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Free Weekly Episode - Kostic’s Juventus Blitz Inter, Roma’s Ibañez Gifts Lazio Derby, Napoli Pull Clear & Much More (Ep. 272)
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From Juventus beating Inter in the Derby D'Italia, Olivier Giroud saving AC Milan again, Roma defensive howler gifts derby to Lazio to Napoli extending lead at the top of the Serie A and much more, Nima and Carlo break down all the talking points from another eventful Serie A weekend.
Every Monday episode of The Italian Football Podcast is free for all. To listen to all full episodes of The Italian Football Podcast, go to Patreon.com/TIFP to become a Patron for only $2.99 USD per month (excluding VAT).
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast with John Solano, Carlo Garganese and Nima Tuvali.
Serie A Match Previews
00:00:24
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to the Italian Football Podcast. I'm Kylo Garganese, joined as always by Nimr, huge, huge weekend of football in Serie A. Three absolutely massive matches, first against second, Napoli against Atalanta, the Robe Derby and then the two most hated teams in Italy, the Derby d'Italia.
00:00:48
Speaker
between Juventus and Inter. There's so much to talk about.
Supporting the Podcast
00:00:53
Speaker
Just before we do start though, just a reminder for all our first time listeners, this is our free weekly episode, which we do every Monday, reviewing the weekend Celia action and all the biggest talking points in Italian football. If you want to support the Italian football podcast and receive all of our content throughout the week,
00:01:12
Speaker
including our weekly Q&A episode, which is every Tuesday, where we answer all the questions sent in from our patrons, plus the weekly Thursday midweek review show, plus interviews, post much reaction, and much, much more. Then go to patreon.com slash T-I-F-P and become a subscriber for just $2.99 a month plus VAT. That's patreon.com slash T-I-F-P.
Juventus vs Inter Match Analysis
00:01:39
Speaker
and thank you to everyone for listening and please do keep giving us your five-star ratings as well as subscribe to us on Spotify, Apple, iTunes and Google Podcasts and also share the pod on social media because it really, really helps us. Okay, right, let's get to the football now and there's only one place to start and that is the Derby Detailia.
00:02:05
Speaker
Okay, so Juventus versus Inter and it is Juventus with a huge win, 2-0 against Inter. Massive win for Juve in the race for the top four.
00:02:22
Speaker
I guess we should come to Nimr first. Nimr has not had the best week and this was just the icing on top of the cake. It was the floating turd in the punch ball made of horse piss this game, given the week I've had.
00:02:46
Speaker
I've been quite you know I've been supporting Allegri and I and I think he was the right decision and I think you know I said this season is year year one this is year one.
00:02:55
Speaker
I was doubting a lot when Juve were on the ropes, but champions always come back when you least expect them. And Max Allegri has shown that when it matters the most, when his back is against the wall and he's forced to play the kids, he does so. And the kids deliver.
00:03:16
Speaker
Fagioli is a is a jewel. He is what a what a little jewel you have unearthed there. Miretti as well. He finally played a 3-5-2. Kostich as a left wing back is outstanding. He finally played the Brazilians in the back three. Alexandro Bremer Danilo. And Rabio continues to be for me,
00:03:41
Speaker
the embodiment of Allegri's 2.0, maybe not the sexiest player in the world, but a useful player, an efficient player. Juve have conceded seven goals in the Serie A in 13 games. That's fantastic. The problem has been that they don't create as much.
00:04:03
Speaker
And when you've got Dimarilla, Kieza, Pogba and Vlalovic out, you can't point the finger too much. But he's always said, Allegri, judge me after 15 games. Well, we're two games short of that. And I think that by the end of next week or this week, sorry.
00:04:22
Speaker
We'll see a Juve who's very much in the top four.
Juventus's Tactical and Defensive Strategies
00:04:26
Speaker
And that's a good place to be for them going into the break where they have a month now to work on everything that's not working. So I think from a Juve perspective, this was just Las Volta, the turning point.
00:04:40
Speaker
It really was. Well, we'll see about that. I mean, I think that for sure that finally Juventus fans have something to cheer about and celebrate. This is the first time in the 15 months that I think UVA fans can actually smile and actually be proud. Obviously
00:04:57
Speaker
it's against Inter. So I think even the Allegri out disciples, and there's quite a lot of UVA fans recently who have actually been cheering against Juventus in recent weeks and wanting them to lose in order for Allegri to push Allegri closer to the sack. But the quicker he gets out, the quicker Juventus can actually turn the page and rebuild.
00:05:22
Speaker
I think that was all put aside for this game. And we even saw a packed crowd and it's been empty, the stadium. That is how much this game meant. And finally, Juventus have a big win. It's their first big win in a year. And they played 18 games, big games under Allegri and only won one during his return. That was against Chelsea a year ago in the group stages. And so they finally have a big win.
00:05:52
Speaker
Yes, but they did ride their luck a bit. I mean, Inse had three huge chances at 0-0, and we'll come to Inter in a bit before you've been to scored with their first real chance. But there was some really, really fantastic individual performances. Costitch, as she said, he was mad at the match. He put in an incredible performance. I mean, he got two assists.
00:06:12
Speaker
He also got the assist for the disallowed goal on the corner, which, okay, we'll come to the corner. I mean, for me, it's, I mean, it was the correct decision to dislike because it hits hand. The rules are pretty clear. If you handball it, it comes off your hand, whether it's accidental, whether it's deliberate, it is a goal. I've seen some people say, well, you know, should it have been a penalty because he was holding his arm when he did it? You know, but- If that's a penalty, I mean,
00:06:41
Speaker
we're giving a penalty for that, then I don't even know. Then we should give penalty. Then we're going to have 15 penalties each half, because that happens. That kind of contact happens at every set piece, in every game, in every league. So it's not a penalty. I don't think anyone can seriously claim it's a penalty. And the rule, and people asking, well, why didn't Dauvery look at it? Because it's not up to him to look. It's an objective rule. It's not a subjective call.
00:07:09
Speaker
The rule is objectively, you cannot score with any part of your arm or hand. Simple as that. Unintentional, intentional, doesn't matter. If the ball goes off the attacking player's hand or arm into the back of the net, it is not a goal. It's like offside.
00:07:27
Speaker
Yeah, you know, it's, I mean, it's, it's just, that's the, that's the laws of the game. Do you know what I mean? Like, it didn't, it didn't matter anyway, but I mean, you know, Costitch, Costitch, I've come back to Costitch. He was, he was fantastic. And then this is what I've said. Like when Costitch was playing in a four, three, three, he's not a wing guy in a four, three, three. I mean, he is very one dimensional. I'm not going to lie. He doesn't have much to his game. All it does is, is he crosses, but his, his delivery is, is so good. It's like DiMarco.
00:07:52
Speaker
DiMarco doesn't really do much other than kick a ball. The way he kicks the ball, the way he crosses and the way he delivers and executes is so good, Costeci. He always makes his pass and his cross. He's got six assists now this season.
00:08:10
Speaker
And, you know, for that first goal, he even showed good pace to get away from. I mean, that's what I was going to say pretty quick. And Barrello couldn't chase him down. I mean, he wasn't gaining on him. So he wasn't gaining on it. You know, he was faster, as fast with the ball as Barrello was without the ball. So, you know, I think he was he was absolutely brilliant. Berema was unbelievable. I was watching him. Well, yes, I was watching him closely. His positioning
00:08:37
Speaker
Even on some incidents that didn't even turn into much, his positioning is unbelievable on crosses. He's always in the right position. He always gets his
00:08:55
Speaker
that cuts off the crossing lanes and the passing lanes to avoid chances becoming big chances. He did that so many times, well, throughout the season, but especially last night. His reading of the game, positioning, it's like Tiago Silva. He reminds me of Tiago Silva, the way that he anticipates where the ball and where the cross and where the free pass
00:09:16
Speaker
is going to come and the amount of blocks and challenges he put in and aerially that he just wins everything here he was absolutely brilliant and that was summed up by the tackle that he made which stopped a goal scoring chance and led to the counter for Fagioli's goal that was Bremmer that put in that tackle and him and Danilo were as a partnership I know it was a three but those two were really really good you know Danilo
00:09:44
Speaker
he showed himself to be, you know, in a back three actually pretty useful in a back three. I don't really very good central. Yeah, I don't rate him in a back four. Yeah, I don't rate him in a back four at
Speculation on Juventus's Future
00:09:56
Speaker
all. It doesn't offer anything going forward. He's not a full back or a wing back. No, and he was not. He's not the quickest to be the feedback either.
00:10:04
Speaker
He doesn't have any acceleration. For the role of a wing back or a full back, you need to have acceleration. You need to have some sort of quickness and explosiveness. He doesn't have that, but he's quick enough and he's physical enough and he's intelligent enough.
00:10:20
Speaker
to play to the right of a back three. And really good in the air as well, because he was really good. Yes, he is. He outdone Jeko in the air. He was winning most of the aerial challenges. For me it was Kosti who was the man of the match and then it was a tie between Bremen and Danilo. Bremen we knew was going to be outstanding in this game because of what happened in the summer.
00:10:38
Speaker
So it was going to happen. And look, those of you following... Bremen seemed very good throughout the season. I've seen people criticise him, but he has... Yeah, I mean, he made a few errors and positional errors playing in a back four, and that's not his position. Look, for those of you who follow me on social media, those of you who listen to this pod for a long time, for the two years we've been doing it, you know what I think about Bremen. I think when in a back three, Bremen is the best central defender in the world. There is no one better than him.
00:11:08
Speaker
There is no one better than him defensively. Defensively, in a back three, in the middle, right now, when he's in form, no
Inter's Tactical Challenges
00:11:16
Speaker
one better. No one reaches the level this guy plays at. He is a monster on the wall. And you saw that yesterday. I mean, he embodies, I mean, he really is Keleene's replacement in the sense of the warrior heart.
00:11:29
Speaker
the way that he fights. But aside from that, he's quick. His read of the game is excellent. His anticipation is second to none. His physique, his ability to win tackles and also play the ball well, his passing is good. No, for me, he is the best central defender defensively in the world.
00:11:51
Speaker
in a back three. No one is better than him. In a back four, no. Nowhere near. But in a back three, yes. And also, how long have you heard me say? You've played three, five, two with Alexandro Bremmer Danilo, cost each other less. Finally, they did that. And it's looking really, really well. What that raises though, well, two things that raises. First of all,
00:12:14
Speaker
Benucci, Juventus, I think now we have to agree. Juventus are better without Benucci. Benucci is no longer a first choice player for Juventus, correct? Nope. Nope. He isn't. He sure isn't. Tell me yesterday who he is better than.
00:12:29
Speaker
Well, no, that's the point, isn't it? I mean, if you're going to play Benucci in a bat three, there's only one position you can play in. That's in the center of the bat three. So that's when Bremmer plays. So what do you do? So do you move Bremmer out to one of the wide areas? Well, that poses a problem because one, Benucci, you know,
00:12:48
Speaker
he's had his own problems just defending full stop, whatever the formation, you know, he's always been declined. But secondly, you stick Bremer as the, as the wide center back, then you're not getting the best out of Bremer. It's not his not his best role was in the sense he can play as a wide center back, but his, his distribution is one weakness with Bremer. His distribution isn't great. Now as you play as a wide center back, your distribution is becomes important. And that's where the knee loads actually
00:13:13
Speaker
very, very good. And even Alexandro is actually not bad distributing the ball. You can use the ball, you know, at least because they have more time on the ball. Both Danilo and Alexandro struggle when you're on the wing, you have to hit the ball, you know, one time crosses. They're not good at that. They don't excel in that. But when they play in to the back three and either side of on to the right or left,
00:13:35
Speaker
they they get more time on the ball and they can pick their passes and they are good at that and they are good at that distribution and they are Brazilians Brazilians are generally Brazilian defenders generally are quite good in playing the back three because it's very Well, it certainly was for a long time in this century back freeze were very very commonly used in Brazilian league football And a lot of Brazilians are grow up playing that those systems in the back three So they are very comfortable playing it and we're definitely seeing that with those three Brazilians but the other thing that this raises about the back three is
00:14:05
Speaker
you know, Kiesa, and to an extent Di Maria, kind of do they fit into a three... Kiesa does, Kiesa does, Kiesa can play as a forward next to Vlawic. In fact, the very idea of Vlawic and Kiesa playing together in a two-man attack puts the fear of God in most Serie A teams.
00:14:28
Speaker
because of the intelligence that Kia Zaha has. He can play in any of those positions up front. He hasn't proved it though in his career. He has never played in that position regularly for any team though. That's a question that needs to be answered. I hope he can.
00:14:45
Speaker
I think he's got the attributes that he can become that player, but he needs to be trained and develop into that player. Obviously, his natural position is a winger, and when he came on and was so good against PSG in that little cameo performance, he obviously has a winger. Well, the thing is, Allegri can play a 3-4-2-1 as well. He can play with
00:15:07
Speaker
with Di Maria and Kiesa on either side of Laovich as well. He can do that as well. Possibly, but again, it's not a wing roll. No, but it's kind of an inverted wing. But my point is simply that I think Kiesa is not a problem. I'm more worried about Di Maria in that instance, but to be honest, Di Maria
00:15:24
Speaker
He's, you know, he's what, 34, 35 years old. This is going to probably be his only season at Uwe.
Inter's Season Objectives
00:15:30
Speaker
I would build around Kiesa and Vlawic and these other players, and Di Maria. Di Maria just has a good rotation player. And in, you know, in games against, you know, Helas and, you know, Sassolo and Empoli.
00:15:45
Speaker
you can play Di Maria and do stuff like that, but it's clear that the best for you is a back three. Gatti performs well in that as well. They need to sign, and we know Banu Bonucci is at his best in a back three, so you're essentially only looking at a backup role for Danilo to the right, but above all,
00:16:06
Speaker
What you even need to do, if they want to strengthen, is quadrado. I've always respected quadrado. I think he's been grossly underrated and unfairly treated by most Uber fans in that environment. But now he is so past his best, it's not even funny. And you even need to find a replacement for him bad. The same way they found one for Kostich. In Kostich, sorry. I think we knew he was good.
00:16:35
Speaker
And he's been outstanding, you know should have had three assists could have scored a goal Could have had three assists could have critical I mean if it wasn't for an a fantastic and they're gonna save we tips it into the We have to talk about the midfield though because the ravier scored another goal which was with a great finish to be fair I have to give credit where it's due. That was that was that was a really really difficult chance the way that he's running towards goal and
00:16:59
Speaker
and the ball comes across him on his weaker foot, across his body, that
Juventus's Young Talent
00:17:05
Speaker
is a really, really difficult, really difficult chance to guide that with a glance in touch, you know, towards the far post. That's a really, really difficult chance. And that was a great, great finish. He's now scored five goals this season. He's only one off his all-time best goal tally for a season, which is six at PSG. And we're still in November. So he's
00:17:28
Speaker
he's yeah he's added goals to his game in this season i still have my my doubts you know i still think Juventus need to upgrade there's no doubt about that but you know is that was nice but also we have to talk about Fagioli because that is that's a beautiful story and okay he got a little bit of a luck with the finish took a deflection but
00:17:46
Speaker
you know he's got two goals now in three games uh is that was his first start and again i'll repeat what i said last week this is why i said play the kids you know time will tell if they are end up being good enough there are still obviously question marks whether Vaggioli even Moretti who was actually pretty poor very poor actually to be honest with you in this game um you know
00:18:09
Speaker
This is why I said play the kids because they've shown now that they're not any inferior. In fact, they're superior to the other option, the likes of McKinney, these kind of players. They're better than these players. Whether they're good enough, time will set on that. I'm still not sure. But they've shown that
00:18:31
Speaker
You know, they deserve their chance. They deserve the chance to develop. And, you know, Juventus can only win from that. And, you know, the only frustrating thing is why has it taken so long?
00:18:42
Speaker
to the likes of Fagioli and these younger players to get the opportunity.
Allegri's Future at Juventus
00:18:48
Speaker
That's the frustrating thing, because Juventus have thrown away so much of this season already, and probably too much for them to even have a chance of getting back into the skeleton race. They're too far away. But these guys, they deserve the chance sooner, and the Leguis only played them because
00:19:03
Speaker
He's basically forced to play them. He's got so many players out, he didn't have a choice, had to play Pajole. But this has shown why they deserve their chance. And it's a great story for Pajole, lifelong Juventus fan, came and watched the games as a kid at the stadium. So that's a nice little side story.
00:19:24
Speaker
It is. It's a very nice side story, and I think it's good for these clubs to have players that love them, that love the clubs they're at. They become standard bearers, they become flag bearers, and they become this, you know, this voice in the dressing room that leads by example as to how much it means, what it means to be Juve and what Juve means. I think it's really important. Just before we move on to Insel, eh? Just before we move on to Insel, Allegri,
00:19:50
Speaker
So, you know, you've said on previous shows that you think that Allegri could go during the World Cup break. Yeah, I did. Do you feel now that it's likely he's going to now stay? No, no. And if you remember last week, I think it was on Thursday, Paul, I said, I think a lot of rides on this game. And I said that I prefaced that if they get rid of him, he'll be during the World Cup break and it will be him resigning.
00:20:18
Speaker
But I prefaced that and gave a caveat there saying it depends on where they are before when the World Cup break comes. And the way it looks like they're going to be at is within top four, inside top four, and that the team is starting to perform and has overcome adversity.
00:20:40
Speaker
And they have. Their attack is still not good enough, but defensively, they are outstanding. Seven goals conceded in 13 games. That's the best in the Serie A, if I'm not mistaken. I do have to caveat that seven goals. Now, they were over-performing their expected goals against by almost double early running season, although I have to say the defence has improved a lot in recent games, but they have, you know,
00:21:05
Speaker
they should have considered a lot more. Well, that's fair enough, but they haven't got, they haven't, and they haven't delivered, played good football and they haven't won, been good enough, but they've overcome their difficult period. I think you can say that when you win four games in a row and one of them is against Inter, that they are in their form now and they've done so by playing a 3-5-2, by playing in low blocks, by playing
00:21:30
Speaker
um, they being compact and they've got outstanding.
Juventus's Serie A Potential
00:21:34
Speaker
I mean, when I likely said that this Juventus was born to play counter-attacking football, I agree with them. I think he's absolutely right. They're expected goals against the season, by the way, Juventus is 14.74 and they conceded seven. So it's over double. They're expected goals against it. I mean, that was, Perrin was magnificent, actually, in the early weeks of the season. And a lot of people actually feel he should, should, should have been the Juventus number one. And he should, you know, he should have kept his place when Sheson came back. So
00:22:00
Speaker
Yeah, I would I don't we that that that needs to be taken into account. That's fair enough. But but I agree with that. But at the end of the day, you have the best defense in the city. You now have a defense and you know what your defense is. You know what your lineup is. You've got Pogba, Blauwitsch, Keza, Di Maria all coming back from injury after the World Cup. You're 10 points off Napoli, if I think, if I'm not mistaken, you're back in the race for top four.
00:22:28
Speaker
You have a month, two months to recalibrate and work on that. And then you have a January window where you can work and try to strengthen. I'm not saying that Juventus are winning the Serie A title. Absolutely not. That would be ludicrous to say. But I wouldn't count them out.
00:22:47
Speaker
I'm not counting them out. I think Juventus and our outsiders now, Napoli, are the clear favourites. We're going to get to them. I think it's a two horse race between them and Milan with Juventus, the possible third horse. Unfortunately.
Inter's Big Match Issues
00:23:03
Speaker
Yeah, unfortunately, I think Allegra is going to stay now. I think this win guarantees that. Oh, he's definitely staying. He's definitely staying. He nearly doesn't sack mid-season. He never has. He's always said that, that he doesn't, which is an outdated way of working, but here's what it is. Personally, I would still
00:23:24
Speaker
I would still bring in someone new. I think that, you know, this four match winning run, even the win last night is despite Allegri. It's not because of him. You know, a lot of these, a lot of these things were forced on him. He's only playing the youngsters because he was forced to. So he can't, he still did it.
00:23:42
Speaker
Well, he didn't have a choice. We had this discussion last week. Of course he had a choice. He could have played McKinney yesterday. I mean, he could have played... McKinney's injured. No, I know. But you know what I mean? He could have played... Well, there's no one else. There's no one else. There's no one else. They're all injured. You know, anyway. But at the same time, he could have played a 4-4-2, but he didn't. He played a 3... Like, he can't just constantly bash... Well, he still does. In defensive position. In defensive phase, he still does play 4-4-2. Oh, my God. No, you have... You can't...
00:24:11
Speaker
Like, because everyone does it. It's fluid. Even Spaliti when, you know, changes between them. Look, it's it's it's you can't just take a dump on Allegri. You got to give credit where credit is due. And yes, he's done things the very outdated and old fashioned and, you know, roundabout way to get to where he is. But what I saw yesterday against him, there wasn't just a win and they were lucky and he said it himself. We were lucky in the first half and they were.
00:24:41
Speaker
But I also agree with what Simon Inzaghi says. I don't believe in luck. You just have to do better. And you've a did. Listen, I'll give a leg we credit when I see them challenging up near the top and doing what they should be doing and not getting knocked out of the Champions League with three points after six games. And that's when I'll start giving the credit.
00:24:58
Speaker
I'm not going to give him credit after he wins just one game again. No, I'm not giving him credit after just one game. No, I'm just saying. Even in this game was 1.2 to Juventus and 1.7 to Inter. So, you know, I'm not saying that Juventus played a bad game, they played a good game, but they were lucky, still a bit lucky to win this game. I think a draw
00:25:16
Speaker
But that's what I mean. Yeah, that's fair enough. But as Simone Nzagi said, and I agree with him, and I thought that was very self-critical of him and say that, look, I don't believe in bad luck and good luck. You just have to do better. We have to do better. And I agree with that. And sure, you know,
00:25:32
Speaker
And I think Allegri's done really, really well, and I think he stays. I started doubting him for sure on this podcast, saying maybe it's looking so dreary and horrible that maybe he should leave. But sometimes you've got to hit rock bottom before you can go upwards. And Juventus have hit rock bottom, and now they're going upwards, and they will finish in the top four. There's no doubt about it in my mind that they will.
00:25:56
Speaker
I don't think they're going to, as I said, they're an outsider with an outside chance to get involved in the Scudetto race, but there is something there. There is something there, and you can't take that away from him, and he has been able to steer this Yuba from chaos back to on the right path.
00:26:19
Speaker
Okay. Well, let's move on to Inter, who have veered away from the path after a good run of form they lose. So I've got three segments on an Inter. First of all, what went wrong in this game? Well, what went wrong is, I feel like many times when I talk about Simone and Zaggy's Inter and Inter these last two years, it feels like Groundhog Day. I feel like Bill Murray.
00:26:49
Speaker
Because again, you cannot create these clear chances and only get one of these chances on target.
00:27:03
Speaker
And that is the poorest finish of them all. Starting with Lautaro Martinez, I think his two chances... I mean, the first one, it was fair enough. He probably should have got that on target, even if it would have been blocked, maybe by Fagioli or whatever. But it's a larger point. And the larger point is, he wants to be the symbol of this inte.
00:27:31
Speaker
And I think he's individually, technically, definitely good enough to be that. But in order to be that person, you have to also deliver when it matters. You have to score when you're given the chance in tight games. You can't have this ratio of needing four or five chances a game to score one, two goals. It just doesn't work that way at this level. You have to be more cynical.
00:27:54
Speaker
and clinical. And he isn't so far, unfortunately. And that's something he needs to work on. And I thought that we had passed this stage in his development, but clearly not. He's taken a step back. Secondly, it's not Edin Jeko's fault that he's the starting number nine at Inter. That is Steven Zhang, Beppe Marotta, and their Suning's fault. That's collectively the management's fault.
00:28:25
Speaker
but my God in heaven.
00:28:29
Speaker
Why, I mean, this man is so finished. He looks to play in slow motion. When his movement, it literally looks like that cartoon from, I think it was Zuopolis, of the people working at the DMV, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and they're working like in ultra slow, and it's bizarre the way that he moves.
00:28:56
Speaker
How slow he moves. I have no idea what you're talking about, but I still find it funny. Yeah, have you not seen it? It's a cartoon. I can't remember what the cartoon is called. It's called Zootropolis, I think. It's a city run by animals, a cartoon, and the people working at the department. It's underground. No, it's a Disney cartoon, I think. And the people working in the Department of Motor Vehicles are these sloths.
00:29:20
Speaker
That's how it looks, and they move really slowly. That's how it looks when Jeko plays, when he moves with the ball. And again, that's not his fault. He shouldn't be there. That's on Inter. And probably Simone should have started Quaking Correa. And also, thirdly, Denzel Dumfries, man. We know that he's an athletic player. He's a useful player in terms of if you're, you know, we've seen what he does for Holland, for the Netherlands.
00:29:48
Speaker
but he's not good enough for Inter and his individual, his country, he has the worst technique of any wingback in all of the top sides, in all of the top leagues in Europe. You can't name one wingback in such an important position in the 3-5-2 of someone who has a worse technique than this guy does with a ball. His first touch makes my eyes bleed. It makes me want to gouge my eyes out with a wooden spoon.
00:30:18
Speaker
This man is a professional footballer and he controls the bowl like a toddler.
00:30:24
Speaker
And that miss, it's symptomatic of that. It's not just the miss. Defensively, he's all right. He does well. He works really hard. What he lacks up for, his proponents would say what he lacks up for in technical ability, he makes up for in terms of his mentality and his work rate, and that's true. He never gives up, but he's not good enough.
00:30:51
Speaker
And he can't beat his man to save his life. His crossing is abysmal. His first time crosses are a joke. And when you, you know, an inter are a side, an inter don't have any players that can beat their man. You know, it's as simple as that. Denzel Dunfries can't beat his man. So he's relying on balls being crossed.
00:31:14
Speaker
behind the defence so he can run in diagonally, or if he's in the box, to win it in the air. But those three things, that's what went wrong. The second thing that went wrong was Simon and Zaggy's substitutions. His read of the game was, again, abysmal. Bringing Hakan Chalanogluov,
00:31:35
Speaker
In that situation, and Federico Di Marco means two things. You have no one who can produce a decent set piece. You have no one on the pitch that can deliver those important diagonal crossballs. You have no one who can deliver at a high quality into the box, and you lose a lot of passing as well.
00:31:57
Speaker
especially with Channeloglu. He went to a 3-4-2-1. Joaquin Correa came on. I mean, he offers absolutely nothing. He had a good pasta. I must say he was one of the better players when he plays, yesterday, against Gilbert.
00:32:12
Speaker
But still, I'm tired of beating this dead horse. He's a glorified futsal player. That's what he is. He can't play consistently at this level without getting injured. I can't even remember the last time, if ever, he scored double figures in his career, a season. And that in a situation where Inter can't afford to spend that kind of money and not be a dud. And speaking of that, Robin Gorsens. What was that?
00:32:39
Speaker
I mean, he wants to play, but what kind of a performance was that? And it's again, you know, these things, it's like the perfect storm, all of these things at once. But from the other side, and the Scudetto race, let's be honest, Inter out of the Scudetto race, Inter have the objectives for Inter from now on is finish on the top four, win the Super Coppa, get to the quarterfinal of the Champions League and try to get as far as you can in the Coppa Italia, maybe even win it. Those are the objectives.
00:33:09
Speaker
And it turns out that you actually have to invest and overhaul and improve your squad during the summer vastly and not take slight steps sideways or upwards as Inter have now for three, four windows in a row. Okay, just to come in there. So you've mentioned about the objectives for the season, obviously.
00:33:39
Speaker
They're probably not what they were at the start of the season, certainly in terms of Serie A.
Evaluation of Inter's Season
00:33:45
Speaker
We have to ask the question, is Nzergi the right coach for Inter looking long term? Because they lost the Scudetto last season when they should have won the Scudetto. There's no doubt about it. I'll say it until I'm blue in the face. Inter had the best squad, the best team last season. And I would say bye.
00:34:06
Speaker
but by not a significant amount, but by enough of an amount that they should have won the league. There's no doubt about that for me. That was a failure by Ntagi, not winning the league. Whether you want to blame him or you want to blame the players or whoever you want to blame, Inter should have won the Scudetto last season.
00:34:22
Speaker
This season, we're in November, the first week of November, and Inter are already 11 points off the top of the table. They've already lost five games, five games by the start of November, seven games they've lost in all competitions. I mean, that's pretty concerning. Too many, too many, got way too many goals, conceded 19. They've conceded in Serie A already.
00:34:44
Speaker
That's the most amount of goals conceded by a team in the top half of Serie A, along with that Saleni Turner, 19 goals. And as has been cited a lot everywhere, the big game record of Inter this season is terrible. They've lost all four of their big games against direct rivals in Serie A, to Milan, to Juventus, to Roma, to Lazio. And in the Champions League, they lost home and away to Bayern. So the only big game that they've won this season
00:35:14
Speaker
is against Barcelona, which, you know, let's be honest, they were lucky to win because they should have had a penalty given against them in the last minute. Well, they were unlucky not to win in a way. Okay, we can say they won't. It kind of equals itself up. Well, we can say they were unlucky. Yeah, but still, you know, so what, you know, what is the issue in the big games? And the big question is, is in Turkey still the right coach, for instance?
00:35:37
Speaker
I think Gonzagi is the only coach for Inter right now, because there are no other alternatives available on the market right now. The only other coach, which I think could come in and take over this side and get something out of them is Ivan Yurich. But he can't coach two teams in the same Serie A season. But more importantly, he's got the players behind him. And I think you need to analyze those defeats.
00:36:07
Speaker
I think against Milan, they were lucky not to be outplayed. They were dreadful. Lazio, same thing. Unwatchable. The first half against Juve, Milan interplay good. Inter should have gone into that lead score, having at least scored twice. So it's an individual thing. And with Roma,
00:36:26
Speaker
That was the turning point. Inter played really well. They didn't deserve to lose. But having said that, they still lost. And that, at Inter, at Milan, at Juve, you cannot, you're not allowed to play to lose five games in 13 Serie A matches. It's absolutely unacceptable. You have to get a few of those into the draw column.
00:36:53
Speaker
And that is on him. And again, I was criticizing his in-game management, what he did with Chalanoglu. But the biggest issue is this. He was counting on Romelu Lukaku. That was their big marquee signing. He was supposed to carry in there this season. Romelu Lukaku has played less than Paolo Di Bala. Let that sink in. Paolo Di Bala has played more and scored more and been more involved than Romelu Lukaku this season.
00:37:21
Speaker
And then you also have the situation with Handanovic, which he had to resolve, which he resolved, which he fixed excellently without alienating and pissing anyone off. Now Onana is the starter. Handanovic has accepted his role. And he's been handed so many shit sandwiches that he's had to deal with and he's had to swallow and fix for Inter time and time and time again.
00:37:45
Speaker
So I think he's done the best that he could have done in terms of all things considered. But there is no doubt, don't get it twisted, there is no doubt whatsoever that this seven defeats already by November is simply unacceptable. The results are unacceptable. Then you can go into why and so on. But I got to say,
00:38:07
Speaker
When Inter lost to Roma, one thing that speaks for him, when Inter lost to Roma, they went on and had a fantastic month. Now they've lost the first game of November. He's got two games, which if he wins both, then that buys him time, that buys the team peace of mind, because if they beat Atalanta, they're equal with Atalanta, and Atalanta are, I think, second or third right now.
00:38:34
Speaker
They're all within three points. That becomes incredibly important. How do they react? So far, when there's been a crisis, the team has reacted. I think in a few days, by the end of this week, we will know where we are.
00:38:50
Speaker
whether or not he's the right coach, I don't think, I can't think of any other coach that could have done better than with this squad than he has in terms of overall play, the kind of football they want to play, the level of the football they want to play, the results have not been acceptable at all. There's no doubt about that. I think the concerning thing for me is that Inter seem to have these moments of mental fragility that they can be playing well in a game and they can look like they're not
00:39:18
Speaker
in any danger of conceding. I don't think I've seen a team concede so many goals in games where they don't really look like in danger of proceeding. I remember that Arsenal, for a period of Arsenal when they were under Arsene Wenger, used to be like this, where they looked like they were in total control in games, probably around about 2009, 2010, where they were completely in control and dominant in games.
00:39:41
Speaker
but they had such as mental fragility that they could somehow throw away goals and throw away games even when they're in total control. I get a similar vibe from this inter-team, which is a weird thing, because unlike that Arsenal team, this inter-team is full of leaders and international captains. That's a very good point. I don't understand why. I don't understand it either, because it happened under Antonio Conte as well. There's this famous clip of him, I think it was away against Parma,
00:40:06
Speaker
when they were cruising and he was suspended, he wasn't allowed to be on the pitch, I think it was after his famous rant against Mareska. And he was suspended the following game against Panama Way and he's sitting there on the stands and he's like he's in agony, he's in physical pain because they're about to throw away two points and they conceded out of nothing. This is an inter-illness. Mazzari used to, you know, even though he had a horribly, much worse squad,
00:40:35
Speaker
was also, I remember him talking about you, why do we keep throwing points away? This is something that Inter have been doing for better part of the last decade, ever since Jose Mourinho left after the treble. This has been an illness.
00:40:50
Speaker
At the start of the second half, I actually thought Inter were playing in their best period of the game. Not necessarily in chances created, but in terms of being packed inside the final third of Juventus and Juventus just couldn't get out. They really were completely taking a stranglehold of the game.
00:41:08
Speaker
out of nothing, you know, because they hesitate because they hesitate. They they lack that kind of meanness and cynicism that Conte was was fuming about and was able to, you know, beat it into them. For example, why does Barrella Barrella not? Why is Barrella and Chalanoglo? Why are they hesitating when with that ball? Why not foul cost each take a tactical foul? Like, you know, Bergami was screaming about it last night.
00:41:35
Speaker
on club culture on Sky, same as Dicagno, saying, you know, what's going on here? Dicagno was blaming Simon Inzaghi's communication skills, and I think that is closer to, I think that is the problem. I don't think he communicates well enough in games and into the players for him to, I think that's where it lacks, because he's got them behind in terms of the kind of cynicism to make them understand
00:42:04
Speaker
that in that situation, I want you to be resolute. But that's the problem there. And that kind of creates and also this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. You make one mistake, you're punished severely by it every single time. And it becomes this kind of truth.
00:42:22
Speaker
a self-fulfilling truth within that. And again, this is something we've seen for the last 12 years since when you left, that it's like when it's impossible to lose, they somehow managed to lose or concede. And you're wondered thinking, what is going on? And it can't only be the manager's fault. It can't only be the player's fault, or you can't just be the manager's fault. There's got to be something else. And that something needs addressing. But the problem is,
00:42:51
Speaker
Suning refuse to sell without turning a profit, and I wonder when they do sell if there's going to be anything left of Inter, if this continues. This team needs investment now. It's as simple as that. This squad needs investment. It's first team players that walk right into the starting lineup to be signed now. Suning can't do that.
00:43:18
Speaker
But instead want to do another another song, another episode of the famous Gotta end the summer with a net transfer profit of X million euros dance song and dance. I mean.
00:43:30
Speaker
Talking about singing and dancing, there was only one team in Rome that was singing and dancing yesterday and that was Lazio who won the Derby winner from Felipe Anderson after yet another disastrous era in the Derby. It's not the first time that he's cost his team the Derby but from
00:43:51
Speaker
Rafael Ibanez. It's costing a place in Brazil's World Cup squad as well that was announced today. Let's start off with Lazio from the Lazio point of view because they turned what could have been an absolutely horror week into a much better week by winning this because they got knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday night losing to Firenord.
00:44:16
Speaker
in quite a controversial game and they won the big one against Roma. Let's start with Lazio. What did you make of Lazio?
00:44:29
Speaker
Romagnoli and Casale. Sarri drives me crazy, because in one game, the defense that he puts out there for Lazio is just so damn good. You're thinking, this team is just, they play like a big side, they'll never concede. And then they end up, you know, they go and concede five goals to meet Uland, or lose to Feynord, and end up playing in the conference league.
00:44:53
Speaker
and do weird things like that. Again, Romanioli and Casale were outstanding. Marusic is so, so good. I really like him. And he's such a useful and loyal player. He fits in pretty much everywhere that you want him to play. You want to play him in midfield. You want to play him as a right wing back. He just does it. And of course, Prevedel, I think we can say has been this since like the
00:45:18
Speaker
the surprise of the season. No one, I mean, who expected Provedel to be an Italian national team goalkeeper? And again, you know, that front three reminds me of, it's like a poor man's insignia, kayakon and Mertens.
00:45:39
Speaker
Philippa Anderson playing as a false knight. It was another tactical win for Sarri, for sure, and to do so with Arimobile and Milenko Itzavic, which are only one of them, for sure, as a world-class player in Milenko Itzavic. It's incredibly impressive.
00:46:00
Speaker
Um, but no, it's, it's just, it's so impressive. Yeah. I think that first of all, last year you have to give a lot of credit. No, Malincovitch, Savage, no immobular. They're two most influential players and they still won this game, which is, which is an achievement in itself. Philippe Anderson got the winner. I think he's done a great job filling in for immobular as a false nine. It's not his position.
00:46:26
Speaker
Lazio's defence, like you said, magnificent. Romagnoli was definitely... What is going on? He was really... He won everything in the air. He was positionally perfect. He was really up for it, as you'd expect, given that he's Lazio through and through. Him and Casale, they've got to give a really good partnership. Abraham, again, will come to him, didn't get a kick. I think talking about underrated players, grossly underrated players, Marusic is massively underrated, massively underrated player.
00:46:55
Speaker
He defends so well, barely let any crosses him at all. Every single cross Roma tried to put in, he blocked everything. And yeah, I mean, 13 Serie A games, eight clean sheets in Serie A. You know, it's fantastic. And Provodel has been, like you said, it's been such a calming influence. And it's such an incredible story as well, Provodel. You know, he actually, did you know that he was actually a forward until he was 15 years old, Provodel?
00:47:23
Speaker
which is an incredible story to think that a player can start becoming a goalkeeper at the age of 15 and make it to this level to become one of the best goalkeepers in Serie A and get a call up to the Italy national team and he's actually half Russian. His mum is Russian and his grandmother used to be a close friend of the Levyashin and the family, the legendary Soviet
00:47:49
Speaker
Soviet goalkeeper, one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. And so I think how close were they? I mean, exactly. That's the question. I mean, is there, you know, how well did his grandmother know Lev Yeshin? How good of a friend were you? Yeah, I certainly taken something from it. It's crazy.
00:48:14
Speaker
how good he's been. I mean, to me, he's been the signing of the season so far. No other and what I mean by that is no other player, if you look at the expectation when he was signed and what he's delivered, the distance between those two, there's nothing bigger than that. He was signed to be the second choice goalkeeper. Yeah. And he only got his opportunity because of the red card, because it just goes to show sometimes in football and in life, really, how every sometimes things really are.
00:48:42
Speaker
Because, yeah, time is sliding doors, isn't it? If he hasn't got sent off, if he'd have played that game, would he have ever got his chance? And did he take his chance when he got that game? When he got that chance? I mean, it's all of those things, isn't it?
00:48:55
Speaker
Yeah, it's amazing. But we have to move on to Roma. Of course, is it Raphael Ibanez? Because I said Roger, Roger, you got to get his... Why am I calling him Raphael? Who's Raphael? I don't know. I don't know. Why am I calling him Raphael Ibanez? I'm Googling Raphael Ibanez. There must be a Freudian reason why I'm calling him Raphael. Yeah, I'm sure it is.
00:49:19
Speaker
Look, I, you know... Raphael I don't know anything about egg chasing. I don't watch it because it's, first of all, it's not a ball. It's an egg shaped thing. Anyway, let's, let's leave that. Roger Ibanez. Look, how many times have you heard me criticize him on this pod?
00:49:40
Speaker
I mean, he is just not good enough. And I know that the fact that he was going to be, you know, people were talking that, oh, Mancini should call him up to Italy and Brazil. No, he's not good enough. He's not good enough for Roma. And I'm not basing that off of that off of just that result, just just off of that performance.
00:50:02
Speaker
It's just that he crumbles under pressure. His lowest level is serie b level. He struggles to maintain a consistently mediocre level.
00:50:19
Speaker
Individually, he's all over the place when he's under pressure. When he's not under pressure, he somehow finds a way to screw situations up. I'm sorry. Roma is too big of a club for him. This is too high of a level for him. He's not good enough. And equally, when I say that I was right, I have to do a mea culpa. Jaluka Mancini was a player that I expected a lot out of. I'm giving up on him now.
00:50:42
Speaker
What was that? What in God's name was that? I mean, he's a complete liability. I wonder if this man is mentally ill. I genuinely wonder if he has mental health issues. What his behavior is that of someone who he has no boundaries.
00:50:57
Speaker
He definitely, he definitely, he definitely, you know, I don't want to take mental health. No, I'm not. But you know what I mean? He has no control. No control. He definitely, he definitely has issues like anger issues or something because he really does. He cannot control himself. I said it after. Do you remember when Roman won the conference league last season?
00:51:18
Speaker
And during the celebrations, he was acting like an absolute idiot, like a complete, like social, like psychopath in the celebrations where he was slapping around one of the young Roma youngsters. I think it was, was it Feavix Zhang? I think it was. Yeah, I think it was. I think it was him and he was slapping around, like bullying him in the celebrations. I was thinking, what the hell are you doing? I mean, the guy is
00:51:39
Speaker
He's a nutter. He's a nutter. He has no impulse control whatsoever. He's dirty as hell. And I think being dirty is a good thing. But that's the thing. Being dirty as a central defender, I think, is a good thing if you do it in the intelligent way.
00:52:00
Speaker
like Paolo Monteiro used to be the king of this. Do it in the intelligent way. Mancini does it because he has no impulse control, no control over his emotions. He could easily, I can easily see Gianluca Mancini turning around and headbutting the referee.
00:52:16
Speaker
Like, it wouldn't surprise me. No, seriously. There's nothing about him that surprises me. And it's such a shame because I was expecting so much from him. I really liked the player I saw playing for Atalanta. I really did. But nah, man. I mean, look at what Mourinho did last night.
00:52:32
Speaker
He had to take him off. Yeah, he had to, but I mean, and that didn't help Rome at all. But I mean, coming back to Ibanez, I mean, I think you're being a little bit unfair. I mean, he's not serie beat level, but I think- No, I said when he's at his worst, I said when he's at his lowest level. Yeah, his lowest level is- Well, when he's at his lowest, well, when he makes those mistakes, he's at Sunday league level. I mean, he makes Sunday league level mistakes. I mean, that is the problem with him because I think I have watched him closely this season. He has definitely improved his overall game
00:52:58
Speaker
Yes, it has, but it's not good enough. His game has improved a lot. He's very good in the air. He's good at intercepting. He's very good at bringing the ball out from defence. He's quick. He has improved a lot, but unfortunately, for as long as he's making these, and a lot of the times, that error that he made yesterday, like the one that he made in the Derby last year when Immobilis scored,
00:53:20
Speaker
They're unenforced errors. Yeah, they're unforced errors. Unattacked. He creates a situation that isn't a situation. And I think a lot of the reason for his development, I think it's because he's got a rock in Chris Smalley behind him next time. I think he's got this absolute pillar of calm and quality behind him.
00:53:41
Speaker
uh who who who raises his who gives him so much you know who can who allows him to raise his level but he's not good enough and neither is jalluka mancini and that is a problem that is genuinely a problem and i don't know what maras kumbula is doing on on during training because he's he's never like
00:54:00
Speaker
They have to strengthen. His numbers are good this season. I'm looking at his numbers now. He's top five for interceptions. He's top five for ball recoveries. If I look at his aerial challenges, I'm sure he'll be pretty quiet. He'll be pretty reasonably high. I mean, his numbers are good. His numbers are up there with the best for defenders in Serie A. But he has these brain farts where he just makes inexplicable just huge errors like this, especially in big games.
00:54:28
Speaker
And you can't do that as a top level defender. And, you know, so until he until he sorts out and cuts out these errors, he's not going to make it to the, you know, to the top, but he's never going to make it to the top. Yeah, it's a shame because he cost Roma the game. He cost him the match this game. And, you know, Roma Roma
00:54:46
Speaker
Roman were bad in this game, let's be honest. They were awful in attack. I mean, they barely created a single chance all game. They were so toothless. Their only real danger was when Sanjolo hit the bar, but that was only through a deflection. And Abraham, his confidence, as we've said, is so low. Right now, you can see how low his confidence is. Pellegrini, Donez-Hampshon, that's another injury. I mean, Roman's injuries are piling up. They've already got Dibala out.
00:55:12
Speaker
And, you know, you look at their attack, they've scored 16 goals in 13 games in Serie A. I mean, that's abysmal. I mean, early in the season, they were actually, to be fair, creating a lot of chances, but they just weren't finishing. Now, they're not creating. And it's been increasingly getting like this since Di Bala's been out, especially. They've just stopped creating chances in Serie A. And Mourinho admitted this.
00:55:35
Speaker
at the end of the game, didn't he? He said that the attack is a problem, and he went all out attack at the end of the game, just threw everyone on. Kind of like what he did against Ludogorets, and against Ludogorets, he kind of got away with it, Zaniolo and Volpato. Volpato wasn't so good in this game, he was really good against Ludogorets. You know, he's 18 years old, I mean, you know, you can't... But I thought Zaniolo was okay.
00:55:57
Speaker
I don't know. I don't think it was good, but I thought it was okay. It was okay at most, but I mean, he just looks so disjointed in a tap. At this point, honest to God, I'd bench Tammy Abraham and I'd start Bilotti, because at least Bilotti works hard and creates space for others. I don't know what Tammy Abraham offers right now. I really don't.
00:56:15
Speaker
Let's be honest, Belotti's been awful as well, a Roman. Well, yeah, let's be honest. Well, how much has he played this season? I mean, that's the thing. Tammy Abraham is the starter and he can't score. He just simply can't score. And I think maybe it's time to bench him and see if he can take it because it's every every striker, every in every striker's career at this level, you have you have bad patches and may sometimes you need to fight for your place and find that hunger.
00:56:43
Speaker
and rediscover it. You know, recalibrate yourself mentally, look at what you used to do when things went well. And they should be, I mean, for Roma's sake, they should absolutely be a fight for those spots. To be good for Roma, that they're fighting for a starting spot, might be my point.
00:57:02
Speaker
Yeah, therefore, I mean, it's top four now for Roma. That can be their only aim. Let's move on to the top of the table now. And Napoli, Napoli increased their lead at the top now to six points. It was five because it was first against second. Napoli travelling to Bergamot. No car at Scalia. And so, you know, I've said all season that every single question that's been thrown and answered of Napoli, they've always had the answer for it. And this was the first time this season
00:57:32
Speaker
that were in a big game in a tough game that they were you know they were without their star man covered at scalia and yet they still won they still won and i actually thought to be honest with you i i think probably let's be honest a draw probably would have been fair in this result i thought that atlanta atlanta were unlucky atlanta were unlucky i think atlanta gave napoli
00:57:52
Speaker
the toughest game they've had this season. And I would even include the loss to Liverpool in the Champions League because that was a kind of a weird game that they lost in midweek. They weren't really, they were played in second gear and they kind of, you know, they weren't really, by the end, they weren't really trying at the end and they just lost it with too late goals of corners. But this game, you know, Atalanta really went at them.
00:58:10
Speaker
and they deservedly went ahead, 1-0, got a deserved lead. But Napoli, again, they just showed incredible strength, mental strength. And I think that's the difference between this Napoliist team. They showed that when the chips are down, when everything's going against them, they can react. And they did straight away. They equalized almost immediately. And then they won it almost. They got the second goal almost straight after that as well. And it was down to that two clinical finishes. But it was all down to
00:58:40
Speaker
that man, Victor Rosimond, he's now, we said it last week, he adds the extra dimension that Napoli missed even throughout this brilliant run when he missed a lot of it through injury. He's come back in now, and what is it, eight goals he's got now, this season? Was it nine? I think he's got, he's the top goal scorer in the Serie A, he's got eight goals now.
00:59:03
Speaker
I mean, he's not, he's played nine games, nine Serie A matches, scored eight goals. And people say that, you know, people criticise him. Look, the problem with him has always been the consistency, not on how in games, games, some games for sure, but mainly because he's always been injured. And a lot of those injuries are not his fault. I mean, breaking his face against Milan Scrinha's block head.
00:59:25
Speaker
is not something I would, you can kind of, you know, you can't avoid or, you know, something, it's not something you can foreshadow and try to avoid it. So, you know, a lot of these injuries have been like that. But now he's not injured and he's firing on all cylinders. And he is this. I mean, who's the who's a better number nine than him right now in the city? I mean, how many seasons have we been saying this? I think he's the most complete number nine in the city. I think he's starting to now
00:59:52
Speaker
the show express all of those qualities and he is a world-class player when he's at his best. I mean he is just unplayable. The thing is the way he's been missing until now is the consistency like you said but also
01:00:07
Speaker
you know he gets injured he's been getting a lot of injuries and that is always going to be a little bit of a concern with his style of play and his frame he's quite uh you know he's quite leggy and quite elasticy the way that he plays and that i think that can lend itself to possibly to injuries not just the style of play um so that that is a concern but also his finishing like he is finishing his
01:00:30
Speaker
it's up and down, it's hot and cold. And maybe that's where the consistency point is most valid. Sometimes he can be a devastating finish where he scores, puts in a finish like the one against Roma, which was barely even a quarter of a chance from the angle. And you just think, wow, just explosive goal like that. And then he'll have
01:00:49
Speaker
quite easy finishes, quite simple finishes, and he just won't get the right connection. Even in the early starts of this season, if you take it back a few weeks, he was way underperforming his XG. He was like 50% of his XG. And now, I'm looking at it right now, and his XG is 8.08, and he scored eight goals. So he's caught it up. And that's because he's been finishing chances in the last few weeks that are
01:01:14
Speaker
he's been over performing you know like that chance against roman i said you know even the header was fantastic header against uh to equalize against atlanta that wasn't that wasn't an easy chance it was behind him and you know it was brilliant finish um you know so he's he's he's he's a wonderful wonderful player um and he's yeah he was the difference in this game he definitely was a difference because i thought atlanta played really really well
01:01:42
Speaker
I think Atalanta definitely deserves something out of this game. I'm looking at the XG, 2.79 XG to Atalanta, 1.7 to Napoli. Atalanta had the better chances in this game and they hit the bar. I thought he's going to be an excellent player.
01:02:00
Speaker
I don't know if he's going to be a top player, but he's got the potential to make it, I think. I really like him. He's only a teenager. I thought he was really, really good. Lukeman, again, very impressive. He hit the bar as well. I think Atalanta should be proud of their performance. They really did. They took it. They went a bit more old school, Atalanta.
01:02:26
Speaker
in this game, didn't they? Yeah. I mean, that's kind of what we've seen Natalanta do this season. It's a different Natalanta. No, no, no. I mean, they went back, but what I mean is they went back to their old ways. Oh, you mean like that. Yeah. They went back to the normal Natalanta. They were more attacking. They took it to Natalanta. Yeah. Because Gasparini is intelligent. His read of the game is always intelligent. He knows that if you can't concede space to Napoli, you have to put pressure on them.
01:02:49
Speaker
because he saw what Mourinho did, and although that worked, he noticed that, well, they're too individually too damn good, because he saw what Osman did this morning. So you might as well go for it. And I understand that. No, I thought, you know, it's...
01:03:04
Speaker
This is the thing, though, I mean, when you have when you've already taught the play, when you've got a system and you've taught the players how to play in that system and you impose another system and the style within that system, it creates this kind of for the for the opponents, this kind of uncertainty. You don't know who you what to expect. And that's a good thing. That's a flexibility. And that's a that's a ace in the hole for for Gasparini tactically to throw at teams.
01:03:30
Speaker
Yeah, I just want to also give a shout out to Spelletti for picking Elmas to play in Colette Scaliac's place. I mean, who the hell would have thought of that? I mean, I looked at him, I thought, really? Elmas playing in Colette Scaliac, it's not really his position, is it? And it scores the winner. I mean, everything Spelletti's touching is turning to gold this season. You can't get anything wrong at the moment, Spelletti. It's unbelievable.
01:03:56
Speaker
I mean, yeah, six points clear now, almost. And they almost were going to be eight points clear if it wasn't for that man, Giroud, again, saving saving Milan with a with a winner right at the right at the end, an incredible win, an incredible acrobatic goal. Francesco Totti like goal, wasn't it? The way that he finished that stunning and absolutely stunning. But I have to give a shout out before we get into this game. Sandro Tonali scored a goal that was disallowed. That was simply
01:04:24
Speaker
Oh, it was magical. It was magical. I get why they disallowed it, but what a shot this guy. You cannot give him an inch. But of course, as we said, look, the man for the big occasion, cometh the hour, cometh the man.
01:04:40
Speaker
stupid of him to take off his shirt. I know we're going to talk about that. A player of his experience should know better. But I stand by what I said, that I don't think he's ever been better in his career physically, psychologically, mentally. He just everything about Olivier Giroud is just oozes, confidence, belief, positivity, positive vibes. And you don't score a goal like that unless you believe in yourself and you're in a good place.
01:05:07
Speaker
He was outstanding. For France, he's the perfect guy to bring on as well. We need to force a goal, and that happened in this game.
01:05:15
Speaker
And he deserves to be part of the French squad, I think. I think he's shown that he absolutely deserves to be there. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Giroud and Teo Hernandez will be suspended in the midweek game, but Milano are only playing... Krimonez. Krimonez. So, I mean, it shouldn't be too much of a loss. The one thing I do want to discuss about this game is I saw a few people tweeting about this, and I actually quite agree. You know, the rules are, if you take off your shirt, you're automatically given a yellow card. And yes, of course, Giroud knew that.
01:05:45
Speaker
So he should have known better. But do you think, and I'll tell you what I think first, do you think that yellow cards, this rule should be changed? I think it should be. I think it's a ridiculous rule. I think that the one thing that we, the reason why we all love football so much is the emotion. It's the raw emotion, the natural emotion. And when you score, there is no better feeling in the world
01:06:13
Speaker
right, anybody that plays football and scores a goal, it is the best feeling in the world, apart from maybe one other feeling. But it is the best feeling in the world. It is the joint best feeling in the world, is scoring a goal. When that ball hits the back of the net, honestly, it is the best. And you lose yourself, you lose yourself for a few seconds, you lose yourself in the moment. And especially when it's a winner, it's a last minute winner, and you know, and you've scored an incredible winner like Giroud has.
01:06:41
Speaker
that you just instinctively, you just lose yourself and you want to bring joy. It's a joyous moment. He takes off his shirt. Big deal. Absolutely. What is the big deal? They need to get rid of that rule. We don't want robots. I think it's a stupid rule.
01:06:57
Speaker
I think there is no, because the offense has to, the punishment has to fit the crime and the crime quote unquote, the punishment quote unquote is what? Exposing his upper torso to the world. I mean, I don't understand what the problem is here. What is the offense? Well, I'll tell you what it is. The reason why they made this rule is because they wanted to stop players showing political messages.
01:07:24
Speaker
fair enough, then change the law to say that if you show a shirt with a political message or something like that, then you get booked. That I can understand. But just to take off your shirt as a celebration is bizarre. Again, the punishments have to fit the crime. And all other instances of a yellow card, this is ridiculous. There is no crime. It's a victimless activity.
01:07:49
Speaker
You know, most of them, they don't even have shirts under anymore. They've got that, you know, top, that bra thing. That sports bra thing. Yeah, not all of them wear it nowadays, don't they? I mean, it's like all of them wear that and that's what they're wearing. So I don't understand what the problem is. I genuinely don't see what the offense is. The political message I get, but again, if you're going to have that, then fine. Or what Nicholas Bentner did, was it in Euro 2008?
01:08:19
Speaker
oh when you advertise and when you advertise yeah paddy power or whatever yeah yeah yeah i mean that matches the shorts or something yeah yeah it was a boxer shorts we see i can understand if someone i can understand if someone takes off their shorts in a game then you know yeah that's it yeah i can understand i did that once i did that once in a game why would you do that
01:08:37
Speaker
I lost the plot during the middle of the game. The referee cheated us in the game. So I stormed off the pitch and as I was storming off the pitch I ripped off my shirt first and then for some reason I took off my shorts as well. I don't know why. I don't know why I did it.
01:08:56
Speaker
I honestly, I don't know why. I don't know. I think I was just going to get, I actually don't know why I did it. Like I said, you lose yourself in the moment, but that is just a war. That is the emotion of playing football. I mean, David Nicola, David Nicola threw his shoe. So why not? Well, D'Olivio did it when when celebrating Juventus winning the 1996 Champions League. He celebrated, he took off his shorts and he put them around his head. And yeah, fair enough. But like, yeah.
01:09:23
Speaker
Just a little soldier. Okay, just quickly, rest of Serie A, we've gone way over, so I'm just going to have to, we're not going to have a chance to speak through any of this one. Right, so Udinese won, Lecce won, that's six games without a win for Udinese. Empoli won, Sassuolo, Neil Baldansi, lovely little player, he scored the winner. Selenitana 2, Clemonese 2, Bologna 2, Torino 1, Pellegri got injured after three seconds. I shouldn't laugh, but that must be a world record. That must be a world record.
01:09:53
Speaker
Like, I give up. I give up now. Three seconds. I mean, what is going on there? Sam Dorian nil, Fiorentina two, and Monza two, Verone and nil. Yeah, just we have to send our wishes to poor old Stefano sensei. I mean, this kid just can't. I mean, his body is when this happens time and time again. Unfortunately, no matter how skillful you are, your body's saying that elite sports isn't for you. And I think it's a shame. I mean, again, Inter.
01:10:21
Speaker
Christian Ericsson, Stefano Sensi. It's getting ridiculous now. But yeah, the inter-midfield curse continues. And Sensi is a wonderful player who unfortunately will never see fulfill his potential. Yeah, such a shame. Wonderful player.
01:10:41
Speaker
He really is. And that's why Mancini, what Mancini wanted to take him, would have taken him to the Euros, wouldn't he, if he wasn't for the injuries. Okay, Serie A mid-week, we're not going to go through these games because we haven't got time, but we will obviously do the Thursday review on most of these games, not including the Thursday ones.
01:10:58
Speaker
So we've got Napoli, Empoli, Specci, Udeneres, Cremonese, Milan on Tuesday, Lechi, Atalanta, Sasualo, Roma, Fiorentina, Atalanta, Inter, Bologna, Torino, Sampdoria on Wednesday and in Verona, Juventus and Lazio, Monza on Thursday. Right, just before we finish off with Badgio and Prim Face of the Week, Champions League draw reaction.
01:11:21
Speaker
really good draw of the times. Finally, we got a good draw. Every single year, we get the worst possible draws. We always get the most difficult teams. We finally got a good draw. Frankfurt against Napoli. Frankfurt will be at home for the first leg. Interporto, Milan, Tottenham. Yeah, I mean, they got pretty much
01:11:42
Speaker
Napoli got pretty much the best draw, almost the best draw they could have got. Inter got the best draw, in my opinion. No, I would have preferred to have played Benfica than Porto. Benfica are 8 points clear at the top of the team. Yeah, they are a fantastic side. But Porto, the way they play, is difficult. Inter struggle against teams like that.
01:12:02
Speaker
that play that gritty and that compact and annoy you. But you're not complaining. Come on, come on. You're not complaining. I'm absolutely not. What? No, no, no. In no get what? No, no, no, no. Don't get it twisted. I'm not complaining about that draw. I'm saying that I would have rather had been Fika. I think they would have suited him to more. But it felt like in the stars with my compatriot Mehti Taremi,
01:12:27
Speaker
And of course, my favorite non-Seriah coach in the world, Sirish Konsi Sal. I love that man. I call this coach in the world. He's one. I love everything about him. He is one cool mother. Did you see him celebrating with the cigar? Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, this guy, it's not just that entire season, the way he does. I mean, to do it at Bemfica, at their ground, the way he does it, the way he fires up his players. I mean, I've got so many stories about
Napoli's Champions League Prospects
01:12:52
Speaker
Konsi. I'm in love with that man. I just think he is.
01:12:55
Speaker
He is. He has personality coming out of his... Napoli, that's a great draw for Napoli, to be honest, because they come top, they were likely to get a good draw, unless they got PSG, but in previous years,
01:13:11
Speaker
Napoli would have got PSG because that's just the way it always seems to roll for Italian teams. But you know, it's nice for once. We can't complain this year. We always complain that, you know, us Italians, we'd like to complain. But we just this year, we find a lot of good joy and Milan as well. I mean, Tottenham
01:13:27
Speaker
Tottenham are not a good team. I'm sorry, they're not. I've watched a lot of them. They really aren't a good team. I mean, Antonio Conte teams get better after... Yes, that's what I was going to say. That's the question. We can't judge the teams as they are now. We have to judge them in February. But when I look at Tottenham player for player, I repeat what I've always said. I think they've got two world-class attackers in Son and Kane. Paris is just absolutely fantastic, but he's going to be 34 by then, so he's getting on.
01:13:55
Speaker
Um, and apart from that, you know, I, I think that, you know, Milan, they've got nothing to, they've got nothing to fear about this, about this, uh, Tottenham team, you know, Conte obviously will always be an X factor, but at the same time, it's Conte in Europe. And is he going to rotate in the premier league of the get the weeks before? And, you know, so I think it's, you know, again, I think all three teams can go through. I've never said that. I've never said that before in a, in a Champions League for a long time.
01:14:22
Speaker
I think you're right. I think you're right. I think all three have, and I tweeted as much before, I think all three have a good chance to go through. I think Napoli have to go through against Frankfurt. I think, you know, yes, Frankfurt are the Europa League winners, but Napoli are a better side and they've shown as much and they should go through the quarters. Inter and Porto are evenly matched. They are evenly matched. It's a 50-50 there. And I think form and injuries and all that. And if Romelu Lukaku can finally be fit and play. Yeah, could be important, that could, yeah.
01:14:51
Speaker
No, it's decisive. Inzaghi's playing a system that would suit Romelu Lukaku to a tee, and instead he's playing a 37-year-old Bosnian granddad. So it's like, what is he going to do? And as for Tottenham, exactly this. Antonio Conte's teams usually hit form from February and onwards. And where are Milan then?
01:15:12
Speaker
So I think for me, I put Tottenham as ever so slight favourites ahead of Mila, but it's fairly even there as well. And also another good thing about this draw for the Italian teams is that four of the favourites meet against each other, which means two of the favourites are going to go out because Liverpool are playing Bayern and sorry, sorry, sorry.
01:15:33
Speaker
correction. Liverpool playing Real Madrid, PSG are playing against Bayern. Along with Man City, those are the top five teams in the Champions League for me, those five teams. Agreed. No, no. For me, it's City, PSG, Bayern. City plus those four. City plus those four. So you're knocking out two of those teams already, which gives the chance of you might get a good draw in the quarterfinals as well. And this could be, never know, could be the year of the underdog.
01:16:02
Speaker
How long have you heard me say that I think Napoli is the dark horse to even win the Champions League as a dark horse goes? Not favourite, nothing like that, but I think they are a dark horse. For each other in Milan, I think a quarter-final would be fantastic.
01:16:21
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. But then like I said, you don't know, see who you get in the next round, you know, in anything, anything's possible. You never know, we get all three teams, we might get an all Italian quarterfinal. Oh my God, it's going to be Inter Milaners. Can you imagine? More fireworks, please. No thanks.
Italian Teams in European Leagues
01:16:38
Speaker
No thanks. No thanks.
01:16:40
Speaker
Europa League, even in the Europa League and Conference League, we've got some good drawers as well. I mean, I don't know what's going on. Maybe UEFA, anti Italian discrimination. Maybe I've got, we've got fruits them at last, you know, see, this is why we do it. Europa League, round of 32 draw. Learn from Biscardi, have you there? You'll say you're more junior. Google that. Always get your retaliation in first.
01:17:06
Speaker
That is the rule. The Monty school of dark arts. Juventus versus Nantes and Roma versus Salzburg. I mean, to be fair, I'd actually probably put Salzburg as favourites for that time. Again, it could have been a lot worse. The funniest thing about the Europa League,
01:17:29
Speaker
Barcelona gets mad united. I just pissed myself when I saw that draw and I pissed myself when I saw and it was inevitable. It was going to happen. Javi started complaining as he always does complaining. We always get the toughest draw. It's not fair. I have to ask my question. I have to ask why. You know, I don't know if he's insinuating that the UEFA trying to get Barcelona knocked out. But it's not. But at the conference league, look,
01:17:51
Speaker
That's also good because, again, one of the favorites goes out for the Europa League as well, which is good for Juventus and Roma. No, the conference league, Fiorentina Lazio. I want Lazio or Fiorentina to win this. I think they can.
01:18:07
Speaker
But I have a good team though. They're doing well. They're pretty much level with Porto. They are a decent team. That will be a difficult game. But Cluj is a good draw.
01:18:22
Speaker
Yeah, good. We can't complain. This has been the best draw for Italian teams that I can remember for a long time. I can't remember a better draw than this for years, not in the knockdown. I can't remember a better draw than this. We have to be happy today for that. Okay, finish off with Bad Joe and Prem Face of the Week.
01:18:45
Speaker
We have nothing written down here, this is how well prepared we are. No, we do have. I've got Giroud. I've got Giroud's bicycle scissor kick. Whatever it was. It was stunning for me. And Tonali's disallowed goal. Go watch that again. I think it has to be Giroud. It has to be Giroud's bad show of the week.
Strange Football Stories
01:19:03
Speaker
Not just because of his scissor kick, but also for what he did in Europe. Yeah, back game, yeah.
01:19:09
Speaker
against Salzberg. Yeah, he took the lamb through. So I think we have to go two goals, brace and an assist or two assists. Prem phase. I definitely know one. I've definitely got one. And that's the guy on talk sport. It's always talk sport, isn't it? What's his name? The guy that got three, three women pregnant at the same time. What's his name? Yes, the villa striker. Agbondlahor. Agbondlahor. Yeah, he got three women.
01:19:37
Speaker
You got three women, yeah, the only hat-trick he ever scored in his life. I did not know that. Yeah, he did. Google it. I'm sure you're right. Yeah, he got three different women pregnant and in the same cycle, in the same... Well done. And they all had their kids at the same time. Congratulations, group event.
01:19:59
Speaker
The Agbondler Whores are giving birth. Yeah, he said PK was not a great day. That was so cringe. And Kevin Hatchett, a guy, a friend of mine was there trying to maintain some sort of, trying to maintain his calm about
01:20:21
Speaker
not losing his mind about the absolute drivel and nonsense that was being spouted in his direction. So shout out to Kevin Hackchard for keeping his call when faced with this tidal wave of Cretans and their stupid takes, because Gerard Piquet was not the worst player in that Barcelona team. And if you've actually watched him play, you would have known that he was in his peak, in his prime, one of the best defenders in the world.
01:20:47
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I do have another prim face. Do you have one? No, I'm right. Okay, so I got just before we started recording, I got sent this. I got sent. I got sent this image is the real though.
01:21:03
Speaker
According to Ronan Murphy, it is real, but you can never be sure with Ronan. I was going to say he's a Joker, isn't he? So, Ronan Murphy, he's a German football journalist, a friend of mine. He spends his life literally just cracking jokes. That's all he ever does, even when he's writing about football and stuff. So, he sent me an image of... I mean, it looks real. I don't see how this could be photoshopped. So, it's an image of a Sky Sports news reporter.
01:21:31
Speaker
who is wearing a white shirt and white chinos or jeans or something. He's interviewing someone live on Sky Sports News. And in his crotch area, there's a massive, there's like a rip where his balls are. And basically his testicle is popping out.
01:21:53
Speaker
it's just yeah yeah um it's he's he's insistent it's real yeah but when was this aired because i i can't i'm surprised this is not all over well on the ticker it says hull fc fullback jake conner ruled out for up to three months with a medial ligament injury so we could google that and probably find out
01:22:14
Speaker
It looks like Formula One to me. The guy looks like Gary Cotterill, but he might not be here. That's fantastic. When you sent me those two shots, I was like, there's no way. His trousers have burst exactly where his testicles are, and one testicle is out and hanging.
01:22:35
Speaker
I don't see how we couldn't have felt it because it is like hanging out. That's how I'm feeling. It's outside. It's hanging out quite a lot. I mean, you would feel that. You would feel that. You would feel that. You'd expect to feel that.
Conclusion and Farewell
01:22:47
Speaker
Yeah. Good. Yeah. So yeah, he's a prim face of the week. He really did balls up that one. Literally. Right.
01:22:58
Speaker
Okay, right. That's all we have time for today. Sorry a bit of a longer show today. There was a lot to talk about We will be back on well Tuesday for the Q&A episode and then Thursday for review episode of the the busy midweek last midweek before the world cut so Yeah, tune in for those and see you next time. Ciao Ciao