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Inside Serie A’s Managerial Carousel
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In this episode, the hosts discuss the ongoing manager carousel in Serie A, focusing on key decisions made by clubs as they prepare for the upcoming season. They analyze Antonio Conte's decision to stay at Napoli, the appointment of Christian Chivu at Inter Milan, and the hiring of Ivan Juric at Atalanta. The conversation also touches on Juventus's situation with manager Igor Tudor and the implications of these managerial decisions on the clubs' futures. The conversation delves into other recent coaching changes in Serie A, focusing on the implications of Gasperini's appointment at Roma, the return of established managers like Allegri at Milan and Sarri at Lazio, and the overall impact of these changes on the league's competitive landscape. The discussion highlights the potential risks and rewards associated with these managerial shifts, as well as the broader context of the ongoing managerial carousel in Italian football.
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Transcript
Introduction to Managerial Chaos in Serie A
00:00:07
Speaker
Cow Paisans, welcome to a quick off-schedule episode from your favorite football podcast, Coucho Culture. It is your boy Logs. We've got Vos on the mic today as
The Impact of Early Managerial Decisions on Transfers
00:00:21
Speaker
well.
00:00:21
Speaker
We figured with all of the hectic madness that has been going around the league, in between the end of the season and coming up into the club world cup it was only natural that we cover the manager carousel that has been going around Syria for the last couple of weeks and we are here to give you every little detail keep you up to date and come back with updates as they come through those it's been absolutely insane yeah mayhem it's been absolute mayhem some very questionable decision making by the clubs I think
00:00:54
Speaker
on several of the the manager decisions from new hirings to sackings. A couple of them seem to have gotten it right. But what I do like about this is most of the clubs are getting this out of the way early and not letting this drag on.
00:01:08
Speaker
Because if you do let this drag on, it kind of stifles your transfer window because you do buy players for... multiple managers, but you also, when you pick a manager, you're kind of going in a specific direction.
00:01:19
Speaker
So you also need to get new players to help with that system. So if you don't get this out of the way in the next, I mean, at this point, if you if you don't have a manager now, you're kind of already late. you You've got to get this done in the next one to two weeks or else you're in trouble because the players that you've identified might go to another club you're and you're still on hold. And if you don't have a manager, you have nowhere to go because that is like the number one thing you need to start a preseason. So you have nothing to do until you get this done.
Conte's Commitment to Napoli: A Game-Changer?
00:01:45
Speaker
100%, And I think that there were some teams that may or may not have been caught off guard by some other teams moves, which put them at a little bit of a disadvantage, which we'll get into. But just to start us off, which I think is the biggest domino to not fall.
The Domino Effect of Conte's Decision on Serie A
00:02:01
Speaker
is the fact that Antonio Conte confirmed staying at league champion Scudetto winning Napoli for another season. As we know, he was on the outs. He was interviewing and seeing what the deal was at other clubs, most notably Juventus.
00:02:18
Speaker
However, it appears that De Laurentiis has come to terms with Conte's request for him to stay on, most notably the $200 million spending spree that Conte wants to go on. That figure is not necessarily confirmed, but we do believe that is somewhere in the same realm for Conte to stay.
00:02:36
Speaker
So Vosa, what do you think that this tells the rest of the league in terms of Napoli's ambitions for next year? This may have been like a this could have been a sneaky double agent plan by Napoli. I have to say, because if Conte doesn't come out and and like have all these antics that he's going to go to Juventus, I don't think any of this happens.
00:02:57
Speaker
I'm being 100% serious because it's true when he said he was going to Juve, then the Napoli job opened up and that kind of spiraled almost like Gasparini to go for that one. It seemed like at first.
00:03:08
Speaker
And then Gasparini going forward, opened up the Atalanta one. And then Atalanta were like quickly shuffling to try to get somebody. And then like all these jobs just started opening up before anything
Key Managerial Shifts: Inzaghi, Kivu, and Juric
00:03:16
Speaker
happens. So that I do think this is a domino and that was the right way of saying it.
00:03:22
Speaker
I'm also not overly surprised that this happened at the same time because. What they did with Napoli this year was exceptional. And it didn't seem like the story was over just yet.
00:03:35
Speaker
They had this phenomenal season. De Laurentiis did spend some money. It's not like they didn't spend money last year. I think people and in looking at the squad, right? Like they they spent a lot of money actually. But the thing is,
00:03:46
Speaker
They kind of had to rebuild an entire squad to work for Antonio Conte. So it wasn't like they brought in a couple guys that were like 50, 60 million euro players. And now that they won the Scudetto and they have the core, now you can go do that. You have Champions League football, you have Coppa Italia, you're defending Scudetto champions. So if they do spend the money, there's no reason to think they can't do this again.
00:04:07
Speaker
I'm more so looking at is how they're going to perform in the Champions League, how Conte is goingnna be able to manage the multiple competitions, because while they have the money to spend it, they allegedly they're going they're going to spend it.
00:04:17
Speaker
ah ah The rumor is 200 million. And if they do that, i I why would you leave if you're Conte? You have the entire city behind you. The club is on the upswing as as a whole.
00:04:27
Speaker
You're basically going to be able to identify and purchase anybody you want. So why go to a Juventus team that doesn't really have a culture? You're going to have you're basically going to to do the same exact thing you just did in Naples, but you don't know the team and like you have new players. So I think this makes a lot of sense.
00:04:44
Speaker
I think this is still a match made in heaven for the people of Naples, for De Laurentiis and for Antonio Conte. So I'm not surprised that this happened. It's incredibly clear that Conte is the manager for this team, and especially the way that they built out the squad, as you said, going from last summer, even in the winter window, just continuing to fill in some holes.
00:05:03
Speaker
But I do think that this was a real real attempt by Conte to leave. we He had been known to be very short-fused, and we did see him leave likes of Inter after two seasons. We saw him leave Tottenham after the likes of two seasons.
00:05:15
Speaker
We saw him sit out because he just wasn't happy with any opportunities for a bit. And so... In his mind, if I'm him, I'm particularly concerned with legacy and being that I'm just a one game week merchant, that I'm a one competition merchant. And i my my request that we need to actually spend money this this summer and build out an elite squad to go and attempt to win more than just the Scudetto more than just a Coppa Italia, I think means something to him.
00:05:43
Speaker
And I think that as he comes to the close, I don't think he's even really that old, but he may be coming to the you know the sunset of his career a couple of years down the line here. He's losing opportunities in terms of getting multiple trophies in the season. And so that was a real request by him. And I don't blame him for putting that on De Laurentiis, especially given his comments at the beginning of the season.
00:06:04
Speaker
Sort of. reminiscent of Jose Mourinho comment at Manchester United that his biggest accomplishment was wait ah was coming in second with that Manchester United team.
00:06:14
Speaker
I think Conte was looking at this team at the beginning of the season thinking, if i if I finish top four with this squad like that, it's going to be an unreal accomplishment. Obviously, they won the Scudetto. So Conte stays.
00:06:26
Speaker
Big domino that doesn't fall. Shovels up the rest of the of the league. Now, one team that wasn't necessarily affected by that decision, but more so ah ah decision that Mance alluded to in our last full episode, that this manager made the decision for the team.
00:06:44
Speaker
Simone Inzaghi officially leaving Inter, going to be one of the highest paid, if not the highest paid manager in the world at Al-Halal in Saudi Arabia, leaves Inter with a big hole to fill.
00:06:56
Speaker
And they tried to fill it. They went after their number one target, Cesc Fabregas out of Como. Long story short, Como puts a block on it. They do not allow Fabregas to make the move.
00:07:08
Speaker
And eventually they land on key Christian Kivu, a past Inter Milan player who had just been at Parma, is now at the helm for the runners-up in the Champions League Inter Milan.
00:07:22
Speaker
And Serie A runner-up. Yeah, this one's kind of wild. I do i do think that, to Mott's point about the... Inzaghi making the decision for the board, they're probably very happy with this because my my take about getting rid of get rid of Inzaghi actually kind of made sense since the season ended. Right.
00:07:40
Speaker
And like. That would have been a very difficult decision, keep him. And then what happens if you're in the same spot next year? Like you're kind of fucked. But the problem has always been in in people that commented on this and people that have texted us about this, about this take that they need to move on and Zaghi is who do you bring in?
00:07:57
Speaker
And that was probably why they were kind of like, their hands were a little bit tied, I would assume, because if you don't have a direct replacement, how can you, like, what are you gonna do? In this appointment of Kivu very much shows that they don't know who the replacement is, number one.
Juventus and Inter's Managerial Strategies
00:08:12
Speaker
And then number two, they don't think the right replacement is actually out there. So they did what Manchester United did a bunch of years ago with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and they made a safe decision that if it doesn't go right, you have a scapegoat to blame, but it's going to be kind of okay because he's a former player.
00:08:30
Speaker
He played, I think, eight seasons at Inter Milan, so he he's been there for a very long time. If it doesn't go well, nobody's going to be surprised. This guy has months, months, four months.
00:08:42
Speaker
of manager experience and at a top, at a top, no, in general, he's only closed youth other than this. He got hired in February at Parma and is now coaching Inter Milan. Like that is a recipe for failure. i I'm not going to say like they didn't play good ball at, excuse me, good ball at Parma when he did take over.
00:09:01
Speaker
But this is not the same as coaching Parma in a relegation battle. This is you have a full summer. You have a transfer window. You have international players. You have three competitions. You're expected to win every competition you're in.
00:09:13
Speaker
And you have four months of managerial experience of players that are not big attitudes, big egos, top-level players. This is a recipe for failure. And this could be one of those ones that ends up like Roma.
00:09:26
Speaker
right at the beginning the season, they kept to kind of a similar manager, although Dorossi had way more experience. They went with a guy that was kind of the safe option. And this could they could lose five games to start the season if if this is not done directly.
00:09:40
Speaker
And then you're immediately in the point where, OK, now we need to hire somebody else. Nobody's out there. like That's already why you have Kibu. So what are you going to do in that? And I just don't like this any anywhere. That's all got to say.
00:09:53
Speaker
I think the other aspect that makes this difficult for Kigu coming in is based on his experience at Parma, you know, for a guy that has played, like you said, a bunch of seasons in Serie A at a very high level and a very good team, the players on Parma look up to him with a lot respect. Yeah.
00:10:08
Speaker
they They respect his stature. They respect his experience in the league. Now Kivu comes into a side where these players have already achieved much more than what he did in his time at Inter Milan.
00:10:19
Speaker
So they're now in a position where they may or may not be looking down on right It's a very different dynamic. Not only that, But then you have to go through a transfer window where yes, you do have a sporting director that you're working with, but player recognition and player recruitment is a huge part of being a manager and identifying the players that you want to bring in for whatever system that you decide you're going to implement after your four months at Parma.
00:10:39
Speaker
That's another huge issue. And then on top of that, Parma was playing one game a week for the the entire four months that he was there. Inter is now going to be going after based on their historical and fan bases, quests and and assumptions is going to be competing for all three top competitions in next
Gasperini's High-Stakes Move to Roma
00:10:59
Speaker
season.
00:11:00
Speaker
And that's no easy feat. kau Top managers fail to do it all the time. Zaghi, perfect example. So to have Kivu come in, I'm not entirely sure what the expectations are for this man.
00:11:11
Speaker
I wish him all the best. he is getting thrown into the pit and and just being asked to just fight his way out. Yeah, what I think might be, I just thought about this right now. What might be an interesting knock-on effect of this appointment is two guys that are heavily linked away from Parma and Boney, who is their striker, had a phenomenal season. he's pretty He's pretty much linked to most of the major clubs in Italy.
00:11:33
Speaker
And Leone, young Italian center back, also linked to pretty much every club. Inter need a striker and ah ah most likely like in that third rotator or maybe even a starter, depending on how they're feeling this year. and they also need a center back.
00:11:46
Speaker
Direct knock on effect. They just got the Parma coach. Why wouldn't these guys just go to Inter Milan now? Like you have your choice of club. Stick with the manager, you know, he like that. That also works in his favor. Like, I know what these guys are going to give me. i know how they play.
00:11:59
Speaker
And it's a little familiarity, i would call it. So I think that could be a win-win. And I think that would actually be a good move for both of the players because you're going to the best team in Italy in Inter Milan and you get to keep your coach who already likes you and got you to the point where you're at. So that would make a lot of sense for me for Inter to just get those both get those done right now. You have your third striker.
00:12:20
Speaker
You have presumably either a new center center back or right center back in Leone who, again, very Like every club in Italy wants this guy, whether it's warranted or not is another discussion, but go get it done. You need a center back.
00:12:32
Speaker
I would love for that to happen in the next two weeks. That'd be great. 100%. And that goes back to your point of you need to get your manager in very quickly. i think that definitely went into the discussions there. We need to get our players in. Let's get this guy in. That gives us a step above the rest of the league and some two very young aspiring players in Syria. So that's a really good point, Bose.
00:12:51
Speaker
But to move on to another team that has historically done an incredibly phenomenal job in the window, we moved to Atalanta. Now, Atalanta, not to spoil the rest of the of the table here, but Gasparini has left. Gasparini's going to Roma. We'll touch on that in a second.
00:13:08
Speaker
Atalanta decides to turn around and hire Ivan Juric, who we are familiar with from this season for his short stint at Juventus. No, Roma. Roma. Roma, excuse me.
00:13:20
Speaker
I don't know what they're thinking. Listen, I agree. i don't know what they're thinking, but I still fall on the other side of things with Juric. I think this year with Roma, for those of you who don't know, he coached like like eight or nine games. It was not good. Like they were very bad. He was the transition guy between DeRossi at the beginning of season and Ranieri.
00:13:42
Speaker
It literally could not have gone worse. So he got sacked pretty quickly. But before that, he was on Torino and he did a pretty damn good job. I would say they finished kind of like in the same area, but I think the team was probably less talented while they had him.
00:13:56
Speaker
So I do think he's a good coach and I think he's a good defensive coach. Why this doesn't sit well with a lot of people is because this is a complete 180 from Gasparini. And I don't think this brings the club further forward.
00:14:10
Speaker
Like, I think Ivan Juric is good enough to be coaching in Serie A. I don't think he is ready or good enough to be coaching a team playing in any European competition at all. hasn't shown us that he's capable of doing that.
00:14:23
Speaker
So that's more what I don't like about it. What I think the Atalanta board was doing, and I don't even know what they're doing. I can't really justify this because it's not even like there were other guys out there because I i think there are other coaches out there that would have made sense.
00:14:38
Speaker
Particularly, I think Palladino would have been good. I think Barone would have been good. much anybody else would have been good, honestly. It's kind of I feel. But what I think went into this was that you're rich is a good defensive coach.
00:14:54
Speaker
And if you hire for defense, your floor should most likely be higher. And they're anticipating a big step back from Gasparini. But at the same time, this could be similar to Inter Milan where they didn't identify the guy they really wanted and they need a scapegoat. So when this doesn't go well, it's not all that surprising because you failed at Roma and we can get rid of him and start again.
00:15:15
Speaker
i That's my thought, but it could be completely wrong. I don't see this going well. I'm fully in on the mercenary theory here that's coming in to just take the fall for a season, half a season, whatever. Oh, oh that yeah. the The mercenary thing, I need to – I've totally forgot about this. This is why – we've got to go back to Inter Milan for one second. Sorry.
00:15:33
Speaker
He was a mercenary because I tweeted about this, and then it came out after why it didn't happen. I said they should try to get Jose Mourinho for Inter Milan. Jose's contract in Turkey expires next summer, and it was too expensive for them to buy him out of that contract.
00:15:49
Speaker
So I actually think that is legitimately what is going on at Inter is one year holdover so we can get Jose the next year. And let's get back to Atalanta. Well, that means, again, that makes sense. And I i do think that that's what that's what they're doing here at Atalanta for different reasons. I don't think that they have a manager on the other side that they're particularly interested in yet.
00:16:08
Speaker
But at the same time, no matter who you bring into this position after Gasparini, the expectation is so incredibly high that you're just destined to fail.
00:16:18
Speaker
And so you do need somebody to just take the fall, be the guy that gets the paycheck and moves on, because no matter who comes in afterwards, they're not going to do the job that Gasparini did. So it's almost giving, you're giving the the inevitable long-term coach on the other side of Juric the right runway, the right leeway, a little bit of a lower expectation hurdle.
00:16:40
Speaker
Because no matter what, Gasparini had his hands and his fingerprints all over this team, as we like to say. and All over the club, and not even the team, like the the whole club, yeah. and In the city, for that matter. Yeah, the whole thing. As you make that whole point. So...
00:16:55
Speaker
In terms of getting away from the Gasparini era, I think that that's the only part of this that makes sense. But if they truly wanted Juric to be their guy, and just it's a total 180. And to me, if that is the truth, and like this that Juric was their number one guy outside of Gasparini,
00:17:13
Speaker
Atalanta is fully committed to dying, going down the embers and a selling club. They will never, ever be that buying club, the one that's going for all three
Stability Moves: Sarri, Allegri, and Baroni
00:17:24
Speaker
competitions. they will They will always just have the expectation of being top four and recycling the club and just making a profit wheel every single summer because this that' this guy is not the long-term solution to follow up the Gaspariniac. feel like I, I, we do as humans have this recency bias. And at if you had told me this was going to happen at the beginning of last season, like Gasparini is going to leave.
00:17:47
Speaker
Juric didn't get hired by Roma. Let's say that never happened. If they had said, Juric is the guy taking over after Gasparini and the Roma thing didn't happen. I probably would have been very high on this. I was always high on Juric, but the Roma thing is very scary for everybody, which, which was warranted. It was very bad.
00:18:06
Speaker
But at the same time, thinking think about this a little bit more, it is a weird hire, but the board could be looking at this as, and this is exactly what we talked about a million times this season with Gasparini, with Atalanta.
00:18:21
Speaker
The best piece about them was how offensive they were, but that was also what created their ceiling because they conceded a lot of goals. And this year it was, it was a lot better, but that ceiling was still there because the defense didn't get kind of sorted out.
00:18:34
Speaker
This might be the board being like, where need to completely change the culture here. Defense has historically won the Scudetto. Defense gets you far in the Champions League. Maybe it's time for us to start transitioning to like maybe a more sustainable way of playing.
00:18:48
Speaker
which which isn't a crazy thing to think about if you want to go in that direction. I'm not I don't know if that's what it is, but it it does push you like your culture is completely changing now as a club going from Gaspar into your age.
00:19:00
Speaker
So if that was a priority, this is actually a pretty good transition guy to get you there because he is a balance of offense and defense, primarily a defensive coach. But just food for thought there. That could be what they're trying to accomplish.
00:19:14
Speaker
Listen, my my Hesitation falls further than just the Roma stint this past season. We look at Torino's performance as well. He was the manager, and they they never got much better. And Fernandale, the team that just came in third and had the potential in the squad, if they keep most of their players to make another step, I think it's weird move.
00:19:32
Speaker
But in any case, that remains to be seen. At least they got their guy in for the entire transfer window here. Somebody that's not necessarily concretely here for the long term, but maybe just for the summer is in Juventus in Turin.
00:19:47
Speaker
They are staying with Tudor for now. And Vos, you hate. It's not that i I don't I don't hate it. i think that's that's a bit much. I don't love it because I don't necessarily believe in Tudor.
00:20:02
Speaker
He got brought on for the last, I don't know, 25% of the season, right? Took over from Thiago Mota. Things got better a little bit, but I never saw anything in him that tells me he's capable of bringing Juventus to Champions League finals again.
00:20:18
Speaker
And I would probably assume everybody else thinks that. He's been in the league, he's coach he's coached other places, and he's never been that guy. And as Juventus, your goal should be to win every competition. So Scudetto, Champions League, Copa Italia every year.
00:20:33
Speaker
And I don't see Tudor being that guy. And the pushback I've gotten for MOTS particularly is who else is out there? It's the same thing with Inter Milan. And for me, the way that I have kind of looked at this is...
00:20:46
Speaker
The floor on Juve is essentially where they finished. I mean, they they have one of the best rosters in the league. Tudor's floor is what? Like around this area too?
00:21:13
Speaker
is he gonna win the Scudetto I don't think so but when you look at a guy like potentially Palladino potentially Gasparini he's and he's no longer available but he was Palladino Gasparini Baroni you look at them and you say okay these guys ceiling is winning the league probably in potentially going deep in another competition so while it's risky to move on to somebody else if I'm Juve Why am I going to keep Tudor when the floor of the team is kind of going to not, it's going to be the same no matter who the manager is, but I can take a risk and go after somebody with a much higher ceiling, even if it's for one year. And if I was in charge of the board, I would go in that direction.
00:21:52
Speaker
You have an amazing roster, regardless of it not fitting quite right this year and some players underperforming. But if you bring in the right manager, you might get the most out of a guy like Douglas Louise. Like if they do keep him, like this was a guy who was amazing in the Premier League.
00:22:06
Speaker
So i would I would move on from Tudor. If you don't think your' your current manager is that guy, you've got to move on. Like, you can't just be waiting and kicking the can down the road. You've got to go, go, go. youre not If you're not getting better, you're getting worse.
00:22:18
Speaker
And ah I certainly agree with you from a roster perspective. I do think that the floor from a talent level is probably fourth, fifth. But I so also say that coming from a Milan fan, and I thought that our roster floor was probably four or five. And obviously I was...
00:22:33
Speaker
impeccably wrong. Granted, our roster is full of a bunch of gut glutes and there's much less Stunahan going on at Juventus. But I agree with you. I think Tudor, they probably need to move on from Tudor, although a little continuity never hurts. And I'm not sure that they had anybody in mind going into the summer. And so depending on how this window goes, again, they also just got rid of Jun Tuli. So a lot of transition going on. Do you really want to get rid of your sporting director and your manager at the same time?
00:23:01
Speaker
Maybe that makes sense to match it up. But depending on what the market is outside and for whatever reason, the Zerbe is just nowhere to be found in Syria right now. And I have no idea why, but apparently no one's in on him.
00:23:11
Speaker
So if they feel more comfortable with Tudor and how Tudor got along in the locker room, which we found out this season for a lot of teams is incredibly important. Maybe you don't move on. Maybe you keep them. So yeah, the only the only domino at this point that I see at Juve, because I don't see anybody out there. Right. Like if they were going to do this, I think it would have already been done.
00:23:31
Speaker
The only thing that I see potentially happening is this past weekend, Italy played. What did they play? Turkey. Turkey. No, did they play Turkey? sweet
Can Gasperini Transform Roma?
00:23:41
Speaker
No, it was Norway. They played Norway this week. Norway. Sorry. Yeah. They got absolutely destroyed.
00:23:46
Speaker
Three to nothing. We're never in the game. and And on the back of that, people are wanting Spalletti out. If Spaletti leaves the national team and that happens the next week, I could see Juve hiring him.
00:24:00
Speaker
I think that would be a very good fit. The only thing would be getting Locatelli on board because he is the club captain. You're going to keep him. And Spaletti has never really liked Locatelli from what we've seen from the national team.
00:24:13
Speaker
So that is a little bit of a hiccup. But... That would be a very interesting appointment for me. Spalletti has gone deep in the Champions League. Obviously, Coach Napoli, when they won their Scudetto two years ago, three years ago now, I think that could be potentially a match made in heaven. I could see him getting a lot out of Yildiz and kind of elevating him, maybe not quite to the Kovaritskeli level, but at least getting the most out of him in that sense and kind of turning him into a superstar player.
00:24:40
Speaker
So that one would be very interesting. But just just food for thought again. We give her on. Spolete Juve. rumor You've heard the rumor here first. But something of that's not a rumor is something that's concretely a magnificent hire is from the Wolves in Rome and the Capitale.
00:24:57
Speaker
Roma bring in Gasparini. As I said earlier in this episode, absolutely magnificent hire. We've talked about it all season long that this Roma squad would benefit immensely from a manager like Gasparini now coming to fruition.
00:25:13
Speaker
Gasparini to Roma, vos your thoughts. your your guma your well not your gumar anymore your favorite team atalantha you love them all season a little bit of a hiccup towards the end and maybe you don't like their ex there you don't think that the season ended up the way it should but you're definitely a fan gasparini you love roma i mean what what what's better than this for you
00:25:34
Speaker
i wish i was happier about this i do i am incredibly upset I'm not upset, but this one is risky for Roma. Gasparini has failed at bigger clubs, and the way that he plays is very hit or miss, and we've seen that.
00:25:52
Speaker
Granted, I think the squad that he has actually is going to fit that 3-4-3, 3-5-2, whatever you want to call it, that he does play. But I could see this going bad.
00:26:03
Speaker
He has struggled with big egos in the past, and struggled on the big, big clubs. Your ceiling here is definitely winning the Scudetto, but your floor is being bad, as we saw with this team.
00:26:19
Speaker
So I like the direction that the board is going with this one. We want to get more offensive. We want to play good Calcio, which I'm happy with. And I'm not sure who else they would have gone with, but this is risky. I i don't think gas by any means Gasparini is 100% going to be the guy for for three to four years. He could be.
00:26:39
Speaker
This season, they could win the Scudetto, and I wouldn't be surprised if it happened. But at the same time, if everything goes very poorly, i would also not be all that surprised because we've seen that with Gasparini in the past.
00:26:50
Speaker
it could be amazing. This could be the best team in Europe to watch next season with Gasparini. And i I'm being a that's not even hyperbole. That's being 100% serious. Manu Kone, Pizzilli, Paredes, whoever else they add, that two man midfield is going to work amazingly in this system for him.
00:27:09
Speaker
I think Dovbic is going to be a nice centerpiece. um I'd expect him to get a lot of out out of Sule. So I think player personnel, it does. It should work. It should work. So i i do like it in that sense, but it is a lot of risk to take on, especially going from Ron Yeri to this.
00:27:26
Speaker
Different, very different style managers. You're kind of shifting the whole culture of the club, like we said, with Atalanta. Moving on from him and bringing him in, big shifts for the club.
00:27:36
Speaker
It's a big shift, but I think it's the perfect shift, in my opinion. I do think the floor could be potentially 7th or 8th, which is not not at all what you're aiming for as a Roma squad, effort especially after this season. But when you look at side-by-side what the Atalanta team was this year and what the structure of Roma could be next year, it's almost perfect.
00:27:55
Speaker
You look at the base that Ritegi had built at Genoa now going to Atalanta and becoming the the Golden Boot winner. That's kind of where Dolby's base was this year. That's a good point. Really good point. I really think that that could be ah a really big step up for Dolby, especially going to a 3-4-3, two cams up top.
00:28:12
Speaker
Just mashing balls into the middle if that's what Gasparini decides to do in terms of a play style. I think that Manu Kone could be the next Ederson. Very similar in terms of an engine and very talented player. think he's already there.
00:28:24
Speaker
I mean, and if if he's already there, then great. Then he needs to take another step up above that and and really fully solidify himself as that as that elite midfielder. I think Sule, Baldanzi, Pizzili, those young guys are going to love having this type of a manager in place, one that's committed to developing the younger guys.
00:28:41
Speaker
And I don't think that there's a lot of, you know, I don't think there's a lot of big personality on this Roma team right now. i you know I think Pellegrini, for what it's worth, he might be on the outs, but he was never an issue in the locker room. Zanielo's long gone. Paredes is a little bit of a hothead, but he could be on the way out as well.
00:28:58
Speaker
and And so I don't think that there's going to too much of an issue from a personality standpoint. I think Gasparini comes in here as as an oracle, as in a demigod, and these guys are going to respect him. And so I think the floor here is...
00:29:10
Speaker
is going to be, yes, seven or eight. And because he loves to play attacking, they may need to bolster that back line a little bit next to Mancini and Indica. And if they get ah a stellar center back in, that'd be great.
00:29:21
Speaker
But the bones and the structure are there. We said it all season, even no matter who was coming into this Roma project, it was going to be a great project to pick up. And I guess was it took, it's not that Gasparini was going to leave Atlanta for nothing.
00:29:33
Speaker
Yeah, that's a good point. good There was going to be substantial opportunity for him to leave Atalanta and this Roma project is is exactly that. So I'm very excited to see what he does with this team. Again, it's not a surefire we're going win the Scudetto, but I do think that their odds have gone up and i I'm extremely excited to see Yeah, and one other one other quick thing that might feed into this, what is 100% a surefire going to tap happen and thing?
00:29:56
Speaker
He's going to elevate players like he did at Atalanta. Like they brought in random guys that had failed other places. So now like you're you're recruiting well at Roma already. Now you're bringing a guy who's going to then even elevate the players who are already good. And then you're now in a position as Roma where...
00:30:11
Speaker
Your recruiting is doing great. You have a coach that's going elevate you. So now you can cash in on some guys, reinvest it lower, let the guy elevate. And you kind of create this machine of we're getting we're bringing in good players. We're being very competitive. Then we're selling them and then we're reinvesting in the club, which is really exciting when you talk about a like a big, big club like Roma.
Recap of Serie A's Managerial Carousel
00:30:31
Speaker
Exactly, and exactly. So moving on from Roma, again, very excited for them. But going to three teams that have brought back managers that have either been at the club before or have been in Serie A as of late.
00:30:45
Speaker
We look at Lazio, they're bringing back Maurizio Sarri. We're at Milan, who brought back Massimo Allegri. And even Torino brings in the freshly resigned Baroni going into Turin.
00:30:58
Speaker
Fired. Fire, fired, left fired, disagreed. Weirdly fired. Etc. Again, Torino had been strongly the 10th place team for a very long time, ended up in 12th this year.
00:31:12
Speaker
Could be the reason. But which of those three do you think have the best platform for success in terms of expectation, just given the fact that Torino is obviously one step below those other two squads? Milan.
00:31:23
Speaker
If I could bet now, and I don't think I can, I would bet on them to finish top four. i feel i feel I feel very confident in Allegri to propel them up there. i This is another one.
00:31:37
Speaker
Human recency bias. We forget that Allegri won the Scudetto with Milan playing up like a 4-3-3 basically. Then won, I think, five Scudettos with Juve.
00:31:51
Speaker
It got to two Champions League finals with them. And it was always defensive football playing in a back three. It was always defensive football. But it wasn't Juve 2, like, over the last couple years. No.
00:32:01
Speaker
And I think him taking this time off and probably seeing how upset everybody was because the football was fucking terrible at Juve. It wasn't even, like, horrible.
00:32:13
Speaker
It wasn't even, like, they finished and they still finished top four. Like, that doesn't make any any sense with the point with the point deduction got them out of there. But nonetheless. He should look back at that and be like, okay, that was really bad.
00:32:27
Speaker
Like they did nothing well. They got very lucky in a lot of games. They didn't create a lot. They were a counter-attacking team that didn't really create and kind of got bailed out a lot of times. But if you look back at what he has done, this guy is a serial winner. And yes, he had a very strong Juve squad.
00:32:45
Speaker
But at the same time, like the manager has to get everything right. get We've seen that with Nzaghi. Nzaghi couldn't put it together to to string together back-to-back Scudettos. So your ceiling on this guy is definitely winning the league this year. And I would be really support because and would be really surprised if they don't finish top four because that's what he does.
00:33:01
Speaker
I mean, he took that Juve team to top four and they played god-awful football. And I do think he'll look back. kind of reassess because this guy's not like he's kind of like a meme a little bit because like he's kind of funny on the sideline and he does funny things and but it's a good coach I mean to sit here and say that this is a bad appointment would be insane and I think this is a good stabilize the club appointment I agree when it happened I i was upset and obviously Mons has been poking me at it sending me the funny pictures of him just to get me upset but
00:33:36
Speaker
this This will get us to where we need to be next season at least. Is it where we need to go long term? I don't think so. Maybe. I like that he's i like that he's taking a couple of stances, though. you know He's fully on Leao, and he's told Tari that we are not selling him. and if we if we Sure, if we get $120 million for Leao, let him walk because that's an absurd number.
00:33:57
Speaker
But for the most part, he's on he's untouchable. We're letting some of the dead weight leave. And Teo, who actually may not leave at this point, given the fact that he doesn't have too much interest from leagues that he actually wants to play in.
00:34:09
Speaker
Mignon is linked away. That one hurts. Did you see the latest price tag on that? $25. No, $18 I saw this morning. i saw this morning Oh, I didn't see. you know i thought ah Last time I saw it was 25 million pounds. Oh, I saw 18 euros said today.
00:34:26
Speaker
Yeah, that'd be very bad. We'll talk about that at another point, but that's horrendous stuff if that actually comes to fruition. But in any case... I foresee this Milan team getting results. That's one thing that we certainly just struggled with. We had the talent. It's just getting results. And, and you know, our our management wasn't there.
00:34:45
Speaker
Allegri's here to get results. And if it's the shittiest football we've ever watched, so this season was also shitty football. So I'd rather watch dog shit football and win and get points and get results than watch dog shit football and cry every evening on on the weekend. So for me, Allegri...
00:35:01
Speaker
Fine hire. It doesn't, it's not my dream hire, but we'll, I feel like we'll get to a better spot and we'll have a much more enjoyable conversation on the, ah the backside of next season.
00:35:13
Speaker
But in any case, we, so we talked about, sorry, going back to Lazio a lot. This could probably be the, I think that one I also think that one's I think that's a good appointment as well. I like that. I didn't like the I didn't like him getting rid of Barone. I I get that things went wrong at the real at the tail end of the season. They didn't didn't get European football.
00:35:33
Speaker
But I think to sit there and say he did a bad job, like ah enough enough to fire him is kind of crazy. I mean, he did have a lot of injuries. I still would say that that squad's not the strongest squad in the league.
00:35:44
Speaker
But if you're going to bring in a guy, Sarri's been there. He's finished in second place. He's had a tremendous amount of success. He's developed players well. So I do think that's a good appointment. And I think the ceiling on that one is top four as well.
00:35:56
Speaker
Yeah, we'll see. I mean, I think the roster there is not as... is not as
00:36:02
Speaker
I guess, promising, but especially if you lose Ravella. It's another stabilizing move there, especially given given the fact that Barone just kind of fully out and you may you may lose Ravella, you may lose a couple of names, but there's a couple of teams here, Vosa, you want to touch on very quick hits, but a lot ah ah again, the carousel is crazy. What else do we else we see?
00:36:22
Speaker
Yeah, when you go through the rest of the table, there's a lot more guys. Starting Fiorentina, just to touch on that. Rafael Paladino, if you've listened to our podcast, we've talked about him all season. We've loved him. we think he's been one of the better coaches of the year.
00:36:34
Speaker
i think he was manager of the month a couple of times, at least once. um once. um Had a very successful season of Fiorentina, extended his contract until 2027, and then abruptly, in in the carousel fashion, resigned. It's since kind of come out.
00:36:49
Speaker
that he was butting heads with the president of football, essentially, and basically told the owner it's either me or him and just resigned on that. So it's insane that he hasn't been hired yet, but he's still available going down further down the table. Como ended up keeping Seth Fabregas. We talked about that partially owner of the club. So I think that also could have gotten into it a little bit.
00:37:09
Speaker
Torino, we mentioned that one as well. They sacked Paolo Vinoli. I'm adamantly against that one. I would love for him to be coaching a team this season. I think it could be Parma. I think that'd be interesting because Kivu left.
00:37:20
Speaker
But I would hate for him to not in league because I do think he's a good coach. Had some issues at Torino this year. Injury player personnel, that sort of thing. But he did elevate quite a few players, including Ricci, who they're presumably going to sell for a pretty hefty bag this summer.
00:37:34
Speaker
And they hire Baroni, another manager that I've loved. So I think things will be good in Torino still at Genoa. Patrick Vieira, very good season for him. It now linked to a lot of different clubs in Italy, which I don't think he's ready for. Personally, I also don't think he is going to be a European manager, European competition kind of manager ever.
00:37:56
Speaker
I think he should stay at Genoa. I think that the best that would be the best thing for him. couple other ones going further down the table. Hellas Verona. Heap Zanetti. A little bit interesting. i I'm surprised.
00:38:08
Speaker
and They were very bad for a lot of the season. They had some good times. but really I think they have the Bucs goals given up as well. the Yeah. general I think he'll have a short leash going into next season, but it is what it is. Calgary moved on from their coach. I completely am spacing out on his name.
00:38:24
Speaker
which I guess could go either way. he didn't They didn't get relegated, so I think that's a win for them. And as I mentioned, Parma needs to replace Kivu. And then a quick little promotion team drama.
00:38:35
Speaker
Pippo and Zagy from Pisa is trying to be lured away to Palermo, who are actually owned by City Football Group in Serie B. So that's go to be an interesting one. They'll probably pay him a bag to coach in Serie B. You just got promoted.
00:38:50
Speaker
I'd probably go do that one. That'd be interesting. Easily. That's the carousel. that That was a carousel, right? That that was a big carousel. And we're not even done yet. There's still a lot of vacancies here. Who knows if Tudor is going to be there at the beginning of the season next year. He's presumably there for the Club World Cup.
00:39:06
Speaker
Fiorentina are still managerless. It's absolute mayhem right now. Mayhem in the summer. Mayhem the summer. I will say, just shout out, give myself some flowers. Mons told me I was crazy.
00:39:18
Speaker
Cesc Fabregas did not go to Inter. He did agree, i will say that. But if he really, really, really wanted to go to Inter, he would have made it happen. He did not fight for it. He wants to stay in Como. He wants to be part of the little lads by the leg.
00:39:31
Speaker
little lads by the league Little boys. ah little at The little boys, the little lad by the lake, that is a project he's excited about, and so am I. But with that being said, carousel update over.
00:39:42
Speaker
We'll be back with more updates as it swings back around. But with that being said, Vos, take us away. Paisanos, do not be a gaguz, and Forza, Calcio, Colchon.
00:40:09
Speaker
Thank you.