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Full Free Episode - Juve's Crisis, Zlatan's AC Milan Win, Simeone & Vlahovic Show (Ep. 166)
310 Plays4 years ago
From Juventus in crisis mode, Zlatan Ibrahimovic leading AC Milan to a win over Roma despite refereeing controversies to Giovanni Simeone and Dusan Vlahovic show, Carlo, Nima & John break down all the talking points from the last week in the Serie A and Calcio.
This is a free monthly episode of The Italian Football which is free to listen to for all. To listen to this & all other full episodes of The Italian Football Podcast, go to Patreon.com/TIFP to become a Patron for only $2.99 USD per month (excluding VAT).
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Transcript
Introduction and Patreon Invitation
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast with John Solano, Carlo Garganese and Nima Tuvali.
00:00:24
Speaker
Hello, everybody. Welcome to the free episode of the Italian Football Podcast. We hope that you are doing well. You tuned in, or I guess I should say this is falling on the perfect day because I'm sure the fireworks are set to fly among all of us.
00:00:40
Speaker
I can only imagine what will be coming out of our mouths today. But if you enjoy what you hear, you can become a full patron by going to patreon.com slash T I F P.
Juventus and Allegri's Ritiro Experience
00:00:58
Speaker
You will not only get our weekly review episode, you will also get our interview episode, which occurs every Thursday with somebody from the football world, from a journalist,
00:01:10
Speaker
uh manager i mean there's so many joe takopino was on a few weeks ago a lot of people from all over the footballing world again you can go to patreon.com slash tifp we also have players yes you also managers yeah we also have not only our two weekly episodes we also do match reviews immediately after we do reactions so
00:01:36
Speaker
way more than just two episodes per week. Again, that's $2.99 per month. Patreon.com slash T-I-F-P. So without further ado, let me grab my lighter and we'll get the fireworks started because this is going to be fun. So let's get into everything now.
00:01:56
Speaker
Okay, well, I can't remember the last time I said, uh, Juve go into Ritiro, but here we are, 2021, Max Allegri and Juve into Ritiro after I somehow
00:02:13
Speaker
did something to to Verona. I'm going there or I should say I'll be in Veneto in under two weeks. I'm convinced me wanting them to go down and be obliterated as a club has spurred some sort of universal change. Clearly this is my fault. The ascendance
00:02:36
Speaker
of Hellas Barona, or actually, no, as you say, we are different at Tesco's. That guy might as well, when he, if you just look at what they've done since he's left, I mean, he should be banned as far as I'm concerned. The Fiji, she should ban this guy, never allow him to come back into Italian football ever again. I'll take him to Juventus. Well, I'm sure you would at this point.
00:03:21
Speaker
Hold on. There's a lot of
Simeone's Performance and Verona's Success
00:03:23
Speaker
talking points from this one. First off, Simeone, who I have always rated. I have to admit, I've always liked him. Okay. I've always liked him.
00:03:23
Speaker
Okay, so... I'm on... I'm on... I'm on... I'm on... I'm on... I'm on... I'm on... I'm on... I'm on... I'm on... I'm on... I'm on... I'm on... I'm on... I'm on...
00:03:32
Speaker
I think maybe he took too many steps too quickly. I thought Fiorentina was the right move, okay, from Genoa after one season. I feel like Fiorentina though, they kind of gave up on him too quickly. The move to Cagliari never made sense to me, especially, again, playing for anti-football connoisseur, you say Fiorenti Francesco, who subsequently brings him to Verona.
00:03:57
Speaker
They would be mad not to make this move permanent. I mean, they would be absolutely insane. But that notwithstanding, Simeone, phenomenal. Again, I mean, that goal just... I know, Carlo, you probably want to have a go at Szézny, right? Or no, was that a beautiful finish?
00:04:15
Speaker
No, I'd like to give the credit more to Simeone for that. It was a beautiful curling effort. He hit it early and he wasn't... I think Shesny could have maybe done better. I think someone like Donnarumma probably would have saved that, but it was still a great strike. It was a great curling effort. I think it would beat most goalkeepers in the world.
00:04:35
Speaker
And you have to take your hat off to Simeone. He's had an amazing season. I mean, he scored more goals this season than he scored all of last season. He's got eight now. And I think only Marbeller scored more instead of this season. And, you know, not just his score scoring, but his all round game. And
00:04:53
Speaker
he's yeah he's been fantastic and as you said Verona since Igor Tudor's come on has come in only Napoli Milan have have done better in Serie A he's won four. One loss and and by the way it's not even the record at two they've beaten for that record yeah I mean Lazio Roma now Juve and they again subsequently jumped Juve. I'm
00:05:15
Speaker
in the table. They threw that away. It's been unbelievable because you look at their squad and it's not a great squad. We used to say about Ivan Urich and I think he's a great coach. What an amazing job he did with Verona when he was there because they had, I'm not sure what it is this season, but last season they were the second lowest wage bill in the whole of Serie A.
00:05:38
Speaker
Ronaldo was getting paid way more than the entire Verona squad, you know, so they were punching above their weight. And, and so Tudor's done great. He's done he's done wonderful so far. And they deserve this team. It's so bad. I individually they are so bad. I, Gianluca Caprari. There will be no slander of Gianluca Caprari. Is this 2012?
00:06:06
Speaker
But listen, the thing that he's done, I mean, what both Ivan Joric and Igor Todor, the two Croatians, are building on quite the interesting little career here. What's really interesting is how Todor was extremely rigid, controlled, risk minimization, organized. Todor actually plays some really interesting attacking football. His teams, this Verona especially, he uses this team in a very interesting way.
00:06:33
Speaker
And it's rather entertaining to watch. And I think, for me, as for El Cholito, look, I wanted him to replace Icardi back in 2017, when he was kicking up a fuss, because I think that his, I think he would have, under Spalletti, would have taken those steps and the development that he's taken now. But I agree with you with what you said about him going to Fiorentina. I think that was the right move. It was just the wrong time.
00:07:00
Speaker
because Fiorentina were in a very bad place. They're not the club that they are now back then. And it kind of hurt him a lot. So for me, I think this is his season. I've always rated him. I don't think he'll be a Capo Canonieri, but I think he'll score more than 20, 25 goals. Yeah, I don't think he's a top team, top team kind of striker. But for a Europa League team, I think he definitely
00:07:22
Speaker
you know, can definitely play at a higher level than Verona. That's for sure. I mean, quite in the Argentina squad. Remember, so he's obviously, you know, there is a player there. He just kind of disappeared for a couple of years.
00:07:34
Speaker
Yeah. Well,
Allegri's Tactics and Juventus' Rebuilding Strategy
00:07:36
Speaker
speaking of disappeared, though, Allegri, man, I'd be curious to know what he did in these two years. Was he was he watching football from the World War II or what?
00:07:54
Speaker
He got into a time machine back to the prehistoric age of the dinosaurs and he took the tactics that were used during those times and brought them back with him.
00:08:10
Speaker
John, this is what proves my point about Allegri and his outdated style of management. It's 2021, and he's going into a 1960s style retiro. I mean, I'm sorry. Zandoria did it too. I love it. It proves my point. It's an outdated form of management. It doesn't work anymore. By the way, anybody who doesn't know what this means, there's not even like an English equivalent. Basically, going into retiro is
00:08:40
Speaker
Is a form of punishment a good way to describe it? Yeah, I guess we used to have a form of punishment. You basically sleep at the training ground. You don't go home, you sleep at the training ground. It's such an Italian thing. You can't even see your kids. If you explain this to a Premier League fan, they would probably roll their eyes and make fun.
00:08:59
Speaker
I mean, absolutely. This is not way of way of managing in 2021. We discussed this on the show last week when we were talking about Mourinho and how he was throwing his players under the bus. And we were saying that this is not the way you manage modern players. They don't react to it. It works against you.
00:09:16
Speaker
Going into Ritiro is exactly the same thing. You piss off the players, sending them away from their families. It doesn't work anymore. The world is changed. That's the thing. We don't know if it works anymore. And that's why I was tweeting about this thing. It would be nice if somebody actually did a proper research on this in terms of long term, short term, if Ritiro actually works. Because sometimes it does. Like, it's not just a punishment to say they do have to stay away from their families. And what they have to do is also they work tactically a lot. And this is I think this is why
00:09:45
Speaker
I think it was needed. If I were Alegre, I would have done this sooner. I think that run they went on five, six, one nil wins in a row, kind of put a little bit of a Snoopy Band-Aid on a gunshot wound. It gave them the organization and the breathing space. But it's quite clear that Juve, look, the problems that Juve is not Alegre. It started when
00:10:06
Speaker
Aniele decided to go with Paratici over Pippa Marta. When you make a giant screw up, when you make a giant fundamental wrong mistake from the offset, you're going to make further wrong decisions down the line. And one thing has led to the other, because of the fact that they decided to go with Cristiano Ronaldo, who's a fantastic player, but he was supposed to be the cherry on top of the icing on top of the cake to win you the
00:10:36
Speaker
the Champions League, they didn't even get past the quarter-final, okay? And he swallowed such a big, big, large chunk of Uwe's financial annual turnover that they had no money left to buy players in other positions that they needed to do. Okay, so now they've gotten rid of him, they've gotten rid of Parathichi, they brought out new management.
00:10:54
Speaker
and they have to be allowed to build from scratch. And there is no other person, I think, right now, that is more better suited to doing that than Max Allegri, because he understands to the core what Los Tila Uwe is, what it means to be a Uwe player on and off the pitch, what it means to take on important games, what it means to understand tactically, to subject yourself and throw yourself under what's best for the team, whether your name is Federico Chiesa,
00:11:21
Speaker
or paulo de bala he understands that and this is what he's trying to instill this is years zero for you and this and it's going to take time i don't think they'll win the school although i agree with stephanopioli when he says i don't count you and this out until the mathematically impossible for them to win the school but they're obviously not the favorites
00:11:40
Speaker
This is a foundational year, and the sooner those players, from Delic to Kunuszewski, to Kieza, to Dibala, to Morata, all of them, accept what Allegri's trying to teach them, the better it will be for their careers, and the better it is for Juventus. Because make no mistake about it, Allegri's not going anywhere. They've decided that they've screwed up, and he's been given that mandate to pound in
00:12:06
Speaker
what it means to play at Juve from scratch. And he will do it. It's going to look ugly. It's going to be, you know, it's going to look the way it has, but it will work at the end. And we can't refuse to be such a prisoner of a moment here and just look at it and say, look, oh, it's, you know, it's, you know, when it goes well, it goes, you say that, oh, look, everything's been resolved. Look, I have no faith. And I said it from the beginning of the season. I have no doubts whatsoever that Allegri will resolve this. No doubts whatsoever.
00:12:37
Speaker
Well, I agree that the allegory is not the only reason. I mean, that's just a stupid thing to say, that everyone's saying that you get rid of allegory, bringing a new coach, and you solve all the problems. I mean, it's obvious that the problems, like you say, they date back to, to the time of Marotta leaving. And it also, rather than saying this to someone earlier, it also raises the question whether it was actually Marotta who was the one
00:13:01
Speaker
The mastermind of you ventuses rebirth rather than actually Andrea and Yelly because since since my daughters left and Yelly's made mistake of the mistake and blunder of the blunder so that's that's that's the topic for another day but it's clear that's where it all started. This was brewing and you know they had to be explosion last year.
00:13:22
Speaker
And you know, it's clear that the squad is not good enough. And that's obvious. I mean, you just look through the team. You know, the attack has no firepower, no goals in it at all. The midfield is still as horrible as ever. It has been for five years. The defense is aging. The full backs are average. You know, so clearly in terms of personnel, the quality isn't there. But
00:13:49
Speaker
At the same time, even putting all that aside, you look at Juventus' squad, you look at the resources that Juventus have even coming off the back of a pandemic in which they required a 400 million capital injection from the parent company XOR just to balance the books. Even taking that into mind, Juventus are still by far the richest club in Italy. They're still by a massive distance.
00:14:15
Speaker
the club with the biggest salary bill, okay, a lot of it's being wasted, but still, the resources that they have, the squad that they have, they should not be down in ninth position. No way at all. And that has to come down to the coach. It's simple as that. Allegri, and this is what gets me, people that thought Allegri would just waltz in and instantly win the Scudetto. Most people were predicting that he would win the Scudetto. And I'll be honest, I even got kind of
00:14:43
Speaker
Carried away as well. Me too. I got peer pressured into that. I got peer pressured into that when I never wanted him because I said the day that Allegri returned, I said this is a bad decision. I don't want Allegri back at the club. He's going back into the past. And the reason for that is Allegri was outdated. His style of management was outdated in Juventus' last two years.
00:15:02
Speaker
in his last two years of his first spell at Juventus. He was outdated and Juventus were playing poor football, slow, rigid, counter-attacking, boring football. They only won those two last two Scudetti because the rest of Serie A wasn't particularly strong and couldn't take advantage of it. That's the only reason they won those Scudetti. Now Serie A is stronger, but also Allegri is coming off two years of inactivity. In addition to those two years I just mentioned where he was already outdated. So you're looking at somebody who,
00:15:31
Speaker
hasn't really been at the top of the game for maybe five years. And he's now playing the same football that he was playing in those last two years. He hasn't modernized or changed his style of management at all. And as it stands, I'm not saying he can't change. I'm saying as it stands from what we've seen in these first 10, 11 matches of the season, Allegri is playing
00:15:53
Speaker
outdated football. There is no doubt about it. You just watch just what you then there's play. There's no cohesion. There's no patterns of play. There's no passing moves. There's no, it's just rigid. He's playing this awful, ridiculous 442. Why is he sticking with it? It's 442 formation where he's got a rapio, a center midfielder playing as the left midfield, left midfield, the left winger.
00:16:13
Speaker
He's completely destroying the attacking town. He's destroying Chiesa. You know, Chiesa, who was the star of, one of the stars of Euro 2020, one of the best players of the Serie A season, obviously Juventus is best player. He's got one goal and one assist in Serie A this season. He had 24 goal contributions in all competitions. We're in November now and he has three goal contributions so far.
00:16:34
Speaker
all of his attacking stats are way down, like the number of shots he's having a game, the number of dribbles, the number of key passes, everything, all the key metrics is way down. And Allegri is playing, you know, Kieso, the player he should be building the team around, he's playing him in
00:16:50
Speaker
either on the wide midfield row in a 4-4-2 where he's spending most of his time chasing back and defending, or he's playing him up front out of position in a
Juventus' Management and Tactical Concerns
00:17:00
Speaker
front two. So that's just one example. And so the football allegory is at the moment, he's outdated, his management, his style of management is outdated. And either he adapts and modernizes like Antonio Conte managed to do when similar questions were being asked of him,
00:17:18
Speaker
or he goes down the same path as Jose Mourinho did in when he, you know, he took over at Manchester United, and then subsequently at Tottenham and now Rome are starting to struggle. I know we'll get to that, John. But, you know, or he goes down the path of a Jose Mourinho who just could not
00:17:34
Speaker
adapt, one of the greatest managers of all time, one of the greatest managers for, you know, a good 10 or more years in football. The game changes, the game evolves, the game modernizes, and it's up to the managers, the managers that are during that period to evolve and modernize with it.
00:17:50
Speaker
At the moment, Allegri has not done that. The team sucks, though, don't you agree? Thank you. Of course the team sucks, but they're not. The team doesn't suck at ninth. They're not the best team at second. Aaron Ramsey, I'm sure Maleficent's monster is easier to find than that guy. Rabio sucks. I mean, you could go down the list. For me, I just think this team needs so much turnover, don't you? Yeah, it does.
00:18:14
Speaker
Yeah, it absolutely does. It does. My point is that they're not ninth place. They're not playing such bad football with zero identities. It's up to the manager to create an identity. You know, Fiorentina, for example, have an identity and are playing great football. You can't say Fiorentina have a better team and better squad than the new vendors do.
00:18:33
Speaker
I don't think, I don't agree that Juventus don't have an identity. I think that he's trying to instill an identity and the players that he's got, it's going to take some time for them to understand what that identity is. We saw flashes of that during that 1-0 win, those 1-0 wins that he trotted up in a row. There were flashes of that, but that's the reason he's going into the retiro is because he, Juventus have always been consistent.
00:18:57
Speaker
They keep winning 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, and not just 5, but 10, 15, 20, 25 games. And what we saw against Verona was that they were completely confused. Di Bala missed a few sitters, and you see that their heads drop. And that's what's the issue here. And that's why he was fuming. And he was fuming after the game. Let's not beat around the busher. I've seen Allegri angry, but I haven't seen him that angry in a very long time.
00:19:22
Speaker
And I think that he, I've no, I've no idea, I've no doubts, no doubts whatsoever that he will turn this around. I know it. I know we'll be standing here in May when he's brought them to a fourth place finish or a third place finish. And he's got them to the quarterfinal of the Champions League, probably even won the Copa Italia and the Super Copa. And we'll see what he's laid the groundwork for. Well, if he doesn't do that, Nimr.
00:19:43
Speaker
That's not a success doing that. If he doesn't do that, he should be sat on the spot because that is a gross, absolutely embarrassing failure if he can't even make top four with the resources and the money that the Juventus, the riches that Juventus have and the wage bill compared to everyone else and the depth in the squad that they have. Even with all these problems, they have problems, don't get me wrong. I mean, they do need, yes, in terms of being the Juventus that we know and expect,
00:20:11
Speaker
challenging in Europe, winning the Scudetto. Absolutely. The team needs a revolution. You know, I mentioned before about the attack, having there's no goals in that attack. I don't know where the goals are going to come from this season. I think they absolutely need to sign a full top forward in January. Absolutely. Unfortunately, the guy that was probably going to be possible is now going to be going to Tottenham. We'll discuss about that.
00:20:31
Speaker
after. So, you know, they need they need they need a top forward in January, there's no doubt about that. You know, the midfielders look short, the defence is aging. The problem that I think my biggest concern though, is do I trust those that are in
00:20:47
Speaker
charge at the club. And I'm not just talking about Allegri here. No, I'm talking about those in management, the upper management, do I trust them to be able to rebuild. And, you know, I'm not saying I know a lot about these people. But if I just go through the names, go I leave a bear near the CEO.
00:21:03
Speaker
Now, I look at his career, and again, I'm not saying I'm an expert on that either. But he hasn't had a particularly successful career. He was a big everybody that I've spoken to in Formula One says that he was a complete failure with Ferrari there, and then was forced to leave the role. Now he's coming into his first football role at the age of 64. And okay, he may be might not be dealing so much with the smalls inside of the job.
00:21:24
Speaker
But regardless, he's still you're still in a football environment, you still need to know what you're doing. Otherwise, you end up being like Edward Woodwood at Man United. So, you know, I don't know whether I trust that either then to be able to I mean, just look at the way that he dresses and I'm already worried. Then you've got you've got kenobini as well, who I'll be honest, I don't know much about, you know, they didn't have a great transfer market this summer. But that was obviously impacted by by the coronavirus situation. So I don't want to judge him.
00:21:53
Speaker
Yeah, but basically what I'm saying is there's no real guarantees looking at the upper management. If it was Marotta there, you would say, okay, you know, Marotta will get this right. You know, even if it was someone like Ilya Tade or somebody that you know has done a job at another club already, you would say, well, we've seen what this guy has done in rebuilding or building this team, you know,
00:22:13
Speaker
or if it was somebody they brought someone from Atalanta or even Sassuola, you know that we know how they work. So it's complete. Do I trust them? I don't know. I don't know whether you can trust them because that's what the key is here. You're going to revolutionize the team. You need to have people that know what they're doing, buy the right players. So there's a question mark there. There's also, you know, as we said, the team is aging, but there's the DiBala situation as well. You know, his contract's running.
00:22:37
Speaker
Do you build the team around Di Barla? I mean, honestly, I don't think so. He had some nice moments. He was probably the only player that had those few little spots. He hit the bar. He had a nice long shot that was saved. He had these isolated moments, but that's the key. They were isolated.
00:22:54
Speaker
I look at him and he look honestly, he looks like a 35 year old, you know, he looks like a formerly formerly great 35 year old that's got amazing technique, beautiful left foot does some lovely little touches and little moments here and there but the guy physically
00:23:09
Speaker
I'm just not. He's so slow. He can't press. He's not a modern footballer. I mean, I just, I'm just not sure about him. He doesn't fit into formations and he can't play with Kiesa. I mean, that's surely clear now. I don't think those two can play in the same team together. Maybe if Allegra goes to a four, two, three, one, perhaps that's exactly what
00:23:25
Speaker
I was going to say, that's exactly the solution I see moving forward. When Artur Melo is fit, when he and Locatelli can play in that double pivot role, and Koulousefsky understands what, which he's made steps, strides forward, and understands what it is Allegri wants. Kiesa and him on the wings, with Dibala as a false nine,
00:23:45
Speaker
with, you know, and them cutting in and kids are kind of similarly to how Cristiano Ronaldo played at at Real Madrid when he was on the left wing and kind of cut in and he was their main goal scorer. That's how I think that Yuba should play. And then I think they will play that. Well, it has to get rid of that 4-4-2. I mean, what the hell are you still sticking this 4-4-2? I'm sorry, you have to criticize Allegri for sticking this 4-4-2. It's a joke. It's an absolute joke.
00:24:12
Speaker
Look, I don't think that he's playing kind of a classic 4-4-2, because Rabio is not playing as a winger. He cuts in, and then the second striker, whether it's Kieza or Kouluszewski, kind of cover that wide area. So he's trying to move towards a 4-3-3. I think that's what he wants to do, but he doesn't have... Artur Melo just recently got back from a long injury, and now, you know, he's starting to look good.
00:24:36
Speaker
I'm not ready to panic 10 games into the season, especially when you're topping the Champions League group after beating every single team in that group so far. I'm not, I'm sorry, I just don't, I think this is a history, honestly. There's 16 points off the top. There's 16 points off the top of the table. If it was anybody else other than Allegri, he would be sacked by now.
00:24:56
Speaker
that's that this is Juventus we're talking about we're not talking about you know Atalanta or Lazio or no disrespect John Roma you know it's we're talking about Juventus you're 60 points off the top of the table after 11 games that's a sackable offence no it's not there's no doubt about it
00:25:13
Speaker
I don't think so. I think if you take everything into consideration and realize the mess that he's inherited and what he's trying to do, I don't think it's a sackable offense. Sackable offense is if they don't finish top four. That's an unforgivable offense. But they're going to finish top four. There's no doubt about that. And he's probably going to take them to the quarterfinal of the Champions League as well, because they're probably going to win their group, because they look so solid in Europe. And that kind of football
00:25:35
Speaker
I think actually works is football, this risk minimization with the players he has, and they all seem to go into an extra gear when they're playing the Champions League. I mean, if they win their group, they're probably going to have an easy draw, easier draw in the round of last 16. And then he takes it to a quarterfinal, which I think is exactly what you can ask of this year. I don't think you can ask much more of any of these Italian teams, to be honest, and to go past the quarterfinal stage. And that's that. Then you've got the Coppa Italia and the Super Coppa, which I think they'll probably win both, both, if we're honest.
00:26:03
Speaker
And then you look at the rest of the Serie A and you see, okay, can they still make top four? Absolutely, can they make top four? And that's what they have to aim for because this is year zero. Juve are the most successful domestically in Italy by far. This is Juventus, though, Nimmer. They can make top four. It's Juventus. Year zero. There shouldn't even be a debate about making the top four. That's how bad it is. Juve won nine scudetti in a row. It's the end of a cycle. And that cycle ended for a decade, went on for a decade.
00:26:33
Speaker
I don't think it's time to go full on panic mode just yet. I really don't. I really, really don't. Well, you know who's not panicking? Milan.
00:26:46
Speaker
They're not panicking. Somehow Pioli Nima must have listened to you and just to stick it to you has decided to put up both middle fingers and what you have dubbed the Pioli high is now, it's not even a high anymore. This is like a new state. It's a state of being.
00:27:12
Speaker
It's very bizarre. Obviously, being a Roma supporter, I'm not thrilled with what happened yesterday evening. But I think, like many things in life, it's not black and white. This can be a nuanced discussion. And more than one thing can be true at the same time, wherein Milan were better. However, I think the referee played a really big role again.
00:27:41
Speaker
I bring this up every time it happens, but once again, Sidi, I hats off to you. You absolutely piss yourself.
00:27:49
Speaker
All eyes in Europe are on you. You're the only game in town. You're the only match on. There's nothing else in terms of football to be viewed, and you urinate down your leg, and it's sopping wet all around your feet because that refereeing performance, okay, from Fabio Maresca, who's renowned for this, renowned, that was pathetic. Nima, I know you'll have strong feelings on this, okay?
00:28:20
Speaker
The penalty decisions aside, or I should say the penalty decision awarded to Kesier aside, okay? The non-penalty, Al Pellegrini in my opinion, was the exact same thing as Dumfries, was it not?
00:28:36
Speaker
Yeah, Nemo's gone to answer his doorbell. Oh my god. Yeah, no, I missed it. I missed it during the game because they didn't even show a replay during during the match. I only saw it afterwards. I only saw
Serie A Penalty Controversies
00:28:50
Speaker
and yeah, it was it was a penalty. It was a clear penalty. And I thought it was more of a penalty actually than the, than the, than the dumb freeze one. But I mean, yeah, it's, it's the inconsistency again. That's the thing that gets me now.
00:29:05
Speaker
Here's the thing, too. And Gianluca Machini said this after the match, and it does sound bitter, but he is true, and you can attest to this, Carlo. You live in the UK. Some of the penalty decisions they award in the Serie A in the Premier League, they would absolutely have a laugh. I mean, it's true.
00:29:23
Speaker
Yeah, they would. But I would also say let's not pretend that referee is all great in the in the Premier League, believe me. No, no, no, no, it's not. And you see you see shockers, you know, in the Premier League every single week as well. I do think that, yeah, Roma were hard done by because I think that the penalty that was given against for the foul on Zlatan, I thought it was one of those that was 50 50. It could be given either way. And my opinion on 50 50 penalties has always been that
00:29:50
Speaker
for a penalty to be given it should be 80 20 70 30 at least you know once you're getting into 60 40 50 50 territory i think that the rewards from getting a penalty are so much greater than exactly they're not getting a penalty that you should always favor the defensive side i've always had that opinion and uh the unfortunately the same as you know the sympathy that i had with inter that was that once
00:30:17
Speaker
the decisions made, it's one of those decisions where it shouldn't be changed. So I think that, you know, if we're going by the rule of, you know, clear and obvious errors, unfortunately, once that decision that penalty is given, it's not going to be reverse it. Yeah. Yeah, which I think is wrong. I think the AR should should be make the right decision. But
00:30:38
Speaker
You know, that's what the rules are. I thought that, you know, Roma were very unlucky with the decisions. I thought I thought the referee would just spoil the game. He was trying to be too much of a protagonist. And they're always the worst referees. They are the ones that want to be the center of the center of the show. And I mean, I don't know how many yellow cards he gave him. Obviously, he sent up. I think it was 12. Yeah. I mean, actually, I do think it was 12. I don't.
00:31:01
Speaker
Yeah, and it wasn't that violent again, was it? I mean, it was it was competitive, but it wasn't like it was, you know, it wasn't the chip like the Battle of Santiago 1962, you know, it was it was just a competitive game. So yeah, the thing that bothers me too, is Carlo. And again, I
00:31:20
Speaker
watching UVA so closely in European play, you can attest to this too. I mean, watching the way the game is refereed in a Champions League match versus a Serie A match, there should not be that big of a discrepancy. And unfortunately, there is. Yeah. And to be honest with you, that's something that really UEFA
00:31:44
Speaker
should should be looking at because because you see that it happens all the time moving from one competition to another that you know it's it's not easy to adapt sometimes as well that that's something that's always been with italian teams you know especially more in the past before var where you had italian teams you know they're obviously very tightly marking in the area pulling pulling the shirt feeling the the opponent and they'd get away with it instead of yeah but then in europe they'd get they'd get penalized for it so it's
00:32:12
Speaker
is maybe that's something that UEFA should look at. But I think overall, if I'm honest with you, John, I thought that Milan were the better team. Oh, for sure. Yeah. Regardless of those decisions probably deserve to win. But I think it's a bit of a concern that Roma lose another big game, I think. I will say with the slight caveat that in these big matches that they've lost,
00:32:41
Speaker
And I know it is easy and trust me, I'm not hesitant to do it. You want to compare what they did last year, I guess I should say over the two seasons with Paulo Fonseca where they won no big matches and then you kind of want to carry that into this season. Although I do think there is some sort of mental hurdle they have to overcome. I do think there is a very clear difference wherein
00:33:08
Speaker
Roma are either playing on par or just slightly below or and or I guess I should say have been very hard done by a refereeing decision and that's going to look like a loser's excuse but if you go through each of them Juve there was that curious
00:33:30
Speaker
the curious decision, not giving Roma, not awarding Roma a penalty. Obviously last night and then in the Derby there were there were multiple, multiple decisions.
00:33:45
Speaker
And it's just, I do think they're unlucky in the sense of all of these episodes that tend to go against them. They lead directly to goals, which probably goes more so towards the mental hurdle and all this, but they at least look better. Because Monopoly, I think there was no question they were the better side. Against Juve, I think you could make the argument that was their best performance of the season. But ultimately, it doesn't matter. You're right, they lose. I guess my biggest issue
00:34:15
Speaker
And I know you had to go at Morigno. I know. Should he have thrown those guys under the bus? No. But I do think it is clear, yeah, when you watch this at all, compared to the other big teams, I do think there's a very big issue with depth. I mean, glaringly so.
00:34:39
Speaker
There is an issue, but I think a bit like, I guess, with Juventus, in terms of the revolution that's needed, I mean, you know, you can't suddenly build an entire squad in one summer. And how much money did Mourinho spend this summer? I mean, they're running with the biggest spenders, right? In Serie A by a distance, no. I mean, they spent 100 million or even more. I mean, they wanted the biggest spenders in Europe. It was huge.
00:35:07
Speaker
Yeah, and shame on him too, because he said he was going to stop complaining of the transfer market, and yet here he goes again, kind of bringing it up. He knew what he was getting into. And listen, what Ramon Monchi has done to this club, he left two years ago, okay? Well, two and a half, we're almost going on three at this point.
00:35:28
Speaker
What he did should qualify by, what do they call it, the Geneva Convention as a war crime? What he did is akin to a war crime.
Monchi's Impact on Roma
00:35:38
Speaker
The amount of resources that he wasted by selling those players and bringing sub-par players in that were either finished or were just simply not good enough, and the amount of wages that he paid them to do an awful job, it is criminal, and that is what Roma are paying for now.
00:35:56
Speaker
I think Mourinho's behaviour after Boudoglimt debacle
00:36:03
Speaker
I mean, it's a bit cartoonish because I don't care how poor you think your squad is. You're a side in the Serie A that is fighting for a top four. You don't get dismantled 6-1 against a Norwegian side. You just don't. I don't care if they're top of the league and they're dominating the Norwegian league. You do not get dismantled 6-1 and you don't blame everyone under the sun for that. That is your responsibility.
00:36:29
Speaker
And it's as simple as that. And I think that's what's so cartoonish about it. But what happened against Milan, look, there's no doubt that Milan were better. I think we can all agree on that. Milan were better. Hold on. I wanted you to comment on the non-penalty, because I know Antonio Oconte was at your door to say goodbye. But it's guys in Bredu. But hold on. I was telling Carlo, OK.
00:37:00
Speaker
Listen, Gianluca Maccini said after the match, in the Premier League, they would have a laugh at some of the penalty decisions I could have awarded in the city. I think there's no debating that. My issue is the inconsistency. The episode on Pellegrini.
00:37:18
Speaker
Look, how is that awarded to Dumfries and then not awarded to Pellegrini? Well, that's exactly it. I mean, if Zlatan's is a penalty, then you have to, you know, that's consistent with the Dumfries penalty, but then you have to give it for Pellegrini as well. Like, this is a thing, it's the lack of consistency and how he uses the VAR. I mean, the VAR told him to come and look at it again for the penalty with Ibrahimovic, and he confirms it,
00:37:41
Speaker
But then they themselves aren't being consistent when they don't look at the Pellegrini incident. Look, I think none of these incidents are penalties, not a single one. I don't think every single penalty, every single touch is a foul. I think football is a complex ball.
00:37:57
Speaker
And if this is the new, you know, they're just ban tackling altogether, and then we all know at least what, like women's ice hockey, they're not allowed to tackle, and they know that. And so when they tackle, it's automatically, you get two minutes or more than that. At least it's consistent. This is ridiculous. I mean, there is no difference between what happened to Pellegrini and what happened to Alexander, the Dumfries Alexander one week ago. You cannot, I mean, they're reinterpreting the rules week by week. And to be honest,
00:38:28
Speaker
Janooka Roki is the head of the referees. When a clown is your chief, the organization will be a circus. The man is a clown. He was a clown throughout his entire career, and now he's turned an already weak organization into a full-on clown circus show that we see on a weekly basis. And he has the audacity to go out and say that he's happy with everything.
00:38:49
Speaker
like he did after the yuva yinta yuva last week. No, it's not, because he himself went out after the yinta played Hellas Verona and said, we don't want to give, that's his words, not mine. He said, we don't want to give these soft penalties anymore. Well, that's not true. It seems that it depends entirely on the day when these penalties are given and not given. And that's what puts this league under such a shame of, like under the shade of ridiculousness.
00:39:16
Speaker
Because there's no, it's a lottery, it's a tombola. Just throw a dice. Is it a penalty? Throw a dice. Three above penalty, two below, no penalty. I mean, it's ridiculous. Yeah, but one thing you would say about Roma though, and I have to say, it's Tammy Abraham, 40 million, and also Shomorodov. Shomorodov, yeah. Shomorodov, yeah. Patrick is listening, he'll probably strangle us because we just...
00:39:41
Speaker
It sounds exactly like the character Rocky faces in the film. You know, it's very Russian, even though he's from, I think he's Uzbek. I mean, he was like 20 million himself, wasn't he? 17, 20 million. I mean, he's actually looking at 60 million between the two of them. And so far, it hasn't worked. I mean, Shomorodov hasn't scored yet, has he? But he's fairly plain.
00:40:04
Speaker
does he? He hasn't had that much chance. But Tommy Abraham, two Serie A goals in 11 games. I'm afraid to look at his XG because I would have to imagine it's off the charts. His XG is 4.53.
00:40:29
Speaker
He's underperformed in every single season of his career, his XG, every single season. I mean, that's just a staple of Tommy Abraham. It was the same at Chelsea. He was always two or three goals every season under his XG. But the thing is with Tommy Abraham is, yeah, for somebody that they've spent so much money on,
00:40:49
Speaker
Uh, two goals is not enough. It's not enough for Roma. They need much more from him. And I think he has been a bit unlucky. You know, he said the woodwork quite a number of times, but what, what worries me the most about Tammy Abraham is, um, and this was exactly the same at Chelsea. And this is, this was the concerns I had when he joined was whenever he's come up against big teams and against the best offenders, he's always struggled. Yeah.
00:41:14
Speaker
And we've seen that so far at Roma because he was terrible in the Derby against Lazio, all for the worst player on the pitch. Against Juventus he was okay, a little bit unlucky, could have had a goal with that incident. But still, overall didn't have the best game. Against Napoli he missed that one-on-one, which was just like...
00:41:38
Speaker
You know, you just can't miss those chances. A player of that level. And Neil, Neil. And he was completely dominated against Milan by Kia in particular. Kia was phenomenal. Yeah, Kia was just taking the ball off.
00:41:53
Speaker
So yeah, I think with Tammy Abraham, Roman need more. I do like his personality, Tammy. I do like the way that he wants to be a leader and everything. But certainly, yeah, you need more. You're paying 40 million, your big summer signing. You need more than two goals in 11 games.
00:42:12
Speaker
Yeah, there's no doubting that. There's no doubting that at all. I oddly enough on the opposite end of that. Now, Napoli
Zlatan's Influence in Serie A
00:42:20
Speaker
went without him. But you have to say we have to we have to just before sorry, just before we get to them, we have to give a we have to talk about Latin. I mean, it's it's getting ridiculous now, because I saw that came against Polonia, where he looked old. It was his worst. He looked really old. It was his worst.
00:42:40
Speaker
performance at club level that I think I've seen from him in the last 15 years, and yet he assisted and scored. And then he goes against Roma, a team where we know that he enjoys scoring against. Roma is the team he's scored the most braces against in his life, in his career. He scored again, I think it was his 11th Serie A goal against Roma in 15 games, and the irony of the most epic sliding doors ever. He was on his way to Roma before joining Rut Jube,
00:43:11
Speaker
I mean, it's just, I knew whenever I saw that, okay, he scored against Bologna, crappy performance. He's working his way to form. He's playing Roma. There's no doubt he's going to score. You can bet your mortgage on that. And he is unbelievable because he is now, last year, last season, they burnt him out a little bit, didn't they? And now they have Giroux. Now they don't have to burn him out. And I think if they use him wisely,
00:43:34
Speaker
he will deliver for them. And I can bet you with something else, he's going to score against Inter in the Derby, as he always does this Sunday. And he's going to celebrate in front of the Kurban Nord, looking at them, putting his hands behind his ears and asking them to cheer him. This is how he is. He is that kind of a character. He has that hunger in him. He gets triggered off of people hating on him. When he's at his best is when he's angry. And he's angry because he doesn't want to go out. He's
00:44:00
Speaker
That chest that he did for the Rafaleo. And the finish from Rafaleo was sensational as well. A little sombrero over the goal. But that chest goal, and then he had another goal disallowed. He won the penalty, scored that free kick. I mean, the guy... He's 40 years old. It's unbelievable. It is unbelievable. And I think just to finish on Zlatan, when we had Sven Goran-Eriksen on our pod a few weeks ago, we actually asked him, is Zlatan the greatest
00:44:30
Speaker
player in the history of football at his age, at 40 or over, basically. And Sven, Sven, obviously, you know, he's coached so many players and seen so many and, and he said, yeah, he is, he is. And I think you have to say he is for an outfield player anyway, obviously, get lots of goalkeepers that play into their 40th years before and so off, you know, others. But for an outfield player to be doing and not just the defender, I mean, you know, had Maldini's
00:44:54
Speaker
Maldini, Zanetti, you know, I think Ryan Giggs, but he obviously started playing in a deeper role, but an actual attacker to be this decisive and score this many goals. And when he scored his goal, it was a goal every 54 minutes in Serie A. 400 goal in a club level. I mean, 150 of them in the Serie A. It's absurd. It's ridiculous. It really is ridiculous.
00:45:20
Speaker
Okay, enough. Now it's time for Napoli. They win, again, this time without Osemane. I have to admit, even without Osemane, you would expect them to handle Salerni Tana, but
00:45:37
Speaker
came close, win one to zero. I guess, where do we start with this one? We could talk about the Insinie thing, where... I think we should talk about the Insinie thing, because that... That's a little weird. Yeah, it's starting to become a castle now.
00:45:53
Speaker
Um, his contract is expiring. He's the captain. I mean, this is one of those things can see me needs to be careful here. Everyone involved needs to be careful here because they're playing with fire. This isn't Naples. They will never, ever forgive and forget whoever. And with the season, they're having too
Napoli's Title Chances and Vlahović's Transfer
00:46:10
Speaker
much. I mean, if they, if, if, if you see me, it becomes a castle and de rails, Napoli's chances to win the school, that's the year when they actually can win it.
00:46:21
Speaker
ADL and Insignia need to leave the city of Naples because they will be chased out with pitchforks and fire like that. They're playing with fire. Everyone involved here is playing with fire. It is dangerous to do what they're doing. They actually are threatening to derail Napoli's correto chances by this mess. They need to sit down and decide
00:46:40
Speaker
Either we, you know, talk to each other. Are you going to leave? Are you going to stay? Decide what they're going to do, because this, if this keeps on dragging on, and Spalletti finds himself in another Icardi Naingolan situation, which he does not handle really well, that means he has to take the captain arm band off of him, and he will do that, like he did at Inter. Only if he does that, Napoli is even less of a stable club than Inter is.
00:47:06
Speaker
This is just, Napoli's frustrating me with this nonsense. They need to address this issue now before it absolutely spirals out of control and derails their Scurrito chances. Because let's be honest here, they are looking so much more stable. Everybody keeps comparing them to Sarri those few years ago. This is different. They look so much more stable. They look so much more mature. They look so much more poised and in control of what they're doing than they've ever done before. And they have a real shot at winning the title.
00:47:36
Speaker
unless the ideal and loinsing senior stop this nonsense whoever it is from both sides they need to stop this nonsense because they're putting the club's chances and those fans deserve better this is the first year of tomorrow donna died and they're they're messing with it and it's just a shame.
00:47:54
Speaker
Yeah, I think I don't know how much that is affecting the squad, if at all, to be honest, and if it will affect it, even if he doesn't sign a contract into the closing months. So far, I don't think we've seen any sign that it is affecting the squad. And so I mean, it's not that it's the cause, it's the arguing, it's that we I'm not playing in senior because of internal reasons. I've seen I don't know if that's true. We don't know. That's true. He said it.
00:48:19
Speaker
But he said he said it was to do he said it was to do with he had a slight he would he would come on if he if if they really needed him. But he said also that it's because of internal internal internal internal. Yeah, I thought that's not that's not where you want to be. This is what he wants to do with a slight injury issue.
00:48:39
Speaker
No, no, he said internal, like, because of our internal, it's an internal decision, blah, blah, blah. And it's like, that's not what you want to do. Again, they're, they're, they're messing with this. And it's such a shame because he said he had a muscular fatigue. He said he has a muscular fatigue. He's at risk of getting hurt. He manages himself. He looks at how the games go and I decided to keep him out, avoiding any risk. Yesterday in training, he felt mixed up. I made him decide, do you want to play now? We'll see later. He told me as a mature footballer, that if he was needed, he would risk it. There's no case.
00:49:08
Speaker
I assumed, I mean, that might just be the cover story, but, you know, who knows? But that's what Spelletti said. I thought it was just to do with an injury issue.
00:49:15
Speaker
No, but he did say also that pre-match he said something else. He said that he's not going to start because of internal decisions, pretty much. We'll see. Putting that aside, I think we obviously Napoli won, that's the most important thing, but we did see, I think for the first time, how much blunter Napoli are in attack without Ossemin.
00:49:42
Speaker
We saw that for sure. You know, you take our seamen out of the team like they had against him. And obviously, Insinio wasn't playing as well, and he makes a big difference. But they definitely, yeah, they didn't have the same cutting edge in attack, didn't have the same firepower. And, you know, Mertens started. I know he's not fully fit, but he's 34 now. And I think he's definitely passed his best Mertens. And I think Petania, they're better off with, but they were better when Petania came on, actually.
00:50:10
Speaker
I think he's underrated, Petanya. I think he's a very useful squad player. But, you know, at the end of the day, Napoli's defensive record is incredible. I mean, they've conceded three goals all season in Serie A. They've had five clean sheets in a row. So three and eleven, they've conceded. That's the best record in Europe's big five leagues, along with Chelsea. And Chelsea played one game, one came less.
00:50:33
Speaker
So, you know, not just an attack, but, you know, Spelletti's done an incredible job, incredible job, because they're scoring a lot, but they're also very good defensively. Yeah. And now, but then Conebale got sent off and now, you know, they they're going to have to do without him the same way that Teo Hernandez got himself sent off going into the Derby. I mean, these are huge. It's just, you know, you get you get so frustrated when they make these kinds of ridiculous mistakes because
00:51:02
Speaker
the you know it they look perfect now but it doesn't take a lot you know football is an organic thing it doesn't take a lot to derail things and i think the napoli are not handling this
00:51:12
Speaker
both at board level, but also the players individually need to take better responsibility. What they've handled the worst is that I would have just dumped myself out of the Europa League. That is what's going to end up costing them more than this Insinia thing, in my opinion, because they can't handle, they can't. As soon as you've seen, they've actually looked a little bit flatter, naturally.
00:51:33
Speaker
in the last few games. I mean, you just have to have a look at the number of goals that the Napoli scored in October compared to September. I mean, you know, goals are not saying they've dried up, but they're scoring less goals now. You know, they had one-nil win against Torino, one-nil win against Saleni Tana, the draw against Roma, you know, so one goal, two goals in those three games. And, you know, so they're not blasting everyone away like they were, you know, in October. Sorry, in September. So, yeah, it's
00:52:02
Speaker
It's just just a little warning sign, I would say. Absolutely. But apart from that, well done to them. I mean, you can't argue with their stocks this season. It's been fantastic. And I think Spaletti is doing a great job. I don't hold him accountable for this mess. I blame the players at an individual level. Osseman started out, you know, with nonsense and then he sorted himself out and he's now the best number nine in the city. Ah, Coolybally has been absolutely outstanding, but he needs to show more discipline because Napoli need him. He's the most important defensive player they have and they can.
00:52:30
Speaker
Yeah, they're going to be missing him soon, yeah? They're missing him against Verona, yeah. But in my opinion, it's a three-horse race now. It's a three-horse race between Napoli, Milan and Inter. I think it's concerti, the Italian journalist, he says lots of stupid things usually, but one thing he said that wasn't stupid was when he said that it's a two-horse race unless Inter can beat Milan.
00:52:52
Speaker
I think it's a three horse race once, if Inter beats Mila. And I think that's when it kind of, and then they play Napoli after the international break. I think that's when we can say whether it's a two or three horse race. If Inter lose both of those games. I think if Inter lose, it's a two horse race. If they draw or win, it's still a three horse race. If they win for sure. If they win for sure, because then it's four points to both of them.
00:53:13
Speaker
and maximum four points to both of them. It's seven now. The one thing I would say is that Milan have played tougher games than Napoli so far. Napoli haven't had the toughest starts this season. They've only played Juventus and Roma and they obviously drew with Roma
00:53:30
Speaker
And then against Juventus, they played against Juventus. Okay, Juventus are in crisis, but it was the Juventus team that were completely depleted because they had all their South Americans out because of this ridiculous international break situation. So in a way, Milan are kind of more proven than Napoli and they've had that tougher running and they've also done it while going through an injury crisis as well.
00:53:53
Speaker
So in that sense, I think, yeah, Milan have probably had maybe the more impressive starts the season out of the two of them. Absolutely. Couldn't agree more. They went again. They continue to roll. Before we move on, though, we have to talk about Wlawicz. Part of me wants to weep for Uncle Rocco. Another part of me wants to yell at Uncle Rocco.
00:54:19
Speaker
Another part of me, one month. Well, he is Tzioroko. There's no doubt about that. There is nobody who's more of a Tzior than Rocco. There's no doubt about that. You don't even have to be Italian. Everybody has an uncle like this. This guy's nuts. Part of me wants to cry, though, for Fiorentina. Like, man.
00:54:41
Speaker
He's going to be a massive loss, and he's one of those guys, too. You can't just go out on the open mark at a club like Fiorentina and replace that. You can't. No. It's like with Inter and Brozovic and Milan with Cassie and now Fiorentina. They shouldn't have been in this position. He should have handled this better. He should have known, you know, if you're going to believe in a young player, then tie them up to a long contract with a lower wage, and then you can renege that, like Inter did with Bastoni.
00:55:09
Speaker
But here, it's either he's going to leave. The issue is, does he leave in January? Does he leave or at latest next June? And if he leaves next June, I think Juva can't be discarded. But then again, it also depends on our good friend Antonio Conte and what happens with Harry Kane, if he decides to stay in. It's irrelevant what happens with Harry Kane. Tottenham wanted to sign in regardless of Harry Kane's situation in the summer, and they're going to come back in for him. And you know, we're going to do a proper
00:55:38
Speaker
a proper special podcast on Antonio Conte to Spurs tomorrow, where we will discuss in length about Vlawovic, but as we're talking about him now separately, I think it's absolutely nailed on. Vlawovic goes to Spurs regardless of what happens. Conte has been guaranteed a huge transfer kitty. He needs another centre forward for his 3-5-2. Vlawovic, para-attici, wants him. It's very well known.
00:56:01
Speaker
Fiorentina will sell Tottenham will offer the most money much more than Juventus will be able to offer. Juventus what can't even afford to offer Fiorentina money would have to be a loan, a loan with plus two year loan like with Gazer. So it's absolutely nailed on. Blauwitsch is going to talk in my opinion. I'm not entirely convinced. I think his agent, I think Juve have worked
00:56:21
Speaker
If Juve are good at this dark art shit, and they know how to tie up players like they did with Kiesa, because Kiesa could have gone anywhere he wanted to, but he still chose Juve, and I think that, I think Vlawic will... That's it, the player's will. Only the player's will can stop this, stop a Tottenham transfer, in my opinion, only the player. Yeah, and I think that he will want to go to be Juve's number nine into the future.
00:56:44
Speaker
I think that's a big... I think that will definitely... He could also look at what Conte did with Lukaku, what he does with his centre forwards. It depends on how long Conte stays. I mean, if he's only signed an 18-month contract at Tottenham, why... I mean, there's no guarantees that... Yeah, I don't understand that. That's going to be something we'll discuss tomorrow.
00:57:04
Speaker
We'll just go with that tomorrow, because that is very weird. Just briefly on Inter, I liked what I saw against Empoli, and I liked what I saw against Udinese in terms of the balance that we said we'd missed. I still think, I think, Chala Nogluf had probably his best game since the Genoa game, where together with Barillan and Brozovic, and they controlled that game against Udinese, and they controlled
00:57:27
Speaker
the game against the employee as well obviously these are fantastic sites but it was important to see the continuation of the work that Simone Insagi has done in terms of finding the right balance and to hold you know two clean sheets creating chances scoring goals that's important and especially for Simone Insagi who
00:57:47
Speaker
He decided that he wanted Joaquin Correa, and they paid a lot of money for him. And Denzel Dumfries was also his hand-picked choice. So these guys have struggled and been a little bit inconsistent. And they were awful for 60 minutes, both of them. But then they turned it around, both of them.
00:58:03
Speaker
a brace for Correa and assist for the second goal from Dumfries showing that they can do that. These are the things that, you know, in a during a season, you have these defining moments that can switch a career around and build something that you can build off of. And I think that could be the turning point for Correa and Dumfries at Inter, but they have to deliver consistently now.
00:58:23
Speaker
Yeah, very quickly because Champions League kicks back off this week. We have Atalanta hosting United. We have Juve hosting Zenit. We have Milan hosting Porto and then Inter go away to Sheriff. What are we thinking? Just very quickly for all four of these. I mean Milan needs to win. There's no...
00:58:42
Speaker
There's no way around that. Milan and Inter both have to win. There's no win or bust. It's win or bust for Milan. For Inter it's win or you're in trouble. Win or it's Europa League. And I don't want to play Europa League. I think it's very simple. If Inter drop points against Sheriff, Simone and Zaggy's responsibility is to punt.
00:59:04
Speaker
punt, play the primavera side and the last two games finished last. Do not go into the Europa League because it's more important to win the Serie A and to play in the Europa League. No doubt. Problem is, I'm not sure Shafter will even get enough points to overtake it. So I think it's second or third in NL. That's what I think. But they have to win. They absolutely have to win. Milan, absolutely. Milan are out if they don't win.
00:59:26
Speaker
they need to hope, Milan need to win and then hope that Liverpool beat Atletico and in that case Milan will be on three points and Porto and Atletico will both be on four. Have I got that right? I think it's, I'm not sure.
00:59:44
Speaker
Well, Fletka will be on five. No, no, they'll be on four. Four points. Yeah, because it's nine four four zero. Yeah, exactly. So that that kind of gives them a glimmer of a hope, you know, in the last two in the last two match rounds. As for your Ventus, I mean, your Ventus are going to go through. They're fine. They're already fine. They just need a point to qualify. So, I mean, it's it's kind of they're probably playing for first or second now. And and then Atalanta Man United. I mean, Atalanta
01:00:13
Speaker
They need to try and go for... I mean, it's a bit interesting, Atalanta Man's United, and I'll tell you why. It's because we know Atalanta play with a back three, and they play this kind of three, four, one, two. Well, Oligon and Solshire completely changed his formation, went from a four, two, three, one, two, a three, five, two. There's been some hilarious photos of Solshire mocked up as Antonio Conte. Antonio Conte's wig on. It's so funny. It's so funny.
01:00:40
Speaker
But yeah, he played 3-5-2 and they won 3-0 and so you think he's going to play the same formation. So it's kind of like for like. It's going to make that game quite interesting, I think. I think it's one of those games that Atalanta can't afford to lose if they want to go through. I think they need a point from that.
01:00:59
Speaker
I think Juva will see off Zenith pretty easily and then Milan Porto is anyone's guess.
Champions League Previews and Speculations
01:01:05
Speaker
A draw wouldn't be the worst result in the world for Atalanta because if they were to draw, even if Villareal were to win their game, which they should do, even though they'll be below Villareal in the group, they could still then win their last two matches.
01:01:20
Speaker
which they should do you think you know they're playing they should be expecting to you know they're playing villaree at home and then away against young boys then they'll go through so a draw wouldn't be the worst result in the world
01:01:32
Speaker
No, okay. Let's move on to our Boggio and Prem Face of the Week. And for those of you who are new here, Boggio is obviously our thing of the week. It can be a team, it can be a person, it can be anybody in the footballing world. And then, Carlo's segment Prem Face of the Week is self-explanatory. So, we'll get to those now. Okay, Boggio of the Week is
01:02:00
Speaker
Well, I was going to say Vlawovic, obviously with his hat trick, we've already done a segment on him, how great he was. He's actually got 25 goals now in Sédia in 2021, only Haaland, who's got 26 and Lewandowski, ridiculously got 36 goals. It's just madness. Only those two players have scored more in Europe's big five leagues this calendar year. And he'll overtake Haaland soon as well, because Haaland's injured.
01:02:27
Speaker
He scored more than Batistou and Luca Toni in a calendar year that they did for Fiorentina, and he needs three more to be the all-time record holder of Fiorentina goals in a calendar year. So, Vlawovic, but also shout out to Pedro for rolling back the years this last week. He scored two goals and he got the assist before the assist, the hockey assist in the wins against
01:02:51
Speaker
Who did they win? Who did they beat? They beat Florencina in midweek, didn't they? And then they drew with Atalanta. They were denied in the last last game by Atalanta. For me, for me, it's El Cholito. I mean, I was going to say, I can't go back. I mean, you play Lazio, you play, you play Lazio, you play Juve and you score six goals and do two of those two games. I mean, it's this now that we talk about an explosion. So for me, it's Cholito.
01:03:18
Speaker
Yeah, that's why I'd have to take two. It just pains me to see him doing it in the region of Veneto. Go get over it. Take that place into the ocean.
01:03:34
Speaker
All right, prim face of the week, this one, the ESPN never disappoints. It's ESPN. So it has to be ESPN because it's one of the, I mean, it's just so cringy. They did a video asking if Man United should appoint Antonio Conte as their next manager. Only they used a picture of Simona Inzagi whilst when he was working for Lazio. It's just the one.
01:03:59
Speaker
I couldn't make that any funnier even if I tried. What are you talking about? What's going on? At least for Simonian's sake, they didn't call him Filippo and use a picture of his brother, which is something he's been struggling with. They've done that before.
01:04:19
Speaker
They're just one of the complete opposite direction and they just took some... I mean, who does these images? The Bajo of the week, the legend of the week, the hero of the week, the intergalactic legends of the week are Venezia, their English account on Twitter. The way they just destroyed ESPN. I mean, they're very stylish, right?
01:04:41
Speaker
the new shirts that they've unveiled are incredibly, incredibly stylish and they've completely, everyone's given them plaudits for that. Hold on, I have to intervene, which is hilarious because again, as the one from Veneto here, nobody in Venetia
01:05:04
Speaker
cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares
01:05:21
Speaker
Listen, no, anyway, so what they did, ESPN did a collage editing the photos. And these are like some awesome photos. They really are high fashion. And Venezia quote tweeted that saying, and I quote, why is ESPN editing these photos? Just the fashion photographers from Venice and Milan really needed someone in world art capital, Bristol, Connecticut, to apply the finishing touch.
01:05:47
Speaker
That's the funniest thing. They've had a bad week. There was one other thing as well. And this is a collective act of prem facery across the whole footballing world that I've actually noticed quite a few journalists and
01:06:05
Speaker
ex footballers and fans actually like argue him that Brendan Rodgers would be a better fit for Manchester United than Antonio Conte. He's too abrasive. He's too, you know, he'll leave after two years, he'll leave Man United in a mess like they haven't been in a mess for the last eight years. You know, and, you know, Brendan Rodgers. I don't understand this nonsense. The logic is just how did he leave you vain a mess?
01:06:33
Speaker
they went to two champions league finals after that and continued on a six years ago what he took them he inherited them in a mess how did he leave them in a mess they won a title if they finish them until the following year and then that side went on to to win just because he leaves argument you know
01:06:51
Speaker
Big deal. He leaves after arguments. That's true. He leaves in dramatic fashion because that's who he is. But he doesn't leave clubs. Inter are not in a mess because of him. Inter are in a mess because he left. He wanted to stay at Inter. He didn't leave Inter because he wanted to. He wanted to stay there. He just didn't want his entire team to be dismantled.
01:07:10
Speaker
Yeah, there's just this idea that Brendan Rodgers fits the Man United culture and actually one of the ESPN's pundits, Shaka Hislop was one of them actually said it. They have some real prem faces on that that ESPN pundit three team. I'll tell you this, there's the other Scottish guy, two Scottish, great, Steve, Nicole, oh, my God. I mean, like, seriously, in their favor, I did watch and Steve Nicole did say that Antonio Conte was would not take any nonsense and that he would be a great choice and that he would demand
01:07:39
Speaker
things from the board as well. So we we've got to be we've got to we should be fair there. But no broken clock. Yeah. Yeah, ESPN have had a rough week. But the Venetia takedown is it's the funniest thing I think I've read in such a long time. It's the best act of prem facery on the planet. This is away from football is there's this COP 26 climate summit that's going on in Glasgow at the moment, and CNN decided to present their coverage.
01:08:05
Speaker
in huge kind of grandiose fashion, like we're here, we're here, we're at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, only they weren't in Glasgow, they were presenting it outside of, which was where they set up outside of Edinburgh Castle.
01:08:19
Speaker
Just class it at the pathways. We're eating land just outside the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Here we are at the Storming of the Capitol. We're at the Statue of Liberty. It's so cringe and Wolf Blitzer there as well. Anyway, that was funny. Wolf Blitzer. That can't be a real name, surely.
01:08:39
Speaker
I mean, Wolf Blitzer. I mean, what is that? I mean, it sounds like the character from X-Men. It sounds like a 1980s porn star name. It really does. It really does. Okay. Now I have to intervene before this. Wow. Okay. User questions. Wow. Let's get to those now.
Historic Teams in Modern Football
01:09:02
Speaker
Okay, we're going to start with our first one for you, Carlo, from Andre Barilaro, who asks, what are your thoughts on your greatest teams from history and how they would fare today? Thinking of the likes of the Grande Torino, Grande Inter,
01:09:18
Speaker
traapatones uve, lipis uve, etc, etc, etc. Mine is simple. Mine, I'm just going to intervene again. Mine is the Roma with patistuta and totti. Well, it's a really, really difficult question. It's one that, you know, you need a long, you know, Oh, yeah.
01:09:40
Speaker
Well, I probably do better than Allegri, to be fair. But yeah, it's a difficult question because football has changed so much, both it's evolved, but also, you know, there's been force changes, like the rules from 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago, are completely different to the way they are now. So are you playing by the rules of the 1960s and 1970s? Or are you playing by the rules today? Are you playing by the offside rule? Are you playing with the back pass rule? You know, are you playing with the heavy footballs of the 1960s and 70s? Or are you playing with
01:10:08
Speaker
Are you playing with SIM cards, no SIM cards? Exactly. Are we playing with VAR? Are you playing with, you know, so are you playing with referees that are lenient? Are you playing with referees? So a lot is very hypothetical. It's very difficult. But if we're going to say we're going to take teams from the past and bring them into today's football and how would they do, then I think that today's football is everybody's so much fitter
01:10:33
Speaker
the, you know, the nutrition and the drugs are better. And, and it's very, very difficult. But staying quiet way after that SIM cards and you bringing that up is very difficult. Yeah. Well, not not mentioning any teams from the Premier League who 60% of their team are asthmatic, you know, no, no, no comment on that. But but I would say from the Italian Italian teams,
01:10:59
Speaker
I think on the topic of drugs, I think the grande and lippies you they probably would do it would do all right today. But yeah, I think it's very difficult. I think if we're going to talk just about actual quality, Saki's Milan absolutely would be fantastic today because they play a type of football means Saki was a revolutionary with this with his tactics and the high press and the high line.
01:11:24
Speaker
And, you know, obviously their team was full of world-class players, the three Dutchmen, Maldini, Barre as he cost the curt of Tazot. He's probably the best back defense, back line ever. And to a lot of team midfield, Don Adoni, I mean, it was an incredible team. I think now they would be right up there with everyone because they could live with the teams physically and tactically. And in terms of the way that the modern game has changed, in terms of the pressing and everything. So I think them,
01:11:51
Speaker
I do think Lippi's UVA from a fitness point of view, I think they could live with the teams today as well and they were obviously a fantastic team. If you go further back, I think that on a physical level, they would struggle. But again, it depends. You could say, what if we took those teams? What if we took, let's say, Trappatoni's UVA?
01:12:14
Speaker
And, you know, we brought that to or Maradona's Napoli, and we brought that to today. And we said, right, you're going to have the same nutritionists, you're going to have the same preseason training, you're going to have the same coaches, you know, you're going to be taught, you're going to play in modern tactics, you're going to be taught about all the modern tactics and the way that we know what tactics work today, and give them a chance. Then absolutely, I think all of those teams could could do great.
01:12:39
Speaker
No, I think I think you're right. I think you're right. But in, I think, Trappaton is Juve, Trappaton is Inter, Milan, Sacchi, of course, Capello, Roma, absolutely, Niselli, Dolan's Roma in the 80s.
01:12:54
Speaker
was an outstanding team as well. Mila, Nerea, Rocco, I mean, you could do this so much. I mean, again, it depends because it's like I always try to divide these, you know, football eras up because football changes so much. The 1960s to the 1980s to the 90s even and then, you know, now the last 10 years, it's so different. It's almost not even the same sport anymore.
01:13:16
Speaker
So it's hard to say, but I mean, yeah, I mean, they're all up there. I think Saki's Milan and Capello's Milan. Let's remember, I mean, when Capello came in and the way they dominated in Europe as well, you know, building on that. There's so much, there's so much. What I would say is this, I think that I've always believed this. I think that individually, there were better plays in the past than there are today. I think what has not been done. Especially technically, it's not even close.
01:13:41
Speaker
Yeah, what I would say is today that football has changed certainly from a physical level. The players today are just so much fitter. They have so much, so much more stamina. And that's down to, to, you know, better nutritionists, better coaching methods, better, you know, supplements, if you want to call them that, you know.
01:14:00
Speaker
Can you please not get a suit? Well, no, I haven't named anyone. I mean, everybody knows. You have to be very nice. Like he's naming somebody named... Shut up! ...Dance, Banks, Pardino or something. Oh, God. All right, Nemus. This next one is for you from...
Eriksen's Situation and Tactical Shifts at Juventus
01:14:20
Speaker
From Gianmarco Paterno, who wants to ask you about Ericsson, with December approaching, what is the likelihood he is allowed to play in Serie A? Or are we just waiting for confirmation that his career is over with Inter? What are your thoughts? And he says, am I insane for believing he could truly help?
01:14:42
Speaker
No, look Christian Erickson, a fit Christian Erickson is a world-class player. I think everyone in the world would agree with that. What happened this last week was a little bit blown out of proportion, especially by British media who turned it into this giant thing because there was nothing new being said by Inter. I mean, Inter had their annual shareholders meeting, they ratified the budget and in that context of budget they also released a statement about Christian Erickson saying how much he
01:15:06
Speaker
how much he's been impacted on the last year's balance sheet, and also that his wages are being paid by FIFA, and that he currently does not get the Green Bill of Health, the paper needed called the Idonata, where the Italian Olympic Committee gives to all elite athletes to practice their trade in Italy because of the implant he has in his heart and because of the whole situation.
01:15:27
Speaker
Now, Inca also added that this doesn't mean he can't play elsewhere, which we already knew, and they also added that it doesn't mean that he can't get the e-donator in the future in Italy either. They just made a statement that we all knew
01:15:40
Speaker
All of this was known before and this became inter-open to offloading Ericsson. No, look, inter-aren't going to do anything that Christian Ericsson doesn't want to do. They have a complete respect for him because what he went through was so traumatic. They're not going to put any pressure on him. I think everyone's going to come to the point where they decide in January, what do we do? Do we move our separate ways?
01:16:00
Speaker
Do you want to stay in Italy? Do you want to even continue playing football? We don't even know if he wants to do that. And I think that's, you know, let's not speculate too much and just give the guy of the space he needs to make a decision on what he wants to do. I still think that his career, regardless, if he, you know, I think his career at Inter is finished, unfortunately, because I think he's a fantastic player. We saw that last season. But I think that his future at Inter is over.
01:16:30
Speaker
Interesting. Okay. All right. Final one is from Misak Ullkian.
01:16:38
Speaker
and he says Allegri for the past five years has had his Eureka moment with this squad where he figures the best play and formation that would suit his best players. It started in that make or break Olympiacos game in the 2014-2015 season where it was a must win for Juva and he switched from a 3-5-2 for a 4-3-2-1. My question is, will he have Carlo, his Eureka moment this time around and if no and things still go
01:17:05
Speaker
continue to go more south do you see a sacking in coming if yes is it too late will it be too late for the scudetto or even top four and he he also adds also ramsey is out for muscle fatigue apparently i've never seen anyone getting fatigued by sitting on a bench yeah well ramsey's taking the piss now that's for sure but as for allegory
01:17:32
Speaker
I think that, as Nimr said rightly, he's not going to get sacked. Also, from a financial point of view, I'm not sure the exact figures, but I know it's between seven and nine million euros a year. So you're looking at 30 to 36 million over this four-year contract that he's owed or will be owed. So he's not going to get sacked. It's going to have to become so disastrous that they're battling relegation or something for him to get sacked.
01:18:00
Speaker
So yeah, he's going to have to forget. I mean, as I said before, I can't understand what the hell he's waiting for sticking with this 4-4-2. It clearly is unworkable. It's clearly outdated. It was outdated 25 years ago when the England national team used to play and everyone used to take the piss out of them for being outdated playing this 4-4-2.
01:18:18
Speaker
You know so I mean still using that now and so he has to change from that whether you'd call it a Eureka moment going from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 I wouldn't really say so I mean it's pretty obvious think every man in the street can see that's what he should do
01:18:33
Speaker
I don't know whether he can suddenly come up with something else. I don't really see any other options other than those because of the squad that Juventus have, unfortunately. I don't think they really have many other options. 3-5-2 I don't think can work because they've only got three centre backs plus Rugani. Sorry, they've only got three centre backs.
01:18:54
Speaker
Yeah, so I'm not sure. I think there's not really too much he can do, unfortunately. He certainly shouldn't be ninth place. He certainly should be in the top four. But in terms of actually winning the Scudetto or being what Juventus should be, I think there's
01:19:10
Speaker
a Eureka moment is not going to end result in a Scadetto or a Champions League win. Put it that way. Shame. Real shame. Okay. Well, you can really taste that. You really mean that. I'm heartbroken. You're so sad. Yeah, I'm very heartbroken. Well, hopefully all of you, if you are not a patron yet and you're listening, I hope you're not a UVA supporter.
Closing and Patreon Promotion
01:19:35
Speaker
Well, if they did, they switched off now.
01:19:38
Speaker
In all seriousness though, thank you everybody for tuning in. If you are not a patron yet, again, you can go to patreon.com slash T-I-F-P and become a patron for $2.99 per month. We will be back Thursday for our interview episode. And again, be sure to follow us on social media. And just one last time, patreon.com slash T-I-F-P. All right, everyone, thank you so much for tuning in. We will chat again.
01:20:08
Speaker
in a few days. Until next time, bye-bye.