's a player I really, really like. He offers something different to DiMarco, just like Quadrado offers something different to Densel Dumfries, tactically on the pitch. So I think this is actually a very, it's a good signing because again, it gives Inzaghi options. God in heaven does he need them when he's got Correa and Marco Arnautovic up top. Yeah, good numbers last season, six goals, five assists, 13 million.
00:52:51
Speaker
obligation to buy 2 million loan, 15 million. I mean, I think that's good business. Yeah. And also his wages too. They're lower than Gossensar. Look, this is a good deal. But then again, I don't know if it's going to... I'm sorry. I don't trust them. I do not trust what they say until I see him unveiled holding the shirt. I don't buy it.
00:53:13
Speaker
Just don't do it. But yes, it's a good signing. Let's see if they can try to bring that in. But as for the Arnautovic thing, look, Mark Arnautovic can do a job for you, absolutely. But he's being brought in to replace Lukaku. How have you improved the squad that way? You think Arnautovic is better than Lukaku? No. Is Jan Sommer better than Onana? No.
00:53:40
Speaker
and who God knows who's who's who Mr Mizzi. Well, Teremi could still arrive, no? Many Teremi could still arrive. If they sell Correa, but who's going to buy Correa? I think Adriano Galliani's reaction to that on Sportitalia was the best. He started laughing and said, Maque Correa. No one's buying Correa. No one's, but you have to throw money at the guy so he goes away. You literally have to pay him to leave or he runs out his contract.
00:54:10
Speaker
You know, it's nice. It's this. Maybe maybe salt by combined. Yeah, why not? You've got the money. Yeah, they can sell it. He can barbecue. He can barbecue and he can salt and they can stand there on social media and do do some, you know, be of some some.
00:54:29
Speaker
Good to someone on earth because there's certainly not doing anyone any enough of your wind in about inside Let's move on to Napoli. So Napoli been very busy the last few days.
Napoli's Strategic Signings
00:54:40
Speaker
They are about to confirm the Victor Ossiman's new contract 10 million net per season It will extend this contract to 2026 but all important there will be a release clause in his deal 150 million that will come into play next year so it won't be valid and
00:54:59
Speaker
this market, that means that Ossiman is officially going to stay, is something that would seem so in any way by this point, the way the market has gone. But it does mean that we will get to see Victor Ossiman for another year, Napoli and Seria. So it's great news for Napoli, great news for Seria. But Napoli also have, they've already signed one central midfielder as Stanislav Lavoc has backed up and that is Jens, but pronounce this right now.
00:55:30
Speaker
Yeah, his dad. He is a very interesting player. He's from Gothenburg. He was born in Gothenburg in my city. His dad, if I'm not mistaken, is Haitian. And so that name is a Haitian name, from what I understand.
00:55:52
Speaker
Yeah, his dad is Haitian American, I should say, and his mother is Swedish. They moved to China when he was five, because his dad got a job there. If I'm not mistaken, his dad was working in football. I think so.
00:56:11
Speaker
I can't remember. But he started his football career in Beijing, at the Chinese sports Beijing, it's called. And then they returned back to Gothenburg and he started playing for Erguste. And he was incredibly, incredibly impressive there. He made his senior debut in the second tier of Swedish football at a very young age. I think he was just 15 when he did it.
00:56:42
Speaker
So, no, no, you know, he was 16, sorry, 16 when he did that. And he was so impressive that, you know, Danish football, Miki Uland quickly snapped him up on a five-year deal in 2018. And he's been really, really good since then. And then he went to, then he was bought by Rheim for 10 million euros in January 2022.
00:57:07
Speaker
And yeah, so but there was some arguing over that as well because the Rams create claim that they only paid half of that Blah blah blah, but regardless. It's a very interesting place a big guy. He's he's He's not a small person I think he's like he's he's got a physical he's I think six foot two he's
00:57:28
Speaker
or 188 centimeters. He's a big midfielder, like a big person. He's got physical presence. But what I do like is his ability to win the ball and the acceleration immediately when he wins that ball and knows exactly what to do with the speed of the speed with the ball when he wins it, and also knowing exactly when to pass it to. I mean, there's there's one goal that he assisted last year, I think, in French League, which was just
00:57:58
Speaker
It's such a good demonstration of who he is. He wins the ball really high up and the acceleration within one second and the pass with two touches, which is just world-class. So, so good. So, they've bought a little diamond there, a diamond in the rough.
00:58:21
Speaker
Yeah, that's interesting. I mean, talking about diamonds, gem, I would say, is Gabriel Vega, if Napoli can complete this deal, because this is the second century midfielder that Napoli are looking to sign to replace Piotr Zielinski, who is set to leave and join Al Ali.
00:58:40
Speaker
for around 30 million on a massive, massive contract. Now, Gabri Vega, I've seen a bit of him and the people that I've spoken to in Spain about him all say the same thing. This guy is an absolute gem of a player and he's going to be
00:58:58
Speaker
watch out for him. He was a top scorer in midfielder in La Liga last season, 11 goals and he got 15 goals and assists. He's got a great long shot, really, really exciting player with a peer to fit in to the type of football and type of players Napoli have. So if Napoli can close that deal with Seltovigo for
00:59:28
Speaker
We're looking at 35 million. I think he has a clause around about 40, something like that. This could definitely be one of the signings of the season. He looks like a real talent.
00:59:44
Speaker
Yeah, let's see what happens then. Napoli are doing the classic Napoli signings. Jens Kauste as a talent is in Vega as well. I mean, these are the type of players that Napoli snap up, don't they? When Giuntoli was there even, and even before. So Napoli are doing Napoli things, but we'll see. Does it pay off or not? Well, yeah, we'll see. I think the fact that Osseman and Kalezkalia are both there, that offers certain guarantees, I think, in terms of
01:00:14
Speaker
I mean, as much as I'm skeptical of... The question is the coach, I think. That's what I was going to say. I'm very skeptical of Rudy Garcia, but I wonder if even he can screw this up. As things stand today, if they complete these deals,
01:00:29
Speaker
And Zielinski goes, I think Napoli are the favourites to win the Serie A this year, based on how things look today. Thursday we'll do our midweek, we'll do our preview, our Serie A preview, new season preview, and we will be doing all our predictions. Yeah, but I always wait until after the 31st. Yeah, for sure. We'll do our early, early predictions for the new season.
01:00:53
Speaker
Right, so that's an athlete. Roma, also very, very busy. The big story with Roma is Nemanja Matic requesting to leave Roma, which is a huge, huge shock. The report said that Jose Mourinho feels betrayed. It's strange because those two have worked together at three clubs
01:01:13
Speaker
three times, Mourinho signed him. They were like a real brother, the brotherhood between the two of them. Something has happened there behind the scenes. We don't know what exactly, what has gone on. There's been all kinds of rumors, some rumors that the Italians and the foreign players are divided in the squad. Lorenzo Pellegrini came out and called that bullshit when he was asked by a fan. But we don't know. There's something that's gone on there for Matic to come in and request to leave Roma
01:01:41
Speaker
and join Ren in Ligueur, something strange. So I don't know what has happened there. Roman will receive a three million fee. It is a big blow because he was absolutely sensational. Okay, he's 35 now. He was brilliant last season and I have to put my hands up and say I thought he was a player that was on the way down and was way past his best and he come in and was absolutely superb last season. So he is going to be it.
01:02:09
Speaker
very big hole to fill. But Roma are about to sign Renato Sanchez on loan. We'll wait to see if it's with an option or an obligation to sign that all is unanimously reported that that is a deal that is about to be basically done.
01:02:25
Speaker
He's not the only PSG player that is arriving because there is our old friend Leandro Paredes. How does he do it? How does he keep getting these these contracts and these started? I don't know how he does it but Roma are it looks like they're gonna sign Paredes because Paredes has rejected Calatasaray doesn't want to join Galatasaray Was it Fenabachi? I've got apologies. I haven't got notes on how he's rejected moves to Turkey in order to to
01:02:53
Speaker
hold out for Roma. So what is it with Paredes? What is the secret here? You know my favourite conspiracy theory in football is Leandro Paredes' career. I think it's a money laundering scheme. I think his entire career. It's my Alex Jonesian crazy conspiracy theory. I think Leandro Paredes' career is a money laundering scheme because it makes no sense. The clubs that he's been at
01:03:20
Speaker
versus what he actually does on the pitch. It makes zero, zero sense. I just don't get it. Argentinian Kuzmanovich, I don't get it. I do not get it. And now he's going to go to Roma. But I mean, then again, maybe he can get it, you know, this is where it kind of all started. And maybe he can do something there. I doubt it, sincerely doubt it.
Roma & Fiorentina's Market Moves
01:03:43
Speaker
But
01:03:44
Speaker
you know, he brings the experience in that position that Mourinho wants. It doesn't strike me as a Mourinho player either. Mourinho likes his holding midfielder to be very, very good defensively, very good at closing up the space, very good at, and that is not Paredes. That is not Paredes. That is his weakness. If there's a strength, he's good at kind of starting the play, giving that first pass, breaking that first line with a pass, and he's decent at that. His short game is decent.
01:04:10
Speaker
If he's got the right players that can play football around him, he can be good. Even with Argentina at the World Cup, he can have a function there, but I'm not sure. Maybe they're playing a double pivot. Maybe he's changing things around and playing with a double pivot. If Renato Sanchez joins as well. But then he's got Awad as well.
01:04:31
Speaker
Maybe, we'll see. I think Roma's depth is improving a lot in every area of the pitch and I think that's a good thing except for the striker because they've only got below. Well the striker is an issue for me. I mean they're getting close, it looks like they're getting close to Duban Zapata but this is a guy who's 32 years old. He's definitely passed his best. Maybe Mourinho can get a song out of him. One last time, yeah. One last year but I'm not
01:04:57
Speaker
Yeah, the problem is with Romans, this is Roma, Roma are basically
01:05:04
Speaker
AS loaner, I mean, to use a terrible, terrible plan. But I mean, they're only getting players on loan. They've got no money to spend. Not obligation, just loan with option and free signings and free transfers. Free transfers. But they have to. What are they supposed to do? I mean, they can't do that. They're tied by financial fair play. The fruitkins have worked so hard to make them a private company, take them off the stock market, which allows them to to spend, you know,
01:05:33
Speaker
It changes the dynamics of how they can spend and invest in the club. It's not easy and they're really, really working hard at it. I don't know how much more they can.
01:05:45
Speaker
They sold Roger Ebenes for a massive sum, and you'd think they would at least be able to invest that money, at least invest the money that they made, but they're not able to. I mean, there might be a small fee for paraders, but yeah, I mean, it goes back to the whole FFP conversation that we've had with cars like Joke. It's a joke that Roma get done for financial fair play when Chelsea, PSG, and Man City
01:06:13
Speaker
do what they do it is an absolute and the Italian teams like Roma play ball and accept it whereas they should be fighting it they should be fighting it I think from now on every single Italian club should be dragging this out all the way to the CAS and just
01:06:29
Speaker
don't take this crap from UEFA. No, and that's just the same criticism. I know it's a different issue with Juventus accepting their punishment from UEFA. Like Italian teams should fight this. They shouldn't just be like, oh, well, we want to we're going to accept it because we don't want that hanging over us, which I understand you want to just move on. But but, you know, Roma here, I mean, it's not fair that Roma should have to play by the rules. It's a joke. If other teams can break the rules. And it's just not fair. It's just not fair at all. No.
01:06:57
Speaker
Yeah, so we'll see. We'll see. Roma are going to be busy anyway in the transfer market. They're going to potentially up to four or five signings, but they're going to spend much money in making those signings. Fiorentina have made two signings. They made some excellent signings. From Barla Unzola from Spezia for 10 million, and then Lucas Beltran from River Plate for 20 million. They've got two strikers in. Mosse's name is left. Cabral has gone to Benfica. They've got a lot of money for him as well, didn't they?
01:07:26
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, he did. Yeah. So so those are the those are the two signs. I haven't seen much of Beltran. I do know that Roberto Mancini was trying to naturalize him for the Italy national team. And Unzola is a player that we were very, very much. We praised him a lot last season. I mean, I think he did an incredible job for a terrible Speccia team that created nothing for him to get 13 goals for Speccia. Remember his performance against Inter? When they beat Inter.
01:07:56
Speaker
He's worked with Italiano twice before already, so they know each other well. We'll see if this is Unzola's level. But then there's Beltran as well, who I have to confess I haven't seen much of him.
01:08:16
Speaker
Well, attack has been Fiorentina's problem. I was big on it throughout last season. Fiorentina, I think, would have got 10 points more, maybe more. I think they would have won the conference league if they had better attackers. They only had Nico Gonzalez. They had no one else. The rest were all substandard. If they had better players in attack, I think they would have won the conference league and they would have got another 10 points in Serie A at least last season. So let's see if these players can
01:08:45
Speaker
can take that, can solve that this season. Okay. Right. Right. We're way over. So Nicole Osagnola, Wilfred Nionto, we'll discuss them on Thursday's show because those issues are going to rumble
Conclusion & Listener Engagement
01:09:03
Speaker
on. Let's finish off with Badjo and Prem Face of the Week. Right. Let's start off with Badjo.
01:09:11
Speaker
My bad show of the week is Sandra Tonali. I watched his debut, Newcastle, against Aston Villa. 5-1 win for Newcastle. Tonali was man of the match. He was absolutely magnificent. He scored on his debut within six minutes. It was the complete performance, the perfect performance. Alan Shearer called it the perfect, the perfect midfield performance. He got three hockey assists, so that's the assist before the assist. Secondary assists, yeah. Yeah, he dominated the midfield.
01:09:41
Speaker
composed on the ball, beautiful passing range, all kinds of passes, short, medium and long range, magnificent press and we know he's an elite presser, pressing high up the pitch, but he showed all the battling qualities that got into the grit of a Reno Gattuzo, winning the ball, aggressive, straight up to the pace of the Premier League, which
01:10:05
Speaker
certain talk sport pundits questioned whether he could he was suited to the pace and ferocity of the Premier League. So that so I thought it was magnificent. I think if this is what we're going to get from this season, then brilliant for Newcastle, brilliant for the international team as well. Oh, for sure. I mean, he's I don't know. I think everyone has listened to this podcast from when we started. We'll know that where I think about Tonali. I think he's a
01:10:34
Speaker
exceptional player. I think he's a generational player and I think he will, I think it's for him to go to the Premier League given the
01:10:42
Speaker
the characteristics he has, I think he will just be absolutely, I think it's good for him. And also, his characteristics, definitely. He'll develop that side of his game and he'll bring that into the national team. I mean, him and Barilla just have to play together. I almost don't care who was next to them. I just want Tonali and Barilla to start for the Italy national team together because
01:11:08
Speaker
They also showed to me that he is so much more suited in a midfield three. Whereas for Milan playing in a 4-2-3-1, that formation doesn't suit him. I don't see him as a player in a two-man. No. In a two-man central midfield, if it's a 4-4-2, fine. I mean, no one would use that formation anymore. But, you know, a 4-2-3-1 is kind of a double pivot. That doesn't suit him and I think that restricted him. No, I agree. And I think next to Barilla,
01:11:37
Speaker
With, I don't know, if you play Locatelli, it's a six. And he's not a six either. He's not a regista either. His perfect role was where Newcastle played him, as a right Metzalah. That is his role. Absolutely perfectly suited for it. Fantastic. Also, I want to give a shout out. I wouldn't go as far as calling him a bad show, but I want to give a shout out to Destiny Odoji, who I thought had a really excellent debut for Tottenham as well. One of their best players. Nothing absolutely outstanding, but he showed he belongs there.
01:12:04
Speaker
and he belongs in the Premier League. And again, somebody who has the attributes that are suited to the Premier League, I think. And also, playing in a back four, which is really good, because if he's going to have a future in the Italy national team, he has to be able to play in the back four. Can't just play in a 3-5-2, like he played at Udenezi. So that was good. And also, Luca Colleocio, who played, who was part of the Italy under 19 Euro winners,
01:12:34
Speaker
started for Burnley against Man City and actually was very bright in the first half in that game as well. So that was good as well. That was a pleasant surprise. Dicario, not so good, but mixed, mixed performance for him, for Tottenham. I think you've got... Come on, you take this away, the prem face, because I saw you having fun with this. It was crazy. What's wrong with them?
01:13:01
Speaker
Harry Kane has joined or was joining when I tweeted this out, Bayern Munich. Not some tiny little team that has never won any. It's Bayern Munich. They're one of the top five, six biggest clubs historically in the world. Of course, listen to the logic of this. I use the term logic very loosely here. Jamie Carragher tweets,
01:13:30
Speaker
Listen, I can't even read this out with a straight face. Alan Shearer's Premier League goal record gets talked about a lot more than his Premier League winner's medal. That record will be huge for Harry Kane. The big plus for going to Bayern is to guarantee he plays Champions League football and the chance to win that trophy every season. It's not about their domestic trophies. They'll win them anyway, and I'm sure he'd rather have the Premier League record than the Bundesliga.
01:13:58
Speaker
What? And then the second one, Michael Owen. I know Bayern are a massive club and I have huge respect for them, but if I were Harry Kane, I'd stay put. There's no great achievement in winning a trophy with them. Real Madrid, I would understand. One or two top Premier League clubs for that matter. Becoming the all-time Premier League top goal scorer at Spurs is a bigger achievement than winning the league in a country dominated by one team.
01:14:30
Speaker
Michael Owen. I've interviewed Michael Owen. He's a nice guy, but he's with all the respect and love in the world. I think if it's anybody that you wouldn't want to socialize with or go to dinner with for conversation, it'd be Michael Owen. He's just like,
01:14:51
Speaker
You can't make this up. It's like the logic is to become the old time goalscore in the Premier League is better than winning the Champions League. Are you insane? Are you on well, Michael? Jamie, should I call someone? Blink twice if you need help. What are you talking about?
01:15:08
Speaker
Yeah, well Jamie Carragher, we know Jamie Carragher, but we know this is just, you know, there's only one league that exists. It sounds to me that they all need a holiday or AKA, as Gary Neville calls it, a mini-retirement, because the three of them, like all three of them are just, like, stop, stop talking.
01:15:29
Speaker
Michael Owen has never watched the Bundesliga ever in his life because, as in Michael Owen's own words, he's never watched TV. Michael Owen once, in fact, let me dig this out, what he said. I've only watched eight films in my life. Films I've been forced to watch and he names them Rocky, Heat, Ghost, Jurassic Park, Cool Runnings, Sea Biscuit,
01:15:59
Speaker
Karate Kid, Forrest Gump. So, I mean, what are the chances that Michael Ode's ever watched a Bundesliga game ever in his life? Unless he's been to the stadium and watched them. Why is Harry Kane joined Bayern Munich? Yeah, I have no words for them. No words for them.
01:16:28
Speaker
Yes. Forced to watch. Forced to watch. Yeah, this is the mad, absolute mad.
01:16:36
Speaker
Right, let's leave it at that. We will be back on Tuesday for Q&A and then Thursday we have our big preview of the Serie A season which kicks off this weekend. The new season is upon us so we'll do our usual preview going through all the teams, doing our predictions, players to watch, all that jazz and yeah.
01:17:02
Speaker
Hope you all enjoy it. So thanks for listening, everyone. Have a great week. We will see you on Tuesday for the Q&A. Ciao, ciao.