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Juve's Moise Kean Subject to Racist Abuse, Icardi Returns, Torino, and the Champions League Race (Ep. 9)
144 Plays7 years ago
The Serie A Show's Chloe Beresford, John Solano, and Nima Tavalley discuss the recent episode of racism to rock Serie A involving Moise Kean, Icardi's return to the Inter lineup, the race for the Champions League, and Mazzarri's Torino.
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Transcript
Introduction and Spring Joy
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to The City I Show. Hello, everybody. We're back from the long, long, what seems forever, international break. Welcome back to another edition of The City I Show. Nima, Chloe, how are you two doing?
00:00:29
Speaker
Thank you. I'm really good. Today was the first day of spring in Sweden. That means that the sun was shining all throughout the entire day. Birds were chirping. Everything was amazing. But as always, being an Interista, I go online and all hell breaks loose.
Racism in Italian Football: Moise Kean Incident
00:00:48
Speaker
Let's hold off on that and we'll start with, let's get the unfortunate topics out of the way first because it was
00:00:56
Speaker
We waited a little bit to record. There was a match day, obviously, at the weekend, then we had a midweek match day. But we do have to travel back, unfortunately, because I think it would be ignorant of us not to address what happened between Juve Cagliari and the episode involving Moisekin and somehow Leonardo Di Bonucci, who
00:01:20
Speaker
First off, everybody knows what happened by now. There was some unfortunate racist chants and whistling aimed towards keen. What did you guys think of the entire thing? And then the episode is followed up by Bonucci making some of the stupidest comments I think I've ever heard in my entire life, saying that the blame is not only the Calleary supporters who are shouting such nonsense,
00:01:49
Speaker
The blame also lays at the feet of Kean, who after scoring a goal, after scoring a goal, goes in front of the fans and he doesn't say anything, he doesn't make any motion, he just holds his arms up, and rightfully so. In fact, I thought he showed incredible maturity for only doing that. So what did you two make of this situation? Because obviously the chanting is a big problem.
00:02:16
Speaker
What I don't want to get into is this happens all over Italy and I don't want this to turn into a This club is better than that club this happens. No, because yeah, it happens everywhere. Let's be honest. Yeah The kurvas are you know? They they turn to this
00:02:33
Speaker
automatically, whenever it is a non-white player and they can attack them. And it doesn't matter. I mean, when Inter, when Fiorentina played Inter, there were some players singing anti, singing like Gypsy chants at Brozovic, because he's from the Balkans. You know, this is something that in Italy is part of their society.
00:03:00
Speaker
It's not just a footballing issue and it happens literally everywhere. But in order for this to change, I think the coverage, the media coverage, the Italian media coverage was disgraceful. They pretty much parroted everything that Bonucci said.
Juventus and Racism Responses
00:03:17
Speaker
In my opinion, and the same thing that Giuliani, the Caliari president, let's not forget him, if we're talking the Olympics of stupidity, I think it's a, you know, you need a goal line technology or, you know, finish line technology to separate who's the winner when it comes to saying stupid things between Giuliani and Volucci regarding this issue.
00:03:37
Speaker
But when you're talking, when we're talking about, I mean, what Allegri said I think was really, really good when he was, when he was asked about this, even though this was grossly misrepresented in the British press, what he said. But what he said was, was very, very good. He said, we know who, you know, we need intelligence to handle situations like this. This, both Mattoudi and Keane showed that intelligence.
00:04:09
Speaker
find the people who do it, ban them forever, kick them out. It's easy to do, but no one wants to do anything. I mean, he just basically went through down the list, tick, tick, tick, saying everything that should be done, how this should be handled. And I agree 100% with what he said. What Bonucci said is so stupid and bears no logic at all. It's some of the worst
00:04:34
Speaker
We don't need to talk about this forever.
00:04:36
Speaker
So some of the worst victim shaming I have ever heard in my life. It is absolutely not 50-50 if you get racially abused.
00:04:45
Speaker
It's the person's, you know, there's a difference between booing, jeering, and insulting, and going into racism. The argument that the Bonucci's and the Giuliani's and the conservative old Italian guard are trying to make is that, well, or especially Salvini, the home secretary of Italy, is making is that, no, it's not racism, it's just insults.
00:05:13
Speaker
which is utterly ludicrous because, yes, racist abuse is an insult, per se, absolutely, but that's not the issue. The issue is that you cross a line when you go into the homophobia, when you go into the racism, and that is something that they don't want to admit. The Italian establishment doesn't want to admit this.
00:05:38
Speaker
People in Italy don't agree with this at all. I don't think this is a majority of people in Italy or people who go to the stadiums who think this is acceptable behaviour. I think actually that's a really important point because
00:05:55
Speaker
A lot of people on my Twitter have said things like, oh, this is because all Italians are racist. And I'm like, yeah, do you not realise that that is a racist comment in itself?
00:06:09
Speaker
It's an ignorant conflict. We know what I mean. It's the same kind of thing to single out a whole group of people for a certain behaviour. It is a problem. It's a societal problem in Italy. But you can't say that all Italians are racist. You just can't because I know for a fact that they aren't. No, that's just simply not true. I mean, most majority of people don't like this behaviour. The problem is that you have a conservative core
00:06:35
Speaker
of the old guard, the Berlusconi generation pretty much, that still run things and therefore nothing gets changed. But as regards to what Bonucci said, what really, really annoys me the most is the fact that when the allegations against Cristiano Ronaldo came out, Juventus went out and gave the most tone-deaf
00:06:59
Speaker
idiotic statement a club has made for the past two or three years regarding that, but they have not gone out and said anything to defend their own player Mois-Keene and that is not a good look. Keilini has done it, Pianic did it immediately, you know some of the other players have, but except for Bonucci, Allegri did in my opinion did a great job
00:07:22
Speaker
But other than that, the club has been completely quiet. And that is where I think he needs to start, you know, begin. I'm not at all in favor of these blanket, you know, punishments of, you know, empty the stands. That's just stupid. You know, you need to find, you know, every human being on this planet is responsible for what they say and do if they are of sound mind.
00:07:46
Speaker
This mass punishment thing is just ridiculous. They need to find the culprits, they need to identify them, they need to have their day in court, so to speak, and they need to be banned forever. There's no three strikes nonsense.
00:08:06
Speaker
If you chant racist stuff, you're gone, done, finished. That's where it should be.
Cagliari and Stadium Politics
00:08:13
Speaker
But obviously with the new stadium in Calieri being built, Giuliani doesn't want to, you know, this is also a business issue. He doesn't want to alienate the fans because he doesn't want to stand there with a brand new stadium with no one in it.
00:08:27
Speaker
But then again, this has to be addressed and it has to be addressed from the top and they have to put in the laws in place and the legal tools in place for the authorities and the police to be able to do something about it.
00:08:46
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I completely agree. I think we're all on the same page with this issue. Honestly, it does break my heart, though, to see a non-white player who is Italian, by the way, placed for the Italian national team.
00:09:03
Speaker
Has to endure this sort of stuff and he's 19 years old 19 that's the thing in all this that just breaks my heart and Bonucci, I mean we said listen we saw it with balotelli you you know shame on me for thinking that maybe we would evolve a bit but I
00:09:23
Speaker
it seems no steps have been taken since we saw, you know, Balotelli have to endure the same type of abuse. He was called, you know, not a true Italian. And it's just stuff like this that is just, it puts a black eye on the league, it puts a black eye on the country. And listen, this is a league that has had trouble luring big stars. Wonder why.
00:09:50
Speaker
To play there For a long long time now, and it's things like this that I think give the league a black eye, so it's embarrassing and as you said Nima the the response or lack thereof that from the people at the very top of the Liga in my opinion is an utter and it makes them complicit in what is going on because they are not doing anything about it and
00:10:17
Speaker
Thank you, Chloe. That is exactly what that is. Silence, in issues like this, silence is complicity in what is going on. You have to take your stand. I mean, it's not okay at all to hurl racist abuse at anyone in any situation at all. It's just that simple.
00:10:36
Speaker
And like you say, John, you know, he's a youngster that is playing some incredible football at the moment. He's been a credit to his club, he's been a credit to his country in the last few weeks since he's been given a chance. And he plays with such joy and such a smile on his face and to see him sort of
00:10:58
Speaker
a crust like that just because of the colour of his skin is, like you say, it's heartbreaking and he, the next day after that match, they, Juve went to a children's hospital to do a, you know, a pre-agreed event and he's, he's posted, Moiskeen is posted on his Instagram
00:11:19
Speaker
a picture of him and a little white boy of about two or three and he's basically saying you know we are all the same and I think that is such a lovely and mature response in the face of such ugliness and such hatred.
00:11:36
Speaker
you know, even from his own teammate of a Bonucci who, you know, he may be trying to backpedal now, but the whole world of football, he's looking at him and thinking, why did you say that? I mean, you can try and backpedal, but once you've said those things, if you genuinely
00:12:00
Speaker
felt like the three of us all feel, even in the heat of the moment after a match, none of us three would say that ever, ever, ever, because that's not what we think. He said it, so the thoughts must be there in his head, and he can't now retract that.
00:12:17
Speaker
I just think he's massively shown himself up and really, really let his team down and his teammates.
Actions Against Racism: Walking Off the Pitch?
00:12:24
Speaker
I agree with Unima about what Allegri said, but the one thing I didn't agree with was that he said that it would be pointless to walk off the pitch
00:12:34
Speaker
And I actually think it was the 88th minute. They were winning 2-0. They've got a massive, massive lead in Serie A, so even if the league decided to strip them of the three points for walking off the pitch, it wouldn't have mattered anyway. And Matweedy looked like he was asking him. To me, it looked like he was asking him to do something and nothing happened. And I think if Juve, such a big high profile club, just walked off in disgust, then it would make a good statement and
00:13:04
Speaker
I just wish somebody somewhere would be a little bit braver about something like this. I agree with in terms of like it being a great gesture, but at the end of the day it doesn't resolve anything because the way I look at it is that, you know, when the police, you know, this is an issue of the authorities not doing their job. I don't think it's a legacy job or the players job.
00:13:27
Speaker
to not do their job when others aren't doing their job as well you know what i mean i understand the gesture thing but but and i completely agree with it something needs to be done
00:13:37
Speaker
But I completely understand why they don't think they should do it, because it really doesn't resolve anything, because then as soon as somebody does it, you know, next time Ithar are down two goals and everyone will start, you know, against Juventus, then they'll start doing... Yeah, that's true. That is a good point. All I'm thinking is that Juve are so high profile and have so much sort of power and influence in Italy, that them walking off the pitch,
00:14:05
Speaker
may actually finally give the league the kick up the pants they need to actually do something about this ridiculous problem. But yeah, I see what you're saying.
00:14:16
Speaker
No, I just want the Italian FA and the people in charge of the city out to just do their damn jobs. You know what I mean? It's just, you know, this doesn't happen in Germany. This doesn't happen in the Premier League. And if it does, the people are punished severely. In Italy, nothing happens. That's the problem. It's not a lack of laws or rules or regulations. It's a lack of enforcement of said regulations. And that's what frustrates me.
00:14:43
Speaker
Yeah, I agree.
Inter's Drama: Spalletti vs. Icardi
00:14:45
Speaker
Now we can get to Nima. Let's get to your... We're going to shift gears a little bit while this is a different sort of drama. In a matter of four days, our good pal Lucian Spalletti went from saying Mauro Icardi cannot play to starting him in the next match. So...
00:15:10
Speaker
Yeah, what in the world? Spaletti really gets in good form in the spring. This is really when the brain cells start to die off in his head and a lot of the things that spew out of his mouth aren't really formulated too well. So what in the world do you make of what is happening there?
00:15:35
Speaker
What I make of it is that when you a couple of episodes ago said this is when the when the fun starts and I said no and then Chloe said he's insane and I disagree. I clearly was wrong. He's clearly insane because there is absolutely no logic at all to anything he did. I mean let's just break this down and unpack it.
00:15:58
Speaker
if he said what he did in order to that speech in and of itself in terms of the contents of it may have been may be true a month ago it would have been much more appropriate but since 53 days after 50 or at that point it was 50 days 50 days of Marotta trying to broker a fragile peace and everyone kind of you know
00:16:20
Speaker
swallowing their prides and saying, okay, let's put all this behind us and work towards the end of the season. This man decides still not to call up Icardi for no reason. That was him putting his ego above what's best for Inter.
00:16:36
Speaker
claiming that Icardi hadn't apologized to the squad and that if he couldn't play them because the squad would have revolted, which is a complete nonsense, none of that was true. This was an issue between him and Icardi. He put, again, his ego above what's best for the Inter, which makes him a complete hypocrite. And when he does it after the game against Lazio, where Icardi was needed,
00:17:03
Speaker
and could have probably, you know, I'm not taking anything away from Lazio. They completely deserve their win and all that. But that was his decision. He lost that game. And then afterwards he goes out and says that Icardi isn't Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi. He's been here for six years, instead of only going to the Champions League once, blah, blah, blah, blah. That's deflecting your own personal failures
00:17:26
Speaker
by putting focus on Iqadi, which is exactly the same thing that you said that Iqadi has done to Inter and that that is disrespectful. I mean, all this talk to this man, I mean, he has been saying about the holiness of the dressing room and keeping things private and putting, you know, swallowing your pride and putting the best of the team ahead of yourself. He just took all of that and threw it out the window because this time it was his pride and his ego at stake.
00:17:55
Speaker
I mean there is no reason, there is no logic behind him to do that because obviously Marotta then went, I mean for once in her life Wanda behaved like a sane human being would have done and said absolutely nothing and Marotta went in there and told Spaletti to cut it because that was not what Marotta had spent the last two months doing, trying to broker a peace, trying to sort the situation out and he just goes there and
00:18:25
Speaker
opens up a brand new can of worms for no reason whatsoever. It was so insane. Two days later, press conference, Icardi is going to start. The man is clearly insane. There is no logic. There is absolutely no logic to this.
00:18:44
Speaker
And, you know, he doesn't, I mean, if he can't be is not, it's not a captain, this man is not fit to be a coach of a top 14. It's as simple as that. He's just not fit. He's simply not fit. He's not a leader doesn't create a lead doesn't create problems when there doesn't need to be one and a leader doesn't try and deflect attention off himself by blaming others. You know, it's, you know, it was,
00:19:12
Speaker
You know, like I said to you, when I saw him in that press conference in Florence, I realized that he wasn't just a bit odd, he was actually crazy.
00:19:27
Speaker
but even I was surprised by his antics this weekend because it was just so unnecessary but it was all like this kind of martyr act like oh it's not my fault, it's Icardi and that kind of thing but
00:19:43
Speaker
I guess it's kind of like history repeating itself because he did the same and made a massive drama out of the whole Totti thing at the end of his career with Roma. It makes you wonder whether he's picking these fights in order to deflect away from his own inadequacies somehow.
00:20:02
Speaker
I think that would be giving him far too much intellectual credit. I don't think it's got to do with that whatsoever. I think it's just got to do with the fact that he's insane. There is no logic, Chloe. I mean, honestly, I mean, the man, there is absolutely no logic to his erratic behavior because he's not deflecting. What he's doing when he did what he did was turn everyone against him.
00:20:27
Speaker
And if you can't understand that if you do that, the ability to understand actions and consequences and what is most likely to happen when you do certain things, he lacks that. Looking back now, the past 53 days,
00:20:48
Speaker
it's clear that there was a rift between, because of what Wanda did, you know, and all the nonsense she spewed on TV, that created tension in that dressing room, and that annoyed Parisich and Langolan, etc. The players were pissed off with him, and he needed to do something. I personally think that stripping him of the captaincy was the correct decision. However,
00:21:11
Speaker
After that, once the piece has been brokered, then why are you sulking? You know what I mean? No one ever spoke anything about you. If anything, Ikari only spoke good of you before. So he transformed. His job was to create balance.
00:21:31
Speaker
And he took a winning hand and turned it into a losing hand for no reason. I mean, at the end of the day, the way I look at it is that both of these parties, the Spaletis, the Persics, and the Iqaladis, every single person has overplayed their hand, and every single person is lost. And the only reason they have lost is because Inter is run by an incredibly intelligent man by the name of Victor Marotta, who actually knows what he's doing.
00:21:59
Speaker
I shudder to think what would have happened if this was during the Morati days. I mean, you know, with Branka in there and Paulillo and poor Oriali trying to save everyone. I mean, it would have turned into a complete circus. Thank God for Beppe Marotta. The man's intelligence is cool, his level-headedness, the way he knows where he's going,
00:22:24
Speaker
I think this just goes to show that Beppe Marotta is the greatest signing that I've made in almost a decade.
Serie A Champions League Race
00:22:32
Speaker
Yeah, and they obviously had a big, big result against Genoa. And they needed that because Milan had dropped points against Sampdoria. And then you have these other sides that are in this race for these final Champions League places. As I predicted, this is not about who has been better. This has been about who has been less shit than the others. This race for the...
00:22:59
Speaker
It's a chicken race. It's a chicken race of the useless. I mean this race for the final two champions like places has been so awful. Just terrible viewing. The matches have not been good. Atalanta, they've dropped so many opportunities. Lazio, they lose to Spal. What a massive loss that is for them.
00:23:22
Speaker
I don't even want to talk about Roma, but what do you guys make of this? Who do you think ultimately grabs this? Because Inter right now are at 56 Milan, 52 Atalanta, Lazio, they have a match in hand, but they're at 48. So does it look like the two Milano-based sides will get this? I think I've said that it's Uvernapoli Inter Roma,
00:23:51
Speaker
from the start of the season and then I changed that to Milan. I think it's gonna be Milan. I think the fourth place goes to Milan, but I think Lazio are gonna finish fifth, Roma sixth and Atalanta seven.
00:24:05
Speaker
Yeah, I think I tend to agree with that. Lazio do seem to have recovered a little bit recently and putting some quite good results together. I mean, I got to say, I mean, we've joked a lot about Simone Inzagi and his crankiness when he loses and his obsession with Vara in some sort of conspiracy. But I have to say, I mean,
00:24:27
Speaker
For three years, I've been really, really watching him closely. He was supposed to be a temporary manager turning to a
00:24:39
Speaker
into a permanent manager and then he turned into a really, you know, a hot, exciting prospect into being talked about replacing Allegheny Uwe, then dipped a little bit because of the, you know, question when questions were asked. And he's risen out of those ashes, in my opinion, and shown that this is, this is really, he is the next super Italian supercoach, in my opinion, because
00:25:04
Speaker
I've always, my biggest critique of him was his ability to organize a defense. Lazio this season, and especially these past two months, wow. Their defense is solid. Bastos is looking like a world class player. They barely concede anything. They're tight, and going forward they're still good.
00:25:30
Speaker
No, I gotta say, Simone Inzaghi is...
Fiorentina's Struggles and Midfield Issues
00:25:36
Speaker
The thing is, what we ridiculed him for, this crankiness...
00:25:40
Speaker
That is a kind of a winning mentality. That's him hating to lose. And I think he's done it. I don't know if I've just not picked up on it, but I actually think since we called him out on it, you maybe listen to the show. But since we called him out on it, he's not done it quite as much. And they did have. He must listen. Yeah, maybe so. Maybe thought, yeah, you know, actually, I better cut that out. But
00:26:07
Speaker
He listened to the Serie A show, let's just come and say it. At the time when we were saying that Lazio were on a really downward slide and they'd gone out of Europa League to severe and everything like that but since then they've actually picked themselves up and got back to winning waves and I think he does deserve a lot of credit for that even though
00:26:29
Speaker
And I think and I think and I honestly think that they're gonna win the Copa Italia. I honestly think so I I think that in the way he I mean to me that that that final is that semi-final is the moral final because Atalanta and Fiorentina I mean they don't know how to defend you can in a different Fiorentina's midfield as we've said so many times is what midfield there's so many balls down the middle that
00:26:55
Speaker
you could drive a you could drive three lorries on the side like sideways through that and and and i and i think that that that will at the end of the day uh you know put the put the scales in for in favor of the winner of that semi-final milan and sorry no no no i'm trying to agree i do have a theory about furentina actually
00:27:19
Speaker
because I was looking at it earlier on and actually they're tense now okay um but they've lost less games than Inter in third they've only lost seven times and Inter have lost eight times their massive massive problem is these
00:27:41
Speaker
just awful draws, so many of them. And they've actually drawn 15 times this season. So they've only, they've won eight, lost seven and drawn 15, which is just crazy. That is insane. Yeah. And it seems like they are both conceding and scoring goals and then it's ending in a draw. But I actually think if you, if you sort of delve into it a little bit, that
00:28:11
Speaker
the midfield issues kind of lend itself to a draw because the midfield is not helping the defence so they're conceding but they're also not feeding the attack enough to be able to outscore the other team either so you're sort of ending up with this stalemate situation because we do have a very good attack
00:28:37
Speaker
um but they're not being played in enough um to be able to do well and it's just it's petered out into just a just a dreadful dreadful season uh you know i kind of i i've got my fingers crossed for the copper italia but um in the league i just now that we've got no chance of europea i just think well i can't wait for it to be over and that's you know
Roma and Fiorentina: Managerial Changes?
00:29:03
Speaker
Well, that summation that you just gave of Fiorentina was the... I couldn't think of a better way to describe what we saw between Lloroma and Fiorentina last night. Yeah. Neither team defended particularly well. No. The attack, I mean, Luis Muriel almost scored from the halfway line it seemed like. Yeah, he's just incredible. He deserved a goal there. He had Antonio Mirante, absolutely beat.
00:29:30
Speaker
what a weird that was to me that was a match between two teams or sort of like rudderless ships yes they're not really going anywhere they're just stuck yeah I can't think of a better way to describe both of these teams it is so clear both of these teams need a change
00:29:50
Speaker
In fact, I would say Fiorentina are in a far better position than Roma to almost go under a bit of a revolution because they have more building blocks. However, Chloe, over the last week or so, and from what I am also hearing, because I know someone who's actually really close to you, Cebio Di Fonochesco, this Fiorentina thing is actually real.
00:30:10
Speaker
Yeah I tend to agree with you there from what I've read. So what do you make of that? I have to assume that has you worried particularly of what you saw the last bit of him at Roma. Yes it does. I have had quite a detailed think about this because I don't want to just judge him on his last
00:30:32
Speaker
part of Roma because obviously there obviously is a cause for concern but there were other issues clearly going on and the whole munchy thing and you know I think I do think that
00:30:51
Speaker
If you look at the work he did with Sasuolo and if you look at some of the things he did at the beginning with Roma, I think there's probably enough there to be hopeful that he might be able to do a job with Fiorentina where in a similar way to Sasuolo that they've got a lot of young talent.
00:31:09
Speaker
and if not too much of it is expected of him he could slightly overachieve and if he could get them into Europe that would be great. So maybe in slightly less of a pressure situation he could go back to the guy he was at Soswolo if
00:31:26
Speaker
the Roma experience hasn't completely destroyed him. That's sort of sinking from a positive kind of angle rather than glass is half full rather than glass is half empty because, you know, it could be a disaster. It could be a complete disaster. But I heard today that he wants to bring in Dominico Berardi. So I'm not, yeah, I'm not wholly convinced by that.
00:31:52
Speaker
Yeah. I just just think of a he's the perfect sort of metaphor of a player for what he is as a manager. Just oh my gosh. A lot more bark than bite.
Coaching Speculations: Conte and Gattuso
00:32:06
Speaker
So one more thing I wanted to talk about is Antonio Conte. Nima, he has been linked to your club. He's been linked to Roma. He's been linked to Milan now.
00:32:21
Speaker
He is very short on options, if we're honest here. He talked about Madrid, obviously he's not going there. Manchester United, that's not an option anymore. He is very short on options. So, unless you guys disagree, I do think that these three clubs Roma, Milan and Inter are really the three only options he potentially may have.
00:32:44
Speaker
So I'm curious to hear what you two think about A, which club would be the best for him and B, where do you think he will end up? I think the best club as I've said numerous times. I think the best thing for Roma would be Sarri and the best thing for Milan and Conte would be for them to work together.
00:33:09
Speaker
I don't think that's going to happen. I don't think he'll go to Roma. If I were to put money on it, I think it looks like he's going to Inter. You know, last time we recorded two, three weeks ago, I said, if I worked, you know, back then, you asked me what I think today. Back then, I said Mourinho. I don't think so. I really don't think so. I think
00:33:33
Speaker
Mourinho is not, I know that, you know, there was a talk today that Roma had called Mourinho and that, you know, to see if he was interested, but that call was quickly, like, that's just not going to happen. Neither, you know, Mourinho at Roma would be the end of Roma as a club and Mourinho as a coach. For real, I mean, that would, that would, it would, I mean, no.
00:34:00
Speaker
you know, that would be throwing, you know, I don't know, throwing 10 gallons of gasoline into, you know, into a fire and hoping it doesn't catch fire. I mean, it just would not work. No, but I think, so actually, the more I think about it today, especially with everything that's happened, it seems that the, you know, inter want conte. And with Marotta there,
00:34:30
Speaker
I mean, they worked together harmoniously for three years at Juve, had fantastic results. Personally, I hate the three-man defense, but with Defray, Skringar and Godin, you know, that's a decent three-man defense. But I wouldn't, you know, but I wouldn't quite just yet rule out Simeone. I know he recently signed a contract extension,
00:34:57
Speaker
But given what's happening there at that club, it's really a changing of the guards at that club as well. So many players are leaving that want to leave, they want to take the next step. Simeon himself has taken that team just about as far as he can take them. I don't really care about when it comes to contracts, that doesn't really mean anything.
00:35:21
Speaker
When a manager wants to leave, he leaves. It's just that simple. So for me right now, I'd say next season, I cannot see Luciano's Paletti staying, I think. Absolutely not. There was even talk today by a Sky Italia reporter saying that from her contacts. I'm not surprised. I was ready to sack Paletti today because, again,
00:35:44
Speaker
No, she said that. She sent a tweet saying that she had had this confirmed from someone really high up at Inte who cannot, for obvious reasons, go on the record or has to be anonymous. Marotta seems to want content. Zhang and them seem warmer to content than they do Mourinho.
00:36:10
Speaker
Um, I don't know. I mean, I mean, we, you know, we went, what's Paletti, you know, what he did again after the general game was go out and do.
00:36:19
Speaker
for no reason, again, go completely against what Marotta said before the game, which is put this behind us and move forward. Instead, Paletti goes out and says that the issue is unresolved, but we're going to try and focus. We need to focus on what's best for Inter. But I mean, at the end of the day, if Inter wants to, if Icardi wants to create problems, he knows who's in charge.
00:36:44
Speaker
Which is, again, why even, why, why, why would you even go down that path? But he's insane, as we've said so many times already in the show. But no, so for me, he's gone. And I think he can be, you know, there is there is an opening for him to stay, but I don't think Marotta
00:37:04
Speaker
I mean, if Conte demands that he stays, then he stays. If not, it completely depends on who he wants or who the next manager wants. But if I were to put money on it, I'd say Conte. Conte is the one that would give you, is the one that I think... Yeah, I actually think that... Today, but that can change. We never know.
00:37:29
Speaker
I know you think Nima with his kind of u-vapass that he might not be the best choice and you don't like his defence but I actually think that in terms of his personality and his approach that Kante will do really well at Inter. I think when you've had a team of
00:37:52
Speaker
a team that are inconsistent, you've got an inconsistent coach at the moment, you've got unruly kind of factions within players and so much going on this season that Conte is the man to come in and say, right, enough now, this is what we're doing. We're doing, you know, yeah, yeah.
00:38:13
Speaker
And he, I think, will cut out all the Spallati, you know, well, there's some, well, you know. He's not, he's not a well guy. He's not a well guy. He just goes in and says, this is it.
00:38:33
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, he, he, he will be absolute. And I think that along with the approach of Marotta will be what into need to kind of make the most of the good squad that they've got, and to bring in some kind of consistency when they've been so wildly inconsistent. I actually think him or Simeonio, possibly Mourinho are the only people who can really do that and sort out this problem that they've
00:39:02
Speaker
I agree wholeheartedly with that. You need someone who is assertive and strong and doesn't mess about. And doesn't take any messing from others either. Yeah, exactly. And in the same way that Marotta does. Yeah, I agree. I think that is a sound analysis. I agree with that.
00:39:23
Speaker
So what about Milan? Let's say they do qualify for the Champions League. I mean there has been talk about Gattuso getting the sack now for two months. What would you do if you were them? Would you keep him? I actually think Conte would probably make most sense there. I'm sure many would disagree.
00:39:43
Speaker
I'm curious what you do with Gattuso, because recently here in the last week, they have not looked good at all. They looked entirely overwhelmed at Semptoria, in my opinion. And then they just, I don't know, they're just not convincing. Piontek has looked sensational, obviously. But I'm curious what you guys think of him, because we were very, we were praising of him. I think he came a long way tactically.
00:40:13
Speaker
but we've seen a lot of rumors of him being um being gone in the summer and then i've we've seen him linked with aroma and we want to talk about personalities not mixing with the environment that would not work um no no no that was
00:40:34
Speaker
When I say it would be a treat, I mean it in terms of a nightmare, but seriously, I'm curious what you guys think should and will happen to him, because I do think he's actually shown quite a bit. I do think in this last year he's grown as a manager, but part of me wonders if maybe Nima, you always refer to the piazza,
00:40:56
Speaker
And maybe right now for him, that is maybe a bit too much. I don't know what he's saying. I think Fiorentina would make complete sense for a coach like Fiorentina would get himself much more than Di Francesco, in my opinion, that would make complete sense. So if he were to leave, I think Fiorentina would be the ideal place for him to go. Milan, as you've said, John, as I've said,
00:41:20
Speaker
here I think Conte would be the ideal I think that squad is built for Conte you know he don't have to change that much he already has the wing backs in in Laxalta and Conte he has the three-man defense already there with Romanioli, Caldera and Musacchio he already has Riccardo Rodriguez I mean all the components are there you know you just need a tweak
00:41:43
Speaker
a slight tweak in maybe one or two places and then you have a fully full-on Konta squad so that would mean and also his Yuva past works better at Neland than it does at Inter so for me that makes much more sense but to be honest with you I mean it depends I mean look at it this way if Konta, if Gattuso were to take Neland to the Copa Italia final they were to win that
00:42:13
Speaker
and he were to get them into the Champions League. How do you sack him? I mean, at the end of the day, what do you have to do? He deserves, if that happens, he deserves a chance to give it a go, doesn't he, I think. With his past as a player and being a Milan legend,
00:42:32
Speaker
they're going to find it difficult to remove him if he gets them into the Champions League because that was the brief that was what was asked of him so how can you then remove him and say without even giving him a chance to try and say well you've got us here but you're not actually good enough to lead us into the Champions League so on your bike mate you can't do that well
00:42:58
Speaker
I don't. Well you can, but you can't do that against a club legend because Gattuso isn't just any coach. This is a guy who bled Milan. He bled black and red, you know, red and black. He bled for that club. He was there for over a decade. He was part of the grand, you know, one of the many grande milos.
00:43:17
Speaker
You can't just disrespect him like that. That would not be tolerated. And given that the Milan Courvois and the Milan Ultras absolutely hate Paolo Maldini, that would cause a rift even further between them.
00:43:36
Speaker
So that to me would just be destabilize the club. But then again, Milan don't really, I mean, ever since Berlusconi has taken over, they don't really care about what the Ultrus think. They just do what they want to do anyway and get on with it. And I think that is pretty much the approach to take at times.
00:43:57
Speaker
But no, I think it would be very hard to get rid of him if that were to happen, if he gets them to the Champions League, which I think they do. I mean, I've looked at the games left to play and Milan look good. I mean, they don't have that difficult of games left to play. It's only eight games left. And I definitely think that with four wins, one draw and three losses, they'll get to the Champions League. I really do.
00:44:24
Speaker
As we're recording this, just before we sign off here, Atalanta are up three to zero within the tenth minute. It's Bologna. Can we please, I don't care who it is in place of, can we please let them go to the Champions League?
00:44:41
Speaker
Well, just to see how they would fare. It would be fun, wouldn't it? It really would. Because they just don't care. At home, at that stadium, they can beat anyone. I mean, they can really beat anyone. It doesn't matter if it's Barcelona or Man City or whoever it is. At that stadium, they can destroy any team. It's just like that.
00:45:10
Speaker
Even I saw their fans against I think it was Palmer at the weekend and they had a big section of away fans and they were just they were just rocking even though there weren't as many of them as at home they were just absolutely bouncing I think you know it kind of that kind of helps the team with their rhythm and the way that they play because the fans are so noisy and
Serie A Relegation Battle
00:45:35
Speaker
But we do have to, sorry, before we go, sorry, before we end, we have to talk about that relegation battle because it's turning out into an absolute crazy. I mean, first, you know, it looked like Empoli were down, Bologna were coming back. And then Spal, you know, after the inter-game, they looked completely hopeless. Udinese, they looked like they were in trouble. Now, all of a sudden Spal and Udinese, they have started taking points. Empoli came back in one, and now Bologna looked like
00:46:05
Speaker
They're now back in 18th place, that third relegation spot. Keep an eye out for that, because that is going to be one of the most mouthwatering finishes, I think, to this city.
00:46:22
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, Spal have taken six points off Roma and Lazio in the last, in the last, and they've gone from 18th to up to 15th now. Just astonishing. Yeah. Lastly here, Gasparini has been linked to Roma. Should they do it or no? Nima, yeah, I don't think he's a big club manager. No. I really don't.
00:46:45
Speaker
no he's not he's not he's not and and i think that would be that would be wrong because again he he doesn't he can't you know he's he should be where he should be at atalanta that's where he should be he you know he he works there he his his philosophy works there there's not that much pressure when he when he was at inter okay sure that was a special situation but he completely crumbled roma is a very special piazza and and i don't i think you have to have you have to be a very
00:47:15
Speaker
You have to have a lot of strong aura about you, a presence about you that Gasparini just doesn't have to be able to handle Roma.
00:47:28
Speaker
I keep banging this drum, but I think Sarri is the ideal choice there. I would absolutely love to see Maurizio Sarri at Roma. I really, really would. I think it would be good for Roma, it would be good for Sarri, it would be good for the Serie A. I think it would be good for everyone. But first you have to appoint a new sporting director and it seems that you're, that Palotta really, really had his eyes on.
00:47:53
Speaker
I'll see you. Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen. I think people have been throwing around the possibility of tauti. Oh my god. Oh my god. The fact that that's even discussed is...
00:48:10
Speaker
Just a nightmare. There was a name Luis Campos of Ligro. I don't think that'll happen. I think they just need to give it to Masada and if Totti wants to be his right-hand man, so be it.
00:48:26
Speaker
Holy shit, if they appoint Totti as a sporting director, I will have to leave our listeners the coordinates to my corpse. Because I will, my body won't be able to handle it. My body will give out on me.
00:48:45
Speaker
I mean, that would be Jesus. No, no, no. Francesco is good at many things, but no, he doesn't strike me as the I mean, if Marotta is a good sporting, I don't see that, you know, that that traits in. Well, the rumor was I don't know which outlet came up with this one, but they said they would appoint talk to the sporting director and then I'll see the manager. So, yeah, of course.
00:49:14
Speaker
and
00:49:25
Speaker
What what are they doing these
Atalanta's European Pursuit
00:49:27
Speaker
days? If you want to talk about what a living hell would be, I kind of I kind of think that it would start with a Roma with that. I'll see his manager and tortilla sporting director, maybe Spaletti as the vice manager. I was going to say, you've got to put Spaletti back in there as well somehow.
00:49:40
Speaker
bring back Janini and awaken me to lead all from the dead.
00:49:46
Speaker
You know, he's the director of football, I'd say in charge of once again. Yeah. And then maybe. Yeah, I'm trying to think of who else we can make technical director. But yeah, that would be a disaster, right? That won't happen, though. Thank God. That would be like that would be like bringing Maradona back to Naples as a sporting director. I mean, that's just no.
00:50:14
Speaker
you know no no like never in a million years would you do that like new and just very quickly going back to gasparini i think um you know his his atalanta is basically what uh de francesco sasuelo was and the only roamer have already proved that promoting a guy like that to be the roamer bosses just doesn't work so you know i think uh that is just a non-starter that one
00:50:41
Speaker
Just think about it. Atalanta are 4-0 up after 15 minutes now, which is absolutely insane. Oh my god, they just scored again? Yeah, and they're one point behind Milan. Lazio have a game in hand against Urineza, which I think they'll win, or at least get a point from. That means that between places 4-6,
00:51:03
Speaker
You know, remember Torino's on 48 points, Roma's on 48 points, Lazio be on 49, Atalanta on 51 and Milan on 52. So from places four to eight is only four points. That is that drama, if anything. Yeah.
00:51:23
Speaker
It is drama. Although I have never looked more forward to an enrollment season being over, this is going to be nice.
00:51:34
Speaker
Oh, yeah, I'm drained. I am absolutely drained. I mean, for that, I've never been this tired mentally. It drained as I am this early on in the season, like not even during the Matsari years, the Stramachoni, the mask, you know, not even when we had Gabi Mudingayi and Safir Taidair and Kuzmanovic as our register was like that. This this drained as these past 53 days starting, you know, since Christmas, basically, with the Raja Naingolan WhatsApp message.
00:52:04
Speaker
And till now, I'm completely exhausted. So no, I am very looking forward to this season being over. It's been a long one, but we will still be delivering episodes, we promise that. Absolutely. Regardless of how much drama or how long we spend in the field position trying this, to our respective clubs.
Torino and Roma's Goalkeeping Woes
00:52:28
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, so we we promise we will we will trudge forward regardless of how wouldn't it be hilarious if you know, no Mila, no Atalanta, no Lazio, no Roma, but Matsari Torino with the British fourth. Just give it to him. Yeah. Give it to him.
00:52:46
Speaker
I would die. I mean, the most antipathy, you know, the most cranky, you know, the anti-hero in Italian football, it would be hilarious. Yeah. Before we sign off though, they deserve it because I feel like he's gone underappreciated, but Sirigu has had the one of the best season. He has been sensational. He is incredible. Agreed. Absolutely sensational. Yeah. And that defense that they have, wow. Yeah.
00:53:16
Speaker
They're really punching above their weight. It really is a credit to Mazzari. He's again, maybe one of those guys that couldn't cut it at one of the bigger clubs and he's clearly the fish in the right size pond because I think he's doing great. And again, Balotti's starting to come on. Sirigu, I can't say enough. He's been
00:53:36
Speaker
sensational. I would be shocked if somebody didn't come in for him because he's been absolutely incredible. I think that, you know, there was talk of Inter going and I think that if someone were to come in for him, I think Roma is a good shout. I think Roma, because Roma needs to sort that. Do Roma need a goalkeeper?
00:53:58
Speaker
No, and you'll be alright one more season with Robin Olsen. You'll be fine. I mean, it's so funny because now the Swedish media have also kind of given up as well because I've seen them going, you know, they're not even, you know, now it's basically saying, where will Robin Olsen play next season? Like that, that's how resigned everyone has got to this being a disaster of galactic proportions, pretty much.
00:54:22
Speaker
That is the perfect way to describe it. So before we get into any more Robin Olson talk,
00:54:30
Speaker
I don't have the stomach for. We're going to sign off because I know that would give Nima, that would give him 10 minutes of talking points. So in the interest of further depressing myself, we're going to avoid that. So we'll be back as usual next week, which we're back on schedule now because I don't think there's any more international breaks this season, unless I'm mistaken.
00:54:55
Speaker
I think there's one in May. Yeah, I'm not sure. Okay. Yeah, there might be one in May, but we're back to regularly scheduled programming here. So we will be back next week after hopefully another exciting round of matches. So everyone, thank you for listening. If you could continue to like, rate, subscribe, all that good stuff. We appreciate your support so, so much. None of it is possible without you. So we will leave it here. And until next time, everyone ciao.