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Extended Clip - Atalanta Star Gianluca Scamacca On Fire: Italy’s Saviour At Euro 2024? (Ep. 414)
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After capping an all-round fantastic performance with an acrobatic wondergoal, Nima Tavallaey and Carlo Garganese praise but also discuss and analyze what Atalanta star striker Gianluca Scamacca must do moving forward before posing the question if he can become the Azzurri savior in EURO 2024 in Germany this summer.
This is a clip from the weekly Thursday episode of the Italian Football Podcast.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Episode
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast.
00:00:23
Speaker
two
Key Goals: Allowed vs Disallowed
00:00:24
Speaker
world-class goals, one that was allowed which was the acrobatic goal which was a decisive goal at a critical moment where Atalanta were going out and he scored an unbelievable acrobatic kind of side, scissor kit goal to make it 2-1. The goal that he had disallowed though at 1-0 which would have made it 2-0
00:00:42
Speaker
insane
Skamaka's Rising Star
00:00:43
Speaker
roof the net blast it wow what a goal um was disallowed for for kook miners fouled on beltran which was i mean maybe it was the right decision but anyway what a goal it was um he got milenkovic sent off as well but the assist didn't he for lukeman's
00:01:01
Speaker
What was really should have gotten it but there was a touch in between them, but it was let's call it a cyst. I mean, I think it was basically a cyst. He set up at their own chance with it with a brilliant header. He was fantastic. He set up coke miners as well. Yeah, I mean, he was so he was decisive. He was, you know,
00:01:20
Speaker
he was producing scoring, creating, his link-up play, he was great in the air, he was playing for the team, linking up, he was available, he was in the right position. Everything, everything. This is the schemaka that if he plays like this, this is a player that is as good as anybody in his position.
00:01:44
Speaker
I mean, this was an absolute, this was a perfect performance. I cannot criticize his performance in one way at all. No, there's
Is Skamaka Italy's Future Number Nine?
00:01:53
Speaker
nothing to criticize because he was absolutely outstanding and he showed what he can do when he's at his best. He is a special player. A couple of years ago on this pod, I said that potentially he could be the future of the Italian national team for a couple of years. I think that's what he is.
00:02:11
Speaker
He is the future of which the number nine role in Italy should be built around. That's
Skamaka's Fit with Top Clubs
00:02:18
Speaker
my opinion now. I don't see any doubt. If he continues like this, he has to be. And with all due respect, Atalanta, Milan are looking for a number nine.
00:02:29
Speaker
If Juvessel Vlawic, this is who they should go after. If Interselm Turam, this is who they should go after. In this form, he is good enough for any of those three teams. He is a special, special player. And the fact that he can create something out of nothing, that's the Ibrahimovic in him, which Italian media have been saying that he has characteristics that remind them of
00:02:57
Speaker
Ibrahimovic,
Responding to Criticism with Goals
00:02:58
Speaker
that's it. He can pull a rabbit out of a hat, at the drop of a dime, when there isn't even a chance, when there is nothing there, it's not even a goal scoring chance, he can pull that out because he has that quality. The scissor kick, the shooting,
00:03:13
Speaker
the technique he's a very very unique player he's a fantastically unique player and he's been and he's been so good since since he wasn't called up for the for italy and was criticized by both spality and gasparini yeah and he wasn't called up for the march international right and then it's kind of you're asking questions well is he not going to go to euro 2024 well he's responded since then with with seven goals for atalanta just over a month seven goals in just over a month
Growth in Maturity and Leadership
00:03:41
Speaker
Big goals, decisive goals. Important goals and important games and decisive moments. Taking Asalanta through against sporting, against Liverpool. You know, this goal to save them in the Coppa Italia. Big goals in Serie A. I mean, he's been absolutely incredible. He's responded in the perfect way. And I'm so, so happy because
00:04:08
Speaker
let's be honest, Italy need this Scamaka if they can have any chance of over, let's say, over performing at Euro 2024. They need this Scamaka, don't they? They absolutely do. But this is also, again,
00:04:24
Speaker
the going into the season and throughout the season where he has struggled, the questions we were asking and the criticism he received was his maturity and his mental strength. Well, the last few months he has shown mental growth, he has shown a maturity that we haven't seen before, that he takes criticism the right way, he takes the
00:04:46
Speaker
He takes it on board and understands that it's not the coach, it's him. He needs to work harder. He needs to make himself more available to the team, as they say in Italy, and one of my favorite Italian football expressions. He's really doing that. And he's also leading. He's
Impact of Skamaka's Suspension
00:05:04
Speaker
becoming the pillar, a pillar, a focal point of an atalanta that have a shot at winning two trophies.
00:05:11
Speaker
and he's the symbol of that and he needs to be this good because the talent has always been there and he's 25 now, he's not a kid and now's the time for him to start showing and this is the business end of the season
00:05:27
Speaker
if he can you know he's going to miss the Coppa Italia final so you know yeah that's a big shame that is yeah he's suspended that's a massive loss yeah he's he's suspended for that Loca said he's suspended for Juventus by the way as well but yeah this is this is a huge bloke it's a shame it's a shame because he deserves to play that final but yeah but he needs to make sure that Atalanta play the final of the Europa League and that he's available for that
00:05:52
Speaker
Yeah, that's what he will be available for that as long as he's not injured or he gets a red card because I think the yellow cards are wiped, aren't they? That's exactly my point, don't get sent off. Yeah,
Future Attack Strategy for Italy
00:06:03
Speaker
but for Italy, talking about Italy, Italy, we know what Italy's biggest weakness is, are the Euros. They don't have any, well they just don't have any attackers, well and the nine, well nine especially, but we just don't have the quality in attack. Let me tell you something though though.
00:06:18
Speaker
Skamaka in this form, with Raspadori, his mate from Sasolo, up front in a 3-5-2 two-man attack,
00:06:27
Speaker
That is very interesting. Those two can play together. They can play together. Well, maybe that's something they could look at. Maybe that is something they can look at. Because at the very least, you get two players that understand each other. I mean, let's be honest, Rasputin always had a very bad season. Very bad season. Yeah. Very, very bad. I mean, I think. But he's never played better than. I think he had two goals and two assists in dirty games or something like that. But he's never been better than when he played under Spalletti.
00:06:52
Speaker
And he's never played better. And when he played with Skamaka, they were really, really good at Sasolo. I agree with that. I mean, I don't think he was amazing for Napoli last season either, other than in the group stages of the Champions League and the gaming of the event. But yeah, I mean, I listen, I think that's I do think that's a possibility. But what I what I know for sure is that
00:07:12
Speaker
If this is the schemecca that turns up for Italy, then Italy have a chance of actually hurting opposition. Because that's my biggest concern is that we just don't have anything to hurt teams in attack. We don't have the quality in attack. Key A's that we can kind of hope and pray that Spoletti can rehabilitate. Snaps out of it. Yeah, we can hope and pray, but that's hope and pray. That's hope and prayer. That isn't what we can even...
00:07:40
Speaker
We'll see. I mean, so far, Schumacher has won gold in 15 games for Italy. He's never really done it where he hasn't done it for Italy, the Italy national team. But also, we've never seen, as you said, as mature Schumacher as we've seen. But at the same time, this is over a course of a month.
00:07:57
Speaker
you know, he's done this for a month. Now we need to see him do this consistently. We need to see him continue this for the rest of the season. It's a month left of the season. We need to see him do this for another month. That's
Consistency: The Key to Top Performance
00:08:08
Speaker
two months going into the Euros with two months of fantastic form. Then he can hopefully do that for Italy at the Euros. So I'm not going to come out and suddenly say, you know,
00:08:19
Speaker
Skimak has proved that he is a top player because he's done it for a month. No, he hasn't proved anything other than that the talent when he realizes it is unbelievable at an incredibly high level. But he needs to do it consistently in order to be a top player. But what I'm saying is I truly believe that this is the person Italy should build their future around.
00:08:41
Speaker
in attack. That's what I do think. I think for the next two, three years, Skamaka is the person they should be building around because when he is informed, when he is this Skamaka, there is nobody, Italy don't have anyone on his level when he plays at this level. They just don't. And so for me, the natural thing is continue to
What's Next for Skamaka's Career?
00:09:05
Speaker
to grow. And of course, depending on what happens in the summer, if he has a good end of the season with Atalanta, if he were to do the miracle and win the Europa League with Atalanta, if he were to go to Italy and score four or five goals, give them to, you know, if they were to get the semi-final, final, God knows even win it or something like that, then, and he would be the focal point of that, then I think he will get a big move in the summer.
00:09:32
Speaker
I think he will, I think that's not, I think more and more of these clubs will start asking questions of themselves and thinking, well, who do you go for? Who do we need? Um, and I think that would be, that's great for Italy. That's great for him, but first things first, great, great month. Now continue it until the end of the season. Then we can talk about the euros. Yeah. Spot on.