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Free Weekly Episode - Inter Back On Top, Milik Blows It For Juventus, Milan Penalty Thriller, Mazzarri Terror-Ball, Inzaghi Or De Zerbi Replace Klopp? & Much More (Ep. 394)
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NB: We apologize for the foul language in this episode.
From Lautaro Martinez sends Inter Milan top of Serie A, Nima vs Carlo row over Yann Sommer penalty against Fiorentina, Arek Milik the scapegoat as Juventus stumble to Empoli, Walter Mazzarri's terror-ball in draw with Lazio, AC Milan throw away win against Bologna, to Atalanta eyeing Champions League football next season and the 5 way relegation battle as well as Baggio, Premface and Serie Ass of the week and much, much more when Nima and Carlo break down all the main talking points from an action-packed weekend in Italian football.
Every Monday episode of The Italian Football Podcast is free for all.
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Transcript
Introduction and Highlights
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast. Hello, everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Italian football podcast. I'm Carlo Garganese joined, as always, by Nimr Tovale.
Serie A Weekend Recap: Key Matches
00:00:13
Speaker
And on today's show, we will react to another massive Serie A weekend, a massive one for Inter, who returns the top of the event as surprisingly drop points at home to Emily Inter winning a very
00:00:28
Speaker
Close game against Fiorentina 1-0 after Juventus had drawn 1-1 against an employee with Eric Milik's early red card proving costly. Milan failed to capitalise on Juventus' slip up as they drew with Bologna in a four goal thriller after missing two penalties.
00:00:48
Speaker
Lazio Napoli played out one of the worst games, maybe the worst game of the season in a 0-0 draw, while Atalanta continued their brilliant form to move into fourth place actually.
Podcast Announcements and Support
00:01:01
Speaker
So we're going to round up also the rest of the Serie A matches and we're also going to look at possible
00:01:07
Speaker
Serie A and Italian managerial replacements for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool and Javi at Barcelona. Both of those have announced that they are leaving at the end of the season and we will also have our usual Baggio, Primface and Serie A of the week.
00:01:24
Speaker
For all our first-time listeners, this is our free weekly episode that we do every Monday, reviewing the weekend Serie action and all the biggest talking points in Italian football. If you want to support the Italian football podcast and receive all of our content that we do throughout the week, including a weekly Q&A episode every Tuesday where we answer all of the questions from our Patreons, plus the weekly Thursday midweek review show, plus interviews,
00:01:46
Speaker
Post-match reaction and much, much more, then go to patreon.com slash TIP and become a subscriber for just $2.99 a month plus VAT. And you can also sign up now to be a paid subscriber on Spotify. We'll provide the link in the description. It's the same price and the same terms. And for all of you who listen on Spotify, Apple and iTunes Podcast would really appreciate if you give us a five star rating.
00:02:07
Speaker
Give us a follow and a like. We're also on YouTube. We almost have 2,000 followers on YouTube now. So give us a follow on there as well. It really helps us to grow and do more quality content for you guys. So let's get into today's show.
Inter's Performance and Challenges
00:02:24
Speaker
So we start off with the sunday evening game and the last match of the weekend. Fiorentina against Inter in Florence. Inter win 1-0. A massive win for Inter for the race for the Scudetto because after Juventus, who will come onto
00:02:42
Speaker
could only draw 1-1 at relegation, threatened, emply. This meant that Inter could win and go return to the top of the table, which they did. So they go one point clear. They also have a game in hand to go four points clear ahead of the game against Juventus and the Derby d'Italia at San Siro this weekend. It's looking fantastic for Inter. In terms of the game itself, I mean, this was a Scudetto winning
00:03:09
Speaker
grind of a win. These are the kind of games that you have to win away from home when you've got players missing. They were out Perilla and Cello Nogli in midfield, and it showed. And you don't play particularly well. I think, to be honest, Inter are a bit fortunate to win this game. I think a draw definitely would have been at least the least that Fiorentina deserved. But Inter, they showed that winning against adversity
00:03:37
Speaker
and this is what you need to win Scudetto's so it's a fantastic win for Inter and they now are in a fantastic position.
00:03:46
Speaker
Yeah, look, I don't think Inter's performance was very good. You know, Sala Nogla and Barela both being missed. Well, it showed. Like you said, it was obvious it was going to show. And there was always going to be a drop-off in quality. But I think Inter created most of the best chances in this game. I think if you look at the clear-cut chances, the best chances Inter created the most of them.
00:04:09
Speaker
Yes, Fiorentina had most of the possession, but that was expected. Fiorentina didn't really create that many clear-cut chances, I think. I think Inter's defense was very, very solid, very, very balanced. And they, Inter should have probably scored, you know, missed a few chances. I mean, I remember the one with Carlos Augusto, I don't understand how he misses that. But, so I think it's
00:04:36
Speaker
I think it's one of those weird games where, you know, one side has all the ball, has the ball most, is in control of the game, but the other side has the clear chances. But to me, I'm not happy with the performance as such because I felt into it a little bit.
00:05:01
Speaker
toothless at times. I didn't feel it was, I didn't see the usual inter that in terms of an attack in defense, they were flawless, but I'm talking an attack. I felt they were a little bit wasteful and they didn't look sharp. They looked tired to me. They looked leggy. I was watching Lautaro from about, from about the 55th minute, 16 minute Lautaro was, was, was treading on water basically. And I think probably that, I think the, the, the super copper played two games in four days. Like the accumulation of that probably paid
00:05:31
Speaker
I've caught up with them now, rather than in that Napoli game, but now. So I think that was part of it. Fiorentina will get into it. I want to give Fiorentina credit. I thought they played really well, so it wasn't just the interplay bad. I don't think they played bad, but like I said, I think they were just... Well, they looked tired. Yeah, they looked tired. And it's understanding. But again, look, Lautaro scores. This is the salto di qualita that we've been waiting for that I never thought was going to happen with him.
00:06:00
Speaker
Um, but he scores again, you know, 19 goals in 19 games. Uh, it's, you know, it's, it's, uh, it's really ridiculous how he has gone, um, from, from being the perpetual number two man who misses sitters and misses, well, not sitters, but misses.
00:06:20
Speaker
clear-cut chances lacks killer instinct to becoming 19 goals in 19 games in Serie A this season. He's really taken a step. Even in a game where he's not really good or intro very good in going forward, where they look tired, he still manages to score and scores the winning goal. And the Inter have now won 17 of their first 21 games, which is historic. It's the second time in Inter's history they've done that.
00:06:49
Speaker
And last time was 2007-2008, if I remember correctly, under Mancini. But 17 wins out of opening 21 games is fantastic. It really is. And another clean sheet.
00:07:05
Speaker
and Jan Sommer, to me, cements his position as the best goalkeeper this season in the Serie A. I think he was just absolutely unbelievable. No doubt about that. He made one great save in the first half. I think it was Bonaventura. And then obviously the penalty, whichever one's going to say, it was a terrible penalty. And it was a terrible penalty. But this is the... I think, like...
00:07:28
Speaker
Jan Sommer has now officially destroyed that penalty routine, which I know you hate. It drives me insane. But he's destroyed it now because obviously he did that to Giorginio twice, which cost literally qualification for the World Cup. And
00:07:47
Speaker
Now he's done it to Gonzalez as well. That's how Eco Gonzalez takes his penalties. Like this season, now those are the penalties he shoots. He does a little hop skip and bullshit, which is ridiculous. Well, I think it's even more ridiculous when you consider that Soma has already shown that that doesn't work on him with Georgina. So that's bad preparation from not just Gonzalez, but also by the Fiorentina
00:08:13
Speaker
Management team that be when you're playing in the game and they'll say right if you get a penalty They should be making that clear. You do not take a penalty like that against summer because summer Doesn't doesn't doesn't you can't you can't do that to summer? He knows how to stand up wait for the last minute and I was watching they showed some Gonzalez's eyes when he's when he's stepping up and he's looking at him and he's looking at him and then he puts it the other side So he's obviously watching summer. I don't know what stock summer does whether he stumbles a little bit like tricks
00:08:43
Speaker
Yeah, I think he does something. I think we need to study what Jan Sommer does when he, like, if you know the angle when you have straightforward looking. Yeah, well, we haven't seen that angle. That would be good to see. I want to see that because I think what he does is, I think he does something with his hand or body, moves a little bit to the left or a little bit to the right to fool the shooter. To think that he's going that way and then they put it the other way. Yeah.
00:09:06
Speaker
and it's because it's not just one time he does it all the time like these are these he just doesn't fall for those penalties yeah and there's no doubt in my mind that young somewhere knew that Nico Gonzalez takes his penalties with this city oh absolutely he's prepared of course absolutely so uh no it was um yeah summer was great and also into defense um even though
00:09:27
Speaker
I mean, if you look at the XG of this game, Fiorentina have an XG of 1.84 to Intel's 0.84. Obviously the penalty will count for about 0.75 of that, but still, that's an XG of over one. So that's why I say Fiorentina definitely deserve to draw in this game.
00:09:46
Speaker
The reason I think also what accounts for that high XG is in the two absolutely insane goal-saving blocks, which are actually good goal-scoring positions to score from both Unzola, one in the first half and one in the second half, that they're actually good goal-scoring chances.
00:10:03
Speaker
on both opportunities. Bastoni's done just an insane world-class block for one of them, and then Pavard did exactly the same in the second. Now, on both of those, Unzulard doesn't really hit it cleanly enough, which is, again, will come to Fiorentina and their forwards and their lack of finishing ability, but they're still insane blocks from both of them. Pavard, especially to me, has been defensively. I mean, I was expecting him to be a monster in attack, and we're kind of waiting, even though I saw some incredible stats. The other week about Pavard,
00:10:34
Speaker
In in terms of you know in terms of how he how he treats treats the ball but defensively he's been absolutely Fantastic it's truly truly that's been his most
00:10:54
Speaker
I think that's what he's been the best at this season. It's his defensive contributions. He's been really, really good. I mean, I've got it now, DataMB.
00:11:06
Speaker
on Twitter, he's one of the most defensive duels per 90 minutes in the Serie A. He's got the best accuracies, number one for forward pass accuracy, long pass accuracy first and progressive pass accuracy third. And still we're kind of on the pitch. We're kind of waiting for him to do more in attack, or I was at least. That's what I was expecting him to excel at.
00:11:34
Speaker
But defensively, he's been unbelievable. And that is what a world class player defender he is in this system. I mean, this is what exactly why I wanted him to replace. That's why he was my number one ideal choice. And he's more than made up for it. He is just.
00:11:51
Speaker
He's only 27, isn't he? He's not that old either. No, it's a fantastic signing for him. I'm so glad that for once they replaced a starting player with someone that is better in this system. For me, I'm really, really happy with him to defensively. Bastoni, we know he's got his defensive weaknesses, but that slight tackle was stunning, absolutely stunning.
00:12:18
Speaker
Yeah, it was stunning. Just before we come on to Fiorentina, let's do the three refereeing incidents. The first one, which everyone's debating, the first one, Lautaro's goal, which is Lautaro makes a run to the near post from the corner away from Parisi. He gives a little push to Parisi who goes down. For me,
00:12:38
Speaker
Paris is too weak. He's also unbalanced as he's running after him. This is a regular goal. It's not even really much of a debate for me. And I've seen all the referees that have commented on this after have agreed. It's a regular goal. I'm assuming that's going to be your take as well.
00:12:58
Speaker
If we're going to disallow stuff for that, then it's a show I don't even see worthy and free. What's the problem? There's nothing to talk about here. Is it ballet with a ball or are we watching football?
00:13:15
Speaker
do we have physical contact or not? Can we just make that clear once and for all? Because there's a difference between physical contact and an infringement. If that's an infringement, fine. Then football is like women's ice hockey was for up until recently where tackling was not allowed.
00:13:33
Speaker
That's fine, but then use it across the board. It's ridiculous. Yeah, it's a little hand-off really. That's all it is. It's a little hand-off with one hand. When it's two hands, then you're getting into debate and territory, but when it's one hand, you can't... Yeah, and he's on the run. Parisi's too weak. I want to speak about Parisi afterwards. Bastoni on Ranieri, inter-leading 1-0. I can't remember if this was a corneral free kit, but the ball comes in to the box and
00:14:02
Speaker
Bastoni's got a hold of Ranieri.
00:14:04
Speaker
For me, we've seen these given. He's pulling Bastoni at Ranieri. He's not looking at the ball at the play or playing the ball. I was watching this on BT Sports, Tony Derigo, who was a former England defender. He said this was a penalty. Morelli said after the game, I'll read out his quote. He says, Bastoni, Ranieri, interesting and very particular episode. Initially, they are both holding on to each other. Then Bastoni loses contact with the ball and dedicates himself only to holding Ranieri. In the last part,
00:14:34
Speaker
of the incident, which is the most important, in my opinion. Bastoni doesn't look at the bull. The penalty is very much at the limit, as they say in Italy. I would have appreciated a non-field review. So he's not saying it's a penalty, he says he should have definitely had a non-field review.
00:14:52
Speaker
So usually leads to a to a penalty now my personal opinion on this my person This is my personal interpretation doesn't mean it's I don't like penalties given for pulling and pushing in the box because i'm old school I i'm from the old Italian school defending where I believe that this kind of stuff should go on and I think it's too We're too strict. Like you said in the in the penalty area on these Uh, and it's uh, I wouldn't give a penalty. That's just my personal interpretation of it. Um, but as marelli said, you know
00:15:33
Speaker
You know, there's bending and then there's breaking the laws of the game. Do you know what I mean? And then he's bending them. He's bending them there. I think it's, he's on the, you know, like Acherbi did against Osseman, like Helyne did his entire career. There's bending and then there's breaking. And I think he's on the borderline there and he's risking it. See, I think there should be a lab. This is a philosophical argument. You know, this is just my, you know, how I believe the defendant should be. I think that
00:15:44
Speaker
he's running the risk here by not looking or playing at the ball, in my opinion.
00:16:01
Speaker
too much benefits given to attackers in general. That's just in everything, which is why the art of defense has been killed also because you're not allowed to do anything now if you're a defender. I mean, look, when we're talking about shirt pulling, that's something else, right? I mean, that shouldn't be allowed and it should be stopped when you're literally impeding a player's movement by dragging him back like Taraciano did in the Milan game against Polonia.
00:16:29
Speaker
I think where he's running the risk here is he's not even looking at the ball. He's not even trying to play the ball. He's only trying to concentrate on the map. That's the issue here. I think when you're trying to play for the ball and you're just grappling and you're holding and you're fighting, you're wrestling, that's just part of the physical concept of trying to out muscle your player. For me, there's no debate there. I think he was risking it, but like I said, my personal opinion is that I like this being part of the game.
00:16:55
Speaker
And that's what Italy, I don't want it outlawed because this is what Italy would have always been the best at and the smartest at over the years. And that's why we've always had the best defenses. And I think it's also a reason why we're not able to utilize that strength anymore because that's come out of the game. So I don't want it removed from the game. But anyway, now Soma on Unzola, the penalty that was given to Fiorentina. So Soma comes out, punches the ball and then punches Unzola on the follow through with
00:17:25
Speaker
with force and endangering the opponent. So by modern rules, for me, it's a clear penalty. Now, this is what Morelli said. It's not even remotely a penalty. And I'll tell you why, because the situation is when it comes to, this is not with the foot. It's different when it comes to the foot, where there are clear instructions from the superiors at IFAB about what happens, which we're going to get to in the Milan Bologna game.
00:17:49
Speaker
There is no chance this is a penalty because his eyes are on the ball, he hits the ball first, Anzola is trying to hit it and he gets the punch of when he punches the ball, it also hits Anzola one second after. There is no doubt whatsoever that Sommer takes the ball first. There is no doubt about this and that's the key here.
00:18:15
Speaker
It's not about getting the ball. If you get the ball and then take the player after in the box, and in this particular incident, getting the ball is irrelevant. It's not irrelevant because less than two years ago, Mike Mignon knocked out Lovato for Milan and everybody was in agreement there that
00:18:39
Speaker
No, it's unfortunate. It's this time, the other, but it's not a penalty. Luca Marelli himself literally say, questo non emai rigore per me. This is never a penalty for me. The situations are identical. I mean, I haven't seen that incident. If it was the same as this incident, then it should have been a penalty. That's all I would say. Because this incident, Marelli says, Marelli gave him... Marelli said... Marelli gives the rules here. He says... Marelli said then, less than two years ago, questo non emai rigore per me.
00:19:09
Speaker
to you. I'm talking about this. Well, I care about this. Forget about the time. It's not what I said in this instance. This is nonsense. This is the rat fucking I was talking about two weeks ago, laying the groundwork to wrap fuck. Okay. Well, we're still waiting for that rat. Yesterday. Let me tell you something clear. There is no chance you can't
00:19:33
Speaker
an opponent after it doesn't matter if you got the ball. You didn't punch the opponent. You punched the person in the head. Unless you play for Milan or Juve or anyone else, you're not alike. I don't care about Milan or Juve. No, of course it doesn't matter at all. Look at this shiny object over here. What would you forget about it? I'm not a downtrodden club. Like Juventus, like Milan, like Bayern Munich, like Real Madrid, they are part of the establishment. They're a former saint. So let's just forget about the story of Milan. This literally didn't happen to Milan. Literally didn't happen to Milan.
00:20:02
Speaker
Literally. Literally. Didn't Mike Manion get sent off this season when he got the ball and then needs someone in the head after? Knee is different. Knee is different. Knee is different. It is exactly different. The foot is different. The foot is different. If you punch someone in the head, the goalkeeper punches someone in the head, even if they got the ball. It's a penalty. It's not a penalty. Only when it's inter it is. Me not. I'll read out what Luca Manelli said. It's himself two years ago. I've got the quote right here. This is never a penalty for me. That's a direct quote for him.
00:20:32
Speaker
Look, Mirelli said yesterday, so maybe Mirelli's part of the rap fucking. Mirelli said yesterday. Obviously though. Mirelli said in the VAR room, they assess Sommer's intervention as very dangerous. I agree with the final decision. A goalkeeper has every right to go for the ball, but he must be careful. This is a punch in the face. You can't punch players in the face. It's as simple as that. This is Luke Mirelli. Mirelli could be wrong.
00:20:53
Speaker
He's not right all the time. He's not got like you said in the past, but this is Luca Morelli interpreting the rules The rules are if you endanger an opponent with force Regardless of whether you've got the ball that's in the rules. It's a penalty. That is exactly what he did No, it is not He punches the ball with your foot and then you take the player out after Foot is different and that's what you don't understand
00:21:23
Speaker
But he's wrong then. And Mooka Murelli is just lying to us. Yeah, he's wrong here. He is wrong here. Mooka Murelli is against a downtrodden inside, downtrodden inside. No, I forgot. Poor little Juva who have the world against him. Calchopoli was an inside job by Murati and everyone else to screw. It's a no different to Yufei or Milan. They're not downtrodden. And this rap fucking thing needs to stop. But this is a penalty. No, this is exactly what I was talking about two weeks ago. And it got proven beyond all doubt for the world to see yesterday. Everybody saw it. So it's a rap fuck just today, yeah.
00:21:51
Speaker
Of course it is, because Nico Gonzalez can't take a penalty. If he knew how to take a penalty, they would have completely rat-fucked him to yesterday. This is exactly what I was talking about. And Nico proving yesterday for the world to see. Same situation with a Milan goalkeeper, nothing. Everyone is... It's unfortunate. So, Manion getting the ball, but then... With his knee. Do you not understand the difference between a foot and a knee?
00:22:15
Speaker
Yes, if it's endangering the opponent with force, punching, or he's a penalty. That's the rule. No, it's not. It's literally the rule. It's according to you. It's according to you. Luca Morelli's wrong there. Luca Morelli knows you know the rules better than Luca Morelli. You know the rules better than Luca Morelli. So the same situation as Luca Morelli.
00:22:30
Speaker
Well, same situation with Luca Marelli, when it came to Manion, then all of a sudden it's not a penalty. I'm not a question on him. I regard it permanently. This is never a penalty for me. Less than two years ago. Two years ago. Luca Marelli is against the downtrodden, Inca. That's right. No, I forgot. It's only Juventus who are the poor, poor, poor. Oh, it's the downtrodden. It's the whole system against Inca. It is obvious. Yeah, the whole system's against Inca, yeah.
00:22:52
Speaker
is clear, let me say something very clear, like I said two weeks ago, it is obvious for everyone to see. Into one part the 14 teams of Europe, the superpowers of Europe, along with Juventus, Milan, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, they're just in there just for fun. Yeah, they're not part of the European establishment, they're not part of the European establishment, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid. What are you talking about? What are you talking about?
00:23:16
Speaker
What are you talking about? That's complete bollocks. You're completely making ridiculous false straw man arguments. I'm not the downtrodden. Okay. Systematically rat fucked in this league. And it's for everyone to see. It's obvious for everyone to see because the false equivalency is continuous, continuous.
00:23:38
Speaker
to have the most penalties, the least yellow cards, because they deserve them, because they deserve that because they deserve. Where's the right thing? Where's the right fucking facts? Yes, I am literally talking facts. I'm literally talking facts in the face and that's a right fucking.
00:24:00
Speaker
Why is it not? So when the other goalkeepers do it, it's not. But when you do it, all of a sudden, everybody remembers this rule, but it doesn't apply less than two years ago. Stop the bullshit. Stop the bullshit. Stop the bullshit.
00:24:19
Speaker
Right? And then they can talk about what about variety? This is exactly the bullshit gaslighting and false equivalency that you got be non-stop doing.
00:24:37
Speaker
for 100 years. This is exactly what I'm talking about. Because Milli got a red card, so naturally, by gobi logic in Italy, the internet has to get a red card. It doesn't matter if it doesn't get a red card or not. I'm saying that's ridiculous. I'm saying Milli probably uses that logic, which is exactly what you're using. No, my logic is exactly what I'm saying. My logic is exactly this. I want the same things to apply to everything, but you don't want that.
00:25:02
Speaker
That's fine. If we want the same logic to apply to everyone, then stupid Juventus fans that say Berardi should have been sent off and Juventus wouldn't have lost that game 4-1. That's exactly the same. That's exactly the same argument you're using with Manon. You're saying Manon got sent off. I haven't seen this in there. I need to see it two years ago. I can't remember it. You're saying that if Manon should have been sent off if we were using the same logic that we used for Soma,
00:25:28
Speaker
Well, then Juventus fans can say the same thing about Millik who deservedly got sent off by the way, because they should have got sent off when the score was level during the Sasual again, Juventus would have got would have probably gone on to win that game instead, they lose for one. Well, then Juventus fans are going to say, well, Juventus are getting wrapped up because the same logic wasn't used for the product. This is one talking. No, it's not. It's not. That's exactly.
00:25:50
Speaker
I don't know which one. No, no, no. It's not because you're recording different situations that have nothing to do with one another. It's the same. No, it's not the same. It's always the same. It's always the same. You mean this season? Yes, it was. If you're using the same logic as Millik's red card on Saturday, then so was Berardi's.
00:26:09
Speaker
That's fine, whatever. I don't remember that situation exactly, just like you don't remember the manual situation. You don't have to look at it. No, I don't remember it. I don't remember it. I can say the same thing about you and Manuel Novato, because everybody was talking about it at the time. My exact argument is we shouldn't be looking back at these ridiculous incidents from three years ago. No, I think we should. I think we should. I think we should demand the same standard. Because that's all you do. You can never hold each incident now. You can never hold each incident. You always have to go back instead of saying, was this or not?
00:26:35
Speaker
because I'm looking for the same, no, I'm looking for consistency and I want clarity, consistency applied across the location. That's not an outrage. That is how things should work. But you don't look for that. You say, well, they've got a penalty, so you should have a penalty. No, just own each incident. I'm saying... There is nothing to own here. There is nothing to own here. There is nothing to own here. No, what's ridiculous? What's ridiculous?
00:27:02
Speaker
What's ridiculous is that Freddy cat, cat, cat, cat, pussy cat gets to punch people in the face without any... Yeah, I think that was something you would say that you were allowed to do it. The ball wasn't even a goalkeeper, the ball wasn't even there. He literally punched Karat-Chedi and Jorich in the face for no fucking reason. What are we talking about? This is a ridiculous, gaslighting, straw manning, and equating a ridiculous situation that I'm talking about. Okay, okay, all right, okay, introduction. It's not really bizarre.
00:27:26
Speaker
Enter the downtrodden, they're not in establishment. No, no, Yuva are the poor, Yuva are, yeah, Yuva are the ones who are always poor little Yuva. These are just unlucky. No, no, no. Yuventas are part of the establishment, so are Inza. That's it. No, they're not. No, they're not. Inza are in establishment, come to me. You just have to accept that Inza are parts of these European establishments. And you just have to accept that this is a false equivalency. There is no equivalency between these two situations.
00:27:48
Speaker
There are none, none, none, none. I hate the establishment as much as you do. We talk about... No, you don't. You really support FC Agnelli, the crime family. What are you talking about? Then you support Inter, who are part of the establishment. Just accept that they are part of the European establishment. Just like Milan, like Juventus, like Bayern Munich, like Real Madrid, like Manchester United, like these teams, PSG now... That is an enormous... That's non sequitur.
00:28:11
Speaker
situation that we're talking about. I'm talking about the Seria. I'm talking about the whole world, not the whole world, just the Seria and the rat-fucking, the systematic rat-fucking that we sing and they ain't running out on any rats soon in the Seria. I'll tell you that much. Let me say something perfectly clear. There is zero chance that Inter will be allowed to beat Juve next weekend. I guarantee you zero, zero chance that Inter will be allowed to beat Juve next weekend.
00:28:41
Speaker
Because they're laying the groundwork. We'll see. We'll see. We've been laying the groundwork for three weeks now and we haven't seen it yet. But anyway. Just like two weeks ago and we saw yesterday if you're in TINA, just like we saw Aliti was the coach of Inter and the VAR when the ball hit Dombrosio's chest and the VAR... Yeah, giving a penalty for punching a striker in the head is rat-fucking, okay.
00:29:04
Speaker
because he didn't do that. I didn't do that. He took the ball. No, no, the difference, that's not the definition. Irrelevant. Listen, Nimmer, you know the rules. Irrelevant whether you got the ball. If you hit, you punch the ball. No, it's not. No, it's not. That's what you understand. That's what you refuse to understand that when you go for the ball and you take the ball first, then it's not.
00:29:20
Speaker
It's irrelevant. If you're endangering the opponent with force, which is what happened, it's a penalty, which is exactly what Luca Morelli says. He read out the rules and said it. And you may not like the rules because they go against you. So you hone in like a... Is it the face in the same situation when he came out to take the ball? Luca Morelli literally...
00:29:48
Speaker
This is not a penalty. It's the application of the rules. It's the application of the laws of the game that I'm looking for consistently across the board. Identical situations, one given, and you're acting here pearl clutching because it's obvious for everyone to see because it's obvious for everyone to see.
00:30:14
Speaker
Well, you still think that Morati did Calcioppoli, so what am I talking about? I don't believe that. Now you're now you're putting words in my mouth. I don't believe that. So anyway, that's that is classic. Anyway, let's let's move on. Let's move on. I think anybody other than the most fanatical interference. No, no. Anyone with a pair of functioning eyeballs can see that that's not a penalty. Show me the people that show me the non fanatical interference. That wasn't a penalty. Show them to me. Show them.
00:30:40
Speaker
I can show you. Show me who. Yeah, I'll tell you who. I'll tell you who. You want one? You want one? Who's not? I'm so glad you said that. You walked right into my trap. Emiliano Viviano, former Fiorentina, the biggest Fiorentina fan on earth. Okay. Yesterday said, former goalkeeper said, that is never in a million years a penalty. He said, literally verbatim. How the F do you give a penalty there?
00:31:07
Speaker
Okay. You asked for a non-fanatical fanatical. I gave you a fanatical Fiorentina fan who literally said that as much. Okay. There we go. There's one. Find me more. Find me more. What? What is this? I'm sort of a fine. No, I don't need to find you jack shit. I literally just disproved your bullshit point. Just because of Emiliano. No, I'm not just saying Emiliano. Not just Emiliano. Luca Marelli himself in a different situation when it was Luca Marelli. Okay, but Luca Marelli. Literally, literally Luca Marelli. Luca Marelli. I'm using Luca Marelli.
00:31:34
Speaker
Fantastic. Luca Morelli said last night it was a penalty. And he said two years ago that this is never a penalty. Funny. What happened in those two years? Well, he's obviously part of the conspiracy. Oh, no, no, no, no. He just said, keep it started. Keep it started. Now it's time for you to do your favorite Go Beat song and dance. The Donnie Brasco side hustle. Forget about it. You're making it worse, you know.
00:32:01
Speaker
No, no, no, no, no. It's because you refuse, you always do this. It's this ridiculous notion, this ridiculous false equivalency, time and time again with situations that aren't the same.
00:32:15
Speaker
and and say well he got one and he go no you're the one doing the what about him i never i'm asking for the same or back to other incidences of course i do of course i do it's the same situation with the same laws of the game the same league well what's the difference and the same people doing the analysis but when it comes to inte it's it's always oh but yeah but when it comes to milan and yuba it's never
00:32:39
Speaker
Really? Okay, let's do it for you, Blake. Milik, Milik and Beradi, same incidences. They even just got rat-fucked. The events are getting rat-fucked as well. The same thing.
00:32:47
Speaker
I don't remember that incident, but I'll have to look at it looking good. No, I don't. You don't remember the Manuel Novato incident, so why don't you remember the Baradis incident? Because it was fucking two years ago. Baradis one was like two months ago, three months ago. It was the beginning of the season. It was like three months ago, you know. So anyway, look, let's move on. Let's talk about Fiorentina. This is great quality content for everyone. Everybody's going to enjoy listening to that. I think that's for sure. So Fiorentina,
00:33:11
Speaker
Listen, I thought they were really good. And they definitely, for me, deserve the draw in this game. I think the XG shows that. Forgetting about the penalty, even if you take the penalty away, they've got a higher XG than Inter in this game. They had double the amount of shots. They had 60% possession. And they were left down. I'm going to have to turn this into an explicit, given the swearing. This is going to be one of those E. I have to tag this with explosives.
00:33:40
Speaker
Yeah, this is an old timer, I think. So they're let down by their attack again. They're let down by their attack once again. It's just nothing from the attack. I mean, they've now actually got no goals in four of their last five games. They've failed to score in four of their last five games. And it's so frustrating because they play such good football before they get to their final third and then they're just nothing in that attack.
00:34:04
Speaker
Gonzalez, obviously, he's a fantastic player, he's been out for a while during this run. He came back on as a sub, so he's going to help there. He's obviously short of match fitness and rhythm and everything in this game, but the rest of them, I mean, Ikhana, Unzilla was actually quite a handful in the air. I know he's going to get a lot of stick, but I thought he actually caused quite a few, but they could go long to him.
00:34:30
Speaker
Obviously on the floor. He's just not footballer and he's not at this level and then and then belt around is is yeah He's he's not not done well since he joined and then all the other options they've got it's just the same story that we say all the time if you're on see now They're just they've just got no they're just attackers. Just not not at a level required and
00:34:52
Speaker
Those two Unzola blocks that were fantastic blocks, but also weren't very good finishes. He didn't shoot them cleanly, you know, and that's why that's what let them down.
00:35:04
Speaker
Look, you know what I think about when it comes to Vincenzo Italiano and strikers? I think there's something there. Except for Vlawic, I mean, every single striker that's been there just seems to die when there. And I don't understand why that is, because it's a team that has lots of possession, they create chances, but they
00:35:25
Speaker
But for some reason, strikers who play in a central role just can't seem to score unless you're someone like Enzola who you live off of your physique and strength, right? And that's a problem. That's a real problem. And I don't get it. I really don't understand what the issue is because it can't be everyone else's fault.
00:35:48
Speaker
Like, you know, it can't be Lukajovic's fault. It can't be Cabral's fault. It can't be, you know, it can't be only them. They can't all suck in a system where you create chances. And Lukajovic goes to Milan and scores every time he comes on the pitch as a substitute. Like, do you know what I mean? Like, it's just there's something here.
00:36:05
Speaker
with, it could be just by chance, absolutely, theoretically possible. I just don't think it is. I don't know what it is, but I think it's very, very strange. It's a very, very, very strange thing that happens with Fiorentina every time under Italiano. And they've tried to address it by signing strikers, but they just can't seem to make it happen for them. I don't understand why that is. I really don't understand. I've looked at it. I mean, they do
00:36:32
Speaker
They do everything right. The buildup is correct.
00:36:36
Speaker
they do everything right. It's just they can't score and their strikers seem to go there. It's like a mortuary for strikers. I think I would agree with you more if the chance creation and the XG wasn't good, then I would agree with you more. Not that you're really necessarily saying that, you're just putting that forward, but it's an interesting argument. Maybe
00:37:03
Speaker
There is something there in that he can't get his strikers to improve, his attackers to improve. Maybe there's something in that, but I don't think there's definitely not a problem in terms of chance creation because you look at the numbers and Fiorentina create a lot of chances and their XG is consistently one of the best in the league.
00:37:22
Speaker
I don't think it's that. I think it's more down to the fact that these attackers just aren't good enough, because Gonzalez has always been fantastic. So why does it not apply to Gonzalez, but it does to the others? I just don't think these players are good enough. I mean, Unzola, but then again, you know, look at Jovic. He's started to reborn. So there might be something in it there with Jovic. He started to look really good now for
00:37:42
Speaker
for Milan, hasn't he? But then again, we also accept that he's not good enough to be Milan's first choice striker. So I just think they're just not good enough. These these attackers, I really do. I think it's I think it's as simple as that. And I mean, that is absolutely theoretically possible. Would you would any of these Fiorentina players, would you take them for any of the other
00:38:01
Speaker
Well, not the top four, no. And what are the top three? Yeah, top three, no, definitely not. Well, definitely not top three, but top seven. I mean, with Sotio, with Ubeltran, with Unzola, with Icona, would any of these get into a Roma or a Lazio team, or would they be good enough for a Roma or a Lazio team? I think the answer is no. Well, maybe Lazio, I think it's touch and go.
00:38:22
Speaker
but they wouldn't be good enough for a Laxey team that wants to say fight for, you know, top four or whatever. So I just, I'm just saying that it's strange. I think it's strange because they create, they, they create so much and they,
00:38:37
Speaker
The build-up play and the possession is very, you know, that sound in terms of if you look at what they want to do and the football they want to play, it's all very sound and they have a clear identity and all of that. But when it comes to the last third, it's as if
00:38:52
Speaker
It's as if the strikers, who every single striker is always who's there except for Wlawicz, doesn't know what he's doing. And it just disappears. And they end up playing Brexit ball in the sense that they just hurl the ball upwards to end Zola because he's big and strong in the air. And I just find that really weird.
00:39:11
Speaker
I really do. I don't get it. I really don't understand what it is. And like you said, I'm not saying, I'm just putting it forward that maybe there's something here. It could very much be that the quality of the players they've had is not good enough. But I just think it's weird because it just keeps on happening. Because Nico Gonzalez seems to thrive. The wide players, if they're good enough, seem to thrive.
00:39:35
Speaker
the central players in that position just don't maybe maybe it's time to move away from from maybe play with a false nine you know that helps sari when when you know when he had to add maybe yeah i mean when beltran plays he does come quite deep to be fair but yeah i mean i don't know i i think i think the other thing i only have a point i wanted to make we better move on now um is parisie i really like the player i really really love him i thought he was really good as well in this game coming forward he's got the pace he was really driving down the left flank
00:40:05
Speaker
He's good one on one when players are running at him. He doesn't really get done. But he has a big problem that he really needs to sort out. He can't defend crosses. He cannot defend crosses. We saw that on the goal, obviously. But I mean, OK, fair enough. He's marking Lautaro, who's one of the smaller guys and in to have a lot of big plays. I mean, I personally would just have him on the edge of the box or something rather than defending crosses. But
00:40:29
Speaker
You see it a lot when balls get put in from the left. Teams target it, teams put in crosses from the left-hand side over to the back post, and he's defending his far post. He can't defend crosses. He does get caught out position occasionally, which is his other weakness, but those are his two issues which he needs to work on, Parisi, because I'm a big fan of him, and I think he's got big potential. There's a seed in his high there with him, but he can't defend crosses. So that's the only other thing I want to say about Parisi.
00:40:58
Speaker
He's not very good. He is a tiny guy, isn't he? Yeah. That is a problem. And especially nowadays, when you're wide players, they have to be able to mark that run from the wing, don't they? And if you can't do that, then that's a big, big problem. Yeah, absolutely. Right, let's move on to Juventus now, who gave an absolute gift to Inter. Which
Juventus's Struggles Against Empoli
00:41:23
Speaker
is why you're so upset.
00:41:26
Speaker
No, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not really. I mean, I'm not, you know me. I don't care about, I know you're playing. I don't care about club football, Nima anymore. I really don't. I don't. Nima, I don't. Everybody that knows me knows I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I absolutely fanatical about the Italy national team. And I'm really angry when Italy.
00:41:47
Speaker
It's the get done. I mean, get done. We'll pass the wearing part on this. Yeah, when they stop, I don't care about my heart. It's not obviously I still love Italian football. We do this part. We want to produce a great show for you guys. You know, I watch all the games. It's one of my escapes. I don't care. I don't get upset.
00:42:07
Speaker
with football anymore, when Juventus were my team as a kid, or even Italian teams in Europe, that was one of my watching Italian teams, wanting them to do winning Europe, all of them, Inter included. I want them to do winning, I don't care, I've lost my love for club football, it's gone.
00:42:24
Speaker
because of the way it's gone. I don't get upset or angry anymore. I know that's just me having an argument with you over who's right and wrong, not over my team against your team. That's just how I am. And everybody that knows me knows that's the way I am. So you've just joined the employee. I mean, yeah, part of me is like, what the hell have you done? But it doesn't...
00:42:47
Speaker
I forget about it within seconds. It doesn't bother me. I went out on Saturday night and I don't even think about it the rest of the night. I saw you guys look to have a good night. It looked like a good night. The way I look at this game with the Emply game is
00:43:04
Speaker
Of course, the millet red card has conditioned this game, he's got sent off after 17 minutes. It is the right decision, as I said before, it's a stupid one. At the same time, I think it's something that in modern football happens a lot, because anybody that's played football knows that when the ball is there to be won, and you just kind of lunge for it, and just put your foot out, you're naturally a lot of the time, your studs will come up, and you do run the risk of catching the player.
00:43:32
Speaker
Now that's not me saying it's not a fat, not a red card. It is a red card and it has to be red card because it's endangered an opponent and it's a leg break. But I'm just saying that I don't want to blame Milik too much because I know that this kind of thing can happen, especially when you're over eager and you really want to win that ball and you want to be aggressive and competitive.
00:43:51
Speaker
For me, it's like, why do you go in with the studs like that? That's what I don't want to see. It's the same thing with Malinowski. It's the same thing we've seen. I think that here's something they've actually got right. We don't want to see those challenges because they can ruin careers. They can seriously. They can. I'm just saying that when you go for the ball and the ball's out there to win, you naturally, when you just try and reach for that ball and you lunge for that ball,
00:44:16
Speaker
I'm not saying necessarily that's the way to describe this incident, but other incidences where a player lunges for the ball and they catch the play with it and says that this is something that can happen on the football pitch. So that's why I don't want to blame Milik too much. I mean, yes, he's stupid because probably the only way that Juventus don't win this game is by getting a red card. So, but, you know, he apologized, you know, shit happens. I mean, for me,
00:44:44
Speaker
Alegri, who I praised a lot, you know. But grudgingly. Well, I have praised a lot in the last few months. He should. Why did he start with Nick in this game? Why? He should have just kept the same attack. I mean, look, he should have kept he should have kept the Yieldiz and and Vlalovich. We've been working really well together and they've got they were on a seven game winning streak where it was a six or seven game winning streak.
00:45:08
Speaker
just keep the same team. Milik and Vlovich can't play together anyway. I mean, I've always said, I mean, the twin towers. I mean, as Spengor and Ericsson once said on our pod once, I mean, playing twin towers, they're too alike to play alongside each other. Regardless of that, I still think they would have won the game without the red card, but I have to blame Allegri for starting them together. I always have to blame Allegri because
00:45:39
Speaker
He went against his own rules of one game at a time, focus on the next game, just concentrate on this. He's been thinking ahead too much. He's been overplaying these psychological games with Inter, trying to throw into these cops and robbers and all this stuff, which I know is funny. I know you find it funny and everything.
00:46:00
Speaker
He's overplaying it. He should have been concentrating on making sure you win this game. Then you concentrate on the psychological. Then in the lead up to the game on this day, then you can have fun and you can do your little games. And then you can do it again in March and April when you're closer to the finish line. Then you can do it. Don't start doing it. He went too early and he was overdoing it. And as a result, they took their mind, their eye off the ball. And this is what happens. And it's a disastrous result for you. And it's absolutely disastrous because now Intergo top,
00:46:31
Speaker
Inter win their game in hand. They go four points clear. The Juventus have to win this weekend. They have to win. They have to. But draw is not good enough because Inter can win the game and go four points clear. Inter are too strong. They're not going to slip up much. Inter, they might slip up a bit when there's some games coming up and they're going to be a heavy handler. But they are not going to slip up much between now and the good season. They're too, too good. So this is a disastrous result for the Juventus.
00:46:54
Speaker
Well, it's a disastrous result for Juve if you expect Juve to fight for the Scoredetto, and I was not expecting them to fight for the Scoredetto. I think they're overachieving and overperforming, and they're going to finish top four handily and healthily by a wide margin. They're going to have their highest points tally in many, many years, in three, four, five seasons.
00:47:15
Speaker
and I think the quality showed. Juventus have been over-performing somewhat and these things even out over the course of a season and I think that's what we saw. I do think it was an under-performance by Juve in this particular game for sure, there's no doubt, because Empoli are a horrid team.
00:47:33
Speaker
They are, they were, they are unwatchable. I, you know, I don't root for teams to get relegated and stuff, but Syria, I am fully needs to leave the Syria. Like they are not good enough. This, this, this was embarrassing to watch at times. They could barely string to send two passes together. Um, and then that's on the back of David and he called out trying to stabilize this and doing actually a decent job. Um, but now it's, um,
00:48:02
Speaker
Well, this is it, Nima. This is where the lack of quality in Juventus, but also I think some... And I am critical of Allegri on today's episode, as you can see. Oh, really? For the first time in a long time, let me say, a good two or three months. No, but this is where the philosophical issues of Allegri are highlighted in this game, because when you're down to 10 men, you know,
00:48:26
Speaker
you that the lack of the attacking patterns that and the lack of ability for you just to keep the ball and have possession of the ball, even when you're down to 10 men, like you said, you're playing against empathy, empathy, you're a poor, poor team, they really, I don't care, even if you're playing against 10 men, empathy shouldn't be having almost 60% of possession and be controlling the game. And your answers are just, you know, are just basically defending against them. That should not be happening.
00:48:50
Speaker
even if you're down to 10 men against him, even with these Juventus players. And those lack of attacking patterns that we talk about, even when Juventus have been getting so many good results as they have, when you have one man down, that shows you, because you can't move up the pitch with your passing moves. And when you can't keep the ball, it really penalizes you when you're down to 10. But also added to that, the lack of Juventus players who can beat players and have any kind of individualism,
00:49:17
Speaker
is also really apparent in a game when you're down to 10 minutes because this kind of game you need a dribbler like a chiesa or a yielders which is why i'm also critical that yielders didn't come on to i think the 78th minute or 79th minute that you need those kind of players that can carry the ball and can eliminate a man to to to create the an even match up again you know you've interested in having those players they they just have solid structural players who stay in their you know keeping their position can be assos maybe a
00:49:45
Speaker
uh an exemption to that and I thought it was very good again um you know so that was that was that was why I think it was so comfortable uh in this game for emply and you know you mentors were largely comfortable I mean they didn't really concede any chances um but they really they kind of they made no attempt to attack in the first half after the red card then they got the gold fruit flower of it who I thought was was was excellent by the way he was very good he was playing on his own he was so isolated um he was like Moses in the desert he
00:50:15
Speaker
like there was no one anywhere near him within miles of him. I mean, he was so isolated. But I mean, I think that after the Vlaovic goal, again, they sat back too much and they invited Empoli to attack. That gave Nicola the encouragement to bring on Bal Dansi and Kansevieri. And really, you know, it wasn't until after the equalizer that then Juventus showed a bit more and showed more a bit more urgency with Yieldis coming on.
00:50:42
Speaker
So I just thought it was just a little bit, yeah, he was too, too cautious in this game. I think he should have been a little bit more ambitious, even though you're down to 10 men, you're playing against a really poor team. And, you know, but like you said, the lack of quality also probably. I think it shows. And I think it's also, it's a, it's a UVA team that
00:51:04
Speaker
It's still, you know, it's pretty young, you know, they're learning. I think this is kind of what we say in Sweden, learning money. You know, when you lose money on something stupid, this is what Uwe did. They threw away two points and he, Allegri will make sure they don't do it again.
00:51:22
Speaker
And I think it's part of the learning curve that this young Ubisoft is on. And I think, despite going down to 10 men, I think they played actually okay. They took over and they scored afterwards. And for me, it's more an issue of... I think what the problem here was, was that after they didn't manage their energy levels,
00:51:47
Speaker
in the sense that I think they went too hard on Emply after they got that sending off to get that goal and that somehow they kind of ran out of steam a little bit and allowed so that when Emply obviously were going to take over because they had that numerical advantage,
00:52:02
Speaker
They were too deep. They didn't have the energy to press high up, to chase the life out of empathy, which they had been doing up until that red card. And so, I think it's one of those things where, you know, you learn. You learn from your mistakes. And I think it's...
00:52:19
Speaker
It's a Juventus that continues to grow and this is going to be a learning experience. Some of the players, you saw the lack of quality though of individual players that just don't look like Juventus. I mean, Alexandre is a joke. He did one really good goal-saving career. He's a joke, like some of the balls he gave away. Moretti, I mean, we've said it before, I mean,
00:52:43
Speaker
He did a huge miss from a big mistake. That's the only real chance Juventus had other than the goal. He should have scored. It's harder to miss than score, but he just doesn't do anything. He does nothing. He doesn't score. He doesn't assist. He's so weak. He seems so physically and mentally weak.
00:53:04
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, he's not developing. Chesney on the goal is an interesting one. It's an interesting one because Bal Dancy's hit that with his swinger, with his right foot. And it's not a very powerful shot. It is in the corner, but it's quite a weak daisy cutter.
00:53:18
Speaker
But then again, when it comes through bodies, through legs, it went through legs. It's total placed, isn't it? It's not easy, but yeah, it wasn't a very powerful shot, so I'm a little bit torn on that. But the fact that Baldansi comes on and equalizes, and the Empoli playing a 3-5-2, I'm sorry, but I didn't want to... Like the group chat with one of our friends said, it's like life is trolling, Carlo. It literally felt like that, I'm sorry. But sometimes you have those moments and it's like,
00:53:48
Speaker
He was very good when he come on and he showed his quality and there have been talks about him going to Roma. I hope he does go to Roma. I hope so too, yeah. I think even if he doesn't play, he will be training with better players, he will be in a bigger, better environment. Oh, he's going to be learning from Paolo Di Bala, who's a very similar player too. I mean, that's got to help him, isn't it? That's got to help him as well. So I think without a doubt, I think I hope he goes there. I love the player. You know me, I love these number 10s, these old school, you know, these kinds
00:54:12
Speaker
It's all about with him. It's about finding the right coach and the right team that plays the right football to get him into the system. It's not, I'm not, I'm be honest, it's not going to be an easy one because he isn't classically a modern player, but he's got so much quality and it's such an amazing left foot. I love him. It's got to be a place for him somehow.
00:54:31
Speaker
Anyway, Lazio Napoli, we won't waste too much time on this one. This should have been the game of the weekend, or the longer Fiorentina into the game of the weekend.
Napoli vs. Lazio: A Battle of Declines
00:54:41
Speaker
This is one of the worst games I've ever seen in my life. It's the worst game of the season. It was just awful quality. No chances. It really was.
00:54:52
Speaker
dreary and I mean I like defensive football and I like but this wasn't this this was just nothing nothing there was nothing there um and and I can't I mean I don't even know I can't even just blame Napoli I thought Lazio were dreadful too it was it was hot it was it was an awful game both of them had decided
00:55:17
Speaker
that we don't want to lose. They both decided pre-game that all we want is to not lose. And I don't have a problem with that if, you know, fine, that happens, but not even trying to score a goal. Lazio tried, I think. When was it like that? Yeah, Lazio did try a little bit. They just didn't have any quality, but Napoli made no attempt at all in this game.
00:55:42
Speaker
It's just, it was really awful. I was really disappointed cause I expected more. I really didn't expect more. Uh, I mean, again, I don't have any problem. I don't, I'm not, you know, I don't like that. You know, I have no problem with defensive football and playing, playing, you know, that kind of a game, but I mean, 0.06 XG at the 70th minute mark for an app.
00:56:02
Speaker
They finished with 0.14. They doubled that in the last 20 minutes. I don't even know what to say to that. I mean, okay, I get it. He wants to stabilize the defence, but you can't. This is... No, it's embarrassing. It was embarrassing. No shots on target the entire game.
00:56:21
Speaker
That is just... No shots in target in 0.14 XG. I mean, we're talking about Wlawicz being Moses in the desert. What was Raspedorin? Come on, you're good at... If Wlawicz was Moses in the desert, what was Raspedorin? Raspedorin was like that film on the desert island with, what was his name? Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks on the island.
00:56:42
Speaker
Robinson Crusoe. I mean, it's just like, you know, without Friday. It's just like, no, it's just, it was, it was, it was turgid. It was just unwatchable. And, and Matsari, look, I get that at the end of the season, this point could be important, but, and I get that they are, they're decimated and they're lacking players, but for the love of God,
00:57:05
Speaker
try at least. Yeah, they're without Osseman and Kavara at scale. We have to acknowledge that. That's obviously whether you've got no patterns of play, which they don't since Matsuri's come in. They've got no attacking patterns of play. Osseman and Kavara, they've got to do stuff on their own to all between themselves. But you can't create them. Yeah. Yeah, you can't create and threaten this little as Napoli have against Inter and Lazio in these two games.
00:57:31
Speaker
And the thing is, it's not magically against smaller teams. It's going to be a different types of games because Napoli can't play.
00:57:39
Speaker
you know, with their defence so deep and sitting back, they're going to have to come out and play. And then when that happens, and the defensive issues maybe start to materialise. I mean, they failed to score in eight of the 14 games. I'm sorry. That was Patrick Kendrick tweeted that yesterday. I mean, that's, that's, that's with the attacking quality that Napoli have got. They've got one winning six games. These numbers, I've said it, I don't know how many times I've said it, these numbers aren't getting Napoli into the top four.
00:58:04
Speaker
Because those numbers aren't magically going to just improve. That's not how football works. They don't just magically, all of a sudden, things just fall into place when you're not seeing any signs of it. And the good thing for Napoli is they're still in striking distance. Of course, the Argentina have lost. I think, how many points are they off the top four? Is it five off Atalanta, I believe?
00:58:23
Speaker
I think they're five points off Atalanta. Who? Napoli. No, they're four points. Four points. They're well in striking distance. I don't know how that is possible, but in fifth place, you might still get the Champions League.
00:58:42
Speaker
In the last 10-12 years, I'm going to look into this properly for future episodes, but the total to finish fourth this year is going to be the lowest in a very long time. It could even be 60 points at this rate. Seriously.
00:59:02
Speaker
Listen, that's bad. That is so bad. I mean, if they don't even reach 60 points, then no. I didn't know reaching for 60, but I mean, if it keeps going as it is, it could soon be, it could soon be 60. Eight points could like, I mean, at this point, at this rate, 50, 59, 58, but I mean, come on.
00:59:18
Speaker
I mean, Lazio, if we could talk about Lazio a bit now. Just to finish off on Napoli, can I just say one other thing? Napoli have gone from the best and most expensive team to watching Serie A and maybe even in Europe to like the most boring and like the team that just have no cohesion and nothing at all. It's quite incredible how it's gone like that in the space of nine months, isn't it? How is that even possible? I don't know. It just goes to show how important it is to have a
00:59:48
Speaker
to have good people working at a club, like a coach, like a sporting director, like, you know, someone, it's not just the players. No, it's not just the players. It's not just the owners. You need, you need everyone in synergy moving in the right direction. And Napoli, since they won this Corretto, there's been none of that. It's been one owner who thinks he's God and everything he does, you know, it's him. He won this Corretto for Napoli. Who cares about the coach, who cares about the sporting director? Screw everyone. I'm the best ever.
01:00:15
Speaker
Well, congratulations Aurelio. You destroyed your own beautiful creation that you assembled with your money and contacts, but you destroyed it because your arrogance got in the way.
01:00:28
Speaker
And he's kind of already admitted that when he apologized and said, I'm the one who's responsible for it because it's it's genuinely it's it's I mean, again, in these last five years, Napoli were by far the best in the best position to open a winning cycle of all teams who've won the score. And they are and they will end up the season being the worst title defender.
01:00:48
Speaker
Yeah, well, they're ninth at the moment. They're ninth! Ninth, yeah. It's just like, I don't even know what to say to that. And it's all they lost was Kim Min-jae in terms of squad players. But every other situation, it's because you didn't hire a sporting director when you knew Jun-to-li wanted to leave. You dragged that out. You didn't hire a proper replacement for Spaletti.
01:01:11
Speaker
And the funny thing is, he boasted about it himself, saying, you know, I wanted to sack him on the spot when I appointed him and said he didn't watch us last season. Well, shouldn't you have known that before appointing him?
01:01:24
Speaker
I don't know what to say. We could be here all night dissecting the post-mortem of Napoli. That's so bad for Napoli fans. They deserve better. They really deserve better. It's embarrassing how for them because they were so happy about it. They finally won that score. They finally reached that promised land and they were in such a good position to open up a winning cycle and instead it's just sunk like the Titanic.
01:01:50
Speaker
No, for sure. Lazio, just a few words on them. Like you said, I agree, Lazio at least did try to play for the win in this game. But as we have seen for much of the season, their attack is lacking in quality. It's not the same attack as they had.
01:02:09
Speaker
Tati Castellanos, who started because Imobile was suspended, he hasn't done enough to suggest that he can succeed him either now or for the future, has he? Because I thought he showed some decent signs at the start of the season, but he hasn't done it. Felipe Anderson, who actually I thought was one of the better players in this game, he's dipped a lot this season. I mean, you see that in his output. Look at the number of goals. He's only got two goals this season. He's had a horrible season.
01:02:37
Speaker
Now, his contract runs out this summer. I don't understand why Juventus are in talks of signing on a free transfer. I mean, he seems on the slide for me and the fact that he's turning 31 by the end of the season, it doesn't make much sense to me. It's because you are in a financial predicament. A lot of people keep banging on about why don't you assign this down the other. What are they going to do? They're literally in a mess financially.
01:03:02
Speaker
That's fine, but again, why 31-year-old? Go for, you know, they've got plays like Yield is. Carry on on that kind of way of doing things, you know? I mean, not a 31-year-old who looks like he's on the slide and he's got two goals. And then also Isaksson, I believe, if I'm not mistaken, he hasn't scored in Serie A this season. And so, you know, it's... That's one goal. I don't think he scored it. I think he scored in the...
01:03:26
Speaker
I think he scored in the Europa League or something. No, he scored in the Serie A, actually. Against Frosinone, when they won 3-1. He scored 1-1 and made an assist. Okay, there you go. So, you've only got one goal. The same number as Anthony at Manchester United, he got his first goal.
01:03:46
Speaker
But they paid a little bit more for Anthony than the last year. Let's be fair here, let's be fair. The other point I wanted to make though, while we're on this tour, this season, Serie A hasn't been good for offensive and expansive football among the big clubs because that's what been one of the most refreshing things about Serie A.
01:04:07
Speaker
that Serie A had become like the league for the neutrals because there was more goals than any other league for a number of seasons in a row, but also like the offensive players. Now this season, I mean the events of course under Allegri, we know that's their style of play, but Napoli, Lazio, Roma under Mourinho, of course we hope that will change though under Di Rossi, and then Bologna as well and not really big scorers even if they play, I think they do play lovely patterns. There's a lot of teams aren't there at the top that are not really
01:04:36
Speaker
Not really playing, they're the most exciting or don't have the most potent attacks. Which is really exam, that's a brilliant segue because we had four missed penalties this weekend in the Serie A and four missed penalties and they were all really awful.
01:04:57
Speaker
Um, and I think, you know, I mean, of course that's not, you know, that's not, you know, you can't really draw too many conclusions from that, but I do think it, it adds to the thing that you've said to your argument, which I 100% agree with. I think in terms of overall quality in the final third, this season, the Serie A has, has dropped. Yes. I think that is, you know, you, you have individual players who've done great like Laotaro, but overall the attacking quality of the league is not what it was last year and the season before that. I think that's a very, very fair assessment.
01:05:28
Speaker
Very fair assessment.
Milan's Draw and Future Prospects
01:05:32
Speaker
Milan Poloni, though, was a very exciting game in terms of offense, though. 2-2, really eventful match, four goals, two penalties missed, an injury time equalizer and a red card in this game as well for Mota.
01:05:46
Speaker
Milan, of course, blow the charts to take advantage of the Juventus draw every time he closes. We're way over, so we're going to have to try and go through these as quickly as we can. I'll make some quick points on Milan first. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, from the positive point of view, another two goals. That's four goals in an assist. He's having a great 2024 so far. Well done. Well done. I just have to raise my hand up on Ruben Loftus-Cheek. I didn't think he was going to do as well as he's done. I didn't understand that signing, what he was supposed to do.
01:06:13
Speaker
I have my, I raised my hand up and say I was completely wrong on that. He was, he's been, he's been so good for Milan and I, he's become a leader at Milan in that midfield and I didn't, I didn't expect that at all. So well done. Well done on that signing. I think it's been one of the, one of the few, one of the highlights of the season for Milan. I think he's been.
01:06:35
Speaker
He has. There was also a great shot from Reinders in this game. They hit the bar as well. There was definitely some offensive quality on show from Milan, this game. But unfortunately, they're let down by... Well, two big points to make in terms of being let down from Milan. First of all, the missed penalties. You missed two penalties in one game. I mean, come on. People are angrier purely, but what is he supposed to do when your strikers miss... When your players miss two penalties? I don't know.
01:07:04
Speaker
I can't blame a coach for a result when you miss two penalties. I really can't. I really, really can't. What else can he do? You create chances, you get penalties, and your players miss them. What else? He can't go out on the pitch and take them in himself, can he? I mean, it's like, what? I mean, you know what I mean? You generally had a good record on penalties, but he hasn't missed two really costly ones this season, hasn't he? The Champions League one was massively costly against Dortmund, and then this one as well. And then Teo misses as well.
01:07:35
Speaker
I think that's a stupid rule, by the way. If you hit the post, it shouldn't count as another touch. It's not like anybody would deliberately shoot at the post, will they? No, but it should be. I think it's actually a good rule because you're already at such an advantage towards the goalkeeper on a penalty.
01:07:54
Speaker
that you mean it's unfair, the goalkeeper has zero chance then. I mean, you might as well just give it more. Actually, yeah, you know what, actually, I agree with that, actually. It's already two. You know my view, I would get rid of penalties because I think they're too much. No, you want to ruin the game with your circus popcorn, MLS penalties that are just... I die every time. Every time someone sends that to me, I literally die on the inside. How can Carlo want this?
01:08:22
Speaker
like what it's like literally do why do you hate football i just don't want penalties i think they're too much of a reward for for for incidences that are 0.8 chance of scoring from a from an incidence but anyway that's another debate in itself um jerude again disappointing if we take this penalty i mean
01:08:39
Speaker
Again, not enough good or decisive performances over the last year. He pulls out a great performance now and then, but they're not enough of them, too few and far between. That just confirms what we've been saying, that Milan definitely need a new number nine, I think, for next season.
01:08:54
Speaker
And of course, the Milan defence, again, repeating ourselves, they're too easy to create chances again. They're too easy to play through. The defensive unit is not good enough. They don't defend the box well enough. The midfield doesn't protect the defence. Without Beneser, they have no defensive midfield, they're able to protect the defence. And the number of goals conceded is crazy for a team that's supposed to fight for the Scudetto. I think I said recently that in the 2023 calendar year, they were, I think, fifth most from a Serie A team.
01:09:24
Speaker
And look at the number of goals. There's 25 goals conceded in 22 games. That's just way too many. Way too many. No, and Theo Hernandez defensively, what's happened to him? What is going on? And again, Mike Mignon at the near post. It's just, it's weird. I don't know what is going on at Milan, but I think that, like I said, and I'll explain this to people, say, oh, you're contradicting yourself. No, I'm not.
01:09:52
Speaker
because I think that it's time for Pioli to leave because he's been there for almost five years. I think it's time, at some point, you need to refresh in things. And I feel that although the team still reacts to him, I do think they need that kind of spark again. You know what I mean? Like that kind of vitality to kickstart everything. Because I don't think that Pioli has been, has failed at Milan far from it. I think he will go down in history as one of a Milan hero.
01:10:17
Speaker
because of what he did look at where Milan were look at where Milan are look at what he did what he brought them to look at the young every player he's developed the young players everything he's done i think he deserves nothing but praise but i think after five years it's time for a fresh start it's a missed opportunity yeah agreed yeah it's a missed opportunity for Milan because i mean they win this game then they they fought they go to five points behind Juventus and then into Juventus this weekend i mean
01:10:43
Speaker
Whatever happens this weekend, whether Juventus get the result or Interget the result was a draw, they're going to be gaining on one of them. So at least one of them, if not both of them. And then all of a sudden, yeah, maybe they can edge their way back in. I don't think they will, because like we said, these issues are holding them back. Bologna, though, point of view.
01:11:04
Speaker
Bologna, big games this season. We've said it before, but this confirms it yet again. They've drawn, they haven't lost all their free away games. They've played now against the big three and they haven't lost to any of them. They've drawn all of them. Milan, Inter and Juventus, and of course, beat Inter in the copper, drawn with Italy, beat Roma, Lazio and Atalanta. They've only lost one game to a big team this season, which was Milan on the first game of the season.
01:11:29
Speaker
The record away from home has been impressive for me. You know, against Juve and now Milan, and Milan and Inter. I mean, at the San Siro, they haven't lost this season. They've won once and drawn two in Coppa Italia and Serie A, and that's impressive for me. And Zirkse, look, he... Yeah, he won me over. Like, it's been a continuous process, but after this game,
01:11:58
Speaker
It's not just a goal of performance. He missed a sitter in the second half, but what he did to create that space for himself was mental.
01:12:13
Speaker
that is there's not very many players in the world that can do that the technique and first touch that he showed creating that space for himself okay the finishing you can always work on yeah he's not the clean it doesn't strike the ball as clean as i would like for a top striker so that's where he needs to improve but yeah but it's not but it's but the fact but but his technique and first touch that's something you can't teach that's something he has a unique he has a unique skill set there's no doubt about that for such a big guy to be that good technically holding the ball up
01:12:42
Speaker
I think Milan should move heaven and earth to sign this guy. If the words are young, if you follow the checklist of what Milan looks for in players, I think Zirksa hits everyone. But unfortunately, we know that Bayern Munich has a 40 million buyback clause on it. They do.
01:13:02
Speaker
They do. The thing that would buy Munich is, look, he's not going to play for Bayern Munich because Harry Kane has got that nailed. So, you know, you buy him. Oh, it's not berserk. He doesn't have a say in it because they've got a buyback. But, you know, you buy him, he's not going to want to be a, does he want to be a backup for Bayern? Probably not. So what do they do? Do they buy him and then just sell him on for a profit? Which is what they could do. I think they will. And that's why I think it's such a shock. And then that rules out the Italian teams.
01:13:27
Speaker
Well, of course. If you buy someone for 40 million euros, they point up to them for 50, 60. There's no chance that no Italian club can pay that kind of money. Just quickly, Nimmer, the penalties. You just give an explanation here. Yeah. Because the first one is the one that is the contentious one. The second one is that's clearly one of the clearest penalties of the year.
01:13:48
Speaker
put his fingers in Liao's eyes in the penalty area. Eye gouging is not allowed, even though it's expressly not in the laws of the game. But the first penalty is, I was confused by that because Simon Keir goes down. But I spoke to Alessandro Arbidzani, who was originally from the Monza branch of the Italian Referees Association. He works as the National Development Panel for Football Australia.
01:14:17
Speaker
And he explained that even though it's not explicitly in the laws of the game about this situation, he says it's the weirdest loophole in the laws of the game. It's not a foul as the head shouldn't be there, but these fouls are always called as it's a hit to the head with a boot.
01:14:40
Speaker
It's what we get told and shown at seminars, as it's an interpretation, as the laws never specify this type of challenge, but the directions we get from up top is, when challenging for the ball, foot to head, yellow card, studs to head, face, red card, doesn't matter how it happens.
01:14:56
Speaker
pretty much, and that's why it's a loophole. There's no clear direction in the laws of the game about it, but football fans, obviously, myself included, know this isn't a foul, but the interpretations and directions were given to apply the law is that, regardless, it's always a foul.
01:15:15
Speaker
And that's what I was referring to earlier, that it depends on the instructions they get told. We want you to interpret the rules in this way. Here, it's clear. You're always responsible for your foot, no matter what happens.
01:15:29
Speaker
Okay, all right, well explained.
Atalanta and Skamaka: Critiques and Praise
01:15:32
Speaker
Right, just just quickly, just round up the other game. So first of all, Atalanta win again against Udinese at 2-0. There, when we're talking about the top four race and maybe not reaching 60 points, well Atalanta definitely will if they continue this form. Eight wins and a draw in their last 10.
01:15:48
Speaker
De Kerteler, Tuosir, Schmecka got a much-needed goal, first goal in a long, long time. To Atalanta doing great. I just wanted to get your quick thoughts because the very, very stinging criticism from Gasparini before the game of Schmecka, just confirming everything that I said, because I think I was one of the first, maybe the first to really pick up on his lack of movement and his lack of running and saying, no, it's just not good enough.
01:16:13
Speaker
And now I'm seeing others pick it up and Gasparini said it himself. He said before the game that Skamaka's movement and running is not good enough and if he doesn't improve then he's not going to make it as a player that we believe he should become.
01:16:28
Speaker
What did you make of Gasparini saying that? I think that's just a last desperate cry for him. But look, I don't ever think Skamaka was a big guy. I don't understand. He's not
01:16:44
Speaker
He's never been like Lukaku or Taram. He's not a pacey guy. He's not very that dynamic. He's not Petanya. He's more dynamic than Petanya, but he's not that guy. I've never seen that in his game. So if Gasperini is moaning publicly about that, then why the hell did he sign him to begin with?
01:17:06
Speaker
It makes no sense to me. Maybe he thought that's something that he can work on. I mean, I mean, well, I think it was pretty evident that the player doesn't have those characteristics at all. Well, I mean, I'm not saying I'm not saying he's Petania, but what I'm saying is he's not as dynamic. He was never that dynamic. He's he moves, but that's not he's not going to be that high. I think I think there's two issues for me, like one, the pressing. But there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to press. I mean, Lukaku.
01:17:31
Speaker
is lazy. One of the main reasons Tuchel really didn't like Lukaku is because he didn't press well. He was lazy.
01:17:38
Speaker
I don't think it's laziness. I think his body's too, it's these, he's a big guy. It takes a lot. His latin was the same in his entire career. He was never a player like that either. And that's why a lot of people say he failed that, you know, like Guardiola was also unhappy with him in Barcelona. Like you don't be these big guys. It takes a lot. Okay, well, that's one thing. The other thing is, and this is something that you cannot teach. And this, this is just your game.
01:18:05
Speaker
intelligence, your football IQ and your game understanding of knowing how to make runs, to make little movements, where to be, where to position yourself with little darting runs, near post runs, far post runs, just, you know, that kind of running, that kind of movement. And Schimacher just doesn't
01:18:25
Speaker
He's just too static. He just stands still all the time. He doesn't seem to make the right kind of runs, the right kind of movements. And that for me is the bigger concern with Skamaka. And I think that's also what Gasparini, I think, because Gasparini is a master, one of the masters in terms of
01:18:44
Speaker
spatial awareness, a spatial understanding and using the space. And I don't think Shkamaka knows how to use the space. He can come deep and pick up the ball, lay it off, hold it up. He's really good, but
01:18:58
Speaker
the overall use of the space. I just don't think he's, yeah, he's just not good enough with it. And I found that interesting. I don't think that's really would have said it unless he wasn't desperate. I don't think you come out and say that publicly unless you're desperate for him to try and force him to change. He's got a good finish in this game anyway.
01:19:19
Speaker
He did, and Charles de Kettler is now on six assists, and he's tied for second with Mikitarian, Dibala and Philippa Anderson for assists, behind Turam and Giroud. So he's unlocked the Kettler, but we kind of expected that, didn't we? That he was going to be well at Atalanta.
01:19:38
Speaker
the killer. I did at least. I wasn't sure how high a level he can get to and I'm still not sure to be honest but you know you can't argue with those numbers and he's definitely yeah he's definitely playing well. He's playing well and you can see the his his uh self-confidence is back. Technically he's a very good player. He's got a very lovely left foot and there's no doubt about that. His confidence is back. You can tell the kid isn't afraid of his own shadow like he was for two years. I mean like he was literally like just scared to be there. He doesn't look like
01:20:07
Speaker
like, one of the, like, Oliver Twist in one of the musicals where he's going up to the guy asking for more food. Please, sir. Please, I can have some more. Like, that was the body, that was the energy the Kettler had for two years at Milan. That's not, that's not, that's over now. He's had, he looks confident, he looks like a player that believes in himself and it's like, maybe, you know, some players can't cut it at bigger, big clubs like Milan Inter, you know, Atalanta,
01:20:33
Speaker
that level is their level and doesn't mean they can't be good players or fantastic players even. We had Papo Gomez, for example, Illicic, you know, these are great players. So I think Atalanta is a very good environment and I'm happy for him because I think he got so, so slated and I felt so bad for him that I'm happy he's doing well.
01:20:51
Speaker
Yeah, the rest of the games, I'll just read out the results. So calorie one, three, no two, Zapata was really good in this game. Genoa two, Lecce one, seven unbeaten for Genoa. They're in really good form while Lecce are in terrible form and need to start looking over their shoulder a little bit.
01:21:08
Speaker
One win in 12 games for Lecce. That's very worrying. Monza won Sasolo nil, first Kalpani goal for over two months, and Sasolo stay in trouble. They also need to look over the shoulder. I wonder at what point Sasolo will fire Dionisi, because
01:21:30
Speaker
They are, I mean, I'm looking at the relegation race now and between Empoli in 19th on 17 points and Leccia on 14th with 21 points. Tights, yeah. Sassolo have 19 points. That's nowhere good enough. I don't, at what point will they get rid of Dionysian, bring someone in who can do something because it's getting the fire, it's not just an alarm bell going off. There's a lot of things like they need to deal with this.
01:21:59
Speaker
And because they can get relegated, it's not impossible. It's absolutely not, you know, impossible that they get relegated and they don't deserve to. I think their squad is too good to be relegated. But if you're not delivering the results and Dionysus is just their defense is atrocious.
01:22:16
Speaker
Yeah, no it is. And Verona won, Frosinone won. So Verona get a valuable point. But they missed the penalty and they should have probably won here because if they'd won they'd have 20 points. And I think, I mean if Verona pull off,
01:22:31
Speaker
Will they move out of the relegation zone? I think Marco Baroni should be named the coach of the year in the Serie A if he manages to keep Verona safe after this. I mean look at their squad, the fire sale that's going on right now which we went through on the reasons why we went through on the Thursday pod for patrons only.
01:22:51
Speaker
It's a horrible squad. And if he manages to keep them safe, which I don't think he will, but if he does, just give him the award for Serie A coach of the year, because that is, that's it. No, I mean, and they're even going to have a team to feel to the way they go. They're going to have to play the, the, the, the kit man. They're going to have to come on himself. Romeo and Juliet are going to have to play this right.
01:23:14
Speaker
We were going to talk about Klopp and Javi. I'm going to leave that to Thursday because we've gone way, way over. We'll have a good debate on that on Thursday, look at which Italian managers and Serie A managers could potentially replace them and look at who could be the new bosses. Those are big news after they both announced they're leaving at the end of the season at Liverpool and Barcelona.
Tributes and Miscellaneous Moments
01:23:35
Speaker
Let's do Baggio, Prem Face and Serie A of the Week.
01:23:39
Speaker
Okay, so Bad Joe of the Week. I have a couple written on here. Go for it. So first of all, I want to talk about the calorie tribute to Gigi Riva, who sadly died last week at the age of 79. Legend, we did a go to our YouTube page, we did a nice little commemoration of him talking about his career. And he, so the calorie players in their in their match at the weekend, they wore a replica kit of the 1970 squad in the warm up.
01:24:05
Speaker
And then during the actual game they they moved the sponsorships from the shirts and they replaced with Reaver's number 11 And the when the team sheet was read out Gigi Reaver number 11 was added onto the end which resulted in a stand innovation and his son Gigi Reaver's son was in the stands as well and They they they they
01:24:31
Speaker
came out on the pitch to that which you read a famous you do you read the song and there was some there was banners there was a minute silence in all serie i beat serie a b and city ache games and the eleventh minute they actually stop play and i did a did a round of applause and with reverse image on the on the.
01:24:50
Speaker
on the screen. So it was just, I thought it was just really, like you said so many times, so well, like, nobody honours their heroes like the Italians do. No. Italian football is unmatched and unrivaled for praising their heroes. No matter, like, they never forget, and they always, they never forget who's brought glory to them for as long, forever, even long past that person's life.
01:25:18
Speaker
And they pay tribute to that person like no one else does. It's truly one of the most beautiful aspects of Italian football. Yeah, it really is. The other Badger of the Week is not a football one. It's a sporting one, though. And it has to give it and it's Yannick Sinner in the tennis. Amazing, amazing achievement winning the Australian Open.
01:25:38
Speaker
against Daniel Medvedev after an epic comeback. I watched this and it was an incredible, incredible game. He come from two sets down where Medvedev was really dominating him. It looked like it was going to be over. And then he showed Yannick Sinner is your kind of
01:25:55
Speaker
Austrian German kind of Italian like he is the north isn't he like from the yeah, he's from there Yeah, he's from the from the border and he's the Austrian border and he's he's so Like the guy is like an ice man. He shows no emotion at all And he's he I'm an amazing comeback. He's the first Italian male to win a grand slam in 48 years and
01:26:18
Speaker
He's the first Italian to win the Australian Open, and he's only the second Italian to win a Grand Slam in the Open Era. So it's just an incredible achievement for Italian sport. And he's also a big Milan fan as well. Yeah, he goes to games, doesn't he? Yeah, he went to watch the Dortmund game, the one we said where Giroud missed the penalty. He was at the San Siro.
01:26:41
Speaker
for that game. And he's a lovely guy as well. He's a really, really lovely guy from anybody that the people that I know that work in the tennis world, they all say that he's just the most loveliest person. So it's a great, great achievement. So well done to Yannick Sinner. And I think he can actually become because Djokovic isn't getting any younger and there's going to be a vacuum after Nadal Federer and all these guys, these legends. I think Yannick Sinner could dominate tennis for years to come. He's got no real weaknesses in his game and
01:27:11
Speaker
He's he looks his body is so he's like awesome in that sense that he looks so soft. Like his he just he moves his movement on the on the tennis court is so relaxed and smooth and silky. And it just he is a massive hit. Yeah, massive hit in the back. But it looks so effortless. I mean, just look at the match for the championship point that he. Yeah, what a way to win. I mean, boom.
01:27:36
Speaker
It was nice it was no he's fantastic i think the fingers that i actually think sinner has a lot of room even to improve still that's why it's scary because i think that he's a he's an amazing baseline player that he's also in some ways he's quite one-dimensional i do believe like no he can improve.
01:27:53
Speaker
his drop shots, he can improve his use of spins, like slowing the game down, he can come to the net more, he can, I mean his serve has already improved, but he can improve his, like his serve percentage is quite low, actually, for a top player, and he, like, if he improves his serve percentage, like, I think he has the, like, the, I think there's a big room for improvement there. I do think, though, yes, I agree, I think him and Carlos Alcaraz, I think those are going to be like the Federer and Nadal of their
01:28:21
Speaker
of their generation. I'm not saying that they're going to be as good as them necessarily, but I'm saying that they're going to be the two dominant. There's going to be a big rivalry, I think, between those two. I think they're both fantastic. Right. Prem face of the week. You have to take this away because this is so good. I have so many. I have so many. First of all, last week, the greatest, the biggest racism scandal in all of football that everyone was talking about,
01:28:48
Speaker
everywhere was Mike Mignon and the monkey chance and the racist chance against hurled at him from certain sections of the Udeneersa crowd. And look, if Mike Mignon was some low league, you know, seriously, barely professional football, I can understand why you might get his name wrong. But he's only the starting goalkeeper for France and he's only the starting goalkeeper for Milan. How Gary Lineker managed to call him Steve Mannion is beyond me.
01:29:22
Speaker
When I saw that and Steve Mannion and he says it with such conviction too. And it's like, I just couldn't stop laughing. Amazing. Steve Mannion. I can explain what happened here. I can explain what happened here. This is what you call
01:29:40
Speaker
I don't know, man. I don't know if I want to go there, but let me just say this. I'll tell you what's happened, right? He's mixed up Steve Mandander and Mike Menon. That's what's happened here. You can call that whatever you want. It's a mistake, okay? You can call that just a mistake, right? Harmless mistake. He's mixed up Steve Mandander and Mike Menon. They're both
01:30:01
Speaker
that they're both goalkeepers. They're both black French goalkeepers. Stephen Mannion said. He's mixed the two up. That's just my opinion. I'm not saying that's a fact. That's what I think he's done there. He's mixed the two up unconsciously. That's all I'm going to say. I think it's hilarious. But I wonder if Gary Lineker has been beaten this week
01:30:29
Speaker
by the ridiculous overreaction of Liverpool fans to Jurgen Klopp leaving. Have you seen some of this nonsense online? Listen to this. I saw they want a statue for him. You need to listen to this because this is an actual post from a Liverpool fan forum. This is insane.
01:30:56
Speaker
I just went down to my lad's school. He's eight because I felt like I had to tell him in person before some blurt on the playground told him. As soon as I got out of the car, I literally sprinted towards his classroom. And just as I turned the corner to get there, I saw him and all his class came out. I knew right away when we locked eyes that he'd already find out just pure sadness in his eyes. And it just killed me. And I dropped to my knees, sobbing my heart out.
01:31:22
Speaker
He rushed over to me and just hugged me with all he had and he was crying his eyes out too. And then this is the part that ended me. How do you explain something like this to an eight year old? How do you make it better? Oh my. He's home now. Took him out early and we're both just a mess. Like someone's died in the family. It's just like.
01:31:49
Speaker
And I have no words for this. Jurgen Klopp just resigned. How do you explain this to an eight-year-old that someone changes his job? Are you insane? Have you people lost your bloody minds? This is the most ridiculous, and it's just been non-stop. This is cult behavior. This is not... This is Liverpool. This is what Liverpool fans are like though, aren't they? This is insane. This is genuinely insane. And it's just like, it's messages like this.
01:32:19
Speaker
I'm stunned. I have no words. First of all, there's no way that's true. No. You don't know Liverpool fans, Nimmer. Trust me, that's true. It can't be true. This is Liverpool fans. This is what Liverpool fans are like, trust me.
01:32:38
Speaker
Jesus Christ, I'm a cracker. Like it just, it just, I don't know. Talking about fans, Wes Brum and Wolf's fans in the FA Cup. This is a different type of prem face. This is your, your prem face fan, hooligan type of hip, prem face hooligan.
01:32:55
Speaker
The people should know that West Brom and Wolverhampton hate each other. Oh, of course. Yeah. So it's like a derby, like a rivalry, isn't it? They hate, yeah. And so it's one of those hate games. Like Midlands, yeah. Midlands Derby. But West Brom fan with his face completely covered in blood, like he was a bald, bald slap head, like.
01:33:13
Speaker
And it's just red. He's just completely all red. And he's being led away by police onto the pitch, through the pitch. When the game got suspended for over 30 minutes, you took a crowd job, and they were all coming onto the pitch. And it was like watching, like, 1980s. It was like, hey, Sal, like talking about Liverpool fans. It was like watching, like, you know, the worst of the 1980s of English football.
01:33:39
Speaker
where the hooligans are just fighting with each other, coming onto the pitch. And when that fan is getting led off, the Wolves fans are singing, let him die, let him die, let him die. I mean, that's your fanatical kind of extremist hooligan primp face. And then they'll blame it on the police afterwards. They'll blame it on the police and bad organisations. Rather than blame it on the fans, they'll say, oh, it was the police's fault. They were heavy handed and they were
01:34:09
Speaker
And it was badly organized by the authorities. This wouldn't have happened if it had been well organized. These fans wouldn't have done this. And, you know, it was brilliant. Also, prem face. I mean, I guess it's kind of this would be serious of the week, but it's an England England version of it. Oh, this was hilarious. I shouldn't laugh at this because because it's actually a very serious issue. So Anthony, of course, is is, you know, is I don't know if he's still under investigation.
01:34:37
Speaker
for abuse of his... Really? I've missed this story entirely. The marital abuse or his girlfriend. I've missed this. Okay. Well, he got Man's United actually didn't suspend him, but he was like... They didn't pick him for a while earlier in the season under investigation. And anyway, so he gets obviously fans will chant, you know, will do chants. So Man United are playing against Newport.
01:35:04
Speaker
And anyway, the BBC commentator starts explaining how the crowd are doing a chant against Anthony, but he thinks it's a positive chant. So the BBC commentator goes, oh, so at the moment, the fans are chanting, Anthony is the greatest, Anthony is the greatest. And while he's saying it, you can hear the fans in the background and you can hear clearly, but they're not saying Anthony is the greatest.
01:35:34
Speaker
They're saying, they're saying another word that rhymes with greatest. And the commentator, the commentators go, they're saying Anthony is the greatest. They're chanting Anthony is the greatest. And then he stops and pauses and he goes, Oh, no. Oh, no, they're not saying that.
01:35:50
Speaker
uh they're saying something else uh i'd like to apologize to everyone that that heard oh my god i feel bad for the commentator it was like oh that's a nightmare have you ever seen alan partridge yeah it was like alan partridge it was like it was just oh my god it was just like oh god i feel bad for the commentator that's such a oh my god it's so bad poor guy no that can happen to everyone just please everyone what look this is this video is is i know like it's not something you really should be laughing at but it is it was
01:36:19
Speaker
It was hilarious. I'm sorry. Oh, my God. It's hilarious to be a poor commentator. I feel bad for him, man. That is that's like commentators nightmare and like that's the worst nightmare can happen. Jesus, poor guy. As if they'd be charting Anthony is the greatest. I mean, I mean, it's such a common chance, isn't it, that people chart out Anthony is the greatest. I mean, I mean, for one, he's not. He's got his first goal of the season. So he clearly isn't the great.
01:36:46
Speaker
Oh my god. Right, finally, Seria Ass of the Week.
01:36:52
Speaker
Yeah, you go. Yeah, it's the official Serie A Twitter account. So Inter win the Supercoppa, didn't they, last Monday? And the Serie A put out a congratulations tweet and they do one for people in Zaghi, who won his like a thousandth Supercoppa. And they write, you know, congratulations to people in Zaghi. I can't remember what the quality was, but anyway. People are Simone. Didn't they get Simone right?
01:37:20
Speaker
but they miss they misspelled his name so it wasn't people sorry I'm preming now yeah congratulations to Simone and Zaghi winning his fifth super copper but they missed Zaghi they call him in Zaghi.
01:37:38
Speaker
I mean, it's just this is this is just what drives me mad. This is everything. My favorite part is that they didn't even edit the tweet because they can because they're verified and they paid to be on Twitter. So they didn't even edit it. Instead, they did a follow up tweet and said, of course, we mean in Zagi. It's like, oh, God. Just edit it.
01:37:55
Speaker
I mean, everybody's looking at this. Yeah, it's like, you know, this is your congratulations to eat for a team winning a trophy. You're the official Seria account. Spell the guy's name right. But if you mistakenly spell it wrong, delete it and put another one in. Or if you've actually got the ability to edit it, then just edit it. I want one last premise to the official TNT in England when Lautaro scored yesterday.
01:38:24
Speaker
and said he equals Mauro Icardi's tally of the Inter's all-time greatest goal scorer. I just saw that. I just remember that now. I was like, okay, well done. Wikipedia. I mean, literally, 90% of these issues can be handled if you just Google it properly. Just Google it for five minutes. Just literally spend 30 seconds on Google and you know you won't be making these mistakes.
01:38:50
Speaker
Maricardi. Oh my God. Yeah. He called Maricardi as Inter's all time greatest goal scorer. They're like eight. Yeah. Yeah, they are. They're 27th. Yeah. Yeah. It's like seven for eight. Yeah. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. No, it's it's it's been not. But for me, I wonder if the Liverpool fans reaction to Klopp is not like I've never seen anything like it. I've never seen anything like it. That is just I couldn't believe some of the stuff. It's like
01:39:21
Speaker
I've never understood quite why people dislike them as much as they do. Even when I lived in the UK and studied, I didn't get why people couldn't stand them. But I'm starting to now, because some of the stuff that they've come up with this season... No, it's mad. It's mad. They're treating it like someone's died.
01:39:39
Speaker
you know, like someone close to like a member of the family's dog. We have a joke in England, like among kind of like the Italian Italian kind of like people of Italian heritage, Italian population that people in England treat their pets back when they treat their own parents.
01:39:55
Speaker
you know like they'll give it like their pet dies and they'll like you know give it a funeral and they'll mourn for like months and then like one of their own parents die or one of their own member of their own family and they're like you know they won't be mourning like they were with their pet dies you know with Liverpool fans it's like that on steroids like it's just. But this isn't normal he just resigned because he's tired and he's going to end the season and they're acting as if
01:40:23
Speaker
some catastrophe of biblical proportions has occurred. It's the end of a cycle. He's almost been there for 10 years. It's okay. It's just the reaction of it. We both
01:40:36
Speaker
I went down on my knees on a children's playground sobbing. Come on. You went down on something, that's for sure. Jesus Christ. Let's call it a night. We'll call it a day. These are getting longer and longer. I hope people enjoyed this one.
01:40:58
Speaker
The shouting match for 25 minutes must have been really entertaining to listen to. I think people will definitely enjoy this one. I'm certain of that. Okay, right. Let's leave it at that. We'll be back on Tuesday for the Q&A and then on Thursday.
01:41:13
Speaker
Thursday or Friday. Let's confirm that because it is transfer dead Monday, but it's been such a crap window, which is a reason why we have a reaction to it. Yeah, we'll do something, but we might not even wait till the end of the window because I'll be honest, it's been such a terrible window. And that's why we haven't been, that's why we haven't been getting the transfer journalists on because they're really, I mean, it's just been such a terrible window. It's been pointless. So, but yeah, we will do something like review in there and obviously looking forward to the weekend as well.
01:41:42
Speaker
Cool, right, let's leave it at that. Have a great week, everyone. We will see you on Tuesday for the Q&A. Till then, ciao, ciao.