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Who Wins Serie A This Season? 2025-26 Table Predictions
133 Plays13 days ago
The Calcio Culture crew is back with their full Serie A 2025/26 league table predictions. Vos, Motts, and Logs go head-to-head as they debate who will be lifting the Scudetto, which clubs can push into Europe, and which sides are destined for a relegation scrap. From heavyweights like Juventus, Inter, and Napoli to wildcards like Como, Bologna, and Fiorentina, no team is left out of the conversation. Tune in for bold takes, heated debates, and plenty of surprises as we lay out how we think the season will unfold.
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Transcript
00:00:06
Speaker
Ciao, Faizans! Welcome back to another glorious episode of Coucho Culture. Today, I'm your host, Logs. I'm here with both of my co-hosts, Mats and Bose, and it is incredibly important that all three of us are here today for maybe the most important episode of the year. Today, we are doing our series table predictions for the campaign. This is where legends are campaign this is where legends are made Last year, congratulations to none of them. Mats, the champion of the table predictions last season, cleaned Vos and I out.
00:00:44
Speaker
We had a couple of big misses. Mats was pretty spot on across the table. We'll see if he can run it back. Lads, how are you feeling? Mats, you got got a big show today.
00:00:56
Speaker
I know. I've got to defend my belt. If I... Had if I flipped at Atlanta and Roma last season, I would got the top six completely correct. Or I guess I didn't have Napoli winning and I was too afraid to do that. So that's a lie, but I do have a belt to defend.
00:01:13
Speaker
And so there's a lot of pressure on it. And I will say trying to predict this season was extremely hard. I just kept going back and forth. And every time I made a decision, I was like, I hate that decision.
00:01:26
Speaker
um So that leads me to believe that we're going to have another epic season for the Serie A, which I'm pumped about. So excited to get into this. Vos, you feeling? I feel good after like the international break though. I feel like I haven't walked Syria on like, you know, you said a long kind of thing. Yeah. So it's kind of weird going into this.
00:01:45
Speaker
And then I kind of switched out my strategy this year. I did one run through and then looked it over one time. um Sorry go to see how that goes. But agree about I think the top 10 is extremely hard to figure out who's going to go where. I think it's kind of predictable.
00:02:04
Speaker
Like that the teams are going to be in that group, but figuring out where everybody goes is just so weird right now. because like Let the record show, let the record show, Paizans, that Vos and I were actually tied last year.
00:02:15
Speaker
Aside, even though I did have Milan in second, which was an absolute botch job, but we did tie. I feel better than Vos feels right now. I feel pretty good about this table. I do agree, though. There's two very distinct groups of this table.
00:02:29
Speaker
There is the top 10 and there's the bottom 10. Well, and I mean, I think we're going to very much agree on on those groupings. You look at last season, you look at last season and five to nine is separated by, or even four, four to nine is separated by eight points.
00:02:44
Speaker
And then if you really, three to nine is separated by 12, that's definitely ah kind of a big discrepancy there. But like four to nine is is not at all. Eight points is, and enough Milan, like it could have shifted so much last season. So yeah, you're spot on with that, Boz.
00:03:02
Speaker
So we're going to get into it really quick. Like Vos said, we did. we are just coming off of an international break, so we would be mit remiss to not cover Italy's scores in the last couple of days.
00:03:14
Speaker
The national team, the national paisans, came out with two wins this past week. They first played Estonia, winning All five goals coming the second half off of some big subs.
00:03:27
Speaker
Cattuso may be cooking that day. I don't know. Some big decisions that came to that second half. Estonia 5-0. We then go into the second leg of this international break against Israel, a team that Italy should be hand handily, handily taking care of.
00:03:43
Speaker
They win 5-4 with an absolute banger in the 93rd, 91st. An extra time the second half from none other than Sandro Tenali, Beans, the boy, the man, the myth, the legend, the betting.
00:03:56
Speaker
gambling man. ah They do come out with a 5-4 win. So an incredibly important six points for the table for the Italians. um We'll see how this goes in the second leg against Norway. They do need to win to get automatic qualification to the World Cup.
00:04:10
Speaker
If they do not, we go back to the playoff. And that is exactly where Italy was knocked out for the last qualification. Did not make the last two World Cups. Really quick, guys.
00:04:20
Speaker
Thoughts? Yeah, i didn't I didn't watch these games. I was i was traveling last week, and I plan on trying to get through them this week. But my initial takeaway is, like, we're kind of in the same spot where were with Spaletti at the beginning.
00:04:33
Speaker
um And I don't know how I feel about the formation. Again, I haven't watched the game, but it it had looked like it was allegedly like a 4-4-2. And I'm not sure that's the best thing.
00:04:45
Speaker
Gattuso historically it' has not been a great coach. I don't know how I feel about it. I have a couple of question marks around some of the players that were we're playing and players that weren't playing. But this is had been the story of Italy for the last World Cup cycle, right? Like they didn't make the World Cup.
00:05:02
Speaker
Like a 5-0 win against Estonia is like kind of the highlight of the Italian national team over the last four years, which is kind of insane when you think about it. And then you go into the next game against Israel and you're get getting a shootout.
00:05:17
Speaker
Like shootouts do not win national team tournaments, very simply. like Historically, the best teams have been the best defensive teams. So allowing four goals on Israel, regardless of the result, i I see as a massive failure.
00:05:30
Speaker
Good that you get the point and like you're getting close to to qualifying for the World Cup. But I have no real positives to take away from this. Even five goals coming the second half, I would say that's good against Estonia. but it shouldn't take you 45 minutes to get a goal against them. I think Italy has the roster and potential to be, I mean, i don't know, top five may be ah a little bit of a stretch, but there's no reason to say on any given day that they can't beat any other team in the world. They have a very good defensive line, a very good midfield, a very good forward line, and probably the best goalkeeper in the world right now in Gigi Donnarumma.
00:06:04
Speaker
And if you have that, that is a recipe to go and win the World Cup, and they're not close right now. No, yeah, this is pretty bad. Like, obviously, good job. You scored five goals in two games. But this is a game that Israel, if you didn't win, you're probably out of the qualif- like, it's going to be a uphill battle to qualify for the World Cup. And it came down to the absolute wire and kind of a lucky goal from Tonali.
00:06:32
Speaker
He kind of just tried his luck from 20 yards out and went in. um But it's embarrassing. It's not- If it's not good, of it maybe Gattuso can change it. They at least showed some fight because they did go down and they even, um it was tied up four to four in the 90th minute. So they did, and they did respond after every time Israel scored. I did watch the games.
00:06:52
Speaker
It's just embarrassing though. Like we can't even handle a team. I think Israel's ranked like 117th and we're like 12th and we can't handily beat this team. We beat... not in this international break, but a couple international breaks ago, we beat Moldova 2-0 and Norway just beat them 11-1.
00:07:10
Speaker
So it's just embarrassing. We have a lot that we need to make up and figure out. And I don't know. If it's going to happen and I would not be shocked, unfortunately, if they miss it for a third time, a third World Cup in a row, which would be utterly embarrassing. Yeah, I think part of the issue is like even the way that you're talking about it and I think everybody is is viewing it is like.
00:07:35
Speaker
like they're still like getting to the point where they're like, oh we're like getting better. Like we're improving. And yet, like most of the key players are kind of in their prime at this point. Yeah. I mean, that's Stoney, Barella, Donnarumma.
00:07:48
Speaker
Even Tonali, I would put their like, We have brand names all over the pitch. And then you have two prolific strikers in Rategi and Moise Keane. So it just, it doesn't, and we have very strong defenders. So it doesn't make sense. They got a lot to figure out. Hopefully they can, because I want Italy in the world cup, obviously, but it's going, it's like,
00:08:11
Speaker
There's so many Italian Americans, like it it would be big for like Serie A if they can even like qualify because then like younger fans are going to take that be like, okay, now kind of want to watch these players who are like Italian, they play in Italy and you like parlay that into to more growth of Calcio and they're just setting themselves up for failure.
00:08:29
Speaker
Right, I mean, and just to round it out from my perspective, regardless of the fact that we do go from Spalletti to Cattuso, the talent hasn't changed. The talent hasn't hasn't been too different last two years, so it's almost mind-boggling that we still haven't figured out the best formation, the best starting XI to get the most out of this roster.
00:08:49
Speaker
there's I think there's some very clear players that haven't gotten minutes that should be based on the performances for the club team. I've talked about before, Belenoto specifically. And it's just it's it's insane that we haven't gotten that chemistry down again because a lot of these guys still play in Serie So they're still, you know whether they're playing with or against each other, they still know each other very well throughout the k club season.
00:09:08
Speaker
And the again, those the selection hasn't changed very much over the last 12 to 18 months. They should have some sort of continuity, some sort of consistency and know how they're approaching each and every game.
00:09:19
Speaker
It still feels like we're figuring it out game by game, seeing what formula is going to work when it should already be decided. Yeah, and I think it just kind of just one other point that I just thought of right now. I think the Federation has kind of done a bad job in terms of hiring.
00:09:33
Speaker
Just because like you look at Spalletti and I think when he got hired, everybody was like, this is kind of a risk. Like he's more of a club coach. And then you go to Cattuso and it's like, he's never really been a good manager.
00:09:45
Speaker
Like, ah I don't know what went into that hiring other than he was good on the national team as like a destroyer six, like has a lot of passion. But like, I can't sit here and say like he is a man manager even like because he's never done good at managing. So I just don't know the direction of'm trying to go.
00:10:01
Speaker
And I don't think they do either. But I mean, I'm going to try to get a full episode about the national team out. Don't keep guys posted. Well, with that being said, like we started the episode off with, Paisans, this is the most important episode of the season.
00:10:14
Speaker
We are going to tell you how the table is going to play out. As we have always done, votes will lead us, but here's how it breaks down. Here's how it goes. We start with the relegation teams, the teams that you only have one season to watch because they will no longer be in Syria next year.
00:10:31
Speaker
We then go into the bottom half of the table. Vos' incorre favorite part, favorite teams to watch over the course of the season. That's 17 to 11.
00:10:41
Speaker
We jump then into the top 10, the teams that are going to be vying for those European spots. 10 to 8. We go to 7, the last team. That does not make the European competition.
00:10:53
Speaker
Six is going to be your Conference League. Five is your Europa League. Top four go to the Champions League next year. And of course, we're going to tell you who wins the Scudetto. So with that being said, Vos, take it away.
00:11:05
Speaker
right, I guess I'll kick it off. We're going relegation first. i I hope there's some overlap here. Basically, my the way I looked at this is who are kind of my least favorite teams to watch? And if that's what I think, like there's usually like some reason for it.
00:11:19
Speaker
um So I have Pisa in last, Verona in 19, and Lecce in 18. Do you guys want me to kind of get into my thought process there let you guys go first? Go ahead.
00:11:30
Speaker
right. My thought process here is Pisa I have watched so far and have seen nothing that I liked. I, again, like this is my favorite part of the table, like the bottom five teams and kind of how I, how I approach these is I, I watch the games and usually there's like one or two players that, that stick out to me and then say, okay, those are me players to watch. And then in the next game, like I'm thinking about them again and I see some sort of development with Pisa. I don't see anything.
00:11:55
Speaker
The other thing I really don't like about Pisa is they went with Gilardino. Last year, they had Pete Bowenzaghi in Serie B and did really well with him. He left and went to another club at Serie B. So then they go to Gilardino, who basically failed in in the middle of the table last year, got fired.
00:12:11
Speaker
So it didn't really go well. So I don't really, and there were positives with him. But again, I don't think that is the guy to go with to stay up, which is why I'm going to go. going down. Verona, for similar reasons, I have them and in 19th.
00:12:25
Speaker
I don't like any players on the team. Like I watched them all last year. i didn't really like anybody on the team. Same thing to start this year, same manager. I didn't really see growth over the course of the season for this team.
00:12:36
Speaker
And I think the rest of the teams that are in here, they either got better from last year for the teams that stayed up and were fighting or brought in a new manager or did something different like tweak how they're going to get out of the cell.
00:12:50
Speaker
Verona didn't for me. And then in 18th, this was kind of a hard one for me. I did put Lecce for them. They were really bad last year. And I don't think they got good enough to get to stay up. And I don't think they deserve to stay up last year. I think we all would kind of agree with that. Like there wasn't a lot of good things there.
00:13:08
Speaker
And I think a lot of that did have to do with Kerstovich kind of underperform overperforming, scoring a lot of goals and and they lost him to Atalanta this year. So that's a major point. And then number two, They hired Ducevio Di Francesco.
00:13:21
Speaker
Why that is important to me? He was the manager of Venezia last year and they got relegated. b It was almost pretty handedly, but they made a push at the end of the season to almost stay up.
00:13:33
Speaker
And the reason I'm pointing this one out is because I think Venezia last year had a much better roster than Lecce did and still got relegated with this guy. So I don't know what justifies bringing him in. If he's going to play the same way with the presumably worst team, I don't see a way they stay up.
00:13:51
Speaker
Yeah, i'll just I'll follow you up because my teams are exactly the same. I have Pisa at 20. I have Lecce 19. I have Verona at 18.
00:13:59
Speaker
Pisa is very simple. Pippo and Zaghi got this team to Serie A and said, I'm fucking off because he knew that there was no chance. That's a really good point. Yeah, that is a very good point.
00:14:10
Speaker
Well, he's also the promotion guy. He gets and promoted. Sure. But in in any case, you you take a team from Serie B to Serie A, you kind of want to see it through to fruition. This guy got out so fast. He had he had wanted nothing to do with this project in Serie A. The other thing is that they also just...
00:14:26
Speaker
brought in nobody. they yeah They fully are prepared to go back down next year. They kept their wages low. They kept their transfer values pretty low. They brought in Bella Kochap from Southampton, who was actually pretty highly touted when he went there. so spent some time in the Prem, but I'm not sure that he's ever going to fully come to fruition there.
00:14:43
Speaker
I will say watch Giovanni. I'm sorry. I just went to a completely different team. So that was Verona. Verona brought in Bella Kochap. case He's a bad Lecce. I actually hate Lecce. I'm actually mad that Lecce is still in Serie A this season.
00:14:59
Speaker
I was equally as mad to see Emily stay up last year. So was kind of one or the other, but I do see Lecce going back down. Like you said, Vos didn't get any better. They lost their best player, Kerstovich to Atalanta.
00:15:09
Speaker
And so, I don't see a formula where Lecce actually stays up this season. And then Verona, through the first two weeks, haven't shown that they're any better than last year. Zanetti almost got them relegated last year.
00:15:21
Speaker
Don't know how he kept the job this long, and I don't see him continuing on into this season or to the next. So that's our but that's the bottom three. Mots, what got? I have the same ah exact three.
00:15:35
Speaker
ah ah but We got this wrong. So we got this wrong for sure because we're all in agreeance. I actually have the exact same order as Voso, Pisa, Hellas Verona, and Lecce.
00:15:48
Speaker
I don't think I need to add much more than what you guys covered. um I would just say that Pisa is the worst. Hellas Verona is really bad. And Lecce is bad.
00:16:01
Speaker
However, I do think that it was smart business from Milan to loan out Camarda to Lecce to get a lot of minutes for him. So I think that was good business, but I don't think he's going to be able to keep them up.
00:16:15
Speaker
Just before we move on, because I know some paisans have been asking for players to watch on the lower level teams. As I incorrectly said, was on Pisa. For Verona, Belico chap, center back, Giovane, striker, players to watch if you're ever watching a rock fight between Verona and whoever they're playing.
00:16:31
Speaker
All And with that, we're onto the best of the worst. This is kind of like the middle the table, guys. We're going to go 17 to 15 first. I have Parma, Creminesse, and then Genoa. How I derive these.
00:16:44
Speaker
When I first did this, I really wanted Parma in the bottom. Not that I wanted them. I had them in the bottom three. They lost a ton of key players. Notably, Boney went to Inter.
00:16:55
Speaker
Leone obviously left. Then they lost their kind of star winners, ah wingers, excuse me, and Dennis Mann and Mihaila. So kind of got picked apart, lost a lot of their starters, which I didn't like.
00:17:06
Speaker
And then number two, they went in a different direction with the coach, and they brought in Carlos Cuesta from... From Arsenal, who was kind of like an assistant coach to Mikel Arteta. If anybody saw the Arsenal all or nothing, you got you got a ton of him.
00:17:19
Speaker
He's kind of like a man manager. So he's also 29 years old. So extremely young. Is he 29 or 39? 29, right? 29. 29, yeah. So extremely young, has been around like kind of a top club competing for the Premier League title, and not for a club that is competing for for staying up in Serie So he doesn't know the league. He doesn't really know the situation.
00:17:41
Speaker
But in looking at the club, i still like a lot of players on their roster, notably on this one, their goalkeeper is Zion Suzuki. And then some other key players, Bernabe, who was kind of like an attacking mid, can play as an eight, kind of all over the place in the midfield. Honestly, very good player.
00:17:55
Speaker
And then they got Orta Tano back from loan or on loan from Venezia. He went down with Venezia last year, more of a creative attacking midfielder there. And then three names that I think are going to be important to this team are Patrick Cotrone. We already saw that um in match week one. He had a late goal or match week two. I'm sorry.
00:18:11
Speaker
Had a late goal to get them some points against Atalanta. They kept Milan Juric, who was pretty good on Monza, and then went over there. I think he may have actually spent time on Genoa as well. So two guys that have been around the leagues can get goals in the league.
00:18:22
Speaker
And then the last guy who I've always been a fan of, i I don't know how much he's going to play, but he can come off the bench and be effective in in Patrick Almquist. And he is a wide winger, notably most...
00:18:34
Speaker
Number one thing to watch for him, just pure pace. So I think they have enough to keep them up here, but they very much could be relegated at the end of the season, depending how things go with Cuesta. I keep going, right? I'll go Kremen as I say keep going through my guys here. Yeah, for sure.
00:18:49
Speaker
Kreminesse for me, I originally was like, okay, they're definitely going to go down. They're not very good. They started the season really well. And I had them staying up regardless of what had happened. I had them staying up before the season started.
00:19:00
Speaker
And there's only one reason for that. Their manager, Davide Nicola, he was Cagliari's manager last year. I think they let go of him because I i think they actually thought Cagliari was going to do better than they did last year.
00:19:12
Speaker
But the important thing with this guy is he does not get relegated, and that is how you stay in the league. You bring in a guy that doesn't get you relegated and then figure it out year two after you have your Serie money. So that's why I like them there.
00:19:24
Speaker
And then lastly, in 15th year, I had Genoa. The reason for this one is i don't love what they do. I think Patrick Vieira is a good coach.
00:19:36
Speaker
They don't concede a ton of goals, but they also don't score a ton of goals. And I think everybody else has gotten better while they have, for the most part, stayed the same. I think most notably was the departure of Coney's at winter, who's their best center back.
00:19:49
Speaker
And if you're a team that doesn't like to concede goals, that's a big loss. And then on the other side of the things, Pinamonte went back to Sassuolo because he was on loan last year and he was kind of their source of goals.
00:20:00
Speaker
And then the last one there is they also lost Fabio Moretti, who was probably their most creative player last year. So three very big losses that you didn't really replace. um And then my players to watch on this one, just because I know some of you guys are asking about that.
00:20:14
Speaker
Our friend group in the midfield who's been there, been a solid player. And then Lorenzo Colombo. He was on Empoli last year. I think people had high hopes for him on loan for Milan. Empoli was a very difficult situation to go get goals in. So there's a chance that he does well.
00:20:30
Speaker
With that said, I think he's a lot worse than Pinamonte and that's going to hurt them. And that's why I have them dropping so low into 15. But what about you, Lokes? So I'm a little different here. I have Sass 17. Sass will end 17. I have Torino.
00:20:45
Speaker
Oh, come on. I have Torino moving from their generic 10, 11 spot to all the way down to 16. And I do have Parma in 15. Now, I'm a huge Sass fan. I've always been a fan of Sass. I love Berardi.
00:20:58
Speaker
I love Pinamonte, the second coming of Skamaka. And I love Luriente, who's their left winger. French had been linked to Prem, fell through, staying in Syria. That front three is incredible. I think it's going to get them a ton of goals.
00:21:12
Speaker
But something that we've already seen this season is that, yes, they can score, but they have zero defense. They have nothing on their back line. I think they're going to struggle an incredible amount against a lot of teams because they just can't stop the ball from going their own net.
00:21:27
Speaker
no matter how many times they can score. I think that offense will keep them in some games against the bottom three that we've already been over, and that's what's going to get them over the hump to stay in Syria. But I don't have any trust in that back line, so it'll be interesting to see how many goals against Sassuolo has this season.
00:21:44
Speaker
I go to Torino at 16, and ah regardless of the fact that they lost 5-0 to enter in week one, your match week one, I do think that this team is rather weak.
00:21:55
Speaker
I don't foresee Barone having the same success that he had at Lazio, of course. um This team is definitely taking a step back. We have no idea what Duvon Zapata is going to bring back coming off an injury. Apparently, Shea Adams is not part of the starting lineup going forward, so he, I thought, was their best striker last year. doesn't seem to be the focal point there. Oh, one thing that dawned on me about that, just not to interrupt you overly, what dawned because we brought this up in match week one and two, when Simeone's been starting, I just realized Barone has already used, has managed him before.
00:22:26
Speaker
So I think he's like, I have one guy that I've used that I can trust. So that's just a side note. Yeah, but I think anybody with a brain knows that. you Yeah, I agree. So I don't know if it really matters that against Simeone before. But in any case, I just don't have a ton of trust in this Torino team. I think this is the year that they finally take a step back.
00:22:45
Speaker
They are, again, consistently in that 10, 11, 12 spot. I think they're going to start a little lower this year. One thing that I will say is that I do have a lot of trust in that Cassidy. and Aslani midfield to keep them in and some decent games against the bottom half of the table.
00:23:00
Speaker
So we'll see. they This could easily be a a fourteen thirteenth finish for them. I would not be surprised. I am higher on Parma at 15 than you are, Vos. um I think that the quality of player is still there from this Parma squad.
00:23:11
Speaker
um I think that the that Carlos Coisa is going to come in with a very fresh mindset is going to actually put on a lot of โ it's going to take a lot of risk here, which I think Parma did extremely well last year.
00:23:22
Speaker
They took on a lot of risk. I think they're going to continue to take on that same amount of risk. In games here, they're going to go at a lot of teams. I don't think they're going to sit back. And again, I think that while they did lose basically their front three, which I'm not going to say isn't a huge loss,
00:23:36
Speaker
You still have the likes of Suzuki in that. I still think Bernabe is one of the best midfielders on the bottom half of this table. ah Obviously quite biased here, but Benjamin Kromoski coming in on loan from Inter-Miami. Interesting name.
00:23:48
Speaker
Super, super young. Apparently he's Argentinian. Thought he was American. i think he can play both. But in any case, a name to watch. Very young. Very promising. And of course, bo your your guy Del Prado is still there. So I think this Parma team still has the talent to stay mid-table. I don't know.
00:24:03
Speaker
that they'll really be in the relegation battle when it comes down to the last 10 or so games. So i'm I'm hot in Parma.
00:24:11
Speaker
Yeah, so my 17, 16, 15, very similar to Vosa's. It goes Parma at 17. You both said a lot on Parma. I'm not going to add to too much more. I think that they can stay up.
00:24:22
Speaker
And I want them to stay up because Parma is one of the bigger clubs in Italy. And we were pumped about them coming up last year. So they have a bigger stadium. They own their stadium. So would love to continue to see them stay up. I do think it will be dogfight for them because they lost a lot of their solid players last year.
00:24:41
Speaker
Cremonese at 16. I agree with Vos. The appointing of their manager is huge. he some Some teams that he's managed before getting the shot of Cremonese are the likes of Empoli, Genoa, Torino.
00:24:55
Speaker
And we know where they are where those those teams finish every single year, right? and Anywhere from that 10 to 13 spot doesn't get them relegated. That paired with the fact that I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but Kremonese spent $15 million dollars this summer.
00:25:12
Speaker
That's a ton for a newly promoted side. They got vets, they got young players, and they've they've done it they did a lot of ah handpicking their players. So they have a solid roster, right?
00:25:23
Speaker
One guy ah who's ah who's a big name that we know scores goals and can win you games, Jamie Vardy. They brought him in. Going to be fun to see him in the Serie ah syria And then one guy that we've seen have a big impact. It's heaven for Jamie Vardy. Yeah.
00:25:40
Speaker
ah One ah other addition that we've seen have a big impact. It's okay. One other addition we've seen have a big impact for the squad off of the first two games is Basirito from Lecce. They bought him and he's been a very solid center back for them. So I have Cremonese at 16 and then I have Sassuolo at 15. It was a shock to me that they got relegated when they did. Their up top is very, very strong.
00:26:04
Speaker
loriente scored i think 16 or 18 goals last season to get them up berardi has like the fifth most active goals i think both you said that last episode or logan did they have a strong up top obviously it's going loggs i do agree with you they might struggle to play defense but um it's going to be hard to stop them at attack so that's my 17 16 15.
00:26:24
Speaker
seventeen sixteen fifteen All right, Monson, I'm going to kick it right back to you to take us 14, 13, 12 so you can lead. You can lead some teams there. 14. All right, 14 to I have caari thirteen i have torino twelve i have gena and eleven i have u and essay So leading off with Cagliari, super hard stadium just go get points at, right? They are very good defending their home pitch, which is what you need to stay up.
00:27:02
Speaker
I like their Mercato. If you looked at the players they got, they bought a lot of players from atalanta napoli and inter so they got they kind of went a little bit of the como way in going to get higher clubs backup players or players that can't break into the starting lineup so i really like that from them sebastian eposito esposito sorry about that is one of the players for me for is a key watch that i like them uh bringing and then fuller run show from napoli made the italian national team and the euros obviously
00:27:34
Speaker
It was an embarrassing performance in the Euros, but still made a national team. So that's a big add from them as well. Torino, I have them slipping up speak from the normal 10 spot that they finish every year, kind of like Logan does as well.
00:27:49
Speaker
I just don't, Simeone doesn't have it for me. I don't know where their goals are going to come from. They lost their core in Ricci or the two best players in Samo Ricci and Fania with Savage.
00:28:01
Speaker
They did get Baroni who did overachieve last year with Lazio. But I just think it's going to be too much of an uphill battle for this Torino team. But they are, I like to say this, they are the Serie A. I don't think that they'll struggle or be close to relegation because of how long they've been in this league.
00:28:17
Speaker
um But they will take ah ah stumble for me. Moving up to 12, I have Genoa because Patrick Fiera. He is a good manager. she He motivates this team. They are a pressing machine.
00:28:31
Speaker
They have a very tough stadium to win at. They're extremely hard to break down. Last season, they only allowed 49 goals, which was tied with Lazio, who came in seventh, and two less than Bologna, who won the Copa Italia.
00:28:44
Speaker
So I know that they lost the winter, but... ah In Patrick Vieira, I trust. I think that they will be very strong. if They're going to be extremely hard to get three points out of.
00:28:56
Speaker
That's why I have them in 12th. And then Udinese at 11. This one is kind of the Torino for me this season. They've been in the league. They know the league. They are consistently in the 10 to 12 spot.
00:29:10
Speaker
They finished in 12th last year and they retained a lot of their talent. They didn't lose, in my opinion, too many key players. They did lose Lorenzo Luca, sure, but he was only a 10 goal scorer.
00:29:21
Speaker
um So I think that's pretty easily replaceable. They were able to get a couple of players. I like... ah Zanyol from Napoli. He's an outside back. I think he's a player to watch from them. They got Zanyolo. I don't know what he's going to bring, but at least we know that he's an attacking player and he can bring some electricity if he's healthy, but we'll see if he stays healthy.
00:29:39
Speaker
And they the most important part is they retain Salet from their defense. He's so strong with Christensen. If they get up one nothing it's going to be hard to break down like we saw them. in the San Siro go beat Inter once they got the lead.
00:29:51
Speaker
So for those reasons, that's why I have Udinese at 11, Genoa at 12, Torino at 13, and Cagliari at 14. Cool. Lokes, keep it rolling. Yeah, i think I think I'm with you here, Monson, a lot of this. 14-12, Cagliari, Udinese, Genoa.
00:30:06
Speaker
I completely agree with the Genoa take at 12. I think the main reason that they're here and they're going to stay here is Patrick Vieira and Patrick Vieira alone. Losing Pinamonte is definitely going to be a huge loss, and they're going to have to come back from that.
00:30:18
Speaker
But similar to Udinese here and in similar to Cagliari, who lost McCauley as well, I don't know where their goals are going to come from. All these teams are are definitely hard to play against. I think going to the island for Cagliari is always a tough game.
00:30:30
Speaker
Udinese is incredibly athletic, and so I think that they'll make up for any deficiencies there with the fact that they just have a lot of athletes. I also think that their midfield is quite strong between they have Lovridge, Ekenlick Kamp is one of my favorite players in the entire league.
00:30:43
Speaker
Salette is still on the back line. And then we'll see what Zaniela brings. He's got no knees, but he tends to bring a little bit of firepower on the front line so and very versatile at that. The one big thing I'm going to โ this is my big hot take in the bottom half of the table here. Wait, is your 11? You didn't say your 11.
00:30:59
Speaker
That's my big hot take, brother. I got Kremenese at 11. Oh, wow. I unfortunately have had a very personal front seat to Kremenese playing this year in the first game against Milan.
00:31:11
Speaker
We did lose 2-1 to this Kremen SA team. They actually look really good. I'm not going to lie. And I'm not making excuses for Milan, but we should have won that game. But this Kremen SA team looks very good.
00:31:22
Speaker
A lot of good players out there. you Matsu, you know, the Baskaroto. Kolo Kolo has been all over the pitch every time they've played, especially against Sassuolo. Name up top to watch out for. Okorek.
00:31:33
Speaker
Guy's an absolute animal, absolute beast all over the place, one of the better strikers. And then, come on, I interrupted Mots for this man. Jamie fucking Vardes and the Serie This guy has it in a tank.
00:31:48
Speaker
He left Leicester. He sat back on the beaches of Mallorca for a couple of weeks and said, fuck it, I need to be playing on the pitch. Carmen Asse comes calling. Jamie Vardy in Syria. I'm going to tour a couple of goals and go wild.
00:32:00
Speaker
This is my Monza. This is my Lecce of two years ago. I'm sorry. This is my Lecce of two years ago. i did make a huge mistake last year. I had Monza at 11, which is an absolute fucking debacle. But I do think that there's always... Monza at 11 last year?
00:32:13
Speaker
I don't want to talk about it. I had them pretty high as well, Logue. don't want to talk about it. In any case, there's always one team that gets promoted and does well. Last year was Como. The year before it was Lecce. I think this year is Cremonese. And i do I think that David Nicola, as far as the fact that he is the relegation protector, I think that they're go to they're going to overachieve here at least for one season. The guy's on a two-year contract.
00:32:33
Speaker
So they must see something in the future for Cremonese. I haven't crunched the numbers, but I think Monza in 11 last year was probably the biggest whiff. And I think Cremonese in 11 this year is going to the biggest whiff as well.
00:32:45
Speaker
So you might be holding a crown there, but I could be wrong. By 14 to 11, have a couple similarities. But i what I will say, I think that we all kind of agree here. 14 to 11, it's almost like you have something that you can point to with these teams to say like, okay, this is 100% what they do well and the reason they're going to stay up kind of thing, which I do think is interesting.
00:33:06
Speaker
um But for me, 14 to 11, breaking it down, I have Sessuolo, Caliari. Those two I can 100% flip-flop. I think they're both very good. And then 12, 11, this is another one I think could flip-flop, although Lokes would probably disagree.
00:33:19
Speaker
I have Udinese at 12 in Torino at 11. I don't want to have a lot of repeat of what you guys said, but so I'll be quick here. For me, Sassuolo and 14, they're a Serie A club. I think it's it's kind of like when you talk about like you your Inter, your Udinese, little bit like Genoa, although I have them little more.
00:33:36
Speaker
Did I say Inter? I meant Torino. Torino, I meant Torino. Sorry. It's definitely not Inter. And for me, like what what i what i really like about this team, in the couple games that I didn't watch them in Serie B a lot, I'm not going to say I did,
00:33:49
Speaker
But what I've seen so far this season is that they want to play, like they're not going to just sit deep and be a punching bag. And I think they do have the players to go play. um Namely in that, like they're going to score goals. Like Pinamonte has scored goals in this league.
00:34:03
Speaker
Berardi has scored goals in this league. Loriente has scored goals in this league. The question mark for me is going to be around what is their midfield going to look like? And I think that There is a limited ceiling on that team. The other guy i want to throw out here from a defensive standpoint is Woyo Kulubali, who they just signed um from Leicester. I really liked this player before he went there, um went to Leicester, and I'm happy he's back in the league.
00:34:24
Speaker
So for me, just one of the guys to watch. Again, I'm i'm actually going to another, try to do an episode about some players to watch in the lower, lower ranked teams here. um So I'll give you more detail when we do that. In 13, I have Calgary. I did that because I had to put them above Sass because they are probably my top three favorite teams in the league.
00:34:41
Speaker
And for me, the reason I have Calgary, I think, higher than you guys is... I watched a lot of them last year. I probably watched more Calgary than you guys last year, if I had to guess. And part of the reason they moved on from Nikola, I think they moved on from Nikola.
00:34:56
Speaker
And I would, this is why I think this, they underachieved last year. I think they had some very good players and should not have been in the relegation battle. to that Do I think they should have been competing for top 10? Probably not.
00:35:08
Speaker
But there should have been a sizable gap earlier than what there was. And they did lose some big players, specifically in Piccoli and Zortea. But they added full around to an Esposito, which I do like.
00:35:19
Speaker
The other player I'm going to pull out here is in the midfield is Adopo. He's like a strong, just kind of like a power eight, I would call him. So it's an interesting player to watch. And then the other reason I think I have Cali risk kind of like, I would say this is the the cap on best of like the worst kind of teams.
00:35:35
Speaker
And then I think there's a gap once you get above them is their defense. Luperto Zappa Mina are guys that have been around the block, have been in relegation battles, have been in the league for a long time, know how to put up clean sheets. And like Mott said, it is extremely difficult to go to Sardinia and get three points.
00:35:51
Speaker
And they're going to get that's going to be enough for them to stay where they are. and then 12, 11, I've been in 12 again, again i I'm not like hot on them. You know, they're going to be okay. They're going to be hard to beat. I don't think they're going to score a ton of goals, but they're basically the same thing that they were last year for the most part, like Monsai without Luka.
00:36:12
Speaker
So it's, I think they're going to settle in right where they did. And that kind of brings me into Torino at 11. I love Torino as well. And the reason I have them at 11 is particularly Marco Barroni.
00:36:25
Speaker
They lost Ricci last year, which is big. The question marks around the striker are always going to be there. Who is it? Is it Shea? Is it Duvon? Is it Simeone? Yes. What Barone did so well at Lazio last year, and one of the reasons why most people would agree is he overachieved, is he got the midfield balance right and elevated those players to a level, Gonduzzi and Ravello I'm talking about right right now, they hadn't seen before.
00:36:49
Speaker
And the midfield three that it looks like he's going to go with this year is Kasadai, Eslani, and Illich, all of which are players with the very high ceilings, a lot of potential, and I have a lot of faith in him to get that three right.
00:37:03
Speaker
And from there, that should generate a little bit more offense, and I have a lot of faith in him. So that's why I have Serena. You think Eslani has a high ceiling? I do in a pure number six facilitator role, which Baroni has done correctly in the past.
00:37:18
Speaker
Aslani is, I would say, really good at kind of like what Samuel Ricci was good at, not losing the ball. I think he was a little bit more risky than Ricci in how he plays. But I think that is the right balance to get Kasadae further up the field and Illich further up the field to contribute offensively while having somebody that's sitting very low.
00:37:35
Speaker
to support a defensive line that's actually pretty good in between Mario Pan, Coco. Like, these are guys that have been there, have been around the league, have kind of been in this position before. So I don't think they have enough to break into that top 10, but they're kind of right there in my mind.
00:37:51
Speaker
but I'll be very interested to see if Barone is able to replicate the type of progression that he gave to Lazio last year. I think the Lazio caliber players are much, much better than this Torino side.
00:38:02
Speaker
I think that the Islani coming in is not going to be a huge factor. I think his floor is pretty high. I think he has a very low ceiling. Maybe it's because we watched him back up Hakan who's obviously just miles better at that same spot than Islani but I'm not sure that the caliber of player that Barone is taking on right now is going to be as easy as a job as he had at Lazio remains to be seen but that's my that's why I have Torino so much lower all right we're breaking top 10 here guys so we're gonna go let's go 10 to 7 so the non-European competition spots you guys okay with that
00:38:35
Speaker
I do want to just add really quick. Hopefully, seven does become European spot. We can. we We don't have as many teams in as other leagues, but depending on how our play or our teams do in European, we could potentially earn ah an extra spot.
00:38:51
Speaker
Actually, I'm going to walk this back. We're going to go one at a time for the rest of this. I think we have to because I think there's going to be some disparities and there's going to be some discussion. So starting with 10, let's all say them and then we'll kind of debate, I guess.
00:39:04
Speaker
10. I have Atalanta at 10, which is definitely a hot take. I also have Atalanta. Wow. And I have Latzu at 10. So where do guys go first?
00:39:15
Speaker
Latzu, you can go first. Defend our case here. Okay, I have Atalanta at 10 for a couple of different reasons. Number one is going to be obvious. um Gasparini is no longer at Atalanta.
00:39:27
Speaker
Okay, number two, another obvious reason, Rettegi is no longer at Atalanta and he is going to be a massive hole that they need to replace. Obviously, they do have Skamaka, but I think that they're very different players.
00:39:39
Speaker
Rettegi is super good at link-up play and creating as well as finishing. Well, Skamaka can finish the kind of worldy goals, but struggles in the fundamentals, right?
00:39:51
Speaker
And I think that that's going to, they're going to struggle there. Also, you have Luckman. Is he going to play? What is, what kind of attitude are you going to get from Luckman? Juric is a very old fashioned guy. He might just say, fuck you to Luckman and not want to play him. Although I don't think that's smart.
00:40:07
Speaker
It is great that they do have him in the lineup or at least on the team because Luckman can shoot these guys up the table if he has a similar season as last year. But the main reason is going to be Juric for me and why they're going to finish. They're going to fall to 10th.
00:40:23
Speaker
He is a Gasparini. He came out of the Gasparini system, but does not do the same things as Gasparini. He isn't nearly as offensive. He's kind of 3-5-2, 3-4-2-1 stuck in his ways and going to change if needed. And also he came out in a press conference and said,
00:40:42
Speaker
we're not going to be scoring goals this year. You cannot have the manager, the leader of your locker room saying that to the press. I get it. He's trying to maybe manage expectations because of the departures that they had.
00:40:53
Speaker
But you cannot be saying, we're not going scoring goals this year. If you're at Atalanta team that last season was known for scoring goals and they had 78 goals for, they did lose Ritegi, but...
00:41:06
Speaker
You can't say that as a manager. So for those, those are some of the reasons why I have Atalanta falling down to number 10. those would love to hear why you agree with me. Yeah, I don't have much to add for me. It's in the way you described how Juric plays.
00:41:19
Speaker
The formation is the same as Gasparini, but the way I would describe him, is it's just like a watered down version. And I think that the Lookman one is going to be a big issue. i think there's also question marks. I think the whole vibe of the club, even at the end of last season.
00:41:32
Speaker
was kind of at a negative. And in the direction they went with Juric, I think that it created more negativity because I don't think it was a step forward. i don't think that anybody would say it was a step forward from Gasparini.
00:41:44
Speaker
So I think even the players that are there that are bought in to Atalanta, like, like even like, is Ederson going to want to be there in January? I don't know. Is Bellanova going to want to be there? Is s Scalvini? Like, these are already guys that were linked away. And it's like, there's so much negative going on that I i don't see the positives that come of this, especially with what we saw from Juric last year with Roma, who had probably a better team overall. I mean, we all basically had Roma finishing top four last year.
00:42:11
Speaker
um So that I think that's the main point. The only thing that I will say that um I actually said to you guys before we hopped on here, what could screw up this pick is you're just getting sacked after four games.
00:42:22
Speaker
And the reason I say that, and I texted you guys about this a couple of weeks ago, managers that are 100% available right now. Palladino, Spalletti, Thiago Matza, Jose Mourinho, and the list goes on. like These are all top four managers at this point, or at least guys that are capable of taking on this team.
00:42:40
Speaker
I think Palladino here would be a little bit risky, but that is a very good direction. I think Spalletti with this team would be amazing. I think he could do amazing things with this team.
00:42:51
Speaker
So I think that 10 makes sense for now, but this could look bad if he gets fired in four games and they bring in the right guy. Logs, I want to get you in here, but just to kind of counter that point, both in terms of those names that are out there.
00:43:03
Speaker
Yes, they are. Would those guys want to come here knowing Luckman wants out? Ederson probably will want out next season. Like all these guys, whether they come in or not, like Atalanta is looked at by these players as like a stepping, as a stepping club to get to your next move. So you have to know that going in. and So do those name brands want to come to Atalanta?
00:43:26
Speaker
Good point.
00:43:29
Speaker
Yeah, I'll say my comments. I obviously have Atalanta higher than you guys, but the reason I have Lazio here at 10 is they did nothing to get better from last season. and i Transfer bad now.
00:43:40
Speaker
I was screaming it from the rooftops for the last third of the season that this Lazio team was overperforming by a mile, by a mile. Pedro was driving this team to wins that Pedro had never seen even on Barcelona.
00:43:55
Speaker
I mean, it was absolutely insane what that guy was doing for this squad. Again, not they ban over summer, can't do business. They bring Sarri back in, which is just a sorry excuse for trying to make this team any better.
00:44:08
Speaker
ha. and I don't think that the talent level here is that good. a lot of these guys are incredibly old. They're just another year older. I will say Rovella is an incredibly talented player. in their starting 11 is incredibly old?
00:44:23
Speaker
Zucanyi, who couldn't even get through an international break. I'll give you that. give you Zucanyi. Roman Yoli is an old, old bag. Come on. Guendouzi's not getting any younger.
00:44:34
Speaker
Again, Ravella is a quality player. I think that they are still searching for a quality 10. I think that Tati Castellanos has shown that he can be that nine. And we'll see if Isiksen can continue the form that we saw from last year.
00:44:47
Speaker
But again, I think that there's a ton of other teams at the top of this table, and we already talked about how competitive it's going to be, not making any concerted effort to get better over the summer, whether they were allowed to or not puts them at a severe disadvantage for getting any better than they were last year.
00:45:02
Speaker
I think finishing seventh for them, was it seventh or sixth? Seventh? Last year? Seventh. Seventh last year. fluer Seventh, missing Europe was a miracle for them that they don't have to play any European ball this year.
00:45:14
Speaker
And it'll be a complete surprise to me if they finish any higher than eight, really.
00:45:22
Speaker
Fair points. that's That's my 10. Again, i you know i can see Lazio has some talented players. I just don't think that they're going to make any progress from what they did last year, and they were already ahead of schedule last year.
00:45:32
Speaker
But that does bring us to nine, where I do have a team here that has made progress, was an absolute surprise last year. I do think we'll bring it this season. However, I don't know how much further they will bring.
00:45:43
Speaker
And that's the little lads by the lake. That's Como under Czech Fabregas. I have them at nine. I have ah Bologna at 9. Oh, wow. We are all over the place. I have Fiorentina at 9.
00:45:56
Speaker
Well, you go first because I think this i think you're down on Fiorentina and I want to hear i want to hear why. I am very mixed on Fiorentina because I think it's very like It's it sink or swim. Like, isn't the right word. Like it's boom or bust, I guess is is the way I'm thinking about it.
00:46:11
Speaker
Their roster is very good, but the way that I feel about them is that they need a manager who can actually like coach and elevate players rather than just put guys in the right position to succeed.
00:46:24
Speaker
And the manager that they brought in the Stefano Pioli. who has historically been that man manager, not really a tactician, just puts guys where he thinks it's the right place. And like, we're just going to roll that no matter what, very few changes in the team.
00:46:41
Speaker
And i I don't love that for where this team is at right now. I think especially getting the forward line, right I think Moise Keene last year, was kind of an anomaly. I think he's going to be good in this league, but relying on him that much is not going to be realistic. And I'm not sure that what he has set up out there is going to necessarily work, whether it be with Goodminton under him and Poccoli with him.
00:47:04
Speaker
What, Mots? yeah That is coming from someone who did not watch the Italy games. and the ah I know, but like in what I've seen from them so far this year hasn't been, it's been Pioli ball where it's like, I don't know what is happening and you're just waiting for your best players to make something happen.
00:47:22
Speaker
And on AC Milan, even when they won the league, it was Rafael Leal who was normally that guy and Moise Keane is not as good as Rafael Ant. Like they're basically, we're going to see the same thing we saw with Milan, but with worse players and less experienced players, basically.
00:47:38
Speaker
And I don't love how that's going to work out. The other piece of this puzzle that I haven't seen him get correct yet is the is the midfield. Because I saw Endor and Soam play a lot. I think the best two players to play there are probably Mandragora and Fagioli.
00:47:53
Speaker
And i' I don't know where his head's at in terms of who is going to play there. And it's also very unclear what their role in it is this in this team. Like, is it to progress play? Is it to hold possession? And there's a lot of question marks.
00:48:08
Speaker
And know like, I love everything that Palladino did last year, but I i just don't see Pioli elevating this team. And that's why I have them here.
00:48:17
Speaker
I'm not going to sit here and dog you because I just realized I have Fiorentina at eight. So it's not terribly far off. And again, I think it's, I think that, but what that tells you though, is like the boom or bust of the scene. Like we all agree 100% this is a good roster.
00:48:30
Speaker
And if you brought in like a, again, I keep going back to Spalletti. I think Spalletti could do a lot of really good things with this team and elevate the players. Like he did at Napoli, like Napoli when he won the league was not Napoli yet. Like,
00:48:43
Speaker
He made them Napoli. And he I think this is kind of like a similar stage. I'll be if they don't have like, although I would say like Moise Keane, like last year was kind of like Oseman little bit when he got there. So that's why it's boom or bust for me.
00:49:00
Speaker
I'm, I, again, I'm, I have the Ornette. I don't know why you're that cold on Moise Keene. Guy scored second most goals in the league last year and was rather unstoppable. I'm not cold on him. I'm not cold on him.
00:49:12
Speaker
Where the whole, the whole team didn't show up. um But I do agree to, I think that this is a weird manager selection just because when you, when we talked about Fiorentino last year, it was a hodgepodge of players that had, came in from a multitude of different places with a big chip on their shoulder.
00:49:27
Speaker
It kind of land of the misfits that all came together, all rallied together and have a great season under Palladino. With Palladino leaving, they need they needed to then bring in a guy who now has a core of players who have played an entire season together and give them some direction.
00:49:41
Speaker
Pioli is the opposite of that. Pioli gives no one any direction. He actually lets them give themselves the direction. So it's going be a bunch of guys kind of playing their own style, all different styles, albeit at the same time. So I do think that seeing Fiorentini here With the talent level that they have could be in European ball, but I do think that just based on the talent level that's across the board above them, that they'll end up somewhere by the at the bottom of the top 10.
00:50:09
Speaker
Mods, why do you have Bologna at 9? Yeah, I have Bologna at nine because listen, and I didn't love their Mercato to say the least. I think that they got away from what they normally do and what they normally do is um invest in players that like we don't really know that are young.
00:50:28
Speaker
that they train up and that become very good like califiori like zerg say like in doyen this summer totally different route they did what all italian clubs do and it always prevails to not work and it showed in game one and they bought they brought in immobile who lazio who's a lazio legend who lazio moved on from because he is too old and lazio need a second striker that like he would be they need a backup and they moved on from him because he's old then they brought in bernardeschi who i've seen from juventus just flop so hard and went to the mls so he's been playing in a slower league for the last three or three seasons and now he's coming back to the syria i do not think he's going to have any impact for this club at all and immobile is already out for three three months
00:51:24
Speaker
They have your Europa League ball, which I do think that Italiano is going to put an emphasis on that. So I think that can, the deeper they go in that competition, the more they might struggle in the Serie because it's more games.
00:51:39
Speaker
And then, so those are some of the reasons. ah In terms of, they also lost in Doyne and their center back, Sam Bukema. um They were able to... Yeah, never going to get that one right.
00:51:52
Speaker
They did keep Lukumi, but like... How locked in is he? Is he going to want to leave in January? He was pushing his way out. So I don't know if he's going to stay. So I expect Bologna to fall off this year.
00:52:05
Speaker
And even if you think about it, though, they did come in ninth last year. So it's going to be pretty consistent in terms of what they did last year. But I do think that they came in ninth, but they could have very easily came in sixth.
00:52:17
Speaker
So I don't think it'll be that close. um But those are the reasons why I have Bologna falling to ninth. I'll talk about them in a bit. um who's your Who's your eight Mons? Because, look, you said your eight was Fiorentina, so we can kind of skip over that. yeah I have Lazio at eight.
00:52:34
Speaker
And I have Como at eight. So, Lokes, we can kind of talk about Como at nine, eight. It's kind of similar things. But Mats, why don't you start with Lazio? Because I think that's interesting. Okay. So, first, i I'll issue a small apology to Lazio because I dogged them last year thinking every time that they came up, I said that they sucked and that they're not good.
00:52:51
Speaker
They are still a terribly ran organization by Letito, which showed this summer because they got a transfer ban. Moved on from Baroni, which I didn't love because I do think he vastly overachieved with the squad that they had, um which votes I'll give you your flowers there.
00:53:09
Speaker
With that said, um I don't hate the appointment of Maurizio Sarri. I think that he knows the league. He knows how to win. um he has a good, attractive style of football. The last time Sarri managed for Lazio, they did come in second in the league, albeit it was off of Juventus got minus like 12 points or something, but they did finish in second.
00:53:30
Speaker
um But they didn't bring anybody new in, right? Because of that transfer ban. So they finished last year. I think they overachieved at seven. While they have talented players, they needed to add to the squad to improve, and they weren't able to do that.
00:53:48
Speaker
So they, for me, they're going to be worse. that housing That paired with the fact that last season we saw a, and I brought it up a minute ago, a huge hole when Tati Castellanos went down. They do not have a backup nine. He, they are so reliant on that man to create and score for them that if he goes down, I don't know where the goals come from.
00:54:14
Speaker
For those reasons, I have Lazio at eight.
00:54:20
Speaker
Let's talk about Como. i want I love talking about Como, and I'm sorry that I have him at nine, but i i I have my reasons. But folks, what's up with eight? Como at eight. Yeah, um I think this one, Como's an interesting one because it's the exact same thing as last year. But what I what i will say is that They were great last year. Like they were great for what they did and they're expected to take another step this year.
00:54:43
Speaker
I think that getting into eighth would be a ah big step for them. And I think that everything that Fabregas has done has told me that they're going to make this step. The players that they added last year that they got right, because again, we talk about that transfer window of let's buy up a bunch of good Academy guys and see what happens.
00:55:01
Speaker
They basically did that last year. All the players that worked, they kept. And then they did it again this summer. And it's going to be the same thing. Like, we'll see who get who we get right. And then we'll keep them. And they're not going to whiff on everybody. and But they're they're going to be better than they were last year from strictly roster perspective.
00:55:20
Speaker
And then on top of that, the players that were there are going to be better than they were last year. They have a full season in Serie A. They understand the system better. They have a ton of confidence. Like when you see this team play, they think they're going to win every single game.
00:55:34
Speaker
And the the roster moves that they are making, the players that they're trying to add, especially with kind of like that, even if they're not Spanish, they're players that are particularly coming from Spain who play in a very particular way.
00:55:45
Speaker
It's continuing to gel well together. And you're kind of just getting better everywhere on the field. And there is no reason for me to think that they don't make a jump from 10 to eight this year. I don't think it's a big ask.
00:55:57
Speaker
And the other thing is like, this is another team. I mean, when we're talking about 10 to six, it's like it's basically going to be like a four point difference. They could be like it wouldn't be crazy for them to get into Europe this year. Like it wouldn't be that surprising to me.
00:56:10
Speaker
And like every year i am going to feel like that until they tell me something isn't going to do that. But I could see them being better than like like I talked to about right before we got on here.
00:56:21
Speaker
I have Milan higher than them, but I don't see any reason Como can't just go beat Milan any given day of the week. And that's how I feel about them against every single team in the league. No, think that confidence factor is 100% their biggest attribute.
00:56:36
Speaker
They have a ton of young talent. Like you said, they had this pipeline from Spain, which is going to continue to grow. Sheriff Babergast clearly has ah plan in place and and everyone's bought into that plan, especially the ownership, which is always helpful. well I think that the fan it the fanom fans of Como are continuing to grow outside of Como. I think that they're a growing brand, which is also helpful.
00:56:56
Speaker
I have them at nine, but I can easily see them at eight, seven. Again, like you just said, this seven to nine spot, I think can be pretty interchangeable. It always is every year. I think the seven to nine spot last year was decided, even six was decided on the last day of the season. So this Como team is incredibly exciting to watch.
00:57:12
Speaker
I think that confidence can sometimes turn to hubris and that they they do drop points that they shouldn't be against lower level teams. But as we as you can see from their run, I think there they went from 13 to 10 in a matter of a couple, i think maybe be five or six match weeks to end the season last year. They can go on runs, which is incredibly important here.
00:57:30
Speaker
So I do have Koma at nine. I can see them being an eight, can see them being a seven. Unfortunately, can see them ten as well. So I do think that this area is perfect for them. They will take a step in the right direction whether they finish in any of those four spots.
00:57:41
Speaker
But I do like the project that they're building here. I think they have one more season before they're true, true competitor for that European spot, but they're here to stay for sure. All right, cool. So for our eights, I had Como, Lokes, Fiorentina, and Matsujiu. Just to summarize it again.
00:57:57
Speaker
Lazio. Lazio. Okay. I'll lead on all'll lead on seven because I have i have Lazio at seven. like Like Mott said, all and anybody that listened last year, I am very hot on their roster.
00:58:08
Speaker
They have one competition this year. And I don't think it's the end of the world that they didn't have a Mercato because, again, I think that their core players are still pretty young. And then on top of that, what I like is that everybody's a year older in a positive way for me. Like we said with Tati Castellanos, like we said with... um Sorry, I just blacked something out here.
00:58:29
Speaker
Tati Castellanos, like Rivela, Guendouzi. And then on top of that, they have the they got Consolieri. I don't know how exactly it happened. He must have been on loan, but he was on Parma last year. People were really hot on him, so he comes in as a new signing.
00:58:42
Speaker
But in their defensive line, I feel good about everybody. I think Nuno Tavares, if you get him an extended run of games for a whole season, that's going to be really dangerous. And they do have one competition this year. Last year, they weren't in that place, so I feel really good about it.
00:58:55
Speaker
And then Maurizio Sarri, I've done a full 180 on. I was kind of out on it, particularly because I i didn't like the Baroni sacking. Like, Marino thought it's not the same thing. But the more you think about it, Maurizio Sarri is a very good manager.
00:59:08
Speaker
and Like Mott said, he brought them to second. He then went to Chelsea, came in third in the Premier League, and won the Europa League there. This guy is the real deal. And you give him one competition, he has a very complicated system. it is It's really intricate passing, intricate moving. So I expect him to start very slow.
00:59:26
Speaker
But on one game a week, they are practicing all the time, and they don't really need players to rotate because it's not like a high-intensity style of play necessarily. And I see this like a second half of the season, they're going to be horrible to play against, and they're going to be very good, and that's why I have them at seven, particularly because of that slow start to the season that I expect.
00:59:45
Speaker
And then, I mean, that's out for them winning 4-0 against 4-0.
00:59:50
Speaker
Lash in the pan. Seven for you guys because you guys already kind of said lots it before. Yeah, Mats, why don't you take Como at 7? Yeah, I have Komo at seven for a lot of reasons you guys said in terms of how yeah we think they can finish in a European spot potentially or eight or even nine, just making a jump from what they did last year at 10.
01:00:11
Speaker
Reason why i'm just gonna go quick here. They spent 107 million in the Mercato this year, right? And they did it in the same exact way, Vos's point, they did last year. They evaluated younger talent and they executed on that, right?
01:00:24
Speaker
We saw what Nico Paz did last year. We saw what Ascendiao did last year. I have no reason to believe that the young talent that they bought this year are not going to do is not going to do the same thing. And then says Fabregas and the progressive style of play that Como have. They want to keep the ball.
01:00:41
Speaker
They don't care who they're playing. They're going to try to score. And I love his mentality, Fabregas. If they're winning 1-0, we're not going to go try to hold the 1-0. We're going to go try to kill the game, get two or three goals.
01:00:55
Speaker
And the best time type of team to do that is with young players. They don't know anything better. all they They want to run around, they want to press, they want the ball, they want to score goals. They don't know anything better. going playing with no pressure because of the team that they, like they're a Como.
01:01:10
Speaker
they They were promoted two years ago. They are trying to prove themselves, make a name for themselves, get a ah potential big move, or even get Como into European and stick with them.
01:01:21
Speaker
So I expect a lot from Como and their young talent. um I do think there'll be some growing pains, but I think that there'll be some huge upsets with this team as well. um So that's why I have them taking a jump this year and just missing a europas are a European spot at seven.
01:01:38
Speaker
Mons is so scarred from years of Juve scoring one goal and then parking the bus that every single time he sees a team try to go score a goal after they're already up, he absolutely goes nuts for it.
01:01:49
Speaker
This is like a traumatic experience for you. I don't know. mean, it's not just Juve. Italy does the same thing. like they It's just the soccer that I grew up on. It's a one-nothing and go so defend.
01:02:00
Speaker
Hey, it gets you top four most of the time, so can't really knock it. Most of the time. Lokes, here's your seven. I've got Bologna at seven. I might be the biggest Bologna hater of all time.
01:02:13
Speaker
But how you are. um if you are As we were going through this table, and I was just thinking about it. You know last year, Bologna lose their best attacker and their best center back in and Cal Fiore and in Zerxe, both doing the Prem.
01:02:26
Speaker
Then coming into this season, same thing. They lose Bocamata Napoli. They lose Endoy to the Prem. And they continue to have a really good start, really solid start here to the season.
01:02:37
Speaker
Vincenzo Italiano clearly has these guys in a a beautiful system. They've all bought in. They still have a lot of quality in this roster. I think that if Castro can take that next step forward, the idea that a mobile is the is there will be non-existent.
01:02:52
Speaker
I don't think that Bertadeschi comes in and makes a difference either. So I don't know if even that's a factor about what what this team is going to be. My one concern with this Bologna squad is that they do, they offer winning the Copa Italia, they do get a Europa League spot, and I don't want them to get caught up in that tournament. I do not think that they have enough quality to be playing and to be focused on more than one competition, which they should be focused Classic Logues.
01:03:18
Speaker
Punt it, punt it, punt it. Don't punt everything, but like what do you what is Bologna you going to do in Europa League? I don't think they have a a single chance of getting past the knockout stage.
01:03:30
Speaker
I disagree. Again, I guess um' I just I hate Bologna, but the problem is I don't want to be wrong on them again. So I have to have them this high on the table competing for a European spot again because I've been wrong so many times and I've been wrong about these players in the talent level that they have.
01:03:46
Speaker
I'm hedging Bologna at seven. Over your Gumar. you right Over my Gumar because I'm also scarred from pee the Pioli days. I don't know what he's going to do with Fiorentina.
01:03:57
Speaker
right, I will talk about them in a bit. But that brings us into your first European spot, allegedly. that There could be a... Seven could be a European spot. But anyway, sixth place conference league spot. I have Milan. You're just such a dumbass.
01:04:10
Speaker
Who do you guys have? have Fiorentina at six. Wow. And I've got Atlanta at six. Wow, okay. Interesting. do not saying You You stu-na. Atlanta's crazy. Okay.
01:04:24
Speaker
Atalanta adds six. Let me tell you something about Atalanta, all right? Ivan Juric is a horrible manager. i will not deny that fact. But this squad is unbelievably stacked.
01:04:35
Speaker
not they They've gotten better since last year. Again, don't get wrong. i know we They did not get better since last year. That sounds crazy, right? That sounds crazy. They'd lose the best score in the league. and the The defense gets strong. They bring back a healthy scalvini finally.
01:04:49
Speaker
They bring in Kerstovich from Lecce, who had a great season last year on a horrible team. That's exactly what Rategi did the year before. Maybe Kerstovich takes the same step here. I do think that Lookman is going to be playing on this team. I don't think Lookman is going sitting on the wayside because if that's really the case, come January, the only people looking at him is to Galatasaray, and I don't think he wants to go play in Turkey.
01:05:09
Speaker
This man's going play. He's going to put it out there. They still have CDK, who came off a great season last year. They have two guys that did not get minutes last year that I think will this year. We got Samarjic and my other buddy with the B. Someone help me out.
01:05:24
Speaker
brushing needy We got Vos' boy in Bellanova. Obviously, Ruggeri left, so we still have Zappacosta off the left. I think that Kasunu is a great center back, and they also have a really strong goalkeeper. i think this Let's not forget that Ederson is still there.
01:05:38
Speaker
Ederson did not make a single ask to leave this summer. Yes, he was linked to Man City in the middle of last season. Links this summer had fallen off. I think that this man wants to play in Atalanta. I think this Atalanta team and is quality. I do not think that they are a Champions League quality team.
01:05:52
Speaker
But it's hard for me to say that the caliber of player on the squad doesn't do better than all the four teams I just talked about in the other top 10. They do have good players on their team, but they're also in the Champions League, depending on how that goes.
01:06:04
Speaker
Might get off to a rough start, um although then they might sack you. got to I've got a solution for you. I've got a solution for you. Bag the Champions League? Yeah, what else did you do? Mots, you want to go? This is an interesting one.
01:06:15
Speaker
charina i like this is interesting um Yeah, I got Fiorentina at six. i I didn't love obviously moving on from the manager last year. And then i think that because i didn't watch Milan as much as you guys did under the Pioli era, I don't necessarily hate him as much as you guys do.
01:06:34
Speaker
But once again, Milan la left but or lost him two seasons ago or last season or whatever. He wasn't managing and you guys were like, they need him back. Like, especially Logan, he issued the apology in Italian. So, cause he, he's been in the league. He's won the Scudetto.
01:06:48
Speaker
Yes, he doesn't have the tactics. Sure. But he's a great man manager and he's proven that he can manage in multiple competitions, which Fiorentina is in. With that said, I like their Mercato a lot.
01:07:01
Speaker
They spent $91 million. They just got in um Hans Nicolucci from Venezia. I think that was a great buy. They got in Som from Parma, another midfielder. Great purchase.
01:07:11
Speaker
So now they have those two players, Fajoli and Mandragala, at center mid. That is a fantastic center mid four. Then you look at their up top, and they have Moise Keane, who...
01:07:24
Speaker
i is incredible if he doesn't wear a Juventus jersey. um You have Gudmundsen, who I expect to be healthy and play a lot more this season, and we know what he can do when he's healthy. You bought Pekoli, although you vastly overpaid for him.
01:07:38
Speaker
Another option up top, and I don't like this signing, but it is a depth piece, and he has proven to score a lot of goals in Dzeko. So you got four strikers and four very solid center mids.
01:07:49
Speaker
You were able to retain Kamuzo, Dodo, and Gosen, so you have good wingbacks, good defense. And you were able to keep De Gea, who had a very good season last year, who ah started off the season very hot in terms of saving goals.
01:08:02
Speaker
So I think that they have a very good team. They were able to retain players that they needed. They added depth in areas that they needed. And I don't hate Pioli as much as you guys do. And I think he's actually a very solid manager where he might lack tactics.
01:08:15
Speaker
I think this club or these players actually have a lot of strong players that they don't necessarily need the tactics like Fajoli can create. um I think Hans Nicolucci is a great number six for Giusta.
01:08:28
Speaker
Mandragala is a great creator and scorer. So I really like this team. I think that Fiorentina is usually right in that seventh spot. I think they take a step this year to six. Well, actually they finished sixth in last last year too. So I think that they can get hot and rattle off some wins
01:08:45
Speaker
All right, and i got um i have I've got Milan at six. It's just rude. I mean, it's just rude. Well, here's here's the way I'm thinking about it, because I think, like, when they hired Allegri, I felt really good about it, and I think they are going to get into the European spot.
01:08:58
Speaker
my My concern with it is I don't know who's going to score the goals in the way that they want to play, because I think at Allegri's Juventus, You kind of had like a number nine who would kind of induce on like he didn't score a ton of goals, but he was there in that one spot every time to try to get that goal.
01:09:17
Speaker
You had Weston McKinney who will run forward, make the runs into the box, get some headers, get some weird goals that way. In Rafael Leal and Christian Pulisic, I think are going to have a really hard time playing for Allegri and not get a lot of goals.
01:09:31
Speaker
There's so many question marks around who the number nine is. And then your best player, whether he wanted to play there, it seems that way, is at the base of your team, basically in the back line the entire time in Luka Modric.
01:09:43
Speaker
And while I think he's going to stabilize the ship and this team is not going to concede a whole bunch of goals this year, I still am worried about how you're going to generate goals. And I think teams above them are going to be better at that. um And yeah I mean, i we're going to talk about them. we We've talked about them a bunch.
01:09:57
Speaker
So I don't really want to get into it too much. I'm sure you guys have them at highest at four. and I'd be getting into it. Don't you worry. And I don't think there's ton points there. logs You're talking Loges. don't want hear 10-minute rant here on Milani. Yeah, you're talking โ Loges had them at two last year, and they finished in eighth. So he's definitely got them higher than four. It was close. It was close.
01:10:15
Speaker
All right, so that breaks โ I have them โ Oh, yeah, go ahead, Monson. I have them at five. So we can just kind of piggyback off of that because I do agree, Vos, that I don't know where their goals are going to come from.
01:10:27
Speaker
And like Allegri can stabilize the ship, sure. I do not trust or believe in Allegri after what I saw from Juventus 2.0. His ability to adjust his tactics when needed is not an ability. Like, he can't do it. He's going to be 3-5-2, and I don't think you guys have the players for a 3-5-2. You're going to play Liao or Pulisic in the Chiesa role, which is like and a striker, but he's not really a striker.
01:10:58
Speaker
He's on the wing. And you have very good attacking players, but he's he he refuses to play a trident with three players up top. He always only does two players. So that's going to, you're going to have to sit in Kunku or Pulisic or Jimenez.
01:11:14
Speaker
One of your strong attackers is going to be on the bench and he's going to have Loftus, Cheek and Rabiot in all the time because that provides balance. And I think that if you guys get up one nothing, you're going to sit back and allow goals or allow teams to get opportunities. And we see in today's game, if you sit back and allow teams to create, they will get a goal at the end of the game. It will happen.
01:11:39
Speaker
That paired with, I don't love your center backs. They're very suspect. i And setting up with the way that Allegri likes to set up so defensively, What is that going to cost? cost But the reason why I do have them in the fifth spot, the Europa League, is because of Luka Modric. I mean, just world class. Like, he is just going to win you guys' games, especially if he plays the full 90.
01:12:03
Speaker
I don't know what that happened or what that will mean for Ricci. That might stunt his growth, but like... I mean, Luka Modric is just pure class. Watch him ah every single time. If you're watching Milan game, keep your eyes on him. Number 14, I believe, so good.
01:12:19
Speaker
He is a general on the pitch. I think he will put it the put all 10 guys on the pitch on his back and say, we're getting Europa. We're getting a European spot because he's so class.
01:12:30
Speaker
And then obviously you do have very strong attackers. I just don't know how they're going to mesh and how what's what it's going to look like. But I literally have you guys fifth because of Luka Modric, and that is that's it.
01:12:42
Speaker
Interesting takes, my friends. Interesting takes. i'll do I'll do my five, too, because you guys already talked about this team. um i have Bologna in fifth. I think they're going to be just fine this year. I think they're going to be good in the Europa League or their comp. Yeah, the Europa League.
01:12:57
Speaker
I have absolute faith in Italiano. I managed that correctly. He did have Fiorentina time and time again. And on this team, I just think they're exceptional, to be honest with you. I thought they were very good last year.
01:13:08
Speaker
And I think they're going to be better this year just because like the players that they did keep again, they're like kind of like younger guys that are getting better, particularly in Santiago Castro. I legitimately think this guy is going to be in contention for Golden Boot this year. I think he's going to be that good.
01:13:24
Speaker
And in Dan and Doy, you basically have eight goals, four assists you need to replace. You can do that a number of different ways. You can have a couple guys rotating there. um But Kambiagi is the guy they picked to start the season, and he looked phenomenal in what he's done so far.
01:13:37
Speaker
So I think that is actually a replaceable like goal output and c assist output. The other thing is, Orselini is still somehow getting better. not like He's not what what he was. like He is continuing to get better in dominating games himself.
01:13:52
Speaker
And I feel really good about this team, and I have a lot of faith in Italiano. And again, they kept a lot of players. And Bologna kind of were like a, ah what's it called? Snowballing last year.
01:14:04
Speaker
Like they started slow and just got better and better and better. And I don't see any reason to think that ends now. um And again, it's, it's their key players for me that, that are just going to be great this year. I have no, no lack of confidence in Castro and Orselini to just will this team to this spot.
01:14:24
Speaker
You are the biggest baloney lover, so it makes this does make a lot of sense. but Baloney? I agree with you. Baloney. also do love baloney. It's great. i think I do agree with you, though. I mean, I have him at seven, but I just think that i think that losing those guys is is something that you do need to figure out.
01:14:39
Speaker
I think that ignore it your take of Castro possibly being golden booted You got lucky Immobile went down because they started Immobile game one. They were going to start. Like, it makes no sense to me.
01:14:51
Speaker
It makes no sense to me. The guy called Ritegi. My tack or starting Immobile? He's got the ball. and He's got the crystal ball. You think it's a really bad take? No, I don't think it's a really bad take at all. I mean, he's going to be. No, I'm asking Mops.
01:15:05
Speaker
Castro is as I don't think he's going I think mean how many goals he had last season under 10 I don't think he makes that big of a jump and maybe it happens now because Immobile is out for like three months but if he wasn't it seemed like Immobile was going to be their guy which I don't understand why but we'll see I mean they got great young talent like I don't deny that and they're great at developing that young talent I just think this season they didn't go for young talent I don't know why Lokes, you're fifth here. and We got to get it to the... Yeah, I got a hot i got a hot take here. I got a hot take. I don't think people are gonna like this call, but I've thought about it a lot, and I have Roma at five.
01:15:45
Speaker
I've got Roma at five because as I continue to look at the roster, I don't love it. It doesn't excite me as much as it had previously. I think that this ah the front attack is not as it's not as lethal as once thought.
01:16:01
Speaker
We obviously did a Roma episode a couple of weeks ago, and we were rather positive. I think that's obviously biased because we had two big Roma fans on the pod as well for that. But in any case, I do think that this team runs pretty thin once you get past that starting 11.
01:16:14
Speaker
I think that the back line has a lot of work to do. I've never been a fan of Mancini, although has shown up in in certain games and... is obviously service-borne. I'm not one to talk about center backs being a Milan fan, but if Svilar has to continue to be Svilar last season, that also doesn't bode well. That means that they're not putting enough goals in the net on the other end of the pitch.
01:16:36
Speaker
I do think that they... I made a note about this in the first two games, but Pizzili and Baldanzi didn't really show up. I do think that they need to step up for this team to truly be that gaunt the that true...
01:16:47
Speaker
contender in the season because again like i said i think this roster to me just seems very thin um and very and very important parts i know kone is going to be obviously leading this midfield and he's going to play probably every single minute of every single game of every single competition this year so it'll be interesting to see who they put next to him whether it's a new signing or if it's brian the entire season um but again it just doesn't excite me i think evan ferguson is a great striker it's upsetting to see dovic take a second seat there because i do think that he could have taken us another step forward But if that's not the case, then that's just not the case.
01:17:18
Speaker
It really, it'll be interesting to see if Leon Bailey comes back from injury and actually does something for this front line. And if he's actually the player that we saw in Aston Villa and Leverkusen before that, or if he's just past his prime.
01:17:31
Speaker
And again, you know, we all love Dybala, but if he's only playing a third of the games, it's going to be really tough for him to really be part of this team. So I love Gasparini. We all love Gasparini. I think that this roster fits him well. I just don't know if the depth is there for Roma to make a run.
01:17:45
Speaker
All right. To each their own. That brings us to top four Champions League spots and Scudetto winner. At number four, I guess I'll lead. and We all got the same. We all the same?
01:17:57
Speaker
All right. That's great. Interact four, baby. Interact four. The jump call begins. Who wants to start? Because I think we've kind of covered them at length in previous episodes and the season preview.
01:18:08
Speaker
So we can kind of make this quick, to be honest with you guys. But whoever wants to take over and start, war like why you made this pick. Well, I think we can all agree that Kivu is probably the biggest reason for the drop here. I think that the the play style, the players are all still there. to a certain extent, again, we talk about it a lot one year older for a lot of these guys. So definitely an aging lineup. They do go out and get Manuel Akanji to book bolster that back line, who we think of Cherubi is certainly taking a step back.
01:18:34
Speaker
But I'm not sure that Kivu is the guy that's going to take them into the next level, especially coming off a season where they bottle four competitions. I think to piggyback off that, their Mercato to me at question marks, if you look at their targets that they went after, they got none of them. Leone, top target, didn't get him. Luckman, top target, didn't get him.
01:18:53
Speaker
Who's the third one that was a top target that they didn't get? They tried to get Kone for a second. Kone, perfect. top target not Maybe not top target, but wanted him, didn't get him. Then they bring in Akonji, but then they sell Pavard, so they're in the same exact spot. Now they're possibly looking at maybe playing a back four with Bastoni and Akonji as the two center backs and DeMarco and Dumfries as the outside backs.
01:19:17
Speaker
That... very much hinders two of their best players in their, but doesn't put play them in their best positions. Obviously, that's speculation. We don't know if that's going to happen. We'll see. And then, like you said, both last episode or two episodes ago, they don't have that one-on-one guy that can go take their man on and be the guy and create an opportunity. So for those reasons, um I think Inter takes a step back.
01:19:41
Speaker
Yeah. And to wrap it up again, something that we talked about since last season, ah the mentality, I have question marks around it. We so particularly in staying in games defensively, we've seen lapses.
01:19:52
Speaker
And then I think you could probably take it further than that in how they did perform last season in, in the competitions. Like they, they got there and could never get it done. And I think that's weighed on them. yeah, There hasn't been enough positives for me to say they're they're going to be a Scudetto winner this year.
01:20:08
Speaker
They're going to be as good as they were last year. i think it's stepped back more. And they didn't really improve the areas they needed to improve to to close that gap. And players are getting older, and I think that is the question.
01:20:21
Speaker
But we're going to be talking about them all year, and it's still like we still all have them in our top four. to so So to say like, well, their roster alone their players that they have are obviously very strong. Like the names that you go through the list is the reason why I i can't put them out of the top four because of the pound for pound talent.
01:20:40
Speaker
And just by being top four, you are inherently still a Scudetto competitor. Like in they if they won the league. It's not like we'd be like, oh, my God, like that is such a surprise. Like it's still possible.
01:20:52
Speaker
And they could easily like win this and it wouldn't be all that shocking to any of us. They're not coming in forth because we're all in agreement. So we'll have to see it where they come in. All right. Number three, Mats, who lead?
01:21:04
Speaker
I have Roma at three. I also have Roma. So we can we can tag team this one. Why don't you guys go tag team yourself? We'll go. And then I can talk about Milan. Logs, you go next. Yeah. Mats, thoughts on Roma.
01:21:17
Speaker
Listen, this was the biggest struggle for me in my in the this table or the upper half of the table was the Roma inter in Milan. I really liked Logan's take in terms of their depth.
01:21:27
Speaker
um I could see Roma finishing as high as three. I could see them being in fifth and missing the Champions League spot. I do think the depth, Gasparini will probably talk all season about how they lack depth and how the it's a two-year project to get to Champions League just to push some of the expectations off of him.
01:21:44
Speaker
But... we That said, i have them at three because of that man, Gasparini. He has finished, or with Atalanta, he has missed the Champions League twice since 2020. So he's pretty consistently got them in the Champions League.
01:21:59
Speaker
And this Roma team have a better core, in my opinion. Gasparini has also been able to resurrect some players. We know that Pellegrini has taken a huge step back.
01:22:12
Speaker
right So, to to your point, Logos, about the depth up top, maybe they get Pellegrini in and he can find some old form to kind of help that that depth out up front. I think that they have a great balance of young, hungry players trying to prove themselves and veterans who have been in the league, have been around the block and know the Serie And then just this the attacking style.
01:22:36
Speaker
I think that this league is slowly trending into you need to score goals to win games, although the defense is still very, very important. But the more goals you get, ah but the better your teams are going to do. Obviously, the more games you're going to win. And that is Gasparini's style of play.
01:22:53
Speaker
Let's go attack. Let's go score as much as we can. And although they I agree with Logan, they don't have a ton of depth in their front three, they have quality in the players that they have, and they have a ton of goals in those players.
01:23:06
Speaker
So that's why I have Roma at three votes. What are your reasons? Yeah, I mean, I have this. They could win. like an i I wouldn't be surprised. Like, Gasperini's been so close with worse teams. But for me, like, the first thing, and the depth thing, I think, is actually a bad take.
01:23:25
Speaker
Because they were in three competitions last year, came in fifth, were, like, kind of surprisingly knocked out of the conference league. And then they got they basically added four starter caliber players in the summer.
01:23:39
Speaker
So that's Wesley. That of convinced me right there. Evan Ferguson, Elione, whatever his name is. I can never get that one right. And Daniel Gilardi, who is a presumable long-term starter at some point. Leon Bailey.
01:23:50
Speaker
Oh, I forgot about Leon Bailey. Yeah, who did get hurt. Yeah, i said Wesley. So if you think about this as from like a pure like math game, like in my head, like I'm i'm like logically really thinking about this.
01:24:02
Speaker
They finished in fifth last year and could not have started the season any worse than they did. And pretty much everybody agreed upon they were a top three team in the league by the end of the year. Then what do they do in the summer? They got a better manager in Gasparini and added four starters.
01:24:17
Speaker
And you're playing in the same number of competitions. You've added a better manager. You've added better players to your starting you're starting roster. That pushes you higher up the table mathematically, like just like from a logical perspective.
01:24:32
Speaker
So that's why I have them in three. There's no reason to think they don't just keep this form going. They started the season well. And I would even put like who we haven't seen, like what what Logue said, Pizzilli and Baldanzi.
01:24:44
Speaker
Both of them were kind of
01:24:48
Speaker
surprises, I would say last year, particularly in Pizzoli. So now you have two guys who aren't necessarily in your starting 11, but on any given day can play against any team in Serie A when somebody does get hurt or you do need to rotate the squad to go and compete in those other competitions.
01:25:02
Speaker
So for me, there's no reason to think that they're not going to elevate once again this year. And that's why I have them in third. One other thing I'll quickly add that I forgot to say is they really didn't lose ah bunch of key players at all. Like they lost Shomaradov and Paredes. That was really their guys that like played a lot of minutes last season.
01:25:21
Speaker
And they were the best team from December on and they kept everybody that is of importance and then just added players around them. So yeah, that that's a great take, Bost. And Lowe's, you can do Milan here.
01:25:34
Speaker
Third place. I'll keep it short. I mean, I think from my perspective, Milan and third, we're we're on one competition. We bring in Allegri here. and We bring in Allegri's son, so now he's not going to bitch the entire season that we don't have his son.
01:25:48
Speaker
But the real the real thing here is when the news broke that we finally got to Shari in early August, and we and then we very quickly got Cody DeWidger thereafter, the outlook for this team could not have been higher.
01:26:01
Speaker
Now, then... have a very strange end to the window, which again, I think is is not to say it's not concerning, but it's not the players on the pitch. I agree that we don't go out, we don't get another center back, which we all knew was a huge hole.
01:26:17
Speaker
But at the end of the day, we do get DeWinter and we do have three center backs right now that have a ton of experience, whether better for worse. As Mott said, we got Luka Modric, who apparently is pulling the strings and telling Allegri where he wants to play. And so be it, he wants to play at the bottom of the triangle.
01:26:33
Speaker
Fine. You want a Ballon d'Or winner to play where he wants to play? I'm not going to argue. So if Ricci needs to play out of position so Mr. Ballon d'Or can go play where he wants to fucking play, let him go play there.
01:26:47
Speaker
I do think that long-term it's going to be very helpful that Rishi is playing underneath Modric in some way, shape, or form. um So from a long-term perspective, that's great. From this season, though, something that, again, was a bit of a surprise here at the end of the window and and shouldn't and shouldn't have shouldn't be something of concern is that we go out and get Nkunku, who think is eat an absolutely incredible player.
01:27:07
Speaker
Again, we talked him last week when we when this whole thing broke down, but very good player almost one of the better players in in Bundesliga before he goes to Chelsea has to come back comes it has to kind of get a redo here which is totally fine we've done that with a bunch of players most notably Pulisic who came from Chelsea as well I think that this team again on one game a week if If Montridge is playing 90 minutes every single game because he can, when Joshari goes back off of injury, which may be in three months, which may be in nine months, who knows? But we have a ton of midfielders that we can put in there regardless. We do have Ruben Loftus-Chic, who we are I'm a fan of, Vos. I know you're a fan of.
01:27:44
Speaker
I think that he will be able to help us on putting some goals. He was a 10-10 guy a couple of seasons ago. My biggest concern is how we're going to play layout because I am reading a lot that we're going to try to put him as a traditional nine, which is just so bad.
01:27:57
Speaker
You bring it in Kunku, who played at all four spots in the front line, meaning right wing, left wing, Cam, and nine. um RB Leipzig team. Why he's not going to be the traditional nine, and even if he plays as a false nine, I don't know.
01:28:09
Speaker
That keeps Leao in his natural position off the left. You can play Pulisic off the right or even drop him in as a 10. Then that allows you to also have Santi Jimenez to have a natural position there and not give up on him. So we do have a lot of options here. I do know where the goals are going to come from.
01:28:20
Speaker
there It's very clear. Those top four guys are going to score goals. We have Modric, who was a a much more much more creative player than we've ever had in a very long time. Big facility. Tajani Rinders.
01:28:33
Speaker
I, Mondridge is much more creative in terms of facilitating the, from the midfield position than Reinders. If Reinders was completely progressive and was scoring goals himself, Mondridge is going to be a very different player from that profile.
01:28:44
Speaker
Again, i do think that if we go to a back four, that's going to help a lot because you're taking one of our center backs off the field, which is where our weakness really is. If we continue to be a back three, at least Cody DeWinter is going to get more minutes.
01:28:55
Speaker
So again, i think one game a week, Allegri has his son and we have a ton of goal scorers up front. I feel good about this Milan team finishing at third. They have one goal in mind. That's to win the Scudetto. They're going to fall short. We're coming to third.
01:29:07
Speaker
My question is laughing at. Yeah, i go ahead. mom I was just laughing at the second reason why Milan can come in our third is Allegri has his son. I've been thinking about him the entire season. Well, he's staying in France, serious serious how is he? How's his mom? Seriously, serious question here, because everything you just said is exactly what you said before last season started.
01:29:29
Speaker
And then you said it again after the January window because they revamped the whole team. And now things were going to change. So this is the third time you're now tripling down on that. What is different between now and those other two times?
01:29:43
Speaker
so This is a serious question. i understand I understand your question. I understand your question. Number one, third time's the charm. Number two, Ballon d'Or. Modric is, I mean, Mots is right. Modric is going to be an absolute game changer here, especially because we do not need to play him over three competitions.
01:30:03
Speaker
I don't think that there's anything to argue there. And then I just think that the quality of player coming off the bench in in the different holes is much better. is much We have a lot more experience coming off the bench. No matter who we're playing in that midfield three or midfield two, it's more experience than what we had before.
01:30:20
Speaker
So I do think, and the fact that even in Allegri 2.0, no matter how boring it was and how terrible the football was, even you've said this before, Vos, he got results. He was down four. He was in Champions League ball.
01:30:32
Speaker
Yeah. So with that with that in mind, i can't I can't sit here and go against Allegri. im i I don't love โ I didn't love the hire at the beginning. I love that he was in good contact with Tari. That kind of fell through at the end of the window here.
01:30:46
Speaker
I think that we have quality coming in. I have to be positive about this team because if not, I literally will go and never watch the Serie A again and just watch the Prem for the rest of my life. I just like Liao. I don't buy the playing Liao at the nine spot. He is going, he's going to put, it's going to piss you off though, the way that Allegri would play him. He's going to play in the case role where it's like you have a nine and a left winger and then nobody else next to them.
01:31:13
Speaker
and So it just it won't work. I do think that what I'm concerned about is like you put Liao and Nkunku up top. They don't want to press or be in formation defensively at all. They're both pretty lazy and when it comes to that, which Allegri not going to like. So I don't see them. I don't know if they play a lot together, which I think will hurt them. lay The layout laziness, I agree with, but we talked about this off the pod.
01:31:39
Speaker
but The Nkunku laziness slander, I don't think is true. You can't play and make excel at Leipzig and be lazy. it's not It's just not possible. i the fact that And the fact that he's getting that that nomenclature from playing at Chelsea, where for a very long time, every player just went into a black hole.
01:31:54
Speaker
I'm not surprised that he has a lot of red flags that may or may not be true. What I will say is that i've I predict Nkunku, and this isn't like a hot take or anything, to be very good in this league. He is extremely good in tight spaces with players around him on getting by those players.
01:32:13
Speaker
And that is what this league is. They're going to set up tactically in low blocks against Milan because the they have the better players. And I think Nkunku should thrive in that situation. And then also...
01:32:25
Speaker
on the other, on the flip side, on counterattacks with Liao, who will also be very good. So I'm very excited to watch Nkunku this season for this year for Milan. All right, that brings us to number two.
01:32:37
Speaker
go up apparently we all have the same number two which is also insane because i thought that was kind of a hot take when i put it there but mots i don't think me and logan are going to say anything here i think you can just take this one i don't want to say anything here because you guys are doing this to try to do the jinx you guys put them high to try to jinx them and then you can be like juventus was bad the whole time we knew it we're putting him at two because we are jinxing them but In reality, they're a good club.
01:33:05
Speaker
they that They have a good squad. They have a good squad. Okay, so let's start. Number one, key factor here. Bremer is back. but When Bremer was playing last season, and we did not concede one goal until he got injured.
01:33:20
Speaker
That is an insane stat. I think we played eight or nine games. Just no goals were scored. Just ah shut out every single game. If he can stay healthy, we're going to be competing for the Scudetto.
01:33:33
Speaker
Number two, Yieldiz. This is his season to prove himself, to take that next step into becoming a top-level player and like a golden boy, if you will.
01:33:45
Speaker
um He's going to be playing game in and game out. Tudor's already said he's playing him in his position. He's going to be playing him or playing through him. He's going to be creating. He's going to be looking to attack. Number three, we have an extremely deep front three.
01:34:03
Speaker
We have six players that can play almost anywhere in the front three, or we can make shift in-game tactics to change around. um I do have hopefully a video coming out of how Tudor can line this Juventus team up.
01:34:17
Speaker
So keep an eye out for that. But you have Jonathan David, who's a proven 20 goal scorer game, 20 goal scorer a season guy. um You have obviously Yildiz. You have Konsei Sao, who, albeit struggles with his decision making, is a fiery player who wants to take on your man. He has the right mentality.
01:34:35
Speaker
You have Vlaovic, who although is extremely streaky, he does score double-digit goals every single season in the Serie right? Sometimes it's 10, sometimes it's 20. You don't know what you're going to get, but he is a proven goal scorer.
01:34:48
Speaker
He brought in Zagrova, who is was extremely efficient from for Lille, and I'm very excited to see what he has. And then you have Appenda, who has 50 goal contributions, is one of five players, so he has 50 goal contributions in the last two seasons.
01:35:03
Speaker
So you have... i extremely strong attacking players. Number yeah four, Tudor knows Juventus' DNA and he knows what is required. He knows winning means everything. He knows we have to win. We have to go fight. We have to do what's necessary to get the three points where last season, I think Monta struggled with him, was okay with a lot of draws.
01:35:27
Speaker
And I think we've already seen that in the small sample size that Juventus, that Tudor has managed Juventus for. He's willing to go for it and go get the win. Number five, People forget that this is the Serie this is Italy, and Juventus just dominate Italy.
01:35:44
Speaker
They have 36 Scudettos, 38 if you realize that this league hates how much they win, and they took two away for cheating, even though it wasn't cheating. Sooner or later, it's going to happen. Juventus is inevitable.
01:36:00
Speaker
and I don't think it's going to be this year because the gap between number one is very large, but they're going to take the steps needed to close that gap to win the Scudetto one of the next two or three years because they own this league.
01:36:16
Speaker
And for those reasons, Juventus will finish second.
01:36:22
Speaker
I've got nothing else to say. You covered it. You covered it for me. Yeah, and I would just say that for me, the biggest thing for at least the top two teams here was that these are the two teams the league that are the most balanced at all three phases of the game.
01:36:37
Speaker
And Juventus have, if not the best defense, definitely the second best defense in the league. So with that being said, you have the what Mats was talking about with the front six and this back line.
01:36:49
Speaker
I don't see a reason that this team is in second. All right which brings us to Scudetto winners and apparently reigning champions, back-to-back champions, Napoli.
01:37:00
Speaker
Which would be the first time in six years six years for a back-to-back champion in the Serie A. But we we're all in a guy that first kind of did it, too.
01:37:12
Speaker
true Antonio Conte he's the one that started the reign with Juventus so maybe he started here with Napoli but I mean guys we've talked about this so much we talked about them last year we talked about their Mercato they've just been number one they've been number one they've been number one they've been number one i you talk about like math like I was just saying logically they won last year and they are actually way better than they were last year going into this season and There's a reason we all have them here. I think there's a reason that we talked about them being here.
01:37:44
Speaker
Do we even need to talk about why this could get done or is it what could go wrong for this not to happen? That's how confident I feel about them.
01:37:53
Speaker
I don't see how it goes wrong, to be honest, unless some other team in Serie A just like simply just has ah an absolute world of a season here. But Conte coming into a second second stint here, almost left at beginning summer, clearly got back on the same page with ownership means that he's fully bought in here.
01:38:09
Speaker
How he manages three competitions will be remaining to be seen. We obviously know that he is he does struggle with that. He might actually punt. that's That's what I'm going to say. you know He knows that the domestic league is number one. yeah there's There's nothing else like domestic league. So the fact that that's his M.O. and will focus on the Serie and with the added talent that they brought in at all three levels, actually all four levels because they did bring in Vanya.
01:38:33
Speaker
I mean, this team has has only gotten better. Every single sign that they brought in makes a ton of sense. They acted very quickly to bring in more reinforcements when Lukaku goes down for three months, when they bring in Hoyland.
01:38:44
Speaker
How good he is remains to be seen, but they have Lorenzo Luka, who's already done, who's already played well in this league. They bring in KDB, who we absolutely love and adore and is probably the second best signing of the summer behind Luka Modric.
01:38:55
Speaker
And the back line, you look at the center backs, They have two, they just have two lines of center backs that they can play at any point in time. You have Bongiorno and Rachmani, and then you have Bukumar and Juan Jesus. So I just, I don't know another team in the league that can go out and play two different lines on any given weekend that are very different and still be just as as quality. So I don't see how Napoli doesn't push through for the back-to-back.
01:39:21
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not going to add too, too much. I'm just going to add my measuring stick for this club this year on if it's a successful season is they got to compete in Europe. They need to go far.
01:39:32
Speaker
They have the depth too. They spent the money too. It's now for me, it's not punt these competitions to win the Scudetto. You got to compete in all three because the the money you spent, the players you brought in and the depth you have.
01:39:45
Speaker
So that's what I'm holding Napoli to this year. i mean, it'll be interesting to see. For me, I kind of, I'm always a domestic is more important than, than European. And I think that Antonio Conte is going to have that same mentality, to be honest with you guys, he's done that everywhere he's gone.
01:40:03
Speaker
And I think that's also kind of giving into this, we're going to prioritize the league over for everything. So I just don't see a way that they do not get this done. They are so good and so deep in there, the best team in the league and,
01:40:17
Speaker
The gap is kind of big. Inter were the best team in the league last year, and they didn't get it done. that That is true. And that's the truth. We all were in agreement last year on Inter, and it didn't happen.
01:40:29
Speaker
Yeah. So it's what you're saying is it's Milan's year? No, it's definitely not Milan's year. We're back, baby. um But that's it, guys. that That's 20 to 1. We'll check in periodically, and at the end of the season, this season we'll kind of crown a new winner of who got it right.
01:40:42
Speaker
um We all had Napoli. There were a little bit of overlap. But it's going to be an interesting season, guys. There's a lot going on. There's a lot of moves in there, Mercato, that kind of happened late. And teams are looking a little bit different going to match week three.
01:40:53
Speaker
um which is happening this weekend. We're recording today on the 9th, which is Tuesday. And at the weekend, we have Cagliari against Parma. We have the Derby d'Italia and Juve against Inter. We have Napoli going to Fiorentina, Torino going to Roma, Lecce going to Atalanta, some other crazy games, Bologna and Milan.
01:41:11
Speaker
So there's lots to look forward to this weekend. And now that we do have a match week three, we also have to bring back our Culp. We have the Culp di Luna. Then we have our three picks here. Logs, I'll give it to you. Actually, Mott, you have to lead because you're the only one that got a leg right in match week two. 1-0, 1-0, 1-0.
01:41:31
Speaker
Looking to go 2-0 here. not going sugarcoat I think Roma get out of the get good off the gate scoring. They only scored one goal, I believe, in two games. So they're going to start scoring against Torino.
01:41:43
Speaker
So I have the over 2.5 in the Roma-Torino game. Torino game.
01:41:49
Speaker
I've got my boys Kremenese, Moneyline, plus 230. They're going to Hell's Verona. I don't know how they're not favoring this game. They've been playing incredibly well. I think Verona's dog shit. We've got Kremenese, Moneyline, plus 230.
01:42:03
Speaker
And I have got Napoli money line against Fiorentina plus 125. For me, I think this one makes sense. I don't think Fiorentina is even close to a complete product just yet.
01:42:13
Speaker
They struggled against Torino and tried that through that game nil-nil. And you're just going against a way better team. And I i don't think they're ready for it yet. That being Fiorentina. So I see Napoli getting this one done handedly.
01:42:25
Speaker
But that brings the Colby to 1385. this is pretty fat one. five so thiss a pretty fat one
01:42:33
Speaker
Oh, 13. Yeah, so again, guys, we got match week three at the weekend. We'll be back next week. But that is it for us. We've been on here for a while. So thanks for sticking with us. For those of you that did, Logs, where should they following? Yeah, if you're still here, if you're still here, Paisans, you know what to do.
01:42:50
Speaker
Follow, like, subscribe, five stars on all the socials, X, Instagram, YouTube. and TikTok at culturalculturefc. Let us know what you think about the rankings. Am I a goose for having Milan at three? Are these guys, students, or having Atalanta at 10? We want to know.
01:43:05
Speaker
Again, comment. We love the interaction, especially on YouTube. Helps us out a ton. And you can obviously listen to us and listen to the rundown on all your favorite streaming sites on Spotify and Apple Pods.
01:43:17
Speaker
MOTS. Again, most important episode of the season. With that, take us away. Paisanos do not be a gaguz and forza calcio culture.
01:44:09
Speaker
you