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Everything You Need to Know About AC Milan in 2025/26
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AC Milan enter the 2025/26 Serie A season with huge changes on and off the pitch. After finishing 8th last year, losing to Bologna in the Coppa Italia final, and crashing out of the Champions League against Feyenoord, the Rossoneri now look to bounce back under Massimiliano Allegri. In this AC Milan season preview, the Calcio Culture crew analyzes the club’s record-breaking transfer window: €144M raised in sales with departures like Tijjani Reijnders, Theo Hernández, and Malick Thiaw, while big arrivals include Luka Modric, Ardon Jashari, Samuele Ricci, Koni De Winter, and Pervis Estupiñán. We break down Allegri’s possible -3 formations, Milan’s roster with stars like Rafael Leão, Christian Pulisic, and Mike Maignan, and the potential additions of Rasmus Højlund and Dušan Vlahović. Can Allegri’s Milan challenge for the Scudetto, return to the Champions League, or is this a year for player development? Vos and Logs debate expectations, tactics, and where AC Milan will finish in Serie A 2025/26.
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Transcript
00:00:05
Speaker
Ciao, Paisan. Welcome back. Welcome back to another phenomenal episode of Calcio Culture. I am your host once again, Lobes.
00:00:17
Speaker
We are here today on a another beautiful team preview in our preseason series here. I am joined by my co-host, Vos. He is back today.
00:00:28
Speaker
He is repping the right team, finally. He knows where his loyalties lie for once. And we are incredibly excited to cover AC Milan today. The best team in Milan, the best team in Syria.
00:00:40
Speaker
It's going to be an absolutely stupendous episode. Vos, how are we feeling? I don't know about best team in Milan. I also don't think best team in Serie A, but there is a lot to talk about. Kind of leaving or continuing on what happened last year. a lot of drama last year.
00:00:56
Speaker
Kind of a lot of drama already this year. We're going to be going through all that. But I do want to say a huge shout out to Sam and Nate. They did a great job and they tagged in. It's not easy to just hop on here and talk. It was great to have them on. They did a phenomenal job.
00:01:08
Speaker
But I'm happy to be back and happy to go through Milan. I think this is probably the most exciting season preview because I do think over the last week, there's been a ton of news. And right before we got on what we were talking about, i did a full 180 on this team. I was out on Tare, out on Allegri, out on the entire Milan project.
00:01:27
Speaker
And they did a couple things that I really liked. And now they're in a very different place than they were a week ago. 100%, And that's that just goes to show you, Paizans, that a window can flip around, can change in on a dime, on a dime. A couple of signings, one or two that really go your way, and a team can be looking completely different going into the season, which has happened here with Milan.
00:01:49
Speaker
Paizans, again, welcome back. If you listened in a couple of weeks ago, we did actually drop a pretty early on window preview summary of what Milan had done probably in the June, and early July.
00:02:02
Speaker
And both me and Vos were very much concerned with where Milan stood. I think that, again, like Vos just said, our our outlook has changed. But again, I think going into this season two here, my goal as the in-house Milan fan is to not get head over heels.
00:02:20
Speaker
ah It's could be really tough after the last week, but I'm really going to try to keep my expectations in check and not to go overboard. We'll see how that excitement stays put.
00:02:31
Speaker
But like like we always say, you guys know where to find us. You know where to find our past episodes. If you want to go back and see what we said a couple of weeks ago, we're on X, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, at Cultural Culture FC, and on all the podcast sites, Apple Pods and Spotify. So with that, Vos,
00:02:49
Speaker
Let's kick it off. Tell us where AC Milan stood as of the end of last season, couple the results, what happened immediately after the season ended in terms of management, and bring us into the present day, why don't you?
00:03:02
Speaker
Yeah, so we got to talk a little bit of what happened last year because I think that really set the stage for the summer. And what did happen last year was almost utter disaster. There was a couple of bright spots, I would say.
00:03:13
Speaker
um They came in eighth place in the Serie A, which we will classify as an absolute nightmare. They lost in the knockout round Champions League to Feyenoord, which didn't really go well.
00:03:24
Speaker
They lost in the finals of the Coppa Italia to Bologna, again, it They got there, but not great to lose. so a little bit something there. And then they won the Supercopa against Inter. The other thing they did was they beat Inter a bunch of times last year. So that's their win.
00:03:40
Speaker
um Going into this season, you basically are in a place where you came in eighth place last year. No European competitions. You got to a Copa Italia final. So you have something to point to there, I guess.
00:03:51
Speaker
But for me, Nothing positive from last year other than we have a fresh slate now. We we cleared house. um They started the season. I don't even remember who they started with. I'm spacing out on his name.
00:04:04
Speaker
The manager? As a coach and Sal. No, before Coach Sal. It feels like was so long ago. Oh, Fonseca. It feels like so long ago Fonseca was in there. That went terribly. Then Coach Sal took over. but go They won the Supercopa. And then no real improvement the the rest of the season, I would say. He experimented a little bit.
00:04:23
Speaker
But nothing great happened. And though Alok alluded to a lot of change immediately in the summer, particularly starting at the management team. They brought in a real sporting director in Paré who spent a lot of years at Lazio. And we kind of talked about that our last episode.
00:04:35
Speaker
And then they brought in an experienced Syriaco. And they that's basically, they went polar opposite. They went from second coach us out. They went outside of Italy, brought people in. Now they go a guy that has been there, done that in Italy.
00:04:46
Speaker
Again, that is also taking Juventus team to two Champions League finals, played really exciting football and a guy that's just been around the league. So they went full opposite. We're going to go classic Italian manager and see where that takes us.
00:04:59
Speaker
And I think a lot of people are probably in agreement that's at least going to stabilize the ship. But that kind of sets the scene for what we're going to talk about now. And the first thing we want to talk about is the transfer window. Because like we said, lot of lot of people leaving, a lot of people coming in, and some really notable ones at that, which a lot of teams haven't really done.
00:05:19
Speaker
And again, in the last week or so, massive news. That has really changed the outlook of this team for the coming season. And for the new Paizans, again, that new coach is Max Allegri coming in after a couple of two different stints at Juve.
00:05:34
Speaker
Now, Vos, I'll let you run through the sales here, but I do want to say, I'll leave it for one the when we're talking about the purchases coming in. So why don't you lay out who's left? Kind some pretty big holes, from my opinion, I think from the league's opinion as well.
00:05:49
Speaker
but An absolute heartbreaker in one. I think another one that I'm happy to see go, and I think his time was up here, but quick run through who's gone. Yeah. and And when we run through everybody that's gone, it's really important to note that there's some big names here, but they are actually going into, it's not actually crazy to think about it, but they're looking at a positive net spend right now, which is good from like a business standpoint. And they kind of balanced the sheets a little bit, but in total, they raised 144 million from sales.
00:06:16
Speaker
Most notable ones, Tajani Reinders who went to Man City, obviously left a huge gap. RIP. Probably the top five player in the league last year. I think most people would but kind of agree on that.
00:06:27
Speaker
So left a huge gap, was easily the best player in AC Milan. Taylor Hernandez left to Al-Halal. Malik Shah left to Newcastle for 40 million euros, which is the biggest heist that I think I've ever seen.
00:06:39
Speaker
And not be understated. yeah no all down state yeah Maldini is rolling over at his managerial grave right now saying you guys are welcome for buying this guy for six mil. You're welcome for your 40 mil. I do not know how they came to a 40 million value on Malik Shah.
00:06:59
Speaker
like i no I don't even know what they could have been looking at from a Newcastle standpoint to get this done. But for AC Milan, that is a phenomenal bit of business. you know Incredible business. um The other one that became official, Pierre Kalulu, spent last year on loan at Juve. He's now officially at Juve.
00:07:15
Speaker
Failed project from last year, Emerson Royale ah was spaced out team very quickly at right back. He has now gone back to Brazil in Flamengo. And then the Alvaro Morata saga is officially over.
00:07:25
Speaker
He is now on call. So in total 144 mil raised notable holes that are there losing to Johnny Reinders in the midfield. Theo Hernandez, who has been premier left back for a number of years. And last year we did talk about all his problems.
00:07:40
Speaker
and how this might be a good thing for Milan. We've talked about this in our previous episodes. And then Malik Shaw, because there is a lot of question marks about who is going to be the center backs on this team. He was a rotator piece, I would say, but at times was the number one in this rotation um on the bright side of the field. That's the notable outgoings. And then on ingoings, we did spend an entire episode on this. So if you guys go back, you can look at it below. you want to just take us through really quick?
00:08:05
Speaker
Right. So what do we do with this 144 mil? We went out and spent 111 mil. So not a small amount of money spent here. um Again, coming we send window's not even hey close to being over, but this is now a team record for outgoing sales. So 111 million spent this summer, none of which were spent on Luka Modric. He was a free transfer off the back of him leaving Real Madrid.
00:08:28
Speaker
Our marquee signing, what it looks like to be marquee signing for the summer, Ardon Jashari, 36 million plus a couple of bonuses coming in from Club Bruges. That transfer saga is finally over.
00:08:40
Speaker
That had been in the works for months. I think right from the beginning since Tari was brought in, ah that is finally done. That was a rollercoaster of a story, but happy to have him.
00:08:51
Speaker
A very different process for a $23 million dollars signing from Torino, which we've already covered. Samuele Ricci comes in. Absolute steal. Another heist of the summer, in our opinion.
00:09:02
Speaker
And then i think what makes this Malik Shaw sale even better, even more sweet, is that immediately the next day we go out and we sign Coney de Winter from Genoa for $20 million.
00:09:14
Speaker
million Again, a great buy, quality buy off the back of selling Malik Shaw, who's just simply not even as good as Coney DeWinter at all yeah for double. That's what going to say. i I saw some people tweeting like, oh, they sold Malik Shaw and then just like got worse at center back.
00:09:32
Speaker
I think Coney DeWinter is way better than Malik Shaw on the ball and as a defender. So I don't know. I don't know how this happened, how they got Malik Shaw out for double what they're paying for to win there.
00:09:45
Speaker
Doesn't make any sense to me. The only thing I can think of is that Newcastle just forgot that last season occurred and they went to two seasons ago where Malik Shaw was actually three d pretty, pretty good next to Tamori. Like, i don't know. I would say better than decent.
00:09:58
Speaker
He's never been the best center back on a team. at's At some, well, he was definitely the best on Schalke when we bought him. But in any case, I don't think that's worth Yeah, no, that would not point. Flying next it to Tamori, he definitely could look better in some certain situations. In any case, happy happy to see him go. Best luck to him.
00:10:15
Speaker
Happy see Kony De Winter in. In terms of other replacements that we brought in, we did sign Estupignon, an Ecuadorian from Brighton, left wing back, somewhat of a winger as well to come in and into in fill in the void that Teo has now left.
00:10:30
Speaker
I like the signing. The only thing that really makes me upset about this one is that we lost out to Kuyper, also from Club Bruges, left back, that Brighton signed.
00:10:42
Speaker
So we just said, okay, we're going to lose out to Brighton on signing to Kuyper. Let's just sign the guy that they're trying to replace. A little bit cheaper. Nonetheless, we bring in a rather talented player. Flew under the radar, but definitely had his ah his fair share of good performances in the prem and a very experienced left back at that.
00:11:00
Speaker
And then to round it out, I don't know if this deal is officially done as of today, but is definitely going to be done by tomorrow. The recording today is Wednesday the 13th. But in any case, Thakame, a right back. Finally, we bought a right back this summer coming in from the Greek League. 10 million spent. So not nothing splashy about it, but certainly good reinforcements off that right side.
00:11:22
Speaker
um So listen, this a lot of things happened the last seven days that Vos and I have been alluding 36 hours.
00:11:32
Speaker
realistically the last couple yeah last couple of days. And the big the big domino that fell was Charles leaving that 40 million dollars coming in, 40 million euros coming in. That allows us to really pull trigger on Coney De Winter.
00:11:44
Speaker
We finally got Shari in the door. He's already played a preseason game. A Fakume is going to be done in the coming hours as well. So we went from a window where we had... brought in a free transfer in Modric, which is nothing to sneeze at. He's he's a Ballon d'Or winner.
00:11:59
Speaker
We had Samuel E. Ricci, who was a great buy, but we had a bunch of holes. We still had not addressed center back. Even with Shaw on the roster, center back was a question. We were wasting all of our time focused on Dresari and trying to get him into the team.
00:12:14
Speaker
And now all of a sudden, we've got Kony De Winter, one of the more more of the better up-and-coming center backs from Serie A. Serie A trained, which we which the pod absolutely loves. We got Jashari in, who we'll talk about a little bit as to where he fits into the lineup.
00:12:28
Speaker
And we finally got right back after a couple of really big misses there. So, Vos, you really talked about it already, but what what made this flip? What's the biggest thing that's really turned you around in Milan these past couple of days? so For me, it was honestly Tony De Winter.
00:12:42
Speaker
That was... A guy that I had picked out last year. was, okay, this guy's kind of... He wasn't even flying under the radar. That's what's weird about it. I think everybody that watches Italian football has seen this guy and they're, oh, this guy's really good. Could be like next generation of like one of the best center backs in the world kind of thing.
00:13:01
Speaker
And for me, yeah like they basically went from Malik Shaw, who at best... that we've seen from him was a number two center back, I would say, to signing the best center back on the team. There is no doubt in my mind that Cody De Winter is the best center back on the team. He was the best center back on Genoa who conceded two more goals than AC Milan and were a far worse team overall.
00:13:22
Speaker
And he was in the best, probably one of the best players on the team. there. so you basically bring in a guy who can command a team who's going to be, give you those consistent seven, eight, nine out of 10 performances week in and week out.
00:13:36
Speaker
They finally have a center back that they can rely on every year because even at, I mean, the the last time they had a center back that they could absolutely rely on, Bakayo Tsumori, the year they won the league. And even then we still saw the like kind of chaoticness that comes with Tamori.
00:13:52
Speaker
Where like some of the best things he do, he can do is recover from his mistakes. And we've kind of seen him regress from that. And Coney DeWinter is the polar opposite. 6'3", extremely athletic, good on the ball,
00:14:03
Speaker
He play as a right back when needed. can play as a right center back in a three. Very versatile player. I don't want to say Virgil van Dijk in a way that like, I don't think he's going to necessarily get to that level, but comfortable on the ball, physically dominate, like just has all the traits of a great center back, which is why I love this.
00:14:21
Speaker
And he's more athletic than Shaw and has shown like that leadership, like being the best player on a team throughout an entire campaign. And that says so much to me. And for them to say, okay, we're going to go do this.
00:14:33
Speaker
The other thing that really has split this on me is that they sold Shaw for 40 million. Like, I cannot overstate how insane that is that that they were able to get that done. And you basically turn 40 million from Shaw into DeWinter and Sam Elricci.
00:14:48
Speaker
You take a non-starter money and turn into two of your starters who are also extremely young, going to grow, have a much higher price tag than you bought them for it. Just great business. And it seems like now it's almost like they this was always the plan.
00:15:04
Speaker
It was just the timing of the dominoes falling to get to this point. Because like you said, logs I think that that hit the nail on the head. Shaw was the domino. And then these other things just happened so quickly after that, that was almost like, okay, we're going to get this done.
00:15:17
Speaker
There was almost like talk in the background that we didn't know about. Right. yeah right Yeah, for for me, and it's it's along the same lines, Vos, but for me, what really flipped the script in terms of my emotions around our window this summer is one, that conviction that they finally showed in the last 36 hours. Because again, like you like you just put it, it seems like this was already ready to go. This was everything that they wanted to do. They just needed something to go, whether that was...
00:15:43
Speaker
whether that was Chaw going for 40 million or even if Moussa, honestly, who's a little bit out one foot out the door right now for yeah what is being talked about as 25 million euros, which is, again, another unreal price tag.
00:15:56
Speaker
One of those things that had to happen for them to just pull the trigger on a couple of things, which they already wanted to do, and they had it in set they had it set in stone. Which again goes in line with another thing that that really spoke to me is that it seemed like Tare and the management here were had such high conviction in getting Dushari in the door and they never gave up on it.
00:16:16
Speaker
Beruja actually shut the door for about a week before we came back with another offer. and finally got that deal done. And so for the management to have such high conviction in a player like this and to really get them get them in the door, I think that that's that' speed that tells a lot for me. The other thing, and it goes back to Cody De Winter, is that he came out today in his announcement interview, and he said one of the biggest reasons that he came and wanted to join AC Milan is because Allegri gave him his first start at Juve. Wow.
00:16:48
Speaker
And that was one of the reasons that he wanted to come and play for Milan. Not necessarily for the badge. we'll get He'll get there. He'll want to play for the badge. But the fact that Allegri still has that kind of pull and that kind of respect from players around the league gives me a lot of a lot more trust in that this this project and that bringing him back to a managerial position here is going to be a positive, not necessarily a negative based on the connotations that we had on his second stint from Juve. So off the back of those couple things, I think that this really has become a a good window.
00:17:18
Speaker
It's on the verge of being a great window. And yeah what's going make it a great window is what were the talks for, what Milan is linked to still. And that, those two main things is another striker to go up and basically compete against Santa Jimenez because I don't think that we're going be playing a true striker system, although that could show its face, and that we are pretty close to getting a deal done, loan with obligation to buy for Rasmus Hoyland, currently on Man U, formerly of Atalanta.
00:17:48
Speaker
This guy had promised playing Serie A, and I know that Mats has voiced his concerns here. But for me, I got to have an open mind, and I think that if a lot of players that have come back to Serie A, that they ah they are able to revamp their career.
00:18:05
Speaker
So... With that being said, i think the other guy here is Dusan Vahavich, who, again, another big Allegri guy. Not sure that that's who I want coming in the locker room right now. Not sure that that's the contract that I want to be servicing.
00:18:20
Speaker
But Vos, what's your thought there? Yeah, and I was so out on this. and Yeah. After today, like... It is. So today, played their, their basically every year, Juve in the preseason, the first team plays their next gen team and in in a friendly.
00:18:37
Speaker
And Dusan Vlahavich has been playing in all the preseason games. And there's basically just been a montage of him being bad, like just being very bad, put it lightly.
00:18:48
Speaker
and And I have kind of fully flipped on my Dusan Vlahavich take. I was kind of in the camp of blacklist him. Nobody should get him. And now I'm kind of like, cannot get any worse than this.
00:19:03
Speaker
So I found the floor. It's on the floor. It's worth getting him because if he's your backup, number nine, And I think the problem is going to be his salary. He's the highest plate player in the league right now.
00:19:14
Speaker
So I'm not sure what you can do from that standpoint to make it happen. But if Dusan Vlahovic is your backup nine, and let's not forget that this guy was exceptional at Fiorgi. Except for like people were saying this is the next guy. He became the highest plate player in the league.
00:19:30
Speaker
So there's there's definitely things that he does do well. The question for me is more going to be, if they bring him in, it's going to be because Allegri is missing that lethal number nine. And I know that Doosan has not been that lethal number nine for for a while now.
00:19:48
Speaker
But he's been asked to do more things than he's capable of at Juventus, I think. In dropping in, linking a play, he's more... And I'm trying to defend him. I am. Because I think it could go well because he's big.
00:20:03
Speaker
He's a big body. Yeah. He's decent in the air. But he has zero confidence right now. Milan do not have a number nine that you can just put in the box and say, just be here to try to put something away. Because Santi Jimenez is a little cuter than that.
00:20:18
Speaker
Rafael Leal isn't really a number nine. They've walked away from Lukiyevich, who was kind of that. And we saw how effective he was effectively he was at times last year. So that's why I think if you can make the Dusan Volhavich one work,
00:20:31
Speaker
I could see that being a guy that works really hard when he does get his playing time to try to break into the team. And I think the ceiling on that one is you have a new number nine. The floor is you have a guy that's at least been here, like can been around the league.
00:20:47
Speaker
And regardless, they need somebody. i think Hoyland would be better. Yes, but Hoyland's going cost a lot more money. Yeah, my my take here is, you know, you were right about Doosan coming from Fiorentina, but that was also five, six years ago. Hoyland is kind of in that that window that Doosan came up through.
00:21:05
Speaker
And so from a ceiling perspective, a progression perspective, yeah, of course, Hoyland is going to be the pick here. I see what you're saying about Doosan. And ever since we lost DeRue, we've been looking for a guy that can just be there to finish goals.
00:21:19
Speaker
and yeah but you're I well I know you're just say do Drew was able to come back hold that play to strip you in which I don't know that was a hundred percent a really big selling point of why he was good for our team but we didn't necessarily need him to do that and and we'll talk about it a little bit as to why I think that we actually need less now yeah but in any case in any case The other promising part of Dusan is, and I watched him actually, we watched him in person twice this year, Mats and i you once, and ah in a plethora of other times on TV, but the one thing that I really noticed is, and especially after they got, Juve went out and got Kola Mwani, is that
00:21:58
Speaker
while the product on the field maybe not maybe never got better, the drive was definitely there. He definitely felt a sense of urgency, a sense of competition. And I think that putting him behind Santi Jimenez could get that same type of fire out of him.
00:22:12
Speaker
Listen, these guys are professionals. These guys have been playing footy since they were coming out of the womb. So for them to be at the highest level and to be that guy, to be the highest paid player in the league, then all of a sudden drop to a you know second on the depth chart, third on the depth chart, that hits them hard.
00:22:27
Speaker
And so, to you know, I think the one promising outlook here is if we do bring in Vlahavich, he's playing again for a guy that believed to have been at the outset. And he's but getting put into a place of competition where he has to prove himself.
00:22:39
Speaker
And I think that he's ready to do that. But in in any case, that's where our strikers stand right now. And we'll talk about where the formation lies and how that would fit in. um But just a really quick note on the fact that we're still in need of another center back from my perspective.
00:22:53
Speaker
couple of very soft links here just to cover them really quick. Caleb Ocoli from Leicester. He had been brought up to the Italian national team on a couple of occasions last year. had I don't think he got any minutes. Leicester obviously got relegated from the Prem, so this might be a cheaper buy.
00:23:08
Speaker
ah He is Italian, whether you believe it or not. But um I think that ah this that could be an okay buy. JP QR from Arsenal previously of Bologna?
00:23:19
Speaker
butlog yeah That, that, she just beat him, Bologna, dumbass. Gee, I didn't know, wait, did he really, I don't, well, just stat check that, but Jacob Kiowar now in Arsenal, left-footed center back, has had a couple of minutes for the Brem powerhouse out there, especially with Fiore not playing too much.
00:23:40
Speaker
He has actually gotten a couple of minutes, again, left-footed center back, can play left-back, can play left-center back. We'll see if that comes to fruition. Super light links there. And then just a personal favorite of mine, Batsy Anapolay. I knew it wasn't Bologna. Spezia.
00:23:54
Speaker
It was Spezia 25 mil to Arsenal a couple of years ago. So he's still a talent. And actually, quick, funny story about Kiowar. absolutely phenomenal on the ball in the skills competition. Arsenal played the MLS a couple of years ago for their all-star game and Key War stole the show of the skills competition.
00:24:12
Speaker
We need that on Milan. ah Last but not least, again, a personal favorite mine. I'm not really sure that this is real, but Camuzzo, really young Italian center back from Fiorentina. I hope that we give him a look. We missed out on Leone.
00:24:25
Speaker
This is another sub-20 center back who I think has talent, plays decently well for Fiorentina. Vos, you think opposite. Yeah, there's some knots to hold on. I think it
00:24:38
Speaker
I think if Fiorentina get 25 to 30, they'll move on. He hasn't... He got a lot of hype last year. He played he plays right down the for Fiorentina. And... Decently big boy. Yeah, but he just never did anything for me that says, like, this is going to be a... Like a top four Titan kind of guy.
00:24:58
Speaker
and think he's okay. And he is young. But I would rather than take a flyer on, like, ah like an Ocoli, then go that route, personally. And I think it would be better for him to stay on Fioran, you know.
00:25:10
Speaker
don't think that one's going to be seen. Yeah, think that one's going to stay. Remains to be seen. I do think we do need to bring in another center back here just to build that out, even on one or two competitions this season. with that being said, a lot more to figure out in this transfer window saga for Milan, for this Allegri side.
00:25:28
Speaker
And that brings us to what is Allegri going to do Allegri historically has been a three-back kind of guy. That seems to be the case given the preseason lineup so far. But the what is really in question here, Vos, what's he to do in front of that?
00:25:46
Speaker
We've done bolstered the midfield here even after we lost Rinders. Still kind of figuring out what that front line is going to be. Are we looking at a 3-4-3 or are we looking at a I think it's going to be both at like yeah times and on Allegri, just give you guys a little bit background, you can go listen to our other episode about this. We we did a little bit more of a deep dive just to bring you like quickly up to speed on Allegri.
00:26:09
Speaker
Allegri at Juventus when they made it to two champions league finals when Paul Pogba was there, he played a 4-1-2-1-2 with creating one of the best. Beautiful diamond. Yeah. One of the best midfields the team, I mean, I think the league has ever seen.
00:26:22
Speaker
played really exciting football, always defensively minded, but it was it was a more expansive creative team. He then left Juventus, came back to Juventus, basically polar opposite, played a back three, basically just sat deep, had like 35% possession, probably on average. Don't fact check me on that.
00:26:41
Speaker
That's just like the generalization to say that that's how they played. And they were ultimately just looking to counter-attack and they, they did have success. I think they finished in fourth place in his final season there, even with the points deduction, and all that nonsense.
00:26:53
Speaker
Um, so he has success regardless of of what he has done. He has been at AC Milan before. But yeah, but with Allegri, from everything we've seen so far this preseason, it is going to be a 3-5-2 or a 3-4-3. And I think it is, i say that, or because I think it is going to be both.
00:27:11
Speaker
We haven't really seen anything that says he's going to play 4-3-3 or go back to that diamond. Although they definitely have the players to do it if he wanted to. i just think he...
00:27:23
Speaker
That was so long ago now, i I don't really see him going back to that. And what we saw in his second U A stint was so defensive that even the thought of going back to like a diamond, it's just so far removed.
00:27:34
Speaker
And I think things would probably have to really go wrong for him to do that or go like too well, where they get very confident and switch to a back four. or back to whatever you want call it back four back to kind thing.
00:27:46
Speaker
So I'd expect that three, four, three, three, five, two playing defensive and counterattacking. I think they have a lot of good counterattacking players. So I do think it makes sense there, but I, and I love the roster. I just don't know what we're going to get on the field because it was the same thing last year in my predictions. I think I had Milan finishing third and It just didn't go well. And there's nothing to tell me that it's going to happen.
00:28:11
Speaker
Yeah. There's nothing to say that, that that won't happen again this year, but there's also nothing to say that this team won't finish top four this year, because I think on, on a pure like roster talent level, they're fully capable of going there.
00:28:24
Speaker
I think it's more question marks around how is Allegri going to get his message across to the team. Is Allegri's tactics going to be able to match up to some of those other managers and some of those other clubs? Because there are a lot of good managers in this league now, and it isn't a four of five team league anymore.
00:28:41
Speaker
There are 10 teams that are competing for European spots at this point consistently. And we have a resurgent Como. We have a resurgent Torino, like all these different players that can get you and you If you're willing to sit back, some of those teams are going to get you.
00:28:57
Speaker
And I think as Milan, it is a very thin line to be walking, to be that defensive counterattacking team in a more expansive, we are AC Milan, we're going to bring it to you kind of team.
00:29:09
Speaker
And I think with Allegri, we're going to see a more conservative style of football, which I think is okay. Because last year it was the polar opposite. Nobody had any idea what the fuck was going on. Allegri is going to rein things in and say, this is what we're going to do.
00:29:22
Speaker
I think they're just question marks around what 100% is that going to be day one? mike My concern is exactly what you outlayed, though. It's that this league has what used to be very defensive league, very defensive Italian style of football, has become very attacking. And you're not only at the middle of the table in ah and a Colmo or a Torino, even in that an essay when they were at their best last season, but even at the bottom of the table when you looking at the likes of Parma last year were 100% on the front foot at a lot of times.
00:29:51
Speaker
And for me, I do not feel... I still don't feel, even with a couple of the reinforcements that we brought in on the backside, that we are going to be that concretely sound at the back to play so conservatively.
00:30:06
Speaker
I think that our strong suit is still on an offensive side of the ball. I still think that it's on a progressive side of the ball and it's possession-based to a certain extent. So I would like to see more of the first stint Juve Allegri than the second chance.
00:30:23
Speaker
more Mostly from just a fan of fan perspective. I don't want to see us just sitting back and letting every every team play around us. But I do think that it also just plays into the strength of us that we have the ball and that we played play on the front foot rather than waiting back and trying to and trying to counter 100% of the time. think that's that's optimistic. I think it's going to be very counterattacking.
00:30:44
Speaker
Well, we'll see. We'll see. ah that The fact that it will be counterattacking in your mind is actually pretty hopeful, and I'll touch on it in just a second. But I think with that being said, let's just jump into the roster because once we go through the player the player archetypes that we have here, I think it'll be a little bit more clear for the listeners as to what what and why we're we're saying what we are.
00:31:03
Speaker
So as we do, paisans back to front, start with goalie, defense, midfielders rounding out with forwards. And similar to our Roma episode, there is only one man between the pipes from Milan.
00:31:15
Speaker
It is Magic Mike Mignon. For whatever reason, this summer has been a trial and tribulation of how do we get Mike Mignon on T, which makes not a lot of sense aside from the fact that he's actually never healthy.
00:31:29
Speaker
So when he is at his best, when he's at when he is healthy, when he's on the pitch, this man is one of the best goalies playing on the ball. He acts as another center back for us and on a ton of occasions and honestly one of the best shot stoppers in the league as of two seasons ago.
00:31:46
Speaker
This past season, I do think that he took a step back in terms of his positioning in that, in terms of his ability like to really... win games for us. I don't think that that shined through at all this past season.
00:31:57
Speaker
And so we'll see if he comes back to form in 2025-2026 campaign. Behind him, we do a Pietro Terraciano came in from Fiorentina. I think he had a stint on A Milan before this.
00:32:12
Speaker
I think we gave him to Fiorentina. Now he's back. In any case, him and Torriani are backing Mignon up. And I guarantee you that you will see one of those two guys here because boom yeah whatever godforsaken reason, Mignon is going to step to the right next to the post by accident, twist his ankle. He's going to for three weeks because he actually got concussed on the way down because he hit his head on the pipe.
00:32:35
Speaker
and he's And we're going to be in an absolute disarray. What's interesting is his thing has been calf injuries, which I don't really get up. Go to the gym, dude. Go to the gym. For Mike Mignonne, I will say there's there's really no drama in there. Like when he's healthy, he's going to play. He's a great player.
00:32:51
Speaker
What I would like to see, which i I doubt is going to happen, his first season under Pioli, he was so effective on the ball. And like, obviously since Pioli's left, it's been less reliance on that.
00:33:06
Speaker
But I mean... He was literally a part of why that team won the Scudetto from an offensive standpoint in his a ability to stretch teams, play that long ball to lay out.
00:33:16
Speaker
So I would like to see them get back to that because we haven't really seen him deliver anything since the Pioli days. So it's not really drama. It's just something to point out when you do watch him, he's exceptional on the ball, but we can just go into the Sauerback group and talk about how his back three looks.
00:33:31
Speaker
Yeah, so let's go into the defense. We'll start with the center backs here again. a lot of the same names from last year. We got Fikayo Tamori, who we touched on at length here. Stranja Pavlovich is back, our big left-sided Serbian center back who we don't know if he's ever practiced dribbling the ball when he's not in the game, but in any case, a big body and certainly showed a lot of talent when he was playing for Salzburg.
00:33:57
Speaker
Hopefully he comes back to that form in his second season here. ah We do have Mateo Gabia, who... I every time we bring him up, I just have to apologize because for two straight seasons, almost three before even before cultural culture even started, I was disgusted by Mateo Gabby and having him on the pitch.
00:34:15
Speaker
This man goes to Valencia for maybe three months. We cut his loan short, bring him back. He has actually been our most consistent center back for the last two seasons. So he is back. He's actually, i think, our last Bartosaghi still here.
00:34:28
Speaker
ah One of our last Primavera players on the ah first team roster here. So always happy to have them around. We did talk about Cody DeWinter coming in. He's definitely going to starter of day one. We've touched on the fact that we're linked to Ocoli, Kiowar, Kamutso in my head.
00:34:43
Speaker
So I think another center back signing is in the works. But Vose, mean, I think that this is definitely shaping out to be Assuming, assumably, that Tamori, Pavelvich, Gabia just keep at least their baseline performance, this is going a better defense with De Winter in the lineup.
00:35:02
Speaker
I don't know about that. De Winter can only do so much to cover the worst parts Pavlovich and Tamori that we saw last year.
00:35:13
Speaker
And i said very quickly, it's looking like Tamori does not have a place on this team because Kony De Winter is not going to be the center center back in my mind. He's very athletic. He is big, yes. But he's more of that like athletic bill can go out on the wing to make some tackles. Kind of like the best parts of Pavlovich, but much better on the ball.
00:35:33
Speaker
So he is presumably for me, when we look at this as back three, and I think that's how we need to talk about it. carnie de winfer is Coney DeWinter is 100% the starting right center back for me. I don't think there should be any question marks around that.
00:35:45
Speaker
I think he's the best defender on the team, period. So he's my right center back. I don't know if you disagree with that or have pushback. And for me, that is the only position where Tamori can get back into the team.
00:35:57
Speaker
first He's kind of like the backup right center back, left center back for me because in Milan's Gudetto winning season, he was the left center back. And he basically- People do forget.
00:36:08
Speaker
He was a very good compliment to Simon Kieh in that Kieh was big, strong, not as athletic. And he- And Kouloulou. And Kouloulou. And Tamori could cover ground. And that was always his best trait.
00:36:20
Speaker
And in a back three, that's very helpful. But Tamori is just so chaotic and gets that tunnel vision. that he isn't the day one starter on either side for me.
00:36:31
Speaker
What i will say is I expect Allegri to help elevate his game. And if you haven't seen Tamori play, He's probably one of the five most athletic players on the field at any given time.
00:36:43
Speaker
It's more so that that game IQ. And Allegri understands that really well. I'm not sure he's going to love Tomori because of that craziness, but he should help him elevate there. So on the left side of the field, that kind of leaves you with, okay, we want to use our left-footed left center back in Shadja Pavlovich.
00:37:01
Speaker
who at his best should be a great left center back, kind of like similar traits, very strong, very athletic, just terrible on the ball, which you kind of just deal with with them. He also has very similar flaws to Tamori in that he gets that tunnel vision, will just run around.
00:37:16
Speaker
As Mott said, every single time he talks about the lawn last year, chickens with their head cut off. And Pavlovich is just a little bit less like that than Tamori, which is why I would say you're going with Pavlovich.
00:37:29
Speaker
The other thing that Pavlovich does give you, he scores a lot of goals on corner kicks. And even if he doesn't score goals, he is extremely effective in the air because he is gigantic and is a physical specimen.
00:37:41
Speaker
So that's kind of my right center back, left center back. And i i would be very surprised if that doesn't happen. And then that brings me to center center back who we have disrespected him. You particularly have disrespected him.
00:37:55
Speaker
But Gabbia has been the most considered consistent center back over the last two seasons. And he just makes sense to play as a center center back. He doesn't do any dumb shit, which is really important for your center center back.
00:38:08
Speaker
He is relatively large as a human being, also important as your center center back. He good on the ball. He's good. He's not going launch balls anywhere, but he's going to pass the ball efficiently to other players, unlike Paflovich.
00:38:28
Speaker
But he, and it's so apparent when you watch, and it it's almost to the likes of Nicholas Soule, he is one of the most unathletic players to watch in soccer.
00:38:40
Speaker
ease easy like It's almost like his legs are too short or something, but He's not mobile. He is smart. So we kind of op over time. safety He is very smart for me. Yes. In terms of positioning so that his athleticism doesn't fall too far behind.
00:38:54
Speaker
But that has always been my one concern with Gabby is that he's just not athletic at all. At all. But again, i don't want to continue with the slander of Matteo Gabby. He's definitely gotten us out of some games. He's definitely lost to some games. But i you can't say you can say the same thing about our other center backs. One thing I do want to touch on before we move on from the center back crew here is Bartoszagi, Davide Bartoszagi, our other Primavera player, very sneakily six four Very sneakily 6'4". He's been known to be a left back, but if you're 6'4", I'm sticking you at center back and i don't give a shit what you say.
00:39:32
Speaker
This guy, I think, can turn into that back of left center back, which again pushes to more even further down the depth chart. even though we'll just we'll keep him on the right side.
00:39:43
Speaker
But I do think that he's a very viable backup left center back, even though he's been notably the left back, left wing back. And the fact that he can play left wing back or left back yeah at such a height is also just a promising factor in his development and his usage for this team. So with that being said, I think that moves us on to the wing back positions here. Again, we're we're assuming...
00:40:05
Speaker
Essentially five back, three back with wingbacks that can get a little bit further forward up the pitch. But Vos, who are we working with from an outside back perspective, wingback perspective? Yeah, we can start the left side of things because I think that's pretty, pretty clear at this point. As Stupinian was brought in 25 mil, he is going to be the starting left wingbacker.
00:40:25
Speaker
There's not really a question about it. He can presumably play just every game. theyre Again, they're only Serie A and Copa Italia this year. So i I don't think there's going to be a lot of drama there. I mean, it just makes sense to just roll him out.
00:40:37
Speaker
The backup is presumably Bardasaghi, maybe Alex Jimenez at times, who who last year, he's a left-footed player. He was kind of forced into a right-back role. Very like a utility player can play left mid, can play as a left wing, right mid, right wing, right back, left back kind of guy.
00:40:53
Speaker
So that's your backup. But for me, it's a stupid on day one and not really much to think about there. I score from like a, like a scouting perspective and to give you guys like a preview of him, I actually don't know all that much. I've only watched him a couple times, but my general knowledge of him is just traditional wing back.
00:41:10
Speaker
Something that I like, I just heard he doesn't teach stupid shit. I always liked that from a defensive standpoint. So I expect him to be better than Teo Hernandez from a a tactical perspective in my mind, in terms of every day, every game, you kind of know what's going to happen.
00:41:26
Speaker
And it's going to give you kind of like that level-headed performance is my understanding of him. I don't know he'd have anything more, Luggs, but the only thing I'll add there is that he's He is similar to Tao in that he can almost play a left wing position, not so much inverting, but staying wide and playing play a very good ball in on a cross.
00:41:44
Speaker
So definitely offensive minded, which is perfect for what you want from a left wing back position. But I think from a sound defensive style, he's not going to have those lapses that Tao has had in the back post that we saw all last season.
00:41:56
Speaker
He's also a pretty stocky guy. Very quick. Don't get me wrong. Yeah, very quick. Incredibly quick, very fast, but also a solid body. He's not just a pushover. So I do think that his profile here fits very well.
00:42:07
Speaker
Again, the connotation that we bought at the backup of a guy that we truly wanted is a little bit strange. but i But this guy came in from the Prem, was a surefire starter for Brighton for at least a season, a season and a half.
00:42:19
Speaker
um Had great output. So I'm excited to see what he brings to the table. But that does bring us to the right side. And we we have brought in... ah thekama I do not know i single thing about him. It should be happening. so Happening. It's going to be in the next 24 hours. I'm not going to sit here and pretend like I know anything about this guy. Coming in from the Greek league, that's all I know. 10 million euros.
00:42:39
Speaker
Decent deal. I think that we're going to touch on a player who's technically in our our front line, a winger offensive player. Let's just talk about him now. I don't think that there's any reason to wait because I don't think he's even going to be playing on that winger spot.
00:42:53
Speaker
Alexei Salamakis is coming back to Milan. He's now coming back after his second lone stint. And not i don't I don't even really want to talk about that much, but I know Vos does, so i'm not I'm just going to leave it at that. Alexei Salamakis, Vos, go ahead.
00:43:07
Speaker
but So what i what I will say is that the Etekame signing makes a lot of sense regardless of it. i dont I have also not watched him play, but they haven't had a actual right back that is not bad in a very long time.
00:43:22
Speaker
so i think Not bad is the is the caveat. Just signing somebody that can play right back. The team doesn't have a right back right now. Period. If they don't bring him in a traditional, like that is precision. So I think it makes sense regardless of if he even starts or if he is the backup in the end.
00:43:39
Speaker
The guy Lowe was alluding to is one of my favorite players in the entire league, Alexis Salamachers. He was at Roma last year where he played a little bit of wingback, kind of like played some winger. ah The season before that, he was at Bologna, played more winger. And not an under Pioli, he really got his start and was playing on the right side of the field and then kind of got phased out for Christian Pulisic for for a couple of reasons.
00:43:59
Speaker
Very obvious reasons. Very obvious reasons, I guess I'll say. But in the preseason, we've kind of seen him play a little bit of wingback. I think his player profile actually does match wingback pretty well. um in terms of having that engine get up and down the field.
00:44:12
Speaker
He's definitely more of a winger than a traditional right back in that sense. But you can kind of get away with that when you have a Stupinian who's more of like a traditional left back on the left side of things. You're playing it with a back three,
00:44:24
Speaker
He adds that like width on the right side that's a little bit more one-on-one creative, can also cross, can shoot with his left foot. So he's a really exciting player. For me, if he isn't playing in this team consistently, i would like to see him leave because I think he is very good and there are teams he can play for.
00:44:40
Speaker
But for me, I think it makes sense to play my wing back, honestly. Especially when you look at the front line and presumably the front three, the and attacking midfield or striker, whatever you want to call it.
00:44:53
Speaker
The right-sided player there is presumably going to be more of like an inside forward and in every situation that we see. So it makes sense to play guy that's more of like a traditional winger, is going to hold the whiff, has that engine, can still be creative and offer you that one-the-one, take on your man kind of thing.
00:45:09
Speaker
Very athletic player, like very fast, um quick in counter-attacking, can carry the ball well. um So it's a player to watch. This side of the field is more a drama because we don't really know who it's going to be. We've also seen Eunice Moussa play a lot, who has kind of been shown the door for 25 mil, which I think Milan would take.
00:45:28
Speaker
But at the same time, Milan's kind of unsure if they want to do that because they have been playing Moussa a lot preseason. So day one, I actually have no idea who this guy is. It's one of Etakame, Estupina, Salamakers, or...
00:45:43
Speaker
Musa, but then Alex Jimenez could still play out there because he played right back last year, which is really weird because we haven't really seen a lot of hint. That's the real problem is you you kind of have to get Alex Jimenez in the lineup because of his performances last season.
00:45:59
Speaker
I mean, this Alex Jimenez, and i I'll sing his praises all day long a lot more than Salamachers, even though i ah the hate for Salamachers for me is a little bit misguided, but Alex Jimenez is a quality-ass player. Yeah, he is. He is a good player.
00:46:11
Speaker
hit Not only were did he have glances of really at brilliance last season, but I think that his middle, very average game is still incredibly serviceable, even though he's a left-footed player playing off the right.
00:46:23
Speaker
His one downside is very similar to Teo in that he has almost zero defensive skills and he's an absolute liability from a defensive standpoint. But when you allow him to get forward and add something to that offense, he's incredibly lethal.
00:46:34
Speaker
He's very creative and he's very technical on the ball. So I think that this rotation that we might see going around between Salamakkers, Alex Jimenez, and assumably Atakame, I don't think we're goingnna have any issues. one Number one, from a stamina standpoint, where someone's always going to be able to play, they're always be fit.
00:46:52
Speaker
Number two, I think that there's three different playing styles that you have there, and and Allegri can use that to his advantage, playing different different teams throughout the season. So it is a drama. It's definitely not set in stone, and I don't think it ever will be for the entire season. So it remains to be seen, it's incredibly interesting.
00:47:08
Speaker
Yeah, the the last thing to kind just wrap on the Skunkin is with the Musa one, it's like, and I think this also, kind of feeds into Alex Jimenez and why it might be hard to play him, is he's not like exceptional at anything.
00:47:24
Speaker
And it's kind of the same thing with Yunus Musa, right? Like they both have great engines. They both work really hard for the team. But if you just like sit down or say, what is Yunus Musa really good at? I can't really. I'll push back on you on that. Yunus Musa's exceptional ability is his engine.
00:47:40
Speaker
Yes. But buts I think it far surpasses your average guy that you say has an engine. Yunus Musa is one step above. Yeah, but I would say that Alex Jimenez and Salamacris have that same engine.
00:47:51
Speaker
So it's kind of like. So what sets you apart from them? Because I think the other problem with Alex Jimenez is also what is he exceptional at? I would also say kind of nothing. He's like a very good midfield outside midfielder in that he can kind of do everything well, but not... i think i think he's I think he's incredible on the ball. And I do think that his eye for a cross or his eye for a ball in deep is is definitely something that he's good at. And then even for Alexei Salamakos, I think that his his main strength, aside from, again, being an engine, which you see in all three of these players, is that he his IQ is insane.
00:48:28
Speaker
Yeah, I think he has been around for such a long time that he he's just knows he knows the game. so Yeah, I mean, i I think what I would say about Silent Markers is like, I know he's very, very good one v one very good at crossing. Like, he has the most offensive capability, I think, of all these guys.
00:48:45
Speaker
But like from a defensive standpoint, I guess Eunice Moussa is the best. it's It's hard to say. like And that's why this is a weird one because depending on the game, depending on the matchup, Allegri could use a different guy for a different reason. Like with Eunice Moussa, very tangible playing in the middle of the field.
00:49:02
Speaker
deeper down the field and if you want to play like a Modric push somebody out Yunus Musa comes in the midfield you can do that like Salamakras isn't really that neither is Alex Jimenez and I'm assuming Adekom is not that but what Alex Jimenez can really do for you is like hold the width like in a way that Salamakras has but he's left-footed so he can hold the width and then cut in Salamakras can hold the width and then deliver that final ball so there's a lot of different things you can do with them So I'm curious about what does happen here because I don't think the day one guy is necessarily a day one guy for the rest of the year.
00:49:33
Speaker
On the left side of the field, I think Estupin Young is the day one guy and he's the guy for the rest of the season. hundred percent 100%. And so I think with that, though, you bring up the midfield and you bring up what you can do if you play Moussa. So let's let's jump to the midfield.
00:49:46
Speaker
we've We've touched on a lot of the names that that's that's here already, but just to quickly run through it. Again, we bring in Luka Modric from Real Madrid, past Ballon d'Or winner. Yusuf Fofana is flying so far under the radar, but he is still here.
00:49:59
Speaker
Yeah, he's still on this roster. He's still available. Let's not forget that we spent 25 million on him last summer and he was a highly touted transfer in and to be honest, one of our more consistent players last year next to Reinders. So he is still available. Ruben Loftus-Cheek coming back to fitness and did not show was not healthy.
00:50:18
Speaker
For, I would say, 90% of the season last year. But if we do remember two seasons ago, was double-digit goal scorer. Lethal in the box. And let's not forget, this man is six four Big body. Loves to get forward.
00:50:32
Speaker
ah We do bring in two guys. Samuel Ricci. Again, more of a holding midfielder. More of a tempo guy. Very composed. Coming in from Torino. Passed captain at Torino. Very interested to see if he can translate that to a better team in Milan.
00:50:47
Speaker
And again, Ardon Dajari, who i will I'll do a little bit of a spotlight on in a second, comes in from Club Bruges. Marquee signing 36 million coming in. I will tell you a little about where he fits in.
00:50:57
Speaker
We talk about Eunice Moussa again, a little bit out the door right now with a $25 million dollars price tag that makes a ton of sense. Nottingham Forest is looking to bring him in. And so if that's the case, um I'm fine.
00:51:09
Speaker
I'm fine to let him go for that amount of money. That's a really big price tag. I think club would probably ruin that too. 100%. Eunice Moussa, that's not to disrespect him because think he is a good player.
00:51:20
Speaker
Still so raw. But like going back to what I was saying, like Milan is kind of in a place where they need players that are good at very specific things to move the club. oh And I just think Yunus Moussa is more like that, like utility guy, like Atletico Madrid kind of guy, like cover ground, yeah don't do anything dumb, be good at playing a position.
00:51:40
Speaker
and they're like kind of past that point. Right, no, he I think that Atleti's shout is actually crazy accurate, and it goes to show that Atleti just went out and got Johnny Cardoso, who I think is very similar to Musa, but in any case, not to belabor the point.
00:51:53
Speaker
Two other players that have been on the roster for years and have been shown the door a couple of times now each We have Ismail Ben-Acer, who came back from a Ligue 1 stint this past second half of the season, was a huge part of our Scudetto run, no longer part of the project. I do foresee him not being on the roster come at the end of this transfer window.
00:52:13
Speaker
And sadly, our boy... Yasin Adlund, friend of the pod, king of the barbecue, is still being shown the door. No matter how much he says he loves Milan, and we know he does, we just can't seem to find a spot for him on the team.
00:52:30
Speaker
And neither can other teams, because obviously Fiorentina did not push to bring him on full time. He is being, he will probably not be on this team come September 1st.
00:52:40
Speaker
So let's just focus on the five names that are different that I noted prior to Yunus Musa. That's Luka Modric, Fofana, Loftus, Cheek, Ricci, Jashari. Where do you think this goes? let's I want to safely assume is going a three-man midfield.
00:52:55
Speaker
Oh. Because... I want to safely assume it because i think that's our this is our strongest group. And I know that that makes a very difficult conversation up front because there are three big names up front that you do you do really want to get in the lineup.
00:53:11
Speaker
But i do want to I want to speak about this from a three-man midfield. Okay, when you say three-man midfield, what is the makeup of said midfield? There's going to two holding midfielders, presumably a 6 and an 8, and then you have to have a 10 because the combination, that you the talents that you have in Pulisic, Luka Modric, and Loftus-Cheek, you have to have some type of purely creative position, and that's where those guys fit in.
00:53:39
Speaker
It's those other two that I think make this really interesting, and that's split between Fofana, who's now the longest tenured of the three people we're talking about, Ricci and Joshari.
00:53:50
Speaker
up I mean, i i i I'm going to disagree a little bit because I think there's other players that they could play down there. In terms of the two-man midfield, because it's going to be like a front, let's call it two-man, three-man midfield, like front three.
00:54:04
Speaker
so it's like a the two The two holding is going to be there no matter what. The two holding is to be there no matter what, exactly. It's a question or mark of, is the front three a left wing, right wing striker thing? Or is like a number 10 and two strikers? so Something like that.
00:54:18
Speaker
For me, this is a very difficult puzzle, but I i think what we've seen from Allegri has kind of told us what we're going to see. And I think that number one in that is Simwell Richie is going to be a starter, which I think does make a lot of sense.
00:54:32
Speaker
From a keep the ball, don't do anything dumb perspective, he is number one on my list in terms of those guys. um Again, like Luke said, he was the captain on Torino. I think the very big misconception is...
00:54:44
Speaker
with him is that people are comparing him to Pirlo and he is nothing like that at all. He's not going to launch those long balls. He's not going to be taking a free kicks. He is very much pick up the ball and pass it to somebody else. He's more of like a ah Sergio Busquets is a much better comparison. Rodri.
00:55:03
Speaker
Much better comparison than any- Or even modern day Fagioli, if we're just gonna talk about a player- think Fagioli is way more creative than Ricci is. Like, Ricci is never gonna be able to play in the number 10 kind of role.
00:55:15
Speaker
He is very much like base-ier midfield, Don't do anything dumb. Don't do anything that's overly aggressive. He's never going to lose the ball. That's basically his m MO, which I think really works.
00:55:28
Speaker
We talked about like a Tamori, a Gavia, a Pavlovich. He can go get the ball. Would you say it's press resistant? Yeah, he's press resistant. He's also good defensively, and I think he's going to get better.
00:55:39
Speaker
Well, that's kind of like your anchor midfield guy. So it kind of gets into like, okay, who who are you going pair with him? And that's a very difficult question because to to your point, Yusuf Afana has kind of got under the radar. And I think that is a very allegory kind of guy and that he's going to get up and down the field. He's going to run really hard.
00:56:00
Speaker
He's good on the ball. He's a good ball carrier. i have question mark He's sneaky progressive. Let's not forget. He is a good final third passer, which we saw last year, but he's not really going to be your goal scorer kind of thing. No.
00:56:13
Speaker
And I think probably what Allegri's seeing is he's a better version of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and you can kind of debate that. But I don't see any way Ruben Loftus-Cheek is the day one starter at all. No, I certainly don't really see that. And so it really comes down to, i mean, do you disagree that Ricci is starter? I feel like Ricci is 100% a very starter.
00:56:33
Speaker
I do think Ricci's could be starting, and I think it it doesn't make any sense not to have him be a starter. There's yeah almost zero transitionary adjustment that he needs to make. He played an entire Serie A season as a starter, as a captain last year. Yeah.
00:56:46
Speaker
And a team that effectively for a lot of the season was at the same caliber that Milan was playing at. Similar formation yeah too, yeah, at times. so And I think that it's going to it's going to be a very easy plug and play for him to just put on a different kit. Yeah.
00:56:59
Speaker
And then I think the other thing that goes into who, okay, so who's that other guy that basically leaves you, Fofana, Modric, we basically strike Loftus cheap from the list in terms of your best 11.
00:57:10
Speaker
So it's Modric, Fofana, and Jashari. And if you're paying 36 mil, can rise to 43, I think was the highest. Kind of have to play him.
00:57:22
Speaker
He's kind of what I think. So let let's let's go to spotlight time, right? Yeah, this is this isn't important. Because I actually don't know a lot about him. Let's talk a little bit about Ardon Dushari. If you listened to the previous episode about AC Milan's transfer window on cultural culture, you will know that I was pretty upset. You were. That we had spent it so much time and effort trying to get this guy in. And at the time, had been a fruitless effort.
00:57:48
Speaker
um like and ah Again, ah guy who, in theory, not proven, played one season in the Belgian League for Club Bruges and was, I'm getting terrible flashbacks to...
00:58:00
Speaker
To get the Lardis, CDK, who we spent basically the same amount of money on and left him after one season to go be way better at Atalanta. Let me tell you something about Ardon Dishari.
00:58:13
Speaker
Ardon Dishari is, and you'll hear it in interviews as the past couple days, the best midfielder to come out of Club Bruges ever. Those words have been spoken. The best midfielder to ever play for Club Bruges.
00:58:29
Speaker
Now, Club Bruges isn't some rinky-dink club in God-knows-where Europe. Club Bruges has a long-standing history of being the best team in Belgium. So that means that Ardant Ashari of Switzerland is the best midfielder to ever come out of the Belgian League.
00:58:46
Speaker
That's high praise for a 22-year-old coming out of one season playing in the Belgian League. so what does this guy do how does he get to that kind of stature ardent dashari is a mix between a six in that he's a incredibly aggressive and decisive defender goes into tackles hard wins a lot of them very high win percentage on a tackle basis and he's a mix between that and a box to box eight high energy covers a lot of grass covers a lot of the pitch and where he's the most effective is not necessarily that he's the most composed player on the pitch and that he's able to be, he's not a pure low, he's not a tone setter, but what he can do is almost reminiscent of, I'm forgetting his name,
00:59:35
Speaker
French midfielder, press resistant as hell, Tottenham, Dembele. Was his name Dembele as well? say Yeah, Dembele. You're right. That's who I'm thinking of. This guy's press resistant as hell.
00:59:47
Speaker
He gets the ball in our third and he's going to get that ball out. No problems, no questions asked. His one trademark move is that his left foot is a magician's left foot, and he's able to place a long ball over the top, whether that's straight over the defense to the striker, across the field to the outside mid, across the presumably layout, presumably Pulisic.
01:00:12
Speaker
This guy's gonna be able to play peaches, getting us up the pitch. And one thing that I did say that I was nervous about going into this season without this player profile was that I was not sure how we were going to get the ball from our defense to our offense in a in a progressionary fashion because Fofana was not that guy. Reinders was able to do so from a dribbling perspective.
01:00:34
Speaker
Modric, not the type of guy that can do it day in and day out for the entire 90 minutes. Jashari is going to get that job done from what I have seen. Again, i I said at the beginning, of so I don't want to get too far head over heels here. But from what I saw, guy is the best passer from a holding midfielder perspective since we've seen Sondra Tenali. And everybody knows who's listened to this pod that I would i put Sondra Tenali as the GOAT.
01:01:00
Speaker
the best player of all time. So for me to put a comparison out there takes a lot. I do have high expectations for Dishari and that is exactly why I think he's be playing day one as that second midfielder next to Ricci because we do have that composure from Ricci, that tone setter.
01:01:15
Speaker
that pacer. And then we have Jashari who's going to get that ball forward whether you like it or not. He's the one that's going to progress the ball. And honestly, 90th percentile in assists from midfielders last year.
01:01:27
Speaker
I expect to see the same kind of output from Milan this season. Yeah, i think to your point, 90th percentile in progressive passing as well, which is kind of what they need. What I... What I think will go into this, which is interesting is Allegri has that like defensive mindset first.
01:01:45
Speaker
So it's going to be weighing like ah the offensive ceiling of just Shari or. Fofana's defensive capabilities. And that's kind of what he needs to juggle and work out what is going to work best.
01:01:59
Speaker
Because it it is hard to sit here and say Yusuf Fofana doesn't deserve to be in the team because I thought he was exceptional last year. He was 100% outside of Reinders. He was probably the best midfielder.
01:02:10
Speaker
And he did contribute offensively. He was kind of pigeonholed into playing as like a deep line number six, which really wasn't his role. So I think that one is going to be more of like a game by game basis. I will say like when they're playing like an inter interim along, maybe we see Pafaa and then Dresciari comes off the bench.
01:02:28
Speaker
And like, it should makes it hard. Like when do you use Loftus-Cheek? And I think Luka Modric will probably be used in a more advanced role. or in games against people that are going to sit really deep. But I would agree with you in that the number one pairing day one should be Rishi and Jashari.
01:02:46
Speaker
And I think Mandrich is going to more be that light one-off game kind of thing. Like, okay, we're going to start Mandrich for this very specific reason in this very specific game.
01:02:59
Speaker
Or he's going to be the guy that comes on in like the 60th minute and wins the game for them, which is you need players like that in the modern game. You have five substitutes now. The better teams can have very effective players come off the bench and it makes sense to do that.
01:03:12
Speaker
But yeah, I would agree. Day one, it's Ricci and Deshares. I think that makes sense. I think that's what they wanted to do. That's clearly why they brought those guys in. And that brings us then to the front break. and it is a front three, whether it's a winger, striker combo, number 10, two-striker combo, whatever it is, it's basically going to be three forwards that are playing as, like, in-play forwards. There might be a little bit movement there, but those guys are Rafael Leal,
01:03:38
Speaker
Christian Pulisic, Santi Jimenez. I forgot about these two guys. Semuel Chuck was a no Oka for I'll be destroyed. The likes of solid markers from this list. Cause I don't think he's gonna play there.
01:03:49
Speaker
And then guys that are kind of like in the running for that number 10 spot, notably is Luca Modric and Ruben Lotha sheet because they both can play there and they offer something very different from like what a Christian Pulisic would offer.
01:04:01
Speaker
And then look, what we did mention before just on Vlahovic and Rasmus Hojland are the link. They are presumably the Santi Jimenez backups though at the end of the day. So let's talk about who's here.
01:04:13
Speaker
Who is the best three? And do you think that the best three is the most effective three for this team? I think it's very clear the best three here.
01:04:25
Speaker
i Yeah, no, it is. I just had a thought. here I just had a thought. I think the best three here is Rafa Leao, Christian Pulisic, and Luka Modric. no I think that that's the best three.
01:04:37
Speaker
i i really do. I don't think that Luka Modric came into this project thinking I'm just going to be that 60th minute man. I think that there was conversation around him having actual real minutes and starting some real games.
01:04:48
Speaker
And I do think that he's got some juice left. I really do. And if this man's got juice, there's no way he's not part of that best, the best three. Okay. my what my question for you with that.
01:04:59
Speaker
Because I think from a pure FIFA rating, these are the best players, like pure technical ability. I would probably agree with you. Where I'm going to push back is that if you play those three guys,
01:05:15
Speaker
How are you scoring goals? Because those guys are not going to produce, the and the rest of the team around them, is not going to produce enough goals, period, I think, to carry you through.
01:05:27
Speaker
But you just asked me what thought the best three was. You didn't ask me how i what the best, the first the most compatible three is. yeah And let's not let's not get it twisted here. I mean, Leal scores goals when he wants to, which is not all the time.
01:05:40
Speaker
Pulisic was one of our top scorers last year. he put the If he can continue to that streak, he's a goal scorer. Modric's not to be a goal scorer. So what do I think the most compatible front three is? And I think it's clear and it makes a lot of sense is to keep a front three of a left wing striker, right wing. And that's going to be your Leal off the left, Santi in the middle, Pulisic off the right.
01:06:02
Speaker
It was a formula that made a lot of sense last year and worked incredibly well when they were all firing on all cylinders, which wasn't very often because Santi only had half a season and played maybe three good games. But if he can come back to form that we saw from Faye Norton that we paid $35 million dollars for in the middle of the season,
01:06:18
Speaker
then that's going very promising front three. Again, I think the progression that we're going to get out of the midfield is a lot better than what we got last year. going to be more consistent. I think Reinders was still clearly a very good midfielder and was able to get the ball from our end to the other.
01:06:35
Speaker
But I do think that the... concentration, the focus of these two midfielders that we just touched on is going to be very much, let's get, just go. Get it up there. Let them take the ball. It's not our job. Their job, it ain't going to be the goal scorer.
01:06:47
Speaker
I completely agree. And Reinders was a goal scorer last year. Let's not forget. Yeah, definitely. And I think also that works with Allegri because Allegri doesn't really see his midfielders as the guys that go and score historically.
01:06:59
Speaker
And so, again, for me, it's really hard to see had to have the thought that the best formation to get the best utilization of our best player, who is presumably Rafael Ayo, on a two-striker system just doesn't it doesn't it doesn't make sense to me. And I know you agree with that.
01:07:19
Speaker
So to say that we're going to have an inverted triangle up top just kind of hurts. It just doesn't make sense. And I do think that it helps everyone else around there because I think that Pulisic can play that 10 spot. Santi's obviously a nine.
01:07:32
Speaker
We don't really have another nine. So how are we going to play two striker system up top right now? And so you kind of have to go with a front three. and I hate a two-man midfielder. Yes. and Yes.
01:07:45
Speaker
But what i what I would, I don't know if he is doing it, but what I would love, love, love Allegri to do Watch Atalanta last year.
01:07:56
Speaker
Because I think Lookman and Rafael Leal, they look very different in terms of physical build. Extremely similar players. Lookman wants to be placed technically as a nine.
01:08:09
Speaker
but drifts way off to that left, gets the ball on the counterattack, one-v-one kind of player. So there is a recipe to make your, like, striker work as, like, that left wing. And I think if he looks at what Gasparini did do with Luckman,
01:08:27
Speaker
in Gasparini has had look been Scalaca and then like CDK, like you want to put there as like a 10 kind of guy under them. There is a recipe to make this work.
01:08:39
Speaker
And I think Sati Jimenez, Rafael layout, Christian Polsic could be very effective. It's how do you figure out that recipe for layout? Because we talked about it last year. We we talked about it for many, many years, me and you kind of like separately off of the pot.
01:08:55
Speaker
How do you get the most out of Rafael Leal? Because he is your best player. I don't think anybody's going to argue against that. But it's how do you get that out of him every week? And how do you... He's one of those guys, you have to put him in a position to succeed.
01:09:09
Speaker
He's not going to create success on the field for himself unless you put him in the right area to do so. And I would agree with you that... It's going to be a three and I don't really see a situation where Christian Pulisic is playing as like a traditional right winger ever.
01:09:24
Speaker
And I think that's partially a function of the guys that they have a right wing back are very good on the ball in our wide player. So kind of pushes Pulisic to come inside regardless. You can't really push Pulisic out of the team because he's been like your one of your three or four best players are the last two years.
01:09:42
Speaker
So he's a lock. You don't drop Leao because he's your best player. So he's a lock. And Santi Jimenez is your striker who deserves more time. So... I agree with you that that should be the three.
01:09:55
Speaker
I'm curious in what Allegri does tactically to make it work because I don't have a ton of confidence in him to figure out how to use Rafael Leao, to be honest with you. But I think that Atalanta comparison is actually spot on. And if that's the case, I think it's going to work really well because you have to think about on the right side and how Bellanova is very good at getting forward. And I think that we have a Salamakras and an Alex Jimenez who can get forward and can be that guy to fill in that that space when we're in possession.
01:10:22
Speaker
Now, again, i don't love a two-man midfield. yeah It gives me pause. It gives me worry because there's definitely a lot of space in between. However, if you do have a Pulisic who's in a lineup perspective off the right, but dropping in he does fill in that void and did it pretty well at times last year. Yes, he did and that That is a very good point. He did do it well, for sure. I know he's not a 10.
01:10:44
Speaker
He's not a traditional 10, but I will say that he did plug that hole and it was, I never felt like when we were, when we gave up the ball, because that's what i'm just, I'm thinking of in terms of the space there.
01:10:55
Speaker
When we gave the ball and he was filling in that space, he was definitely willing to go into a tackle and and get after it and really try to break up that press. So from that perspective, I'm not necessarily terribly worried.
01:11:07
Speaker
The one thing, That gives me a little bit of solace here is that from day one, when Tare and and Allegri came in, shook hands, said, hello, how you doing? Shared a cappuccino, shared an espresso.
01:11:23
Speaker
The number one thing that they talked about was Rafael Leal is our guy. Yeah. i And it was 100% clear from the fact that the price tag when Bayern came knocking and all these teams came knocking was 125 or nothing.
01:11:38
Speaker
I think that just goes to show the commitment level that we have for Rafael Al to succeed on this team. And so Allegri is going to do what is needed to make sure.
01:11:49
Speaker
To your point, he's not, Leao's not going to go out there and make it happen for himself. But when you put him in the right positions, he's a world-class player. I do have confidence that Allegri's going to put him in the right spot. It may take a couple of games. It may take a little bit of a, of a warmup period to do so, but he's 100% committed alongside Tari to make sure that he's our spotlight player and he's going to be the guy.
01:12:12
Speaker
we haven't had the guy in a very long time. So to have that commitment level from the management dripping down into the manager, now into the squad, I think is going to be a very helpful way for us to say, okay, we regardless of the fact that we're sitting back in in the scenario that you presented, we have a way to score. We have a formula. We have a designated tactic as to, okay, when we need a goal, this is what we're going to do. And I,
01:12:40
Speaker
can guarantee you that flows through Rafael Leal. So from that standpoint, that gives me a little bit of, okay, let's see this work out. let's Let them work. Give them the chance to show us what they got.
01:12:51
Speaker
And so I do think that this team is rounding out to be very promising. And I said that last year, but I... no like No, last year was last year. i had very different at this point. I agree with that. I think it was promising, but I felt very different. I agree with that. This roster, I feel much more settled.
01:13:08
Speaker
Last year, I felt chaotic, like there was some chaotic positivity everywhere. I feel much more settled as a Milan fan, as a Moron supporter, a Melanista. The Rosaneri are shaping out to be a much more consistent team, if nothing else, this season, rather than similar to Roma, a rollercoaster of a squad that you have no idea what's trotting out onto the pitch game after game.
01:13:31
Speaker
Yeah. And I think that goes to the signings they made were not, they weren't cute. Like they were very logical, not necessarily flashy players, just like guys that do a job very well kind of players, which is what they needed.
01:13:47
Speaker
So for you, the front three, regardless of how it's set up, layout, Jimenez, Pulisic, day one. 100%. I agree. With everything we just talked about, there is a story there. But I think the other really, really big story and very important story is Santi Jimenez.
01:14:03
Speaker
Because we've talked about this at at length on the pod, off the pod, where we're both in agreement that he needs more time. like can you It's not, let's punt on him. He came into a really bad situation last year. i can't i don't I don't think any striker would have done well last year.
01:14:18
Speaker
And you've got to at least give him the chance to redeem himself. And I hope that they give him like more than like three games. Like I would say like 10 games, no matter what happens, you are the number nine and then kind of reassess from there. So that's just something I'm watching as well.
01:14:33
Speaker
Listen, there's there's a player in there that once scored four goals in a game. This guy's got a nose for goal. He knows how to play at a high level. Feyenoord wasn't, again, like I go back to Club Bruges, Feyenoord's not some rinky-dinky club.
01:14:47
Speaker
It's perpetually strong club in the Eredivisie, has brought through a ton of very quality players, and Santi is nonetheless the same. Yeah, I mean, this guy scored 23 goals in Eredivisie season.
01:15:01
Speaker
that's That's what I'm saying. And so he's he has the qualities, he's got the potential, he's got the talent. I think it's a big mind game at this point. Yeah, he in his mentality has been bad. We've said this on the pod before, I think me specifically, but the position on the field that is most linked to just strictly your mentality and your psyche is Is the nine. Yeah.
01:15:21
Speaker
It's the same reason that you let nines take penalties early on in the season to just get off the mark. Milan's done it a couple of times. We've seen it across different leagues. I wouldn't be surprised to see the first couple of penalties just be Santi this season, regard regardless of the fact that Pulisic and Motti. are sitting right there ready to go.
01:15:39
Speaker
But I wouldn't be surprised to see Santi be taking the first couple just to get some in the net because once you get a guy like this and I know again, everybody say not the same as Serie A, but you get a guy like this going, you give him that confidence, you get get that left foot fucking going.
01:15:55
Speaker
I think he's going to be a great asset. And I really do think that, again, you're right. Give him more time. Give him the first 10 games regardless of what happens. If he gets going, this is lethal.
01:16:06
Speaker
A lethal front three. Yeah, I don't think they need him to score like 20 goals. Like if they get 10 goals out of him, if so, Kulisic, Leao, Santi. 15? No, but if you're the three of them are all 10 goal scorers, I would take that.
01:16:23
Speaker
Like they're all double digits and goal in goal scored. i I think that would get them very far. I'll tell you why i I disagree, but I think that it comes to a season expectation conversation. Yeah, I mean, but like I mean, last year we had Poole, Stitch, and Reiner's are the only guys that were double digit goal scorers.
01:16:41
Speaker
And we came in eighth. Yeah, and that's what I mean. Like you add it. They don't want to come in eighth. No, if you add the third guy that gets you to double digits, who's your number nine, and like you sprinkle in goals elsewhere, I think you it puts you in pretty good shape.
01:16:53
Speaker
I think we need to be we need to be better than pretty good shape. All right. but's that by sound Yeah, wrap it up here, legs. I was just going to say, we've ran through the entire roster. I think that Vos and I would be pretty pretty conjoined on this one, but a day one starting 11 is going to look as follows.
01:17:13
Speaker
Mike Mignon in that. You got De Winter at right center back, Gabia center center back, Pavlovich left center back. Istupinian off the left for as a wing back.
01:17:24
Speaker
Whoever you want to write back. We'll go with Salamachers for consistency's sake. In the midfield, you're going to see Ricci. You're going to see Deshauri. That's a very promising young midfield that I hope we don't just do another Reinders, another Tenali. I hope we let them grow together if that potential is there.
01:17:43
Speaker
Then you look to up top. You're going to see Leal. You're going to see San Diego Jimenez. And you're going see Captain America, Christian Pulisic rounding that out. I agree. I think there's one or two spots that there could be something different, but I think that would be the right thing to do.
01:17:59
Speaker
So day one, we got Creminesse. Actually, we played Bari. I think we played Bari this weekend. So we're going to see our first let thursday yeah first official Copa Italia game. We're playing Bari.
01:18:09
Speaker
We'll see what that first lineup comes out to be. But but there's still a lot of business to do. This is definitely not the final roster. A lot of guys still on the on the outskirts ready to leave. couple of guys, couple of names that I think we need to bring in to round out this roster. But like I just said, like I just touched on,
01:18:24
Speaker
the way that this team is shaping out, the way that this team has now turned Vos on an absolute 180. I feel a lot more settled going into 2025, 2026 than I did last year. So very much looking forward to it.
01:18:37
Speaker
And so with that being said, Vos, what is the expectation for Milan this year? What defines a successful season? Where do they need to end up hardware-wise, table-wise for this to be a success today?
01:18:53
Speaker
I think it, like they're not in Europe. I don't think Coppa Italia matters this year. I think it's strictly, we have to get back to the Champions League.
01:19:04
Speaker
Because I mean, when you first started being Milan fan, like there they hadn't been in the Champions League in really long time. And it was a really big deal when they got back there. So I think if they finish in a Champions League spot,
01:19:18
Speaker
That's all they need. I don't think anybody is thinking this is Scudetto winning season. I think they could. I think they could. I think that's a like a realistic objective, but nobody is going to say that if we don't win Scudetto, it's a failure.
01:19:32
Speaker
I think if they don't make the Champions League, it will be deemed a failure because with the players that they've had, regardless of how much money they've spent or players that they've sold, they've created a very good roster.
01:19:42
Speaker
They've brought in a serial winning manager. And they have to finish in the top four for me. And if they don't, I don't know where we're at with Milan because there's no reason for them not to do that. I think that's a very doable objective, especially because the teams that are reporting better than you are playing in more competitions than you.
01:20:03
Speaker
And they should get that done. And I think that is the only thing that's written on the whiteboard. Get back to the Champions League. That's all I would have out there if I was a club. I want to agree with you. i'm going to take it a step further. And I don't know if this is pride or if this is based on the fact that our expectations last year were higher.
01:20:21
Speaker
And i think that we're better now. And I do think that that's a good point. I think that's 100% true. i and i I think that the kind of connotation, the feeling from around the league right now is that this Milan team is dangerous.
01:20:36
Speaker
I don't think that people are taking this team lightly. I don't think that people are looking at Allegri as this is his this is his yeah retirement run. He's just picking up a paycheck. I think this really means something. And this team could be dangerous. And so with that being said, for me,
01:20:52
Speaker
Again, going back to last season and the outlook that we had, the fact that we got to that Copa Italia final with what was going on, I think says something. And ah that we have talent.
01:21:03
Speaker
It's that this team is able to compete at the highest level in Syria on any every given day. i'd like us to see I'd like to see a Copa Italia trophy. I'd like to win that trophy.
01:21:15
Speaker
Yeah, you would. Are you going to prioritize that though in your mind? do you think that's a measure? I think that that's a measuring stick. Surely. We don't have, we don't have European ball to talk about. we don't have European ball to go after.
01:21:29
Speaker
You got to get hardware. I think Mots is the biggest proponent of this. You got to win hardware. Right. And so I think our best chance is to get a Coppa Italia trophy. Now. I think that's a good shot. I think they're in pole position to go and do that.
01:21:44
Speaker
Right. I mean, think about it. Think about it last year. If we didn't have, some if we didn't have European ball. Yeah, they probably do. And I'm looking at the table right now. Like, Teams ahead of them that have not improved, I would say Lazio, have gotten the same, if not worse.
01:22:00
Speaker
Well, they've gotten worse because they got older. Yeah, and they they have a new coach, so you can't restart. Fiorentina definitely got worse without Palladino. Atalanta definitely got worse without Gasparin. A lot worse. And like everybody else above you...
01:22:14
Speaker
has other things to worry about that isn't the Copa Italia. And Bologna just lost their best player. So it's like two best players. So like you should be the front runner in that competition. I think that's a very good point if you want to go after hardware.
01:22:29
Speaker
So i again, I do think I'm i'm all in on Copa Italia. You can listen to our episodes last season. I was fully out on Copa Italia.
01:22:38
Speaker
180s all across the board. We are in on Copa Italia this season. And then from a table, a Scudetto run perspective, I don't think that we've ever said this before and it's still definitely an option. I'm going to take it one step past getting back to Champions League.
01:22:56
Speaker
I want to be in the running for the Scudetto. I don't think that we win the Scudetto. I think Napoli has gotten better and they already won the league. I think Inter is on their way to developing a better season. We'll see if that that comes to fruition. i finished second last year, so it's like you can't do well much better.
01:23:16
Speaker
Paisans, if you want to go back and listen to our preview episode on Inter, please do so. A ton of opinions there. I think Juve is still really working out some kinks, and i and i don't know if they've got a path to success there.
01:23:29
Speaker
I want to be second. and It's not that I want to be second, but like I want to be come down to the last two, three weeks of this season. If we're not within three points of the top of the table,
01:23:42
Speaker
I'm going be upset because I really do think that this roster, along with the fact that we don't have European ball to think about the entire season, Allegri, who has proven himself to be a consistent top three finisher, again, with the talents that we have, there's no reason not to believe that this team can be in a top three position, pole position to be fighting for the Scudetto come the last day the season.
01:24:05
Speaker
So for me, success, I want a trophy, I want hardware. I don't think it's going to be the Scudetto, but I want to be in the running. That's what I want out of this squad this year. think that's fair.
01:24:17
Speaker
The Cobra Telly one I really like. I hope they prioritize that. Hardware matters. Hardware does matter. Or where matters, maybe that's all it's about. I mean, they but they even showed that. We were at the San Siro for the second late and they played Inter off the park and they were not even at the same level as Inter at any point in the season.
01:24:40
Speaker
And like we saw like that the passion come out of them. And they needed to win that game. And like, they should have been in Bologna as well. I can't actually say that. Bologna was way better than that game.
01:24:52
Speaker
But like, it it didn't matter. And there was elevated stakes. And you need to get that hardware to continue growing the legend of the club. Especially when there's are other clubs that are on the call up right now. I mean, in Italy is a very exciting football landscape right now.
01:25:08
Speaker
Like I said at the beginning of the episode, there's 10, 11, probably 11. would say 11 teams.
01:25:14
Speaker
that really have a shot at Europe every year now. And it's not, you can't just show up and get through seasons anymore because of the talent. It is a scary, scary take. 100%. is treacherous as it can be.
01:25:28
Speaker
And I think our table predictions are going to really tough conversation and all the best ways. But Paisans, that's a wrap. That was a hell of an episode. i had a great time talking footy, talking Milan.
01:25:39
Speaker
This is a really exciting team. I feel great going into this season. I hope my expectations do not fall short. I hope this team lives up to it in every way, shape, and form. But you never know because this league is the most competitive league in all the world.
01:25:56
Speaker
That's why we talk about it That's why we love it. That's why we'll cover it all season long. So with that, Vos, thank you for coming along for the ride with me today. and know Mats wishes that he was here to give some slanderous opinions on this Rocinari squad.
01:26:11
Speaker
But guys, you know where to find us. You know how to interact. I would love to hear your thoughts and what you think of this team going into the twenty twenty five twenty twenty six campaign comment, subscribe, tell us what you think. I want to hear your thoughts. I want to chirp back at you. I want every possible thought out on the board.
01:26:29
Speaker
We are on X. We are on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, at CouchoCultureFC. And of course, you're listening to us live, I guess not live, ah on all your favorite podcasts, Apple Pods and Spotify.
01:26:44
Speaker
Folks, Matt's not here. It's your job. Take us away. Baizanos, do not be a gagoots. It enforces that calcio culture.