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Napoli Chaos, Cagliari-Fiorentina and Juventus-Milan Previews (Ep. 30)
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Transcript
Introduction and Champions League Drama
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to the Seria show!
00:00:16
Speaker
Hello, everybody. Welcome back to another preview episode of the city show. I am joined just by Nima today. We will be discussing a couple of the more intriguing matches that will be happening this weekend.
Antonio Conte's Public Criticism
00:00:29
Speaker
But Nima, it would be very remiss of me if I did not at least allow you a couple of minutes to rant after it does melt down in the Champions League and followed by
00:00:42
Speaker
maybe even a better meltdown by Antonio Conte in his post-match press conference wherein he more or less for, what is it, the third time now? He rips the management team for the lack of preparation in the summer. So you have the floor, my good sir. So have at it. Jesus Christ.
00:01:01
Speaker
This is exactly why I didn't want him. If you remember on the show, everyone who listens to the show knows this is this kind of, he can't control himself. He can't control his thoughts. He can't control his expressions. When he, you know, he, he loses his, he loses his marvels completely as soon as something doesn't go, go his way. And it's not just, you know, it's not the fact that he just throws Marotta under the bus. Marotta, you know, knows very much what he, what he got when he brought this man back. It's not the first time he's worked with him.
00:01:31
Speaker
He knows that he's a hothead, he knows that when he's angry he can say pretty much anything and everything and he does, but so he takes that with a pinch of salt because Marotta is, you know, sane and calm.
Conte's Inaccurate Statements
00:01:45
Speaker
So what really annoys me is what he said about Barela and Sensi, you know, when he says that the only person in this team that has won anything is Diego Gordin. Well, that's not true. He had Asamoa as well, Ayuventas, which is also kind of a dis.
00:01:59
Speaker
And then he continues by saying, who do I call on? Barella from Caliari or Sensi from Sasolo. Those two players have been your two best players, dude. Like, what are you talking about? It's just, you know, the guys, and he's factually wrong because there are plenty of other teams who have deeper squads than Inter that have played on, that have rotated on less personnel because
00:02:27
Speaker
It's just because Klopp and Guardiola are better at planning training and getting their players to recover quicker than he is.
00:02:38
Speaker
And this notion that the only players he didn't get was Arturo Vidal and Edin Jeko. So you're trying to tell me that if Edin Jeko and Arturo Vidal were there, Inter wouldn't have lost against Dortmund and Barcelona? This is nonsense.
Conte's Contradictory Statements
00:02:54
Speaker
He makes a complete ass of himself, and he does this time and time and time again. And he makes these ridiculous accusations
00:03:03
Speaker
And then today in the pre-match press conference, he says, no, the management and I agree on all these issues. It's like, what is wrong with you? Do you need beta blockers? Do we need to give
Inter Milan's Transfer Challenges
00:03:20
Speaker
this guy? Does he need to do yoga? Anger management? What's wrong with you?
00:03:26
Speaker
I'm confused by, I guess, and maybe you could clarify on this, I don't know what more the club could have done to deliver for him this summer. I mean, they broke, it wasn't it twice they broke their club transfer record. Now, I can understand to an extent how not getting Ed and Jekko, who they were talking to since March, I could understand how that perhaps
00:03:48
Speaker
may rub him the wrong way that they weren't ultimately able to get him. He signed a renewal with Roma because the operation dragged out too long. But the thing that gets me, I feel like he actually has, and maybe you disagree with this, but I feel as if he actually has decent depth on the bench.
Fiorentina vs. Cagliari Preview
00:04:07
Speaker
Now, Ranulke, he's a meme in and of himself, but you have Bastoni. I mean, he is starting at most mid to lower table clubs, right?
00:04:16
Speaker
He's only 18, 19, 20. I mean, he's a young player, he's a good player, and he does well. Like, what do you want from him? Well, I don't... I mean, he was a very vital player for Parma in the previous season. You also have the likes of Paul Itano on the bench. Now, obviously, he's hurt. Now, I'm not saying Boha Valero is this world beater, but he's certainly, in my opinion, at least, somebody who can come off the bench. Now, has he been good at Inter? No.
00:04:39
Speaker
But I feel like he is perhaps... See, and even if I were one of those guys who was on the bench, I would feel like, my gosh, this guy really thinks the lowest of me then, yeah? Exactly. But the thing is, when it comes to Galliardini and Vicino, he's the one who wanted to keep them.
00:04:55
Speaker
You know, that's the thing that annoys me the most is that there is no there is no logical rational thought behind this. This guy, he's a man child. He's a 50 year old man child. And this is you know, this this is not sustainable. And in there is a is a pretty unstable club in and of itself. And the last thing you need is this man child going around throwing his toys at the pram. As soon as something doesn't go his way, you know, inter did everything this man wanted.
00:05:25
Speaker
He knew what he was going into. This is a club that's been under the regiment of the settlement agreement for violating financial fair play for better part of a decade. They just got out of it last summer. They got him everything he wanted. And the players that he didn't want, because of the temper tantrums he threw in the summer, Inter couldn't get anyone to buy them. Who's going to come out and buy a player when Conte says those things about Perisic and Angolan?
00:05:54
Speaker
They had to give them away for free, and they're paying part of Naing Golan's wages, and he's doing pretty damn good over at Kalyari. They have done everything this man wants, and still it's not good enough for him. And he winds and winches and deflects. And that's what's so infuriating.
Cagliari's Strong Season
00:06:10
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. Well, that's a good segue because I said earlier this week, this match day, it doesn't have many great match-ups. But one of the most notable ones, a team you like, Fiorentina, they are facing Caliuri, who have been sensational this term. Six wins, three draws, two losses. Fiorentina, four wins, four draws, three losses. I thought Caliuri's only
00:06:37
Speaker
I thought the only thing that would hold them back this season has been Maran. And he's proven me wrong because they look great, yeah? And this should be a fantastic matchup because I think Fiorentina, they've gotten out of that rut that we've talked about endlessly on this podcast earlier in the season. They're finally playing great under Montella. This should be an extremely interesting one.
00:06:58
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. And Marco Rogge, Chigarini, no, I really, I really, really like this Caliari team. And Rolando Maran, I mean, he's one of those coaches who's been around for so long, and he's done so well at so many clubs. And he's finally getting a little bit of quality to work with, and he's delivering. I mean, Robin Ulsen, in this team, like I said, so many times before, when he plays in a team that were that defense deep,
00:07:28
Speaker
and also knows how to defend and is organized and structured. He's a good goalkeeper, and he's been, if not the best, and at least one of the three best goalkeepers in the Serie A this season. He's been absolutely fantastic. Giovanni Simeone always works hard, and I think he works better in a two-man attack. Joao Pedro has been scoring goals for fun. No, this is a really, really good team. And think about it. They're star player.
00:07:57
Speaker
It's injured and he's out for the Pavoletti, who's one of the best players in the air, strong in the air, who scores all his goals by headers. Now, this Caliari team is really exciting to watch and given that they've got their new stadium coming along, you know how I am. I love it when the Serie A is not concentrated to certain parts of Italy, when it's spread around and it's
00:08:21
Speaker
Sardinia, it's nice to have a strong Cagliari. This is their best start to the Serie A, I think, since they won the Scudetto with Gigi Riva. Now, this is so good and I just hope that Maran doesn't catch the Gianpaolo virus. You know what I mean? It has a good season when it goes to Lazio or Milan or Roma and then everything goes to hell. You know what I mean? Just stay at Cagliari.
00:08:51
Speaker
Hell, there are a lot of worse things you can do than to live in Sardinia and make quite a bit of money. I mean, it's like, Jesus, come on, stay there.
Fiorentina's Tactical Issues
00:09:01
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. Then on the other side, Fiorentina, now they're in the position still because you have Ribari who is still disqualified after his little run-in. And it's interesting because Montala against Parma, he completely changed the system. He switches to four at the back.
00:09:18
Speaker
and they just didn't look nearly as good as they usually do with that three at the back system with Kiesa, Ribari up front. I don't know, there's something about it with this Fiorentina, maybe it's just me, but it almost feels as if when they're in that three, five, two, if you just take away one of the pieces, everything just seems to break down. When they have their strongest 11 out there and they're playing in the system that they prefer, it flows so beautifully. But then you remove one of them and it just seems like everything is, it just doesn't mesh well.
00:09:47
Speaker
Agreed. Agree 100%. It really is. It's like when you pull one thread, the whole thing just falls apart. And so I think you're absolutely right there. But when it works, and that's the thing, I think they play the best football in all of the city. When they play together, that three, five, two, those 11 players, when they're on that pitch,
00:10:09
Speaker
they they play some damn good football and they've been really unlucky to not have more points in my opinion I think not you know not just against Roma but against a lot of teams or sorry not against Napoli but against a lot of teams they they've they've really really really played some good football and I I'm really I'm kind of expecting them I'm really expecting them to make a proper run and if they if they if they are to do that they have to win against Caliari but
00:10:35
Speaker
Having said that, Caliari are no mugs. They're a tough team to beat. And in there you have Simeone as well, who definitely has a point to prove. I mean, he wasn't given any chance under Montala. So no, it's going to be a really good game.
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00:10:53
Speaker
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00:11:05
Speaker
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Milan vs. Juventus Analysis
00:12:00
Speaker
My bookie. You play, you win, you get paid.
00:12:14
Speaker
Now going to the other match, I don't know if we can necessarily in all, you know, all things considered, obviously you have Milan, you have Juve, it's just by name, it's a big match, but gosh, on paper it's a big match. Yes. So I don't know this one, any other season, I would be extremely excited to sit down, watch this one and take it in.
00:12:38
Speaker
It is very difficult, very difficult for me to get up for this Milan. They just, again, we've hammered Pioli so much on this podcast, and there's no reason for me to go on about it, but seriously, I just...
00:12:53
Speaker
I don't know. I mean, it's not as if they're going to be playing beautiful football in this one. I think he'll probably take the more pragmatic approach, maybe try and sit back, hit him on the break. I don't know. I just feel as if Juve really, and this is just a sense I get, I think Juve could win this by two or three goals. That's being really nice, John, to Milan by when they say that. This is the game where if you end this,
00:13:18
Speaker
If Juventus fall like click, they can score six, seven goals. Like this is how much of a difference there is in terms of quality between these two teams. Juventus are one of the best teams in the world. There's no doubt about that. Milan are mid table Serie A at best. Not to mention all the confidence issues and all that stuff and purely struggling. No, no, I, this is a, this could, I mean, if this ends really badly, I mean,
00:13:49
Speaker
As I said, I think Pioli's out by February. I think he's out by Christmas if they lose bad. Like, think about it. I mean, if they were to lose 6-7-0, you know, what do they do? You know, nobody wants Pioli anyway. The fan base already hates him. It doesn't look like the players are, you know, you know what I mean? Like, it can really, really...
Napoli's Internal Struggles
00:14:09
Speaker
We could have another Napoli situation pretty much on our hands.
00:14:13
Speaker
Well, I discussed it when he was initially hired, but it almost, and again, this is very unfair to him because I do think, especially for a mid-table size, he's a really good man. Agreed, agreed. But for a big club, for a big club, it almost feels as if, you know, you're appointing him in, what was it, late September or October. It really does feel as if you have waved the white flag on the season and the intent or the lack of intent that it signals to me.
00:14:37
Speaker
is just it's debilitating and again this isn't a guy who is known for his beautiful football he's qualified for the Champions League I believe once and it was with Lazio so I guess I still to this day I'm confused as to what they wanted to accomplish by appointing him and you just said it
00:14:57
Speaker
By appointing him, I mean, they're almost putting him in this impossible position if he does bad. I mean, as you just said, he could be out by February. I think, I mean, and this team, because this team lacks so many things.
00:15:11
Speaker
It looks now that Gattuso was the person holding this whole thing together. And now he's out and you have no leaders. You literally have no leaders in Milan. You have no one leading my example. You have no one to take everything by the scruff of the neck.
00:15:29
Speaker
Romanioli is having probably the worst season he's had in his career. I'm one of the people who don't think that Romanioli is a bad player. I think he's actually a good player. I just feel that he's in an impossible situation and he's never had a season where he's been able to, in a stable environment since joining Milan, it's been chaos, pretty much. So, no, I honestly feel, I really don't like seeing Milan in this state because
00:15:59
Speaker
They just look so disjointed and so all over the place, both on and off the pitch. So I wonder if Juventus were to really, really have fun, if they were to get a good feeling on Sunday night, this is their home as well, they can destroy Mila.
00:16:18
Speaker
Yeah, and you brought them up a minute ago. Before we go, I want to discuss, how do we even classify this clown show that is currently happening in Napoli? ADO. For anybody who hasn't been, yeah, I mean, for anybody who hasn't been paying attention, we talked earlier in the week how De Laurentiis, the president of Napoli, forced the club to go into Ritiro, following their loss against Roma. Ancelotti, the manager, was very against this.
00:16:47
Speaker
and and he let the world know and that's what i said last episode that i think he'll be gone by the season by the end of the season now i wonder if he makes it past this weekend like it's it's warfare it's warfare where it's Aurelio de la rentes on one side and everyone in Naples and Napoli on the other it's just absolutely mayhem
00:17:12
Speaker
It is. And for anybody who didn't miss it, Napoli, they put out this ridiculous, ridiculous doesn't even begin to begin to describe this thing properly. They put out this ridiculous communication that more or less said the club are going to protect our interests and that they're going to punish the players. They're going to punish them. There could be some monetary punishment as well.
00:17:40
Speaker
I just don't understand what putting that communication out, what that accomplishes, and I also don't understand.
00:17:48
Speaker
How or why? Just days after this, they have an open training session to season ticket holders and subscription holders, and they allow these fans to more or less jeer their own players at this open session. What a clown show this is. What an absolute clown show. I honestly don't know what to say, because the wheels have really come off of the Aurelio De Laurenti show. Basically,
00:18:16
Speaker
As I said earlier this week when we recorded it, he doesn't like being questioned. He's the Padrone, he's the one who decides, and anyone who questions him in any way gets the boot quicker than they can. The problem here is that Karala Ancelotti is absolutely loved and revered by that entire team. And it's not the first time everybody knows that as a manager, when, I mean, Ibrahimovic called him like a second father,
00:18:45
Speaker
You know, in Slaton isn't exactly known to be the easiest person to maybe deal with in the world. He's a very special kind of guy. He calls this guy kind of like a second father. Everyone who's had this guy say that he's one of the best people they've ever worked with. And he's a winner. He's done it everywhere. The problem here is that nothing has been working in Napoli and he's been very unhappy. And then De Laurentiis comes here, come here and just runs him over.
00:19:11
Speaker
and tells them that they're having a ritiro, which he didn't want, but that's him interfering in matters that he shouldn't be interfering in. But when you have an owner like that,
00:19:22
Speaker
you know, this is what happens with the Lainties. But I think he's overplayed his hand because if he doesn't, he needs to, they need to find a way where he saves face because that's what's important to him. This is his Neapolitan honor being questioned. This is honor culture. This is all about that. He needs to save face. And if that is sacrificing Ancelotti, then so be it. But Napoli are in free fall and this is not good. This is absolutely not good.
00:19:50
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. They play at home against Genoa at the weekend and then we have the international break and then they play away to Milan and then they play away to Liverpool. So this feels like a very, it almost feels like this is the make or break, do or die stretch for them where
00:20:09
Speaker
If it goes well, okay, they've studied the ship. If not, it just feels like this thing could absolutely implode on itself, which, again, I keep saying it, but we all pegged them to be probably the top challenger against you. I have them second. Yeah, and I thought, oh my gosh, Abraham, it costs us monolos to replace Albiol. I mean, could this thing have gone any worse this season for them?
00:20:32
Speaker
No, it really hasn't. And I think what needs to be done here is De Laurentiis needs to learn from this. They all need to learn from this, but I doubt that will happen. And all the criticism, like before, I mean, a lot of the times I felt that the criticism against De Laurentiis has been over the top. This mess is all his making.
00:20:54
Speaker
You know, this entire mess, because Caroline Ancelotti is hardly the manager who's known to create problems where he goes. He's never done that. He's never been an issue. He's never been a confrontational person.
Napoli's Crisis and Fallout
00:21:07
Speaker
So if you manage to create a conflict with Ancelotti as a club president, then that's a special talent that only you have.
00:21:17
Speaker
uh because he's worked for some for some very difficult people Abramolyche Chelsea Berlusconi at Milan uh you know Real Madrid which is perpetually a difficult place to be at um Paris Saint-Germain I mean the guy has done it all um and he's been at you I mean he's and he's been everywhere and he's won everything everywhere and he's not a difficult person he has the respect of every one of his colleagues and his peers
00:21:43
Speaker
I feel De Laurentiis isn't wrong here, but then again, this is De Laurentiis. He's stubborn. He's not going to admit anything. He's not going to admit that he's wrong. That's not in his DNA. So I really don't know how this plays out. But they are from Naples. He is from Naples, and we all know that a couple of wins, then they'll all kiss and make up in front of the cameras and pretend this never happened.
00:22:07
Speaker
So, you know, being, you know, giving that you have an insight into the other hothead piazza Roma, you know what I'm talking about.
00:22:15
Speaker
Palota bathing in the Fontana di Trevi, like Anita Ekbari after beating Barcelona. They're hotheads. These guys are hotheads and the results kind of decide everything.
Conclusion and Future Content
00:22:31
Speaker
100%. I agree. So that's where we're going to leave it, everybody. We will be back after the weekend to obviously discuss the latest match day. And then we have an international break, so it will give us time to digest.
00:22:42
Speaker
I'm sure there will certainly be plenty of storylines heading into that international break. It always seems to be the favorite time for the managers to get the sack. So as always, thank you for listening. If you could continue to share, like, subscribe to all of our content, we would greatly, greatly appreciate it. So we will talk to you after the weekend. So until next time, bye bye.