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Free Weekly Episode - Kvaradona Wonder Goal For Napoli, Inzaghi At Risk After Inter Humiliation, Rabiot Controversy For Juventus & Much More (Ep. 305)
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From Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's Maradona goal as Napoli cruise to Serie A title, Simone Inzaghi at risk of losing Inter job after Spezia flop, Rabiot shines as Juventus win in cloud of controversy, to Roma losing their heads and the match as well as Lazio dropping points and Champions, Europa and Conference League previews and much, much more as Nima and Carlo break down another eventful weekend in Italian football.
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Benefits
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast. Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the Italian football podcast. I'm Carlo Garganese, joined as always by Nima Tavalli. We're going to be reviewing the weekend Serie A action, a lot of controversy, a lot of shock results.
00:00:23
Speaker
A lot of drama and also one moment of absolute genius to talk about today. And we're also going to be previewing the Champions League action into Ann Napoli, trying to join Milan in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, plus previewing the Europa League action and Europa Conference League action on Thursday this week. So it should be a really, really good show.
00:00:52
Speaker
For all our first time listeners, this is our free weekly episode, which we do every Monday, reviewing the weekend Serie 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, we do throughout the week, including a weekly Q and A episode every Tuesday, where we answer all your questions that you sent in from our patrons, plus the weekly Thursday midweek review show, plus interviews, post-match reaction and much, much more.
00:01:18
Speaker
then go to patreon.com slash T-I-F-P and become a subscriber for just $2.99 a month plus VAT. And if I can just ask for all of those who are listening on Spotify, on iTunes, on Apple Podcasts, we'd really, really appreciate them if you left us a five-star rating and give us a follow and subscribe to us. It really helps us grow and spread the gospel of Serie A and Italian football.
00:01:45
Speaker
Okay, then, so lots to talk about today. Let's get straight into it.
Kladakzkalia's Rise and Comparisons
00:01:50
Speaker
Okay, right, let's start off with the moment of the weekend. It is that man, again, Krikja Kladakzkalia, Kladadona, who scores, I don't know if it's the goal of the season. It's certainly up there. It was a moment of genius. Nil Nil against Atalanta into the second half, and he scores,
00:02:14
Speaker
I think it will go down as a legendary goal for his career, what he's becoming a legendary Napoli career, and he's still only in his first season. Yeah, it was a goal worthy of Maradona, and that is not something I say lightly, is what Luciano Spelletti said of the goal. So, Nima, I mean, what was your reaction to that Cavada goal against Atalanta?
00:02:40
Speaker
No, he's a superstar. He's a player who's come to the Serie A and he's completely exploded on the international stage as well as the Italian stage because goals like that, it's not just one thing, it's repeatedly with him. He's a serial offender in that aspect. He always does these things where he can dribble with both feet, he can shoot with both feet,
00:03:05
Speaker
He can beat his man. You never know where he's going. He has such a low center of gravity. His technique is absolutely fantastic. And the goal showed that when he comes with the ball at his feet with speed and space to attack, it doesn't matter how many defenders are in front of him. He will more often than not beat them and pull their pants down for everyone to see. It's just unbelievable.
00:03:33
Speaker
He does everything so quickly. The time it takes for him to dribble, control, and shoot, it's so much quicker than anyone else right now in world football. He's unique. He really is a unique player.
00:03:54
Speaker
I I I thought he was special when I saw him when I saw him against for Georgia against Sweden I in the beginning of the season he promised so well but I don't think I really didn't expect him to play
00:04:07
Speaker
with such maturity and keeps taking these steps time and time again, these leaps of quality, as they say in Italy, he keeps doing that time and time and time again, week in, week out. And that's what you need to do if you're going to be a world-class player. And I would say he is a world-class player. There's no doubt about that. How good he can be. I mean, as I've said, he has the raw talent. What we've seen, if he continues to develop like this,
00:04:33
Speaker
He's right up there with them for Ballon d'Or discussions, no doubt. Yeah, I mean, there was eight men in the box. It was a great photo, which reminded me actually, funnily enough, of a famous photo, although it was a different move, that it was
00:04:51
Speaker
Maradona himself for Argentina against Belgium. I think it's from the 1982 World Cup, where he's got like eight players, eight Belgian players, or I'm not sure how many it was then in front of him. Remember that famous image of them? They're all there. It's like all of them lining up to try and stop Maradona. And there was this great photo of Clara in this sequence against the Atalanta, where there's like eight Atalanta players within, you know,
00:05:19
Speaker
walking close distance to him, close proximity to him. And yeah, he just twists and he turns and he sends them all the wrong way, and then all the wrong way again. And then I think, was it Rafael Tolo? If you watch him after the ball hits the back of the net, he basically does the splits and Musso dives the wrong way. Musso didn't even know which way the ball was going. I mean, he just
00:05:42
Speaker
no one has a clue what he's going to do. That's how special it is because he can go left, he can go right, he moves it so quickly, he thinks so quickly, he can, you know, he's magical and he's been compared to a lot of players but he certainly, that goal reminded me very much of a young Roberto Baggio and again it's a different goal but that goal that
00:06:03
Speaker
that Badjo scored against Czechoslovakia in the Italian 90, which was a different goal because Badjo's goal came from the halfway line. He took the ball from the halfway line, whereas Clara, when he received it, he received it much, much closer to goal. But the way that he kind of twisted one way, then the other, and then sent the goalkeeper the wrong way, the finish was in some ways similar to that. And so, yeah, he does remind me. I think for me, he is the most similar player
00:06:30
Speaker
that we've had to Badgeo. I can't think of someone stylistically who is as similar as Badgeo, a young Badgeo though. Badgeo when, you know, Badgeo at Italian 90, kind of that age, 23, I think Badgeo was at Italian 90. Collada, I think he's 22 now. So no one has reminded me as much of Badgeo as Clara does. And George Best as well, he reminds me very much like George Best.
00:06:54
Speaker
he's got the hair and the beard, the kind of scruffy features of the Georgia best a little bit as well. But yeah, he said, what a joy, what a joy to watch. This is why we watch football. This is why, you know, we love football. It's for players like this. They take you off the, they put you on the edge of the seat. And, you know, I jumped up, I was watching it with an happily friend of mine. And, you know, we just, we just jumped up, not because we were celebrating,
00:07:20
Speaker
Napoli scoring. We were jumping up and celebrating because it was just what an amazing goal. You celebrated the genius of it. And he goes on and on. He's got 13 goals and 15 assists now for Napoli, which is unbelievable. In all competitions, it just goes on and on with him. He's unbelievable. 28 games. He's got a goal contribution a game and he's playing as a wide forward.
00:07:48
Speaker
That's incredible, as a white forward. We know that he's a Real Madrid fan. He dreams of going to Real Madrid. And Real Madrid already can tell that they've already started with Guti in social media applauding him. And he said Guti was his favorite player. No, look, he's going to Real Madrid at some point. The question is, I don't think he's going in the summer. I think maybe the summer after that.
00:08:16
Speaker
because I think that Osseman is the one that they will probably have to cash in on, or Kim and Jay, which we're going to get to, which means that they don't have to sell. Also, with Real Madrid, Vinicius Jr. plays the same position, so it's kind of like... But having said that, though, and this is what I think makes Clara so special, is that I think he's so good that I think he could change position. I think he could easily become a central player. I think in a 4-3,
00:08:41
Speaker
Yeah, maybe not in 4-3-3, but I guess it depends on the system and the manager. I think in a 4-3-3, if you have M.B.P.H.M. and Vinicius, you can have the three of them just move position and change positions however you want. You don't need to worry about that. In the fluid system, yeah. The fluid system, the 4-3-3 with those three up front as wingers and central and positional movements, because we know that this is what Caratrela likes doing as well. He likes to cut in centrally as well. So, and Vinicius does that as well.
00:09:09
Speaker
I have no doubt that in a 4-2-3-1, he could play as the central attacking midfielder in that, because we've seen him. He problem-stoles during games. When he's having a hard time out on the left, he comes in in the centre like he did against Frankfurt in the first leg of the Champions League, where they were double marking him in the first half and he wasn't doing anything. Second half, he was coming inside into the centre, but when he does that,
00:09:29
Speaker
The other piece of genius from this season, well, many moments of genius he's had now, this season where he did the back heel assist. He's a unique player. He really is a generational, unique player. There's no doubt about that. We're at the beginning of a long and beautiful career, hopefully, if he's injury-free. If he's injury-free, there's no doubt in my mind that this is with M. Bapé, with Haaland, these are the guys that are going to dominate football for the next decade.
00:09:59
Speaker
Yeah, no doubt about it.
Napoli's Defensive Strength
00:10:01
Speaker
Talking of dominant players and best players in the world in their position, Spelletti said at the end of the game, he was quoted as saying that for me, Kim Min Jae is truly the best centre back in the world. This comes after a game in which he was absolutely monstrous. He actually went off injured with a little bit of worry.
00:10:23
Speaker
had he suffered a muscular injury, it was the same injury he did that he was suffering with in the World Cup of South Korea. In the end, it seems like he's okay, thankfully, because he's absolutely irreplaceable for Napoli and no doubt about it. But he was absolutely, he was a monster again in this game. So what do you think of that quote from Spoletti? Is he the best centre back in the world?
00:10:46
Speaker
I think he's definitely the most informed central defender in the world, one of the most informed. I think we've seen quite a lot. I think Ruben Diaz, Saliba, there's lots you can say. Saliba has been amazing this evening. I mean, he's been absolutely fantastic. But I think right now he's probably the most informed and he's been consistently the most important for his team.
00:11:11
Speaker
I think, especially in the Serie A, I think if you look at other players that have been consistent, he's also been very consistent with someone like Chris Malling. He's been very consistent, but he doesn't have the highs that Kim Min Jae does.
00:11:26
Speaker
You know, there's limitations to Chris Morling's game, even though I think he's been fantastic. Kim and Jay has has an extra ceiling and extra gear. And, you know, I think one thing I want to really want to say is he should not play in a back three. This is a back four defender. He's not quick enough to play in a back three. And I think if you if he when he leaves, if he leaves, if he decides to leave because of the claws that we're going to talk about,
00:11:52
Speaker
I think he needs to take that into consideration. I think he would be ruining his career if he were to go to a back three. I honestly think he needs to play in a back four and this kind of a team. There, I think he's very, very dangerous.
00:12:07
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't say he's slow. I mean, you don't see him get him done for pace, but that's because he reads the game so well. I mean, he is, apart from his pace, I think he has everything else. There's no other weaknesses in his game. He's absolutely the complete defender. And again, I repeat, he's not slow. He's just not.
00:12:25
Speaker
He just doesn't have the lightning pace of some of these other defenders, like Sallybeth, for example, or Van Dijk when he was at his best, or some of the others. Thiago Silva, I think, is very quick as well. Thiago Silva when he was young was very, very quick. He doesn't have the pace, but he's everything else.
00:12:48
Speaker
his reading of the game, his aggression in the aerial. He's unbelievable. He's a monster in the air. I think that's the most impressive part. The way he completely dominates in both phases aerially is just wow. It feels like he's never lost an aerial challenge.
00:13:10
Speaker
That's the feeling you get when you watch him. I was looking up his stats. This is insane. Let me read out his stats in Serie A this season. He's won the most defensive challenges in all of Serie A this season among all players. He's won the second most aerial challenges in Serie A after Zürich, who's a striker. He's the most aerial challenges for a defender in Serie A.
00:13:34
Speaker
the most interceptions in Serie A. So again, the way that he reads the game, but he does that, if you watch him, the way that he reads the game, both as a presser, because obviously that's the type of football that Napoli played, they press and they press high and they try and win the ball back quickly. He's very, very good at reading the ball and getting there in front of his defender, but also
00:13:55
Speaker
saw this a lot in the Frankfurt first leg, the way that sometimes he takes a step back when the other teams are attacking and then he reads the game to sweep out the danger, almost like a sweep, but also to come across into the channels and sweep and intercept the ball there as well. His reason the game is magnificent. And he also has the most ball recoveries in Serie A as well among all players. I mean, it's a basic virtually a clean sweep in every single
00:14:22
Speaker
every single key defensive metric. He basically sweeps up everywhere. So he is statistically, but also just just watching him play. He is the he's a monster. That's his nickname, isn't he? He's a monster. He is a monster. I mean, and also the way that Napoli play with the high press and all these players, all their traits together just make Napoli. It's all coming together. They all just suit each other. And Spaletti has been able to get the best out of everyone.
00:14:50
Speaker
And they turned it into this unit. Of course, you have individual brilliance, as we have with Quara, with Kim and Jae, with Anguissa, with all these players, or Siman, etc. But for me, it's the totality of the team of how Spaletti has built this team in such a short space of time.
00:15:10
Speaker
getting all of the best qualities of all these players and creating this incredible machine that is 18 points clear in the Serie A.
Inter's Challenges and Criticisms
00:15:22
Speaker
And I said a few months ago that I think they're going to clinch it on match day 32 at home to Salah Nithana. Stand by that. I think match day 32 against Salah Nithana is when they're going to
00:15:31
Speaker
April. Is that in April? It's still in April then? Yeah, still in April. End of April. It depends. I mean, the fiction of this hasn't been set yet. It depends on everyone else it does. I mean, everyone else as we'll come to, everyone else has dropped in points, including Inter, who, I mean, I can't believe they lost this game. Oh, one can.
00:15:49
Speaker
No one can. Because if you watch that game, inter-dominate every aspect of that game from start to finish. Tactically, they were sound, they did everything right. They created enough chances, more than 3.97 XG. I mean, I mean, what do you want? What else do you want? It's it's it's clearly that this is
00:16:18
Speaker
This was a self-inflicted wound. These are on the players. I know we're going to talk about Inzaghi. This is not on Inzaghi. Even the most avid Inzaghi critic was like, no, this is not. Was this more bad luck? No, this isn't bad luck. Was this bad luck and bad finishing? No, it's not. It's not bad luck and bad finishing. It's got nothing to do with that. It's got to do with the complicating life for yourself, which Inter are intergalactic champions of. And Laotaro Martinez, look, we need to talk about this.
00:16:46
Speaker
We need to have a conversation. Is Lautaro Martinez a luxury player? Because a luxury player at Inter can't afford to have. And what do I mean by that? If he's going to be the main guy, the main striker at Inter, he can't miss.
00:17:03
Speaker
So many penalties. He scored four of his seven last penalties. He had so many sitters where he shot straight at the goalkeeper. He made Drankovsky look like a world-class keeper, which he is not. And he does this all the time. You saw in the World Cup again, like he's not
00:17:18
Speaker
We're not talking about a 19, 20-year-old here. We're talking about a mid-20-year-old player who's at the peak of his career, and he continues to be wasteful and not clinical and unable to be the main guy. At Argentina, Messi's the main guy. When Inter want trophies, the Serie A, Lukaku was the main guy.
00:17:39
Speaker
I don't think he can be the main guy. I don't think he can be that prima punta. It's obvious that he's not. It was Fool's gold, what we saw last season towards the end. Because now here we are back again, talking about the same thing, same thing over and over and over again. Lautaro Martinez needs eight chances to score one goal.
00:17:59
Speaker
And it's not always like that, though, because he does have some games where he's incredibly clinical and he scores incredibly difficult chances. You think that is, you know, that is the finishing and the ruthless finishing of a world class. But then he goes through and we always talk about we've said before about him being patchy. It will score eight goals and eight games, then it won't score for the next eight games. We know that already. But I also find that we're talking about this.
00:18:20
Speaker
We're talking four out of seven blast penalties. Well, that's a different thing, that penalties, as a penalties, he shouldn't be taking the penalties. That also comes down. I also blame Zaggy with that, that, you know, you should have a clear hierarchy. You do not take the penalties not sorry anymore.
00:18:35
Speaker
you know, he should he should no way he should be stepping up to take that penalty. But I mean, talking now Laotard in general, he gives me the same feelings of confusion that Inter do. Well, this is what I mean. What do I exactly what I mean? He is he a luxury player that Inter can't afford to have because if Inter we can't afford to have players,
00:18:54
Speaker
on who we build up, and we build the club around, we give him the captain's armband, we do all of these things, and he can't deliver. He's not delivering consistently at the level that he needs to do. He scores wonder goals, which he does, and I think as a second striker, I think there are few better than him in the world. But he's supposed to be the main man at Inter now for two seasons, and he simply can't shoulder it. He just can't. He's not doing it. And he's missing too much.
00:19:23
Speaker
just to play devil's advocate. I mean, he scored 30 over 30 goals in the last three seasons, not including this one. And he's well on track to do that again this season. So which tells you exactly exactly exactly which again shows that he's not scoring enough because if you look at the number of chances he misses, if you look at sitters that he misses, when if you look at an important situations when he's supposed to deliver week in week out in decisive moments, he's not doing that.
00:19:53
Speaker
And this is what I mean about, what is Lautaro Martinez? The fact that he's a world-class footballer, there can be no doubt. But is he a luxury that Inter can't afford in the situation they are? Because Inter needs someone who scores, who wins games, week in, week out, when he gets a chance, he scores it. And he doesn't do that. I think what this shows is
00:20:15
Speaker
I think this shows that he needs somebody next to him that will guarantee a number of goals. Well, that's what I mean. When Lukaku was there in the first two seasons, well, not the first two seasons, Lukaku's first two seasons at Inter, you know, OK, Lautaro scored a lot of goals, but he was still incredibly patchy. But that didn't matter as much because he had someone next to him that would score a lot of goals. Well, that's exactly what I mean. And take the pressure off him during those moments where he is inconsistent, whereas that isn't
00:20:42
Speaker
the case now. So I do still think he's an incredibly... He's the second top scorer in Serie A. I mean, you know, however many you miss, you have to give credit for that. But I just... Well, that's what I'm doing. And this is my point, that he's a, you know, is he a luxury that Inter can't afford? Because he's supposed to be the main man at Inter. Clearly, he's not shouldering that.
00:21:04
Speaker
And when I mean you need a main man, I mean you're the main man that wins you important games and trophies. La Tana Inter was the main man. He carried Inter. La Tana was not able to carry Inter. That's my point. If he were able to carry Inter, we wouldn't be having this conversation. There's very few players that can...
00:21:22
Speaker
that can do what Libra did, I mean, that can carry a team. If you were to get rid of Lautaro, who would you get? I mean, you would need two strikers, wouldn't you? You'd need to buy two new strikers. No, well, that's exactly it. I'm not saying get rid of him. I'm saying that these discussions need to be had. And if those discussions need to be had, then the right choices need to be made, meaning he can't be the main man. He can be a captain in a supporting attacking role, but he cannot be the main man in attack. It's as simple as that. And that leads us nicely into Simone and Zaghi as well,
00:21:52
Speaker
because this is, again, the game against Spezia is not where it went wrong at all. Let me pose the question outright then, because a lot of Inter fans are talking about this right now. Should Inter consider replacing Zaghi at the end of the season?
00:22:13
Speaker
I think you need to have the conversation, but the question becomes, okay, get rid of Inzagi, he's got a contract until 2025, you have a financial difficulty, who are you going to replace him with? So you're going to pay him until 2025, you're already in a situation with wages and finances because of, you know, sooning. So who are you going to bring in? Who can you bring in? Who can you afford to bring in? That can do it better.
00:22:42
Speaker
And if you say Tiago Mota, I'm leaving the room because that's ridiculous. Yeah, well, of course, as a human Tino, you want that because you'll get your interval finish 10th and league 90 goals. So it's as simple as that. But at the same point,
00:22:59
Speaker
I really look around and I'm thinking, no, he should not be at risk. He really needs to become more assertive. Look, I have no doubt tactically about how he reads games, how he prepares for them. His in-game management can improve, of course, but I have no doubts about the tactical side of things. What I have a doubt, big, big question marks is,
00:23:26
Speaker
how he controls the group, how assertive he is with the group. And I'll give you an example. After that game against Spezia, he's asked about penalty takers. Exact same situation three years before with Antonio Conte in his first season.
00:23:42
Speaker
There's penalties being missed, Lautaro misses, Alexis misses, Lukaku's on the pitch. When that happens, he comes out and says, we're going to have a conversation about this and we're going to decide the hierarchy. That's what Konta says. Inzaghi comes out and goes on a long tirade about how we have two world-class penalty takers. We haven't decided who's going to take it. This was the first time that they were both on the pitch. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. No, no, no, no.
00:24:08
Speaker
Romelu Lukaku has 13 out of 13. Inza is Lautaro Martinez has 4 out of 7. There is no discussion here. What are you doing? Stop talking nonsense. Go out there, say we're going to have this conversation privately and then we'll come back to it.
00:24:23
Speaker
but be assertive. He's not assertive. He thinks he doesn't understand that he's a coach. I understand that you have different kinds of leadership where you have leadership, that is, you're one of the guys, you're one of the teammates. I get that. But he seems to literally think that he's one of the players in the squad.
00:24:41
Speaker
in terms of how he leads this group, and it's not going to work. It isn't working, and he's throwing away points, and he's throwing away his career this way, because everyone is watching this. You can play as beautiful football as much as you want, but if you don't know how to control a group, then it's going to go like this.
00:25:02
Speaker
And it's frustrating. It's incredibly frustrating. No, I agree 100% on him not being assertive enough. That was the point I was making before about the penalty takers. You make it clear this is your hierarchy. You can't have players deciding on the pitch. That needs to be absolutely clear cut before you go onto the pitch. Who is the penalty taker? There should be no, it shouldn't even be a discussion. But there's also another thing I wanted to discuss as well.
00:25:27
Speaker
Look, the problem, this is Inter, why you can't figure Inter out is because we have a weak management, a weak ownership, we have no structure. How many players are on expiring contracts at Inter and are leaving in the summer? How many of those players that have contracts that even go past this summer are even certain of staying?
00:25:49
Speaker
You can't run a football club like this. It's not sustainable. That's what happens when you're on your ship. The ownership is in limbo. That's what happens. It breeds uncertainty. It's all it does. And that can seep onto the pitch as well. Of course it is. And it has. And it is doing. From Handana, which is D'Ambrosio, to Galliardini, to Lukaku, to Jeko. I mean, come on.
00:26:13
Speaker
And the players that have long-term contracts, well, they know, as Bergomi Seriezteri on Skyclub Culture, he said, you win the Seria, and instead of building on that, what you do instead is go into this discussion about how to cut.
00:26:31
Speaker
What are we talking about? This is a waste of time and talent and money. And it all comes down to Suning. All of it. Every single thing. That's the root heart. Look, as long as these guys are there, as long as Suning are there, Inter are going to sink into mediocrity slowly but surely. It's like watching a collapse in slow motion.
00:26:53
Speaker
And Tiago Mota, Ivan Urich, look, I don't know how many coaches are going to burn out the way Chelsea eats coaches, the way Zamparini used to eat coaches, because that's the situation we're in. This isn't just a leadership issue from the coach. This is a this is a lack of coherent project and clarity throughout.
00:27:16
Speaker
It still is bizarre. When I look at just the results, again, the record against the smaller clubs versus the bigger teams, beating Napoli, Barca and drawing to Barca away and Milan beating them twice, Atalanta twice, beating Porto just the other week and then losing to Spezia.
00:27:38
Speaker
It's just insane. Bologna, Empoli, drawing with Sampdoria, drawing with Monza. It's inexplicable. The thing that pisses everyone off, and I agree with, is that if they had only delivered normal results against Monza, Sampdoria, Bologna, Empoli, they'd be two points behind Napoli. Yeah.
00:27:56
Speaker
which is, again, this funny thing. I do think they've been a little bit unlucky. I do think they've been a little bit unlucky. I'm looking at the X points table and their expected points is five behind Napoli, just over five, 5.2 behind Napoli. I mean, obviously, there's other ways of looking at that, the fact that
00:28:15
Speaker
Napoli have got two world-class attackers in Klada and Osman means that they're going to... Clinical. Yeah, and world-class players will stop. They're going to turn expected points is going to be higher because they've got world-class attackers. I mean, so there is that. But I do think Inter have been a little bit unlucky. I mean, this game
00:28:37
Speaker
27 shots they had in the game. 13 corners to one, 69% possession, 3.97 XG, especially had a non penalty XG of 0.24. I mean, it's just, I think this was one of those games in isolation. This is just one of those games.
00:28:55
Speaker
Yeah, but it's just, it's a combination of everything at once, not just one ingredient. This shitty stew has many ingredients. And one of them is players that aren't good enough, namely like Denzel Dumfries. He has no football brain or IQ whatsoever. It's dead. He is brain dead football. He need to rescue the point.
00:29:18
Speaker
Oh, really? Nearly, did he? Oh, nearly. He also gave it away two minutes later by the most asinine challenge that I think I've ever seen someone do at that point. It's like the man has no body control. He has no control over his body parts. It's not the first time he's done something stupid as well. Remember against Barcelona earlier in the season? He almost threw that game away as well, with a stupid challenge with that one.
00:29:43
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, this guy, look, you sell Hakeemie and you bring Denzel Dumfries. Nothing is a better example of what is wrong with Suning's running of this club than that. You sell Hakeemie, you replace with Denzel Dumfries. You reap what you saw.
00:30:02
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, true. I mean, the other thing I should mention is Inter's away form this season is their seventh in Serie A for away form, which is obviously just not good enough, especially when before the Napoli-Atalanta game, obviously Napoli had the game in hand, Inter had the best home form in all of Serie A, and now it's Napoli, only by two points.
00:30:28
Speaker
But away from home, so bad this season. Twenty-four goals conceded away from home this season. That's the third worst in Serie A. Twenty-four conceded. So when you see that, you can talk, you know, I've spoken about the bad luck. Well, you can't be unlucky all the time having the away record.
00:30:49
Speaker
It can be in some cases, but an eight defeats already this season after 26 games. That's definitely not acceptable. Whatever's going on and off the pitch with the squad. Absolutely unacceptable. And this is why that is that is ultimately it is on Zagit's on all of them. But yes, it is on him. But I don't absolve any of them. I don't absolve a single person. I don't between hand down of it. And that's another thing. Why is Inter the only club in the history of football where the goalkeeper is
00:31:19
Speaker
The selfish, perfect team that needs to rotate. I mean, what are you doing? Use your brains here. There is nothing to gain by rotating Handanovic and Onana. Nothing to gain. And if you want to, if you want to play Handanovic because he wants to feel part of the group, I get that. Then you don't do it away from home. You do it at home where you know you're mentally much more stable. And even if you were to make a stupid mistake, there's time and your team reacts to it. You don't do it away from home in a must win game. No one will thank you for it.
00:31:48
Speaker
Goalkeepers don't need to be rotated. It's got nothing to do with that. He's talking bullshit when he says stuff like that. Physically, you don't need to rotate a goalkeeper. Everybody knows that.
00:32:04
Speaker
Carla, everybody knows that. Simona knows that as well. And that's another thing of his communication. Saying stupid shit like that, that we wanted to give Onana a rest. A rest from what? Standing still? Like, what are you talking about? He doesn't need any rest. This is not about that. It's about that you need to keep everyone happy in the dressing room and maintain the peace. I get that. All right. I get that. But it comes back to the assertiveness and also the decisions. Why? If you know that you struggle away from home, then do not rotate the goalkeeper away from home.
00:32:32
Speaker
Why are you making life difficult for yourself? Make it easy. Start handout against Letche at home. You don't need to play on Ana then, if you want to do that thing. Do you see what I'm saying? He makes these stupid schoolboy errors.
00:32:47
Speaker
And it's like he's throwing away his career here at Inter by making those things. Because when you rotate Handanovic in, no one's going to thank you. It's an unnecessary risk. If you win, no one's going to thank you. But if you lose, people are going to throw the book at you. Come on.
00:33:04
Speaker
Nice, I agree. The last thing I want to say on Inter is, and this was my biggest conclusion from this game, is Inter, there's no doubt whatsoever now that Inter need to buy a new partner for Lautaro. I mean, that might be obvious to most fans already, but I think it's been proven conclusively now.
00:33:25
Speaker
We thought maybe that goal that Lukaku scored against Porto in the first leg might give him that little jolt. No one expected him to become the Lukaku that we saw in his first spell, but at least it would unblock him. He might start playing better at least. Well, no, he hasn't. He's finished at this level. I said he was finished at the top level. I'm starting to wonder if he's even finished at this level.
00:33:52
Speaker
Look, he can't deliver. I mean, Morati said today, it's like what we're in April now or in March, we're in mid-March now, and already he looks slow and unfit. What are we doing here? Well, I saw there's a great quote from Christian Vieri. He says, he says, I would be top scorer if I played in Serie A in this inter-team. Yeah, I think you would. And I don't think that's too much of an exaggeration because I think you look at how many chances inter-create in these games that they've lost.
00:34:19
Speaker
And they've just had, you know, they've had 20 to 30 shots in most of these games that they've lost to the small teams. You know, and that is a problem for me, that is what is definitely that is a problem on the attackers not putting the chances away. There is other issues which we've spoken about. But at the bottom line is, if their attackers had put the chances away in these games, these stupid losses that they've had,
00:34:40
Speaker
They would have won, not all of them, but they probably would have won at least half of those games. So that's one of the attackers for me. As it turns out, eating Jeko at 37 is not the way to go. Who knew? And by who? I mean anyone who has a functioning brain. I mean, come on. What are we doing here? It's a slow decline.
00:35:03
Speaker
I want to give a shout out though to one player from Spezia. If he plays for him, he's everything at Spezia that Inter wanted Lukaku to be. Yes, I was going to say he's got the same kind of build as Lukaku. Work rate.
00:35:24
Speaker
He was a monster in this game and he was totally isolated for most of the game because Inter was so dominant territorially in possession. And he worked so hard. Yeah, his work rate with a job he did in holding up the ball. And he's a penalty taker as well.
00:35:39
Speaker
but bringing others into play. I mean, we've spoken about, I mean, you know, we talk about Lukaku, we've spoken a lot about Wlawicz recently about how bad his hold-up play has been with his back to goal. Well, you know, this was a lesson from Unzala of how you play when you're isolated, when you're playing counter-attacking, and you've got none of your teammates around you, just how to buy time, how to hold off defenders, how to disrupt the defense. And, you know, he was physically so strong. I mean, the first goal he barged
00:36:06
Speaker
a chair be off the ball, which is no mean feat. He's a strong guy, big guy, and then the assistant had to be Maldini, didn't it, to score the goal? I said it at half time on a space with it. I said, okay, he's coming on. Well, now we know he's going to score. The question is, how many are Inter going to score? I mean, it's just a classic. I mean, he scored twice this season, Maldini, on Inter and Milan.
00:36:28
Speaker
It's just crazy, isn't it? To any teams he scores against. But Unzala, he's been fantastic all season. I mean, he's the third top scorer in Serie A this season. For such a poor team who creates so little, he scored more than half of Spezia's goals this season. Spezia scored 23 goals. Unzala scored 12 of them. He's also assisted in another two.
00:36:46
Speaker
And if Spezia do stay up, and I personally think that based on paper, the quality that they've got on paper, for me, they're not good enough to stay up on paper in looking at the player for player. I think there's three, I mean, there's not three better teams than them. So three worst teams in the division on paper. So Unzola, it's all down to him. He's scored seven in his last eight games. He's on absolute fire.
00:37:13
Speaker
No doubt about it, he is worthy of a much bigger club. I'm not saying he could play for a bigger club as a starter, but I think definitely as a backup at a bigger club, you know, if there's a fourth forward, I think he could do a job. I think he definitely could do a job.
00:37:27
Speaker
No, I agree. I think if he had played for Inter on that day, Inter would have won that game easily. For first of all, he would have taken both penalties. And secondly, he would have given them the oomph they need, the cutting edge, the power, the cutting edge up front that this Inter just doesn't have.
Juventus' Controversial Victory
00:37:49
Speaker
OK, right, let's move on to Juventus then. Another crime is a lot of thrillers this weekend, big golf scoring games. Juventus versus Sampdoria was another of them. First thing we have to talk about is the refereeing controversy. 2-2, Rabio scores a goal to make it 3-2, where the ball, I'm going to say hits his hand, but I'm going to ask you first, hits his hand and he volleys it in. It was a definite handball for me.
00:38:19
Speaker
Yeah, the goal gets given. You go first. It's a handball. Like, what are we talking about here? Like, you know, and I love when people, you know, it's like, oh, but from that angle, well, actually, if you look at the ball, you see that if you look at from that angle from behind, you see that
00:38:37
Speaker
And you see that Rabio's arm, and there's a distance between his arm and his body, so you can actually see through that. Now, if the ball hits his chest, you would have seen the ball between his arm and his body. You don't do that. You see it hit his, what do you call it, shoulder and then down on his arm.
00:38:58
Speaker
as for the definition of if I bought a handball is anything down from your shoulder that that's a hand. So it's it's it's it's ridiculous that it's not given. And it's it's a clear handball. It's not it's not nothing at all. You know, if that is, you know, if that yes, that maybe is his that that can only be his chest if he's built like Lulu Ferrari from the front. Google who that is.
00:39:23
Speaker
Okay. Or that trans teacher in Canada. I was just going to say the Canadian teacher who got fired for being inappropriate. I mean, come on. We're at the level now. She was suspended. I think she was suspended.
00:39:40
Speaker
No, they did. It was something about inappropriate, which I don't want to, you know, go Google it and you'll understand why. But regardless, like, come on, we were talking basic anatomy here. That is not his chest. That is his arm and his biceps. And unless, you know, he's got some sort of weird thing that only happened in that moment.
00:40:03
Speaker
It's a Zarm. It's nothing to talk about. It's a scene. It's a complete... It's just disgraceful, the whole situation. It really is. And I'm going to expand on this. I'm going to expand on this. Look, anyone using any basic logic can see that it's a handball. I mean, it's a definite handball. The problem is this. The referee didn't give it in live play, so the VAR checks. Now, every single TV station in Italy that's analysed this, it says the same thing.
00:40:30
Speaker
right? I'm not saying I agree with it. But they're explaining why this wasn't overturned. And the reason it wasn't overturned, and I think this is this is the biggest reason why this is a scandal is it was only one camera angle available, which is kind of how partly, partly from the side, partly from the back, right? Even from that camera angle, it looks
00:40:49
Speaker
To me, basic logic suggests and tells you that it's a handball. But, because his arm ripples, which suggests it's a handball as well. Occasionally, there can be an illusion there sometimes. But anyway, basic logic tells you it's a handball.
00:41:04
Speaker
And what all the TV stations be saying, Sky said it on the culture club and everything is it's not 100%. The VAR team will have looked at that. So it's not 100% conclusive, conclusive from that one angle for it to be clear and obvious enough to turn that decision around. They will say that you need to have another camera angle from the front that shows it from, you know,
00:41:21
Speaker
The biggest scandal in this is, why on earth have we only got one camera angle? I don't understand that. At the event of Stadium, one of the newest built stadiums, there's only one camera angle? Yeah. This is the big scandal here. Because if there is more camera angles, which there should be, otherwise, why have we got this technology? Who are we paying all this money to have this technology? Why is this only a problem at the event of Stadium? Why do we have different camera angles? Because we have the same thing with the Selena Itana Institute.
00:41:50
Speaker
Which was like, you went to stadium. I mean, this is insane. How is a modern stadium like that? It's one of the most newly built stadiums in Italy, and it's a modern stadium. How does that not, I mean, come on. Because I mean, if we have this upper camera angle, which we should have, then it removes any 0.00001% technicality of a doubt, which they can use to not give this handball away, because we see this a handball. But they're using that as the reason why, because they're saying it's not
00:42:17
Speaker
conclusive. I disagree with that. I think logic tells you it's a handball, but they're using, obviously, a technicality to not give it. I think- At least after the Salenitana incident, they changed things so that that would never happen again with a semi-automatic offsite, right? I would never understand why if we've got a VAR system and they're obviously getting paid a lot of money for this, how on earth we can't have a basic camera angle, just to show you that.
00:42:42
Speaker
We're living in a big brother society where you can't even go out of your own house without being filmed. We can't even tell you to be in a football match where we're actually relying on it. It's a joke. Also, the other thing I would say is the Rabio reaction, I think, told the story as well.
00:42:59
Speaker
more guilty. Have you ever seen a guilty child do something they're not allowed to do? Like, he had that look of Well, no, the funny thing is, they teach you in Italy, not so much now, because you can't really get away with it, but they teach you in Italy that, you know, the way to con the referees is to like, never give away your guilt. He was like, he gave it away. He looked at it, he looked at the referee once, then he kind of sheepishly went away, and then he stopped and then he went for it.
00:43:24
Speaker
It was, he looked like a guilty, like literally like a child who'd been caught with his hand doing something he's not allowed to do. That look, but I mean, no, I thought it was, the VAR was a disgrace. I thought the referee was terrible, full stop. I mean, I didn't think the quadrada, okay, he missed the penalty, but I didn't think the quadrada one was
00:43:44
Speaker
was, okay, you might have touched him, but again, just because there's contact isn't a penalty, and we know quite rather likes to exaggerate. But he also got loads of small decisions. I know they do the small decisions don't matter in the big decisions that matter, you look at overall performance, loads and loads of small decisions, just just, you know, like a free kick or throw ins and things like that. He got so many of those wrong. I thought I thought this referee was just was out of his depth in this game. I thought he was really, really bad.
00:44:08
Speaker
It was Di Bello on VAR as well. It was like the perfect storm. It's harsh on Sampdoria because they've done so well to come back. Personally, I think Juventus would have gone on and won the game. I think so as well. They had nearly 30 shots, but it's harsh on Sampdoria. They've done so well to come back and they did show some
00:44:28
Speaker
They showed some fight, which we haven't really seen from them. But Juventus have been moving away from the referees. I mean, the Brexit football again, another three goals from set pieces and crosses, a goal from Bremmer from a corner, another goal from Rabio. His first goal was from a header from a cross.
00:44:50
Speaker
And then the final goal was off across, a rebound off across the Blauwitsch header, hit the bar and then Soulet put it in for his first ever Juventus goal.
00:45:00
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, Rabio, I think, yeah, have to give out a shout out to Rabio. I mean, he's the best season of his career and nine goals he's got this season. His best before this season was six. So, I mean, whatever you think of Rabio, he's not everybody's cup of tea, but, you know, you have to say he's having a fantastic season. He's having an absolutely fantastic season. If you're scoring nine goals, it's a midfielder. Just in and of itself, that is great.
00:45:24
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. No matter who it is. He's been great. And Kostich got another assist. 11 assists this season in all competitions for a wing back is brilliant. It's fantastic. I already read the stat out there the other week about there's only three players, isn't there, in the top five European leagues that have got more assists in the last few years. And that's Messi, De Bruyne and Thomas Muller, I believe, if I've got that correct. And yeah, he showed kind of how important he was.
00:45:52
Speaker
um negatives for Juventus um the Vlauvić, Vlauvić is like non non uh his kind of his crisis let's say goes on his five games without a goal I did think he was a bit better in his game though um after his penalty miss weirdly I thought he actually showed some fight and he was actually really unlucky not to score after that he's just um
00:46:14
Speaker
He's just going through a crisis at the moment and he just needs a goal. But I did think there was a few more positives in this game for Blavitch than there was. And also Juventus' defence, and we have to speak about this, Benucci. I mean, Juventus' defence, I mean, Sampdori had conceded
00:46:33
Speaker
sorry, had scored 11 goals all season before this game, which was the lowest in Europe's top five leagues. No other team had scored fewer goals than Sampdoria. Then they scored two in the first half and they had other big chances as well. I don't know what you thought in the end about Benucci. He looks, I mean, you're talking about finished, Lukaku finished. I mean, Benucci looks completely finished. I mean,
00:46:56
Speaker
Yeah. They should have let him go last summer. You know what I think about that. You know what I think. I think it was... I mean, he had his medical examination today. I don't know what the result... I haven't seen what the result showed, but his body can't play at this level anymore. I wonder if his body can play at all.
00:47:14
Speaker
at any level. He doesn't look like it, does it? He looks like you know when the legs go and it's like that you try and run and the legs aren't moving. The body's moving, the upper body's moving. The mind wants it, but the body can't carry it. He's done what he's gone done. You have quite a few injury woes. Kiezer, thank God, is not serious.
00:47:39
Speaker
but Bonucci, Aleksandro, look, they were decimated in this game. But then also which we're going to talk about Pogba. Yeah, just before we get to Pogba, I just want to single out one player for Sampdori Zanodi.
00:47:59
Speaker
I liked him too. From Napoli. He showed enough for me to suggest that he might even get back at Napoli. If he plays like he did against Juventus, he keeps up that level of performance. He might have a future at Napoli. No. OK, of course, Di Lorenzo is the first choice, but he's the first choice, but Di Lorenzo is 30 this year. So, you know, to know he's young, he's Italian, as a backup, as a squad rotation player, someone for the future. I mean,
00:48:27
Speaker
I was very impressed by Zanoni. Good going forward. Very quick.
00:48:34
Speaker
pretty solid one-on-one. I liked him. I liked a lot what I saw of him. So yeah, that was good. That was good to see. But yes, we do have to speak about Paul Pogba. We do have to speak about him because he sustained a muscular injury in training on the morning of events this match against Samp on Sunday. It's not yet clear how long he will be out for, but the initial
00:49:00
Speaker
prognosis is, he's had the test today, but we're looking at, it's a muscular problem, so it's going to be another month, we're thinking at least. So if he does come back in a month- He's not played anything this season, like what is the point of this? They completely, I mean, I don't blame him for the meniscus injury, I blame Juventus for how they handled that, although that was poorly handled. It was poorly handled by both parties, Pogba was as much as that to Juventus, he wanted the conservative treatment because he wanted to play at the World Cup, Juventus
00:49:26
Speaker
I guess weren't strong enough or weren't able to convince him to think to do what we should have done which was just you know what you're not going to play the World Cup but we're going to make sure you're back and but they didn't and he wanted and I blame both parties for that but absolutely he's made two appearances this season as a sub. Juventus can't afford this and given that he came on a free transfer they can actually let him go on a free transfer as well.
00:49:53
Speaker
So that's the problem. The problem is Nimr, he's on a four-year contract. So his contract runs out in 2026 and he's on 10 million a year. Yeah, I know. But I'm thinking he can continue his career with Cristiano Ronaldo and Saudi Arabia or somewhere else.
00:50:08
Speaker
Well that's the question then, should you Ventus look to try and get rid of him in the summer? You should be writing him off now, we're thinking that we've just got accepted. Look, I'm not talking about his ability. I think ability, what he can do is unique. But the body's not working. It's like Lukaku. When the legs go, their bodies are worn out. Their bodies aren't responding. It's not just that you've had this season. Look at the last six years.
00:50:37
Speaker
How many injuries is it now? I mean, it's getting ridiculous. It's written down there. He's missed 124 club games due to injury or illness since the start in four years. No, three and a half years, less than three and a half years. He's missed 120 games, 150 games. We've had five injuries this season. He's missed over 40 games this season. What are we discussing? I mean, what are we even talking about here?
00:51:05
Speaker
It was a gamble, it didn't pay off. He's a free transfer. Sometimes the heart rules the head though, doesn't it? The heart tells you that this has been such a talented player and it's still an incredibly amazing plan. Even in that little cameo in the Turin Derby, we saw some little things that he did then. The heart tells you, should we just hold on? Should we hold on? Can we hope maybe? But the head tells you, look at his injury record.
00:51:36
Speaker
Look, I would I would have still done the same thing because I think it would have been a gamble. It's worth the gamble for one season to see where he is. But now he's been here for that season. The problem is they've given him a four year. They gave him a four year contract. No, I get that. I get that. But I don't think that matters if you can find some if you can find the club. Yeah. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. That's the big it. I don't see. I think I think at this level now with his body, he can't play at the top in one of Europe's top five leagues. It's obvious he can't. His body can't take it anymore. Not the ability.
00:52:06
Speaker
I'm talking about his body who buys him now, then you do you think do you think Saudi Arabia MLS something like that? You don't think a top team buys him now who Who would in there like who in the right mind would go after Pogba now? Hmm and pay him what he wants given how much he wants and how much his contract is worth and and all that stuff Yeah, who would do it?
00:52:29
Speaker
And that's the issue, isn't it? With even Saudi Arabia do it? I think so. I think with them, it's different. He's Muslim, isn't he? Exactly. He's a Muslim. He's a practicing Muslim. They've been very open Saudi about this is the Ronaldo and all that as part of the World Cup. And they want to have a bid at the World Cup.
00:52:50
Speaker
I think he would be perfect to grow football there. And I think they would love him. I think he would love them. It would be great for Middle Eastern football. And he would be able to reboot without the pressures of playing in a U of A or Manchester United or something like that. And I think the question is, would he move there or will he? I mean, I see him not wanting to leave like this. I see him basically rejecting every move and staying at events this next season. He doesn't have to go anywhere. And he can say, you know what? I want to try and prove myself next season. I can easily see that.
00:53:20
Speaker
Yeah, it's sad. I do feel a little bit sorry for him too. I saw the video of him refusing to sign autograph for fans this morning. He just looked like he went to burst out crying. He looks so broken. So I do feel a bit sorry for him. He does love football.
00:53:37
Speaker
He does and he wanted to do well. I feel bad for him as well. I mean, it's not his it's not his fault I mean you can't you know, your body's your body. What are you gonna do? You know, it is what it is It's a sad situation but at the same time can't continue like this because you were can't afford to have a player on his wages Be this in this injured
00:53:56
Speaker
This is not working. They can't with the financial issues they have and the legal issues they have. Talking about falling apart, Roma, Roma absolutely used their heads. What the hell happened there? Talking about incredible games, I mean, this was, for the neutral, this was an unbelievable
Roma's Discipline and Leadership Issues
00:54:13
Speaker
game. This game had everything, seven gold thriller, it had controversy, it had red cards, it had penalties, it had
00:54:22
Speaker
teams hit in the woodwork, I had a chance, end-to-end stuff. It was, oh, what a game. What a game. I love watching this match. So that's the first thing to say is what an enjoyable game. But from Roma's point of view,
00:54:37
Speaker
I mean, NIMA, Roma's lack of discipline. And I'm sorry, I have to blame Mourinho for this. This all stems from Mourinho, this does. I mean, Kumbula, obviously, first of all, Kumbula has to take it on the chin. It was a moment of madness. It was a correct decision. Roma can complain about that. The thing that annoys me about that,
00:54:54
Speaker
The thing that annoys me about Kumbula is that he finally has a good week. He scores a header in the Europa League, an important win. Things are looking good. He gets the confidence again and then he starts again and then he does that. For me, it's not even an issue of bad discipline. It's also mental strength.
00:55:17
Speaker
You know, like, what kind of mentality do you have where you fall into, where you can't control yourself even at the slightest? It wasn't even that much of a, you know, it wasn't like Manchini on Keene where he pulls his dreads back. I mean, there wasn't really much in it at all. I mean, it was a little niggle from Pilate, but it wasn't much. It's just a moment of madness. He lost in this game. But I think that if we want to look at
00:55:42
Speaker
you know, the environment that Mourinho has created a Roma. I think he is partly to blame for this, because I think that Roma players and the fans, but Roma players were nervous throughout this game. I don't mean nervous as in they were scared. I mean nervous as in they were on edge, you know, in terms of their temperament, even before the Kumbula red card. And, you know, I don't think that how Roma behaved ahead of the game, the press silence,
00:56:07
Speaker
the white handkerchiefs from the fans, which probably would have gone with the blessing of the club, I would imagine, the creating the impression that they are being targeted, that there's this kind of conspiracy against them. Whatever you want to say about how Marina was treated, whether it was right or wrong, I just feel that she's created.
00:56:28
Speaker
I think that just this creative, you know, like I said, it made them feel nervous. I think Marino is proclaimed for this. You know, he wants to, I understand he wants to create this kind of bunker mentality, this us against the world. And then that has its advantages as well. But it also risks setting a bad example and creating a kind of in discipline on the pitch.
00:56:47
Speaker
You can do that. You can do that. You can do that if you have discipline. You can do that if you have disciplined players, if you have experienced players that know how to handle it. At Inter, famously, he had Javier Zanetti, Cambiaso Milito, Lucio Mica. At Chelsea, he had Drogba, Terry Lampard. He had a solid base of experienced older players who knew how to handle that. But it's Mourinho and the kids here.
00:57:16
Speaker
And these guys, it gets to their heads. And he needs to learn to not wind them up too much, because then stuff like this happens, because they're already pets. And you're a young player.
00:57:31
Speaker
It's the tension, it's the mental tension already when you're on strings, you're high strung, and then the tiniest little thing will set you off. I think he needs to understand that he can create an us against the world mentality, but you also have to teach them discipline.
00:57:50
Speaker
and composure and calm and to be in a good mental state, like in their headspace. And he's not managed to do that. Instead, he's come in there and is stoking the fire and winding them up to even get angrier. And it's like, well, that's not very hard. The Rover official got sent off as well.
00:58:07
Speaker
Yeah, I saw that. That made me laugh. That really made me laugh because I'm like, well, if they're running out of people to run the games now, they're going to have an empty bench because the players are going to have to do their coaching. It's not okay. But I got to say, though, for me, more than anything,
00:58:29
Speaker
Mil and Roma were they were overrun in midfield, overrun in midfield throughout this even before the red card, which I found really, this is again why I didn't have Roma finishing in the top four before Juve had their 15 point ban with because I think that those four, the Juve, Mil and Inter Napoli, they are head and shoulders above everyone else.
00:58:51
Speaker
And I think this is why I had Roma 5th now. The young lad, Bove, who I like. I like him technically. No, I like all of them. I think they've got lots of good young players and I like what they've got. But the issue is they don't have the depth, they don't have the experience and Mourinho is not helping.
00:59:10
Speaker
Well, you know what? Mourinho has said outright, hasn't he? He has to play his best team because when he rests players, this is what happens. And I guess... Well, he's right. I think he's actually right. And then when you say that, then I guess it's going to happen, isn't it? If you're turning your players... Yeah. And this notion, I don't know what he's... This Karsdorp thing needs, like, he needs to chill with that because you've made it clear that you don't believe in him, you want him to leave.
00:59:30
Speaker
But this notion of every, it's like Karzor got all the credit in the world to him for the loyalty and mental strength this guy is showing, turning up, week in, week out, fighting, playing, doing everything he can when the coach is literally demeaning him on a weekly basis in the media.
00:59:51
Speaker
It's getting too much. It's not a nice look. It's actually becoming quite tasteless. You know I love Mourinho and I don't think he's finished. I think he's got his eye on that Real Madrid job and I think Roma could be an upset. As I said before the season, I have them as a dark horse to win the Europa League because I think if they can avoid Arsenal over two legs in a final, they could do something. Well, it's a big week ahead for them now. It's a big week because they dropped out of the top four. I've just got to say. Milan think Salene Turner, they're out of the top four.
01:00:19
Speaker
Yeah, and I've just got to say that, like, just to finish that point, like, you know, I think Morigno, but he needs to take a little bit of responsibility here as well. He really does.
01:00:30
Speaker
No, he does. I think he's created the environment that's lit the fuse here and that's what's played out. We've got to talk about Dybala. We're talking goals of the season. What a goal that was. What an absolutely stunning little piece of genius that was. That is La Jolla when he's fit. And it's so ironic to me that Juventus are struggling with injuries and Dybala has not had that many injury problems and he's delivering as well.
01:00:57
Speaker
for Roman. And the same thing with Inter. I'm not absolving Inter here. He went after Romelu Lukaku. Congratulations. Think of what Dubalah could have done. He still had a few injuries, to be fair, but yeah, he's definitely done better than Lukaku and then some of the Juventus players, that's for sure. I just want to give a quick shout-out on the Sasuola side of things.
01:01:18
Speaker
to Lodiente and Berardi because they were absolutely magnificent, both of them, in this game. I think Lodiente has been one of the signings and one of the breakout stars of the season. I saw one of our Patreons sent us a tweet on this, didn't they, yesterday. And yeah, another two goal was a great assist for the Pinamonti goal, the way that he kind of got away from Maddy Kamara and slipped him through. I thought that was really, really good.
01:01:42
Speaker
He's one of the informed players in 2023, five goals in 2023 now, and he's got 13 goal contributions this season. I think that he can definitely play at a high level. He has that spark, he has that pace, that direct running, the goal threat, scores goals, makes goals. How far, how high he can go, I'm not sure. I don't know. It's hard to say because
01:02:03
Speaker
We've seen these kind of plays at Sassuolo in the past, and I do think that it is easy as an attacker to express yourself at Sassuolo because of the way they play. I think for an attacker, for attackers to express themselves at Sassuolo, it is a great place for attackers to develop Sassuolo. We've seen so many come through in recent years because of the way they play. So I don't know how far he can go, but he is wonderful to watch. And Beradi,
01:02:26
Speaker
exactly the same. And there was a moment in this game, which on any weekend would have been probably the moment of the weekend, but he was obviously quite scared. He took that, but his back he'll make on spin at sailor in the building. So beautiful. So beautiful. Now he was unbelievable. He made a couple of passes.
01:02:44
Speaker
that the timing of which and the vision of which was just so beautiful to see, that I was gasping Berardi. When he's like this, he's one of the best players in the Serie A, when he's in this mood.
01:03:00
Speaker
No, it was good. It was good to see him back to form. And also for Italy, because Italy had no forwards right now for the Euro qualifier. And now, I mean, again, Dionisio Sasseolo doing what Deserbe did at Sasseolo, I mean, delivering against the big team. What is it? Four goals away against Roma, five goals away against Milan.
01:03:22
Speaker
It's bizarre, isn't it, how they do so well against the big teams. But you know what, Cessuola and Fiorentina are hitting form now, and both of them. I mean, Cessuola are only three points behind the European place, which I don't know how that is even possible. But they were living like the other relegation zone, not just recently. It's very, very tight, very exciting, very exciting everywhere in Syria, apart from obviously Napoli running away with the title.
01:03:43
Speaker
You know, the top four race is incredibly exciting. The race for the Europa League and Conference League is incredibly tight. I mean, you know, there's so many teams that are in for that seventh place. Copritalia, I mean, it's, yeah, it's going to be a really exciting end of the season. And Sasualo have really hit form now. They've won three in a row. And when Berardi and Laurente are playing like this, then I do think that with those two stay fit, they can cause trouble to anyone. They are.
01:04:10
Speaker
Yeah, they're that good. Okay, so just quickly, Lazio, not much to say about this, Neil Neil at Bologna.
Serie A Mid-table and European Competitions
01:04:19
Speaker
Kind of what we predicted, beating Napoli, and we predicted that they'd probably slip up after that, at least to AZ and draw with Bologna.
01:04:29
Speaker
Yeah, no surprise there. The other results in Serie A this weekend, Empoli Neil, Eugeniezi 1, Lecce Neil, Torino 2, Cremonez, then Neil, Fiorentina 2, Fiorentina hitting good form now as well, Verona 1, Monza 1, Verona
01:04:44
Speaker
Yeah, they've had a dip now. They were starting to pick it up, so they've got a lot to do in the relegation race, bad weekend for them. Milan played so they didn't turn up. Torino against Lecce was an interesting one. I really enjoyed that. Yuric, doing Yuric things. I mean, if we're talking about how good Bologna is doing under
01:05:04
Speaker
under Thiago Mota, well, Torino is doing one bear, they're ahead of him on 37 points. And the thing is that, you know, 29 goals scored, 29 conceded, Juric. I mean, it's, and he's on 37 points. I mean, that's the kind of like maximum
01:05:22
Speaker
output that you can get from that kind of goal-scoring record. I don't think you could have got more than that. And they're in eighth, just to one point off. They've started scoring a few more now as well, Torino. Like Fiorentina as well, so then they both of those have kind of started scoring now, which obviously helps.
01:05:41
Speaker
Okay. Antonio, we'll talk about Antonio Conte on Thursday. We have plenty of time to talk about that, about him leaving Tottenham and where he could go next. Because that could be, depending on how Inter get on, that could be a possible option for Inter. So we'll do a little Champions League preview now. With what money? When people say Conte going to Inter, I'm thinking how are they going to pay him in monopoly money?
01:06:03
Speaker
What are they going to pay him? Speetsicle vouchers? What are they going to pay him in? I don't know. Well, the economy is collapsing anyway. All the banks are collapsing as we speak, so you don't know. Exactly. They'll be paying him in. I don't know. There's somebody else. Yeah. Chebysley. Speetsicle vouchers or something. Yeah. Porto Inter. Inter 1-0 up from the first leg. They're playing at Dragal. I think we said it. This is 50-50.
01:06:33
Speaker
Yeah, it's still 50-50. It's one good thing for Inter, one bad thing. Go since injured, definitely going to miss. Scrinyar trained with a group yesterday and today, partially. Partially. Yeah, probably going to train him. No.
01:06:52
Speaker
yesterday, partially. Today, I've not seen the reports fully yet, but I know you participated. Look, it's going to be tight. It's a back issue. I can't remember exactly the term for it, but it's a back issue where
01:07:08
Speaker
It's got to do with your vertebrae. But it's nothing serious. But he's gritting his teeth. And Gosens injured because he's his left calf. He had a minor strain. And that's another player. Again, three latest big money signings that I've made. Gosens Lukaku Koria.
01:07:33
Speaker
one injury disaster after another. He just can't get any consistency in them. Gossa's a shame because he's been good for the last three. He's played three games in a row and now he's injured. And he can't have that. Dimarco... Atavio is obviously suspended for Porto, but Porto's form hasn't been great since losing to Inter. They had won 10 in a row before that, but then they lost to Inter, then they lost to Jilbicente.
01:08:00
Speaker
And they weren't great at the weekend. They won 3-2 at the weekend. I know that Patrick Kendrick, our friend, when he listens to this and here you call them Gil Vicente, is going to throw a complete hissy fit over this. Gil Vicente. Something like that. I think that's how you pronounce it. Let us know, Patrick, please. I think Gil Vicente, something like that. We just slaughtered Portuguese. He's going to kill us both.
01:08:27
Speaker
I just had a quick comment on Porto's racism in their Twitter post. I don't know if that's racist. I don't know what that is. It's the most bizarre thing I have ever seen. You know, their own players have got like lasers shooting out from his leg.
01:08:41
Speaker
put a picture of an Italian with a moustache, carrying a pizza on a vessel. But have you seen the rest of the image? It's a racial stereotype for sure, but have you seen the rest of the image? It's like some six-year-old with issues that has taken over his dad's computer.
01:09:00
Speaker
It's the most insane graphic design I've ever seen. I burst out laughing. I was like, I don't even know what they're trying to say here. Their own players are shooting lasers. They've got their eyes, all of the players, they've got four players and they're shooting lasers out of their eyes. It just looks insane. It's genuinely one of the most bizarre photos I've ever seen. My favorite was one person commenting on that saying, graphic design is my passion.
01:09:27
Speaker
because I replied to that, because it was absolutely batshit. It was so funny. The other game is obviously Napoli, Tuna Luppert against Frankfurt, they're at home. A few players missing for Frankfurt, Colin Moani suspended, Jesper Lindstrom.
01:09:45
Speaker
So Napoli in a good position there. Europa League and Europa Conference League. Juventus won their luck against Freiburg. Freiburg at home for the second leg. Juventus got quite a few injury problems in defence for that game. So they have to be a bit careful, but they should be OK.
01:10:02
Speaker
didn't think Freiburg were very good at all. You've been, it's had like about 30 shots in that first game. But yeah, they should be okay. And Roma are in a really good position, really fantastic performance in the first leg against Rio Sosadad. And Sosadad are in a very, very bad run of form right now. I think they got one win in their last nine games. And
01:10:23
Speaker
fans are scoring six of those games. So yeah, it's not gonna be easy for Roma because they've got quite a few plays and not in 100% shape. But yeah, when Mourinho is back and I think Mourinho, Mourinho is back though for this game, he's suspended in the Derby next week, which we're going to preview on Thursday. But it's I think that matters. And I think he will now try to rein it in because I think he understands that
01:10:45
Speaker
a good result in the Europa League could give echo for him, because whether or not he stays or not. And I'm leaning more and more to him leaving than staying. And the other games, Fiorentina won their luck against Sivaspur in Turkey, they travelled to Turkey for second leg, and Lazio 2-1 down at home, they lost the first lip to AZ 2-1, they go away for second leg. It's not over, but it's going to be very, very difficult for them to turn that round, but it is doable.
01:11:13
Speaker
Let's get into Badjo and Crumpet of the Week. Okay, Badjo. I mean, it's Clara and DiBala. Those are both for me. Both of those calls are just...
01:11:25
Speaker
world-class, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Yeah, kvada for me, no doubt about it. Perem Face of the Week, we've had another perem-demic this week. It's been a good week for perem-demics. But there's one that made me laugh more than any others, and that is Jermaine Genas, who was the co-commentator for Milan's game against Tottenham in the Champions League. And he called Sandro Tenali,
01:11:52
Speaker
for the entire game, he called him Tonioli, who is, for those who don't live in England or the United States, they might not know of this guy, but he's a very, very famous, world famous dancing judge, like one of the top, world's top dancing judges. He used to be a dancer himself.
Speculative Discussions and Upcoming Content
01:12:10
Speaker
And he's like the main dancing judge on Strictly Come Dancing, which is like the main dancing show in England.
01:12:19
Speaker
And he's also the same one in America, the American version of Strictly Come Dancing. He's like the main judge on that as well. He's a little funny Italian, English Italian man with a funny accent. But I think the most batshit, I mean, it's not really, it's just a, you know, it's a podcaster, so it's not like right now, it's just two guys shooting the shit. But that, does Maradona get into the Crystal Palace starting lineup is like,
01:12:46
Speaker
I mean, to be fair, one of them just told him to F off when he said that. Like, that's how his reaction was. Oh, stop. Like, it was too much. But that's also another like, wow, well done. Yeah. Yeah, I do think that Maradona.
01:13:02
Speaker
gets into the Crystal Palace like that. I saw yesterday that Crystal Palace haven't had a shot on goal in their last three games, not a single shot on goal, so maybe they could do it with Maradona. I think Maradona now, Maradona's corpse would walk into the Crystal Palace. Someone tweeted that, that was the best reply. Someone said even Maradona now with the Crystal Palace team. He's been dead for almost two years and I think he'd get into the team.
01:13:29
Speaker
Oh, my days. Okay, brilliant. Right. That's it. That's all we have time for today. We'll be back on Monday for the Q&A. No, we'll be back on Thursday. We'll be back on Thursday for CIS. Sorry, you said Monday. You confused me. We'll be back on Tuesday for the Q&A episode and on Thursday for the review of the Champions League action and Milan's game on Monday. Yeah, absolutely.
01:13:52
Speaker
Yeah, brilliant. Lots to look forward to then. We will see you. I will be previewing the crazy weekend that's coming. There'll be the capital, there'll be the Italia. Yeah, we sure will. Two, two. Massive games. Two Belters there. Yeah. Okay. We'll see you next time. Have a great week. See you soon. Ciao ciao.