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Free Weekly Episode - Unstoppable Osimhen Chases Batistuta's Record, Theo’s Milan Firing Again, Inter Shocked By Bologna & Much More (Ep. 301)
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From Theo Hernandez wonderstrike in defensively perfect AC Milan win, Atalanta all but out of Serie A top 4 race, inconsistent Inter beat Porto but pull stinker against an impressive Bologna, Napoli's Osimhen about to break Batistuta and Eto'o's records and much, much more as Nima and Carlo break down another eventful weekend in Italian football.
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Transcript
Introduction and Napoli's Serie A Dominance
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian Football Podcast. Hello everybody and welcome to the Italian Football Podcast. I'm Carlo Garganese, here as always with Nimat Tavalli.
Napoli's Unbeatable Streak and Strategies Against Them
00:00:14
Speaker
So, Napoli's Scudetto cruise continues. They're now 18 points clear at the top. Today we're going to discuss how you can possibly beat this Napoli team. Only one team has done it.
00:00:26
Speaker
in Serie A this season. That was Nimma Zinta, so maybe Nimma has a few suggestions for other sides. Victor Rosimond scored for the eighth game in a row at the weekend. Will he beat Gabriel Batastuta's record of 11 games in a row that he scored for Fiorentina in 1994-95, which has since been equalled by Fabio Quagliarello and Cristiano Ronaldo?
Serie A Highlights: Inter's Loss and Milan's European Success
00:00:52
Speaker
Inter suffrage shock lost to Bologna. Why are Inter so inconsistent this season? Straight after big results. Milan's resurgence continues as they beat Atalanta. We also take a look back at a perfect round for Serie A in the Europa League and Conference League and the draw for the next round of those competitions which took place on Friday.
00:01:15
Speaker
plus a severed pig's head being sent to Sampdori's owner. So we'll talk about that as well.
Support Us: Perks of the Italian Football Podcast
00:01:22
Speaker
Lots to talk about today.
00:01:26
Speaker
For all our first-time listeners, this is our free weekly episode, which we do every Monday, reviewing the weekend's area 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 Tuesday, where we answer
00:01:46
Speaker
all the questions sent in 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 T-I-F-P, and become a subscriber for just $2.99 a month, plus VAT. Before we start today, Nima just wanted to say something, didn't you?
00:02:09
Speaker
Yes, this is episode 301. Those of you who are pay attention knows that Thursday was episode 299. So where's episode 300? Well, we did an interview with Joe Takopina, the Spar president. We were going to publish it on Friday, but there just wasn't time to edit it and all that stuff. So.
00:02:27
Speaker
We're pushing out our big epic 300th episode on Wednesday and it will be out on all platforms, Spotify, iOS, Google podcast, et cetera, because it's a free interview for everyone to listen to. Be sure to listen to that because he does say some really interesting stuff that's bound to make headlines. Right. Let's get right into the football.
00:02:45
Speaker
Okay, right. Let's start.
Milan's Defensive Overhaul and Key Players
00:02:48
Speaker
We've been starting with Napoli recently. Let's mix it up a little bit this week and let's start with Milan. Big Milan against Atalanta match on Sunday evening and another Milan win. They've now won four in a row with four clean sheets in a row. The resurgence continues after they went through that
00:03:08
Speaker
that terrible runner form, which was their worst runner form for five years, was Stefano Pioli on the brink of the sack. Most people are thinking that it was all done for him. There was no way he or Milan could possibly recover. Everything was broken. And here he is, here in Milan. They've really, really turned it around after they changed their formation and went to a back three into a... I would say it's a 3-4-2-1 formation, but it's a back three for certain. And they're now picking up.
00:03:38
Speaker
they really are picking up and they won on on Sunday evening 2-0 against Atalanta in this big top four game and really they cruised through the game and Atalanta just did not did not lay a glove on them did not create a single chance in the entire game Atalanta so it was a really really
00:04:00
Speaker
Really, really good evening for Milan. Lots and lots of positives, which I'll just go through the positives that I picked out first. Teo Hernandez, first of all, the goal won't be credited for him because it came off the post and then went in off Musso and into the back of the net.
00:04:17
Speaker
He does he certainly deserves it because it was an absolute wonder strike and volley from from way out off the post and One year after his his goal of the season last season against a cilantro Which which tonight we're recording this on Monday afternoon is that it will be up for the contender for the push Gus award at the FIFA Best Awards ceremony in Paris for for goal of the season in the world last last last year
00:04:45
Speaker
and he showed in this game that he is back to his very brilliant best. He was a little bit slow after the World Cup, but since the Tottenham game was fantastic against Tottenham, he was brilliant in this game. He was everywhere. I've noticed with Teo, he's been roaming a lot centrally recently, coming inside from his left wing back position and almost playing
00:05:07
Speaker
almost raised an attack in central midfielder at times really roaming there is very very interesting tactically what Peoli and Taya are doing there so that was a big positive he's been undoubtedly Milan standout in the last games Mike Manion the return of Mike Manion absolutely huge can't be
00:05:26
Speaker
understated just just how huge that is to have him back and he really had nothing to do. It was a it was like a training session for him for Manon so an easy one for him to get back into the groove. Milan's defence as I said before didn't concede a single chance all game from an Atalanta team who are renowned for scoring and creating loads of the third highest scorers in the league and Atalanta didn't like I said didn't get they didn't lay a glove on them rock solid
00:05:54
Speaker
and the back three, this back three now really looks like a really really tough team to break through now with Kalulu, Tomori and Manik Teow I mean brilliant again versus Rasmus Huyland who himself Huyland has been one of the explosive breakout stars of 2023
00:06:15
Speaker
And he didn't get a kick against TL, who's just been so wonderful since breaking into the team. And it's such a pleasant surprise for Milan because we've been and everyone's been so critical of their signings last summer. And to be honest, not much was expected of TL. He was very low. I mean, Milan wanted to sign a cent back last summer, but he was very low on the list of targets that Milan were going for. Originally it was Sven Botman, who then eventually joined Newcastle because Milan dragged it out for so long.
00:06:44
Speaker
Tiao was probably third, fourth, maybe even fifth choice target and they only got him right at the end really as a kind of a last resort and not much was expected of him. I mean people I've spoken to, Bundesliga experts have said that, you know, he was very error prone at Bundesliga. More than one person has said that he made Harry Maguire-like mistakes in the Bundesliga, that he had the raw tools but he was very error prone.
00:07:08
Speaker
We've seen none of those mistakes in Milan so far and we've seen someone who just looks like a physical beast really. I mean, so good in the air. So aggressive and competitive. He seems pretty quick. I mean, he's been fantastic on those three in defence.
00:07:28
Speaker
just didn't let anything through. I thought Liao was a little bit better, not at his best, but he got a wonderful assist with Messayes with the first-time pass and a lovely finish as well. All in all, very positive and also Zlatan is back as well, so what more can you ask
Inter's Inconsistency: Why Can't They Keep Winning?
00:07:46
Speaker
for?
00:07:47
Speaker
Look, I want to talk about that defense because yesterday against Atalanta I saw one of the best Milan defensive displays I have seen in the last 10-15 years against a side that we know can hurt any team in attack given how they play. I said a couple of weeks ago on this pod that
00:08:11
Speaker
It's looking interesting, Tiau, Tomori, Kalulu in a back three, when I think we'll really come to their peak when Manion returns because they can play higher up, they can press higher up as a team. And yesterday we saw the beginnings of that. We saw what it can do as the first game they play together, all four of them.
00:08:32
Speaker
And the way that they completely neutered Atalanta, and that's the word I want to use, they castrated Atalanta. They didn't get anywhere. The defensive display we saw yesterday was truly special. As I told some of our patrons, Swedish Milan fans,
00:08:58
Speaker
I don't want to get too excited, but this, this could be the, we saw the beginning of something that could potentially be historic at Mila, I think. That defense could be, they've had some fantastic classic defenses in their history. If this, if that was the first game, if that's the level they're going to play at in their first game, and they improve on that, we may have seen the birth of a classic Milan defense.
00:09:26
Speaker
And I count Mignon into that defense because he has such a key role in that defense. Because with his passing, with his speed, with his command of the area, allowing the back three to push up higher, allowing all of Milan to press up higher, it also allows the wing backs, especially Junior Macias, to cut in centrally. And that makes Milan so much more unpredictable.
00:09:55
Speaker
I am incredibly impressed with what Stefano Pioli has done. I am officially now, the hat is off.
00:10:03
Speaker
complimenting Easter, because I did not see. This man has more lives at Milan than a bloody cat, than a Cheshire cat. It's insane. And what he's done, now he's laying the ground works for something that I think can potentially be truly historic and special. They were fantastic defensively yesterday. It was genuinely joy to watch how they, I mean, the battle between Ciao and Holland,
00:10:31
Speaker
was just that in and of itself was incredibly interesting to watch and Ciao won that. Holon wasn't bad, don't get me wrong, I thought Atalanta were hollow and poor generally defensively and Milan should have won that game by maybe 4-5 nil but
00:10:46
Speaker
That particular battle was very interesting to see. It was very interesting to see Calulu and how he handled that other side, and Tomori in the middle. Now, with Krunic,
00:11:02
Speaker
and Tonali in a double pivot, the two ale, the two wingers, the four wingers, whether it's Teo or Leo, interchanging or the other side, interchanging on when to cut in and when to give depth. That was truly remarkable football. That was truly interesting football. And I'm saying
00:11:25
Speaker
watch out Tottenham. Watch out Tottenham. That will be the test. The Tottenham game will be the big test. But I mean, I think that the positive thing is that at the start, I mean, they didn't have a clue with their movements, understandably, you know, they'd never played this formation ever before. And we looked at it and we thought,
00:11:43
Speaker
Yeah, this doesn't look good. It looks disjointed. And even when the defence started to look more solid, like in that Tottenham game, when they won 1-0, still from an offensive point of view, it didn't look good. I know they created two other big chances, but they came from set pieces or crosses, didn't they? It wasn't through really creating play that much. In open play, it didn't look very fluid. It didn't look... I was just talking about the defensive aspect.
00:12:12
Speaker
But what I'm coming to is that it actually, even now from an offensive point of view, you can see the improvement in this gap, especially in the second half. Milan were creating a lot of chances in the second half, and they were actually put together some good passing moves. Obviously, the goal was an example of that with a wonderful pass and a fantastic little deep finish from Macias. So you can see the improvement.
00:12:36
Speaker
the players, you know, they're getting players back as well. Like Manon, we hope that Benisair can get back before the Tottenham game as well. So, you know, there's lots to be positive about with Milad. But the Tottenham game will be the test though. That will be the test. You know, how it's going to get Tottenham away.
00:12:52
Speaker
I just want to pick up on that because now that the team has responded like this, it puts Milan in a really good position in terms of the future. What do they decide to do? I'm on the fence now. I was firmly on one side, meaning the Sarri 4-3-3 would be the next natural development and playing with a three-man midfield.
00:13:13
Speaker
I'm on the fence now because... Well, it's too early to say, Steve. Well, it's too early to say, yes, but I don't think that's going to be decisive. I think it'll be a good indication. But based on these four games and based on how solid they look, and now it's starting to work in attack as well. Look.
00:13:29
Speaker
If this is how they're going to play, I'm on the fence whether or not, you know, because Antonio Conte can coach this team, even if they don't spend big. He's got all the elements there. He'll look at that defense and that goalkeeper. He'll look at Teo Hernandez. He'll look at that midfield. He'll look at his guru who he loves, and he'll say, I can work with that. And but the thing is, I think I think Pioli is going to stay now. For me, they're in Milan on our favorites to finish second, given, you know, we're going to talk about Inter later. But
00:13:59
Speaker
It's incredibly interesting, and I'm glad you mentioned Benasser as well, because Benasser, how does that impact the balance of the defensive balance? Krunic does so much good work defensively that goes unnoticed by most fans, because that's just the nature of the role that he occupies.
00:14:21
Speaker
How will that impact the balance? That's a question for me. His attacking abilities, I have no questions over whatsoever, because we know his creativity is fantastic. He's brilliant. But it's going to be interesting to see how it impacts
00:14:38
Speaker
For me, it can only improve the team as a whole. Again, I'm not questioning Baracer in attack. I'm just saying, I'm waiting to see how the balance defensively looks when Baracer is back in a double pivot with Tonali.
00:14:55
Speaker
What change do we see there? How does it impact? I think it can only be positive, for sure, because they will start winning the midfield again. They haven't really been winning the midfield recently, with the exception of this game, and that has put pressure on the defence, but they've done so well to come through it. It's going to be interesting. I'm just saying that there's a question that I want to see that question answered before, which I think is a valid one, but just quickly on Zlatan.
00:15:26
Speaker
I mean, what words do we have to say?
00:15:33
Speaker
To come back at 41, and I didn't think he would do it this time. I'm going to be honest, I've said it on this part. I think after those two knee injuries and that injury that he had, playing without ligaments in his knee for six months to help Milan win the scoretto, then comes back. It's just what else is left there to do? What else is there left to say? It's truly remarkable.
00:16:02
Speaker
Yeah, the oldest Milan player ever in a Serie A match at 41. All there is to do is for him to become the oldest scorer in Serie A history. That's all that there is to do. And win the Champions League with Milan, why not?
00:16:17
Speaker
Well, that's the thing. He's not been included in the Champions League squad for Milan, which I don't really understand why, because if he was ready to come back, why not include him? I don't know why they've done that. Anyway, moving on to Atalanta, though, because for as great as Milan were, Atalanta, they've now lost three of their last four games in Serie A. They've lost four of their last five in all competitions, and it's so weird.
00:16:43
Speaker
because you know just a couple of weeks ago we were singing their praises about that with that 2-0 win in Rome against Lazio away which was for me was one of the best performances by any team in Serie A this season it was an absolute masterclass it was a clinic they had an xg in that game of like something like 3.8 or something they absolutely just played them off the part destroyed them in every single department on the pitch and
00:17:08
Speaker
You know, you think you look at watch Atlanta in that game when they were right bang in the top, the top four race after that game. Um, and you think they were level one points, weren't they in the top of the top four and you're thinking, right, this is Atlanta team that they can really picking up now and you know, they're going to push on now and then they lose to lecture. Then they, they get completely, completely outplayed in this game. I mean, there was only, they, they would, they, they looked,
00:17:33
Speaker
They just they never looked like doing anything in this match and Gasparini in his post-match quotes He appeared to be just like completely Defeated like completely given up on the top four and they'll be actually now be six points Behind the top four of Roma win as they should do against Clemente on Tuesday So I don't know that's lunch. We're just a weird one to analyze this season and
00:17:58
Speaker
Yeah, it was, have they blown their top four chances now? Is it over for them, top four? I think so.
00:18:05
Speaker
I don't count them as such because I think their inconsistency this season is something we've seen all season. Yes, when they're good, they're fantastic, but then they lack that consistency. And I think blown it will mathematically, they sure haven't, but I don't think they'll make it. I had them before the season just below the top six.
00:18:29
Speaker
I included Juve in that, but obviously Juve with the points deduction. I think they'll definitely finish there, but I don't think they'll go past any of the teams currently ahead of them in the Serie A table. I really don't think so.
00:18:46
Speaker
I do want to, I do want to give some credit to, uh, to Heilund, Rasmus Heilund. He is... It's... He was terrible in this game though. Yeah. Well, I don't think he was terrible. I don't think he was terrible at all. I think he was just up against Malik Chau who showed how to stop him. And this is the next challenge for him moving forward. Um, it's that...
00:19:12
Speaker
he now this is how defenders are going to defend against him in order to be that next superstar you have to be able to to to handle that i thought there were glimpses in this game where he did handle that and for me that the most interesting
Atalanta's Decline: Is Gasperini's Era Ending?
00:19:26
Speaker
battle of this game was chow against holland it was very interesting to watch i really enjoyed that um but no it's um they do have some you know it's gonna
00:19:37
Speaker
It's going to be interesting to see how they move on from this. Gasperini was obviously unhappy, but I still think that they will throw... It's all but done, but they're going to throw a spanner in the works for the teams above them when they play against them, especially Inter need to watch out, because Atalanta and Gasperini, especially Gasperini, has a giant chip on his shoulder for being sacked.
00:20:03
Speaker
He still talks about it. It's almost been a decade. And he still whinges about it. And he did so not so long ago. Oh, when I try to play with a back three at Inter, they sacked me. It's like he just can't let that go. It's always going to be that. It's going to be like me with Sandro Tonali and Arturo Vidal. I'm never going to let that go. So I think the other teams need to watch out. But yeah, I count them out. I do count Otoleta.
00:20:31
Speaker
Yeah, I think so too. Also, I think Gasparini feels like they can't get into it. He also said something very interesting in the post-match. He basically said that when Atalanta play against fast teams or fast defences, like Milan, who had, as I said before, those three at the back are all physically so good, then they have no other way of beating them, which I found very interesting.
00:20:54
Speaker
but also very strange quotes for Gasparini to say. He was almost lucky with saying, well, the only way that we can beat teams is by showing more intensity and more pace and more, you know, movement and, you know, playing against that Milan defence. Well, Tomori, Kalulu, TR, they're all so good physically, they're all quick, you know, that, you know, we had no chance. We've got no other qualities, he basically was saying. I found that
00:21:18
Speaker
I don't know. I found it strange. I found a strange thing to say. I guess he does feel like this season, he feels like, yeah, he just feels defeated, which I don't know. I'm not sure if I like it, but yeah, I do worry for Atalanta. I still think they're in there. It's still a long way to go. It's still 14 games to go. It's a long, long way to go. So they're not out of it, but
00:21:39
Speaker
I think they could be out of it soon because, you know, they've got Napoli away next week. You know, they lose that and Roma win there and Roma Milan into, you know, do their jobs, then it could be nine points off and then, yeah, then they are probably out of it.
00:21:54
Speaker
Yeah, it will be tough for Atalanta. Just on Atalanta before we go to Inter, I wonder, and I've said this for a while now, is it time to part ways now with him at the end of the season because he's been there for such a long time and maybe he's kind of reached the end of the road there?
00:22:15
Speaker
Possibly. Possibly. But again, I guess it depends. Do they feel like they can bring someone in, do any better than Gasparini can do? You know, with Atalanta, traditionally, they're not a club that ever should be a top 14, really. So that's the tricky thing. I think the most important thing about Atalanta is they keep the project going, the way that they work as a club. And if that's the case, then
00:22:41
Speaker
It almost doesn't matter if it's Gasparini or someone else. So maybe, yeah, maybe it is time for him to go. He's getting older now. He's in his mid-60s almost. But let's talk about Inter, who beat Porto last week, midweek, which was, I won't say it was a great result, but it's a very good result. It's a prestigious result, and it puts them in a good position.
00:23:04
Speaker
and puts them in a position to potentially qualify for the quarterfinals of the of the championship which will be which will be a very very good achievement but not for the first time this in this season in to go from a from a prestigious win to a bad result immediately just a few days later against a
00:23:22
Speaker
let's say a small team and you know they beat Milan twice in 2023 and the very next game they lost to Empoli and then they drew with Sampdoria respectively they of course they beat Napoli the only team in Serie A this season to beat Napoli at the start of January and in the very next game they drew with Monza and actually played very bad
00:23:44
Speaker
in that game. So again, I know I've asked this question, but I have to ask it again. I still don't feel like I've got, not from you, but from anyone, I still don't feel like I've actually got a good answer to this question of why in to go from winning, getting a prestigious result to three or four days later, getting a bad result against a small team. I still don't feel like I've got a satisfactory answer to that question. Maybe there isn't one.
00:24:08
Speaker
Well, I think there is. I think it's a combination of everything, all of the above. Simon Inzagi is a young coach. And as a young coach, he's going to learn and make mistakes. And one of those mistakes is that he struggles to get to keep these players in a
00:24:28
Speaker
in the right mental state, I would say, for three games in a row after a big win to keep them on their toes. I don't like to use the word motivated because I think that's the wrong word. I think concentrated, focused. The focus they show in big games is not the focus they show in small games, and the reverse was true in the beginning of the season.
00:24:54
Speaker
The focus they showed in smaller games was not the one they showed in big games, although I think the big game issue in the earlier part of the season was more tactical and a balance issue. This is clearly not that. It's an approach issue, as he said himself. Of course, he has to take and accept and shoulder a huge part of that responsibility.
00:25:20
Speaker
But I think there's more nuance to that than this. I think there's also got to do with the fact that the Inter squad is not as good as I, as an Interista, would hope that it would have been this season. Romelu Lukaku is clearly not the player he once was, and he was brought in to be a starter and a key player. Unfortunately, Marcelo Brozovic has been injured for most of it and is kind of chasing and working himself back into form.
00:25:45
Speaker
The backups, Francesco Archerbi has been really good, but again, Francesco Archerbi, 2023, the best defender at centre, Arinta. Stefan Defray is completely finished. It's unbelievable how finished he is mentally, as well as on the pitch. I don't know who this guy is,
00:26:08
Speaker
I don't understand. If you were to watch Stephane de Fry for the last 18 months and tell me that only a year before that, or two years before that, he was named the best defender in the Serie A, you wouldn't believe it. You have a Danilo D'Ambrosio that is obviously finished.
00:26:26
Speaker
You have an Edin Jekko who is way past his best, even though he's been good for Inter. Henrik Mkhitaryan has been good for Inter, but he's not in a moment in his career where he can play weekend, week out and deliver three games a week for Inter, regardless of who
00:26:42
Speaker
who he's playing against. He can do it against Porto, but then he runs out of gas against Monza or Empoli. And that is the problem. It's a little bit like a perfect storm. And in order to get the maximum out of all the players all the time to keep them on the toes, you need a coach who's ready now. Now, then you look at it and say, okay, well, what do you do?
00:27:11
Speaker
look at the results. Has Inzaghi failed or underperformed in the Serie A this season? Yes, he has. I'd say between eight to ten points, which is three, three, three, four losses. Too many, I think for sure. But you're still, even with those points, eight to ten points behind Napoli. So essentially you're criticising him for not being clear in second place.
00:27:37
Speaker
which is a fair criticism because, of course, with eight to 10 points more, you put pressure on the team you're chasing. But at the end of it, to me, that's academic because Napoli are going to win this and they're obviously the best team in the Serie A. In the Champions League, he's done exactly, he's done more than what Inter expected of him because Inter budgeted for the Europa League and they've reached the round of last 16 and they can actually, you know, they got a good chance to reach the quarterfinal.
00:28:03
Speaker
Super Coppa, he's won both. Coppa Italia, reigning champion, still in the semi-final now. So you can't say that it's been a failure. You can't say it's been an abject failure. You can say it's disappointing in the Serie A because last season, Inter should have won that Serie A. I think they failed in four games with seven extra points, which would have seen them equal contest record-breaking Inter side with a far less superior team. So yes, he has failed in the Serie A, absolutely.
00:28:31
Speaker
But then you have to measure that against, well, he's also a young coach, and everybody always complains. You love, you and everyone else loves the Zerbe for being a young coach, and we complain about never giving young coaches the chance. Well, here is a young coach that is being given a chance, and he's winning trophies, and everybody wants his head on a stick. So you all have to make your minds up.
00:28:51
Speaker
I personally think that this situation cannot go on for Inter's sake and for Inzaghi's sake. They need to back him because he's not been backed and you can't tell me that he's been backed when the first summer he arrived they finished the summer on a net profit of 140 million euros last year.
00:29:11
Speaker
they ended it with a requirement was to end it on plus 60 million. And so that's something I wanted to address as well. We talk about, well, you know, we've got a question on that in the Q&A pod as well. And I want to raise it now for those of us who are not, for those who are not patrons, although I think everyone should be. And that is that when Gazeta de los Portes stated that
00:29:32
Speaker
As news that Inter have to finish the fiscal year June 30th on plus 30 million and not 60, that's nonsense. Because we already knew that. The fiscal year starts on July 1st and ends on June 30th. Last summer, meaning the fiscal year that started June 1st, Inter sold Casade for 20 million and they sold Pinamonti for around 30 million as well. Now the requirement was 60 million net profit.
00:30:00
Speaker
We're there. So if you know your math, 60 minus 30, 35, that brings 30. So we don't know what the new requirement is after July the 1st. Is it 40? Is it 20? Is it plus minus zero? We don't know that, OK? So these things need to be taken into account. He's not been backed. He's had to deal with putting out fires in terms of the transfer market. It's been horrible. So all of these things together, I think, gives you a collected picture of why things aren't working at Inter.
00:30:29
Speaker
And personally, I think that they need to decide because we cannot continue. Is it win now that matters, then bring in and back the coach that wins now, get rid of Inzagi? But if the requirement is to build long term in financial sustainability and blah, blah, blah,
00:30:50
Speaker
Then back in Zagi with young players that give you that. Don't get rid of De Frey and Scrinyard and bring in Chris Smalling and Acherbi. That's stupid. Don't replace Danilo D'Ambrosio with some other guy in his mid-30s. That's not building long-term and sustainable. And the same thing in attack goes with attack and midfield and so on and so forth.
00:31:13
Speaker
And I've spoken for like 10 minutes and I've not even mentioned Denzel Dumfries and Joaquin Correa, who together cost around 45 million euros, and they are simply not good enough to play Rinta. So this is where we are.
00:31:31
Speaker
This is where I'm at with all of this as a whole. I think there's lots of blame to go around. I personally would rather stick with Inzaghi because I think he's a young coach. I think he delivers results in difficult circumstances. I think there are absolute areas to improve on and I think he should be given that chance to improve them.
00:31:50
Speaker
If not, you're going to get rid of him. Okay, you bring in Ivan Joric. Okay, that might work, but there are big question marks. He's never been at a big club. Igor Tudor, same thing there. Young coach, talented, great prospect, but he's never been at a big club. Sergio Conseisao plays a 4-4-2. You have no wingers and you have no money. Like, do you know what I mean? Roberto de Serbi, yes, if you're a Juventus fan, you'd be praying for Roberto de Serbi because he might actually get inter-relegated.
00:32:19
Speaker
Oh my God. He will. He doesn't know how to defend. The man thinks defending is optional. This is the level that we're at. You have to be realistic about these things. Four months at Brighton does not tell me that someone is some sort of a
00:32:36
Speaker
you know, some sort of the Messiah of football. I love the absolute hate you have for deserby. I don't have hate for deserby. I have hate for the narrative because it's ridiculous. I think it's ridiculous that we're basically canonizing this guy as the greatest thing since bread came sliced. And he's had six months impressive at Brighton as they have been. We also know his deficiencies.
00:33:02
Speaker
And we're ready to give him both defending well at Brighton. So you're basing out on not really from a year ago. No, they're really not because they have any goals they've conceded. Yeah, we'll look at. Well, well, let's just see how let's let's just see at the end of the season and next season if he's still there, how his team's hemorrhage goals, because there are giant holes in how they play. Not this season, there isn't. Well, you can you based it on what he did at Sasolo facing it also on how he because he's not changed much since he'd been at Sasolo. They still play the same way. Teams will work them out and then it's going to be
00:33:31
Speaker
You'll see. I think you'll come around on that. No, I don't think I will. I'm pretty sure I will not. Unless he learns how to defend, that's great. If he knows, if he can find the balance that Sarri has, for example, done at Milan and has always had some defensive solidity, whether he was at Napoli or where he was, then yes, great. Bring him in. Play that kind of football.
00:33:54
Speaker
But I just think at this moment in his career, it would be insane. It would be absolute mental to bring Roberto D'Azerbi after four good months in Brighton and think that he can handle the madness that he's done. Has anybody, is there even a report that Inter want D'Azerbi? Yeah, he's been linked to Inter. Yeah, he's been linked to Inter. Italian media have done, they've linked him to Europe, they've linked the Inter job to Thiago Marta, they've linked the job to everyone.
00:34:21
Speaker
Again, I think these are your choices and we'll see what happens. Now, luckily, Beppe Marotta came out and basically pretty much said, on Nizagi saying he's a young coach, he's good, he's talented, but he needs to improve on certain issues and we're behind him. I think that's the right decision to move forward on.
00:34:42
Speaker
Yeah, well, if I can just come in and say, first of all, I'm going to I'm going to defend deserby because you because you criticized him. Before I get to exactly I think deserby is an absolute genius and studying in tactically, the patterns of play and the tactical stuff he does is is absolute genius. We're very few right in the whole world come up with some of the tactics and the little movements that he does. I think he's
00:35:08
Speaker
He's set for the very, very top. As for Inzaghi, I think that it's true that there's a lot of blame to go around with everyone. I think that within Zaghi, definitely after a loss to Bologna, of course, you're going to have to criticise him. I've said it many times, last season he underperformed.
00:35:26
Speaker
Inter were by an absolute mile even though you can say, you know, whatever you want to say about him not being backed in the market Inter were by a mile the best team in seria had the best squad in seria, you know in a poor seria Very poor seria last season and should have walked the league, but they didn't so I think you have to
00:35:43
Speaker
you have to criticise him for not winning the league last season. This season I think is slightly different because I do think Inter are weaker this season. I think some of their players are older. Maybe there is that lack of motivation. I know you don't like to call it motivation, but I think that probably is natural with some of these players that have won the Scudetto getting a bit older. So the project, the way that Suning are not, they don't have plans to build any more into that. That all does
00:36:10
Speaker
that does have an impact on everyone, including the players. So I'm a little bit more sympathetic, but at the same time you lose seven, you suffer seven defeats in Serie A by the end of February. That's too many. That's way too many. It's almost a third of the Serie A games you've played have been losses. I mean, I know they've lost a lot. I mean, I know they've won a lot. So I know they have won a lot, you know, but they've lost the same amount. But it's unacceptable. It's unacceptable. Don't get me wrong.
00:36:35
Speaker
I'm not defending it. I'm not defending this inconsistency. If anything, it's creating anger and frustration in me, because especially some of those games, he completely botched the Lazio game, the Udenezer game. That's all on him. The Bologna game, I think, wasn't a tactical issue. But again, it's like I said in the beginning, it's his inability to get these guys into the right headspace. It's not a motivation. It's concentration to follow up
00:37:05
Speaker
Ultimately though, I like Inzagi. I do and I think he should stay. And I always say, you know, one thing that I look at with players, with managers, how good they are, is do they develop and improve players? And I think that Inzagi does. And to talk about deserbe, deserbe is one of the best in the world at developing players. So that's another example of why deserbe is so bloody good. It's that he develops players and makes them much, much better than they are and develops them. So Inzagi,
00:37:33
Speaker
also I think does that. So I think for that reason, I think he's good. I think he's good for Inter. But yeah, he's a weird one to analyse in Zaki. He is because the results this season, it really just doesn't make sense how they go from these fantastic results. And then I mean, I think in this particular game, losing is a blunder.
00:37:52
Speaker
they did look tired. It was an awful pitch as well. So I think that didn't help the fact that they were playing on such a heavy water lot. Sometimes the ball wasn't even moving five yards. So I think when you're coming off a really, I mean, we know how tough it is playing against ball. So we spoke about it on the pod last week about they're a bastard of a size, you know, I think I called Otavio a bastard of a player.
Evaluating Inzaghi: Inter's Coach Under the Microscope
00:38:14
Speaker
Well,
00:38:14
Speaker
Those in those in Porto players. They are shit houses and then some and they really they give you a real not just physically but mentally they drain it out of you. You have to play for 90 minutes against them and into really did have to use up so much physical and mental energy in that game against Porto. Then you'll go then four days later.
00:38:34
Speaker
You're going away to Bologna, who Bologna are right now. We'll come on to the bottom. What a great job he's doing there. They're the second most informed team in Serie A after Napoli. They're playing a Bologna team that are not only in really good form, have had a whole week to prepare, but also you're playing on a pitch that's virtually semi-waterlogged. I mean, that is, I think, physically very, very draining. And I think that shows in this game. They just didn't have any. I mean, this was as bad as I've seen into play this season, to be honest, just in terms of...
00:39:01
Speaker
in terms of their overall game being flat, not having... I mean, what did they create in the game? Barely anything. They created a couple of chances, but still, it was without a doubt the worst game underings in the Inzagi era. It's not even close. It was even worse than the Genoa Game Away goalless last season, which kind of was one of the reasons they cost them the Seria title, one of those seven points that they threw away, which is entirely on Inzagi.
00:39:27
Speaker
because he got it wrong there and he was in his inability to change that game as well. Look, I agree with everything you said. I think this is ultimately on him. But again, he's a young coach. And if you're going to, you need to, if you're going to give young coaches a chance,
00:39:45
Speaker
uh then you're gonna have to accept that this is somehow how as long as they get top four as long as they get top four obviously i mean if they don't get top four then he has to go with everyone has to go because it's i mean yeah i mean it's not you know that would be a disaster it's the same discussion that we had about milan a couple of weeks ago if if you don't make top four yeah then
00:40:03
Speaker
I mean, they do, I mean, I think they'll be fine for top four. I don't know. I don't know where you're absolutely fine, but they do, but they are, there is going to be a little bit of a battle for top four. They're not going to be able to just, they're not going to be able to just cruise to the top four, especially if, I mean, if Juventus get their points back, I mean, they'll probably get deducted points for the, for the wages thing, but let's just say that gets delayed or, or something. You don't know what might happen. You don't, no one knows how the bloody Italian courts work. They're such a mess, but you know, so if Juventus were to get those points back, then all of a sudden it is a fight. It's a fight for all of the top,
00:40:30
Speaker
For you know included in so I mean, I think they'll be fine. I think they'll be absolutely fine But as it stands they could be in a fight for it. So, you know, the other thing I want two other things I want to say first of all, you did touch upon one of these Lukaku we asked
00:40:45
Speaker
after the goal against Porto, would it unlock him? He was terrible in this game, wasn't he? He was really, I mean, it is frustrating because I think you did say, to be fair, you said that you thought, you know, he's never going to be the same Lukaku anymore. I think everybody agrees there. But, you know, you did kind of also say, you'll probably score a few goals, and I'm sure he will. But it is frustrating, isn't it? You'd think four days after scoring such a big goal,
00:41:11
Speaker
That he would be so on it the next game, wouldn't you that he really he was as bad as we've seen him in this game and that That is frustrating, isn't it? Because you think if there isn't one game that you know, and he was only a sub the other days It wasn't like he should have been tired. No, do you know what I mean? So that is for sure. And the other thing is I think Anana Needs to take a bit of Chris and then again, I'm a huge fan of another
00:41:33
Speaker
And I think if Handanovic should let in that goal straight at him, everybody would have been going absolutely ballistic at Handanovic for letting a goal that was straight at him. And he basically dived out of the way of it. It was a good strike. It was a good clean strike from Orcelini, but he was straight at the keypad. He dived out of the way. He dived out of the way of it. I don't know if he took a gamble or I don't know, maybe he was trying to anticipate where
00:41:59
Speaker
or Seligman was volleyball, it was straight at him and he dived out of the way of it. Now, if Handanovic did that, I could just know what Inter fans would do. Well, there's a reason for that, Carlo, because Handanovic has been doing stuff like that time, like year in and year out now for the better part of half a decade. For sure, for sure. But I want a criticism to be applied to O'Nana. There will be more patience with O'Nana because O'Nana also does something that Handanovic is no longer capable of doing. And he showed that against Porto. He was the man of the match.
00:42:29
Speaker
This was a game where he and the entire team struggled, so I understand if there's more patience with him. But yes, I do agree that I think he read the situation wrong, and he sometimes does that, because that's the thing. He gambles. All I'm saying is, I think it could have been acknowledged that he was at fault for the goal. That's all I'm saying. I think if we're going to blame someone for the goal, you have to blame Danilo D'Ambrosio.
00:42:50
Speaker
Where was the gap? What happened there? Why was there such a massive... Well, they were in transition. They were in transition up the pitch and D'Ambrosio squares it right to Houten. Look at the situation. Nine players, eight-player inter-players are moving upwards away and he's supposed to play the long ball. Instead, he mis-hits it, passes it straight to Houten, whom one touch plays it to Orsolini. And, you know, so...
00:43:12
Speaker
both Acherbi and Bastani are out of position because they're moving upwards. You don't lose ball in transition like that. It's a golden rule in football and you certainly do not square the ball straight to your opponent in that position which Inter did throughout this game.
00:43:28
Speaker
And it wasn't this one time, OK, this time it was D'Ambrosio. The fact that Inter have to call on D'Ambrosio is because Denzel Dumfries was so poor that I think that if I turned up now drunk, I would have done a better job as a wingback for Inter. It's embarrassing, genuinely embarrassing. You know, we talk about technique. You know, you have to know, seriously, it's embarrassing. We're talking about a player. I'm not asking him to turn into, you know,
00:43:57
Speaker
Uh, some sort of dribbling, you know, genius or tech, the most, the greatest. Yeah. Yeah. Or my con or something like that. And that's not what I'm saying. I'm talking about. Can you at least get the line right in positioning? Can you at least know when to push up and when to fall back? Can you at least help your teammates out and move correctly? Like this is the level we're talking June, we're talking. It's junior school. Now this is the level that we're at now with this guy.
00:44:27
Speaker
And it's just absolute value. Let's move on to Thiago Mottadem.
Thiago Motta's Bologna: A European Dream?
00:44:33
Speaker
We have to praise what an amazing job he's doing at Boulogne, because I think there were some doubts. I remember when he was at PSG with the youth team, wasn't it? And there was some story that came out of him, which was completely fake news, where they were saying that he was revolutionizing football and he was playing like
00:44:49
Speaker
It was some mad formation. It was 3-6-0, 3-6-1 or something, or 3-4-6-0, some shit like that. But he, I mean, that wasn't just a PSG. That was when he was a Genoa too, wasn't it?
00:44:59
Speaker
It was an even more bizarre formation than that. It was a really bizarre 316 or something like that. I can't remember what it was, but it was a bizarre formation anyway. So big things were expected of him since then. He was tipped to become a really great coach back then. And then where was he at first? He was at Genoa, then he was at Spezia. Yeah, he did good at Spezia.
00:45:22
Speaker
did okay. I wouldn't say amazing, but he did okay. Nothing like that you would say, he's going to be set for greatness. But he's at Bologna, he's done absolutely fantastic. Because when he took over Bologna in the middle of September from the lakes, Sinise and Mihailovic, they were third from bottom.
00:45:42
Speaker
They're now in a European place. They're now in Europe. They're going to qualify for Europe where they are at the moment, 7th position. I mean, it's absolutely incredible job. 32 points in his 19 games. And as I said before, only Napoli are in better form in Serie A. They won four of their last five. But it's not just that. Like if you watch them, they play really good football. Like they have some really interesting. You can see what they've been working on on the training ground, like with their patterns of play, their kind of expansive football, the movement off the ball.
00:46:13
Speaker
very, very impressive. I was very impressed with them. I mean, the first 20 minutes of this game, they were completely disturbed. They were all over Inter in the first 20 minutes. They had their goal disallowed. They created another chance. And again, like I said before, one of the things I always look at with a manager to see how they develop players, and it's probably a little bit too early to say that, Bologna. But there are some players here that
00:46:37
Speaker
bigger clubs are starting to look at, which you wouldn't really have said in previous seasons at Bologna, really, not with the exception of the odd player here and there. I mean, Arnautovic, but he's old, Hickey, there's not really been that many. But now you're looking at the Bologna team and you look at them. And also Lini, I mean, I know we like to laugh about him, but he's in fantastic form. Four goals in his last five games.
00:46:59
Speaker
I thought he was really good, really, really good. I mean, he even got away from Bastogne a couple of times in this match, which is not easy. Lewis Ferguson, the Scotsman, he's getting interested with some big clubs. Cambiazzo I've always liked, and he was really, really good in this game. I really like Cambiazzo. That was a player that Inter should have gone after, because he can play both on the right and the left. And it was, again, not to belabor the point, but they can't even spend that little amount of money to sign someone.
00:47:28
Speaker
Yeah, he's a really unknown one or wolfadox fallback when he plays on the right I find it fascinating watching him on the right because he kind of comes he plays like an inverted winger but as a fullback which is really bizarre you don't see it don't I think I've ever seen a fullback play like that that kind of maybe can cello sometimes kind of like cuts in from right back onto his left foot and then comes inside it's like really weird watching him play but he played left back in this game and and he was really really good
00:47:53
Speaker
And yeah, I'm happy he's at Bologna and developing rather than under allegory. But Sposh as well, down the right, has been getting looked at by some big clubs. So you have to give the credit for Mozzer, the work he's doing with these young players and these younger players. And like you said before, he's been linked with Inter. He's also been linked to obviously PSG, two of his former clubs as a player.
00:48:16
Speaker
I mean, yeah, I don't know, it's too early to say, you know, because you can sometimes get spells where managers will do a good job for, you know, go for a good spell for a couple of months, and then things just drift away. So I don't want to get ahead of myself. But all I can do is talk about what he's done at Bologna. And this was a Bologna team that they have looked, they've been one of the more boring teams and flat teams in recent years, haven't they? Again, without wanting to say and think bad about Mihailovic, obviously, but they haven't been a team that
00:48:46
Speaker
have really been enjoyable that you thought are going places, have they, in recent years? They've just been kind of a middle of the road. They're going to come 12th or 13th. They're going to do enough to stay up. They're not really going to do anything against the big clubs. That's been what they are. But suddenly under Mota, they're now playing good football. They're developing some good players, and they're getting some great results like this. I mean, what do you think of Mota?
00:49:11
Speaker
I like what I've seen. I mean, what we saw at Genoa when that crazy formation came out, I was thinking, oh God, here we go again with some nonsense. And it was dreadful, his Genoa side. But then he came to Spezia and I really enjoyed what he did there. And it's not an easy place to come to and to replace Italiano as well, who'd done a fantastic job.
00:49:33
Speaker
I think he did all right with them. I think he over performed with them. And then since taking over Bologna, you know, it's been like a step by step upward trajectory by him. And he seems to be able to, like you said, I think it's not just developing players, but also can he work with experienced players and can he work with young players and create an environment for everyone to thrive? And I think the answer so far at Bologna has been yes, he can.
00:49:59
Speaker
So, yeah, I like what he did against Inter. I thought they were very, very good. But given that Inter didn't even turn up for the game, I think it's difficult to kind of evaluate it. But I'm not taking anything away from him. I just think it's... I'd like to see him against, you know, I don't know if they... I can't off the top of my head remember if they got Napoli left. But it would be interesting to see how he handles a team like Napoli.
00:50:25
Speaker
and other big teams before we say too much. But yes, they were very on it. Today, that game, they were for 90 minutes, even in the difficult periods of the game when they suffered, when they started retaining possession in their half, they still remained focused, they still remained compact, they still remained a unit. And I think that is the most important thing we look at in a game from a coaching point of view, from a tactical point of view.
00:50:53
Speaker
No, they did well. It's going to be an interesting career to follow. For sure, he's having a better career so far than his former Inter-Trevor winner, teammate Dejan Stankovic, who's absolutely stinking up the place at Sampdoria. With a very bad team, I should add.
00:51:09
Speaker
Yes, yes. We'll come, we'll come to Santo, right?
Victor Osimhen's Record Pursuit: The Goal Machine
00:51:12
Speaker
Let's just, let's just talk about Napoli. Well, I did have two segments here. I wanted to do a segment on how do you stop Napoli, but I'm going to hold that because we're already talking too much as usual. So we'll save that, we'll save that for Thursday.
00:51:26
Speaker
and we'll talk about that on Thursday. But what I do want to talk about on Napoli, they won again, 2-0 against Empoli, 18 points clear now, so they are absolutely, as I said, cruising to the Scudetto. They could win it by Easter at this rate. Let's talk about Osseman and his
00:51:43
Speaker
Well, record-breaking soon run of scoring eight games in a row now that he's scored in Serie A, which is three behind the all-time Serie A record by Gabriel Battistuta, who scored 11 straight in the 1994-95 season. We could say that he scored in 13, what he did, scoring 13 straight Serie A games. If we include the two that he scored at the end of the 1992-93 season before Fiorentina got relegated and then when they came up,
00:52:11
Speaker
he then scored straight away in 11 straight games in 94-95. But in one season the record is 11 and that was then matched by Fabio Quagliarella in 2018-19, although I know there has been a bit of discrepancy and certainly Patastutas argued against that, hasn't he? About Quagliarella, he scored 11 and then Ronaldo scored 11 straight as well the season after that.
00:52:34
Speaker
for Juventus. So Osseman is, yeah, he's on track to equal and break that record, which is just unbelievable. But what makes it even more remarkable is that Osseman has done this without scoring a penalty, without scoring a single penalty. And the only players in Serie A history who have scored more in a row without scoring penalties are Trezegre, who scored nine for Juventus in 2005-06 season, and Pascuti for
00:53:04
Speaker
Bologna in 62-63, which I think they won the Scudetti that season if I'm not mistaken. So, yeah, that's another record that he's on. And he now has 19 in Serie A this season. Again, none of them penalties. Could he even, I think you raised the topic, could he even reach Higuain's record of 36 in a season? I would say it's unlikely, but I wouldn't rule it out. I mean, what do you think? Is he going to break the record, do you think?
00:53:31
Speaker
Well, one record he's going to break is Samuel Letour's record for the most amount of goals an African player scored in one season in the Serie A, which is held by Samuel Letour, 21, from 2010-2011. He's one goal away from equaling compatriot Simis,
00:53:51
Speaker
goals tally for Croton at 20. So he'll pretty soon be the second most prolific Africa. He's going to smash that. He's going to smash those records. But both of those players took penalties. He does not. He's not taken a single one this season, if I'm not mistaken, in the Serie A, right?
00:54:14
Speaker
I think he scored one penalty in all competitions. Wasn't the Champions League? I think it might have been, yeah. I think he missed that one as well, or did he score it in Liverpool? He missed one against Liverpool, but I think he might have taken another one later on in the group stage, if I'm not mistaken. I'll just double check that. But anyway, in Serie A, I mean, yeah, no penalties in Serie A.
00:54:38
Speaker
He's not scored a single one in the penalties. And I'm looking now, no, I can't find him on the list. I'm looking now for in terms of penalty takers, Victor Osseman. So that is that is remarkable. I think 36 might be a little bit too steep. But especially if Napoli go deeper in the Champions League, they will surely rest players if they're already won the Scudetto.
00:54:58
Speaker
And he's going to be Capo Cannoneira anyway, so it's unnecessary to risk. But next up are quite tough games. If he's going to beat it, look, next game this weekend, Napoli Lazio, then Napoli Atalanta, then it's Eintrach Frankfurt, then it's Torino.
00:55:18
Speaker
And then after the international break, it's Mila. So it's going to be difficult. I think we might struggle to do that. But again, I wouldn't put it past him. I really wouldn't because he is that good. And he's probably going to demand to play as well because he wants to break the record, isn't he? Probably.
00:55:35
Speaker
I mean, why shouldn't he? I mean, the Eintracht game is all over anyway. So, you know, you could actually play Cholito in that game, but the Latio and Atalanta games, it's home games, the Serie A, you know, they need to wrap that up. So, no doubt in my mind, he'll start both of those games. And yes, he could score. It's not impossible. It's not, you know, it's not unthinkable. And then he's up on 10 and he could equal it away against Torino, which we know are a difficult side.
00:56:02
Speaker
and then he could beat it against Mila at the Maradona. It's going to be quite the test for him to do that, but it's not impossible, no.
00:56:14
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, it's an incredible achievement. I mean, it's probably not as great as an achievement as what Batistuta did, because Batistuta did it in the prime of Serie A. Against those defenders. Against those defenders, you know. I haven't looked up to see who the teams he scored against on that run, but, you know, we're talking about the best league in the world, the greatest league there's ever been, you know, ever, you know, in any era. And, you know, he did it then. For a Fiorentina team who just got promoted, re-promoted, and still had lots of quality, you know,
00:56:44
Speaker
Rory Costa told though, there was still lots of quality, but they were playing against world-class teams, world-class defenders every single week. And it wasn't a team that wasn't anywhere close to being the best in the league. So for Bata Stutta to do that, that is amazing. Obviously, Osseman is playing for the best team in the league by a long way this season. So it does make it easier. But the fact that he hasn't scored any penalties, but again, it just comes back to what we said about Osseman.
00:57:09
Speaker
just how complete he is and Batistuto actually is funny because Batistuto is actually similar like Batistuto was a player had no weak was the complete striker as well wasn't he Batistuto again what weaknesses did Batistuto have he could do everything he could play everything he could he was physically absolutely a monster he could hold the ball up he was great making runs in behind he was a great finisher had an incredible shot both feet head brilliant in the air
00:57:35
Speaker
you know, he could do everything. And Aussie man is exactly exactly the same. I mean, in this game against Emply, he scored the kind of a people in Zargi poachers goal, you know, being so quick and so reading the game and making the movement to get to the ball first, you know, the best goal poachers would score, you know. So again, you can score every single type of goal. Again, the only criticism I could make is actually in the last two games, he started to
00:58:05
Speaker
he started to miss a few big, big chances, which I thought during this run, early on in this run, he was starting to become more clinical. And in the last two games, he missed two huge chances against Frankfurt. And then again, in this game, he also missed a one-on-one in this match. So if we're going to be critical of him, let's say, don't go back to missing these kind of chances. But sometimes he can still snatch at his chances sometimes.
00:58:34
Speaker
Yeah, he needs still a little bit of composure and calm in those chances, in decisive, you know, goal-scoring moments. And I think he can even improve how prolific he becomes. Yeah. He plays with such ferocity that sometimes he just, yeah, he just wants to shoot as fast as he can without, you know,
00:58:57
Speaker
being a little bit calm. Okay, right. Yeah, like I said, Thursday, we'll do a segment on how do you stop Napoli? If anyone's got any ideas, then send in some suggestions because I'm not quite sure how we can answer this, to be honest. I've got a few ideas, but it's more about, I think a lot of it's going to come down to Napoli.
00:59:19
Speaker
their levels going down because they're playing at such an incredible high level at the moment. It should be unsustainable, but we've said that all season and they're not stopping. Okay, just before we get on to, you know what, Sampdoria, let's leave that as well. I wanted to talk about Sampdoria, but we'll talk about that on Thursday as well, because we really are going over today. The rest of the Serie A calendar this weekend, so we had Lecce losing at home to Sassuolo. A little bit of a surprise given Lecce's
00:59:48
Speaker
recent run. Selena Turner, a huge, huge win in their fight against relegation, beating Monza 3-0, Paolo Sousa, his first win in charge, and Udenazy 2, Spezia 2, exciting game there, simply cheese first game in charge, wasn't it, for the Spezia, so that's a big point for them in the fight against relegation.
01:00:12
Speaker
We still have four games to go. We're recording this on Monday. So we've got Verona, Fiorentina, and Lexi, Sampdoria on Monday evening. And then we have Clemonez, the aroma, and Juventus, Torino on Tuesday. We will...
01:00:23
Speaker
Yeah, the Turin Derby. We'll review that, though both all of those games on Thursday in Thursday's show. Okay, Europa League and Conference League review.
Italian Teams Shine in European Competitions
01:00:37
Speaker
Nima, oh no, there it is. Okay, so yes.
01:00:42
Speaker
all four Italian teams go through in the Europa League, conference league, which is fantastic. We said at first, they showed how great it was that the Italian teams and the Champions League all won their first leg matches in the last 16, how great that was. And we said, right, can Juventus and Roma and obviously Lazio and Fiorentina, can they
01:01:07
Speaker
Can they do the job themselves? We were quite confident on Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentino. We weren't so confident on Roma, but they've both done it. Juventus 3-0 against Nantes. Di Maria, absolutely sensational, the first goal, one of the goals of the season, absolute worldy. He's been fantastic since the World Cup. Juventus are now becoming Di Maria and inshallah, as we used to say for a rough...
01:01:49
Speaker
Roma, we have to give praise to Roma. That was so good.
01:01:55
Speaker
Yeah, Belotti scored. Yeah, good. No, you're so hard on him. He had a difficult injury and he's not played because Tammy Abraham is obviously better, you know, a starting striker there. So, no, I think he, you know, Belotti, I think he has a role to play at Roma, I really do.
01:02:16
Speaker
And I think, you know, it's going to be... Yeah, it was lovely to see him. Di Barla as well. Fantastic goal. But there's one player that we have to say. I said it. I said it last week. I said, Spin at Sola during Roma's previous league game. I'm forgetting who it was against now. You've got the assist. You've got that wonderful backyard assist.
01:02:33
Speaker
Who was it against? I can't remember. It was sold back in, wasn't it? Sold back and scored the winner. And he did that beautifully. And I said, Spin at Solar in this game just started to show a few sparks of the old Spin at Solar. You could just see it. There were just those little, not consistently, but just those little moments that you thought, that is the Spin at Solar that was just so unstoppable the year that Italy won the Euros. And he was brilliant in this game.
01:03:15
Speaker
against Salzburg.
01:03:18
Speaker
can the old spinet's roller come back and if you can play like this and you can show those kind of levels I mean can he I mean I mean it would be absolutely wonderful I don't want to get carried away over one game but it was it was really really encouraging to see spinet's over to do that and he is 30 I think he's turning 30 soon so
01:03:34
Speaker
I mean, yeah, great. Really, really great to see. Really beautiful to see after having such a horrible time of things over the last 18 months. So, yeah, well done, Roma. Well done, Spinachsola. And then Latzia and Fiorentina through as well. And then the draw, I'll just read out the draw. So Juventus versus Freiburg, Roma versus Real Sociedad in the Europa League last 16.
01:03:56
Speaker
Tough aroma, very tough aroma. I think they're decent draws. It's not a nightmare draw or anything like that. I think Roma can go through. I think it's evenly balanced. 50-50, yeah. Yeah, 50-50, I'd say like that.
01:04:12
Speaker
And Juventus could have been kinder. I think it could have been kinder for Roma, because I mean, I think obviously Arsenal, you want to miss Arsenal. I think Man United, they couldn't draw anyway. So you want to miss Arsenal. And I think really after that, you're looking at Sociedad or Betis, really. And they played Betis in the group and actually looked quite good against them in the group. So a real Sociedad, I think, is tough. They got their third in La Liga. They got some, you know, David Silva or Isabel Azubimendi, Mendez. These are really good players. So, you know, I think it's 50-50.
01:04:40
Speaker
I think so as well. Juventus and Freiburg, they're right up there fighting for the top four, aren't they, I think, Freiburg. That's not easy, but, you know, I think Juventus, I think, you know, you favor Juventus. You do, even though Freiburg haven't self-proclaimed Interista Grifo. He's got 13 goals this season. Yeah.
01:05:05
Speaker
So they need to watch out with them. But I expect you to go through Roma 50-50 as for the conference league. Fiorentina should have no problems at all. They're playing Siva Sport, who are 12th in the Turkish league, having a really bad season and looking at their squad.
01:05:25
Speaker
Yeah, you've already seen it should be fine. I think the football they play is also quite conducive to European football. So I think they should be OK. Lazio on paper maybe looks OK, but I think it's going to be tricky.
01:05:41
Speaker
They need to pay attention. They need to pay attention. They're above the PSV in the area division. They're not too far off. Ladsio have to be switched on and not be like we've seen them sometimes. They can be a little bit not really there. They can't do that because they'll be punished. But I do expect, look,
01:06:00
Speaker
60-40 in favor of Lazio and Fiorentina. They've got a former Inter player as well. Jens Odgard. Do you remember him? Jens Odgard, yeah. I think he was involved in that deal that saw Bastoni. Or did he go to Sassolo, not Atalanta? I can't remember. I'm not sure. He's a former Inter primavera player that I know they cashed in on.
01:06:21
Speaker
When every summer, when Ousilio used to sell a container of kids to make... On June 30th, was it? Yeah. It's always June 30th. Yeah, they always slash those, you know, always put those papers in. So it's a review bay. Well, I think everybody knows about Ubay. Ubay on June 30th. There's always some dodgy swap there on June 30th.
01:06:42
Speaker
No, no, no. It was always not because that's when the fiscal year ends and because of the fact that Inc. were in the settlement agreement with UEFA and were under restrictions, they had to make, you know, they had to show Proust-Valenza, they had to show capital gains. And so every summer, you know, that Alcilia used to sell basically a container of young players, like literally a container of players shipped away on June 30th. One of which was Zagnolo in the Nangolan deal.
01:07:08
Speaker
That's right. And then you're not actually scored. It's definitely, it's a friendly, but it's good. I do. I hope he can get his career back on track. I mean, even if it won't be as good as it once was, you know, you do want. Of course, of course you do. You do want him to do well. Of course you do. Okay. Right. Let's finish off with Bad Joe and Prem Face of the Week. Right. Let's start off with Bad Joe. Have you got a Bad Joe?
Football Commentary: The Funniest Moments
01:07:37
Speaker
No, look, it was not a very good week. Sorry? Osteemen. Yeah, I mean that feat, but it wasn't exactly the most beautiful goal we've ever seen. But look, I can't call it a badjo, because badjo was an attacker. But I think Milan's defensive display, if I could use that against Atalanta, was my badjo. That's what I really enjoyed. Team Maria's goal against nonce as well. Yeah, that's got to be the badjo.
01:08:05
Speaker
That's going to be a bunch. Yeah, even when it's not something that was just just magical. OK, prim face without wanting to repeat what we did see on Thursday's show. I mean, those those who are not patrons, we actually already we already did this because there was we called it a prim face re pandemic last last week during the pandemic.
01:08:23
Speaker
Premedemic, yes, during the midweek Champions League and European Games, some of the stuff was just ridiculous. So I guess we're going to repeat ourselves here. So we've got a few. We had BT with the worst culprits of all. I think Jamie Carragher's butt-hurt-edness.
01:08:44
Speaker
on Real Madrid being lucky to win the Champions League. It's like one of those all-time goats, Hall of Shame primfaces. That was last week, wasn't it? B2, Glenn Hodel and Aluco saying that Osterman is unproven because he hasn't played in Serie A. Unless you score in the Premier League, you're basically unproven. It's just the same old.
01:09:08
Speaker
the same old and Mark Goldridge, who says something stupid on every day of the week that ends in a Y. He said something about how Eliot were dreadful for Milan, which is so far away from the truth and the facts that it's almost impressive even by his non-existing standards.
01:09:31
Speaker
But that was in the Mark Goldridge one I had written down here. The one I had written down was when he said 10 minutes into, until 14 minutes into Real Madrid against Liverpool. The Premier League is miles ahead of La Liga's best. Oh man, God bless. You know, God bless.
01:09:52
Speaker
God bless. Yeah, and that ended really well for Liverpool, didn't it? And for Jamie Carragher. Yeah, and that's when Jamie Carragher, and it was before the game when he said that Real Madrid were lucky to... Someone sent me a video at the weekend, which I scored straight onto you of Jamie Carragher. People forget about this, because people always talk about Jamie Carragher when he spat at that child. Which he did. I want to go again. He spat.
01:10:20
Speaker
at a child. Just wanted to say that. But people forget actually, and I'm old enough to remember this, that about 20 years ago during a Liverpool versus Arsenal game at hybrid, Jamie Carrick, someone in the crowd for a coin, an Arsenal supporter for a coin, Jamie Carrick. And he picked it up and he threw it back at it, lobbed it as hard as he could back at the fan in the crowd.
01:10:41
Speaker
and someone sent me a video of that over the weekend, it was pretty funny. Gone to YouTube, Carriga throwing coin, Arsenal versus Liverpool, it was an FA Cup tie, I think it was like 2002, I think it was, it might be 2003, and it was so funny. Yeah, so Carriga Hall of Shame continues.
01:11:04
Speaker
But Henri's response to him was so good. He just looked at him like he was dealing with an insolent, petulant child and just told the truth and then moved on quickly with French arrogance. It was really, really entertaining.
01:11:20
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Right. Okay.
Closing and Upcoming Content Teasers
01:11:23
Speaker
That's all we have time for today. We'll be back Tuesday for Q&A episode, Wednesday for our interview with Joe Takapino, Thursday for
01:11:34
Speaker
our midweek review show. Lots and lots this week. The Q&A pod, as always, and the Thursday pod are for patrons only. If you want to become a patron, go to patreon.com slash TIFP and become one for $2.99 a month. But the Taiko Pina interview and the Monday shows, all the interviews will be put free for all.
01:11:57
Speaker
It'll be out on Spotify, iTunes, and Google Podcasts, and all those places. So please do make sure to hit a subscribe and give us the five-star rating. It really helps us to spread the gospel of Italian football that we love so much and drives us crazy. It sure does. Okay, thank you. Thanks everyone for listening. Have a great week. We will see you on Tuesday. Ciao, ciao.