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Free Weekly Episode - Napoli's 11th Straight Win, Pazza Inter Beat Viola, Diaz AC Milan's Hero & Much More (Ep. 268)
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From Victor Osimhen's brilliant Napoli winner, controversy and drama as Pazza Inter beat Fiorentina, Brahim Diaz on fire when AC Milan beat Monza to Lazio keeping another clean sheet and Adrien Rabiot scoring a brace when Juventus score four past Empoli, Carlo and Nima discuss all the talking points from an action-packed 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.
Podcast Structure and Subscription
00:00:24
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the Italian football podcast. I'm Caro Garganese here today on Monday with Nima and we're going to be going through all the the weekend action in in
00:00:39
Speaker
Celia. As always, for all our first time listeners, this is our free weekly episode, which we do every Monday reviewing the weekend Celia action and the biggest talking points in Italian football. If you want to support the Italian football podcast and receive all our content throughout the week,
00:00:59
Speaker
including our weekly Q&A episode every Tuesday where we answer all of your questions and the weekly Thursday midweek review show, plus interviews, post-match reaction and much, much more. Then go to patreon.com slash TIP and become a subscriber for just $2.99 a month plus.
00:01:21
Speaker
VAT.
Serie A Highlights and Napoli's Dominance
00:01:22
Speaker
Okay, so this past weekend we had a number of thrilling matches. We had a seven-goal thriller, controversial seven-goal thriller between Fiorentina and Inter. We saw Napoli make 11 wins in a row. They seem unstoppable. Milan are not going away. They're still only three points behind. Napoli, they won again. Juventus scored four goals. What is going on there?
00:01:48
Speaker
Lazio won again, kept another clean sheet, six clean sheets in a row. We saw some absolutely stunning goals. Mazzocchi for Saleni Tana, have a look out for that goal. So much to talk about, let's get into it. Okay, right, let's start with the Sunday evening game then. So Napoli, as I said, they won at the study olympico in Rome, 1-0.
00:02:17
Speaker
11 wins in a row now, a late goal from Victor Ossiman with only 10 minutes or so to go, but a dominant performance and definitely a deserved win despite the latest goal. I thought that they played another excellent game. They created not as many chances as they usually create Roma, but still
00:02:42
Speaker
created three big chances nonetheless and they they controlled everything they controlled the game and Roma had no shots on goal in the entire match Napoli had 60% of possession
00:02:57
Speaker
And they did this again without Ragmani, without Anguisa. 11 wins in a row now for Napoli. That's a joint club record. 15 unbeaten in all competitions this season. They're still unbeaten. Top of Serie A, three points ahead of Milan, top of the Champions League group, top scorers in the Champions League. They just keep going on and on and on. I mean, they just look unstoppable.
00:03:23
Speaker
They really do. They really look unstoppable. And yesterday was so important as well, I think from a psychological point of view that when they play against a team that really tries to suffocate them and really tries to stop them from doing what they usually do and defended really well. I thought Roamab were very organized. I thought they were very
00:03:47
Speaker
wealth set up on the pitch, I thought they really made life difficult for Napoli. But Napoli still managed to, they didn't create that many chances, of course.
00:04:02
Speaker
I think they had three big chances overall. They had most of the possession, but that was too expected. But they failed to create those really clear-cut chances.
00:04:20
Speaker
this is the difference between this Napoli and previous Napolis, and previous sides or sides that end up winning titles. And that is that when the tactics, when you're matched tactically, individual brilliance decides it. And that's exactly what Victor Ossiman did. Anyone who listens to this part for any longer period of time would know what we both stand on Victor Ossiman.
00:04:44
Speaker
I think he's, without a doubt, the raw talent is absolute world class. My issue with him has been sometimes mental and sometimes his inability to focus and deliver consistently and to score consistently, but the raw talent and ability is not up for debate. He's absolutely the raw talent is world class. What he did yesterday was, I mean, I can't even blame Chris Smalling for that.
00:05:12
Speaker
because Chris Smalling, I thought, was outstanding. I think he was Roma's best player again, and we're going to get to him. But he just gave them that tenth, that fraction of a second of hesitation, and Osseman pounced on it and scored an absolute world-class goal. That's what decided the game in favour of that.
00:05:36
Speaker
A missile, yeah, and it was outstanding. But above all, you know, all the records you mentioned, it's the first time that Luciano Spalletti beats Jose Mourinho. They've played seven times. Mourinho has won, if I'm not mistaken, he's won.
00:05:53
Speaker
three times, and I think it was the three draws. And now that was the first win for Spaletti. And it really is like it's starting to feel like this is Spaletti's time to shine. The perpetual underachievers, the perpetual
00:06:15
Speaker
underrated, in my opinion, manager who's never won anything, who's always been considered a bit of a laughingstock because he's so eccentric. But I think unfairly, because in my opinion, I think when it comes to in terms of coaches who develop players and in terms of the football and his ability to and tactical ability and knowledge, he's fantastic. He's done such a fantastic job and it's and it only feels right that it's his time to shine now.
00:06:45
Speaker
And this is, as I said, this Napoli side on paper, I said it in the summer, I think it's the most Spalletti team he's ever had to coach. And the players are perfectly suited to his system. And we saw that again. They they dominated midfield again, even without Anguissa. There was no Rahmani. I mean, they had 60 percent possession. There was no Rahmani. They had Juan Quezús. And he's even looking solid in defense.
00:07:12
Speaker
So, I mean, top of the Serie A, top of the Champions League group, they're top scorers.
Napoli's Tactical Strengths and Future Matches
00:07:17
Speaker
No, it's 11 wins in a row, if I'm not mistaken, they're equaled, what's his name, Bagnoli's record, didn't they? From 86, 1986, yeah. And they won the league at the end of that season, 86-87, when that run was on, when it ended. So, yeah, I mean, like I said, they're answering every question and they're just showing mental strength as well, because, you know, with 10 minutes to go,
00:07:41
Speaker
you know, in the past, they would have drawn this game. And they showed the mental strength to win this one. And I thought Kim Min Jae was was magnificent. Again, I thought the way that he, I mean, he completely took Tammy Abraham, Anzani Oliver, especially Tammy Abraham, I thought he really bullied him. And Abraham's a big guy. And I know Abraham's having a crisis at the moment, but
00:08:05
Speaker
You know, there was one move where he followed, Abraham came for the ball midway inside the Napoli half, and he jockeyed him and harried him all the way back into the Roma half, ended up giving away a free kick near the touchline. But
00:08:22
Speaker
For me, that was Kim Minjae really telling Abraham, I'm the boss here, you're not getting past me. He drove him back all the way. It was like watching two armies and one army drives the army all the way back and pushes them all the way back. That was what it was like. He was magnificent. I thought, Olivera,
00:08:46
Speaker
is really starting to impress me as well at left back. But we're talking about the depth all over the field and we usually talk about the depth in attack. But even at left back now, you've got Mario Rui who has become really underrated and has been so improved over the last year or so and has so many assists. But even Olivera is looking like a really excellent option at left back. We know that
00:09:10
Speaker
If there's one area on the pitch that Napoli probably are lacking in depth, it is definitely in defense, the right back that don't really have an alternative to Di Lorenzo. And even at center back, Juan Jesus probably gets the really top team, certainly in Europe, they probably will be made to pay, having someone like Juan Jesus playing. And obviously, Ostergaard's inexperience.
00:09:31
Speaker
even now they've got they looks like they've got two two excellent left backs as well. I thought Zielinski was brilliant. I thought he was the best midfielder on the pitch, what on the pitch, full stop. And then again, of course, Osseman. And then and as we said, we've said this every single week in the last few weeks, they've always got subs to come on and make the difference. And in this game, Politani come on.
00:09:55
Speaker
And he created the assist, made the assist for us humans goal. So whenever the forwards that are playing are not quite on it, they have subs to bring on. And so it was magnificent. And the only last point I want to make about Napoli is that we said last week, didn't we, about how Napoli have been so brilliant this season, yet they're only three points ahead of Milan. And that must be
00:10:23
Speaker
Probably that should be a little bit frustrating for them because it feels like this Napoli team have been so good and so dominant in Serie A that they should be further ahead than three points. They should be five, six, maybe even more ahead. They've been that good. And they're only three points ahead. But actually, I was looking at it.
00:10:39
Speaker
And every big team that Napoli have played this season, they've won. And in Serie A, they've all been away from home. They've beaten Milan away from home. They've beaten Lazio away from home. We've seen what amazing film they're on. Roma away from home. Of course, they beat Liverpool at home in the Champions League. Now, before the World Cup, as we were saying last week, you know,
00:10:59
Speaker
Napoli have a tougher run of games before the World Cup. Milan have got pretty easy calendar before then. And we asked whether there was the possibility that Milan might even narrow that gap. And maybe they still will. But
00:11:14
Speaker
Before the World Cup, Napoli still have to play Atalanta away and then straight after the new year, the first game after the new year, after the World Cup break, they play Inter away. Now you can spin that and say, if Napoli are still top after those tough away games, there'll be an incredible position for sure all the way because they will have played all the top teams away from home with the exception of Juventus. Juventus, they actually play at home in January, but so the first
00:11:42
Speaker
in the first half of the season, apart from UVA, they'd have played all the tough teams away from home. So they'd go into the second half of the season with all home games. And if they're top of the league going into that, they couldn't ask for a better position to be in. So yeah, it depends which way you want to spin it. But they're doing everything that's being asked for them.
00:12:06
Speaker
No, they absolutely are. And they are, they're just hitting it, you know, even without, you know, without Armani and without Anguista, you know, they just keep, they just keep winning and they do so deservedly.
Roma vs. Napoli Match Analysis
00:12:18
Speaker
I don't think anyone can say that they didn't deserve to win yesterday. No, for sure. And yeah, and they, no, I thought they were outstanding. They look so solid.
00:12:29
Speaker
And they can play in different ways as well, have you noticed that? They can play on the front foot, they can play on the counter, but in this game, and then Spelletti said here full time that Roma were laying traps for them, and they were smart enough to find a solution around that, you know, they're adaptable.
00:12:44
Speaker
as well they really are he has so many high IQ players in high football IQ in midfield they don't fall for it they know when they read the game really well and they know how to avoid these the traps that Mourinho really did put for Roma now it was a really interesting game tactically and I really enjoyed it even though it wasn't a lot of maybe you know champagne football but it was an incredibly interesting tactical game between two
00:13:11
Speaker
very accomplished in astute coaches. It always helps also when there's a full crowd as well, which also makes the spectacle even better. But I want to move on to the Roma side of things now. And I don't think we can be too hard on Roma because it's always easy when you analyse a game to praise the winners massively and then
00:13:30
Speaker
say that they're the best team in the world and then say that the team that lost are the worst team in the world, you know, he obviously isn't like that. I mean, I thought that from Roma's point of view, yes, they were negative. But I think it's difficult to know how to play this Napoli. I mean, if you're Roma going into this game, if you're Jose Mourinho,
00:13:47
Speaker
What do you do? Even though you're at home, what do you do against this Napoli? Do you attack them and leave all the spaces on the counter attack for Osseman and for Claret Scalia, who were, you know, and Lozano and Polytano and even Rasbadori, if they come on, they're so good on the counter. You leave all those spaces for them. Or do you do what Roma did and just try and contain them and hope for a counter, but then
00:14:09
Speaker
create nothing in the whole game. I mean, it's really, really difficult to know what to do with them. And I think Roma did, from a containment point of view, Roma did as well as anyone really this season in limiting the number of chances Napoli had. I mean, I don't think there's been another game this season that Napoli have had as few chances as they had in this game. And they still created three big chances.
00:14:28
Speaker
So that was, I mean, the three big chances, if we're perfectly honest, I thought, except for the goal, which in and of itself was also due to an incredibly brilliant individual, world class individual performance or
00:14:44
Speaker
Yeah, it was a half chance or three quarter chance. It wasn't a full chance. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, even though that was, you know, that was more tactical, you know, that ball from Politano, the quick one touch, the movement, him dropping in there, the triangulation. That you can say is tactical. But the other chances they created against Roma, I felt they were more down to individual errors on Ibanez, for one.
00:15:09
Speaker
and Mancini even for another but so I think look I think this is how you beat this Napoli you have to frustrate them like this you have to shrink the spaces you have to be compact pretty much what entered it against Barcelona but you know they're much more direct
00:15:24
Speaker
Roma are so good in the air. They've scored a lot of their goals, most of their goals. And even in this game, Napoli coped aerially as well. It brought Aussie men back. Aussie men was brought back to help with set pieces as well. I think Roma, Mourinho should lay the groundwork, the blueprint for how to neutralise Napoli. The issue is that, and this is what I said before the season, that I don't consider Roma to be Escoretto.
00:15:54
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's the key point, isn't it? We saw the gap in this game between the two teams. Exactly. And I think Roma are a good side. I think they will fight for top four. Personally, I don't think they'll make top four, but this is the difference, like you said. Roma don't lack that killing edge, that final quality to be
00:16:14
Speaker
a title, a scoretto contending team, or even a top 14, in my opinion. They're not there yet. They need more time and they need more quality. Whilst Napoli, they are there. And I think it's looking more and more like it's like Napoli's year. Really, really think so. But again, it's too soon to say anything definitive, of course.
Napoli vs. Milan: A Title Contention?
00:16:38
Speaker
I think, again, March, April, where are we then?
00:16:41
Speaker
Because Milan are going a little bit under the radar and you know, it depends on what happens to the Champions League. If Milan are out of Europe altogether, I think they'll win the Serie A. But I mean, it definitely feels like a two horse race between Milan and Napoli. Yeah, can I just say on Roma, Abraham
00:17:02
Speaker
we did a long segment. I don't want to go on for a long time today on him, but he was he was abysmal. I mean, yes, Kim Min-J, as I said, bullied him, but he's he just looks a complete in complete crisis. It's confidence wise. I mean, he he he's just the simple things he's getting wrong. He's not holding it up at all. He's not this control is bad. His his body like
00:17:24
Speaker
Body language is bad. Yeah. And then if you saw him off the game sitting down with with Victor Austin and having a chat, he didn't look very happy there either. But just just his his. Yeah, I understand that. I mean, he lost the game. But I mean, I'm talking about his body language on the pitch. He just doesn't know everywhere. Yeah. Body language everywhere. Good. It just doesn't look good. It is a decision making decision. Yeah. Snatching like even that the one shot and he had one shot and he put it miles where I did like a sneak shot.
00:17:53
Speaker
you know, really poor, weak, feeble shot, wide, you know, side footed, you know, he's bad and Sanjordo, with Sanjordo we've got Segmental, come on to Sanjordo in a bit, Bellotti abysmal, absolutely abysmal. He doesn't look like the Bellotti that I once really liked, he looks an absolute shell of himself and I wonder like, you know, I know that he's had injury problems but
00:18:18
Speaker
This is, you know, and he needs to play it in order to get back into. Yeah. But at this point, I wonder, do you play below? Did you play Tommy Abraham? I don't know, but it's not. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know who you play with Nadie Bala. Right. Everybody scored 13 goals in 10 games. But I mean, Matt has mainly been down to just bad finishing and all bad luck this season, but not the arc of this game. I mean, the sixth discarding this game, this game aside, they are underperforming a lot in terms of goals scored given the chance that they create.
00:18:48
Speaker
And that's something we spoke about, I think it was on Thursday last week, when we spoke about this on the on the pod for patrons only. But for me, I have to say, like I, Chris Morley, I, our patron, Yusef, tweeted at me saying, you know, if there ever was a sign of the apocalypse being near, it's that the best defender in the city is English.
Roma Players' Performance Concerns
00:19:10
Speaker
I mean, it's it's and I and I said what and I tweeted out before that, and I stand by that.
00:19:17
Speaker
I think, you know, he's he I never thought that that that, you know, if I were to say that that the best English defender in the Serie A would be anyone. I never thought I even think it would be Chris morning to say it. And he was outstanding. And I think, you know, he's he's he's been consistently Roma's best player this season. And I think he was an almost best player on the night as well. Oh, it was easily the best player in the night. There was there was no there's no doubt about that, despite the mini Mr. And it was a very many mistakes.
00:19:46
Speaker
That's the thing is, I don't think it was a mistake. I think it was more of a hesitation. It's just Osseman is a hesitation. Yeah. I mean, you do, you do have to, you do have to, you do have to blame him a little bit because at the end of the day, he was goal side of the player. He hesitated and he allowed Osseman to, to get in front of him. I just feel it's so harsh because it was literally a fraction. That's all it, that's all it takes.
00:20:06
Speaker
Doesn't it? That's all it takes this level when you're playing against the top class player. You can't make that mistake, but you know, he doesn't, he saved two goals before that. He made two incredible blocks earlier. One was from Kvalet Scali, I think, and another one.
00:20:19
Speaker
I can't remember who the other player was from, but the other block was from, but he saved two one and a half goals, let's say, already. And I just think that, yeah, I mean, playing in the middle of that back three, he's a leader, he's brilliant aerially, he's just, yeah, he's been absolutely superb. And I honestly think, I mean, there was an interview he gave earlier in the week,
00:20:44
Speaker
where he talked about his disappointment and not getting called up for the England team. And I think Mourinho gave an interview as well, saying that he should go to the World Cup. They're kind of trying to put pressure on him. I think it's a debate. I'm not saying he should be in the England squad.
00:21:03
Speaker
But I do think it's definitely up for debate when you look at how England's other players in defence are doing. Obviously, Harry Maguire has been a complete disaster since the Euros. He's been a disaster.
00:21:19
Speaker
You know, they've got injuries in defense. Kyle Walker, who would usually play center back in a back three, might not make that he might he might miss the World Cup. You know, John Stones is coming off an injury. Reese James, okay, plays right. He's more of a right back, but he also sometimes played has also sometimes played right center back. You know, he's going to miss the World Cup. And then you look at some of the other options that they use, you know, Conoco, I mean, for me, small is better than him. You know, Tyrone Mings, who made a
00:21:47
Speaker
made a Mingan era at the weekend, if you have a look at the mistake he made. I mean, he's definitely better than him as well. I mean, England have other options, but he's... I definitely think with a 26-man squad, with a 26-man squad, because they're bigger squads now than they used to be for tournaments, for World Cups. They used to be 23-man squads now. Since Covid, since the Euros, they put up to 26, and now it's going to stay at 26.
00:22:13
Speaker
You know, I think, yeah, I think why not? Why not? He's got the experience and on form. No, I think that's what I was going to say. In a tournament, you need experience and you need someone who's not going to be nervous and knows he's played big games before against the best players and is small in absolute years.
00:22:32
Speaker
I mean, for me, Tomori obviously is a better player. But I think, honestly think that so far, just based on both, but based on solely based on performances only this season in the Serie A, I think Smalling has been the best defender in the Serie A. I really think so, based on the performances. I don't think talent-wise.
00:22:55
Speaker
And in terms of talent, I think someone like Rahmani, Scrinyar, Tomori, et cetera, they're all better than him. But based solely on the performances, 11 games in, I think he's been the best player. I think definitely top three for me. I'd maybe go with Kim Min Jae just purely because the Napoli are top. And he's just been the job that he's done in replace in Cudi Bali. I mean, the shoes he had to fill.
00:23:24
Speaker
They haven't missed him at all. I mean, that for me, that says everything. But but absolutely have to say, Smallton's been he's been really he's been brilliant. He's a lovely guy. He's a great guy as well. So, you know, I'm happy for him. We do have to we do have to speak about Zaniolo.
00:23:40
Speaker
I mean, what is going on? He was terrible again. He's terrible every single time I've seen him play this season, apart from maybe that first game of the season where Roma had all those chances. But zero goals, zero assists in Serie A this season for Zagnolo. In all competitions, zero goals and just a one assist.
00:24:02
Speaker
I mean, that says it all, but I did a little bit of digging before we recorded and I wanted to have a look at some of the other stats, underlying stats. He's 45th in Serie A for shots, which is not good. It's not dreadful, but it's pretty bad because he's played up front for most of the season. But this is the stat that really I found incredible.
00:24:27
Speaker
on shots on target this season, Zagnolo has only had three shots on target in Serie A and he's ranked 93rd in Serie A for shots on target and he plays centre forward for one of the best teams or better teams in Serie A. He's had less shots on goal than the man we've just just been talking about, Chris Smalling. He's also had less shots on goal than Rafael Touloy and a host of other
00:24:53
Speaker
other players that you would certainly expect to centre forward or an attacker to have more shots then.
00:25:00
Speaker
Yeah, stats really and 60th in Serie A for key passes as well. So even from a from a creative point of view, not just in terms of goal scoring, but in terms of creating for an assistant, his teammates, he's I mean, he's just not he's just not contributing anything. I think that's all when it when it when it comes to I think if it you know, the fact that I'm willing to give him another season to fully see for him to recover from two bad ACL injuries.
00:25:28
Speaker
That's one thing, and I am willing to do that. But at the same time,
00:25:33
Speaker
These stats show that the performances are simply not good enough. He looks annoyed. He looks frustrated. He doesn't look to be in harmony and balance. He just doesn't look like he knows what he's supposed to do. He wants to do so much. You can say that he's absolutely raring to express himself on the pitch and show the quality that we all know he actually had before these injuries.
00:26:01
Speaker
But he just struggles continuously to express that. When you're playing for a team that creates so many chances, as Roma do, and you have three shots on target this season, and you're 93rd in the Serie A for shots on target,
00:26:20
Speaker
I mean, that that's not just, you know, recovering from injury, that that's something else. And I wonder if it isn't just that with him, that it's a mental block, that he wants too much, he wants to show he wants to redeem himself, he wants to make up for those lost years, that he wants it too much that he almost like it becomes a mental block, and that he overthinks it a little bit. Well, I think that's natural, isn't it? When you've had such a bad ACL injury, that you are mentally, you know,
00:26:50
Speaker
Yeah it's gonna affect you the question is but but the question the reason i bring this up is because the question is is this a mental thing or is this the quality that you will have or so obviously slightly better given the injuries.
00:27:06
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. I exactly I don't know if it's both. I don't know if it's at the moment, at the moment, it's both. At the moment, at the moment, it's both we can just pray and hope that, you know, it is it is often said, I did my SEO when I was a teenager. And
00:27:25
Speaker
you know, I remember ever since then, always being told that it takes you two years to fully recover from from an ACL. No, I only had one ACL. I didn't have, you know, I didn't have to, you know, and, you know, so it was is I both knit both knees, wasn't it? Both one on one on one on the other. So I mean, I can't I can only imagine what it's like, you know, and I did lose
00:27:54
Speaker
half a yard of pace after that. I was actually really quick and after that I just lost a bit and I always struggled from injuries after that. Obviously, I didn't have the medical care that these professionals have, so I can't really compare myself. But with Zaneola, obviously, it's hard to say. He's still relatively young, but I just
00:28:17
Speaker
I don't know. It'd be such a shame. It'd be a real shame if he doesn't become the same player. I'm willing to see another year for him. I'm willing to even write this season off and see, like you said, two years. But time is ticking and it would be...
00:28:41
Speaker
It would be the biggest shame ever because I thought when he broke onto the scene, he was just he had a unique talent. And it's such a shame for Italian football because he would have been one of its absolutely. He was badly mismanaged after that first ACL. He was terribly mismanaged, not just by his club, but also by country. And I have to criticize Roberto Mancini because he put him straight back into the Italy national team squad like a month after he'd come back from his first ACL.
00:29:06
Speaker
Um, you know, and they just needed to be more patient. They needed to be put more patient, um, and just give him time. And they would, they fruit Roman from straight back into the start at 11. He was playing and he was actually good. I remember dreamy scored that incredible solo goal. Um, I think it was during the COVID, I think it was during the COVID, COVID, um,
00:29:24
Speaker
Summer summer please and if we say no it was when they came back oh yeah it was during the lockdown but yeah when they came back and they finished the season in like july august do you remember he scored an incredible that solo goal from his own half you know and that was like you know i mean he would never there's no chance he would do that now since he's come back but so that after his first aco he was still doing it but it's just since the second one
00:29:46
Speaker
You know, he yeah, he hasn't been the same player and you look at his numbers last season, they were I know he scored the goal in the final, the conference league, but he even is his numbers last year in terms of goals and assists were for a forward, you know, pretty pretty poor, to be honest with you.
Milan's Performance and Challenges
00:30:03
Speaker
Anyway, we have to move on. Chatted loads, loads about Napoli and Roma. Let's go on to Milan. So Milan is still there. They're still only three points behind Napoli and they won four one at the weekend.
00:30:15
Speaker
two goals against Monza sorry two goals for Brahim Diaz first goal another fantastic solo goal he is on he's on fire at the moment three goals this month for this season that's more than he scored in the whole of last season and the same number of goals that he scored in his first season for Milan and we're still we're still in October so he is yeah he's looking really good and he's
00:30:42
Speaker
I think that the Charles de Kettler transfer has really been great for Brahim Diaz. It's given him competition and you see that he's got that fire in him. He's really up for it. He really wants to prove himself that I'm the number 10. I'm the player that's going to be playing in this position. So far, he's proven that he should start. He is above Charles de Kettler at the moment. De Kettler is not a starting player now.
00:31:11
Speaker
Also because of his own. Yeah, but right now he isn't. But I don't think Milan should be worried about that. I think this season like Tonali is just one of those seasons where he's just going to have to adapt to life.
00:31:26
Speaker
and to adapt to the increased training load, the workload, the intense matching, the preparation, and his body mentally and physically to cope with that. And to have Brahim Diaz play this, this is a wonderful position for Pioli to be in.
00:31:42
Speaker
And no, I'm not worried for the Keteri just yet at all. But like you said, competition is good. Sometimes competition is good for the places. And when you look at teams like Napoli as well, there's competition for every single spot and the players perform better because you have to fight for your place in the team.
00:32:03
Speaker
And you have to manage that so that you don't have a negative atmosphere in the dressing room. It seems like Pioli is on top of that, because there are four wins in a row in the Serie A. They've got a good run of fixtures, although Torino is going to be a difficult game away.
00:32:25
Speaker
Now the Champions League is what they have to focus on. I've said it before, I said it again. If Milan, as a top seed in pot one, does not qualify from the Champions League, it is a failure. It's the first big major failure by purely
00:32:40
Speaker
ever since the second season when they finished second because since then he started really poorly because Milan were shambles and we forget that but then Ibrahimovic came and they laid the foundations for something and ever since then it's just been going really well for them they've had some patches of bad form here and there but there's not really been a failure by purely since then and it's been we're going on for two and a half years now so
00:33:02
Speaker
that would be a failure. But I believe in Milan, I think they will qualify from this group in the Champions League. And I think they, again, given the fixture list that's coming up, I wouldn't be surprised if they are, if not topping the Serie A, then certainly much closer to Napoli when we go into the World Cup break.
00:33:22
Speaker
Yeah, I think the scoreline was a bit harsh on Monza. It wasn't a 4-1 game. They created some big chances themselves. One at 1-0, which Tatu Rosano, who's, to be fair, done well, deputizing for Manon. He was very good in this game again. I thought it was a little bit harsh on them. I think Monza's defence is really bad, but they've midfield them.
00:33:44
Speaker
It feels good and their attack is starting to look a little bit more dangerous now. And there were some other brilliant goals. I mean, Origi scored his first goal for Milan. That was a lovely goal. Absolutely superb goal. And also Monza's goal was... There were some brilliant goals in Serie A this weekend. The free kick was stunning. He's got a great shot. He's got a great long shot on him. Yes, by the way, I've seen him in other games as well. So, yeah, it's good to stay from Milan. But he's owned by Juventus, isn't he?
00:34:14
Speaker
He was owned by Juventus. I'm not sure if they still own him or if it's one of those options that they've got an obligation for. I think it might be one of those options and counter options. But I need to double check. Yeah, it's an option to buy for Monza and then a counter option to buy. I figured I feel you guys still have control over him.
00:34:41
Speaker
Yeah, it's a good day for Milan. It's a good day for Milan because they arrested Giroud, they finally gave him a rest and Liao only came on for the last 30 minutes as well. And then Theo Fernandez got come, yeah, he was he was back to his best as well after he had a tough week, obviously with what happened with his house, the house raid. I mean, that was
00:35:07
Speaker
Yeah, really, really tough. But let's move on. Let's move on anyway.
Fiorentina vs. Inter: Thrilling Match Recap
00:35:11
Speaker
So Fiorentina Inter, before we talk about the referee stuff, I hate having to do it, but we will have to do it. First of all, let's just look at the positives. What a game. The seven-goal thriller. I mean, this game had everything. Probably not for you. You're probably nail-biting for you. But for the neutral, it was an absolutely incredible game.
00:35:34
Speaker
No, it was. It was a fantastic game. It was end-to-end stuff and he should have probably, they both could have, should and probably could, could and should have scored more goals, both teams. Nicolo Barrella is looking like, I mean, he's looking, returning to him, to the real Barrella. I mean, in terms of goal scoring, he's never been better since he joined Inter and I think he's already, it's his best goal scoring season since at Inter ever and we're already in October.
00:36:03
Speaker
uh we're just in october um but i don't i still when i look at him i feel that there's much more to give i don't feel that he's even 80 of his potential which is only good news for inter um but above all the most important thing i think is that it's clear and just listening to the players before and after the game
00:36:22
Speaker
this last week. It's clear that the team meeting they had, that Inter had, the players where they all spoke about, we had a face-to-face meeting and lots of things that needed to be said were said. Since then, Barela's not doing the negative body language thing.
00:36:37
Speaker
Um, that, that, so that to me suggests that they've basically all spoken and said enough with a negativity, positive body language, you know, you know, pop, you know, give each other positive feedback. Of course, you know, you're going to get angry when, when, when you make silly mistakes, you should, you know, rectify them and avoid them and own them. But it's a different, he's a different player. He's got, he's in a different mental state and it's, and it's really helped him. Um.
00:37:04
Speaker
And and he's he's really helping to dominate the midfield with it with with Mikitarian and and Chalanoglo has a register. It's really, really looking, you know, they're controlling the midfield really well between them. But I can't move away from Lautaro Martinez, who, in my opinion, so far this season, in terms of performances on the pitch, leaving aside the patchy goal scoring, which we spoke about,
00:37:31
Speaker
Overall, he's been this season Inter's only consistent world-class player. That second goal, I mean, two goals, one assist, and the second goal, and his first goal, Inter's second, was just
00:37:47
Speaker
that's the kind of goals. He himself said that that goal reminded him of Milito and Aguero, and it's difficult to disagree with him there. It was stunning. He pulled down his compatriot Martinez Cuartas pants before that goal. It was absolutely stunning. I want to give a shout out to Correa for making an intelligent run. It was the only intelligent thing he did in that game.
00:38:10
Speaker
So, you know, we should be fair, but it's Lautaro's overall work, were great performance in both phases, in defense, in attack, holding up the ball, his strength, his physique, his technique, his speed, his vision. He's got everything. And he's never been better at Inter. He's genuinely outstanding right now.
00:38:31
Speaker
Shout out also, again, talking about incredible goals, Jovic's goal, I know there was debate on the fair, we'll come to that, that was a sensational goal, Volley, incredible, and Ikone's goal as well. Ikone, Ikone, I mean, what was that? That finish was top draw. I mean, there's not a goalkeeper in the world that saves that shot, it was stunning, absolutely stunning.
00:38:56
Speaker
Yeah, the thing is that the Nico Gonzalez injury turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Fiorentina, because as soon as Ikone came off, came on, replacing Nico Gonzalez, Fiorentina started creating chances and they would... It was a match. He was well matched up to Ichirbe because of the lack of pace. Ichirbe and Ikone has pace. I think it was that, but I do think that also they defended that badly. They allowed him on to cut in. If you ever watch Ikone, he does that all the time. He cuts in and does a curler for the back post.
00:39:23
Speaker
Yeah. Great goal anyway. Okay. Let's move on to the, the, the ref controversy. Cause obviously there was a huge, huge debate, um, about this, uh, including off the game, uh, our friend, uncle Rocco wasn't too happy. Um, so let's, let's go through the, the, I picked up four incidents, uh, in this game. Let's run them, run down all of them. I think, I think these are the four incidents that will, that we should, that we can debate really. I mean, other than that, main ones.
00:39:52
Speaker
Okay, so let's start off with the first one. The first one is DiMarco gives away a penalty, which wasn't given originally, right? It went to the VAR. It wasn't given, went to the VAR for the foul on Buonavintura. Buonavintura. Buonavintura referee gives a penalty which
00:40:13
Speaker
are for Cabral scores, but doesn't give any card of any kind to DeMarco. Now, the complaints are from the Fiorentina side, it should have been a red card. What's your view?
00:40:30
Speaker
Um, I, my, my, my issue is that I think I'm not, if, if you, if you had been, if you had been sent off, like, I mean, the law, 12 of the laws of the game dictate what and what, under what circumstances you send a player off. It's denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity with a handball, denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity with a foul, unless the river referee awards a penalty and it was an attempt to play the ball.
00:40:56
Speaker
serious foul play, violent conduct, using offensive, insulting, or abusive language and or actions, and receiving, of course, a second caution in the same game. Now, the only time, you know, what it falls under is the denying an obvious score scoring. It doesn't really he didn't deny an obvious score scoring opportunity because Bonaventura had already finished the shot with his shot or his header or whatever it was had already been taken.
00:41:22
Speaker
So he's late into the challenge. I think the penalty is clear. There's no discussion. And there definitely should be a card.
00:41:30
Speaker
The question is, my issue is with this, that it's not this blatant red card that you can see from the sun. No, you can give a red card, you can give a yellow card. The fact that he didn't give anything, that is a scandal. That's outrageous. It has to be minimum a yellow card. But it's not this stone wall red card that people are making out to be. I profoundly disagree with that. I think it's a 50-50 decision.
00:41:56
Speaker
And the fact that he didn't give anything, that's outrageous. And it's Valeri. He's not a good referee. I don't like him. I don't want him in the Serie A. I think he always screws up games. Every single time he's in charge of a game, it always descends into chaos.
00:42:14
Speaker
So for me, I wouldn't have complained if DiMarco would have been sent off, but this agenda that it's like the most, you know, it's the worst decision in the history of the game, blah, blah, blah. Nah, stop that. That's ridiculous. Yeah, okay. Well, I go in favour, just to give everything away before, but I do go
00:42:35
Speaker
just a sugarcoat. I do go in favor of in on the other decisions. But there's this one, I think, for me, it's a definite. It's not the worst decision in history. But it's, it's, I think it's a definite red card for me. I mean, he's above the ball, he does, you know, it's like a stamp is above the knee. This is, I mean, it's so high. You know, some people called it a leg break, it could be a leg breaker if his knee is if his foot is in the right way, which
00:43:01
Speaker
I don't know if there was enough force, but it is that kind of maneuver you whenever, whenever you do a stamping maneuver is going to be a red card. And for me that the fact that I mean, all the referees that I've seen have come out, have said it's a red card. And Valeri I wouldn't have a problem with
00:43:17
Speaker
Valeri is going to be banned by Gazetta for it. I mean, sorry, Gazetta Della Sports say that Valeri is going to get a one match ban for not giving the red card. So I mean, for me, that that really says it all for me. I don't think it's the worst. I think it was unlucky. I think it was unlucky. It was unlucky. It wasn't deliberate.
00:43:34
Speaker
Let me just say, mate, say that it wasn't, he's gone in. I mean, you'd have to be fucking stupid. Excuse my language. You'd have to be absolutely stupid to go in there and, you know, try and break someone's leg because you're obviously going to give away a penalty because it wasn't, of course it wasn't deliberate. It was, it was, I know it happened. He was late, but you know, you go in, it was clumsy. It was bad, but you know, you go in, it is unlucky, but you go in and you do a stamping maneuver above someone's knee that high.
00:44:04
Speaker
you know, you're going to get sent off for it. So, I mean, I think I think it was a red card. But anyway, let's move on to the next one. I wouldn't have had any complaints if they had sent him off. No, I wouldn't have because he is he is late. And I just want on the DeMarco thing and Bergami was speaking about this on Sky Club Culture yesterday. We're recording this on a Monday. It was a Sunday night and he was saying Inter keep conceding goals from that left flank side or the teams hurt Inter down in his left flank.
00:44:33
Speaker
And that's where Demarco plays. And that is, as much as I like him and everyone who knows, I think I really rate this player, especially his delivery and crosses and set pieces. But defensively, there are issues. And I do have question marks. And this is something he needs to work on because it's happening over and over and over again.
00:44:52
Speaker
you have to defend, yeah. I think he's actually weaker. He's not as bad as people think when people are running at him one-on-one, when he has to defend the man. His problem is more when the cross comes in, the cross comes in from the opposite side, from the inter's right-hand side, and he has to then come in and cover it either with a header, which you said many times, he's not very good in the air, but just his whole
00:45:15
Speaker
his whole reading of the game in terms of where to be positioned in the box, when the cross comes in, and even some of his clearances are sometimes not the best, which is weird for someone with such an amazing left foot. So yeah, I'm with you there. Okay, Lautaro's penalty, for me, this is quite clear for me, but Lautaro's penalty, was it a penalty? Yes, it's a penalty. I know people are drawing comparisons to the game against Roma, but there are none, because
00:45:44
Speaker
If you look at Ruy Patricio saves the ball, here Terraciano is on the ball, but the ball is played past him, and Lautaro is passing him, if and would have passed him, if not for Terraciano's foul. Whereas the other situation, Patricio saves the ball.
00:46:02
Speaker
And I think it's Ndombele who he fouls as well, but he saves the ball. You see it on both situations. I don't think there's a comparison there. But so of course it's a penalty. I mean, this interpretation of the rule that as long as the goalkeeper also touches the ball, he can do whatever the hell he wants to the attacker.
00:46:22
Speaker
No, it's just not true. I think that needs to be clearer. I think that needs to be clearer. I mean, why do you think that there can't be a comparison made? Because you think that Lautaro could have still got to the ball afterwards? Is that what you're saying? No, because he played the ball past him. Because if you look at Patricio stops the ball.
00:46:38
Speaker
literally stops the ball. The ball is going past him, he stops it. Here, Terraciano touches the ball, as we can see. But surely in both cases, Lautaro gets the ball first, Sota's and Dunbolic, they both get the ball first, they both knock it to the left, knock it to the left, and the goalkeeper then gets a touch on the ball, both of them, and then he stops the ball.
00:47:00
Speaker
Patricio stops the ball. That's the thing. If you if you look at the situation with Patricio, he blocks the ball, the ball bounces off him directly to the left whilst Lautaro plays the ball past him towards the goal and is going past him and he's brought down. But there's a clear difference there. And that's why I don't. There's a slight difference. There is a massive difference. No, there's a difference in where the ball moves. But I don't see why Patricio saves it.
00:47:30
Speaker
because he gets a better touch of the ball. He saves the ball. Te Rachama touches it, but he doesn't save it because the ball goes past him and Latao is going... Well, I'd like to see, because I think this needs to be made clear, because I'd like to see in the rules where it is in the rules that that makes a difference because from my point of view...
00:47:47
Speaker
Both attacking players touch the ball first, get there first. The keeper then touches the ball and then both the keepers with their momentum take the player out. Okay, you can say that the touch was slightly different by the player. One was more lateral, one was more vertical. I saw Luca Morelli make that point.
00:48:06
Speaker
if in the rules it's stated clearly and maybe this isn't maybe if it's stated clearly that you know a vertical touch is different to a lateral touch, fair enough, but in my point of view both players have got to the ball first and then the goalkeeper was successful and then taken them out. I don't see why it may explain the difference because there aren't rules, there are laws
00:48:28
Speaker
They're called laws of the game because laws are interpreted in rules, laws, semantics, but what's the difference? It is the difference. I'm using rule as a law. OK, I'm using that word. Explain to me. Well, I am. There are there is a difference. Laws of the game that means that you interpret. There are the interpret the the way that the situations are to be interpreted are to be are different than just rules. Forget about this word rule.
00:48:56
Speaker
to use the word law. I don't care if you call them bananas from Afghanistan. Okay, well stop saying the word rule then. Just explain it. No, I am. No, because there is a difference between the application of things, a text that is known as a law, and a rule. And the laws of the, you have to look at the entire situation, all right? And the entire situation, they don't, if they're going to state every single instance, the laws of the law book would be nine million pages.
00:49:26
Speaker
They don't have that. Listen, let me finish. The laws of the game, they have laws and then they have workshops where they explain how to interpret those laws. Okay, tell me. And I am. If the ball is played past the goalkeeper, that's how the laws are interpreted.
00:49:46
Speaker
If the ball is saved, as it was with Rui Patricio, then it's not a penalty. Even if the goalkeeper touches it and is played past it, you see on the trajectory of the ball, Lautaro and the ball are past the goalkeeper
00:50:03
Speaker
And in that instance, it's a situation where there's a foul. But in the first one, there isn't, because Patricio saves the ball. The ball does not continue past him. It goes straight in line with where his hand is, whilst Lautaro plays it past him. That's the difference. They're not... And that's in the laws of the game, is it?
00:50:30
Speaker
That's not in the laws of the game, because if they did... So that's taught in a workshop, right? Well, that's how they talk to interpret the laws of the game. Okay, who confirmed that? I'm interested to know where that is confirmed, that that was taught in a workshop, just so I know. Look, Amarelli, like you said, if you listen to what he said, he was talking about the movement of the ball and the lateral movement, and that refers back to whether or not the ball is saved or not. And the ball was not saved. The goalkeeper does not... Terra Chano doesn't save the ball.
00:50:58
Speaker
Well, if that's the case, that needs to be in the laws of the game. They can't just talk in a workshop. Well, it is taught and it's not taught in a workshop. Every season, every referee speak to any referee and they will tell you ahead of every season, they inform the referees.
00:51:15
Speaker
on guidelines how to interpret the rules, how to interpret the laws of the game. This is just how it is. I'm not making that up. A penalty is given if the ball goes vertically past and it's not given if it's safe to the side. A penalty is given if the goalkeeper impedes and fouls the player.
00:51:37
Speaker
If he saves the ball and then the player is fouled, then it shouldn't be a penalty. But here in this situation, Lautaro and the ball are played past the... But he's still made the touch and it's gone round. If Fiorentina player is covering, the Fiorentina player is getting to it, the covering Fiorentina player. But he's not relevant. The Fiorentina player covering it is getting there before Lautaro, so you can say that the goalkeeper saved it. No, you can't say that at all. You can, because he saved it. He still saved it to the player.
00:52:06
Speaker
No, he didn't save it. That's exactly it. You're wanting to make it. No, I'm interpreting it. You're saying it's all about interpreting it. I'm interpreting it as if the keeper has touched it and stopped the player from then scoring afterwards, then that's a save whether it went vertically or whether it went or whether it went laterally. If you haven't seen the players covered it.
00:52:27
Speaker
But no, again, but then what you're interpreting the law is that the goalkeeper can do whatever the hell he wants as long as he touches the ball. That's just not true. That's just not true. That's not how it's been interpreted and applied in football. Yet you can't foul a player. You can't knock a player out simply because you touch the ball. That's the same. No.
00:52:46
Speaker
That's not what happened. You have to look at the situation. That's what they tell you. Every referee that you speak to tells you this at a high level. They always preach, tell you, you have to look at the entire situation as a whole. And in this situation, Ruy Patricio saves the ball. He stops the ball and endombele after.
00:53:05
Speaker
And in the Lautaro situation, the ball is played past Taracano. He is on the ball. There is no, no one's debating or discussing whether or not there was a touch on the ball. Right. He touches it, but he doesn't stop it. He doesn't save it because Lautaro and the ball are played behind it, are played past him. And if and given where Taracano is, that's considered the way that they teach, the way that they, you know, they teach these teach these interpretations is that that in that is in that instance, it's
00:53:34
Speaker
uh it's it's a it's a foul and not a single italian newspaper whether it's tuto sport or corriero de los porte or gazeta de los porte have even this is not a controversy other than on twitter on your twitter feed i might add and some other some other people because it's it's not a controversy it's a clear cut penalty that's just how it is that's how the laws are interpreted and if and if they are to be changed fine change them but be clear and and and be clear i think it needs to be clearer i think it needs to be clearer that's what i would say
00:54:04
Speaker
I don't think it is. We'll have to agree to disagree on this. Jovic's goal, was it a foul on Defray? Look, if you're going to give, I think for Jeko and Jovic, the Mikitarian goal with Jeko and Milenkovic and Jovic on Defray, if you're going to disallow one, you have to disallow both. Personally,
00:54:26
Speaker
I think neither is. Look, you have to maintain a consistent level throughout. I thought Valeriy was very, he allowed certain things that were a very high level of physical contact and other times he was really nitpicky. But here, if you're going to disallow one, you're going to have to disallow the other. For me, I think you have to choose one. Personally,
00:54:50
Speaker
I think the neck swing, which Jovic does, he grabs a hold of his neck of De Frei. You could give it, but I mean, I don't know. I have no problem with that gold standing. But then again, I have no problem with the Jekyll and Milenkovic thing either.
00:55:08
Speaker
because I don't think that slight touch is a foul. I think they're both what they call an Italian mezzo foul. They're a half foul, both of them. For me, that should be part of the game. It should be part of, in the penalty area on a corner, it should be you're wrestling and you're jostling for the ball.
00:55:27
Speaker
Which is why we were absolutely, which was the one we were going, the Tamori one, which is what made the Tamori incident so ridiculous, because that's not even, there's barely any comparison. If you compare that to these two incidences, there's no comparison. That's not even a fraction of these two. And we're not even calling these about. I do think though, that if either of them had gone down, then you've got the chance that it could be given, like Milenko of it, to be once again.
00:55:53
Speaker
he has to go down for that nudge. I mean, he gets nudged. I don't think it's a foul. I'm just saying if he'd have gone down, he probably would have got a foul for that. Well, definitely go down, didn't he? I mean, he was it was a, you know, he pulled down his neck. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I think, look, for me, personally, I look at it like this. You need to keep a maintain a consistent level throughout.
00:56:15
Speaker
I don't think there's enough in either situation to give a foul. That's my personal opinion. The only thing I'm going to say is if you're going to not allow this kind of physical play, fine, but apply it consistently. That's all I'm saying.
00:56:32
Speaker
That's the only, that's my only comment with this. I didn't have a problem with the Jorvik goal, I didn't have a problem with Jekyll and Milenkoitch. That's just my personal opinion. But I think the only thing I look for in a football game is, if you're gonna give one, you have to give the other. If you're not gonna give one, you can't give the other. Because otherwise, you just ruin the game. And it was already a very, very nervous game and it was, we saw some really horrible scenes
00:57:00
Speaker
as well with with fans being attacked into fans being attacked, you know, abuse held. I mean, this keeps happening in Florence now. It keeps happening at Fiorentina Stadium. And from you enter to Milan to Monza was there. I mean, it just keeps happening there. And and it needs to. And I'm not saying it's just that Fiorentina this happens, but it does seem to keep happening these instances of violence at this inside the stadium.
00:57:28
Speaker
keep happening at Fiorentina. And it's not a very nice look. I mean, I remember I think with Galliani was hitting the head with a coin, if I remember correctly, not too long ago. I mean, it's not nice. And I really don't want to see this in any football ground. So I'm not singing at Fiorentina, but it's becoming a trend and it's not a nice trend.
00:57:50
Speaker
No, absolutely. Okay, right.
Juventus' Rare Victory and Player Discussions
00:57:53
Speaker
Juventus. Juventus won 4-0 against Empoli. What is going on there? I nearly shit myself when I saw it. What is going on? Only the second time in Serie A, since Selegri returned, that they scored four goals. And the other one was actually against Roma, which was just a complete freak when they had those three goals in the space of how many minutes?
00:58:20
Speaker
it was. But yeah, they created loads of chances in this game. And they've actually been in Serie A with the exception of the Milan game, in which they were awful in. They've actually been creating quite a lot of chances in recent games in Serie A anyway. 3.79 xg in this game, 2.5 xg against Torino, 2.5 against Bologna,
00:58:41
Speaker
So, I mean, if there are any positives, we can say they're starting to create a bit more. Allegri said that Juventus are starting to look more like a team. He said after the end of this game. And they're certainly looking more effective in attack in Serie A in recent matches. I will still maintain that the way that they're doing it is not conducive to long term success. I mean,
00:59:06
Speaker
creating a lot of chances against this level of teams. In the long run, if you're having 35% possession first half against Emply, however many chances you're creating, long term, that won't work. Against the top teams, it won't work because those top teams will make that possession and territorial advantage count against you. But let's try and take the positives.
00:59:32
Speaker
I think that obviously Rabio is the headline act. And I think the biggest question from this game really is should Rabio be given a new contract? I mean, he scored two goals. He's now got four for the season, which is his bet. Only Blauwitsch has more goals than Rabio. And I think how many of Blauwitsch's goals have been from penalties and free kicks.
00:59:57
Speaker
Yeah, and I think one of them was a penalty, two or three kicks, you know, so, you know, so, you know, I mean, there seems to have been this big campaign now about Rabio that his contract runs out at the end of the season. Obviously, they tried to sell him to Manchester United in the summer. He might get a new new deal.
01:00:19
Speaker
I just think that it's a prisoner of the moment. Yes, he's been Ube's best midfielder in 2022, but that isn't saying much. Yes, he's on good form. I would still get rid of him. I think that I have
01:00:40
Speaker
I have certain standards with Juventus. I grew up in the 90s when they were the best team in the world and they got to three Champions League finals in a row. And, you know, yes, OK, Serie A, Juventus are not anywhere near that level now, but, you know, Juventus are a massive club and I just don't think Rabio, however good his form is at the moment for a few games against some small teams,
01:01:00
Speaker
he's not good enough and I just think that they just let him go. If he can contribute to them getting the top four this season, great. That can be his legacy at Juventus but he's not going to take them to the level that Juventus need and he's not the type of player that Juventus need.
01:01:17
Speaker
they even just need players that can keep the ball, that can control the midfield, possession, you know, creativity, great in the, you know, better with the short passing game and the, and the, you know, the little one twos and triangles and things like that. And, you know, Rabio is, was one of these midfielders that's
01:01:37
Speaker
I don't know. He doesn't really seem to have any major weapons, really. He's just kind of okay at everything. He's good at kind of covering the ground. And, you know, he's now he's adding some goals to his game. He's on good form. But, yeah, I think that the new contract talk and this push for him to get a new deal, I think Juventus will be making a mistake if they go for it.
01:01:58
Speaker
I think they should extend his contract if he's without it weighing too much on their balance sheet. Because I think as a rotation player, squad player, I think he's good enough to be at Gilbert, but certainly not a starter. He's on 7.5 million euros a year. That's exactly it.
01:02:15
Speaker
No, no, I mean half of that four, you know, it was like three, four, like that's the thing. Seven million. Can you see Veronique Rabiot accepting half his salary? No, I don't think she...
01:02:30
Speaker
Well, no, but where is she going to get someone to pay more? I mean, I know Manchester United tried to get 12 out of that United. I know. Well, yeah, exactly. But she's, you know, I don't know. That was before at Tenhag, wasn't it? Or was it when he was... No, no, it was towards the end of the summer. Yeah, he was already there. Yeah.
01:02:48
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I maybe he goes there, but OK, if he can, if she can get them to pay seven, eight, nine million net per season for Adrian to sit on the bench. Good luck to you. You know, congratulations. Personally, I wouldn't give them three, four. I think he's a rotation player at best at UVA. But yeah, that's pretty much it.
01:03:11
Speaker
Okay. Oh, just a shout out also to Moise Kane. He scored as well. What the hell was going on? And Mckenny scored as well. All the players that get absolutely hammered. It was your favourite. It was basically, it was a lovely afternoon for all of Carlo's hate objects. Allegri's team scoring for Mckenny, McKean. It was Moise Kane. It was brilliant.
01:03:37
Speaker
I want to give a shout out to Illing Junior. He made his debut as a sub only for the last five minutes, but I thought he looked all right. I thought he looked quite lively to see how he does. I did find it hilarious, though, the fact that he's an attacker and he
01:03:54
Speaker
Alegri played him at left wing back. Here we go. I'm being serious. He came on for Kostitch. He played left wing back in the 3-4-2. He's a centre forward. Alegri played him at left wing back for his debut. I knew there was going to come a dig at Alegri somewhere. It came at the end. I'm just stating a fact. He played him at the wing back. Of course, he's just stating a fact. Brilliant.
Lazio's Tactical Flexibility and Performance
01:04:24
Speaker
Maurizio Sarri does it again. No Tiro Immoble out till the new year with an injury. We actually said, didn't we, on the show, we went through all the players who were the most irreplaceable players on each team. And I think we both agreed it was Immoble, maybe a Milenkoic Savage, but definitely a Milenkoic Savage. I had Milenkoic Savage as well. I think even more than Immoble, I think he's too important. But of course, Immoble is the captain. He's the legend of the club. I mean, of course he's important.
01:04:51
Speaker
I mean, Sadie went with the false nine. And it's really part of the scene. Yeah. Yeah. And it was it's so interesting because to me it really looked like a poor man's Mertens in Signia Cajon, the way that they played and the triangulations. And so it was really, really interesting to see. But look, the above all, Lazio, what a balanced team they are. So, so good.
01:05:19
Speaker
they are so controlled composed it looked like they could have played that game for three hours and Atalanta wouldn't have scored because Lazio was so well balanced. Romanioli and Patrick didn't play of course but Romanioli's been and Casale were
01:05:38
Speaker
so good. And Provedel didn't even have to make a save and still kept his sixth clean sheet in a row in the Serie A, seventh overall. He didn't have to make many saves at all. No, Lazio defensively, they impressed me the most. The balance, the way that they just compose, control the tempo and midfield and are balanced, I'm really impressed. Six clean sheets, six clean sheets in a row.
01:06:06
Speaker
over 500 minutes without almost two months. I wonder what Sarri is doing in my opinion here is I think he's throwing his hat in the ring for another big job with what he's doing at Lazio this season. At some point Stefano Pioli has to be replaced at Milan.
01:06:30
Speaker
And if he continues to do this at Lazio and continues to get the absolute maximum out of this squad, I wonder if we don't see him at Milan at some point in the next two, three years. Just saying, just saying.
01:06:44
Speaker
Even the Italy national team job to succeed Mancini could be the right type of manager, but I'm so happy for Sally because I've always thought he's a fantastic manager and I thought he was so badly treated by Chelsea fans, by Juventus fans as well.
01:07:02
Speaker
And now he's showing with Lazio. Disrespected. Disrespected, yeah. Disrespected is the right word. Disrespected is the right word for definite. He won with both of those teams. And despite not having the right, certainly with Juventus, not having anywhere close to having the right type of players to play with. And I would even go as far as to say that. I even think there's quite a lot of Lazio players in the team that are not
01:07:29
Speaker
really naturally suited to it. No, they're not. And he still gets them. Even Romagnoli, who's been so good, I wouldn't say Romagnoli with his lack of pace with his, you know, he's not the best at playing in a highlight, like in a high line or pressing or, you know, the kind of the stuff, the kind of football that Sarri wants to play. Of course, he's had to improvise a little bit because, you know, I can't play. Yeah, you've got you've got to a little bit.
01:07:55
Speaker
But you know, even someone like Ron Manioli, even some of the midfielders, you know, like Luis Alberto, he doesn't always play. You know, they're not even Milinkovic Savage. Even Milinkovic Savage is a kind of an he's a bit of an he's an individualist, individual player more than a team player. You would I mean, in terms of, you know, he doesn't, he does his own things, obviously been incredible. But if you would, if you look at him,
01:08:18
Speaker
you know, he's, he is somebody that likes to produce moments of adventure where Sarri likes players that all fit into a system. He's not necessarily a system player, is he? Milinkovic Savage, you know. No, but the thing is with Milinkovic Savage, I think his absolute strength is his versatility because he's played in every single midfield position centrally from the 10 to the six to the eight to anything. And he does so brilliantly. And I think that's why Sarri loves him so much. The fact, I mean, against Atalanta, for example, he had a much more defensive balance role
01:08:47
Speaker
to the right of the midfield three. And an offered help that way wasn't too involved in the attack. But now, look, it's so impressive. He's such a good manager. I really like Sarri. And I'm glad that he's getting the, you know, it's a little bit like it's a redemption for him, because like you said, he was incredibly mistreated. But I've got to say, I'm so impressed. I never thought, I always took him more for an ideologue
01:09:16
Speaker
than the kind of manager that is able to be a little bit more pragmatic and adapt to the opposition. And he's done that without completely stepping away from who he is as a coach. He's just, in important games, he's kind of adapted and treated them like cup games, quote unquote. And he's done so really well. And I saw that against Inter, the first game, that game against Inter, he really did that. He just found Inter's weaknesses, adapted to them and hurt them severely.
01:09:46
Speaker
It was nice. It's how I'm happy for study as well. Brilliant, brilliant. Okay, right. Best goal difference in Serie A as well. Let me just add that as well. Five goals conceded only. Yeah. Yeah. First time in almost a quarter of a century that they've had six clean sheets in a row. Just very, very quickly because we're going way over as usual.
01:10:08
Speaker
The rest of Serie A. So Lenny Turner won, Speccia, Neil. Shout out to Mazocki. Incredible winner. It was a Ribery-like strike, Kola, which was perfect timing, seeing as it was Ribery announced his retirement. So that was a beautiful, a beautiful goodbye for Ribery. Udenezi won Torino, too. Torino ending their slump with a great win away at Udenezi. Bologna, too, lecture, Neil. Marco and Altych, again, he's having a great season. Lewis Ferguson, as well, with his first goal in Serie A.
01:10:38
Speaker
And then on Monday we have Cremonese, Sampdoria and Sassuola, Verona. Right, just before we, you know what, we were going to do a segment on Iran and the World Cup, but we've gone way over. We'll save that till Thursday and we'll talk about that, because Nimr can give us the download on that.
01:11:00
Speaker
Champions League. So Champions League this week. Dynamo Zagreb Milan. Benfica Juventus on Tuesday. Napoli Rangers Inter. Victoria Pilsen on Wednesday. That's match day five. And then Europa League. We've got Lazio, FC Midgelland and Helsinki Roma. And in the conference league we've got Fiorentina versus Istanbul. Basak Sheer. Basak Sheer.
01:11:26
Speaker
I used to live with two Turks, so I should be better than that. The Turk that I used to live with, his name was Bairam Ashak, so it's kind of a combination of his two words. It should be good. And he taught me all the Turkish swear words, all of them.
01:11:49
Speaker
I can't repeat most of them, but the most used word in our house was peach, which means bastard. It was used literally, literally used about a thousand times a day. A thousand times a day. Peach. Peach. Get up, peach. Go get a food peach. Right. Right. So basically Milan must win.
01:12:12
Speaker
Must-win game for Milan against Dona Mazzola. They have to win. They have to win this. Well, it's a must-win for all Italian teams except for Napoli.
01:12:21
Speaker
Oh yeah, no, no, no, spot on, yeah, yeah. Napoli are their home to Rangers. It's as simple as that. Inter have to beat Victoria Pilsen, and if they do, they're through to the second round. Juventus have to beat Benfica to have a prayer, to have a snowball's chance in hell to qualify from the group, and Milan have to beat Nino Mozagra because that's an incredibly tight group. I mean, it's really that simple, isn't it? As for Napoli, they have to beat Rangers in order to secure the top spot,
01:12:48
Speaker
But I mean, Ranges are at home. I think Napoli will win that game rather comfortably, to be honest. So, yeah. And it's also a must-win game for Lazio against Mithiland in order to go through. And it's a must-win game for Rom against Helsinki in order to go through as well. And the same thing for Fiorentina.
01:13:08
Speaker
So it's pretty much must win games all around, which is pretty much what you can expect when it's match day five of the group stage of European football.
01:13:22
Speaker
No, yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think Juventus is irrelevant now even if they win this game, they're definitely going out because I mean, Bemfica, they just have to win their last game against the Maccabi Haifa. Yeah, I can't see that happens. Juventus are gone, but you know, they have to at least get in the Europa League because it's not a lot of money, but
01:13:46
Speaker
it's at least it's something they need to try and get some revenue they need to get every penny they can they can get basically a bit like Barcelona if they go out as well and I read that if Barcelona could go all the way and win the Europa League and then win the Super League
01:14:03
Speaker
it would minimise their losses to around about 20 million from what they would have got just for getting through in the Champions League. So, okay, they're still going to make a loss, but you're still minimising it. Okay, you have to go all the way and then you have to win the Super Cup as well. But it's, you know, it's better than the making nothing, you know, so Juventus have to at least make sure they come third in the group. And the same, actually, they're the same, exactly the same in Europa League. Lazio and Roma, they both have to win. They both have to win.
01:14:32
Speaker
Especially Roma. Roma don't win their out, basically. And Lazio, oh yeah, Lazio have to win as well. It's very, very tight in that group. Fiorentina are fine. Fiorentina are fine there.
Miscellaneous Football Highlights
01:14:43
Speaker
They've got their gap, opened their gap with that double header against Hartz. They won both games. So they should be fine in their group, whatever happens in that game. Because they play the furniture store in the last group games. They will definitely win that.
01:15:00
Speaker
Right, let's finish off with Badjo and Prem Phase of the Week. Okay, Badjo, do you have a Badjo? I think Madzoki's goal and Lautaro's performance overall in Fiorentina is second goal as well. I think it's those two are the ones that stand out for me the most.
01:15:20
Speaker
Yeah, no, I can't go against that. Maybe, I maybe throw Sadie into it as well. Yeah. For what he's doing. Yeah. For what he's doing. Yeah.
Photo Agency Controversy and Mistakes
01:15:30
Speaker
Prem face of the week. Right. I'm going to let you tell us away. I saw your tweet. I shouldn't have laughed because it's not funny, but it is funny because when you see this stuff happen all the time,
01:15:41
Speaker
It reminded me of when that newspaper put a picture of Stormzy, the rapper. It was the sun again, wasn't it? I'm not sure if it was the sun. I'm not 100% sure on that one. I'm pretty sure.
01:15:58
Speaker
But if I remember because I remember a lot of people like going off about that thing you did a Stormzy again It's not but look basically they put they put out of they put out a story of him of a bold black man smoking an easy cigarette and published a story saying it was Romelu Lukaku only if one actually has a functioning pair of eyeballs they see it's not Romelu Lukaku and of course he went absolutely ballistic and he said he was gonna sue them and I hope he does because
01:16:26
Speaker
There was no need for that. And then, of course, The Sun retracts and publishes Apology and blames the photo agency. The photo agency, yeah. I mean, it was such the state of them.
01:16:39
Speaker
embarrassing. Yeah, I don't think I don't think I don't think that's very likely there was a photo agency. Although without wanting to defend the sun in my entire career in my entire time working in this industry in the media, I have once seen a player. It was it was a black player. I can't remember who it was. Now I'm just trying to remember who it was that we used a photo agency was Getty photo agency were like the biggest or one of the biggest photo agencies. Yeah, they
01:17:09
Speaker
that they used the wrong caption on their account for a black player. Then someone that I was working with used the search function, obviously, to search for this player, just saw the picture without looking at it properly, then used that picture of the player on an article.
01:17:31
Speaker
And then got loads of complaints, you know, so, you know, it can happen. But, you know, and I have seen it happen that only once. But for a story this sensitive, the story that that we did, and wasn't sensitive, it was it was just like a top 10.
01:17:49
Speaker
top 10 defenders or something like that. You know, it was it was nothing, you know, there was nothing controversial or sensitive about it. Where is this? Your is a sensitive story. You know, you don't you have to check smoking. Yeah, exactly. Because you're you're basically saying that Romelu Lukaku is has got fit because the whole angle was he's got fitness issues. He's you know, now he's smoking. That's a pretty you know, that's a big that's a big thing that's hurled at an elite world class athlete.
01:18:19
Speaker
a big top elite level athlete. And you need to get your ducks in order. You can't just say stuff like that. You can't publish that and not be certain. And for me, it's like, again, I don't think what you mentioned there, that can happen. Mistakes happen. It's not always
01:18:39
Speaker
You know, everyone can make mistakes. I get that. But like you said, this is a really sensitive story, so you should be double and triple check. And if one does double and triple check that, you see it's not Lukaku. It's embarrassing. Absolute embarrassment.
01:18:54
Speaker
Okay,
Podcast Conclusion and Future Episodes
01:18:55
Speaker
that's all we have time for today. Thank you everyone for listening. We will be back on Tuesday for our question and answers episode where we answer all the questions that are sent in by our patrons. And then we will be back again on Thursday for our review episode of all the Champions League action and then everything that's happened during the
01:19:22
Speaker
during the week. So until then, ciao ciao.