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Free Weekly Episode - AC Milan's Captain America Conquers Italy, AllegriBall Back At Juve, Osimhen’s Napoli Shine, Crisis At Both Roma & Lazio, Lukaku To Join Roma & Much More (Ep. 354)
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From Max Allegri under fire after woeful Juventus half in Bologna draw after refereeing controversy, Victor Osimhen continues to shine for Napoli who demolish Sassuolo, USMNT and AC Milan star Christian Pulisic conquering Serie A, crisis in Rome as Lazio record second loss in as many games while Rui Patricio howler gifts win to Hellas Verona as Romelu Lukaku looks set for Roma, to Atalanta stumble to Frosinone as well as Udinese striker Beto set for Everton and much, much more as Nima and Carlo break down all the main talking points from a jam-packed week and weekend in Italian football.
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Transcript
Introduction & Highlights
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian Football Podcast. Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Italian Football Podcast. I'm Carlo Garganese, joined as always by Nima Tavalli. And on today's show, we will review all the action from Matchday 2 of Celia.
Juventus & Tactical Analysis
00:00:19
Speaker
AC Milan and Napoli both put in fantastic attacking performances. Milan threshing Torino 4-1. Napoli beating Sasualo 2-0.
00:00:29
Speaker
Juventus are back to their old ways under Max Allegri after a fantastic performance on match day one they drew 1-1 with Bologna in a very very disappointing performance there is a crisis in Rome Lazio lose again two defeats in two to start the season
00:00:47
Speaker
while Roma also fell to a shock defeat but Roma are about to sign Romelu Lukaku on loan from Chelsea so we'll discuss that and a few of the big deals that are happening in these last days of the transfer window. We will review all of the other action from the weekend
00:01:07
Speaker
in Syria. For all our first time listeners, this is our free weekly episode that we do every Monday, reviewing the weekend's Syria 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 that we do throughout the week, including our weekly Q&A episode every
00:01:26
Speaker
Tuesday where we answer all the questions from our patrons plus the weekly Thursday midweek review show plus interviews post-match reaction and much much more then go to patreon.com slash CIFB and become a subscriber for just $2.99 a month plus VAT and now you can also sign up to be a paid subscriber on Spotify and we will provide the link same price same terms
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Speaker
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00:02:04
Speaker
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00:03:10
Speaker
Okay, so let's start off with Juventus because they played on Sunday evening and they draw 1-1 from Bologna and it's been very frustrating reflecting on this game for Juventus fans because there was a degree of hope, cautious hope I would say, from
00:03:35
Speaker
match day one when Juventus beat Udenez in 3-0 and they played a fantastic first half in that game and it was a new Juventus. It was the Juventus that were doing things that we just hadn't seen under Max Allegri in his first two seasons back. It was a more intense uve. It was a Juventus with high pressing, that were trying to attack, that had some kind of more modern ideas with Cambiaso playing as an inverted wing back.
00:04:05
Speaker
We were seeing Meretti, the mid-centre midfielder, pushing up into a centre-forward position. And we were seeing both wing-backs push really high up. And we were seeing even a few patterns of attack and play as well. And there was this hope that this was the new Juventus, that Mannionelli, who had come in from Sassuola, had brought these new ideas, the deserbe ideas, to the play.
00:04:34
Speaker
Is this the Juventus that we were going to see all season? Well, watching the first half of this game against Bologna and that hope soon went away, I would say. I mean, we still saw the kind of Juventus that were trying to press high and try to press the opposition and win the ball back and try and be more attacking. They still had much more opposition than we saw last season. This wasn't the Juventus that were just sitting back and defending their own box.
00:05:03
Speaker
The unfortunate part of this is that we saw Juventus that had no ideas, no patterns of play at all, no shots, not a single shot on goal in the first half. It was abysmal watching them. There was just no quality at all. To sum up Juventus' first half, that was it. It was better in the second half for Juve, but it still wasn't good enough, was it, Nima?
00:05:34
Speaker
No, the first half was horrible, and I just felt like Juventus looked almost a bit...
00:05:41
Speaker
Not, like, almost a bit hungover. Like, it just felt like there was no energy in the team. I don't know, the feeling I got watching them was that there was no go, there was no, all of the fire, the anger, all the stuff that we saw in the first game, in the first half of the first game was just not there. They just didn't seem fired up for it. I don't want to take anything away from Bologna, because I thought Bologna were really good in the first half. I thought they had, you know, Mota had his team prepared really well to counter.
00:06:11
Speaker
Juventus and try to lock them as well and they did do that to a certain extent so I don't you know I think we should give credit to Bologna as well but for me I thought Juventus just lacked energy they look they didn't have that fire and energy and they had the ideas but they didn't look like they believed in them if that makes sense almost it was like
00:06:34
Speaker
They sort of, you know, I think the reason why, because we've read now that Max Allegri went absolutely berserk in the dressing room. And I think the reason he did that is because he was, this idea that the players thought, okay, we're back, we're over, just, you know, almost convinced of their own, you know, ability to be fantastic and not be able to, and not have to do the work almost, a little bit of, you know, not underestimating Bologna, but maybe overestimating how good they are.
00:07:03
Speaker
because things went so well in the first game. I think there was an element of all of those things. But Juver did look better in the second half. They did look more like, more similar to the Udonis game than in the first half. But the first half was just...
00:07:20
Speaker
Yeah, this first half was zero shots of goal in the first half. I checked it out. They had an XG of 0.13 in the first half. 0.13. That must be a record even for Allegri. And yeah, sort of a little bit lucky to only be one down as well. We'll come to Bologna as well. Like you, I don't want to take anything away from them. I think they're a really good team. But the second half was better. They had more of a go. They created a few chances. They had a disallowed goal.
00:07:47
Speaker
which was unlucky it was the correct decision but it was unlucky but but yeah still not good enough and i think the bottom line is this for Juventus and i would even say this for the first game against Bologna because if you check out the the non um the the non
00:08:07
Speaker
the XG excluding penalties, including the penalty that they had in the first game. I think it was only around about one in the first game. So as well as Juventus played against Udenezer, they still didn't really create that many
00:08:24
Speaker
clear chances and i think as you said last week many of the chances they created. Actually work from from mistakes and i'm in second one was a mistake that gave away the penalty all three goals all three goals were missed to an extent yeah they were taking advantage of for mistake and i thought that's brilliant last week but yeah it cut so you know so.
00:08:44
Speaker
This is the bottom line with Juventus, however they play, whether they're playing in a more, I mean, because I still, I don't totally agree with the idea of it went back to Allegri 2021 to 2023, in the sense that this is the Juventus that are trying to press and they are trying to play with a higher line. I mean, if you look at the average positions and the heat up on the pitch,
00:09:03
Speaker
This wasn't Juventus playing with a deep block, which is what we've seen for the last two seasons where they've been defending their penalty area. This was just the Juventus that still, regardless of playing with a high line, just still don't really have those attacking patterns of play, the ability to create chances. And this is the bottom line with the Juventus, and this is what needs to change if they're going to have a successful season.
00:09:24
Speaker
They had a 0.82 XG in this game. That's just nowhere near good enough to be a Scudetto challenger. You can't have an XG of 0.82. And this is the problem. This has been the biggest problem throughout Allegri's second spell at Juventus. They do not create enough chances. And if you don't create enough chances, you are not going to be successful. And this is what needs to change if Juventus are going to be successful this season.
00:09:52
Speaker
I'd like to elaborate on that. I think it's not just creating chances. It's what kind of chances you create. Good chances, like, you know, the way that when you see how Milan scored or how Napoli scored, they create like these almost impossible to miss chances. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Like XG's of 08, 09. And that is reflected in the XG, you know.
00:10:15
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. And that's what I feel is the problem here. But I do think that they're on the right path. I really think that. I think it would be very unfair exactly like you said to say, oh, this is the same old lately. I think that would be just very reductive because it's just not true. I do think that we are seeing work in progress. I think the players things went maybe a little bit too easy in the opening game.
00:10:41
Speaker
and sometimes you know players can you know mentally relax and think everything's all right and we're gonna everything's gonna take care of itself and and it doesn't do that especially you know teams in the city are so tactically well prepared and Bologna for sure but before we get to them I really want to praise Dushan Vlovich I thought he's
Bologna's Tactical Insights
00:11:02
Speaker
He's, these two games, he's doing everything that I wanted him to start showing. He's not doing it 100%, but he's showing that he's trying to do it and he's fighting to do it and he's actually succeeding with some and failing with some.
00:11:17
Speaker
I like that. I like his body language is positive. His attitude is just, he wants to show that he is good enough for Juva. He's good enough to be the number nine at Juva, the focal point. And, well, two killer's goals, really. I agree. I agree to disagree. The positive from Vlovich is, I think so far this season, he's been good in the box. His box play, like,
00:11:44
Speaker
his movement in the box, his finishing, he's been ruthless, and he's actually scored four goals in his two games, but he's had two disallowed. And the finish was fantastic. That was a lethal, clinical, you know, that was a top strikers finish, that was. And he also, you know, he did well on the goal that was disallowed as well.
00:12:11
Speaker
But the negative is his hold-up play and his touch outside the box is not good enough. It's just not good enough. In the first half, it was abysmal in the first half. Every single ball that came to him, he moves like a World War I tank at some point. He moves when he's turning so slowly that the defender just comes in from behind him and takes the ball away from him.
00:12:37
Speaker
Yeah, it's too slow. His protection of the ball is not good enough. And this is a problem in Juventus trying to build up the play as well and bringing others into play. So, I mean, and while that is the case, Wlawicz is going to continue to be a problem for Juventus in terms of their overall game. And so that is an issue. I understand what you're saying, and I do agree it's not good enough, but at least he's trying to do it. Last year, he didn't even try.
00:13:04
Speaker
This is the thing where we're going in the right direction. You have to remember, he's still a very young player. I mean, he has tried to do it as well. I mean, we probably, yeah, but you and me are not 22, 23 years old. And we've never been anywhere near as good as the talent that Dushav Lavic has. And this is why I think that I'm sure you are.
00:13:23
Speaker
But my point is, I think, Dusan Wlawic, what I mean is that I think that, look, strikers of his calibre, his physique, they usually peak from 28 onwards, you know, these big guys in terms of learning. It's very rarely they turn into Erling Horland, this young in his career of these big physical guys.
00:13:50
Speaker
Lukaku didn't really know how to play with his back against the goal and hold up the play until Antonio Conte got his hands on him. And in the first training session, the entire pre-season, he tattooed Andrea Ranocchio on his back and said, hey, Andrea, this is Romelu. Romelu, this is Andrea. Get to know each other because you're going to live together for the next couple of years.
00:14:07
Speaker
That's fair enough, and it's true, but Juventus can't wait. They can't go... No, but they have to. No, I get that, but this is the season where he has to show improvement and actually start doing it better. Yes, the first half was abysmal, but I think that he will improve on that as the season goes. And the thing that I'm negative about
00:14:31
Speaker
is that, when it comes to Allegri is, why the actual flying F did you not do this during pre-season? Because evidently, whatever you did during pre-season was not good enough, because Vlawic still is not where he needs to be, in terms of playing with his back against the goal, in terms of the hold-up play. You know that this is how you were going to use him, and he's not ready. So you can do enough for pre-season. Well, sometimes it comes to, are they capable of improving that side of the game? I think he is.
00:15:18
Speaker
The case was terrible. The case was horrible, completely horrible. I couldn't find the spaces at all to get the ball. I think all the starters, none of them were impressive. We could go through all of them, but I do want to single out one player. And that is Paul Pogba's coming back from injury, which should have been good.
00:15:25
Speaker
He'll never be. He'll never be. He'll never be. He'll never be. He'll never be. He'll never be. He'll never be. He'll never be.
00:15:38
Speaker
he looked like an ex-plan. I'll give one prop to him. He did the pre-pass for the goal to Willing Jr. That's it. Other than that,
00:15:50
Speaker
It was not nice. It was quite sad to see actually how slow he was. That's what I was going to say. It was sad. It was sad. It looked like a former player at an exhibition game. Like he moved like Diego Maradona. I was going to say the same thing. It was like Maradona when he was like 50. Yeah, it was not nice to see at all. Like some sort of, you know, charity exhibition match for, I don't know,
00:16:12
Speaker
raising funds for refugees in a UN game. It looked horrible. He looked absolutely horrible. And it's not nice to see. But then again, we shouldn't go too hard either because he's been away for so long. It takes time to get into match fitness. And he didn't have a rhythm either. So let's let him off for this one.
00:16:33
Speaker
Yeah, it didn't look good at all. It's not a good look. No, no, it really wasn't. The other few things I want to say about Juventus is, number one, 45 minutes. Throughout Juventus' second spell, Juventus have never played more than 45 minutes good football. Even in the games where they've played
00:16:56
Speaker
where they've had their rare good games under Allegri during the second spell. I'm thinking against Inter in the Coppa Italia final in the first season, where they were really great for a good period of that game. And then they just completely fell away. And even, I'm just trying to think where else, Benfica, they had a really good 20 minutes against Benfica last season. There's been a few other examples I'm sure people can come up with where Juventus have been really good for maybe 45 minutes
00:17:26
Speaker
not much longer than that. And then the rest of the game, they just can't maintain it. And this is what happened in the first game against with the NASA. And, you know, I was a bit critical. And I was like, you know, the second half, they feel away, okay, maybe they were managing the game, maybe it was hot, you know, but
00:17:42
Speaker
enough of the excuses, Juventus, they can't play, only play for 45 minutes. That also works its way into your unconscious as well, if it's in you. That's why I was so critical last week, I was like, you have to drum it into you.
00:17:59
Speaker
into your brain that we play for 90 minutes because I mean look what happens the very next game they were dreadful in the first 45 minutes the second 45 minutes they were better but you can't play for only for only a half only for a portion of the game top teams have to be good from start to finish
00:18:14
Speaker
No, you have to be switched on. You have to be switched on for 90 minutes. It's as simple as that. Teams are too... I don't know if it's mental, physical, bit of both, but Juventus... I think it's a combination of all of the above. I think it's this... Juventus are in transition, not just on the pitch, but also off it. But if we're talking about on the pitch, I think that some of these players... This is the thing when you try to build around younger players who have less experience.
00:18:39
Speaker
Playing at a big club and being switched on for 90 minutes, week in, week out, is a skill. It takes time to acquire that skill. And I think Juventus need to, you know, whether or not you can acquire that skill, no matter how good you are technically, that's the difference between a very good player and the players that make it at the big club. Yeah. Well, I don't blame the players. I blame the manager for that. Of course you do. There's no doubt about that. Of course you do. Of course you do.
00:19:08
Speaker
I don't know that you can blame the players. I do blame Allegri's starting 11. In the two years, Allegri's never had the same starting 11 ever. Now, obviously, Chesney was enforced for this because he was injured, but I can't understand why he started Fagioli in this game. Why change a winning team? Why not start exactly... Because Miretti was horrible against Odine, so I thought...
00:19:28
Speaker
Well he wasn't. I don't think he was horrible. I thought he was decent. I don't think he was outstanding. But Fagioli was horrible against Udinese. He was absolutely horrific and clearly not fit. He was horrible in this game. Why not just play exactly the same tactically? Moretti carried out what Juventus were trying to do in that first game. He was pushing up as a center forward. Why not just keep the same team? Why change it? Why change Moretti for Fagioli in this game?
00:19:51
Speaker
It makes no sense. A leg we need to stop this. They're going to get into a rhythm and create these patterns and create this identity. Then you have to just play the same team. You're going to only play once a week. You don't need to change the team and rotate. If you remember when Konta plays once a week, he finds his team and he sticks to it.
00:20:11
Speaker
I've never liked Twin Towers. It's like 1980s English football. You just play two big men up front together. I don't like it. It's rarely ever worked. It's horrible.
00:20:31
Speaker
Lukaku and Jekyll. I don't know what you mean. So that's the other thing. And the last thing I wanted to say, well, two last things. First of all, Locatelli is a six. Again, doesn't convince me at all. It doesn't convince me. And also,
00:20:48
Speaker
And Motel was very good at this in the first half. He was cutting out the passing lanes into the midfield, and certainly to the wide men, to the wing bats. Cambiaso, especially, Cambiaso couldn't get in the game. And I said, again, that's another warning I had from first game. If you become too predictable and everything goes through one side of the pitch on the left or through one man, Cambiaso, you become predictable. Motel learned from that. He cut out the passing lanes. He let Bremer, well, he let all the defenders just have the ball.
00:21:17
Speaker
Juventus's defenders, they're just not good enough. I mean, Danilo, I think it's okay, but Bremmer and Alexandra, especially Bremmer, they're so bad, like constructing the play from the back, they're so bad in possession. That is a problem in modern football. If your defenders can't use the ball, it doesn't matter how good you are defensively. Aaron Wan-Bissach is one of the best one-on-one defenders probably in Europe, but he can't even kick off football.
00:21:41
Speaker
No you really can't, it's truly remarkable that you're right. I think this is an issue and I think Motta knew that, so he let the defenders have the ball, he cut out the passing lanes and the Juventus had no solutions. I mean that's also up to the manager to find the ways around that. I was going to say, that I blame a leg group, but I also acknowledge the point
00:22:02
Speaker
The Juventus defenders are so bad constructing the play that that is an issue. And meanwhile, you've got Leonardo Bonucci there, who's only his his his most best feature is building from the back. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's it's it's strange to me. So, I mean, if you've got I'm not saying this. Well, you solve one problem and you create another problem.
00:22:24
Speaker
Well, that's what I'm saying. That's what I mean. That's exactly the point I was going to make. It's like you've got one guy who's really good at that, but he's 100 million. He's 100 million years old and he can't do anything other than that. And the others and he causes defensive. He causes the others to.
00:22:40
Speaker
you know, problems defensively because of the fact that he's so old and slow and his timing is off. But yeah, no, Bremmer is a problem with the ball at his feet for sure. I think Bremmer regrets going to Juve. I think if he had gone to Inter, it would have been better for him and Inter and Juve if they'd gone for someone else because I don't see Juve and the reason I say that is I don't see Juve. OK, Daniel is fine, but Aleksandar is not working and Juve Gatti is not the solution, I think, long term.
00:23:09
Speaker
I think you can do something for them as a rotation player. But yeah, Juventus have problems in defense. They really do. This is nowhere near the great Juva defenses that we've seen. There's always different role players and you have, you know, throughout history from the 70 80s until now, regardless of what era when Juventus were great, you had a complete defense. You mean you had different players who could all do different things and together they complimented each other and were unbeatable.
00:23:37
Speaker
This is not working. I think you need to sign a sense about this. Maybe Huysson can come through, or maybe somebody can come through, but yeah, I think they needed to sign a sense of that. We've spoken about you, let's just very quickly, a bit of praise for Bologna, because Bologna are a very good team, and I think this also reflects well on Milan as well, how good their performance was, because I said off that game, Bologna weren't bad in that game against Milan, which is very, very good.
00:24:06
Speaker
and I think Motta, he out coached Allegri, certainly in the first half, but he has a big career ahead of him. You see the clear identity, they press high, the counter-press, the clear ideas, the patterns, the identity. You know, I thought they were very good. I want to praise, I have to put my hands up.
00:24:23
Speaker
Both of us were very, very critical of Xeroxi after the Milan game. Because he was awful. He was awful. But he was fantastic. He was man of the match. Yeah, he was. He was man of the match in this game. He was holding up the ball. He was bringing people. Doing everything that Vlovich wasn't doing. I was just about to say that. Everything that Vlovich should have done, he did. Bringing others into play. He got the assist. He set up Ferguson again for another chance. He forced a great save from Perrin before that push from, well,
00:24:52
Speaker
It was a penalty, the evening junior on Ndoy. Yeah, we have to talk about the... It wasn't a scandal, as some people saying, but it was a penalty. It was a light push. It was a very light push, but it stopped him from scoring. So it should have been a penalty. Here's the thing, like the way I look at those contentious issues is the offside.
00:25:10
Speaker
when Vlawic scored, the laws of the game say that if you impact play by standing in the vision of the goalkeeper when the shot is, if you're in an offside position and you're judged to impact play, if you're standing in the line of vision of the goalkeeper when the shot is made, and that's exactly what Rabio does, so that's the correct decision.
00:25:29
Speaker
So there's, I mean, do I think it's a stupid rule in the offside? That's fine. That's a different debate. Well, I think it's a correct rule because nothing drives me mad than plays that are interfering. You know my rule. I would go. I'm with you. I would go full blown. I'm just saying, no, no, no, no. What I'm saying is like people's interpretation or feelings about the laws is one thing. The laws of the game are what they are. That's a correct decision. There's nothing to debate. The penalty
00:25:51
Speaker
uh that was not given the handball when the i can't remember which which bologna defender it is but he's sliding with his with his with he's sliding and he's got his arm behind him to hold his balance yeah and the ball clearly hits his hand that's not a penalty like it's that's just the laws of the game i think again do we feel that the handball rule is ridiculous or blah blah blah that's a different debate yeah
00:26:14
Speaker
The thing that I find the most contentious is the Di Bello thing, because it's quite up for the Ealing Junior on Andoia. And the reason for that is, so the reason why it didn't go to VAR is that Di Bello saw... Who's Di Bello? The referee. Yeah, former referee. Yeah. No, so basically... No, no, he's not the former referee. Oh, sorry. I thought you meant Di Bello, the former referee. No, no, no. So basically what happens is,
00:26:44
Speaker
The referee saw what happened and he communicates what he saw to the VAR. In that situation, if what the referee is explaining to the VAR that what he saw is correct, according to the images, VAR can't tell him to have a second look because that's his call. You can't overrule the referee. People think the VAR can overrule the referee. It can't. And that's the definition of a clear and obvious error.
00:27:09
Speaker
He made the call that if this were in the middle of the pitch, they were both going for the ball. No one was in control of it. It's a simple tussle. They got tied up into one another and fell over. And that's why it's not a penalty. And he felt that. And do you give him a yellow card for simulation even. So.
00:27:29
Speaker
I personally think that's a scandalous decision because if you look at that situation, I understand he didn't have the foresight of VAR and blah blah blah, you have to make that call as you see it and I'll give him that benefit of that doubt. But to me, when I look at that, I see one player ahead of the other player
00:27:50
Speaker
The ball is free. He's about to take it. And then he's tripped. That's not a tussle for the ball. That's a penalty. And that's that's that's a mistake. But otherwise, I thought the below got everything right. I thought he had a or so I thought the referee had a really, really good game. I thought I don't think it was anything scandalous other than that. It's just.
00:28:08
Speaker
This is how football is now and VAR is what is part of the game and and they're not very good at they're not their FIFA UEFA all these national FAs are not very good at explaining The laws of the game to the viewers and so people this confusion and people get angry. Yeah
00:28:25
Speaker
I mean, I thought it was a penalty. I don't think it's scandalous because if you actually look at it, that there isn't very little touch. But you know, like you said, if you're ahead of the man and you impede the player without impeding him, I think he I think he scores. But you know, he scores. So I mean, yeah, but anyway, the but for test, but for the impact. But but we have to praise Brelonia because I thought Ferguson very good. He scored. He's always a goal threat.
00:28:49
Speaker
I got posh, remember I praised him for his performance against Rafaleo, Kieza and Cambiello, obviously it was a team game. And N'Doy, again, who I praise, I think he's going to have a good season. I think he's good, I think he gets the players, he attacks them, he beats his man, he's got a bit of pace. I like them, I said, I like Bologna, I said, I think they're going to finish in the top half after watching this game, I'm confident they're going to finish in the top half this season, unless they have a bad last week to the window, some players could leave, we'll see who they bring in as replacements.
00:29:19
Speaker
I think they're a good team and I think the matter factor will make the difference for them.
Napoli's Dominance
00:29:25
Speaker
And so yeah, I like Bologna. Let's move on though. Let's move on to Napoli who I also liked. I thought they were totally dominant. This was after I thought a slightly, I wouldn't say disappointing performance against Prosoni, but it was, you know, there were some questions and this was,
00:29:43
Speaker
This was the real Napoli of last season. They completely dominated. They created chance after chance after chance. Conceded nothing. XG of 3.53 to 0.15. That tells you everything. This was a great Napoli performance.
00:30:02
Speaker
It was, it really was. And Victor Osterman, I mean, we're running out of superlatives to describe this guy now. He's just, the way, he's such a nuisance.
00:30:17
Speaker
And he's such a complete striker and the way his runs and his timing of his runs and his hold up play and his link up play and his aerial threat and now he's kind of becoming this kind of, you know, it feels like he's much more sharper in the box as well.
00:30:36
Speaker
No, this guy is, what a start to the season for him. And again, he is dragging Napoli just like last season. He is Napoli's most important player. He's dragging Napoli to wins. He wins games for them. But Napoli do have patterns of play, ding, ding. They do have that. They do have that under Rudy Garcia. And we knew that they were going to have that. The issues were more of a defensive nature with Rudy Garcia that sometimes are very hollow, his teams.
00:31:05
Speaker
But attacking wise, there's never been many questions. Yeah. But to be fair, I mean, and also the Lorenzo, you know, or, you know, a good friend, Patrick Kendrick calls him Tusk and Kefu. Was amazing. Captain Fantastic. I mean, I think I've said it last week as well. I said, look, he's becoming this kind of.
00:31:25
Speaker
He's becoming a captain and a senator at Napoli, and given that he's such a gentleman off the pitch, he's becoming almost like the kind of character that, you know, the gentleman-senator-captain at that Xannetti, Maldini and del Piero were at those clubs. He's becoming Mr. Napoli.
00:31:47
Speaker
on and off the pitch and he's leading defensively and offensively by example. Yeah, he'll be great going forward this season as well. And it's just, you know, he leads by example and this kind of quiet leader and he was again fantastic. No, he was. I thought the whole attack was excellent. Politana was electric and Raspedori was good but he's unlucky, you'll see with it.
00:32:14
Speaker
hitting the woodwork and but i think he's gonna have a good season i think i think this is going to be i don't want to call a breakout season but raspadori i think is gonna kill it this season yeah let's see he needs to score more goals um but he's better he's yeah i mean he's so comfortable on the ball and so good on the ball and but i think anguisa made a big difference replacing lewis day as well you saw and we saw that in the first game actually when when anguisa came on you saw a totally different uh napoli so anguisa obviously makes
00:32:44
Speaker
makes a big difference doesn't he? He brings that power to the Napoli midfield and as well as the technical policy as well. Yeah, that's the thing though. I mean I thought your comparisons last season to Vieira were spot on. This kind of spider in the web kind of character and can do a bit of, can do everything in midfield and I think he is one of the best midfielders in the Serie A and
00:33:08
Speaker
He will, you know, when he's not there, he's going to be missed. And I think Caluste needs more time. But yeah, no, Anguissa was outstanding. Napoli look balanced when he's on the pitch. Yeah. In both phases. And that's an important kind of player to have in a team. No, absolutely. And the one problem, though, that we saw from this game, the only negative from this game is, again, Napoli penalties.
00:33:34
Speaker
I mean, Osmond said the first one, buried it. I don't know why he didn't take the second one. Why did they change and rotate is that there's an issue. I'm sure they need to stick with one person. And it hits the bar and puts it over. I mean, Osmond I don't think is a particularly
00:34:01
Speaker
The thing is, I understand why he wanted to give it to Raspadori because they want to get him scoring, but you do that when you're 3-0 up. Do you know what I mean? Like when the game's already won.
00:34:11
Speaker
The game was not one, like in terms of number, like in terms of goals. Yeah, exactly. It's just, yeah. And it's like, it's kill the game off, then do that stuff. And Osseman needs to like, he should be like, he should be the pandemic independent to take her full stop. You know, simple as that. Yeah. And finally on Napoli, it looks like Lozano is leaving and Jesper Lindstrom is, is coming in.
00:34:41
Speaker
So I don't know what to think of that. Lindstrom is quite adaptable play. He can play in a number of roles. So maybe that's why they're bringing him in. Because he can play both sides, 7 and 11. He can play as an attacking midfielder as well. So I mean, if they do kind of go to more of a 4-2-3-1, which they do sometimes switch it up at certain stages of the game. So maybe, yeah, he can be useful there as well.
00:35:09
Speaker
especially after not getting Vega. So yeah, that looks like it's going to be the final sign in for now. But we have to say, we have to say Sasolo are dreadful. I don't like them at all this season. They're going to struggle, aren't they? They are going to struggle and they look so bad. They look devoid of identity more than anything else. And I wonder,
00:35:36
Speaker
how many more games they will wait before they make a change on the bench. That's it. See, when you're critical of, say, Italiano and Deserpi, I understand the weaknesses in those two managers' games, but I feel that what they bring is so outstanding that it makes up for it. Whereas with Dionysus, he has the same kind of vision of the game, but I don't see
00:36:03
Speaker
I don't think he brings any... The positives don't outweigh the negatives. Exactly. And that's what I feel with DMEC. I mean, I understand it's Saswalla. I understand, you know, when these managers are managing this level of clubs, it's not easy. You have to have your expectations have to be tempered. You know, you can't expect them to... We're not expecting him to get into Europe with Saswalla, but I'm expecting more, you know?
00:36:28
Speaker
I just don't see the defensive solidity we know has always been an issue, but I'm not even seeing enough from the attack as well.
00:36:36
Speaker
No, I'm not. And Berardi, this Berardi situation is ridiculous as well. They need to resolve that. And I find it really strange that a club as well run as Sasolo and Carnevale, the CEO, that he's allowed this situation to get to this point, that they haven't handled it better, that you'd expect him to have a better relationship and understanding and communication with Berardi.
00:36:59
Speaker
so as not, you know, given that he is Berardi, that's the role of the captain, the leader. They need a striker as well, Pinamonti, he's just into a loss all the way to the bank with that deal, they really do. God bless, I think it was Dionysus, wasn't Dionysius Empoli that season when he scored his 12, 13, 14 goals however, or was it Andrea Dzoli?
00:37:21
Speaker
Whatever, whoever it was, that season when he scored those goals at Empoli and they sold him to Sasolo for this amount of money, I think it was Andrea Adzoli, they should send him a gift basket with goodies from Luciano Spalletti's wine farm or his farm because
00:37:37
Speaker
because it's a fantastic farm, by the way, produce amazing olive oil and wine. But they should send a gift basket to whoever it was, because in Pinamonti, I do not rate him. Him and Sebastiano Esposito, no, I don't see it. I do not see it.
Milan's Strong Start
00:37:53
Speaker
And I am thrilled that Inter managed to get paid. At least Esposito's got some skill and some X factor to him. Whereas Pinamonti, he's just like a beanpole.
00:38:13
Speaker
Just stands there, no movement, no... I just don't get it at all. Anyway, let's move on to Milan. Milan, fantastic performance of the... Well, from the big teams, performance of the weekend in Serie A. And they did have an unchanged team. See, they played fantastic in the first game against Bologna. They checked the same team, which is what I wanted from Juventus. And I think they sent out a message to the rest of Serie A on this opening week of the season.
00:38:30
Speaker
It's just, that's what he is. I mean, he's a bean!
00:38:41
Speaker
4-1 win against Torino, completely blew them away. Torino just couldn't live with them. They're attacking performance, but they were even good defensively as well, apart from the scrappy goal they conceded. But they created so many chances, 3.26 XG to 0.56. But the biggest takeaway, well, the whole attack was fantastic, but
00:39:05
Speaker
The front three really is already jelly, Rafael Liao, Giroud and Pulisic. They look like they're going to score so many goals this season. They offer a bit of everything. It's a very attacking Milan. I think Pioli said after the game that they're always attacking with five players. And you see that like I was looking at the average positions of the pitch and Reinders and Loftus Cheek playing very, very high up, both of them.
00:39:33
Speaker
And we already praised Leinders how great he was, but I thought Loftus Cheek was really, really good in this game. He was good. Fantastic assist for the first goal. Now I'm starting to understand why they signed him because I'm starting to understand why they want to Loftus Cheek. Now I get it because up until now, I've not understood it at all. But now if this is the role that he's going to have at Milan, OK, fair enough. I see it. Then just keep him fit and he can do a job for you.
00:40:00
Speaker
But Pulisic, I'm sorry, hate to say I told you so. I'm not surprised at all. He's going to be the first American player to succeed at a classic Italian, or a classic European big club.
00:40:15
Speaker
Yeah, European, yeah. He's going to be the first US men's national team player to succeed at a classic big European... To be a star at a big, really traditional... Yeah, star at a traditional big club. Yeah, that's what I said before the season and I thought it was all the signs were there and I think he will do because again, you're talking about a player who's 24 years old, has lots of experience. He's already been at Chelsea and Dortmund and he's got big game experience, he's got
00:40:42
Speaker
you know big club experience and he also comes to a Milan who needs that kind of a player and his his mentality is the right one and he knows that this is like not his last chance but this is an important chance that he can't mess up and
00:40:58
Speaker
Milan are using him in the right way. And I thought he was fantastic again. I really, really like what he does. He's going to be, yeah, every Serie A team needs to watch out. And the thing is, what Milan did when they sold Tonali and got all these players was exactly that.
00:41:15
Speaker
They created depth that they didn't have last season like we spoke about the Champions League semi-final But also when purely started his second, you know his second team against Bologna away in the Serie A Last season you saw that the depth just wasn't there and if you don't have the money to invest
00:41:33
Speaker
You need to create the depth and that's what Milan have done. They are going to be a difficult side, a very difficult side. I'm just very curious to see what happens when teams start finding them out and they start blocking them because like you said, like Pioli said after the game, attacking with five players leaves you exposed, can leave you exposed.
00:41:56
Speaker
in the city art. I'm keen to see what he does or what purely do and how Mila react to when teams block them because at some point they will do that.
00:42:08
Speaker
and find them out. Yeah, but I think what's good about Milan is that they've got so many different attacking weapons, they aren't predictable, you know, so that you lock down one area of the pitch where they've got other areas and other ways that they can score. And that's why, you know, like when I was saying about Juventus in the first game of the season, what everything come from the left, it all came through, can be Esso, Chiesa.
00:42:28
Speaker
So, Moza locked that down and then, well, where were the ideas? The right-hand side of the event, this is not good enough, it's weak. And, you know, so with Milan, well,
00:42:39
Speaker
If you somehow manage to succeed in shutting down Liao Tio on the left-hand side, which I think very few people will be able to do, well, you've got Pulisic attacking from the right, you've got Reinders and Lottascheek through the middle, you've got Giroud that can still
00:42:58
Speaker
you know, has a different way to put crosses in for Giroud. I mean, I think the Milan attack is very complete now. I think they've got a bit of everything. They've got the pace, they've got the, they could put crosses in for Giroud, they've got, they've got, I mean, we saw the kind of passing patterns and the movement and we saw them winning the ball high up and we saw the transitions, we saw them on the counter-attack. I mean, I think they've got different ways of scoring and they've got plays on the bench as well, we've barely seen anything called yet.
00:43:25
Speaker
You know, they've got depth. So I think it's looking really, looking really, really good. It's been a really, really good starts the season for Milan. And, you know, Pulisic, fantastic. I mean, he scored, he nearly scored again in the second half. He had some really great bursts in play. That kind of acceleration he has from one to five metres is really good.
00:43:50
Speaker
you know, this Giroud as well. I mean, he's got three goals this season. Okay. Two were, two of them are penalties, but you know, he need to score with another goal. He looks really good. Um, but what, but also, I also want to talk about the Liao Tio connection. Um, because all the, you know, people, obviously, you know, Milan fans, very upset with losing to Nali, but
00:44:11
Speaker
If you think about it, Milan have kept, Milan have still got three world-class players. Liao, if we can call him world-class now, he's close to world-class, Theo Hernandez, and then obviously Manon in goal.
00:44:24
Speaker
But these two on the left-hand side, I mean, what a goal, what a goal that was. I mean, it was genius. It was truly gorgeous. It was truly genius. I mean, the past was fantastic from Liao, but the dink over the key effortless, just just elegantly dinking it out. It's stunning, absolutely stunning. Now they do have the best left-hand side in world football, I think those two together, they can do everything.
00:44:50
Speaker
It was gorgeous, it was football. What are we calling Swedish football candy? That's football candy, that. That's just delicious. The Swedes all have the best sayings, they really do. More people need to know about Swedish sayings. But yeah, sensational. Teo Hernandez has been sensational this season. We're also seeing this growing trend in football.
00:45:15
Speaker
with full backs becoming inverted. And we're seeing that with Theo as well. I think we saw it a bit last season as well, but the way that he drives through the center of the field and he's like a train, like a speed train. Once he starts going through the platform, that's it. You can't stop him. He's not stopping. No, he's not stopping. And he eats up the grass. And I thought, yeah, Liao and Theo were unplayable in this game, both of them.
00:45:42
Speaker
and Loftus Cheek again, as we said, the Chelsea influence on this map. Yeah, I was going to say the C in AC Milan stands for Chelsea now, doesn't it? I mean, it's Ruben Loftus Cheek. As you say it, Chelsea. Association Chelsea.
00:46:02
Speaker
No, there is there is a clear Chelsea link there and and Pulisic is is I think he's I mean Giroud we already know you know what he's done for Milan he's been outstanding but but Ruben Loftuszczyk is the one that I had the biggest doubts about
00:46:19
Speaker
But Pulisic, I had no doubts. I think he's going to kill it at Milan and I think he started really, really well. Talking about penalty, just to be fair, I thought it was hard. I don't think so. You know why? Because I think when your hand makes your body unnaturally bigger, which it does, it might be in a natural position. You can argue with that, but you can't say that it doesn't make his
00:46:41
Speaker
his body unnaturally bigger. And that is why I think that was spot on. But it was in front of him, though. That isn't making a decision. Yeah, but it's... The thing is, the rules say, the rules say, because we've actually seen some penalties not given, where the ball's being blasted at a player. There was one ridiculous one. I think it was actually formant against Milan. I think it might be an athletic play Madrid game, or it was somewhere. They blasted it and someone parried it like a goalkeeper. They had their hands in front of their chest and parried it away. And everyone was going ballistic.
00:47:10
Speaker
Rightly so, because it's a ridiculous rule. How can you parry the ball away with both hands in front of your chest? And it didn't get given because the rules state that you're not making your body bigger if your hands are in front of your chest. Well, I think it was Inter against Bayern Munich. That's right. Mani. But that wasn't his chest, it was his face.
00:47:31
Speaker
and you're allowed to protect your face when the ball is coming at high speed against you. And then they use the butt four rule. Butt for the hand in front of your face, it would have hit your face. It's not making your arm, even though it's above your shoulders, it doesn't make it unnaturally bigger because you're protecting your face. And if your hands hadn't been there, it would have hit, smashed your face and you're allowed, because that's a normal human reaction to do that.
00:47:57
Speaker
So they do make allowances for that. I think this was different. I think this was clumsy. He makes his hands of no business being there. And to me that's a stone wall penalty. I do have question marks for the second penalty though. That to me remind me the second one. The one the shores on Tomori.
00:48:17
Speaker
Oh, right. That was that. Well, he went through him. He got man and bull. So, I mean, you get the matter. You go through the man. I mean, you're going to give that's just again. It's the rules you get. Yeah, that's that's exactly my issue is exactly the rules of the game are not clear and the directives that they've given there in that situation.
00:48:37
Speaker
are not clear. It's a bit like saying with Van Dijk, when Van Dijk when he got sent off, he took out, he took the ball, he went straight through the player as well. You can't fly, that was a flying challenge though. But I mean, he got man and ball, he got all the ball, but he also took the man as well. He got the grass, he got the ball, he got the man, he got everything except for the, I mean, that was rash as well, that challenge.
00:48:59
Speaker
I just think with this Bongiorno one, I think it was harsh because I think that when you play football, when you're marking a player in the box from that situation, you're naturally, you're feeling the player backing into you as well. You've got him and you're feeling him out and you're touching his back. And the ball came on, Giroud flicks it on and there's no way he can get out of the way. You can say, yeah, his hands are in front of him.
00:49:27
Speaker
What you do but the but that's not the way that the interpret in terms of making it the your your body naturally are naturally bigger that is textbook naturally bigger yeah and that's why i think it's hard i think i think it's the laws of the game i think it's you know
00:49:51
Speaker
This is again, they need to, they need to, you know, they've tinkered with it so much that most people don't know what's going on. But I think if you're looking at, I mean, by the laws of the game, that was, that's a penalty. The second one I have more doubts about, because if you look at it, shorts is not even looking at Tomori, like his eyes anywhere and they clatter into each other.
00:50:08
Speaker
And so you can argue that there was no intent there. But I don't know. It is unclear. The laws of the game sometimes are unclear. It's looking good for Milan anyway. And they got Roma next. So that's going to be a big game. Torino, though, just very, very, very quickly on their horrible starts of the season for Torino. At one point, they were horrible against Calgary in the 0-0, creating nothing.
00:50:33
Speaker
And we were saying that they had nothing in attack. I mean, they had nothing in attack in this game either. The goal they scored was a lucky goal. It was offered a miss hit shot. And then they just swung and she was scored.
00:50:47
Speaker
But the issue also with Treno is even the defense offensively looked awful. Shures, by the way, I mean, it's a better to get Pavard done. They don't want to have shows. They can't they can't go off the shores because he's not even a right center back. I don't understand these links. It's such a stupid thing.
00:51:05
Speaker
You know who he reminds me of? He reminds me a little. I mean, I think he has more pace than the licks, but I think his lateral movement, again, is the lick desk, isn't it? He's a big guy. He's heavy footed. Liao. Very heavy footed. But Liao, especially, had a field day against him. But that's the thing. You don't put man-man marking of these heavy guys against these light footed, you know, Liao surfing past him.
00:51:34
Speaker
Yeah, that was on Djuric, I love Ivan Djuric. He was the third and fourth goals for his fault. He was, yeah, he was, he's not very good. So yeah, Torino, need a striker, definitely. Let's move on to Rome, there is a crisis in Rome.
Lazio & Roma's Struggles
00:51:48
Speaker
Start off with Lazio, who lose 1-0 to Genoa, that's two defeats in two at the beginning of the season. And I mean, I, again, I mean, I
00:51:59
Speaker
That's it, don't convince me at all. I think it's a structural issue, and I think the structural issue is because Sari is a system manager, similar to Konto, although their systems are diametrically opposed. The problem is systemic. When one player doesn't work,
00:52:19
Speaker
They, it's like they're marching bands. Do you know what I mean? Sarri's football is a marching band, and so is Conte. He needs to have every single instrument fine-tuned. Otherwise, when one isn't working, it sounds, it rings false. It doesn't sound good. I think the issue here is Chiroi Mobula. He's not a Sarri No. 9. And as much as they've tried to, you know, put, you know, plaster over it,
00:52:44
Speaker
He's not and his lack of movement in that system makes everything else not tick I'm not blaming immobila per se. I'm just saying Tactically, he doesn't suit what sari wants to do and I think that the Suna they bring someone else in and start wrote if he starts playing that kind of false line or Similar to what he did with Merton's in senior kayak on where they are much more fluid Latzia will start ticking again
00:53:12
Speaker
And right now, they're not ticking. It's tactically not working. And it's because Immobula doesn't offer that. Immobula's a number nine. He's a penalty area striker. He's one of the best in Europe in the last 10 years in that system. But I think they should have probably let him go to Saudi Arabia this summer. That would have been the smart move. And maybe even, you know, if you sell Immobula and keep Minkovic savage, if that makes sense.
00:53:38
Speaker
That's what I would have done. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I don't think it's all about him. I think we can we can put it all down to a mobile. I think they're definitely not. I'm not saying it's a mobile person. I'm saying just tactically, it's not ticking. And the reason for that is because I don't think the mobile works in this system that he wants to play. And when you don't do that, when he doesn't make that movement, the others don't do the other do the other movements.
00:53:58
Speaker
and everything just becomes out of sync. I just think this Lazio team, I even think last season, I just don't think there's that much quality. I'm not blaming Saturday, I just don't think there's really that much quality. Lazio last season, again, they massively overperformed, but they also overperformed because everyone else underperformed massively. You know, Finta, Milan, Juventus, Roma,
00:54:24
Speaker
Fair enough. Look at the number of games they lost last season. I mean, it was one of the worst seasons in Serie A history from 2 down to 7 in terms of... No, you're right. That's a very fair point. Lazio, I don't even think it was Lazio performing, having a fantastically amazing season. Again, look at the number of games Lazio lost. That's a fair point. So I think they took advantage and they just managed to do better than the others. So I think that Lazio are a team that are just... They're not a great team. They're a good team.
00:54:53
Speaker
And you know, this is this is they've had a, you know, a bit of a slow starts the season, they'll pick up, I'm sure they will. But I think at the same time, I don't think that I think if if the other big teams perform, as they should do, I don't see that series a top 14. Absolutely not. And they're going to have the added issue of Europe, which is going to take a lot out of them. And is let's use team deep enough? Is their squad deep enough?
00:55:20
Speaker
I'm not sure. They're going to bring in Gwentosi now. I think he will help. I'm not a massive fan of him, but I think, you know, at this level, I think he would do all right. But yeah. He's only 24. I mean, he's been around for such a long time that you think, I mean, I thought he was like 28, 29, but he's actually pretty young. Yeah, he is. He started off young at Arsenal. Yeah.
00:55:40
Speaker
Yeah he did but I mean I say this with a little bit tongue-in-cheek to me he's David Luise from wish.com. Which is because he looks like he's got the same hair. No he's got the same same clumsiness and same kind of lax attitude and movement and
00:55:56
Speaker
I don't know. But if Sarri can unlock him, you know, hats off to Sarri. He's a runner, isn't he? He runs. Yes. And that's what Sarri means. He's a bit of a headless chicken. That's what I mean about the David Louis thing. Headless chicken, yes. But I mean, if farmer Sarri can screw his head on, right?
00:56:19
Speaker
Just for General, General will be fine. Rettigri scored. I think General are going to have enough goals in them to stay up. They've got Rettigri, they've got Gudmundsson, they've got Malinowski now as well. That's a good signing.
00:56:36
Speaker
Yeah. So I think Genoa will be fine. I like Genoa. I like Genoa. Genoa will be fine. And yeah, no, I like Rehtagi as well. And I'm starting to think, you know, could we, are we talking about a little dark horse here to become Capo Canoneira Matiore? Like, you know, just putting that out there. I mean, I will, after, on Friday, the window closes and next Monday, I'll give you my final predictions on everything. You've got Junio Macias as well. He's gone to, he's going to Genoa, isn't he?
00:57:02
Speaker
And that's the level he's at. And I think that's a good signing for Genoa, and I think it's a fantastic move by Milan. Like, that's his level. He's a good player at that club. He shouldn't be in Milan. He should never have been bought by Milan. So don't take transfer advice from Celsa Cosmi, because he was saying that, oh, he's good enough to play for Milan, Juve and Inter and blah, blah, blah.
00:57:21
Speaker
No. Cercosme is a pop culture reference from the 90s. Let's leave it at that and let's not take transfer advice from Cercosme. No, or cap advice either. No, I like his caps. I like his caps. They're cool. Bulldog. Right. Let's talk about the crisis in the other side of Rome, Roman, who their bad starts the season continues as well. They lose 2-1.
00:57:46
Speaker
to Verona and one of the favourites for relegation after a 2-2 draw at home to Soleil Atana, which is another of the weakest teams in Serie A.
00:57:58
Speaker
Two points. First point I want to make is Rui Patricio. I've said it last season. I've been saying it for a year. He's not good enough anymore. He was statistically one of the worst goalkeepers in all of Serie A last season. Have a look at the numbers. Have a look at the XG expected goals against versus actual goals against. He cost
00:58:23
Speaker
Roma so many times last season and already this season he started off where he left off. He conceded three goals from his first four shots on target this season for Roma and he was awful for the first goal against Verona. He parried a simple long shot straight to Duda and then Duda put Verona ahead. Now
00:58:46
Speaker
For all the work that Roma have done this summer, obviously we know they don't have money. I mean, I think they had to replace Rui Patricio. He's just a liability now. He's just not good enough. And I'm looking at David De Gea there. I know he has a big salary, but I don't know if there's any way Mourinho can talk. They used to manage him. I don't know if there's any way they can get his salary down, but he is available on a free transfer now. And I know I'm not the biggest fan of De Gea now anymore either. But Rui Patricio, we're talking about Roma.
00:59:15
Speaker
Go for De Gea, go for him. Why not go for him? But Patricia, they've got to replace this guy. He's not good enough.
00:59:22
Speaker
He's really not. He's really, really not. He's dreadful. Let's be perfectly honest. He's absolutely dreadful and Roma. But I don't want to blame the entire this on just Rupatrisio as well. When your central midfield, when the answer to your problems is a double tandem Christante and Paredes,
00:59:47
Speaker
You're asking the wrong questions. It's Argentinian Kuzmanovich and Italian Canadian Kuzmanovich, double tandem. It's unwatchable. They are awful. I don't understand what he's doing. Okay, Renato Sanchez is injured, but that, you know, Awar is better. He, you know, it's just don't play those two together. Paradeus got hauled off 45 minutes into his full debut.
01:00:13
Speaker
or Roman. I wonder why. So are we going to see another another Juventus? Lucky was it Juventus and at PSG or and at every. But he's not he's not good enough. I mean, he should protect the defence, but Roman's defence has been very shaky so far away from. Yeah, Chris Smalling is not in form.
01:00:33
Speaker
He's not he's been in bad. He's been bad. Let's be honest that we you know, I really like this what Chris mauling did last season But he's not informed and he looks a little bit off in terms of the timing more than anything I mean, yeah elites reject starting at center back. I mean again, you know, this this this tells us everything and then Kristen sin as well. I mean
01:00:55
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, these kind of silence, I don't think they bring anything to Roma. No, no, they don't. But they really don't. But I don't understand, you know, Pellegrini was really good. The guy with his free kicks, he's so unlucky, but damn, he's good at free kicks. Roma have had bad luck this season, because even in this game,
01:01:20
Speaker
have a look at the XG in this game, 2.1 XG to 0.98 XG. That's not as emphatic as it was in the first week. The first week, they had so many, I mean, it was literally Kondreva to won the goals versus 2.7 XG for Roma. So Roma have been unlucky. They had chances. They hit the woodwork. The cowl are from the goalkeeper for the first goal.
01:01:41
Speaker
more injuries, Dibala, Zalevski both coming off, Zalevski after coming on as a Saab Sanchez, injured before the game, all those suspensions before the game. Things are not going for Roma right now. They've been unlucky, but also at the same time, you know, one point from two games after having getting such a good fixture list to start the season is an issue. And that brings us on to Romelu Lukaku.
01:02:07
Speaker
Roma are close to signing Lukaku on it. It seems like it's going to be a loan deal with no obligation and a loan fee probably around about five million. Lukaku will lower his salary to make the move. He's confirmed himself. The transfer will go through. Doesn't really mean much anymore what Lukaku says, but he said it. So unless he changes his mind after watching this game against Verona, he's going to be a Roma player.
01:02:33
Speaker
What does this mean to Roma? If you ignore the fact that, you know, there's only two games in, so the season's not over. Does this now give Roma a chance of top four, or does it even give them a chance of Scudetto? What does this mean for Roma? Scudetto, for sure not, because they're not good enough in other areas of the pitch, as we've described already so far in the midfield, defensively, goalkeeper.
01:02:58
Speaker
But it does boost their chances to finish in the top four for sure. And when Paolo Di Bala is fit, Lucaco will see Lucaco Di Bala Pellegrini. And Interfans are going to be pulling their hairs, or in my case, whatever little they've got left, because the Interfans could have had that at Inter.
01:03:19
Speaker
And it's frustrating because I think Dibala and Lukaku will be unbelievable together. And Lukaku, even though at this point in his career, he has what it takes to score 15-20 goals in the Serie A and he's going to be that reference point that Mourinho wants up front.
01:03:38
Speaker
They've worked together, they know each other, and Lukaku is pissed off. He wants to prove himself, and he's that kind of a character who likes to prove himself and say basically against adversity and against all odds kind of guy. So this is a very good signing for Roma.
01:03:57
Speaker
This puts them in good contention for the top four. And I think with Sardar Azmoun as a backup and Bellotti there, now they actually have options up front, which they didn't have just a week ago. So I understand why Roma want him, and I think it's a good signing by Roma.
01:04:18
Speaker
But Romelu Lukaku has just, no, I don't understand this. Just before we get to Lukaku, let me just add on what he'll bring to Roma. I think that Dibala and Lukaku potentially is a really, really exciting combination if they can stay fit. That's the big if. Dibala went off with another muscle injury, it seems. I don't know how serious it is if it was a precaution. He came off because of precaution. But again, he's injured.
01:04:44
Speaker
Mourinho said before the game, the only reason we were able to sign Depala and by extension someone like Lukaku is because other clubs don't want them anymore.
01:04:55
Speaker
because of the injuries. We only be able to sign Di Bala because no one else wanted to go for him because he's injured. Nukaku, again, big clubs are not going for him anymore. So this is kind of where they are. If they can stay fit together, I'm sure they will score a lot of goals between them, at least 30 goals, maybe even 40 goals between them, if they can stay fit. The problem is they won't stay fit for a whole season, certainly not Di Bala.
01:05:23
Speaker
I think that with a bit of luck, this is great for Roma. I saw somebody comparing them to the Omar Sivori, John Charles, Juventus Park. Yeah, back in the year. The little guy, the little genius Sivori with the big monster, John Charles. I think it's good and with Pellegrini,
01:05:48
Speaker
who are Awa, who scored in this game. I mean, I think there's a lot of attacking offensive quality there. Talent. If you can get back to his best, I mean, there's a lot of quality there. Mourinho has to find a way of tying it all together, which wasn't able to do with even with Pellegrini and Di Barla last season. So now he's got more to try and tie it.
01:06:10
Speaker
I think Lukaku could unlock both Dibala and Pellegrini because of the fact that he can hold up the ball and create that kind of extra second needed for players to adapt. And no, I really think this is a good sign for Roma and this is good. But for Lukaku,
01:06:31
Speaker
you know, he's not going to be challenging for the champion. He's not going to play in the Champions League. He's not challenging for the Scudetto. His career at that top is finished and Inter was his only chance and he screwed that up. For the first time since leaving Everton, you could say in terms of expectation, I mean, we can all sit here and say Man United never really had a chance of winning the Premier League. But in terms of expectation,
01:06:59
Speaker
This is the first time since leaving Everton in 2017 that he isn't going to be challenging for a big title.
01:07:09
Speaker
I still think that Roma could win the Rokbali. If you call that a big title, I wouldn't call it a big title, a league title or a Champions League title. Fair enough. OK, fair enough. Fair enough. But I think I think they can win something in Europe. I think they showed last season they have European pedigree and European routine. And I think that they I think it does sum up how his career has declined, doesn't it? Exactly. He's now here he is. He's now at a club that are not challenging for for one of the major, major, major titles. So.
01:07:36
Speaker
Yeah, that shows us where we are. But an angry Lukaku, we'll see. We'll see what you can do. And another big transfer that is going to happen, Beto is about to join Everton from Udinese for 31 million euros plus bonuses.
Transfer Market Impact
01:07:51
Speaker
For those of you who are listening, Everton fans who want to know about him, we did an interview with Beto last season. If you go onto our YouTube page, type in Beto in the search, you will find it on there. It's a really, really good interview. He's a great guy.
01:08:06
Speaker
And he has a great story of where he's come from to get to this stage. And I think that, yeah, good luck to him. That's what I want to say. I mean, he's got the quality, he's got Premier League qualities, he's got the pace, he's got the power. He, you know, his touch is not the best, but he's a good guy. And, you know, I wish him all the best. I do worry for Udenezi though, now, losing him.
01:08:33
Speaker
losing Pereira, losing Bekal, could lose Samadzej, Delafeyo injury, the attack is... They need to do some work, I think. Let's just say that Mr. Marino is no longer there and Mr. Balzaretti has his work cut out for him. That's all I'm going to say about that. Yeah, we love Udinese here. We've got a relationship with him. They give us players to come on the show. But yeah, I think they need to do some work in the last days of the video. It's going to be a tough season for them.
01:09:01
Speaker
Okay, just before we do budget from face of the week and let's just sum up the other games at Atlanta lose to frozen on it to one shock shock lost but very poor performance from Atlanta and
01:09:11
Speaker
created, didn't create much, they defended badly, and I think it's just a simple thing to say, is this just sums up where Atlanta probably won't challenge the top four this season. No, they won't. They're a mess defensively. They are an absolute shambles defensively. They've never been world-class defensively, really.
01:09:32
Speaker
But this is now becoming a complete joke. They are so bad. Just go and watch some of the goals they've conceded. And I'm not I'm not content. I'm not impressed enough with their fullbacks as well. The cost is getting older.
01:09:47
Speaker
Ruggieri on the other side and the other alternatives for those roles. They need to get Scramacko fully fit and starting and the Linds retail Bilaltore really unlucky. A great win for the Frosinone, Montalizi had a dream game score, they made a great goal-saving block. I thought
01:10:09
Speaker
Baronecchia had a good debut on Live from Eventus and it looks like they could maybe bring in Kyo Jorge and Sulei as well. I'm not sure if that would be enough to keep Frozinn up, but yeah, give them more of a chance.
01:10:25
Speaker
But it certainly gives Helas Verona, I mean, Helas Verona could stay, I mean, two wins in a row. Yeah, very surprising, very surprising. And Verona is doing an excellent job. Tough season for them, but yeah, well done to them, great start. Burentina threw it away against Lecce, tunal up, they draw two more. Again.
01:10:43
Speaker
Again, they should have won. They had lots of chances, but not good enough from Fiorentina.
Fiorentina & Atalanta's Challenges
01:10:49
Speaker
Not good enough either against Rapid Vienna in the first leg. They're 1-0 down. They have to turn that around.
01:10:57
Speaker
It's been a disaster. They're in a conference league playoff. They were in the final last season and they can't even make it to the tournament this year. It would be an absolute abject failure. And Italiano's Italiano-ing. There will be no excuses. But I'm not impressed by their market. I have to say so far, they need to do some work. They lose Amrabbat as well. I'm not.
01:11:18
Speaker
yeah i'm not i'm not i'm not happy with their market i'll be honest with you i'm not at the moment but we'll see um rest of the seria picture as well the monta beat emply 2-0 uh colpani it's called a double fantastic goal his first goal he's getting some interest from bigger clubs so he's one to watch this season uh and then we're recording this on you see bastani i saw bastani commenting on his instagram post come to inter not really
01:11:41
Speaker
I don't know if you deleted that later. It was kind of funny. Just noted that mmm Yeah, Monday night games recording this before that so then he's had it with an exit and calorie Inter and also just we already commented on this a week ago to write again But my genie has it's now taken over the Saudi Arabia national team. We knew that already. It's official now Yeah, it's official. So we knew that was already happened. He'll be there for 2026 World Cup Okay, let's finish off with bad Joe and prim face of the week right
Awards & Player Highlights
01:12:11
Speaker
Bad Joe. Pula-Sitch. Pula-Sitch, isn't it? Yeah, we've got to go with Christian Pula-Sick. And also, Destiny Udoji, I think, is having a good time. And Guglielmo Vicario. Yeah, Udoji, another great
Managerial Critiques
01:12:27
Speaker
performance. Got a great assist for Tottenham against Bournemouth.
01:12:30
Speaker
He's been playing fantastic, surely. Clean sheet for Vicario again, whilst Onana is doing howlers. Surely he has to get a call up for the national team. Grim face of the week. Look, this is getting ridiculous now. This is such...
01:12:51
Speaker
I mean, I don't have anything against Deserbe, but this is a cult now. This is a cult. Jamie Redknapp, this is a direct quote. Roberto Deserbe is potentially one of the greatest managers of all time. Okay. We have gone from when he was appointed in eight, nine months, is it? What is it? Eight months, nine months. When was it? How long is it? No, 10 months. Yeah.
01:13:15
Speaker
10 months. OK, so we've gone from 10 months to this man is barely championship level to him being the greatest of all time. This is why why does everything have to be so exaggerated? Why does why does why can't we just give him some time to develop his career and not say that he's either shit or champagne? Can we just can everyone just take a breather? This is such a prim face thing to do to go from he's barely championship level to he's the greatest of all time in less than 10, 10 months.
01:13:44
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's silly. It's silly. The thing is, what is a hallmark of the prim face? Go to the extremes. It's such an extreme. Make of the prim face media in in building people up and then shooting them down all alternatively, the kind of redemption, redemption to to the redemption story is such a, it's such a hallmark of the prim face media. It's so exaggerated.
01:14:09
Speaker
It's so exaggerated and it's so unnecessary there's no need for it like he is a he is a good manager is one of the most talented ones young managers out there he plays he has he has movements and patterns of play that are really really unique and interesting can we stop with.
01:14:25
Speaker
with just canonizing him and turning him into something he isn't only to build. And then because you build, they're building him up to be something he isn't today. He might be one day, but they're building him up to be something he isn't one day. And then if he fails, they'll just tear him down again. And that's what I think you were alluding to this redemption story. It's it's overhyping things and then over criticizing thing.
01:14:47
Speaker
things it's just can everyone just calm down and leave him be and let him do his job at Brighton who's where he's doing fantastically and just calmer yeah okay well done yeah okay i will go with that that's a that's a good take from you that's a very honest and balanced taste
01:15:04
Speaker
But that's always what I've been saying about him. I think it's ridiculous. This canonization of him is ridiculous. He's only been there 10 months. He did a good job at Sasolo. I don't even want to go into what happened to Shakhtar because a war broke out.
01:15:21
Speaker
then then now he's come to Brighton and he continued a really good job that Potter started him because Brighton are really really well-run club. Can we just give them guys some time and let him let's see what happens and how he evolves and develops and not turn him into the goat after 10 months at Brighton, nor say that he also saving another massive and does every fan. I think he's going to
01:15:43
Speaker
I think it's going to be difficult for him this season because I look at their team. Their team is not good. It is not a good team. It really isn't. It was last season. They lost their three best players and they, they, I mean, he did an amazing job last season. He is the best. And Scottish Ali, he sees him on the weekend. The best season.
01:16:04
Speaker
The best season in Brighton's history, the historic season for them. So what he did was amazing. You can never take that away. But you look at Brighton's team this season, it's a bad team. I mean, have a look at their starter 11. It's really on paper. It's a team that should be fighting. It's relegation, in my opinion.
01:16:23
Speaker
It isn't good. It's a bad team. So, you know, if he does really well this season, then he adds to it. But, you know, like you said, we need the balance. If he struggles, we've also got to remember this is a bad team. My only criticism, like you said earlier today, that you said, you know his weaknesses, and that's my only criticism to him.
01:16:41
Speaker
is the weaknesses that you were aware of, but in your opinion, the positives outweigh the negatives. I think in order to be a great manager, top manager, you have to know how to defend. Guardiola knows how to defend. This notion that Guardiola is only attack, attack is nonsense. His way of defending... You've got to look at the teams they're managing though, haven't they? Pep has always managed. That's fair. That's all fair. Pep has always managed his teams in the world. Absolutely. Let's see how Pep does. Absolutely. How many goals he can see that if he was managing Sassuolo.
01:17:09
Speaker
None of that. That's fair. That's that's absolutely fair. My point is simply this, that I think that my main criticism to deserve has always been there's no defensive stability. And I don't think he doesn't seem like he cares to address that. That's my criticism to him. But I think he's intelligent enough to adapt. And I hope he does because it's a young Italian manager playing very modern and interesting football. And it would be very cool to see what he can do. It'd be brilliant if he could have a great career.
01:17:34
Speaker
But he's neither the goat after eight months at Brighton, and he's also not championship level, which everyone would some people were saying he was before he took over Brighton. So Kalma, please breathe in, inhale, exhale, calm down. Very level-headed nimah this morning.
01:17:52
Speaker
No, this is what I've always said about the Derby. It's just the first time I've listened to what I said. You've been relegated once, but apart from that. He would. He would. Well, there you go. There you go. He would. Because in the Serie A, if he's going to play like open, open floodgates like that in the Serie A, I mean, you saw how with this Juventus team. That's ridiculous. Come on, man. That's a real relief anyway.
Closing Remarks
01:18:13
Speaker
You've gone on for too long.
01:18:14
Speaker
That's a ridiculous thing to say, but anyway. No, no, it's really not. Right. Let's leave it at that. We'll be back on Tuesday for the Q&A and Thursday. No, actually maybe Friday this week to do it. I was going to say we might do it on Friday because right from the window close. We might do it on Friday too to finish off the user close to the transfer window. But yeah, we'll have another show at the end of the week as well. Okay. Have a good week everyone. Until next time. Ciao ciao.