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Free Weekly Episode - Irresistible Inter Smash Napoli, Gatti Seals Epic Juventus Win, Jovic Stops AC Milan Rot, Italy EURO 2024 Group Draw Reaction & Much More (Ep. 383)
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From irresistible Inter beating Napoli away after world class goals and refereeing controversy, Juventus show winning mentality in dramatic last gasp winner over Monza, Luka Jovic stars for AC Milan, fallout from Paolo Maldini bombshell interview, Roma seriously challenging for top 4 finish, Lazio get back to winning ways, and wonder-goals galore in Serie A, to reaction to Azzurri's EURO 2024 group stage draw, as well as Baggio, Premface and new segment Serie Ass of the week and much, much more when Nima and Carlo break down all the main talking points from a jampacked weekend in Italian football.
Every Monday episode of The Italian Football Podcast is free for all.
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Transcript
Introduction and Inter's Scudetto Message
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian Football Podcast.
00:00:23
Speaker
Inter sending out a Scudetto message to the rest of Serie A but what about the Mesut at Napoli? Will they even finish in the top four?
Serie A Matches and Italy's Euro 2024 Draw
00:00:33
Speaker
Juventus though are only two points behind Inter after a dramatic ending against Monza Milan have stopped the rot as Luka Jovic scores his first Milan goal Roma move into the top four above Napoli with another late comeback
00:00:48
Speaker
and we will review all the other games in Serie A, and we will also react to Italy's draw for the finals of Euro 2024, which were made at the weekend.
Supporting the Podcast
00:00:58
Speaker
A very, very tough draw for Italy. We have Badgio and Prem Face of the Week, plus we are introducing a new segment this week, which, judging by the reaction on social media, I think everybody is going to enjoy. We hope it's as popular as Prem Face of the Week.
00:01:16
Speaker
Okay, so for all of our first-time listeners, this is our free weekly episode that 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 that we do throughout the week, including a weekly Q&A episode every Tuesday, where we answer all of the questions from our Patreons, plus the weekly Thursday midweek review show, plus interviews, post-match reaction and much, much more, then go to Patreon.
00:01:43
Speaker
and become a subscriber for just $2.99 a month plus VAT. You can also sign up to be a paid subscriber on Spotify. We will provide the link in the description, the same price and terms. And for all of you that listen on Spotify, Apple, and iTunes Podcast, we'd really appreciate it. Give us a five-star rating, give us a follow, give us a like, give us a follow. So that's why we're on YouTube also. It really helps us to grow and do more quality content for you guys.
Inter's Victory Against Napoli
00:02:10
Speaker
So, let's get into today's show. Okay, so right, we'll start off with Inter against Napoli at the Stadio Maradona. Inter thrashed Napoli 3-0, an emphatic win for the Nerazzurri. Let's discuss this first from the Inter point of view, Nima. This is Inter sending out a signal to the rest of Serie A, isn't it?
00:02:33
Speaker
Yes, for me, I mean, if you look at the game as a whole, I think three nil was if you look at how the game played out, I think is a little bit maybe too big of a win. I don't think there were three nil winners. I've seen them play better and create more chances and dominate more games and not win by three nil. But if you look at the maturity again, I keep coming back to this word inter
00:03:02
Speaker
know, for me, a big team, great teams, the best teams, they know how to suffer, as they say in Italy, and inter-suffered, and they know how to suffer and to go through those periods of suffering in games and come out on top. And that to me is the signal, the sign of a big team, of a great team, a winning mentality, a champions mentality.
00:03:29
Speaker
which I think Juventus showed against Monza as well. And because Inter did suffer, Napoli were good in the first half. Napoli pressured Inter. Now Napoli caused problems. Inter were a little bit disoriented and struggled defensively, especially when De Frei was injured. But they managed to go through it and they have this kind of belief about them.
00:03:59
Speaker
and I'm sure we're going to get to it, but I have to say for me, when you win 3-0 and the man of the match is Jan Sommer, that tells me pretty much everything I need to know. What a signing he has been.
00:04:12
Speaker
Some of those saves are just... They're miraculous. He saves into the... In order to win these games, in order to win trophies, to win titles, you need your goalkeeper to be this good. You need him to make these incredible saves and to keep the game balanced when making these saves so that when you go forward,
00:04:40
Speaker
you know, if you score your chances, you kind of pull the rug under your opponent's feet. And I think that was the key here. Jan Sommer was world-class yesterday. And he has been world-class, I think pretty much consistently since joining Inter. And it's truly, truly remarkable
00:04:59
Speaker
how he's becoming the foundation on which Interscordetto will be, if they win, will be found on, will be founded on. He's absolutely outstanding. The way that he controls his penalty area, the fantastic reaction reflex saves. His aerial, his command of the area, his aerial ability when going out,
00:05:25
Speaker
I mean it's just what a signing, what an absolutely amazing signing he's been.
00:05:31
Speaker
No, he has been. He's been fantastic. The save in the first half from the long shot from Elmas was excellent. The save from Kvarat Skadia at 1-0 when he tucked it round the side was fantastic. The best of all was the one from Osman. It was offside, so it doesn't count. But that was... It doesn't matter. He didn't know that. And that was an incredible save as well. Yeah, he's great. And it's just incredible when you compare him to the player that inserts Andre Onana.
00:06:00
Speaker
who I think most people were kind of, Inter fans and neutrals were like, well, Inter probably didn't get enough money for him and we're losing a pillar of the team that took into the Champions League final last season. It was so good for Inter last season and it's a downgrade.
Inter's Tactical Success and Player Performances
00:06:20
Speaker
Well, it's not been a downgrade. It's been an upgrade if you're looking at Anana's form for United. I mean, just last week, again, another
00:06:29
Speaker
horror showing for Manny United against Galatasaray. Two mistakes that you just think, wow, what is going on there? And then you compare that to Sommer, who isn't making mistakes at all, and he's making big saves as well. So yes, Sommer's been great. He's been fantastic. The other two standouts for me in this game, first of all,
00:06:48
Speaker
Of course, Calinogoli, I mean, he's unlocked the game, you know, which, like you said, the first half was tight and he's unlocked the game with it. I mean, that is a world-class goal. That's a shot that only a few players in the world could hit a ball, like can hit a ball or could hit a ball like Calinogoli did last night. I mean, it was like an arrow.
00:07:11
Speaker
I mean, we know how good his shooting is from long range, from out of the area. Just last week, I was saying that Candreva has been, after he scored that great goal or that great shot against Lazio, I was saying that in the last 10, 15 years, Candreva for me is probably top five in the world for long range shooting. Well, Chalon Ogilu's got to be kind of up there as well, hasn't he? I mean, for that. No, no, there's no doubt. There's no doubt.
00:07:40
Speaker
But he was really good. But I feel like in the first half, I do feel that midfield was a little bit off. And Chalanoglu was all of the midfield. They were not on the same wavelength. Parela Mikitarian and Chalanoglu were a little bit off. And it's the reason, I think, for that. And it's really interesting to see. And this goes back to the maturity thing. This is the second big game in a row in the Serie A.
00:08:05
Speaker
And it's the second big game in a row where Simones evidently made it clear in the first half, especially. And that's another point I want to get to in this first versus second half performances, which the stats are undeniable. But in the first half against Juver, in the first half against Napoli, he tells the midfield that he doesn't want them making forward runs. He wants to contain.
00:08:31
Speaker
And there was a stat on Skye that showed Inter winning eight games in the second half, either being a goal down or it being goalless at halftime, but then putting in the extra gear in the second half. And that's exactly what happened against Napoli yesterday as well, because what he did in the first half, we saw, again, Matsari do what Allegri did, completely nullify, put tight on Inter's wing backs, and that renders them useless because they can't dribble, neither or one of them.
00:08:58
Speaker
meaning that if you don't give them, if you cut out their time to cross in balls, neither one of them, well, they become pointless. Now, how do you counter that? Well, we saw, because I tweeted that out. Simรณn needs to counter that.
Inzaghi's Tactical Mastery
00:09:11
Speaker
Well, how do you do that? Well, you do exactly what Simรณn and Zaggy did. He inverted Di Marco.
00:09:16
Speaker
to press higher up. So essentially it was a 3-4-3 in the press. You had Di Marco, Lautaro, and Turan pressing really high up the pitch. And you had the midfield Mikitarian going wider to cover the space that he left behind. And all of Inter's press became much more cohesive and effective.
00:09:37
Speaker
which they weren't doing in the first half, but he did that in the second half, and Napoli never really recovered, because Matsari didn't know how to react to that. And then, of course, you know, the games are decided by the episodes, InterScore quickly, you know, to score wonderful goals, and then that kind of just ends Napoli right there. But it's very interesting from a tactical point of view to see how Inzagi counters these situations, and that's the...
00:10:03
Speaker
the provadimatorita that we've seen here. He's going through these examinations, these exams of maturity and growing with the job and his team as well. This team is now really, really, the three years we've seen it, it's been step by step growth in terms of tactical maturity, mental maturity and the ability to
00:10:29
Speaker
to react and resolve and know how to suffer without losing their heads, without losing their belief. They just keep drumming on. You know, if they go a goal down like against you, where they just put in, they just, they work harder. They take that as a, they take things in the right way. And that's, that's something that we've not seen under Nzagi until this season. There's such a complete team answer as well. And you, you mentioned that point there about, you know, containment in the first half seeming to be a tactic for, for, for into this season. Now,
00:10:59
Speaker
People depending on your view of the game will have different views whether that's the right thing to do You know it, but it's working I mean, but One thing that is undeniable is that in this in this game for all the possession that Napoli had I mean Napoli
00:11:16
Speaker
were good in the first half in terms of we're talking about in terms of possession, in terms of territory, in terms of the pressing game was really good. And they dominated possession in the first half
Defensive Strength and Barella's Impact
00:11:28
Speaker
Napoli and into were just kind of more than being quite defensive.
00:11:32
Speaker
but it Napoli created nothing in the first half. Nothing at all. They had two long shots. One, okay, hit the crossbar. One was a fantastic save from Soma, from Elmas, but they created nothing. They're nothing else. They had, I knotted it down at half time. They had 0.23 XG in the first half Napoli. So for all their dominance in possession and territory, they created nothing. And that is testament also to just how good inter-defense is. And this is an inter-defense that
00:11:59
Speaker
had no Bastoni, no Pavard, DeVry Kamov injured in the first half and was replaced by Carlos Augusto who's naturally a full back slash wing back playing a left centre back and they still
00:12:10
Speaker
created nothing in that first half. And over the course of the game, yes, some are made a brilliant save from from Claret Scalia. And maybe Napoli were unlucky not to score at least one goal. But again, look at the XG at the expected goals at the end of the game, Napoli 0.79, which I think if you're restricted Napoli
00:12:30
Speaker
at this Maradona to 0.79 you're doing pretty well and into xg of 2.61 i mean this is a completely completely dismantled them so the tactics were spot on and it just shows how good the defense is and i have to say again acherbi was was magnificent we have to at this point he is the best
00:12:50
Speaker
central defender in Italy, like Italian central defender. He's so damn good. He's having one of those insane seasons. He's better this season than he was last season. And last season, he was brilliant. He's reaching a point now where I'm going, well, is he amongst the five best central defenders in all of Europe?
00:13:12
Speaker
I would argue he is on form. He's been absolutely outstanding. I mean, the way he neutralizes these strikers, I mean, it is a team effort, let's remember, into defend collectively. And the balance of the team helps him out because he's not a very quick player. But he was outstanding yesterday.
00:13:32
Speaker
I thought he, the way that he commands and the fact that when, you know, he can play on the left, he's actually pretty decent as a left center back, but in the middle, he's just unstoppable. And speaking of injury, I mean, we have to talk about injured, inter decimated in defense now. Dumfries out, Defray out, Bastoni out, Pavard out.
00:13:53
Speaker
I don't know what is going on in Milan with central defenders in both ends of the city. It's like some sort of virus that seems to only attack, that seems to injure only central defenders in the city of Milan. It's mad.
00:14:09
Speaker
It's this is something they have to handle. And, you know, now with Carlos Augusto, I mean, he was great. He was he was really good. He was brilliant. Yeah. But he was brought in to play there as well, because when they signed him, it wasn't just as a wing back. It's also because he has played as a central defender. He played as a libero, I think, in Brazil for the certain certain games.
00:14:33
Speaker
So, you know, he is a good, he can play as a central defender. And in the back three, I thought he was very good, because what he does, he is technical, he can beat his man, he can go past, he can dribble, and we saw that the back heel pass to Lautaro for the second goal is just stunning, and he pushes forward. And the way that Inter play,
00:14:58
Speaker
The way that Nzaghi likes to use his right and left centre back to push forward and overlap, he fits this system perfectly. He really does. For me, I'm starting to think, you know, that means that you have lots of options. Of course, not indefinite options or not, you know, because at some point you only have a finite number of players. So this injury crisis is serious. And we'll have to wait and see what happens to Defray and Dumfries. It looked like it was cramped for Dumfries, whilst Defray, it would look like a muscle injury.
00:15:30
Speaker
But we'll still have to wait and see. But it's a mature intern. I was looking, I think it's the ninth clean sheet in the Serie A alone. Ninth out of 14. And it's not been like he's not had any shots to save. He has. He's just pulled up months to save.
00:15:48
Speaker
And so, it's so interesting. I just wanted to come back to Chalanogli and I think that Brozovic has not been missed at all. Moving Chalanogli to Regista is one of Inzagi's best things Inzagi's done at Inso. It's something that he dreamed up himself.
00:16:05
Speaker
and cello nogli like we said i mean he's the best he is that well we'll come on to berella but he's definitely the best set of midfielder in in seria this season he's got seven goals in all competitions already this season playing as a regista i know some of them are penalties but still seven goals in all competitions at the start of december um he's he's well class now there's definitely no doubt about that and berella um
00:16:28
Speaker
I mean, he hasn't had, he's had a bit of a difficult season at times this season. We know the inconsistency that he's had since the Euro, since Euro 2020 in 2021. But first goal of the season, which I thought was a brilliant goal, the way that he, the way that he took it, the close
00:16:46
Speaker
dribbling and then scoring.
Barella's Role and Potential
00:16:48
Speaker
He got the assist for the first, sort of an assist for the first goal from Dumfries. I don't know how, if he touched it that much, but we saw the intent and he was, I thought it was a welcome return to form for Barella as well. And he was really good in the international break for Italy as well. I was going to say that because Barella has struggled this season at Inter. He's not been good. Let's be honest. He's been pretty bad. He's been one of Inter's worst players so far this season.
00:17:12
Speaker
But he's been good for Italy and he was really good in the last international break. And again, he started this game poorly, miss hitting crosses, miss hitting passes. He just didn't look in sync. But then he goes and scores that goal, which I hope will unlock him for Intel as well. And it is a world class goal. It's a fabulous goal. Interscored world class goals. And I include the offside goal where Turan was off by just a whisker.
00:17:39
Speaker
the link up between Barella and Lautaro for that first goal that was offside is is magical. It's one of the most beautiful link pass like one twos I've seen. It's so, so nice. Go and look at it again. It's it's a shame it was I would have traded one of the other goals for for that one because it was beautiful.
00:17:57
Speaker
And that's what Barilla can do and that's why you get one, you know, I get frustrated when I watch him and he can't, you know, when he's not doing the simple things right. Because we know the talent this guy has, it's through the roof. He, you know, when he's at his best, he's one of the best midfielders in the world. And it's the inter-need him to be informed and I hope this can lock him. But yeah, look, I agree with you. I think that the midfield click hit into gear
00:18:24
Speaker
In the second half when they pushed higher up I think that role of him being because in the first half just like against you he wasn't really much of a box-to-box He was much more laid-back and covering and closing off spaces and he doesn't like doing that But Barilla wants needs to for Barilla to to really shine He needs he can't be rigidly controlled. He needs agree That's the one thing that I've that's really irritated me about the way Barilla has been used not just by inter and
00:18:51
Speaker
Since the conte times but also for italy by mancini is how he just shifted over almost as a 442 right midfielder at times in that right channel and he irritates me because he is limited when you do that to him and he and he can't
00:19:09
Speaker
use all of the other qualities that he's got, including what he saw for the goal, you know, because he doesn't, because he's not able to get into those positions and, and have the freedom to do those kinds of things and get around the pitch and be the all action player, which that he is and the complete player that he is. So that's irritates me. And I almost wonder whether it's your, I mean, yes, I know it's a tactical role, both for Inter, but also for Italy under Mancini, but I feel like, well,
00:19:33
Speaker
you know actually Italy and Inter to a lesser extent are getting harmed by caging him up like that because you're losing a lot more than you're gaining doing that and that's one of the things that has irritated me about the way Beretta has been used in the last few years. I'm totally with you there.
00:19:49
Speaker
I mean, it's, I don't know. It's, he, see Monin Zagya has to do, you know, he's got, they've got Denzel Dumfries on the right and they have to, you know, mitigate his weaknesses and get the best out of him. And so sometimes you have to sacrifice things, right? But it is what it is. But I do agree that that is something that Inter, because in the second half, you saw when he gave him license to push up on Inter were more aggressive when he inverted DiMarco and the
00:20:15
Speaker
pressed in a 3-4-3, moved Mikitarian a little bit more to the left, allowed Barrella more space to roam, well, then you saw what happens. He does that Alberto Tomba slalom round and scores. And he was just generally brilliant. So, no, it is an interesting thing, but I think in these big games, Nzagi is right to go in there and to manage this because, again,
00:20:43
Speaker
Juve away. Napoli away. Inter come out of these games with four out of six points.
Inter's Title Race Position
00:20:49
Speaker
Yeah. They've got both of them. Inter in a great position. I mean, I tweeted it last night. I know we'll come on to Juventus in a bit and we'll discuss them. But for me, I mean, Inter are the clearest Garetto favourites in terms of quality. They've got the best team. They've got the best and the deepest squad.
00:21:06
Speaker
I mean, you'd have to say they have the best coach seeing as they got to the Champions League final, although some would say, okay, he needs to win a Scudetto before you can say that with 100% certainty. But for me, they have the best coach as well. And they're in a great position. They've already, like you said, they've played Juventus. They've got the two toughest away games of the season out of the way. Juventus and Napoli away. You know, Milan is a
00:21:29
Speaker
is a neutral menu. It's a home game, it's a derby. And they've played Atalanta away as well, which is one of the other tougher games. So they're in a great position, they've got a lot of their toughest games out of the way, and their two points clear at the top of the table. So they're in a great, great position. But I would just go one step further, because when I tweeted that out, our friend of the show, Adrian Del Monte, who's actually going to be, we should announce, going to be guest hosting the podcast next Monday, because I'm going to be away. So Adrian will be doing this next week with Nima.
00:21:57
Speaker
He quote tweeted me and said actually went a step further up and said well inter should be should be Inter have the quality to go all the way in the Champions League because they got to the final last season and they're a better team This season than they are last season
00:22:15
Speaker
Hmm. I wouldn't go that far, but yeah, they are. I mean, they are a better team this season, aren't they? Yeah, well, they are. They're by far a bit. But also from maturity, I think I've said it a few times. I think they've taken so much from the games, the Champions League final. That's given them mentally so much, so much. It really has the intangible stuff that you can't you just you can't measure, you know, that was so far. I mean, one thing that stands out this season compared to last season is the away form.
00:22:41
Speaker
Inter have played seven games in the Serie A way, six wins, one draw, only conceded twice. One of which came against Juva and the other one against Atalanta. So last season they were awful in the Serie A way. If I remember correctly, last season Inter were sixth in the Serie A for away games.
00:23:04
Speaker
And that is the winning away from home, barely conceding anything. That is a sign of a team that has matured, that is ready to challenge, that is a scoreto favorite, that is a league favorite.
00:23:18
Speaker
It's a long season. These injuries are going to cause into problems. You know, we'll see when Bastoni's back, but they do get a few days rest. They got Odu Nes at home, Sasir at home, and then they got Lazio away. And after that, you know, it's with all due respect, it gets easier because you got Bologna and the Copa Italia at home, Leche at home, Genoa away.
00:23:41
Speaker
They're all at home. Let's move on. Anyway, let's move on. Let's talk. I just got to say, though, I just got to say, though, on the pen. Yeah, I want to come on to that. I'll post that to you. So we're going to move on to Napoli first. We first of all, before we discuss what's all going wrong with Napoli, we have to I know this has caused a lot of anger with Napoli. They refuse to send out Matsari to speak, blah, blah, blah. I think that was a good decision. Let's start off. Matsari would have come out there and route like Matsari can't control himself and he would have said things that he regrets and that would have poisoned the entire
00:24:10
Speaker
like it would have created unnecessary drama. I think it was a wise decision. Okay, well let's come on to the two incidences that have upset Napoli. I've seen what you've tweeted. I actually see this the opposite way of you, the opposite way to you, but let's go one at a time.
Controversial Refereeing Decisions
00:24:25
Speaker
So first of all, there's Lautaro before Inter's first goal,
00:24:29
Speaker
there's Napoli feel that there was a foul by Lautaro on La Boca in the build-up to Chalonogli goal basically Lautaro passes it on to a teammate and then Lautaro kind of loses his footing and and puts his arm around Lautaro's waist
00:24:52
Speaker
and Napoli feel that was a foul. I know that you feel like that was a foul. I've watched this, unless I've not seen an angle, I've seen this incident about four or five times, unless I'm not seeing an angle. I definitely see him put his arm around there, but I see very little, virtually no contact, no force at all that would cause him to go down, unless I'm not seeing an angle.
00:25:15
Speaker
Well, he's dragging him down. He's got his arm around his waist, but does he actually put any pressure on him? I don't see any. Well, yeah, because he's falling over. And I mean, that's the thing. Regardless, you're not allowed to have your arm around the torso of your opposition. I don't think he makes any contact with him, though. I think he's just kind of just round there, but he's not actually putting any pressure or any... I don't even know if he touches him. So I don't know. That's just what I've seen. Maybe I haven't seen an angle, but...
00:25:41
Speaker
He's dragging him down and to me that's a clear mistake by Massa. He's standing right there too. It's not good enough, I'm sorry. It's just simply not good enough by Massa to literally be standing there and a player, even though it's a tangled situation, Lobotka covers the ball with his butt and Lautaro, well, it's a nice hockey challenge, it's a forechecking and he runs right into it.
00:26:10
Speaker
and covers the ball. But then in order to stop Lobotka, he grabs his arm around his torso and drags him down. That's a free kick. That's just a huge mistake. That's just wrong by Massa. But again, VAR can't intervene because that doesn't fall under any other categories there. It's in the middle of the pitch. It's not a
00:26:32
Speaker
You know, dog. So it's not a red card offense. It's not anything like that. It's it's a 50. It's a challenge in the middle of the pitch. The referee is full discretion. The VR VR count intervene, and that's why this falls entirely on Masa. He made a mistake that he should have blown his whistle. He's standing there for goodness sakes. So to me, that's just that's just a huge, huge mistake by him.
00:26:53
Speaker
Okay. All right. I'm just looking at it again now. I mean, yeah, he puts his arm around him. He looks worse on the still than it does on the... But anyway, fair enough. Let's move on to the Osseman incident. So these were, this was at 1-0 to Inter, where Napoli Phillips, a penalty for Francesco Acheri, clip on Victor Osseman's heel. Now, there's definite contact. The Firth and the Uncle move.
00:27:20
Speaker
the the
00:27:39
Speaker
the penalties have to be 100% penalty. I've said that throughout. I just think that based on what is usually given today, that's a penalty, based on what is usually given for contact in the area. Well, no, because that's the problem here that we have, because sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. And that's something that they need to work on. That's something that Rocky and his
00:28:02
Speaker
His superiors and paymasters, they have to sit down with the referees and say there has to be a little bit more consistency. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't, and you can't have it like that. It creates unnecessary confusion and irritation.
00:28:16
Speaker
That is way, way too light of a contact. Osseman does what every striker does and is right to do. He feels the contact, he goes down. That's what a striker's job literally is. So this notion of, oh, Osseman dies, blah, blah, blah, no. He does what every striker in the world and throughout history has done in that situation. You feel that, you go down. Simple as it gets.
00:28:43
Speaker
The problem is that it's such a light contact, and Massa is actually really well positioned there. He sees it and he feels it's not enough of a contact to warrant
00:29:00
Speaker
a penalty and I think he's actually right there. I just think in theory I agree because this is but I just think that based on what is usually given, this is usually given as a penalty. I mean I saw the Roman penalty. I mean there's much more contact here than there was on the Roman penalty though. Well you see no because there isn't. You know why? Because again it's about how the contact is. I mean I did see zero contact on the Roman one. But there is one because if you look at
00:29:29
Speaker
When Kristensen puts his foot down, he sweeps the leg under him, meaning the impact of the contact matters as well. It's not just the contact itself. Again, you have to look at the situation as a whole, the impact of the contact that it has on the player. Kristensen is
00:29:47
Speaker
is not as impeded for moving naturally. He's putting his foot down and he sweeps the leg, even if it's a lesser contact than the cherry one.
00:30:00
Speaker
But you can't tell me the impact of that contact. We'll come on to Roma. We'll come on to that incident. I saw no contact at all. Why is it so more penalty? You can't sweep the leg. I didn't see any contact. That's the thing. I saw zero contact. Maybe I'm going blind.
Roma and Napoli's Challenges
00:30:13
Speaker
But I saw none. No, no, no. There is contact. There is contact. Christensen's going past. And it's a clumsy and unlucky. I don't think there was any intent behind it. And I've seen that. But he's going past him. And just as he's putting his foot down, he puts his foot under him, which means that he can't
00:30:31
Speaker
He impedes him from making a movement, which he's entitled to doing in that situation, and that's why it's a penalty. It's clumsy defending and unlucky, but if you look at that situation, it has to be a penalty. Yeah, not for me, but anyway, let's move on to Napoli, what went wrong for Napoli away from these penalty incidents. As I said before, when I was talking about Inter's defence,
00:30:55
Speaker
I thought Napoli were very good with keeping the ball with their pressure and their intensity in the first half. Unfortunately, they didn't create anything. They created nothing at all. Just a couple of long shots. I thought Inter had this game in control. And I think this game illustrated just all the problems that Inter have in both phases, in the defence. You mean Napoli, right? Yeah, what did I say?
00:31:28
Speaker
This game showed the problems that Napoli have in both phases of the game. If we talk from the defensive point of view first, Matsari was supposed to come in.
00:31:42
Speaker
and sort out the defense, which was a mess under Rudy Garcia. We saw all the gaps between each department, how badly they defended and everything. And Matsari's come in and I think that there are, you know, he's tightened it up in terms of there aren't those gaping holes in between the two departments. Everything is tighter together.
00:32:03
Speaker
They've conceded eight goals in three games. And I know the opposition have been good. I know the opposition have been good, but eight goals in three games. Real Madrid away, four goals. I mean, that half of those came against a Real Madrid away goal at the Bernabeu. So I think you're being a little bit too harsh on that. But the way when Mazzari comes in, what Mazzari did, what Mazzari always does is he provides organization, he provides structure defensively.
00:32:32
Speaker
And then he relies on his attacking players to resolve the issue. And that's what he did. I saw you tweeted out that there were no patterns of play. I think there's a truth with a modification, as we say in Sweden. Yes, Matsari doesn't really have an attacking structure.
00:32:54
Speaker
But the fact, he did this with the three tenors as well. He provided a defensive framework, a solid framework, and then he gave the license to those three up front to resolve situations and games. This is what he did with Chricha, Osiman and Politano too in this game, and also Elmas. It was the problem with that. That is an archaic way of approaching football. That is not a modern way to approach football.
00:33:24
Speaker
And I think that's why they kind of brought him in, because I think the calculation was, well, we do have two world-class attackers in Fritscha and Ossiman. That should be enough to see us to the top four. And with Matsari basically providing a solidity in defense, we should be fine. And I think they will be fine in the end. So I think both yes and no there, in the sense that there's no patterns of play. But we have to give it to, I think it's the right thing to do.
00:33:52
Speaker
in this situation to give Chwiche and Osseman, and I would love to have seen Raspadori as well from start, to say basically to these guys, okay, you have the license to create the three of you, do what you want, and then have the rest of the team kind of cover behind them, if you know what I mean defensively. But I do agree with you that this is not a long-term solution. Absolutely not.
00:34:17
Speaker
Well, yeah, where should we go from? I want to finish off about the top four at the end. So let's come on to that. Let's have a look at what wasn't good enough from Napoli. First of all, Merritt. I mean, how much more evidence do we need that this guy is not good enough? He cost Napoli the game against Real Madrid with that dreadful error.
00:34:37
Speaker
I mean what the absolute state of Merritt in the build up to the second goal when they were passing it back, messing about with it, passing it back to him, he's got under virtually no pressure and he just kicks it out of play. And then from then eventually eventually into win it back and score. But that just kind of just summed up where Merritt is right now.
00:35:01
Speaker
The Napoli left-back situation is also a big problem. He likes to cut inside, he's got no one to overlap. Juan Jesus played there against Real Madrid, it was a disaster, unsurprisingly. Natan played there against Inter and really struggled, but it's unfair on him, it's not his position.
00:35:21
Speaker
It's not Juan Jesus' position either. I think that is penalising them. They've got nothing at all going forward. We're talking about how predictable Napoli were going forward, how easy it was for inter-defended well. Let's not take anything away from them. When you've got one of your sides completely closed down from the fullback area, then it's obviously quite difficult.
00:35:42
Speaker
The Napoli defence, as I said, I mean, Ostergaard, I'm not sure he's going to be good enough now every single time he plays, Napoli concede so many goals.
00:35:55
Speaker
But also the home record, I mean, it's abysmal this season under both Garcia and now under, well, Matsari as well. They've got seven points from 21 points in Serie A this season. One point from two games in the Champions League at home. They've got the fifth worst record in Serie A this season at home.
00:36:16
Speaker
I mean, it's absolutely terrible for a stadium that was just such a fortress last season. So that they need to sort that out big time. They have to sort out their home record big time, otherwise they are not going to finish in the top four. And I mean, the top four is going to be a battle for them this season. I don't think that we can expect Napoli to to just waltz in and waltz in the top four, because on paper, yes,
00:36:43
Speaker
On paper, there's no doubt about it. This is a team that should be finishing the top four comfortably on paper with any team that's got two world-class attackers. It almost doesn't, like I said before, it doesn't matter who the rest of your team is. You've got two world-class attackers like Osseman and Kaveri Skater. How many teams in world football have not one, but two world-class attackers? You can count them on one hand, probably on a few fingers. That's, I mean, that's how privileged Napoli are to have these. So on paper, even with those two alone,
00:37:10
Speaker
they should have enough to finish in the top four. But when you see the way that they're playing and you see all the problems that they have, you know, I've said it before, I think Roma are a big danger to them and maybe even to Milan as well this season. So Napoli, yeah, they have to be careful, Napoli. I don't think Milan have anything to worry about. I think Milan will comfortably finish in the top four. And I think Milan aren't even out of the title race. So I think this is a three horse race.
00:37:39
Speaker
Milan will have our, let's not forget, they're decimated, they're going through a bit of a crisis, but they will bounce back. And if they're out of the Champions League, they have one game a week. I don't think we can count Milan out just yet. This is a three horse race for the title, but I agree with you that the fourth spot is going to be a nail biter between Roma and Napoli, because Roma,
00:38:05
Speaker
Duvala Lukaku is just as beautiful of a combination that we thought it was going to be. They can resolve any game. That's what I mean. They're guaranteeing almost as many goals as Clouder, and if not, you know, as Clouder. It's interesting, isn't it? Exactly. You've got two great attacks, two attacking duos, great attacking duos, going up against each other.
00:38:27
Speaker
but in the end I actually I do think that Napoli have just too much firepower and are too good of a team. The thing is I look at the coach as well I mean Mourinho okay he's not the top one of the best coaches in the world like he was you know
00:38:46
Speaker
5, 10, 15 years ago. And he is a little bit outdated to an extent. But ask me, who do I trust out of Mourinho or Mazzari? It's Mourinho all day long. He's a winner. And I trust Mourinho every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
00:39:04
Speaker
over Matsari. And it's all on De Laurentiis. It's unbelievable what a mess De Laurentiis has made here. The coach- He has managed to screw this up. He screwed this up so badly. He's destroyed his Mona Lisa. He really has. I mean, he's gone from, you know, the coach from Spaletti to Garcia to Matsari. Two coaches who have been completely irrelevant for over half a decade.
00:39:26
Speaker
the sporting director with Jun Sully. He didn't sign a centre back and we're seeing that as well, how not replacing Kim. He's brought in a rookie, Natan, who could go on, you know, I think he's got some good qualities there that he could go on to become an excellent defender but, you know, he's not already made replacement for Kim and
00:39:44
Speaker
the alternatives are just totally not good enough. I mean, we're talking about players like, you know, Austegard and Juan Jesus. And, you know, one of my friends said to me yesterday, I mean, we're talking about Genoa level, he said, Genoa level centre-backs. And we're trying to talk about trying to get in the top four or retain the Scudetto. They didn't strengthen the squad enough. He didn't give Claret Scadio new contract because Claret Scadio is
00:40:06
Speaker
still getting paid McDonald's wages. I mean, it's just ridiculous. And then the mess with Osseman, both the contract and obviously the other stuff with the social media. And Osseman was bad again. I know we can maybe put that down to maybe a little bit of rustiness, but he was bad against Real Madrid when he came on, and he was really bad in this game as well. So, you know, De Laurentiis has totally made a mess of this.
00:40:32
Speaker
so badly. He's made a complete mess of everything and it's a shame because I feel that, and I keep saying this, I think of all the teams that have won the Scoletto the last four years, Napoli were in the best position to actually create a winning cycle and they didn't because of the arrogance of De Laurentiis. He believed his own myth
00:40:58
Speaker
And nothing to me exemplifies and illustrates that more than when he was in talks with Thiago Motta in the summer and Thiago Motta asks him who will be the new sporting director and he said, what do you mean I'm here? And then Motta said, thanks, I'm going to stay at Bologna.
00:41:13
Speaker
It's just, that's just arrogance. That's arrogance on his part. And now he's paying for it. And Napoli are paying for it. And I think it's a shame. I really do. Because I think Napoli had everything there, even without Kim, to create a proper structure. Totally agree with you. The nucleus of the team and the star players to build around. I mean, they were blessed. They were blessed. They really were. Yeah, they were. And you needed to have
00:41:38
Speaker
just a little bit of diplomacy and a little bit of humility in that situation to go on a run. But pride cometh before a fall, right? Yeah, certainly does. Right. Let's move on to Juventus then. Juventus' winning mentality is definitely back for me. They win this game 2-1. And you look, that's the biggest takeaway from the game for me. I mean, first of all,
00:42:02
Speaker
They monzer equalize in the 91st minute with a fluke of a goal and Juventus then go straight from the kickoff to score the winner with Gatti. That's number one. Number two is earlier in the game, Vlovich missed a penalty at 0-0 and from the resultant corner
00:42:18
Speaker
Rabio scored instantly, straight away. There's definitely been a mental shift for me since the Sassuolo game. But whatever you feel about Juventus' quality of their squad, about Allegri's style of management, the style of play, blah, blah, blah, the winning mentality is definitely
Juventus and Milan Highlights
00:42:38
Speaker
back. This isn't the first time recently either. So I think that Allegri has really created a
00:42:46
Speaker
A team, let's say, in terms of mental more than anything else, wouldn't you say? Without a doubt. This is Juve. He knows what Juve is in terms of mentality and how you have to be and behave and blah, blah, blah.
00:43:01
Speaker
And he's instilled that in this team. This inevitability about, you know, when once I scored, I was watching that and I was thinking, well, you are just going to go now and score the winner in the 95th minute. That's how I felt. You were just looked unphased. They just drummed on. And we have to be honest.
00:43:21
Speaker
Shocking, shocking defending by Monza. Five players ball-watching, including Galiardini, who made a complete tit of himself. First going off to Rabio and mocking him for the equalizer. And then what he did after the game as well, where he told Rabio to... Well, no, he was responding to Rabio. Rabio put something on social media.
00:43:45
Speaker
about respect and blah blah blah and he made fun of his mum saying, did your mum allow you to say that or something like that? Which is just childish, but I mean that's just serious, that's serious. Well, it is serious, but as you all say, I've said this before, if you've got a player of the quality of Galliadini, you don't have the right to make anybody. I've said this, I say this,
00:44:05
Speaker
it always makes me laugh in life when you see people that are untalented, unsuccessful. And some would say, okay, Gallatin has done pretty well for himself, you know, better than any of us have in terms of being a footballer. But you know what I mean, when you have players that in their industry, relatively, they're unsuccessful, they're untalented, they've never done anything with their life, you know, and then they think that they have the right to mock people. No.
00:44:43
Speaker
And what, well, no... I've heard Mourinho say similar things like that before as well. When you can get people like Pietro Lomonico having a go at Mourinho, who's won everything. This is how I feel about Gallidini. You have no right to mock him. I was embarrassed himself, but it was funny. I mean, this is said shit-housery, and it's always going to be like that, and Rabiho had to respond, and then of course Galliadini had to make fun of him. Mamma Rabiho is infamous known for
00:44:57
Speaker
If you want to success, then you can do it. If you're not, just shut up.
00:45:14
Speaker
dominating Adrian's life and negotiations and so on. But Rabio has been very good, not just this last season, but this season as well. Yeah, I mean this season he started a little bit slower, but this game, I mean man of the match, I mean he scored of course, but that assist, that is a
00:45:36
Speaker
That is the kind of thing that a champion does. When you've been pegged back at 1-1, there's only minutes left. Almost like an American movie, the ending to an American sports movie, isn't it? It looks like it's going to be failure, but then your big champion, your hero of the film comes and pulls it out of the bag for you.
00:46:00
Speaker
Oh dear. That's what it was like. You went straight up the pitch, and I said something funny, like boomerish or something. You're laughing at me like you do when I... It's just funny, it's just funny, it's just the way you look at things is really, really funny to me.
00:46:21
Speaker
I feel like sometimes when I talk to you, I feel like I'm talking to my grand, my nan when the rest is so like the way that you think. I knew it was so too peanut butter man. I knew it was something to do with that. It's like the hero of the film came. Like when I was a kid and I used to watch movies with her and I was like, oh, it's getting stressed up. And she's like, don't worry, this is the star of the film. He can't die. Like Jesus, stuff like that. Oh my God, that's brilliant. No, but it is like that. It really was the kind of,
00:46:49
Speaker
when he was the equalize, Gagliadini mocked him, and instead of losing his temper, instead he uses and channels that in the best way possible. And that to me is very typical of Yuba, and that's all Allegri. Allegri is instilled in this kind of mentality.
00:47:06
Speaker
And that's why I think is... And Gatti has that mentality as well, because again, you can look at his technical deficiencies, you can look at his maybe, you know, is this a real good idea? Is this a, this isn't a top player in terms of natural talent? There's no doubt that. I mean, but he epitomizes, you know, this is the second time this season he's scored a winner and he also scored a key winner.
00:47:28
Speaker
last season, well, it didn't end up being key because Juventus went out, but he scored in that last kick, didn't he, in the Europa League semifinal, first leg. But, you know, this is somebody that is making the most out of his talent. You know, look where he's come from, look where he was playing a few years ago in the lower leagues as a part-time footballer. And, you know, this is somebody that is, you know,
00:47:52
Speaker
humiliated and trolled for what happened against Sassuola with their own goal, and he's come back so strongly from that. So I think that Gatti is kind of a symbol, isn't he, of this nouve in many ways, isn't he? It's a nouve that isn't a vest in terms of quality, but it has mentally become so strong that Gatti is mentally, he's a warrior mentally. SL. Better than the sum of their parts, and that's all on Allegri.
00:48:21
Speaker
um to to that if he was getting them everything out of this team literally every last drop um out of them and building them up mentally to to understand what it means to play at uva uh which he understands better than anyone at the club right now it's it's it's now you got to give credit where credit is doing the negative side of all this of course is
00:48:46
Speaker
People are going to look at the way that Juventus basically played in their penalty area for the last 30 minutes, which I think, again,
00:48:52
Speaker
you can overdo it. And I think they overdone it a little bit like they did in the second half against Inter as well. People will look at the 34% possession in this game, which is just not enough against a team like Monza. And you can only go so far playing this way. And I think certainly next season, you know, when they're back in the Champions League, there's no way they're going to be able to play against the topsides in Europe playing this way. But and I said this in our Q&A episode, which we recorded before the which recorded before the Monday podcast, we had a question on this.
00:49:22
Speaker
There is a big difference this season between the last two seasons with Allegra's Uve is that while in those last two seasons, the first two seasons of Allegra's return, you know, Juventus were for most of the time unwatchable, ridiculous, low possession stats. The big difference is that during those two seasons, Juventus weren't creating barely anything. They had XGs every game of under one.
00:49:49
Speaker
under 0.5 a lot of the time as well. It was just horrible and unsustainable in terms of getting good results. The difference this season is that even though we're still seeing a very low possession for a team that's challenging at the top, I mean 34%, and we're not seeing the best football still, Juventus are creating chances this season. And in this game, they had an XG of 2.67 against 0.76. Now, you're going to win
00:50:17
Speaker
you're going to be winning most of your games if you're going to have XG, if this is what's going to be the difference in your XG and your chance creation. That's the difference this season. And while this is the case, while Juventus are having chance creation like this, I'm not going to complain too much. That's where people misunderstand me about style of play. I'm very much about substance as well. I will not tolerate playing like this if
00:50:41
Speaker
Juventus have an extra year of 0.5, and that's what the case was in last season. So I'm not going to be hard on Allegri. Yes, it's not my style of football, and I want teams to be the leaders on the pitch. But you can't, the Juventus have created, and this game is the same. Nonsa had their first shot on goal in the 91st minute, and it wasn't even a shot, it was a cross. No, it was a cross. You know, so you can't, the bottom line, you can't complain this season so far. Well, certainly since the Sassuolo game, you can't complain.
00:51:12
Speaker
Mmm.
00:51:13
Speaker
No, you can't. No, I've got nothing more to add. I think you're spot on. The only thing I want to add is... I do want to quit, so I was from Paladino's start at 11. No attackers. I mean, what was he thinking? We praised Paladino a lot, but that was bizarre. And the defense thing towards the end was shocking as well. I mean, look, you know, Paladino, this is his first real job and, you know, it's going to take time for him to grow and I hope he stays at Monza for another season.
00:51:42
Speaker
and continues to learn. I hope he doesn't go to anywhere big right now because I think that would be too big of a step. I think he should stay there.
00:51:50
Speaker
you know, another season and then maybe take a step up and gradually learn him. He's a young coach and he's a very talented coach. Yeah, I think he's definitely not ready for one of the very, very biggest times. If he is going to move to a big club next season, maybe it's like a Fiorentina kind of level before he... I would like to see him at Fiorentina. That's actually what I was going to... That kind of level, like a kind of 6th, 7th, 8th, 5th kind of maybe, Europa League.
00:52:17
Speaker
Exactly. That's where I want to see him. I don't think he's ready for Romelazio. I think that would be a step too big too, because I think those two Piazza, those two... He's not ready for that. I think Fiorentina is the right step. Yeah. But I do like him, but I have to say Di Grigorio again. Oh, yeah. The double save. I mean, if Inter can get this guy and have him as a backup, and Calderola as well, they're both like Inter, you know,
00:52:46
Speaker
youth team players and Interisti. Inter are in a good place because there is talk of that as well. Because Audeiro is shocking. We saw that in the Q&A as well. Listen to what I said about him watching him close up trading. Not good at all. Also, Flauovic quickly missed another penalty. He needs to be taken off penalties for Juventus.
00:53:10
Speaker
He's missed four of his last seven and then I think three of his last four, if I'm not mistaken. And again, his technical level, I really didn't think it was this low, his technical level. Even if you see the follow up and there was a miss hit and a good chance in the second half as well, he miss hits a lot of
00:53:31
Speaker
a lot of his shots sometimes, Wlawicz. He's not the cleanest, as clean as you think, with his technique. He does need to improve technically. Okay, right. We're going to have to start moving faster now. So, let's move on to Milan. After that disaster against Dortmund, this was a must-win game and they got it 3-1. Again, I didn't think they were that good in this game. Certainly, the first half, I think, of Frosinone had the chances to
00:54:01
Speaker
to take the lead there, Mr. 1-1, didn't they, Cooney? Mr. 1-1. I think that once Milan got in the lead, they did. They were pretty comfortable with that and they definitely deserved to win this game. The positives, Jovic, of course, finally scored, goal and an assist, a good assist. I actually thought he was quite good when he come on against Dortmund as well. He's definitely better than Giroud.
00:54:24
Speaker
That's good. That's good. Let's see. Milan need him. Milan need all of their squad to be delivering. They can't afford to not have Jovic or anyone given this injury situation and the depth. They can't afford to not have players deliver in important positions. And Jovic has to start doing it. And I'm glad for him because he was a player that I really liked that Frankfurt a couple of years ago. And I hope that this can be the start of something.
00:54:52
Speaker
because I do think there is a talented player there. I'm just not sure if a one-man attack is... I think he needs to play in a two-man attack. He's the kind of player who strikes me as someone who needs... Similarly to Immobula in the sense that I think he needs someone closer to him to play off of in order to score and be effective.
00:55:11
Speaker
But I have to give a shout out to Pulisic. I mean, that was what a wonderful goal that was. It was wonderful the way he took it, the burst and then the finish. It was good. And again, much needed after the really poor performance against Dortmund. Yeah, it was a great goal. And Teo Hernandez as well as a left centre bat, talked about El Gusto. He was a surprise success. Gives Milan another option there, which was good. Manon, again,
00:55:39
Speaker
after his disaster against Dortmund. Another assist. Three seasons in a row he's got an assist.
00:55:45
Speaker
I saw a funny graphic on social media that he's got more assists than Zanyola this season. More goal contributions than Zanyola. Zanyola's got zero goal, zero assists and is now starting to get hammered now by Aston Villa. After a reasonably bright start, the Villa fans are really on to him now. So, Manon is creating more than Zanyola. Ben Eser returned from injury, which is crucial for Milan. Like you said, if Milan are going to try and get back into the title race and be a challenge, I think he
00:56:12
Speaker
I think he definitely will be, will be crucial. So long way to go for him, obviously, to get back to his best and peak fitness, but that was really, really crucial. And also nice to see Kamada and Chaka Traore come on youngsters, because Pioli gets a lot of criticism for not using the youngsters, the young youngsters, the academy players enough. So it was good to see those two come on. I do want to say one thing about Frosinani, very enjoyable team to watch this season, lots of talented youngsters.
00:56:40
Speaker
We know they're going to concede a lot, though, and the defending, I'm sorry, the defending on that second goal for Pulisic, as well as he took it, as brilliant as he took it, I'm sorry, not even at Serie A level, at professional level, say even at Sunday league level, if you're letting in a goal from a straight ball over the top from a goalkeeper, one ball over the top does the whole defence and puts the player on goal.
00:57:05
Speaker
I mean, so I'm sorry that that is just, that's just ridiculous. That's, that's, I mean, that's pub defense. That is pub defense. I would take off my, if I was a coach at Sunday league at pub level, even if it was a charity game, I would take off the center back, the center back. No, it's not the center back. It's the Francesco. He doesn't believe in defending him in terms of Italiano. They don't believe in defending.
00:57:35
Speaker
like it's just and they get exposed when they have it you know when when it works is because they have fantastic attacking players who resolve situations and it kind of masks over the glaring holes of their tactical defensive deficiencies but then they go up against great teams or bigger teams and better teams and it's all masked unmasked for everyone to see it's it's horrific it's pub defending because he is tactically defensively a pub team coach and we've seen it consistently throughout his career
00:58:04
Speaker
But I'm glad that he's doing well in the sense of in the attacking phase, because I do think he has things he can teach players. I think Souleh is a fantastic example of that, that he can develop players going forward. But this is his level. He should be at a Frosinone. He should be at an Empoli. That's the level he should be at. And we saw that once again against Mila, where the defending was just... It was laughable. I laughed when I saw some of the defending when I was watching that game. I just burst out laughing.
00:58:34
Speaker
It's not even just, it's not even naive. It's just shocking at this level to not be able to, like, what do you do seven days a week if you can't organize your players better to defend that? No, that's terrible. Just a quick reaction. What did you make of the Maldini interview that he did on Friday? Because I'll try and sum this up really, really quickly because we are going way over as usual.
00:58:57
Speaker
So he gave a long interview, a damning interview, talking about his sacking by Milan in the summer. He hadn't said anything since then. He'd been very gentlemanly, but he finally spoke out about it. He talked about how he was sacked. He said that Cardinale
00:59:13
Speaker
uh basically was was telling fibs about the kind of the reasons why why he subbed kind of used a bad relationship with georgia frolani the ceo that maldini supposedly had and said that that that was a lie basically he said he was disrespected um by by cardinale but he didn't want to bring a lawsuit against him like bob and did because of
00:59:33
Speaker
You know how much love he has for Milan and the fans. He denied being an individualist, which is another criticism that was put against him that he kind of wasn't a team, a team man, a team player.
00:59:43
Speaker
Maldini. He said that, Maldini also said the decision to sack him was already made months before, and he hinted that Cardinale actually probably wanted to sack him as soon as he came in, but was unable to do that because they just won the Scudetto. And he also slammed Cardinale for not even replying to a three-year plan that Maldini put together, in which he said he needed three years to win the Champions League. And he put a three-year plan together, and Cardinale didn't even read it or reply to it.
01:00:13
Speaker
He also said that it was unfair to blame Maldini for the kettle air.
01:00:23
Speaker
signing failure because you know he says that you know if you sign 35 players you know you're going to get a failure and especially with the young say it's going to happen he said he would have been against selling tonali uh and also said that the club didn't want to sign tonali when maldini signed him uh and he also slammed the president scarrone he slammed gazidis and folani for being absent at times of difficulty and for leaving games early in order to
01:00:49
Speaker
in order to get home for the traffic. It's a pretty damn interview, wasn't it, Nimr? Yeah. I read that and I was like, okay. So Paolo Maldini decided to unleash hell. It was one of the most astonishing interviews I think I've ever read in Italian football. I can't remember someone
01:01:20
Speaker
formally at Milan in through you ever, ever expressing himself like this. He was he was not holding back. He let fly on this Milan and he made it abundantly clear that he does. He feels betrayed by them, that he was unhappy when he was there, that he'd done everything from Milan at
01:01:45
Speaker
He's been quiet because he loves Milan, his loyalty to the club, to the fans, all of that stuff, and that he wasn't going to take it. The fact that he comes in this moment and just empties his arsenal of nukes, because that's what they are. It's astonishing, the stuff he says.
01:02:12
Speaker
And how he just unloads on this management is remarkable. And the way that he does it too is clearly because he feels so disrespected on a professional level. And I think that's what's hurt him the most. And he didn't say anything for six, seven months or however many months it's been.
01:02:40
Speaker
But the fact that he was the Champions League before doing it. Well, I think it's also because he didn't want it to be a situation where they say you're speaking out of the heat of the moment because he knew what he wanted to say with this. And it's remarkable because I can't remember any director at any point off the top of my head at Mila Yuba Inter leaving the club.
01:03:05
Speaker
and unloading on the ownership like this in this manner, in this detailed, long, basically tell-all. It was truly shocking. It's going to be interesting because how do Milan handle this?
01:03:30
Speaker
this talk of bringing Ibrahimovic back into the club. Does that happen? If it doesn't happen, how do you know and things go badly on the pitch? You know, I think this is this is a precarious moment for Jerry Cardinale and his entire and the credibility of his project, because to have Maldini, someone like Maldini, who did an amazing job at Milan as a director,
01:03:56
Speaker
come out and just unload this way and basically say, ever since the first day this guy came in, he's been a clown. He doesn't know what he's doing. He's just a poser. None of them really care about Milan. I mean, all of these are all things he's implying.
01:04:12
Speaker
um and and that he's not going to have his professionalism questioned and blah blah blah this this is Paolo Maldini talking you know yeah this is this is not just so far they've said nothing uh i i well that's the best way to handle it yeah that's the they they can't say anything they they just have to be quiet about it not say a word i think that would be the wisest decision at this point is to just let this die out don't just ignore it
Maldini and Management Tensions
01:04:40
Speaker
because
01:04:40
Speaker
You do not, regardless of who you are, unless you're Silvio Berlusconi, you do not, or Adriano Galliani, or Adriado Braida, you do not go into an open war of words with Paolo Maldini at Mila. If you do that, that is a battle you are going to lose.
01:05:00
Speaker
No, totally agree. The only way they can win this is by having a successful season and the signings that they made being successful, and then they can come back and say, look, well, it was the right decision. That's the only way that you can win, really. But regardless of that, it was handled so badly at the time that even that won't repair, you just do not treat somebody like that.
01:05:28
Speaker
in the way that they, you know, the way that he was dismissed. Okay, right, we're gonna have to go through the other games pretty quickly. So starting off with Roma, another late comeback, another Roma late show. They score so many late goals, don't they? They win 2-1 at Sassuolo. Two goals in the last 15 minutes. Just shows just the spirit that Mourinho has installed in this team, if nothing else. I mean, there's no coincidence how many late goals they score.
01:05:57
Speaker
As I said before, I don't think it was a penalty. I think that certainly things went their way this game. The red card, which wasn't red card, you know, if that hadn't happened, that red card, maybe Sasolo would have gone on to win this game again. But I feel like when Sasolo scored, he went against him on a play. I thought Roma were the better side. They were in control, yeah. They were in control, but having been 1-0 ahead, you know,
01:06:18
Speaker
30 minutes to go. That's fair. But Lukaku was not good this game. Lukaku was terrible. Oh my god. Oh my god. When he's having one of those days when he's Lakaka and he was Lakaka on steroids.
01:06:33
Speaker
He was like kaka on steroids against Sasolo and it was just shocking and I think Mourinho was like, yeah, you just take him off. Do you know what I mean? Like, this is not going to work. But no, like you said, the biggest takeaway, I think, is again, Mourinho and Allegri, you know, when you instill a winning mentality, you come back and you win late. That's the hallmark of building a team with character and a big team mentality.
01:07:01
Speaker
And I think what he's doing now is actually pretty impressive. I mean, he's challenging Roma and Napoli for fourth. They're qualified from the Europa League group. I still think that they can win the Europa League. I keep saying that. I think they have a good position. Of course, lucky with the draw as well because there's some really good teams in the Europa League this season.
01:07:22
Speaker
but they are they are thereabouts and i think they can go a long way because i don't think they'll finish in the top four i think napoli are just too good but the fact that they are pushing napoli for
Roma and Lazio's Strengths
01:07:31
Speaker
that false spot is really impressive yeah no i agree i think they're going to be a definite threat they've got too much quality uh in attack too many goals in the team uh and like i said you know i trust marino um over over matsari for sure and they're in excellent form they've won six of the last eight um
01:07:49
Speaker
the games and I thought DiVallo again, we saw the magic that he has, he scored the penalty, he had a couple of damage, but the back heel, the genius back heel for Christensen, he's a lucky goal, such a lucky winner, but the genius back heel makes that out of nothing. Max, DiVallo is DiVallo. He's still great to watch, isn't he? He's still great to watch if he can just stay fit. Lazio get an important win as well, dominant
01:08:19
Speaker
dominant in this game again, which is good. They've had two dominant wins in a row, two games where they've created lots of opportunities. OK, Celtic and Callery are not the strongest opposition, but they deserve to win. They had an XG of over 2.5 again in this game, which was the same as against Celtic.
01:08:39
Speaker
So they deserve to win. Callery basically did nothing until injury time when Providale made two big saves in injury time from Pavletti and then Orestania. That's one thing I like about Providale. He's the kind of unflappable goalkeeper who can do nothing, have nothing to do all game, but then always be ready. He seems like a very concentrated
01:09:01
Speaker
kind of rigid, maybe that's the Russian in him, kind of goalkeeper. You know what I mean? Like, like, he's not, he's very cool, very, very calm, very, I like that about him. He reminds me a little bit of, I mean, he's not as good as him, but you know, reminds me a bit of like David Seaman, like that very kind of very safe, stable kind of goalkeeper.
01:09:26
Speaker
The calm mentality, the calm influence on the players around him. I like that. He does. He 100% does. I agree with that. He has a calming presence. He does. He really has a calming presence. It was important for Lazio to do this. I mean, now they're through.
01:09:42
Speaker
In the Champions League, this was a very important week for Lazio and Sarri. To me, I look at it, given what Sarri said last week, and then this reaction, that suggests to me that he's got the support of the players. They don't want him out. When he said, look, maybe I should leave. And they're like, no, no, no, we're behind you.
01:10:01
Speaker
and they all kind of snapped out of it, but they're still not out of the woods. They're not out of the woods, no, but it's been very, like, I'm trying to think, you know, it hasn't been too many times this season, if at all, though, they've had two games in a row where they've been good in two games and got results as well, one after the other. It's kind of been so stop start, one game, oh, is this the turning point in the next game that they don't? So I think this was important. And Pedro as well, shout out to give a shout out to him, still going at 36.
01:10:28
Speaker
still scoring um i mean he's had an amazing career and also i don't know the latsy defense in the last two games missed without romanioli in cassala with our friend patrick and and china i don't know i mean they are definitely quicker they've definitely got more athletic than romanioli in cassala so i don't know stop investing in patrick stocks it's gonna end badly it's like investing in nrom don't
01:10:53
Speaker
No, it's not really time to invest. It's not really time to invest in Patrick's dogs, ever. Look, yes, they are playing well. All jokes aside, Lazio take two wins.
01:11:08
Speaker
can see nothing. It's important for us. It's really right. The rest of the other Serie A results, Gen. 1, MP1, Lecce 1, Bologna 1, Bologna, watch this game, Bologna will be kicking themselves. They were so dominant chance after chance to wrap this up and they would have gone, I think they might have gone joint fourth or one point behind. Yeah, they would. They would have gone joint fourth, actually, if they'd have won this game. They conceded in the last minute of the last kick of the game, actually, with a penalty talking about goalkeepers like Provedel.
01:11:38
Speaker
being important in the opposition, but the penalty was one by Balcona, the goalkeeper, who went up. And if Fiorentina won 3-0, they battered Selena Tana in that game, Belitran scored his first Serie A goal, and then Udinese 3-0, Verona 3-0, what a game, and what a goal by Unon.
01:11:58
Speaker
I don't know how to pronounce it now. No, I don't know. I'm waiting on someone to speak to him and ask him how to pronounce his name because I've heard Engong and I've heard Engong. And I don't know which one it is. Yeah. So I don't know. That was a great game. Houdini would kick in themselves as well because he didn't know.
01:12:17
Speaker
like too many wins this season. Taruna Atalanta play on Monday. She came back injured until 2024. I want to talk about him on Thursday's show because this is getting a bit worried now. Okay, right.
Italy's Euro 2024 Group Analysis
01:12:30
Speaker
Before we finish off with our bad show, Prem Face and a new segment, Euro 2024 Draw. Let's react to the draw, shall we? Italy get a very tough draw. They're in group B with Spain, Croatia and
01:12:47
Speaker
Albania. They're opening gamers on June the 15th against Albania in Dortmund. Then they play Spain on the June the 20th in Gelsenkirchen. And then they play Croatia as the final group game on June the 24th. What's your immediate reaction just to the group draw, first of all? The second toughest group that they could have gotten. I wanted to avoid group D.
01:13:16
Speaker
because Netherlands, Austria, France would have been a nightmare. But this is not that much easier. It's easier, but it's still the second most difficult group they could have gotten. I don't like the fact that they play their opening game against Albania. I would have preferred if they played Spain or Croatia in the opening game to get that out of the way, because now they have to get they have to beat Albania and that opening game.
01:13:46
Speaker
And if they don't, they will be in trouble. And I don't like that. I don't trust this Italy enough to see them chase against Spain. I don't want them going into a game against Spain and chasing and exposing themselves and allowing Spain to destroy them on the counter.
01:14:06
Speaker
So I think Italy's fate will be decided in that opening game against Albania. They have to win that. It's as simple as that. Croatia are so difficult as well. Spain are not as good as they were a few years ago, but they're still a good site. It's a difficult one. It's a very, very difficult group.
01:14:25
Speaker
there's no doubt about that yeah it is it is a difficult group um it's also in and i look at this group e and it pisses me off i mean what is the state of group in belgium slovakia romania i mean come on yeah no i know i know it's not good is it um i mean it's interesting i think the the the group itself is
01:14:54
Speaker
It's going to be tough. We know the quality of Spain and Croatia. Closest of the time, we'll do it more in depth.
01:15:04
Speaker
analysis of all these teams. But I mean, Croatia have, they're one of the most experienced teams and they always, I mean, look how well they've done in the last two World Cups, final, semi-final. That special midfield still has one more midfield, one more tournament left in them, Brozovic, Kovacic and of course, Luca Modriฤ, who's still playing it and staying in the high level.
01:15:32
Speaker
of course although he hasn't been doing amazingly well at Citi. Maybe lack a little bit in attack Croatia but the worst thing about Croatia is
01:15:41
Speaker
They are our bogey team, Italy. Italy struggle against Croatia all the time. I think Italy have only beaten them once in their history in about like over 10 games or something around that number of games. They have such a bad record against Croatia. So they always worry me. Spain, of course, they've got a really special midfield, amazing midfield, although they might not have Gavi for the tournament because he's done his ACL.
01:16:05
Speaker
And Pedri's always injured as well, so it's what he could do with him being injured, but obviously Rodgeri, amazing player. They've got quality in attack, Moretta's having a great season, so they're always going to be difficult. And then Albania, you know, there's a lot of Serie A connection there, isn't there? It's almost like a derby, the Albania game.
01:16:25
Speaker
I was going to say Albania are essentially a mid-table seriasa. So they know Italy inside out. That's not going to be a walk in the park for Italy at all. So Italy need to come switched on. And I think they will. I think between now and the Euros, Spalletti needs to really start.
01:16:44
Speaker
rubbing that head and getting his shit together for that tournament. Because I think the being there is great, but for me, and I keep saying this, the road to the World Cup and winning the World Cup in 2026, which I think Italy should have, mount a serious challenge, it starts now. I don't really care about the Euros, if I'm perfectly honest. For me, it's about the World Cup. Italy have to get a result at the World Cup.
01:17:15
Speaker
not win it necessarily, but they have to get there and they have to go far. Italy as a country, Italian football needs this, so having won the Euros.
Italy's World Cup 2026 Focus
01:17:25
Speaker
So I want to see him really start to lay a two-year plan, a two-year
01:17:34
Speaker
a project towards that. And I want it to start with the Euros as well to show what Italian football is and what his Italy is going forward. And it starts against Albania. They have to be. No, that's an absolute must-wing game. That's a must-wing game. They have to go into those last two games, at least with three points on the board. Otherwise, there is the risk of going out. The good thing is that, remember, there is the safety net that
01:18:03
Speaker
four of the six third place teams qualify. So you finish third, you've got a good chance of qualifying if you at least win one of your games. And so that is important when you're in such a tough group like Italy are in. Then if Italy, I mean, we shouldn't look too far past the group, but the route, obviously, depending on how far Italy think they can go, the route
01:18:33
Speaker
is important. The knockout route is important. Now, if Italy win the group, they play a third place team from groups A, D, E, or F. So winning the group could be absolutely, well, would be absolutely massive for Italy. And I'll tell you why, because they would then probably play the winner of the Germany group in the quarterfinals.
01:18:57
Speaker
which isn't which isn't too bad. Germany, of course, will always be difficult because they got in Germany and it's in Germany, of course. But, you know, this isn't this isn't a top Germany team. But the most important thing of winning the group is that they would almost certainly miss England and France till the final. If assuming England, if England and Italy win their group and England and France win their groups, which you'd expect them to do, then
01:19:27
Speaker
Italy can't meet either England or France till the final. Now, if you've really got ambitions to go all the way, and I think Italy were probably a little bit short of having the quality to go all the way, but let's say we want to go all the way and win this tournament, then missing England and France till the final really gives you an opportunity to get to the final, doesn't it? Because I've said before, I think Italy can fight it out with any other team other than England and France, who I think are a little bit modern.
01:19:54
Speaker
Women in Italy need to go out to win the Greek, I think. If they were to come second, though, Nimmer, they would play the runner-up of Group A. So that's the Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland group. So that's not too bad. Assuming Germany win the group, you'd take a second round game against a last 16 game against Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland, in a major tournament. No worries whatsoever. But then you play the winner of Group C,
01:20:21
Speaker
or third place team in the quarters and that's going to be England. So this is where you finish is important. Then if they were to be England, they would then play like you play France in the semis, assuming France.
01:20:36
Speaker
win their group and then win their knockout game. So again, better to come top. If Italy were to qualify as a best third place team, they would play either the winner of group F or the winner of group E.
01:20:53
Speaker
in the last 16, that would be probably Portugal or Belgium in the last 16. And then after that, it's impossible to predict. I mean, it's quite hard to predict full stop because you know,
01:21:10
Speaker
France might not win their group. It doesn't always go the way you think it is. England might not win their group. They might come second. England are not winning their group. I think England are not winning their group. Do you know what I mean? You can never really map these things out properly. If Jude Bellingham or Harry Kane are injured or if Mbappe misses the tournament for France, or, you know, Jusan Blauwitsch turns into Pieroncina Blauwitsch, you know.
01:21:35
Speaker
You never know, but I think that group C and England have got the best draw, there's no doubt about it. They've got a group stage for sure. No, but if you look at their route, if England win the group, they can't meet another group winner until the semi-finals.
01:21:57
Speaker
So England seemed to get the...
Criticism of ESPN's Football Analysis
01:22:02
Speaker
I mean, the last few tournaments England have had such good draws in terms of the routes to the latter stages. Well, the last Euros for sure. And the World Cup as well. They didn't play any one in the World Cup. The Euros for me was the Denmark route to the semi was just...
01:22:21
Speaker
UEFA do these things, what are you going to do? Right, let's do Badjo and Prem Face of the Week. Okay, so who we've got for Badjo this week, Nima? I've got a couple. Likoyani's left-footed free kick. Absolutely stunning for Bologna. Cyril and Gรณnger, stunning. Bicycle kick. And Sotil for Fiorentina, what a goal.
01:22:51
Speaker
Three magical go. Yes. Oh, yeah, of course. Gosh. Yeah, I've got to mention him. Yeah, that's his first going. I don't know I think since Covid times I think Yeah, yeah, I jinxed him didn't I was there was me slagging him off last week Yeah, let's see how many times does that again Okay. All right. That's that's good. I'll go with all of those prim face of the week and
01:23:20
Speaker
ESPN again.
01:23:23
Speaker
I mean, it's quite a few. Yeah, there's quite a few. I can't remember what they said now again. It was more the way they did it than what they said. So they were talking about who the, they were ranking the top contenders to win the Champions League. They were ranking them. First was everybody kind of said Manchester City, then
01:23:52
Speaker
by Real Madrid and Bayern Munich were kind of second and third for everyone. And then Don Hutchinson was the one who said no. Don Hutchinson came out and said Inter, my fourth in my rankings. Immediately after saying that,
01:24:10
Speaker
the whole ESPN studio crew, they just burst out laughing like just such ignorant idiots. They just burst out laughing so disrespectfully the way that they laughed. They were mocking Don for the way that he said it. It was just... Didn't Craig Burley or Steve Nichols say that? I don't think it was Steve Nichols. It was the host, forgotten his name, the English host,
01:24:37
Speaker
then it was Burley and the South American guy, I've forgotten his name. But the way that they were just laughing and mocking him, like, you know, into, you know, like, you know, like it was such a ridiculous thing to say.
01:24:57
Speaker
And then Don Hutchinson comes across as such a lovely guy, but he really loves his Italian football. But he also knows his stuff. He's not just about Italian football. He knows his English football. He watches his football all around Europe.
01:25:13
Speaker
He's knowledgeable and he's good tactically and he actually understands the game. He actually makes an effort to learn. I actually think he's these I like listening to him and commentary as a yeah, and he seems like a really genuinely good guy as well. And these other guys were just being assholes. They were just being dicks and and I just and they were laughing and they were like inter you know, how can you say inter? I think the guy says, how can you say inter? What were you talking about? Don's like, well,
01:25:38
Speaker
They got to the final last season and they're a better team now. They were the best team in Italy and he started explaining why he thought he did. You would put Inter ahead of Arsenal. The way they talk about these things is just hot. You said the most outrageous thing and then reality hits. It's like rinse and repeat. It's like Groundhog Day with these guys. I've seen it in the media.
01:26:07
Speaker
I've seen it in the media so much. It's like an echo chamber of programmed, prim-faced robots. That's what they are. And it's just the way that they were laughing, mocking. It was like public school mocking. Yeah, it's condescending. It's so condescending. And it's like, I remember Ale Moreno.
01:26:33
Speaker
I honestly believe with him, every time he says something with conviction and definitively, you know the 180-degree opposite is true. The man is consistently wrong about everything. Any time he makes a prediction, I remember him when Kontรฉ bought when Inte signed Lukaku,
01:26:56
Speaker
And the way he was mocking Konta, he wants to play Lukaku, he wants to play him with his back against the goal. And he was like, yeah, that ended well, didn't it, Ale? Amigo? It's like, you know, he is...
01:27:11
Speaker
He is an idiot. He really is an idiot. And I find him such a funny, funny character. The problem with the ESPN studio crew is they're just proud to be ignorant. Proud of stupidity. Proud to be dumb.
01:27:28
Speaker
proud not to know the answer to your question, you know? Yeah, it's silly, but yeah, no, it's always. It's always like that. Who else have we got then on Perenfei? So there's so many this week. So Claudio Calterruccio, our friend of the show and Patreon, he said that BBC Breakfast, which is like the main
01:27:51
Speaker
and the BBC News programme, we're calling it Mobileciro immobile and apparently, talk sport did the same all morning.
01:28:03
Speaker
Zero and Moble producing two moments of Catenaccio. What is it with the Moble and the Catenaccio and Zero? Moble has come from people who like it more. Adam Crafton from, where has he worked for? Athletic, isn't it? Saying that Newcastle are a much better team than Milan so that they will win.
01:28:23
Speaker
And he had a really he had a fantastic one as well, which is I this guy is just so stupid. He he tweeted out a very quiet rainbow laces this year from men's football on an issue that requires conversation for progress. Hard to resist conclusion that events in Qatar last year, armband gate and possibility of Saudi League money and backlash, rendering men's game even more cautious to speak.
01:28:50
Speaker
Okay, so it's Saudi and Qatar's fault for the EPL and UEFA and FIFA not...
01:28:58
Speaker
doing what he thinks they should be doing. Instead of criticizing the people in power, he goes after two countries for just recently emerging as powers in football. It's astonishingly stupid. It's always those bloody Muslims, isn't it, Adam? Always those Muslims. I'm fed up with this guy. He's an idiot. Let's be honest. We're talking about a bigoted twat and it's disgusting. I'm tired of it.
01:29:24
Speaker
Nah, it's disgusting. It's disgusting. He's a bigot. It's what he is. He's an Islamophobic bigot, and it's nonstop with this guy, and it's just gross, and it's pathetic, and it's repetitive, and ugh.
Serie A Marketing Issues
01:29:41
Speaker
That's that's just what I feel. Yeah, I just wanna Like that's also we had Steve McManaman during the Napoli Real Madrid game saying that Ossiman will want to leave realm will want to leave Napoli now because he wasn't starting the game against against Real Madrid Even though he was just coming back from a serious injury. So that was pretty funny and Also, my dad told me a couple as well because he was my dad's
01:30:08
Speaker
obviously, seeing me film some of these Carl from Bedford parodies of, you know, the prim face. And he said to me, I can see why you do that, that, that character, you know, taking the piss out of the prim faces, because I was just listening on the radio to Manchester City against Leipzig, he was on he was in the car listening to Manchester City against Leipzig on BBC Radio Five Live.
01:30:33
Speaker
And he said, no, no, it was no, yeah, it was mentioned to city versus lipstick and also mentioned the United against Calatasaray. And he said they were going from game to game. And he goes, they were repeatedly pronouncing Icardi's name as Icardi the whole way through. I love that. And he says that they were calling Angelino Angelino.
01:30:58
Speaker
The whole way through, he said. And he was like, what is wrong with these people? Was it a parody? Was it like, was he just having a laugh? No, no, no. This was BBC Radio 5 Live. The most respected radio station in the world. Angelino. Gotta be calm. Icardi. I love Icardi. It's like, I don't know if Apple developed a football player. Icardi.
01:31:23
Speaker
No, but yeah, and we also had a couple of sent in, didn't we? Ernesto Carnevala, our patron said, CBS Sports having the Spezia logo up for Penfica. Just, I don't know why I found this. The play like Spezia in the Champions League this season, that's for sure. Maybe that's what it was. Maybe it was someone being bitchy. And they put on the screen Henry Mezdaterian when DiMarco came in.
01:31:45
Speaker
Yeah, a lot of prem faces this week. There always is when there's Champions League weeks. It's just you're guaranteed. There's always billions of prem faces to pick from. Right, Kate, finally, just to finish off, we haven't
01:32:01
Speaker
We haven't finalized an actual name for this in terms of what we're going to go for, but we've got one for now and we're going to call it Celia, Celia ass of the week right now. We might change that. We've got a lot of, I put out a tweet asking for suggestions of what we should call this segment. And we've had some, some really, really good ones. Um, but at the moment we couldn't call it Celia ass of the week. And basically it's ass of the week. And basically it's going to, um,
01:32:28
Speaker
be a segment where we make fun of the social media account of Serie A and also the Italian club. So we won't just pick on the Serie A official account. We'll also pick out Italian clubs. And what it will be is everybody that listens to the show, listens to me know that I always go on, bang on and on about how
01:32:54
Speaker
Italians, how bad Italians are at marketing seria, how they just, they're just clueless, they just do not get marketing. And I always say that they couldn't sell a life jacket on the Titanic. And actually, that was one of the suggestions for what we should call this segment is can't sell a life jacket on the Titanic was going to be the segment, but you know, we'll see. So what we're going to do is we're going to pick out
01:33:17
Speaker
tweets, social media posts by the Serie A and by the clubs, which just basically market the league badly and just basically mess up the league even more than it already is. So the first one is going to be Juventus. It's going to be Juventus for a post, and this is just unbelievable. It isn't unbelievable, but it is unbelievable. It's not. It's just absolutely insane how they could do this.
01:33:42
Speaker
Last week, basically one of the biggest mass murderers in the history of humanity died. His name is Henry Kissinger, who was by very, very conservative estimates, and I mean very, very conservative, the number is much, much higher in reality if we're talking not just directly but indirectly the number of people he is responsible for the deaths of. But conservative estimates have it at three to four million.
01:34:07
Speaker
He's committed war crimes in more than a dozen countries and considered a war criminal in so many nations. He's not allowed. He wasn't allowed in so many nations around the world because of what he did.
01:34:21
Speaker
Juventus has put out a post honoring him, basically calling him like a friend of Italian football. He was a friend of Juve and the Aniele family. And that's what I'm like, I'm not surprised by this at all. I actually expected this. I'm surprised it took so long. If you know how good friends
01:34:41
Speaker
Jan Yanieli and him were, and I mean good friends. No, they were virtually best friends. They used to talk on the phone a few times a week. They used to see each other for months. One of the first gigs Lapo Elkan had when he started out his career was a personal secretary to Henry Kissinger. He is a close bosom buddy of the Yanieli family.
01:35:05
Speaker
And so for me, this was not shocking or surprising. This was just, I knew they were going to do it. I'm surprised. I think they just didn't know whether when, if they were, you know, I'm surprised it took so long. I can tell you where this order came from. This order came directly from John Elcan, directly from John Elcan. This came because even the idiots that run these social media accounts at many of these Italian clubs,
01:35:30
Speaker
were not stupid enough to put out a post like this. So this is in order that's come directly from... But it's such a typically tone deaf thing, isn't it? It's silly ass. It really is silly ass. You have to be an ass to do something like this and not read the room and just...
01:35:49
Speaker
It's to go out this hard and a friend and blah, blah, blah. Like, there's no need to do that. You can do it on your personal social media. There was no need to involve Juve in that. There's literally no need to do that. And then it's just it's typically serious. It's like when Torino. Oh, my God, that pedophile. Yeah. Yeah. But he was you have to, you know, he was alleged, alleged. Yeah.
Controversial Decisions by Juventus
01:36:11
Speaker
And he was acquitted. He was acquitted of all charges. But again, the moment when that photo was posted,
01:36:19
Speaker
he was still underestimating the criminal trials going on and Torino Ruanokayiro. I mean, it's just posting a photo of him. And Kevin Spacey of all people for no reason. This is classic Seria ass. It's like Shulker putting out a poster honoring Hadolph Hitler's birthday. I mean, it's just like,
01:36:43
Speaker
I mean, it's insane. Oh, it's just so stupid. It's just dumb and it's unnecessary. It's typically silly ass, silly ass. This is what I mean. This is what I mean about the marketing. This is how we kill ourselves. We could not sell a live jacket.
01:36:59
Speaker
Worse, in fact. No, worse. We would have the people would be in the pool and Serie A would come along and take the life jackets off them while they're in the pool. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are in the pool trying to try to hold on to that little bit of both or wherever they were holding on to. The Serie A executives come into the court, go past them, take the life jacket off them and let them sink. That's what Serie A does when it comes to marketing. It's just
01:37:26
Speaker
No, it's astonishingly stupid and it's just, yeah, I don't know.
Show Wrap-up and Preview
01:37:30
Speaker
It's just, it's classic seria. This is vintage seria ass. For me, this is, oh, it's so dumb. Someone needs to put together a video compilation of all of these things, like seria asses, I mean.
01:37:46
Speaker
It's asininely stupid. It's an unforced error. There's no need for it. You can put a post on your own social media. You don't need to involve the club. And it's just, you know, it's silly ass. It's silly ass things. What are you going to do? What are you going to do? Okay, right. Extra long show for you today. There was a lot to talk about. We'll be back on Thursday. No, Tuesday for the Q&A and then Thursday for a midweek show.
01:38:15
Speaker
Yeah, we will. Okay, great. Let's leave it at that. Have a good week, everybody. See you on Tuesday. Until then, ciao ciao.