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Fiorentina-Inter Controversy, Juve Unimpressive Against Bologna and Roma Sneak by Frosinone (Ep. 5)
140 Plays7 years ago
The Serie A Show's Chloe Beresford, John Solano, and Nima Tavalley discuss this past weekend's results after a high-drama affair between Fiorentina and Inter while Juventus were lacklustre in their win over Bologna. Meanwhile, Roma saw off Frosinone in the dying seconds as they continue their hunt for Champions League football next season.
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Transcript
Introduction to The City I Show
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to The City I Show. Hello again, welcome back. Another episode of The City I Show.
Opinions on Italian Referees
00:00:22
Speaker
Chloe, Nima, are we still on talking terms?
00:00:26
Speaker
Yes, Chloe and I are adults so we don't we don't get like personally upset with each other and I don't think that it's a shock to me or Chloe that the referees in Italy are idiots. A game between Inter and Fiorentina ended with multiple goals as we predicted last week. Yeah I mean this the goal thing I mean that was like for me I was a bit upset that I didn't put some money on that because it was a complete no brain I mean
00:00:53
Speaker
I know the least going to be four goals. I mean, it was destined to be like that. Well, it ended with multiple goals, but it started with multiple goals as well. I mean, what a high flying start to that match.
Inter vs Fiorentina Analysis
00:01:06
Speaker
Yeah, it was only just getting settled down and then all of a sudden it scored. It was nuts, like 16 seconds, I think it was.
00:01:16
Speaker
That was a crazy part of the game. Yeah, I mean, I was barely, I was barely, my butt barely hit the couch before the goal was in. I mean, 16 seconds and it was an own goal and it was just so typical. That was, I mean, the way they scored too, long ball behind the defense, you know, you can't play with a high line against Fiorentina. I think Roma definitely showed us that. And Inter, you know, the same thing there, they're in the beginning as well, because, you know, if they have
00:01:45
Speaker
If Kieza has space to attack, then, you know, he will cause you problems. And Chloe was there, but Nima just brought it up again. I'm putting a moratorium on Fiorentina 7 Roma 1. We're done. So no more bringing it up. Get it? It's done and over with.
Live Match Experience vs TV
00:02:07
Speaker
We're putting it into it now. But Chloe, you were there. I was. What did you make of the entire thing? Because we could talk about this match for, frankly, the entire episode.
00:02:15
Speaker
We could. From my point of view, when you're there in the stadium, you're seeing these incidents at full speed, which is very different to when you're at home. So it's hard to judge accurately because you're not right on the pitch with them. For me,
00:02:41
Speaker
the the one at the end looked like handball in full speed but when you look go back and look at it again obviously it's his chest first and you know um we could go on and on forever about it it it was what it was um the var let the game down in the way that
VAR Decision-Making Critique
00:02:58
Speaker
it took
00:02:58
Speaker
a stupid amount of time. Biraghi had gone off and celebrated a goal against his former side and it took ages for it to be then disallowed and the referee
00:03:19
Speaker
He just got it so badly wrong and interpreted things wrongly even after going back to look at the screen, which says to me that the tension in the stadium was unbelievable. It was such a high stakes match, high tempo, everything.
00:03:44
Speaker
He's only human, just as we're all only human. He's seeing it in full speed. And when there's a possible penalty right at the end of the game and there's already been controversy and shouting and all that in the match, he's human at the end of the day. So for me, the solution would be, just like with the goal line technology, the referee hears in his ear, goal or no goal,
00:04:13
Speaker
the people who are watching on the television screens are not affected by that by the atmosphere in the stadium and you know emotions and things like that and they're qualified referees they can look at the replays and they could agree say in his ear that's a penalty or that's not a penalty or you were wrong or you were right whatever and I think you know it got to the referee and
00:04:38
Speaker
And it made it into a fast, which is a shame because it was a really good game and both sides had spells of playing really, really well. So, you know, we saw an amazing goal from Lewis Muriel, which gets overshadowed by all this nonsense.
00:04:56
Speaker
Yeah, and for me, I couldn't agree with you more. I think, I don't know if I've spoken about it on this show before, but like a war room they have in the NHL, in ice hockey, and in all ice hockey basically. You have five, six referees who watch every situation and they decide. Because look, I mean, without going into the details too much about this, because as John said, we could talk about the whole hour.
00:05:19
Speaker
You know, the interpretation that, I mean, there is contact between Muriel and D'Ambrosio before Biragi's goal. He kicks him. Whether or not there's intent, that's up to interpretation. Same thing with a handball that Inter got a penalty for. That's interpretation.
00:05:35
Speaker
Here, this is an invention. The ball doesn't touch his arm. It touches his chest. And when you have the bar, and you use the bar, you get that into a penalty. That's exactly what Chloe says. The tension got to him. And that is just, that should not happen. It should not be allowed. And the easiest way to do that is to take it out of the referee's hand.
00:05:58
Speaker
just the way the the the bar the gold the gold line technologies it's in or it's out they have three referees or two referees make it three so that you know whatever and and then you know have them look at the penalty situations have them look at the offsides have a look at the.
00:06:16
Speaker
Have them look at these foul situations. Let them do that. Take it out of the referee's hand because they're sitting down in a room in peace and quiet. They're away from the stadium. No one is near them. They don't have that tension. And this would remove so much because this was nothing more than a compensation.
00:06:37
Speaker
uh from from the referee and it was it was pathetic and it completely made i mean i had everyone who was watching it said that inter were robbed or that or that the game was ruined because it was it was it was a complete ridiculous you know it would turn into a farce and it doesn't need to be and with italy i mean as we all know this is a country where
00:06:57
Speaker
that is that is that is intergalactically famous for their concept of letting even be letting uneven become even somehow well you got two we got one we got even well it does that's not how it works the VAR the VAR you know you can't just use the VAR as an alibi to give a penalty I mean Giuseppe Bergami said yesterday
00:07:17
Speaker
and sky that if it's not a penalty it's not a penalty you don't use it the bar is not a compensation device you know and that's what it is and and that's what i think you see that's what infuriated uh at least me that's what annoys me so much about italy this this this culture of compensation
00:07:35
Speaker
that, you know, we've got to keep it even, Stephen, so we just make stuff up to make it even. That's not true, because no one's happy now. Everyone's annoyed. Yeah, and let's not get away from the fact that VAR is supposed to correct clear and obvious errors. So for me, a clear and obvious error, an example is, say, Maradona's hand of God, which, you know, everyone sees, he puts his hand up and he backs the ball into the net with his hand. That's the kind of thing
00:08:05
Speaker
where, you know, a VAR technology could have corrected something like that. And that's just one example of many. And what we're seeing, especially in stereo, is that there are these sort of pedantic and moral decisions being given
00:08:23
Speaker
Where, to me, if it's open to interpretation, if some people say, well, I think that was handball, and other people say, well, I don't think it was, then it's not a clear and obvious error. It's not somebody, it's not, you've got to gain an obvious advantage. You know what I mean? Otherwise, surely the referee's initial decision has to stand.
00:08:48
Speaker
Well, that's the thing. I don't agree with that entirely because I think that the technology should be used to correct wrong calls. I think this was something that the referees association that is the FIFA turns to came up with after the World Cup, this idea of notion of clear and obvious error.
00:09:06
Speaker
because last season the VAR was used to correct wrong calls and they used it all the time and everyone except Simone and Zaghi was happy with it but that's another story entirely but no but seriously the VAR then they got into it because if you remember in the beginning of the season the same thing happened to loads of teams where Federico Chiesa stumbled on his own foot they didn't use the VAR and they got a penalty for it same thing against Inter I mean look when you create these legal terms
00:09:36
Speaker
and try to apply them in a legal sense what is clear and what is obvious and what is an error. If you create these tests, then you're opening a whole new can of worms for referees to interpret. And I want to remove that. I think that make it simple, because that's something they came up with in the summer. The way it's being interpreted this year is not the way it was used last year. And that in and of itself is kind of problematic.
Improving Football Officiating
00:10:01
Speaker
The way I see it is this. If there is a dive in the penalty area,
00:10:06
Speaker
take away the penalty. If the ball, if the referee thinks it's a handball but it isn't, it's not a penalty. When you have these situations where, you know, just, you know, make it simple to take away all forms of, you know, this putting it on the referee because as you said he's human and it just creates such a mess
00:10:29
Speaker
Yeah and he has to answer to the infuriated managers and the fans are screaming and you know that puts him in a really difficult place because he's right there in the centre of a boiling hot cauldron and he's got to make that funny.
00:10:45
Speaker
Yeah, and he's running and he's, you know, he's, you know, when people are, you know, he's still running, he's moving about, you know, this physical, this physical activity involved from him as well. And these guys are, you know, you know, that's another thing I've always thought that I don't understand why every referee has to be in his, has to be in his forties. I don't understand that. I don't understand why we don't open up to younger referees the same way.
00:11:05
Speaker
that we have players the same age as the players because you're physically more fit in your 20s and 30s than you are in your 40s and 50s. I mean, that's just a fact of life. But that's another thing. That would be asking too much of FIFA at the same time.
00:11:21
Speaker
to to to to to open too much but but basically yeah i mean just make it more modern make it more you know as you know make it learn from other sports what do they do good what do they do wrong and adapt it to your own to your own game i think i think
00:11:37
Speaker
My problem with the clear and obvious everything is that, you know, when a handball is slowed down to extreme slow motion, it looks a lot worse than it is in full speed. And to keep, I think it was a gab marcotti said on Twitter that actually they're only supposed to use the slow motion aspect for a handball to determine whether it actually physically hit the hand. And then
00:12:06
Speaker
For everything else, whether it was armed towards the ball or all those other things, referees are supposed to view it in full speed. Because I do think the very, very slow motion alters how it's seen sometimes.
00:12:24
Speaker
The one thing that I'll never understand is, I believe Nima, you're the one who brought this up. I don't know why they don't have sort of like VAR officials who aren't in the stadium. They're at a central command center and they're the ones who are reviewing each of these plays and they're able to communicate with the referees in the stadium. I don't know why they're forcing these guys who are in the stadium, in the atmosphere,
00:12:49
Speaker
watching these fans go nuts one way or the other. They're forcing these referees, those referees there in the stadium, in the environment to make the decision. I completely agree with what you said, Nima. They need to take this to more of a neutral point of view.
00:13:06
Speaker
Take it to a central command center. They're watching all of the matches live. They see what happens. They communicate with the referee on the pitch. And that's it. And frankly, I think that would take far less time. I mean, that seemed like it took 10 minutes watching it on the television.
Serie A Refereeing Controversies
00:13:20
Speaker
It was it was ridiculous. And, you know, somebody, somebody I know who was sitting in the stands were saying
00:13:29
Speaker
they didn't have any clue what was going on. And that's wrong for a supporter-based sport, you know, when the fans just don't know what's happening. This is the communication. The communication aspect of it is just atrocious. I do not understand for the life of me why on earth they cannot show it at the stadiums. I don't understand that. What's going to happen? If the fans, if they see that D'Ambrosio, for example, if D'Ambrosio
00:13:57
Speaker
or yesterday, if they showed at Artemio Franci that what's his name, took the ball with a hand, and they showed that the ball hit his chest and not his arm, people aren't stupid. They say, okay, well, it's not, you know, just it cools the situation down. Instead, 30,000 people are sitting there like idiots, not knowing what the hell is going on. They, you know, you're in the country already with, which is the
00:14:18
Speaker
you know the mothership of conspiracy theories and stuff like that and then they think okay once again the team from the north with stripes have come in and robbed us and then you have a full-on riot on your hands I mean it's just it's ridiculous but the the other thing as well um
00:14:34
Speaker
with, you know, when they were checking for whether Vasino was offside for the sprinter's equaliser, that took so long and it was cold, it was freezing cold, the wind was bitter and you could see on the pitch the players were actually getting cold, they were having to jog and you know keep warm and that's ridiculous too, that's such a
00:14:57
Speaker
silly situation. I mean, for me, it's like, I mean, I can understand why that was, you know, one I have a bit more understanding for, because it was so tight. It was unbelievably tight. I mean, we're talking millimeters here. And I, fine, I can understand that. But the other things is, you know, it takes too long, and you still get it wrong, then there's something that there's something is wrong here. And in my opinion, you know,
00:15:21
Speaker
As you said, take it out of the referee's hand, put it in a war center, in a command center like that. You have three, four people reviewing the situation. Give them two minutes. Two minutes is okay. But 10 minutes is not okay. Because first they review it. They tell the referee, we think this, we think this. Then he has to run and look at it himself. And he's pressing forward and backwards in three, four, five minutes again. And all of a sudden, 10 minutes have gone. I mean, it's bizarre. It does not need to take this long. Take it out of the referee's hands.
00:15:50
Speaker
But then again, that's FIFA for you. They seem obsessed with this notion. It's a very hierarchy as an organization. It's one person at the top who basically commands by decree. And that's how the organization is run. And so they want that too on the pitch. I think it's ridiculous. Remove that. Put it into the hands of the VAR referees. The referee does not decide these things.
00:16:16
Speaker
and then you have three four people who decided and after the game they're the ones who have to put out a report saying how they you know hold a press conference answering questions why they they judge certain situations the way they did that's the best way to do it and then we don't have this nonsense and also let the fans know what the hell is going on because you know 30 000 people who are there watching a game tempers are high you know passionate
00:16:41
Speaker
No one's understanding anything. They just see this guy in fluorescent yellow shirts running back and forth, disallowing goals left, right and center. I mean, it's just unnecessary. It's like these people are their own worst enemies at times.
00:16:56
Speaker
I completely agree. And as Chloe mentioned, it's just a shame that again, city odd, they cannot get out of their own way.
Wanda Nara's Defense of Icardi
00:17:06
Speaker
When there's these high profile matches where most of Europe is watching, they cannot get out of their own way with these refereeing controversies. I mean, week after week, we see this where
00:17:20
Speaker
The league just cannot have a normal high profile match with everything going smoothly. This seems to happen time after time after time and it completely ruins and takes the attention away from a great match. I mean, from a neutral standpoint, I thought it was incredibly entertaining.
00:17:39
Speaker
Now, obviously, there's the VAR issues, which nobody likes to see, but it's just a shame that such a wonderful match is overshadowed by this just stupid episode. But for you, Nima, the drama didn't end there. Oh, no. So anyone who was able to turn on sport media set, your favorite character, Wannanada,
00:18:08
Speaker
That show is unwatchable. First off, it's terrible. It's like that scary movie, The Ring. Remember when people died within seven days of watching it? Here, instead of dying within seven days, you end up with permanent brain damage. Because literally watching that, I feel like the IQ and the intelligence is leaving my body. I feel brain cells dying watching that show. It is unwatchable.
00:18:36
Speaker
It's like, for people who haven't watched it, take Jerry Springer and Jeremy Kyle and then mix it up with Match of the Day from BBC and have a live studio audience and showgirls applauding. That's pretty much what you have. It's painful. It's painful, but the programming on Marius has never been one to brag about to begin with, but that's another thing we could talk about for an hour.
00:19:02
Speaker
In a very, I guess you would call it bizarre. I mean, listen, anytime you're on the set with Antonio Cassano and you are looking like the less professional of the two, there is probably an issue. I, as I tweeted out, I think we've entered the twilight zone when, when, when Antonio Cassano is the voice of reason and diplomacy.
00:19:28
Speaker
Okay, this is ridiculous. Basically what he said was that I think your husband should go and apologize in the locker room. He should try to make amends and obviously you don't have to confirm it, but there's something wrong with the Slavic group of players.
00:19:51
Speaker
the Brozoviches, the Handanoviches, the Perisiches, you know, go in there, apologize to the team and try to sort this out. And then in June, we'll see what happens. And one that goes off on a tantrum, saying, you have to stop this with this bullshit, with tears in her eyes.
00:20:08
Speaker
saying Icardi is not a monster. They're making Icardi look like a monster. Perisic, his gesture did not give us calm. Mauro has done nothing. He goes into the dressing room every day. He does his physiotherapy. He's done absolutely nothing wrong. They're painting him out as a monster.
00:20:26
Speaker
I am, you know, he's never said anything. I'm the one who's been talking. My job here is to be a pundit. I'm just doing my job. I think it's because I'm a woman. It's 2019 and we were still uncomfortable with women expressing their opinions, at which point I turned off and was close to throwing my phone out the window because it has absolutely nothing to do with her being a woman. It has to do with her being an idiot.
00:20:49
Speaker
It's got to do with her being incompetent as an agent. She is his agent. It has absolutely nothing to do with her gender. It has to do with the fact that she is his agent and she goes on that ridiculous show every week and throws everyone under the bus, goes into the dressing room and says that if she could choose between Mauro getting five decent passes again and the new contract, she'd choose the former.
00:21:14
Speaker
That is what it is. It's got to do with it with Paris each and brosovich and all these other players coming in and saying mate Could you please tell your wife to stop talking about me on TV? That's the situation and that is the competence and there's nothing to do with her being a woman It has to do with her being an utter idiot.
Spaletti's Press Conference Antics
00:21:30
Speaker
That's what it's got You know, it's just draining. It's so draining and the circus never ends. I
00:21:37
Speaker
that annoys me with anything. I know we've spent quite a lot of time on this match but I just wanted to slip in before we go on to something else. I've further listeners know that I've been doing a very light-hearted Spaletti watch.
00:21:54
Speaker
about his moping on the touchline. And I have a funny story from last night's press conference to share. So you wouldn't know it from his quotes because you can't really put this into words. But I've gone from thinking that Spilletti is very negative that he's absolutely insane.
00:22:25
Speaker
He comes into the, he went second after Pioli. So, you know, Pioli just talks blah, blah, blah, as you would expect. And then in comes Spelletti. And it was like a Shakespearean tragedy played out in the press room. He
00:22:43
Speaker
It has these unusual, maybe you two have come across this before, but he has these unusual mannerisms where he, for emphasis, he was like repeating words three times. So, you know, say it was like a penalty or something. He was like, penalty, penalty, penalty.
00:23:04
Speaker
And then his voice would go, he was putting his head in his hands, his voice would go very, very, very loud. And then all of a sudden it would drop to a whisper for no reason whatsoever. The girl that was passing the microphone out to people to ask the question, she couldn't stifle a laughter. She just was like, what the hell is going on? He was randomly standing up and sitting down.
00:23:32
Speaker
with no explanation. Honestly, it was the most bizarre thing I've ever seen in my life. I would probably second that theory.
00:23:43
Speaker
I think yesterday he was rattled. I think he was rattled. Come on, let's be. It was it was a frustrating game. I mean, I know he's he's not. I mean, I have to I have to read his his press conferences. And most of the time you couldn't decipher what he was talking about if you had a wrench and a whole toolbox trying to what the hell is this guy talking about? He goes off on these philosophical rants that only he understands. But yesterday, I think it was, you know, you got it. He was upset. He was genuinely pissed off.
00:24:09
Speaker
He was. I just thought it was completely, completely bizarre. He did the same thing on Sky against Carissa when he said, like, three times. Everything was in three. It was pretty funny. No, but yeah, what are you going to do? He was upset, but yeah, he is a character.
Serie A Weekend Matches Review
00:24:31
Speaker
You're going to say you'd come across this, John.
00:24:34
Speaker
I have, I was just going to say, he did this on Sky with Angelo Manjante, when there was some pretty high stakes decisions being made with the stadium. He would grab the microphone and he, I guess I never know, well, I noticed it, but it's funny to recall when you mentioned it, Chloe, he grabs the microphone and he goes, vamostostario. And he just says it three times. And then he'll go into a rant and he'll go,
00:25:04
Speaker
far more stario in that hotel very very soft and you just wonder what in is this guy okay yeah yeah it's genuinely a concern but i think you know seriously it's just another thing that adds to the color and the um the things that we like about serial that we've got these funny characters and yeah
00:25:27
Speaker
it certainly does yeah i mean character is a perfect way to describe him so yeah so we got almost a half hour out of that one match um i really don't think a whole lot happened beyond that i mean i was thinking about this yesterday that most of those other games were pretty bold boring and dull and then we have like it was like it was like it was like the calcho gods took
00:25:50
Speaker
everything in all the other matches and squeezed all the events of one game, on average, into that Fiorentina game. I mean, we haven't even talked about the Paris situation where he stops Politano. He takes it upon himself to prevent Politano from celebrating the way he always does. I mean, everything and everything happened in that game. It was complete. You could write a trilogy on those 90 minutes.
00:26:13
Speaker
Well, we'll get to Roma frozenone because I think I might disagree with you with entertaining because this was more of a slow burn as far as entertainment goes. But Napoli hammered Parma, and I thought that was arguably one of their best performances of the entire season. Agreed. They were fantastic. And they'd been struggling to score goals before that point too, so it was great that they sort of stopped the jinx with a really emphatic 4-0 win.
00:26:45
Speaker
Yeah. And can somebody explain to me how Mili cannot hit a tap-in, but he has suddenly turned into one of the deadliest free kick takers in all of Serie A. Yeah. I mean, for me, I don't think we'll ever see a more beautiful free kick than the one Luis Muriel scored because that was, I've never, I mean, that was, that was unbelievable for me. For me, that's like up there with Caliarella's back heel. That was one of those goals of the season.
00:27:14
Speaker
It was gorgeous, unstoppable, no goalkeeper in the world could have done that, could have stopped that. But no, for me, Napoli, I mean, I've been saying it for like a week now, I thought last week when we're talking about their inability to score, I think Napoli are really playing good football. I think last week I thought it was the best performance they had on the Ancelotti.
00:27:34
Speaker
that only stood for one week because against Parma they were sensational and they scored goals. I think Napoli are going into that, are hitting form now. I think Ancelotti has got things calibrated the way he wants to and now he's kind of getting up and understanding how he wants them to play and from here on out Napoli are going to be a force to reckon with. Whether or not that's enough for the Scudetto I think it's too late but they are definitely finishing second in my opinion.
00:28:00
Speaker
And they could win the Europa League. I wouldn't put it past them because since they're kind of in a no man's land in the league.
00:28:08
Speaker
their second, their nine points or whatever ahead of the third place, they can actually try and win that European trophy. So yeah, this is going to be really interesting.
Juventus' Champions League Prospects
00:28:20
Speaker
I think Napoli are really going into form now. And when Ancelotti's teams go into form, they stay in form. It's not like with the Pioli who, as we said, the Pioli high, it's short and sweet, but the Ancelotti high, it stays with you for a long time.
00:28:35
Speaker
And then we had Torino beating Atalanta 2-0 Atalanta are in an absolute freefall After they come back three down against Roma They have not looked good these last couple of match days. I don't know what's happened to them But it's been truly bizarre because they were right on the cusp of the Champions League
00:28:57
Speaker
I wonder whether these high energy type teams like Atalanta that really can beat anybody on their day when they're on form, that they're always going to suffer these sort of peaks and troughs because essentially they're punching above their weight in terms of
00:29:17
Speaker
man for man, they're not as good as other teams, but they can raise their game. Well, there's always going to be times when they can't raise their game, and I think they're going through a little lull just at the moment. And Chloe, you were also at Bologna Juve. I was.
00:29:34
Speaker
Which, I mean, you want to talk about Bazar. I mean, you could easily make the case that Bologna were the better of the two on the day. They were. I was really impressed with the way that Mihailovic had them playing. They look a lot more proactive, a lot more determined than they were under Inzage.
00:29:55
Speaker
You know, they were they could have been too null put half-time legitimately. They had quite a few chances And you they were just they were honestly they were awful you know, I expected a reaction after that Champions League defeat and it just wasn't there they the system was Confusing and strange players didn't seem to know why they were meant to be on the pitch and you know, obviously
00:30:23
Speaker
it's kind of, we expect it now from UVA that they play badly, but they can still win. But, you know, I think they've got some problems. And I think, you know, Allegri said that they can still win their Champions League title despite being too nailed down. But if they play like that, they certainly can't, you know, there's work to do. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
00:30:48
Speaker
Yeah, you're absolutely right. And I think that there's a real problem. It seems to me, I didn't see this coming, but I think that Allegri seems to have, he seems to hit a stumbling block. Usually Allegri, he starts the seasons really like a little bit sluggish and then he gets into, it starts working fully around this time of year. All the other seasons at Juventus it's been like that.
00:31:12
Speaker
start sluggish and then around february march they just they turn into this this machine and they play beautiful football and the and they just destroy everyone but now it's it's the complete opposite they look like there's the season just started they look sluggish they look
00:31:28
Speaker
out of shape. He's trying everything and he's moving players in different directions. Cancello playing left midfielder, you know, he's struggling. He's backpedaling. It feels like he's really hit a stumbling block here with this Juventus. And I don't think they will, I do not see them turning this around against that the commentary.
00:31:53
Speaker
you have to remember they have they play Napoli on Sunday as well which is going to be an absolutely amazing game where you have a Napoli who are playing who are at their best under Ancelotti playing at Allegri who are at their worst uh that game on Sunday is going to be that's that's what I'm looking forward to um but but either way even if Napoli win it's still 10 points between them and Juve there's no way Juventus are going to lose this the Serie A so we'll we'll have to see but the Champions League uh
00:32:21
Speaker
I think this is the last season with Allegri, because he's been there for five, six seasons now, and if he still doesn't win the champions, which has been their goal all the time, then I think they will have to look elsewhere.
00:32:38
Speaker
And they know they've only got a brief window to do it with Ronaldo. And obviously, that's the whole reason why they bought him, because they can win Serie A without him. We've seen that. So they've brought him in to do that. And, you know, if they don't win it this year, time's running out. So they're going to have something to think about in the summer if they do go out to Africa to go to Madrid.
00:33:03
Speaker
I have to just bring it up very briefly. This is not, maybe someone will see it as trolling, but that whole, the video of Bonucci.
00:33:14
Speaker
with where Keilini points to him after the one goal. Every time I see that, I laugh. It looked really sad. I mean, it's absolutely hilarious. It really did look ridiculous. Because obviously in that game before Keilini had been pushed, or it looked like he was pushed, but who knows? And the goal had been disallowed. And then Punucci tries to do what Keilini does only 100 times
00:33:40
Speaker
worse and more clumsy and he just looks so sad and then you see Kehlini pointing to him. It looks like it's a comedy show. It looks completely ridiculous. That isn't like you, Vayden. That's what was so bizarre to me. They don't often, the defenders don't throw themselves to the ground like that.
00:34:01
Speaker
It was a bizarre, totally unexpected performance and it made me wonder if...
00:34:12
Speaker
having gone unbeaten so long in the league without really playing well is if that's kind of harmed them and he can't get them to raise their game enough now to to winning the champions like it was just you know everyone knows how off let's go Madrid play it's not a secret but they were so totally unprepared for it it was absolutely bizarre yeah really was
00:34:36
Speaker
And if we want to talk about problems with VAR, you know, that this allowed a goal against, against, uh, Atletico, I thought was a bit harsh and that's probably putting it. You know, it's so funny, like when you bring that, cause like just generally, uh, the speaking about the VAR, I don't understand.
00:34:56
Speaker
this criticism that so-called pundits have been talking about, oh, the VAR is the reason why we have these decisions and blah, blah, blah. No, it's not. It's like blaming someone. It's like blaming the invention of the car for people drunk driving. It's not the VAR that's the problem here. It's the idiot making the call. It's the idiot sitting drinking beer and going and driving. It's not the VAR. I mean, if you have video assistants,
00:35:22
Speaker
And you can still get it right. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the problem is with you. I mean, come on. It's ridiculous. It's not the technology's fault that people misuse it. It's ridiculous. I don't understand that logic at all.
00:35:39
Speaker
I mean, and let's be honest, I mean, the VAR saved the penalty that wasn't a penalty in that game as well. I mean, people would have been moaning about that, about the referee instead. But the VAR instead saw that the challenge was outside the penalty area and there wasn't a penalty. So I think we should, you know, I think it needs to be improved, but the fact that the VAR is here is a good thing. Yeah, I mean, people who disagree with the implementation of it just puzzled me. I mean, I thought they were incredibly lucky.
Roma's Defensive Challenges
00:36:10
Speaker
to only lose by two. I mean, I thought Shazny was absolutely sensational because he saved them on a number of occasions. He was probably one of the few light spots. That saved. Yeah, that saved on Griezmann. That fingertip saved, I mean, Jesus. No, he was good. He was really good. Yeah, fourth class. So
00:36:32
Speaker
But Roma as well. I mean, I mean, I know I've said I don't want to talk about Zagnolo. Oh, I was going to say I don't want to talk about Roma, but. No, but Zagnolo, I mean, let's be honest. Inter have done another Pierlo. There's no doubt about it. We, you know, we've given up a Pierlo. This guy is.
00:36:50
Speaker
This guy is unbelievable. He scores twice in his champion. He plays as a winger suddenly. I mean, he can play everywhere. This kid looks like he has no limits to what he can do. And he's such a professional. And turning down Mino Raiola as his agent goes to show that there's a solid pair, there's a solid head on his shoulders as well.
00:37:13
Speaker
You've got a real gem there, and Italian football has a real gem there. I think him and Barella, you know, Chiesa, there's a lot to be happy about for the national team in Italian football.
00:37:25
Speaker
I agree. And for those of you lucky enough who didn't experience Foroze None Roma, let me be the first to congratulate you. Wow. So I experienced a little bit of everything with that match. Anger. I was looking at the odds of Di Francesco to get sacked during halftime.
00:37:49
Speaker
Yikes, you know, I have to say this about Difanechesco. He, I'm not much of a, I'm a dog, I'm a dog person, but he is like a cat. Difanechesco has nine lives. I mean, you think this guy is dead? You've buried the corpse and he just sticks his hand out from the grave and punches it through the dirt and he says, oh, you can't get rid of me just yet.
00:38:13
Speaker
This guy's unbelievable. Unbelievable. I mean, part of me thinks he should have been sacked 18 months ago. Yeah. I can't, for the life of me, make sense of any of this. It was a terrible match from a Roma standpoint. Daniela did also, even though he delivered a absolutely world-class delivery to Stefano Sharawi, who passed the de Jeko, who got the tap-in.
00:38:41
Speaker
De Rossi was given the ball away in just a manner you would never expect. The defense, yikes, David A. Santon. Oh, he was bad. Yeah, he is unwatchable. I mean, how that guy has a Champions League title,
00:39:12
Speaker
I don't know what to say. I mean, he was, I cannot believe how his career trajectory could have gone so bad. We're talking about a guy who at 17, 18 years old was discovered by Mourinho, brought in against Manchester United, against Cristiano Ronaldo in that game in the Champions League. And he completely, he was gone, he was disappeared. He was in Santos back pocket for 90 minutes. And then this is the career trajectory we had. I mean, I don't know what to say. I don't understand it.
00:39:24
Speaker
to his name, and Ibrahimovic and Ronaldo don't.
00:39:40
Speaker
Him aside, Roma are in big, big trouble against Porto, I think. Big trouble. Manolas came out of the match. It doesn't look like it's serious, but even if he's not at 100%, I think they're in massive trouble. They're backline.
00:39:57
Speaker
I think could be the reason why they don't finish in the top four, because their defense is truly, truly awful. If I'm not mistaken, that was the first home goal for those who have scored in over almost three months. The second of December, I believe, was their last home goal scored, and Aroma gifted them two.
00:40:18
Speaker
As I tweeted, I walked into a bar in Florence and I'd been having dinner so I hadn't seen the start of the match and the game was on. And I did a double take because it's Ted frozen only one Roman nil and I was like,
00:40:35
Speaker
What? How? Awful. It was by far their worst opening 10 to 15 minutes of the season and I don't know what it is. They got the three points. That's all that matters. But I think this sort of match highlights the shortcomings of Eusebio de Francesco.
00:40:57
Speaker
Just, he cannot get his teams up to it. Especially this one. Last season, they had some problems. This season, he really has some problems. I mean, they've dropped points to Kievo, Spal, Udinese. I mean, to not be able to motivate your team. For matches like this, which should be, let's be frank, they should be a walk in the park.
00:41:20
Speaker
and they come 20 seconds away from dropping two points against the second to last team in the table is absolutely inexplicable.
Sarri's Potential Move to Roma
00:41:30
Speaker
And we saw what happened with Sahri over the weekend, which, Jesus, I don't even know what to make of that. We'll get to that right after this. But
00:41:42
Speaker
Part of me thinks this guy just has to be finished because it's so blatantly obvious, the shortcomings that he has. Yeah, I mean, I think the Francesco is leaving. I mean, Monty and the Francesco era is gone, I think. And I think that's something that Roma should be happy about, because there's already talk of, there's already, I mean, Nicolas Quira, which we brought up,
00:42:06
Speaker
the Gazeta reporter about Monchi leaving, he was the first one on that and it looks like it's gonna happen. And I think if that were to happen, I think whoever was brought in would be someone who understands Sarri, because I think Sarri is the next Roma coach and I think Giorginio is your next star signing and I think that is exactly what you Roma need.
00:42:32
Speaker
I think it would be perfect. If you can handle a piazza like Napoli and Naples and all the craziness there, I think Roma should be like a walk in the park for him. I think the kind of football he plays is also very
00:42:49
Speaker
it suits Roma so I think I'm really looking forward to that. I'd like to see him back in Italy because you know I just think it's never going to work in England because people just don't understand him and to get him back in Italy and you know for him to try and sort of rebuild his reputation as such because in the short space of time people just destroyed him it would be it would be
00:43:17
Speaker
pretty good and I just think it would be really interesting to see how we could improve Roma.
00:43:27
Speaker
Now, what did you guys make of what happened between him at the weekend, between him and Kepa, the goalkeeper? I cannot believe what I watched. I mean, I've never seen anything like that in a football game, a football match. The disrespect by Kepa is just, I mean, he's basically, and his apology, I understand he said he was trying to, you know, but at the same time, it was embarrassing. It was so embarrassing, so disrespectful.
00:43:54
Speaker
And the fact that Sarri, he kind of backed down, to me it just shows, if the club don't back him, if they don't take a stand for him against the players, then they might as well just sack him, because this is just going to end in tears.
00:44:20
Speaker
he has zero they don't respect him and it's and it's not i mean it's content moriño it doesn't matter who it is it's like you know chelsea fans already talk about that dressing room being full it being a snake pit and they they're all being reptiles and backstabbers but now now it's clear that they that
00:44:38
Speaker
It was the proof out on the pitch. It was there for everyone to see. And, you know, at a time when Sari is under so much pressure and the players know how much pressure he's under, for somebody to, one of his own players to do that to him, for a man who is so under pressure is absolutely unforgivable and a clear sign of how things really are behind the scenes there.
00:45:05
Speaker
I thought it was incredibly embarrassing and the most cruel part of all of this, as we all know, it won't be the goalkeeper who was clearly out of order, who pays the price. It's going to be salary.
00:45:19
Speaker
And some I saw somebody make a good point actually on Twitter that because he was trying to bring on Caballero and he he used to play for city and a lot of people saying that could have put off the city players because he obviously knows which way they're going to go and it could have given sorry this Chelsea the psychological swing they needed to win the shootout. So you know, it was a good point that
00:45:49
Speaker
you know, he could have lifted a trophy if it wasn't for some terrible show of indiscipline.
00:46:01
Speaker
I think at this point, and also Giorginio, he's such an unlucky guy, isn't he? He's the only sign in Giorginio has to miss the penalty as well. It's like when it rains, it really pours. I want him back in the Serie A. I think the football he plays
00:46:21
Speaker
I mean, the thing is, this is just something that, you know, let's be honest. I mean, Guadagiola absolutely loves that man. I mean, I remember after the Champions League game last season, he said, this is the best team I have ever faced.
00:46:34
Speaker
Everybody respects him, his colleagues respect him because the football he plays is really difficult and it's really impressive if he can get it to work. That Napoli side played some of the most beautiful football I've ever seen.
Upcoming Serie A Matches
00:46:45
Speaker
And then I think, you know, he's an ideologue and I want him back in the Serie A because I think that's, there they understand who he is, they know who he is, you know,
00:46:56
Speaker
And I think, you know, with with with Ralmat, a team who plays in the Champions League, you know, get that sort that sporting directorship out, get someone who actually knows what they're doing and start delivering for Sarri, you know, get rid of Santon and Gran Jesus.
00:47:12
Speaker
and then you'll be fine. Next week's episode, hopefully less drama and we can talk more about what's happened on the pitch because there is a sensational slate of matches. I mean, Calle Reinter, Milan Sasuolo, Terbi Della Capitale,
00:47:31
Speaker
We have Atalanta Fiorentina and then we have Napoli Juve. So actually a pretty nice set of matches that we're going to be seeing. And again, hopefully we won't be coming here and having to have you two square off about VAR.
00:47:50
Speaker
No, but look, it's Napoli Uwe and the Rome Darby. Are you kidding me? Might as well just say it's going to be a two-hour episode next week, because there's going to be so much to talk about. And since we know that the Serie A just can't get out of the wrong way, they're going to find some new way to screw everything up. So I'm already popping the popcorn.
00:48:14
Speaker
It's going to be entertaining. I just hope that, no, but in all seriousness, I want to have a good derby. I want to see a good derby where the players decide this and not the referees or the VAR. We know that Simone Inzag is going to be unhappy no matter what happens. So that's fine. And if Francesco is going to look like
00:48:36
Speaker
you know, somebody smacked him in the face. Anyway, he's always disgruntled. So two of the most miserable people in Italy are going to square off with the Rome Derby. So that's going to be interesting in and of itself. And then you have Ancelotti against Allegri, which this is this is my, you know, I'm so glad that this is the last match of the of the of the week because Ancelotti is Napoli firing on full cylinders. Allegri's, Allegri's Juve looking like they've got run out of gas.
00:49:04
Speaker
In Naples, I mean, this game means so much for people in Naples. And it's like, you know, if Inter Juve is a big game, but, you know, they call it the Derby d'Italia, of all the games that aren't city derbies, Napoli Juve is one that is, it's a big one, and it's going to be insane at the San Paolo.
Contest Winner Announcement
00:49:28
Speaker
And I say, if you're going to watch one game next week, make sure it's this one.
00:49:31
Speaker
There you have it. And before we sign off, Nima, you had, did you want to talk about briefly the contest that we mentioned last week? Yeah. Yeah. First of all, thank you, all of you who took part. We, we were, you know, we, we were not aware, we were not expecting, there was 250 people took part. So huge thank you to that, to all of you who took part. Uh, and, uh, we, we have a, we have a winner, uh, Julian Ralph from the UK.
00:49:57
Speaker
He supports Siena, his wife supports Juve, his five-year-old son Luca supports Inter, he supports Inter now after Christmas, because during Christmas his grandfather or his nono, who is an Inter fan, die-hard Inter fan, convinced him that Inter are better.
00:50:22
Speaker
Yeah, I love the grandfather. I haven't met him. I think he's an awesome, you know, it just goes to show that, you know, when you're a parent, you should you should you should guide your children in the right down the right path. And clearly, his grandfather is doing that. So no, so so he chose the inter inter one for his son.
00:50:42
Speaker
And he'll put it up. And I just thought it was such a cute story. He supports you and his wife supports you. His dad supports Inter and his son used to support Milan. But then during Christmas, Nonno took care of it. It's just absolutely beautiful. So huge, huge, huge congrats to Julian and Luca and Nonno.
00:51:04
Speaker
Uh, we'll, we'll, once, once they get the stuff, we'll definitely tweet out the photo. Um, and also big thanks to the North curve, uh, who, who, who helped us with this. And also to everyone who took place. Yes. Thank you for helping us with that. Thank you for, for listening. We will end it there again. Hopefully less drama next week. We will keep our fingers crossed. So, um, until next time, take care everybody. Ciao.