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Free Monday Pod - Frosinone Relegated After Drama, Atalanta Gods, Napoli Flop, Serie A Best XI 2024-25 & Much More (Ep. 421)
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From dramatic scenes as Davide Nicola and Fabio Cannavaro save Empoli and Udinese from relegation while heartbreak for Frosinone who go down to Serie B, Roma out of the Champions League after Atalanta dream week continues, Torino hopes of European football live on as Napoli out of Europe for first time in 14 years as Antonio Conte edges closer, to AC Milan 6 goal thriller draw, Federico Chiesa stars for Juventus and Inter Milan draw Hellas Verona as well as Bologna suffer UCL party hangover against Genoa plus previewing Fiorentina clash with Olympiacos in the Conference League final on Wednesday in OPAP Arena in Athens, 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 the an action-packed weekend in Italian football.
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Transcript
Introduction and Serie A Season Recap
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast.
00:00:05
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to the Italian Football Podcast, the official podcast of Football Italia. I'm Carli Garganese joined as always by Nima Tavalli. On today's show we will react to the final weekend of the Celia season.
Dramatic Relegations in Serie A
00:00:19
Speaker
Frozinone become the final team to be relegated after one of the most dramatic endings in Celia history. A 93rd minute winner from Umbay Nian saves Empoli from relegation and in the process
00:00:34
Speaker
sends Frosinone down to Serie B as Fabio Cannavaro, the manager of Udenezer, also saves his Udenezer team with a 1-0 win at Frosinone.
Atalanta's Triumph and European Aspirations
00:00:44
Speaker
It was an incredible ending. Elsewhere, Atalanta thrashed Torino to cap off a brilliant week after the Europa League final win over Bayern Leverkusen.
00:00:55
Speaker
Torino have a chance, though, of qualifying for the conference league after Napoli's disastrous title defense, the worst title defense in Serie A history. That comes to an end by failing to beat Lecce and Victor Osseman's final game for Napoli, so Napoli out of Europe altogether. Roma fail to qualify for the Champions League as well.
00:01:22
Speaker
they'll be in the Europa League. Juventus finish above Bologna as Juve beat Monza with a resurgent Federico Chiesa and Bologna lose their final game at Genoa in Thiago Motta's final game before joining Juve.
00:01:36
Speaker
Milan bid farewell to Stefano Pioli and Olivier Giroudina in a crazy game against already relegated Selena Tana. Claudio Ranieri also waves goodbye to Callery and club football.
Serie A Awards and Conference League Preview
00:01:49
Speaker
We also have our Serie A team of the season, our Serie A awards.
00:01:54
Speaker
We'll also preview the conference league final as Fiorentina take on Olympiacos in Athens this midweek. And we'll also have our usual bad show, prem face and Sedia ass of the week. So lots to get through today. For all our first time listeners, this is our free weekly episode that we do every Monday reviewing the weekend Sedia action, all the biggest talking points in Italian football.
Supporting the Podcast: Patreon and Spotify
00:02:15
Speaker
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 Patrons, plus the weekly Thursday midweek review show, plus interviews, 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. You can also sign up to be a paid subscriber on Spotify. We'll provide the link in the description. It's the same price, the same terms.
00:02:41
Speaker
And for all of you that do listen on Spotify, on Apple, on iTunes Podcast, we'd really appreciate it. If you give us a five-star rating, give us a follow and a like. We're on YouTube as well. All of this really helps us grow and do more quality content for you guys.
00:02:56
Speaker
OK, let's get into today's show. So we'll start at the bottom end of the
Empoli vs. Frosinone: The Relegation Battle
00:03:02
Speaker
table. It's Nimr's favorite time of the year, the relegation deciders at the end. And it really was. It lived up to all the promise, didn't it, Nimr? You've been building this up for weeks, months, and it's going to be the most dramatic Serie A ending. And it was the most dramatic of Serie A endings, as I said, at the start, at the top.
00:03:22
Speaker
The 93rd minute we were in and frozen on it was safe. They were going to stay up. Then M police score in the 93rd minute of their game against the ROM. The scores at 1-1. Umbay Niyang belts one in 2-1 to, to, uh, to M police, M police stay up frozen on air who were losing one. And they only needed a draw to, to, to stay up, uh, frozen on in this game. They get relegated. I mean, what did you make of all that?
00:03:53
Speaker
It was unbelievable. It was it was truly it was just such a joy to watch that because I had both games on at the same time. And just and I just I just felt what I remember at halftime I was messaging with someone. I was saying, look, there's no doubt in my mind that empathy are going to score at the death because the more this game goes on and it's it's a draw, the less they're going to be interested.
00:04:25
Speaker
their interest is going to wane off because they've already secured it, they know they weren't going to play in the Champions League, they're going to finish fifth, they've got nothing to play for, and Empoli are going to be more and more desperate, and more and more anxious, and more and more eager to win, and Roma are just not going to care. So there's going to be someone making a mistake and something's going to happen. So I knew that was going to happen. The question for me was,
00:04:53
Speaker
Can Odinese react to that? And I was worried. I was really worried. Because if you were watching that game, Frozinone looked more likely to score in that game. They hit the crossbar, Sulei with a fantastic free kick. There was so much going on. They felt more dangerous every time they attacked.
00:05:15
Speaker
And they felt a bit nervous and it felt like it was they were never going to score. They couldn't even, you know, they struggled. They were solid defensively. They didn't look like they were going to fall apart defensively or anything like that. They were actually pretty solid. But it just felt like, you know, given that in attack, they just couldn't seem to know anything really other than that chance. But then they had early and very early in the game. After that, it was like you said, if there was one team that was going to score, it was going to be frozen on. You couldn't see.
00:05:43
Speaker
Gooden has it really scoring in this game. The tactic was to keep Lorenzo Luca and play long balls on him and given how big and strong he is in the air, that's actually not a bad idea. But the problem was they couldn't deliver any balls into the area to him.
00:06:00
Speaker
And they started
Udinese's Survival and Future Prospects
00:06:01
Speaker
doing so midway through the second half. And that's when he won every single time. The challenge is there, right? But they still didn't create anything until, of course, the goal came. And it obviously came from Lorenzo Luca winning a challenge.
00:06:23
Speaker
a challenge in the air and Kanan Davis, the Englishman. First goal of the season. Yeah, first goal of the season. I mean, what a time to do it. And I've got to hand it to Canavaro. Ever since coming up, he's really stabilized. Like they've not
00:06:39
Speaker
like they've really really become difficult again they become this grinding annoying side that are difficult to play against that are difficult to break down um but he actually hasn't lost since he took over canavaro five games so
00:06:54
Speaker
very late in the season. He actually hasn't lost a game in like an actual game. Like he did lose the when they replayed that they resumed from the 73rd minute against Zoroma and they conceded like a 94 minute goal. But I mean, you can't count that as a really as a game. It wasn't a game. And it was about two days after you took up an actual 90 minute match. He hasn't lost. He's been unbeaten, one, two, two and three. And so he's done. We have to take our hat off. So it's a kind of he's done an incredible job really to to keep them up in what was a really difficult
00:07:24
Speaker
you know, situation that he inherited. Yeah, and they've done so. Like they've shown real character when doing so. I mean, they drew against Napoli, equalised late against Napoli at home. They scored that penalty in the 14th minute of added time in Napoli.
00:07:46
Speaker
You know, they've shown character and they really, you know, they've done really well and they've, you know, won one against Napoli, won one against Bologna, you know, two, two, two wins against Lecce, won again, won away, well, both games away, Frosinone and Lecce are not easy places to go to. And then we conceded, you know, three goals in these five games. I think he's done really well. And, but Odine is a,
00:08:16
Speaker
have to, moving forward, they need a serious project. They've always been such a well-run club and the Potsos have to now really decide what they're going to do with Udinese. They're like, are they going to, you know, they need to build something serious there because, you know, Udinese are good enough to be in the Seria, but they've been balancing very dangerously ever since Sotil got sacked.
00:08:47
Speaker
But I'm looking for a serious project moving forward is what I'm trying to say. Yeah, and we'll see if Canavaro stays. I just got to say one thing though. Maduka Okoye, the goalkeeper. Yeah, he was. Wow. Wow. What an athletic goalkeeper he is. What a shot stopper he is.
00:09:06
Speaker
for his size he's very very very athletic very and he moves he looks so light and and nimble in the way he moves it's just he looks so easy you know he's 197 you know like he said 197 centimeters tall he's a big big guy uh and and he's no i scored you his feet yeah well yeah stop doing that
Frosinone's Collapse: What Went Wrong?
00:09:34
Speaker
no but it's he was really good and he has been good for quite some time and and they were they were solid and and they you know canavaro has really structured them um and it was very nice to see speaking of canavaro him and his brother going up to his sebio de francesco afterwards and and consult him it was very well yeah i mean that was talking about that was that was so horrible to say i mean he was he was heartbroken the poor guy he was inconsolvable
00:10:02
Speaker
And you have to feel sorry for the Francesco. You could see how much it meant to him. And you can tell that he just felt crushed. He felt crushed by what happened. I mean, can you imagine that in the 93rd minute, you think you're staying up and then
00:10:19
Speaker
You know, and they didn't deserve it. Let's be honest. They didn't deserve to lose this game. And they didn't really, if we're honest, they didn't really deserve, I don't think they deserve to get relegated either. You know, if we look over the course of the season, I don't think they deserve to go down, but it's, you know, this is what happens. I mean, they had an incredible starts the season for us. And I mean, they were, they were the, almost the revelation of the first, let's say the first quarter of the season, they were flying up, flying high in the European places.
00:10:46
Speaker
And then it just all fell apart, didn't it, in the second half of the season? And, you know, we said, should have De Francesco been sacked? I mean, looking back now, I mean, I guess the answer is yes, they should have done. It's an ultimate fate now, haven't they? One of our patrons reminded me what I said ahead of this season, because I had Frosinone going down. I had Frosinone going down. I think I had Verona going down and I think I had Empoli going down.
00:11:12
Speaker
But one of our patrons reminded me, what I said before the season, that this is probably the last chance of DeFrancisco in the Serie A in the sense that just like Filippo Inzagi, I don't think he will get another chance with another Serie A side unless it's as a tragetatora or if it's a team that he gets promoted from the Serie B to the Serie A because the way that they have collapsed
00:11:38
Speaker
this second half of the season is unforgivable and it's typical of his savior De Francesco and just goes to show that there is no development there. This is who he is. It's that this is who this man is. Technically, tactically, this is who he is. This is what happens with De Francesco. And that's that's unfortunately when this is proven to be the the situation.
00:12:04
Speaker
then, you know, clubs are weary. They watch that. They understand that. And I don't think we're going to see, you know, this is this was the last chance for him to have a meaningful city, our career. I don't think he will. I think I don't think he will.
00:12:16
Speaker
In some ways, I'm kind of glad that frozen on it went down because I mean, they played really good. They played good football. They were enjoyable to watch. They've been refreshing for Syria, certainly the first half of the season. They were refreshing team, refreshing team to watch, which is good. We want we want to see teams, small teams that have a go at the big teams. It makes it entertaining. But also at the same time, like a lot of their team is made up of lone players. And
00:12:40
Speaker
I don't know. There's something about that I don't like in some ways. You know, they had lots of players on loan from Juventus, from other clubs. And, you know, so I think even if they'd have stayed up like next season, I mean, their team would have been gutted in the summer because they'd have lost everyone or the loan players would have returned. You know, so I don't
Promotion from Serie B: New Faces in Serie A
00:13:00
Speaker
know. Maybe maybe it's for the best for Serie A. They're not there. But I mean, then there's Empoli as well. I mean, Davide Nicola. I mean, this guy.
00:13:08
Speaker
This guy talking about survival specialist. Is there a big survival specialist in him? I mean, he's like, I don't know what he is. I mean, he's... I'm trying to think of... Listen, what he did with Salentana last season is just miraculous. And it is miraculous. Like, it was bound to happen. It was, you know, it was just one of those, one of the greatest escapes we've ever seen.
00:13:36
Speaker
And he was bound to get sacked, you know, because we know this is what he does. Davide Nicola, this is what he does. He waltzes in, he rides in when things are chaotic, he stabilizes, he survives, and then he should be, you know, he should leave until the next damsel in distress in the Serie A cult needs his help. I mean, that's just what he is.
00:14:00
Speaker
But it's just unbelievable. Because this employee team for me is a relegation team on paper. No doubt. I think that on paper, looking at the actual players in the teams, like Sassuolo and Frosinone on paper, I don't think should stay up based on thought. Well, Sassuolo should sell her Nitana for me. I mean, in my opinion, on paper, Empoli, Calieri, Verona,
00:14:29
Speaker
are the worst like they are genuinely bad like yeah it's just you know the fact that Varone has got Varone at 13 is is mental like it's just Caliari you know Granieri what he's done with with Caliari is truly remarkable um so no it's it's it's and of course David Denicola he's just you know
00:14:52
Speaker
My shoe thrower lives to throw another shoe. What can I say? No, for sure. And it's, yeah, incredible job. Incredible job. So that's the relegation race then. That's the relegation race. And Frosinone, Sasualo and Selenitana go down. Parma,
00:15:10
Speaker
and Korma already promoted from Serie B and then the win, Clemoneza and Venezia in the Serie B promotion playoff will be the final team to make up. It's going to be interesting next season to see, because I think, well, obviously depends on what happens in the transfer market, but I feel like Parma and Korma could have a chance of staying up next season. Parma for sure. I think Parma will.
00:15:34
Speaker
Palma, I have lots of faith in. Palma is a stable, it's a stable ownership. It's a stable project. He knows what, you know, he took some time for him to find his feet and crows, but now that he has, he, you know, they're actually, they look good. I think Palma, they should be in the bottom half, but I do expect them to stay up. I look at Palma as a little bit like a Genoa. They'll survive.
00:15:59
Speaker
Cornwall I think will struggle. It depends on the transfer market. It's too early to say now. They've got money. I mean, their owners are ridiculously rich. So it depends really what their plans are. We don't really know right now just what their plans are.
00:16:15
Speaker
Yeah, it's, yeah. I don't know. I mean, Cremonies that we've already had, Venetia we had also recently. I don't know who I prefer out of those two. I just know that I think, just tell you what, just because of the, for the looks, because this is the seria, this is fashion, Venetia's kits and Venetia's expression, like fashion expression and their way that they market themselves is second to none. Like they are so damn good at it.
00:16:43
Speaker
And also because you have to take a boat to the stadium, I'm going to go, I hope Venezia come up. I also don't like the fact that Venezia are now taxing tourists to go to the city. So I'm, yeah. But they do that for everyone. You pay, no, but you pay a city tax everywhere. And when I was in Milan, you pay per night, per person every day. It's a new thing. It's been in Italy for quite a few years. You have to pay
00:17:09
Speaker
depending on when, but you pay like five to eight euros per night per person when you stay the tourist tax. It's just that's just Italy. It's not just, you know, it's not just Venice. I mean, I paid it. Yeah, but it's not just Venice. It's everywhere recently. They recently introduced it, haven't they, in Venice from from last month? Yeah, but it's been in Milan. I've been I've been paying that tax for years. Every time you go, you pay a tourist tax per person per night, and it varies depending on the year.
Venice Tourist Tax and Italian Comparisons
00:17:38
Speaker
So it's not new for Venezia. It's just one of them things. OK. A few couple of euros extra. Bloody taxes everywhere. Just parked my car in London this morning. They're now charging a carbon tax on car parking, which just doesn't make any sense at all. You're parking your car. Why are you charging a carbon tax for parking? Anyway, I'm not going to go off on that. Let's go to the sixth place now. The next big thing needs to be cleared up on the final day of the season.
00:18:07
Speaker
So, Atalanta. What a week it has been for Atalanta. They won, of course, the Europa League by thrashing Bayou Levakusen in the final, the previously invincible 51 games unbeaten by Levakusen. Magical performance.
00:18:25
Speaker
And they took that through and had an identical result against Torino, winning 3-0. And that result moves them into the top four now, they're up to fourth, above Bologna. And they will finish third if they beat Fiorentina this weekend in the rearranged game. And that result means that Roma now, even though Roma did, of course, as we just said, they went on to lose against Empoli.
00:18:55
Speaker
but going into this final weekend Roma still did have a chance of a Champions League qualification spot.
Atalanta's Rise and European Success
00:19:04
Speaker
They basically needed Atalanta to take no more than one point from their last two games and then they needed both Juventus and Bologna to win their final games and Bologna lost as we'll come to and
00:19:20
Speaker
And you've, well, you went as one, but it obviously the full on your loss and the fact that the Atalanta one meant that Roma are now going to be in the Europa League. So taking this first from from Atalanta, then we'll come to Roma. From Atalanta, it's just another dominant win, wasn't it? I mean, Skamaka, another
00:19:44
Speaker
brilliant goal. I mean, he's becoming a bit of a trademark, that goal, isn't it? Getting it on the half turn, turn in and just smashing one in from just the edge of the area or just outside the area. I mean, he's, yeah, another great goal from Skamaka and Lukman again as well. An easier, easier, much, much easier goal than the ones he scored against Leverkusen and the Pasalic penalty as well. I mean, magical week for Atalanta.
00:20:12
Speaker
It really is. Skamaka scored 20 goals in all competitions this season, if I'm not mistaken. He's 12 in the Serie A. He's really having a fantastic second half of the season, and he's starting to do all the things that I was expecting him to do throughout. And look, Atalanta are on cloud nine, and I think, to be honest with you, it could be, you know, we're normally going to talk about it, but if Atalanta win against Fiorentina, they finish third.
00:20:42
Speaker
And that is brilliant. That is so well done. That is an overachievement. And it could be a meeting between the conference league winners and the Europa League winners.
00:20:55
Speaker
which would be fantastic if that could happen we could have two europe two it'd be a nice celebration celebration when it's in the end the season i know it comes in difficult circumstances because they're only playing this game because of the death of course of uh of joel bedorn but it would be yeah it would be uh i guess there would be something nice to to celebrate wouldn't it both of them winning it would be cool if before the game if they could organize so that both trophies are on the pitch kind of thing do you know what i mean like they could if they could do something where
00:21:25
Speaker
both if you want to know where to win if they could kind of do something where they took a photo of both teams with the trophies before the game.
00:21:35
Speaker
Cause this is going to be an exhibition game. It has absolutely no impact on the league table. It has no impact on anything. It doesn't mean anything. So it's an exhibition game. So you might as well turn it into a celebrate celebratory performance. If you're in Tina to win the conference league, basically just, you know, have both teams come out, you know, with the trophies at hand, you know, have a mixed kind of lineup thing with, with both trophies. And do you know what I mean? Like just go, go with it.
00:22:02
Speaker
No, it would it would be cool, but we have to make sure that Fiorentina win that trophy first. Yeah. And also with the winner of the Champions League in this Europe, you know, the Super Cup. And that would be so cool. Yeah. Real Madrid. Well, or Dortmund. We're all seething up the Real Madrid. But yeah, that would be amazing. Imagine them playing Real Madrid and that would be.
00:22:20
Speaker
Just incredible, isn't it? Think about it. If Fiorentina and Real Madrid win the European, win the conference in Champions League, all three European Cups will have been won by Italian manager.
Italian Managers Dominating Europe
00:22:35
Speaker
There you go. Yeah, they'll be all won by Italians. Milan refused to even. No, it's not true. You can't keep saying this. I am going to keep saying it. Because it's not true.
00:22:46
Speaker
He can't say that. It makes no sense. Why would Fulani and Jerry Cardinale? Because they didn't speak to a single Italian coach. Of course they did. They did not hold a single discussion with an Italian manager. So, I mean, okay, take what you want. Maybe just a coincidence. I'm not sure that's what they did. All the best coaches in the world. They just started not speaking at all.
00:23:15
Speaker
Well, yeah, because the ones that were available didn't fit the mold. I mean, it's not anti Italian discrimination. You can't, you can't. It didn't fit the mold of not being Italian. Yeah. Oh, here we go. They didn't fit the mold. Anyway, Roma then they don't qualify for the Champions League.
00:23:31
Speaker
This could have repercussions on the transfer market and maybe the future of some players too, I think potentially because, well, we know now for sure. I don't think they have the intention of keeping him anyway, but for sure they can't afford to keep Lukaku anymore. That's for certain now. So he's, he's done now aroma Lukaku. And there's the question of Dibada. Could he stay? He's got one year left on his front. He has a very, very small release clause, which is valid during the month of July for
00:24:01
Speaker
a period in July. And then there's also, you know, some of the more kind of ambitious players that they were looking at head of the summer. I mean, they've been linked to like Kiesa, Dino Renzo, these kind of players, I just don't see it happening financially, let alone
00:24:16
Speaker
if we're looking at from a sporting point of view have not been the Champions League for these kind of these type of players that might want to move there and then of course there is the the I mean these numbers get get put about all the time I've seen them be put about with Roman the passing a bit put about with Inter with Juventus and they say they have to make X amount by 30th of June the end of the financial year and very very rarely
Roma's Financial Challenges and Player Futures
00:24:40
Speaker
Is it actually does it actually end up being anything close to that number? So i'm not holding this as being gospel But the word that has been around is they need to make 60 million capital gains by the end of june I don't really believe that will be the case. I think that this these numbers that get thrown around and always end up being Unreliable, but they do have to make quite some significant capital gains plus well ends up by the end of june uh to balance the books and you know
00:25:08
Speaker
Yeah, I think being in the Champions League obviously would have made that much, much easier, wouldn't it? No, of course. It does. It's...
00:25:23
Speaker
It's a difficult situation for Roma, because, and I'm worried if Di Bala leaves. I really think, I mean, Lukaku's gonna leave, there's no doubt about that. If Antonio Conte goes to Napoli, I think they could be actually, Victor Oseman being sold.
00:25:43
Speaker
Maybe, who knows, because we know how Antonio Conte is. If he decides that he needs someone, then he will demand Lukaku. And already, that could be a problem. But regardless, I don't see Lukaku saying it Roma. Di Bala, I think, is probably going to be sold because he can raise revenue for him.
00:26:07
Speaker
I don't know, man. It's going to be very difficult. It was very important for them to reach the Champions League because of this. But now that it's happened, it's going to be a difficult summer. It's going to require the new sporting directors to do something to pull rabbits out of hats again. And they already kind of did that last summer.
00:26:30
Speaker
given the situation they're in. It is difficult for them. Remember, they're still in the settlement agreement with UEFA as well. So just like Juve and Inter, but of course Juve and Inter have already announced that they have followed and respected those parameters. They did that months ago and that they're on course to do that next summer as well. So for them, it's not a problem. But for Roma, this is going to be painful. And I think it's such a difficult, you know, it's so annoying because
00:27:00
Speaker
It's as if the next season is already a write-off and it hasn't even started yet. And it's just so annoying because Roma deserve better. And then you look over to England and you see certain clubs getting away with whatever they want, literal murder and not literal, but proverbial financial murder. They do whatever they want and nothing happens. It's annoying. It's frustrating because Roma, the Friedkins have been trying to
00:27:26
Speaker
you know basically all they've done since they've taken over the club is trying to clean up the mess from Palota and the previous regime and that's all they've done and if you take that into consideration you can't really fault them for what they've done but at least they have the manager in place they have the sporting situation resolved now they need to find players and have a proper pre-season you know Osman is a player who Bialivica wants to sell, Roma can't afford
00:27:53
Speaker
He's not exactly getting any younger either. You know, we know that they like him. He likes them. But I mean, it's got to be a difficult summer of puzzling things together, fitting jigsaw puzzling for Roma, given that they're out of the Champions League.
Inter's Squad Needs and Potential Changes
00:28:06
Speaker
And I wonder if Di Bala could not be sacrificed this summer. And if I'm looking at player teams that want, that could buy him,
00:28:16
Speaker
I'm looking at Inter immediately because Sanchez is leaving Toremi is coming in to replace him we don't know what's going to happen with Arnaltovic Inter want to strength and they're looking at Gudmundsson but I think he's going to cost a little bit too much given the Premier League interest in him
00:28:38
Speaker
They're going to need to, if they sell Denzel Dumfries, they're going to have to sign a replacement right back or a left wing back if they want to play Buchanan on the right. Is Buchanan ready to start? And so on. And then, of course, the central defense situation, because Defrion Acherbi ain't getting any younger. And I would suggest that Acherbi, there has been a significant decline or a visible decline, at least, at the very least. So now it's going to be interesting to see what happens. There's a lot of jigsaw puzzling happening.
00:29:08
Speaker
Yeah, sure is. Okay, so that's the Champions League sixth place settled there. So the teams that will be in the Champions League will be Inter, Milan, Juventus, Atalanta, and Bologna. Roma are in the Europa League, so are Lazio. And then this is where it starts to get a little bit more complicated. So the ninth place situation,
00:29:40
Speaker
Currently, Fiorentina are in eighth. They beat Callery 3-2, so Fiorentina clinch European football. And they will be, as it stands, in the conference league for next season, in eighth place. But if they win against Olympiacos in the final of the conference league, they will go into the Europa League,
00:30:09
Speaker
the next season, and it means that ninth place in Serie A will open up for the conference league place. Now, going into this final weekend of the season, there were two teams that were fighting it out for ninth place, Torino and Napoli. Now, Torino, as we've already discussed, they got thrashed 3-0 by Atalanta. They took zero points.
00:30:35
Speaker
And that meant that Napoli only needed to beat Lecce at home at the San Paolo to qualify for the conference league. Well, not to qualify, to give them a chance of qualifying for the conference league. They would qualify for the conference league if they beat Lecce and then Fiorentina won the conference league final. And you think surely, surely Napoli will beat Lecce at home. Lecce got nothing to play for.
00:31:03
Speaker
And they don't beat Leche, they fail to do it. They draw nil-nil and it's a game that kind of in many ways summed up Napoli's season. I watched this game and the second half, Napoli had chance after chance after chance after chance, they hit the post twice. The finishing was abysmal, snatching at shots and they failed to score and they finished the season 10th. It's the first season
00:31:31
Speaker
in 14, for 14 years, that Napoli are out of Europe. It's incredible, really. It's the first time since Napoli came back. The first season they came back to the Seriano dell'Arrentis, they didn't finish in a European spot. The second season they did. And then since then, they've always been in Europe. That streak now comes to a halt.
00:31:58
Speaker
Um, and that's, that's a negative. Uh, you can't, you don't, if you win the league in record breaking fashion and then finish 10th on 53 points when you want it on 90, I mean, it's just, it's, it's been an absolute disaster of a season for Napoli, but, but, and this is a big, but.
Napoli's Struggles and Future Outlook
00:32:22
Speaker
Let me just stop you there. It's the worst defense of a Serie A title. Of course it is. But there's a big but here. If you have one game a week to worry about and your coach is Antonio Conte. Indeed.
00:32:45
Speaker
Oh, I mean, not fully just by virtue of that or school at all favorites. I mean, he's done it twice before. Yeah. I mean, Antonio Conte coming in when he's only got one with his obsessive personality and how meticulous he is and the tactical genius he is. And he looks at the Serie A calendar as 38 finals, which is how he will view it. Then then, you know,
00:33:11
Speaker
Napoli, just by virtue of that, will be screwed up to candidates, you know what I mean? And if of course this deal goes through, which I still am very skeptical of, I don't know man, I just can't.
00:33:27
Speaker
De Laurentiis and Conte really working together. I think this has been such a historic failure from Napoli that De Laurentiis, I think he's a proud man and I think he, even though he may not admit it,
00:33:42
Speaker
Deep down he probably feels really hurt by what's happened this season and just how bad it's been and it's going to spring him into a reaction and that reaction is he's got to do something and that is to get a big name like Conte that shows that he's doing something about it.
00:34:03
Speaker
And that's why I think. Yeah, but I agree with that. I agree with all of that. But the problem here is that this dear man will, you know, Conte comes in, he will demand things. Conte doesn't ask for things. He demands things. And if he doesn't get them, he has meltdowns.
00:34:27
Speaker
That's further down the line, isn't it? I mean, we're talking about when you get the job. Well, that's day one. That's day one. He started moaning about Inter. He started moaning at Inter about seven days in when the preseason had started and all the signings weren't done yet. Like, you know, already then he started complaining about Barela and Barela Lukaku not being signed.
00:34:53
Speaker
So, you know, this is just, this is just, you know, it's going to be entertaining if, look, from a selfish point of view, I hope Konta goes to Napoli because it would be unbelievably entertaining. Are you kidding? I think it would be great. I think it would be great for Cédia as well in that, you know, we've got a lot of new managers, but we've got, you know, a Juventus team that have got, you know, one of the most exciting young coaches in Europe coming to the club to hopefully start to rebuild them.
00:35:22
Speaker
exactly still going to be there okay Milan Fonseca we're not too hot on but it's a new coach so it's new you know there's the unknown there so there's an effect about what could happen there uh you've got Atalanta who who as we said on the last show last week off the Leverkusen game like we obviously depends what they do in the transfer market but you know and we didn't say that Gasparini is now staying at Atalanta
00:35:46
Speaker
and apparently, according to reports, has been promised two big signings and that Atalanta are not going to weaken by through sales this summer. So where can Atalanta go? Because we both believe that they haven't actually this new this current iteration of Gasparini hasn't actually peaked yet. So what about Atalanta? And then now imagine if Antonio Conte takes over at Napoli. I mean, you're looking at
00:36:13
Speaker
I mean, you're looking at really the big teams all all potentially being real kind of heavyweights next season. So it's very, very exciting.
Exciting Prospects for Next Serie A Season
00:36:22
Speaker
And then if you go a little bit further down the ladder, you know, you've got two doors at an excellent start with last year. OK, I'm not saying they're going to change the skeleton, but they're going to cause trouble to the other teams. You've got, you know, OK, Rama, we'll see what happens with Rama.
00:36:36
Speaker
Fiorentina are going to have a new manager. Bologna are going to have a new manager. I mean, there's going to be so much change. I think next season is going to be really, really exciting.
00:36:44
Speaker
I agree with you. I think after two years where we've seen one team run away with the Scudetto, I think next season it's going to be a nail-biter to the end. I really think so. It's too early to say about the Scudetto. Obviously, Intel right now are still going to be big, big favourites, but obviously we don't actually know what's going to happen with Intel because of Oaktree. I think right now, of course, Intel are the favourites, but I'm just talking more about the fact that
00:37:12
Speaker
that there's more, there's going to be more unknown to Serie A. Like, I think, I'm not saying, Serie A is never boring. It's too exciting, it's too much stuff that happens off of it, you know, even away from the actual football itself. But because, you know, we're having so many new managers, there's so much change this summer, that is going to bring new excitement. It's not going to be, we're not, you know, after a while, like, for example, this year, like with Allegri, like,
00:37:39
Speaker
I don't even need to watch Juventus anymore. I already know how the game's going to go in terms of the patterns of play, in terms of this and that. And the same happens in other ways with other teams. You get used to them. You know what to expect. You know that Milan are going to go patchy wins, and they're going to go some patchy losses, and then they're going to score a lot, but they're going to concede a lot. You know what to expect. There's going to be so much unexpected next season. So I think next season is going to be great.
00:38:09
Speaker
No, definitely, definitely going to be. And I think if, if, if Atalanta keep all of their important players and strengthen with one or two, for me, like I said, on the Thursday pod, I, what, you know, what is there? Like, give me an argument as to if they keep their coach, if they keep all their key players and they strengthen with one or two players, given that they're going to be in the Champions League, given that the revenue has increased from the Champions League, given that they are such a well-run club financially stable.
Milan's Managerial Changes and Challenges
00:38:37
Speaker
So, you know, show me an argument as to why Gasperini and de Satalanta can't be in the Scudetto race next season. As dark horses, of course. They're never going to be favorites. That's just ridiculous. But show me why they can't be a dark horse to win. No, right now. Obviously, the transfer market will determine a lot. It's impossible right now. But as it stands, it's very well set up for
00:39:03
Speaker
for an amazing 2024-25 season. Amazing. Let's move on though. Let's move on to, we'll go through these quickly because there isn't really that much to talk about. But first of all, Verona, Inter, I mean, it's just, there was a nothing game, nothing to play for. Tutu, it finishes. Was there anything to draw from this game of interest? Yeah. One thing I really liked was the move for Inter's equalizer to Tutu.
00:39:31
Speaker
Barellad cross diagonal ball, Turam dropping deep, Arnautovic and Fratesi pushing forward from deep instantaneously when that ball is played. Fratesi chest sit down, Arnautovic on the half volley. That was the most interesting thing from a tactical point of view. I thought it was really, really interesting to see. Another Inzaghi training round movement, triangles that he likes to play, these kind of
00:40:00
Speaker
these one-touch triangle movements that he likes to do with these players. And again, it was a really, really nice goal.
00:40:08
Speaker
that. That's what I thought was the most interesting in this game. Other than that, it was just a, it was a, it was a kickabout. Another golfer to Charlie Noslin for Verona, who I think has been one of the signings of the season as part of this, you know, incredible turnaround of Verona in January, where they sold basically the whole team and brought in all these players that no one had heard of. And he was one of them.
00:40:32
Speaker
And he's been a revelation. He's been really, really great. And maybe someone so that the bigger clubs, slightly bigger clubs will be maybe looking at this summer. I think he's had such an impact. I don't think Verona could have stayed up without him. I think he's had that much of an impact this second half of the season. So, yeah, he scored again.
00:40:54
Speaker
Let's move on to Milan. Incredibly entertaining game. 3-3 draw. Probably summed up, of course, Stefano Pioli's time at Milan. But the big talking points here are the final farewell of Pioli. I thought before the game there was a beautiful gesture where all the Milan players unexpectedly huddled around in a circle and circled Pioli. He was in the middle and applauded him and the crowd. I thought that was really lovely. That was a lovely little goodbye.
00:41:24
Speaker
I mean, Giroud, of course, is laughing. I have to give credit to Milan for how they've handled this Pioli thing, the way that they announced it, the announcement, the press release on their homepage, the video of the kid talking about how Pioli brought Milan back to where we should be and dreaming again. And I thought it was beautiful. I thought it was very, very well handled. I thought it was very elegant. I thought it was very classy.
00:41:55
Speaker
and they should be commended for that. I thought it was very nice and it was nice to see purely.
00:42:00
Speaker
kind of take a bow, you know, and say goodbye to Milan on his terms, you know, and everyone basically, you know, turning up for that, because I do think it's the right decision. I think what he has done at Milan, and we've said it many, many times, I just want to say one last time, I think he will be remembered as with great fondness as the coach who
00:42:28
Speaker
brought Milan back into the warmth from the wilderness. Where Milan were, where he started, where he leaves Milan at now that he leaves is night and day.
00:42:44
Speaker
And the fact that they won Escoretto 86 points, incredible. Lots of young players developed under him. Got to the semi-final of the Champions League. Got back to the Champions League. Got to the semi-final of the Champions League.
00:43:00
Speaker
You know, that's where Milan's history deserves. They deserve to win trophies. They deserve to be in the latter stages of Europe's number one competition. And Pioli gave them a taste of that. I think he got the maximum out of the players available to him through these years. And I also think it's the right move to say goodbye to him. Yeah, it's a process. Milan was starting from closer to Z than to A. And Pioli has taken them up the alphabet towards A. But he
00:43:28
Speaker
he wasn't the man to take them to A and maybe you know I think listen like you've said you've said it you've summed it up perfectly I think he's done you know he'll be remembered fondly he's done a wonderful job he won a Scudetto unexpectedly and much earlier than was planned and expected at Milan he gave the team an identity he took over when they were a complete mess he developed young players helped develop these players he was part of the identity he was he was a good
00:43:59
Speaker
He didn't cause any trouble, but at the same time he probably stayed at least a year too long. Let's say that. He stayed a year too long at Milan. They probably should have parted ways this time last year.
00:44:15
Speaker
But he still, regardless of what's happened this season, he still leaves them in a good place for the next manager. Like if you look at the team, you know, there is a core there that I believe that with that core, if they don't, you know, sacrifice, you know, as long as they don't sacrifice more than one of their big names, if they just lose Manon, they keep Teo and Rafael Liao, for example.
00:44:39
Speaker
there's a core of team there that's young enough and has enough quality players among that core that with a good transfer market, if they play their cards right, I think definitely can be a Scudetto challenger next season, or should be aiming to try and win the Scudetto. Not saying they will, they should feel confident enough that they've got a team that can challenge and can win the Scudetto, because I believe that the core, again, it all depends on getting this transfer market right, buying the right players. And also,
00:45:09
Speaker
getting the right manager. Now, it seems Fonseca is going to come in. We're not that sold by him. And I think Arigosaki said exactly the same things that we said on the pod last week. All the points we made, the point that I made especially, look at what place he's finished with Lille in his two seasons at Lille and look at where he finished in his two seasons with Roma, that that isn't
00:45:31
Speaker
befitting of a club like Milan, but he could prove us wrong. He could prove to be the right manager. And if that's the case, Milan have the cards there to push on. So... Well, the thing is, like I said on Thursday, my thing with Fonseca that I'm critical of is more on the perspective that
00:45:56
Speaker
I think when you change managers, you should bring in a manager. There's two ways you can do it. Either you want to start from scratch, or you want a manager to come in to build upon and develop what the previous manager did, depending on the makeup and dynamic of the squad that he's taking over. For me, Fonseca is more of a purely 2.0. It's a continuation. It's not as much a development as it is a continuation.
00:46:26
Speaker
with the difference of course that Paolo Fonseca is you know well yes he does have hair his own but also the fact that I mean it could be a situation where they look at him and they go well they like how he
00:46:42
Speaker
how the vibe he has in the dressing room that he's maybe more assertive than Pioli was because one of the critiques criticisms against Pioli was that he wasn't very assertive they did you know that he lacked in leadership Fonseca they believe has that and I think that's that's a fair assessment. My only thing is that I just don't think that Paolo Fonseca
00:47:03
Speaker
Yeah, I think he will develop these players because he's always developed players. That's nothing new. That's what he does. He's a good solid Portuguese coach. I just don't think he's got what it takes at the very top clubs.
00:47:18
Speaker
He failed at Porto, he got sacked there seven, eight months, nine months in. He got chased out of Roma, he's done one at Lille, he's done one at Shakhtar. I think he kind of ticks the boxes that the Milan management were looking for.
00:47:36
Speaker
I just hope they were looking for different boxes is my point. That's the only thing. I think on paper it looks very much like a sideways move for Milan. It's a step up for Fonseca, of course, it's the biggest job of his career. That's it. If you're going to get rid of Pioli, you upgrade. It doesn't feel like an upgrade, certainly not based on what he's done in his career.
00:48:05
Speaker
We will see. Moving on. I mean, just what Saki said, I think is really well. He said, I expected more. I expected a bigger name. And I guess for me, it's not just a name, but it's also the tactical growth or the tactical next step. And that's why I've been nonstop talking about Sari. For me, the next step after Pioli is Maurizio Sari. Now, I understand that there are other dynamics at play here.
00:48:34
Speaker
Maurizio Sarri is very combative and the Milan ownership don't want someone who rocks the boat and I think that's also they don't want to you know and partly the reason why they kind of look I think they sidestepped Antonio Conte as well is not just although I think that the tactical aspect of going to a back three and his wages was more important there. I just think Fonseca ticked their boxes
00:49:00
Speaker
I just hope they had different boxes, if you know what I mean, if that makes sense. I just wish they had different requirements. But we'll see. I mean, like I said, if I'm wrong and Milan, he's a success at Milan, I'll be the first to hold my hand up and say I was wrong. But we'll see. Yeah. Just also on Milan, last game for C-Monquier and also for Olivier Giroud, who scores on his last game. So that is a great way to
00:49:24
Speaker
to bow out, isn't it? And yeah, he, as we said, when he left, when it was announced that he was leaving, yeah, he's had a fantastic three years at Milan and was the key man, really, I think, in that Scudetto victory. He scored the key goals that won the Scudetto in the running. So he will also, like Pioli, be very, very fondly remembered, Olivier Giroud.
00:49:48
Speaker
And he would also retire. He's announced we will retire from France national team after Euro 2024. Let's move on to Juventus talking about players bowing out. Who would have thought that Alexandre would have been the big story from this game against Monza? It was his last match as well, Alexandre. He really did steal the show here and it really was quite moving. He went off in tears to a stand innovation.
00:50:14
Speaker
He really did capture the hearts of all the fans in the stadium, many of whom have been very, very critical of Alexandre for probably the second half of his career. I mean, Alexandre was someone who had probably a tale of two careers at Juventus. The first half of his time there in nine years, he was outstanding and one of the best in the world in his role as a left-back.
00:50:41
Speaker
the lots of big offers from clubs. I remember Chelsea, Juventus' rejection, a huge offer from Chelsea, probably about four or five years ago. But in the second half of his time at Juventus, he really fell off a cliff and he's been a figure of fun.
00:51:01
Speaker
a few years and almost a symbol of how badly mismanaged Juventus have been. The fact that he was given this huge salary, the third or fourth biggest salary in the league at a time when he was clearly declining, an agent, and who also was signed into his contract, a clause in his contract that would see his contract renewed for an extra year, which is what happened at the end of last year. His contract got renewed for an extra year even though he was so finished,
00:51:30
Speaker
But he played this last game against Wunder and he scored the second goal in a 2-0 win. When he was substituted off in the second half, he broke down in tears.
00:51:43
Speaker
And then he embarked on a kind of like Del Piero did on his final game for Juventus. The game was still going on and he just walked around the whole stadium applauding the fans, taking their scars. I mean, it really was, it was like, you know, this is Alexandro doing this. He was doing it like he was a Del Piero or a Totti or a
00:52:04
Speaker
Javier Zanetti, he was like a club icon.
Juventus Farewells and Future Stars
00:52:08
Speaker
It was hilarious, but it was so moving, the fans really took to it, and they were charting his name, and it was just quite bizarre, but also quite amazing at the same time. Yeah, no, it was fun. It was funny. But it's also, I mean, we're talking about someone who's won 11 trophies at Uwe.
00:52:35
Speaker
And that's quite a lot. And so, you know, he is one of the last, like you said, the first half of his career at Uwe. He was one of those, you know, he was part of that, you know, nine years, you know, winning everything.
00:52:50
Speaker
in Italy. People forget though what an outstanding player he was at the start. He was brilliant, he was one of the best in the world in his position. I mean kind of from around his first season when he wasn't playing every game and then kind of like 2015, 2016, 2017 kind of years, he was really outstanding, he really was.
00:53:14
Speaker
and he was such a force down that left-hand side and he improved defensively as the years went by as well. I remember him in the game against Bayern Munich when Juventus had so many players out and he played in a left-wing position when they weren't 2-0 up and they conceded that late goal and ended up losing 4-2. He really was a great player. It's nice to see him go out on a high.
00:53:41
Speaker
Kiesa, Kiesa scored a lovely goal. He was really, really great in this game. And yeah, no coincidence that Allegri leaves and Kiesa scores two games in a row, but only the second time in the last three years. He was really, really good. He hit the post as well with a brilliant curling shot from outside the area. He had another chance from a Fagioli pass. We just have to hope that he takes us into the Euros. There have been some stories that have come out
00:54:09
Speaker
from Dimatio claiming that Motta doesn't fancy him. I don't know how much I buy into that right now, whether that's, I don't know. Some mischief making, how much truth is into that, I don't know, time will tell, I guess, we'll see. But yeah, really good to see Kia's about. And also, the other big story from this game was
00:54:30
Speaker
Fagioli's performance, he played really, really well in this game. For somebody that hasn't played at all, all season, and everybody was laughing at him being called up for the Euros, he was really quite excellent in this game. He hit the bar, he had the assist for the Sandra goal, although of course it was a corner, but an absolutely magical chipped pass. Then he put Kiesa through in case it had a chance to score a second in the second half.
00:54:57
Speaker
it was a really really good performance from Fragioli so it makes you think that yeah maybe maybe there was some method in the madness of calling up Fragioli maybe Spelletti saw something maybe he's going to have that
00:55:10
Speaker
You know, that energy from not playing all season. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know how much you can read into a game that, you know, was a nothing game again, like the inter-game, nothing to play for. Just people kind of just like an exhibition game. But he was really good. He was really, really good. And yeah, yeah, that's it. I think we, you know, Spaletti, he deserves, you know, he deserves to be given the benefit of the doubt. His career warrants it.
00:55:37
Speaker
But that doesn't mean that we can't ask questions. I think it's a mistake to not include Locatelli in the 30-man shortlist. I think that's a huge mistake. Whether or not, depending on how he wants to play, you know, Fagioli's right or wrong, that depends to be seen on the pitch because, you know, we got a question on that on the Q&A pod as well, which I'm going to delve into more deeply for patrons only on patreon.com slash TIFB.
00:56:05
Speaker
But I do want to say that my only criticism is that I don't understand why Locatelli isn't in at least in the 30 shot man list. That's my point. Fagioli could be exactly what you said. And of course, like I said, if there's anything, if anyone deserves
00:56:24
Speaker
to be given the benefit of the doubt on these things. It is Luciano Spalletti because he's a brilliant tactician. He's proven throughout his career that he knows how to pick the right players at the right time, especially young ones. He can develop them and make them take this final step to, if not world-class, then at least world-class adjacent.
00:56:46
Speaker
in many roles, and we've seen it with him. He's unbelievable with that. So we'll see. We'll have to win. The only other thing from this game is De Gregorio, the Monza goalkeeper waving goodbye to the Monza. So that is, I think, the confirmation that De Gregorio is going to invent us, 18 million. This is one which I...
00:57:14
Speaker
I don't know how to feel about this from Juventus's point of view because I look at
00:57:20
Speaker
What are the priorities that Juventus need? They've got so much work that they've got to do in improving teams, so many gaps in their team. I'm looking at full backs. They need two full backs. They need at least one centre back, maybe two centre backs, especially if they're going to sell Bremmer. They need probably two central midfielders. They need more depth in attack. There's so many roles that I look at the goalkeeping position,
00:57:45
Speaker
And I think that, yes, OK, Chesney's getting older. He's going to have to be replaced at some point. He's got a year left on his contract. But I think that did Juventus need to go and spend $18 million this summer on de Gligoria? I think it could have waited. I mean, listen, I think they would have needed to maybe next year. Their top part time would have come where they have to move Chesney on.
00:58:08
Speaker
But I don't know, I just, unless they've got a buyer for Chesney or Pedding and they're going to make, you know, a decent, at least a little bit more, a bit of cash off them than maybe that offsets it. But I just feel like the money that they're spending, I feel like it should have been prioritised in other areas before you go to a position where, you know, Chesney has been fantastic, I think, this season, being one of the few players, BVenters, that's just performed really well this season. I just feel like it shouldn't have been a priority. That's my, that's my negative way.
00:58:38
Speaker
Well, that's true. But at the same time, we don't know if what's, you know, maybe Chesney's leaving in the summer. Well, no, clearly, somebody's leaving. One of Chesney or Perrin is leaving. That's obvious because they're buying D. Gregoria. So one of the two is leaving. My point is, why spend now on D. Gregoria? Why not just keep Chesney and Perrin for another season? Strengthen the other areas which are more of a pressing concern.
00:59:06
Speaker
And then if there's any money left over you can sign DK Goria, but I just think that you know, okay We'll see. We'll see. Maybe they've worked on the maths. They've worked it out. They're gonna have enough money, but yeah It shouldn't be a priority. That's what I'm saying No, but I think gently if there's anything he's pretty proven in his career that he's actually pretty good with the maths He has a plan. He knows what he's doing
00:59:29
Speaker
Do you know what it reminds me of? You know what it reminds me of? You'll enjoy this and you'll enter like in the late 90s where they had like all the best midfielders and attackers in the world and they're coming to a transfer market and it's like what's the priority this summer for us? Is it strengthening the defense where we've got like you know players that the like Francesco Colonnaire's there and players like that always in you know it's just sign another world-class attacker make it like take us up to six world-class
00:59:56
Speaker
Like, do you know what I mean? I just think that there's priorities and that's my bet. I see why they want to do good audio because, you know, I think...
01:00:04
Speaker
he's the style that Motta wants. He wants his goalkeeper to be able to construct the play. From what I've seen of him, I think he's pretty strong in that area, with the ball at his feet and everything. I think that's why he's going for it. Maybe that is one of the key parts of Motta's game, that is absolutely crucial. He has to have a goalkeeper that is really strong building up from the bat.
01:00:31
Speaker
Yeah, that's where we're at with Juventus. Let's just quickly go through the others and we're going to do the Serie A team of seasons. So Genoa Bologna, Genoa win 2-0. All I want to say to this is, one, it's a shame, I think, that Bologna to lose this game because I feel like, look, they're probably going to finish fifth now. Or they are going to finish fifth, aren't they? Because Juventus and Atalanta go above them. I think that they had the chance to finish third, which would have been
01:01:02
Speaker
have really kind of in the history book sort of rubber stamped this historic season finishing third versus finishing fifth and I think they should have gone for it more but you know that's just that's just me being picky I guess but I just yeah exactly yeah I know I know what you mean but it's it's all academic at the end of the because they've you know if anyone hasn't seen those scenes at Polonia of celebrations it's just unbelievable the way that they've
01:01:25
Speaker
the last week, the whole city turned up for them and praised them. And it's been an unbelievable season. It's going to be very interesting to see what happens moving forward and where this project goes, because from what I understand, Sartori is staying. So that's the most important thing. We'll see what happens with Kalafjori. We'll see what happens with Zirksa. Mota is already gone. Who comes in and how do they, you know, can they, they now have a
01:01:51
Speaker
because they're also building their new stadium or refurbishing the old one and their plans to do that and everything's looking good for them. So now they actually have kind of something in place to become the new, the latest atalanta, if you will. They have all the building blocks in place. If they play them correctly and smartly, they can do that, but they just need to get that coaching appointment right. And I wonder who that is. Is it Italiano? Is it Sarri?
01:02:19
Speaker
you know, watch the space or is it someone else? But I think it's one of those two. Halidina could be one to watch because he's also leaving Monza as well. Halidina is leaving Monza. Juric is leaving Toreno as well. So much coaching changes this summer. I mean, half the league is leaving. Half the league is changing managers and there might be more as well.
01:02:40
Speaker
Yeah, so that's Bologna. Amazing, amazing season. Historic season from Bologna. Lazio, nothing much to say here. 1-1 against Sasuolo. They clinched Europa League. The only thing I want to say is the beautiful Tifo. Sven Goran-Eriksen was continuing his farewell tour. Beautiful Tifo. Magical Tifo from the Lazio fans. Yeah, it was beautiful. It was moving. Very moving.
01:03:07
Speaker
Very pretty and it was nice for him to be able to go back to Lazio and be praised and receive the accolades that he so deserves. It was pretty, it was nice. And other than that, Zakani scored a free kick, which I thought was more a goalkeeping howler. It was a good shot, but I thought it was more of a goalkeeping howler than anything else.
01:03:31
Speaker
But no, it was a good game. It was a good way for them to say goodbye. And I like what Tudor is doing, and I hope that Kamada stays now. Because I had him as my breakthrough player of the season in the Serie A, and I think that he never got on with Sarri,
Lazio's Promising Future with Kamada
01:03:45
Speaker
never worked out. But if he stays, and if he can be the kind of midfielder that Tudor wants to use him, I think they have potentially a gem on their hands, Lazio.
01:03:55
Speaker
He certainly suits Tudor's style of play a lot more than Sadi's style of play. That's for sure. More energy, more vertical than Sadi. That's more his type of game, Kamada.
01:04:11
Speaker
The only other thing I wanted to say was, Sasuolo, I'm very interested to see what happens to Berardi this summer. Does he finally leave Sasuolo? Or does he play instead of he with Sasuolo? I mean, surely he's got to leave, but then he's coming off a very, very serious injury. So who tries to sign him? Does he maybe stay at Sasuolo or maybe leave during the January transfer market? I don't know. It's quite an interesting one, isn't it?
01:04:38
Speaker
because he's got this bad injury and he's going to be out, I'm not sure when he's back, but he, yeah, what happens to Domenico Berardi? Does he finally, finally, he's going to be 30 this summer, does he finally leave Sasuola? Very good question. I think he does, given that he wasn't even there when they got relegated. Yeah, he didn't even bother. He didn't even bother, he wants to leave. It's so weird, isn't it? Someone's so loyal to Sasuola these years and he doesn't turn up when they need to win to avoid relegation. I mean, he was injured.
01:05:09
Speaker
He was injured, but it's not a good look. I think he does leave. I think he does leave. And I think a potential destination could be Roma.
01:05:19
Speaker
That could be, yeah. Maybe they get rid of Tibala, bring in Peradi, maybe. Maybe. Could happen. We'll see. Yeah. Okay. Right. Now we're going to do our Seria awards for the season. Now that the season is over, the Seria season is now over. And we're going to start off with the Seria team of the season. So I'm going to pick my team first, then Nima. I'll let you do the pick your team as well.
01:05:47
Speaker
So I'm going to start off, I'm picking a 3-5-2 formation and I'm going to go in goal. I know he wasn't in the official Serie A shortlist for goalkeeper's season, which I didn't understand at all, to be honest with you, but I'm going for Jan Sommer as my goalkeeper of the season. I think when you consider that he was seen as a downgrade on Onana, most people were against this.
01:06:13
Speaker
this transfer, and he's ended up being an upgrade. He's conceded, well, not him, Inter, I've only conceded 22 goals, but Aldero conceded a few of these. Inter have conceded the least in a number of goals in the big five leagues in Europe this season. And Sommer, I believe, has the most clean sheets of a goalkeeper in Europe's big five leagues, and he didn't even play all the games either. So I think it has to be Jan Sommer for my goalkeeper. Then in defense, I'm going for three-man defense. I'm going for
01:06:45
Speaker
Brema, who I think at the first half of the season was the best defender in Serie A. Then of course Juventus fell apart and he had a bit of a dip, but I think he returned. What we saw in the Coppa Italia final was fantastic. So Brema, then I'm going for two Italians, Alessandro Buongiorno, who tops so many of the metrics for Serie A defenders this season. His numbers when it comes to like interceptions, aerial challenges won,
01:07:13
Speaker
Um, tackles, uh, fouls as well. Um, he's, he's right up there. Um, magnificent. And then the Ricardo kind of fury who has probably been the breakout star maybe of all of Saria, maybe this season. I mean, incredible job from motor converted from a left back to a sense back. He's been brilliant. Uh, in the Bologna story, my two wingbacks, I'm going for two inter players. I'm going, I know he didn't really play. He didn't wait. He didn't play there for into, but a right wing back. I'm going Pavar cause I need to find a place room in the, in the team. He's been.
01:07:42
Speaker
magnificent signing for Rinta. And then Federico Di Marco, who definitely scored the goal of the season, that incredible halfway line lob. Who was that goal? Who was that game against? Federico Di Marco. Is it Frozinone? Frozinone. Torrati, I think, was in goal. Yeah. Insane. Because he's an interista as well. Brilliant. And then my midfield three, I'm going for Hakan Chalanogolu,
01:08:11
Speaker
who, I think was it 14 goals this season? I mean, most of them are penalties, but amazing, anyway, amazing, amazing season. He's had best midfielder in the league and then Cook Miners from Atalanta, who I believe, I think after Bellingham, only Bellingham has scored more goals from midfield, I believe in Europe's big five leagues. I saw that doing the rounds, I will check it.
01:08:34
Speaker
But, you know, Bellingham paid as a centre forward, basically, for the first half of the season for Real Madrid. So, you know, you could say Koopman is his number one. And then Pulisic, I've put into midfield, I know he was played more as an outside forward, but I think he has been the land's best player this season and amazing number of goals he's scored this season as well.
01:08:56
Speaker
And then the front two, I think it's, it's picks itself. Uh, Lautaro Martinez, of course, Capo Coneneira and, uh, Joshua Joshua. Uh, for Bologna who's again, breakout star this season has been a Reva revelation for Bologna. I've got the same formation. Uh, I've got some, uh, the only difference I got Bella Nova as a right wing back. Um, I don't have Calafiori. I've got Bremer Bonjourno and Bastoni. I got Bimarco.
01:09:25
Speaker
And then I've got Chalanoglu cup miners and I'm playing a 3, 4, 2, 1. So I've got Pulisic there and I've got Liao and then Lautaro up front. I don't have ZX up front. I still think there's a little bit like it. So I'm playing a 3, 4, 2, 1. I've got Liao and Pulisic behind Lautaro. So I've got a double tandem. I got like a pivot midfield, double pivot with Chalanoglu cup miners.
01:09:50
Speaker
so I got three four two one but that's essentially the same that I've got because I think Bastoni to me I have to say I'm so unbelievably impressed by the season Alessandro Bastoni has had especially defensively I did not I mean it's always been a weakness of his defensively but the strides he has taken
01:10:12
Speaker
defensively and the leadership he's shown in that defense, I think are a big, big reason why Inter have not conceded as much and have been so solid defensively. And if you look at historically at Inter's captains, who they are, the Bergomis, the Faketis, the Zanetis, for me, Bastoni is more of the mold of an Inter captain than Barela and Lautaro, both are.
01:10:36
Speaker
He leads by example on and off the pitch. He understands how to interpret his role at Inter, the way he is with fans, the way he is with sponsors, the way he carries himself, him and his wife, because that's also very important.
01:10:59
Speaker
I think we're going to see Bastani as Inter's captain and Bandiera in the not so distant future. I really think so. And I also expect him to kind of stay there for many, many years to come. And he seems happy to want to do that too. So now for me, I have to have Bastani. I love Calafiora. I think he's, like you said, together with Zirkse, probably breakout player of the season.
01:11:26
Speaker
And Bonjour, no stats are ridiculous. Brem has been bizarrely good. So but I have to have Bastoni there. I think he's been absolutely fantastic in both phases of play and he's taken strides that I didn't expect that I didn't think he would be able to. But now now he's doing it at the right moment of his career. And it's going to be interesting to see where they go from this. Hmm.
01:11:45
Speaker
Well said. Okay, so that's our Serie A team this season. We'll actually, because we're going over, we'll hold our Serie A awards for the season. It's a Thursday show and we'll do our full awards. We'll go through all the main positions, best goalkeeper, best defender, best midfielder, best attacker.
Upcoming Serie A Awards Episode
01:12:03
Speaker
We're also going to do best fullback, best winger, best youngster, best transfer, worst transfer, best manager, and also
01:12:14
Speaker
go on then we're gonna do by popular demand we're gonna do a prim face of the season as well we're gonna need some we're gonna need some help though so especially to all our patreons like police you I used to keep a note of all our prim faces throughout the season but it was taking up too much space in my Google Drive so now every show I do I just delete the show so I don't have anything saved and so
01:12:36
Speaker
I mean, some of these should be memorable enough that we should remember them enough. Please do send them in. Send in your premises of the season that we've had so far, if you can remember them. Send us on Patreon, DM us. And then what we'll do is, from the ones that you've sent in, we'll do a shortlist, because we're going to do a shortlist for each award, and then we'll pick a winner.
01:13:02
Speaker
Okay, right. Conference league finals on Wednesday, Olympiacos versus Fiorentina. The game is in Athens. But the dynamic of this is really, really interesting, as you kind of touched upon the other day briefly, Limma, that the game is at AEK Athens' stadium.
01:13:18
Speaker
So it's not as simple as, oh, this is a home game for Olympiartos. But then again, it kind of depends, and I have no idea on this at all. It kind of depends, like, who are the fans in the stadium? Are they going to be Olympiartos fans flooding into the same? Or are the AEK Athens fans going to kind of find their way into the stadium and start supporting Fiorentina? Like, how is it going to work? I don't know. It's going to be very, very interesting from that aspect.
01:13:48
Speaker
Oh, it absolutely is. But I am worried about if this game could have very negative, you know, around the game, there could be negative things in because of the fact that it's where it's played and Olympiacos fans are coming in and there was actually serious discussions about moving the final from Greece. But the Greek F.A. would have, you know, it would have been embarrassing for them if they couldn't have guaranteed the security here.
01:14:15
Speaker
Um, but yeah, no, listen, it's, uh, it's going to be a fiery affair. Um, and hopefully we don't see any trouble and hopefully we see a, we see a fantastic night that sees Fiorentina finally win that trophy that they've so long been working towards under, um, under Comiso. And I think that Fiorentina deserve, and I think this project deserves, especially also what's happened with, you know, the, the sad passing of Joe Barone.
01:14:44
Speaker
Um, so now I hope so. And they're in good form. Fiorentina, they, they, they've lost two in the last eight at one six. So, um, hopefully we see, we see Fiorentina turn up, um, and, and win that trophy because then we'll have three, if I'm not mistaken, we'll have, they will, they will be in the, uh, Europa league as well. I will have lots of Roma and Fiorentina in the, in the Europa league, which is a very strong lineup. And, and of course that would also mean.
01:15:13
Speaker
that Ivan or Torino will play in the conference league and hopefully Ivan Joric stays and he plays in the conference league and you know Europe needs to see Joric, it's just it needs to happen. Yeah it's a shame that Napoli didn't
01:15:30
Speaker
didn't because if Napoli would have been in the conference league in terms of like chances of going on the way and winning it I mean it would have had a really great chance of winning that title. Yeah but I think I don't want to go conspiracy theory here but I do think there was some
01:15:48
Speaker
There was some calculations. I don't think Antonio Conte needed to. I think Aurelio is smart enough to read the tea leaves there. I think he understands what's good for his club. Sometimes not playing, traveling. It's not even the Europa League. I love the conference league. I think it's one of the more fun things UEFA have come up with. One of the few good things they've come up with. It's so interesting, the tournament.
01:16:18
Speaker
the people in the clubs involved in it. And when he gets to the latter stages, and I like this tournament. So, you know, I would have loved to see Napoli and obviously they would have been favorites to win it. But but but given where the Chelsea are going to be in it now, because of Man United winning the FA Cup, Chelsea, Chelsea, that would have been a great fight. Oh my God, that would have been so cool. And Tony Conte against his whole club.
01:16:42
Speaker
he went to court with against. How amazing would that not have been? Yeah, but we'll see. I mean, if Chelsea being in there, I think Chelsea are just going to cruise to that trophy. I mean, even, you know, even you're rich. The problem is with Torino is that, you know, Bonjour and Belenova might leave. I think Bonjour will probably leave, say,
01:17:05
Speaker
I don't know what's going to happen to that Torino team next season. But anyway, let's not talk about Torino being there until Fiorentina win it. Let's just hope that Fiorentina do it and that they turn up in this final and finally get that trophy that really these two years deserve.
Leonardo Bonucci's Retirement and Legacy
01:17:25
Speaker
Because they've been to, this is their third final. Third final in two years, so they've got to win one of them at least.
01:17:33
Speaker
Okay, just before we finish off with Bajo, Primface and Celia Ass of the week, Leonardo Bonucci has announced his retirement from football at the age of 37 years old and his final game for Fenabachi on Sunday.
01:17:53
Speaker
and they won. He came on as a second off substitute, but they didn't win the league. Gazzeroi won their game, so he didn't finish on a high with a trophy. But yeah, it's in some ways a sad ending for Bonucci to see him finish his career like this out in Turkey, winning this season.
01:18:12
Speaker
half a season at Union Berlin which was a disaster and then spending it then moving to Fenebachi where it didn't really do much better there. But if we look at the career as a whole, I mean a magnificent career from from Bonucci, he will go down as a
01:18:30
Speaker
as a, as a legend, Italian football, Italian football legend. Some Juventus fans still never forgave him for the way that he left Juventus, but he is a Juventus legend for what he achieved, for what he won, for being part of that incredible team, the BBC with Buffon, Buffon, Bazzali, Benucci and Chiellini, one of the great defences in modern football. We haven't had many great defences in the last 15, 20 years in world football because
01:18:58
Speaker
The art form of defence has died. The BBC, this Juventus and Italy defence was one of the exceptions to that rule. Incredible defence and he was the brains beyond that defence. He was the elegance, he was the player that started it.
01:19:15
Speaker
that started to play from the back, incredible range of passing, technically fantastic, mentally very, very strong. And, you know, he was it was a wonderful, wonderful career. And of course, Nima crowned with the Euro 2020 success for for Italy, an incredible tournament, him and Keilini at the back, kind of their last
01:19:42
Speaker
hurrah, wasn't it, really, in football before they both started to get old and decline? And he, of course, scored in the final. He scored the equalizer in the final against England.
01:19:54
Speaker
and it took it to extra time, scored in the penalty shootout, and he was at the centre of the celebrations, no one will ever forget the way he mocked the English, it's coming home, or it's coming Rome, he chanted. He was somebody that also, of course, if he wasn't on your side, you didn't like him very much, he was kind of a bit of a...
01:20:17
Speaker
a bastard of a player in some ways that he was our bastard if he were Juventus or Italy fan but at the end of the day it's been an amazing career for Benice. It absolutely has. You look at
01:20:32
Speaker
For me, I look at Antonio Conte. I remember when Bonucci came up through the ranks and together with Andrea Ranocchia, they were deemed to be the new, they were supposed to be the new players that,
01:20:58
Speaker
the new defenders of the new generation to take the step on from the previous Nesta's and Maldini's and Canavaro's. And for me, him at Bari and under Antonio Conto with Renocchio next time, those two were like the predestinati. And Renocchio was rated higher. Yeah, he was supposed to have been the better one. He was supposed to have been the better one, as it turns out. I mean, his career is, for me,
01:21:28
Speaker
completely. I can't think of talk about Bonucci without talking about Conte, Barzagli and Killini because I think the fact that he came to Juve under Antonio Conte and Antonio Conte fixed that system for him or for Juve with him kind of having Barzagli and Killini behind him kind of doing the defensive works and he could sit there like almost like a quarterback in the NFL to use NFL lingo and pick out these passes
01:21:56
Speaker
time and time and time again, which he did. You know, brilliant in the air, scored quite a few goals for a defender, good par, fantastic passer of the ball. But I, yeah, no, no, for me, it's, it's, you know, his career goes hand in hand, it's tandem with Balsali and Quilini.
01:22:17
Speaker
But we have, I kind of agree with what you said as well. I wonder if he's ever been better than that summer with Kehlini. They were the two best central defenders in the world that summer. They were unbelievable. At a time when both seemed like they were on the decline, but then they just had an Indian summer that summer and just were just incredible. Just just faultless in that in that sort of an amazing and he
01:22:44
Speaker
Yeah, they were both of them, but very mentally strong players and probably the last of the kind of
01:22:54
Speaker
Well, I guess Keilini was more old school than Bonucci. Bonucci was a ball player as well, but he did have that tough side to him as well, which you need to win tournaments. Unfortunate how his career ended. He really wanted to go to these Euros, Bonucci. He really wanted to. He felt like he had a chance, but then obviously with Mancini,
01:23:16
Speaker
with Roberto Mancini leaving that was the leaving Italy that was the end of it and probably a good thing because if you've seen him Benucci play this season yeah it's clear that he didn't want to accept it for a while Benucci and that led to kind of a bit of a sour end into his time but that happens with a lot of great players you know they don't they can't accept that the you know age catches up with us all you can't go on forever and
01:23:44
Speaker
some of the greats that can't see it coming. In the mind, they're still the player that they thought they were at their peak. He probably went on a little bit too long, Benucci, but it won't change what he'd done during his career.
01:24:00
Speaker
OK, so another another another great guy. He has nine he has a nine score. He has nine score. I mean, because he was part of the inter team of five or six that won the score. And then, of course, he's got eight with with you. So he's he's he will have won nine Serie A titles. And then, of course, for Coppa Italia's five Super Coppa, two Champions League. So he is one of the most decorated players, Italian players in all of Italian football history.
01:24:30
Speaker
Yeah, he certainly is. He certainly is.
Atalanta's Historic Europa League Win
01:24:32
Speaker
Right, let's finish off with Badgio, Prem Face and Sadia Ass of the Week. Badgio is pretty easy and that is of course Atalanta as a whole. Absolutely magical performance in the Europa League final. Thrashen
01:24:49
Speaker
Leverkusen, 3-0 in Dublin, 51 games unbeaten going into that game were Leverkusen. They were such overwhelming favourites. The bookmakers, I mean Atalanta were 3-1, which is almost unheard of in a one-off game in the final.
01:25:07
Speaker
and they you know it was as I said on our Thursday pod and where we reacted to this it reminded me of the great Milan Thrashen of Barcelona 4-0 in 1994 in that you had a favorite that was so overwhelming favorite but didn't only lose the final they got absolutely dismantled in the final it was a
01:25:26
Speaker
an iconic historic performance from Atalanta, their first victory, first trophy for six decades and their first European trophy ever. And the first trophy of his managerial career for Gasparini. And Ademola Lukman, of course, if we're going to pick an individual for Badger of the Week, we have to go Ademola Lukman because that was a hat trick for the ages. And he also scored on Sunday as well. So four goals in the week for Ademola Lukman.
01:25:56
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the only other possible budge of the week I can come up with is Davide Níkola. I mean, it's just how he does this time and time again. But yeah, of course, it's Atalanta. There's no doubt about that. But Davide Níkola as a distinct, as a runner-up in this week, because it's truly remarkable that he's managed to keep this empathy side afloat in the city.
01:26:24
Speaker
For sure. Right. Prem face of the week. I've got a couple. So the first one is our friend Joe Cole on CNC Sports who credited West Ham for Atalanta's victory over Leverkus and saying that Atalanta learned from West Ham how to trouble Leverkus in this fight.
01:26:46
Speaker
I don't even know what that means. What does he mean by that? I don't get it. What is he referring to? Because West Ham played Leverkusen in the quarterfinal and Leverkusen I think won the first leg 2-0 and then West Ham went 1-0 up in the first leg and they played pretty good game actually until Leverkusen got their usual late equalizer to draw 1-1. But I didn't watch that game but apparently West Ham were quite aggressive and really
01:27:23
Speaker
Lille, or am I... No, you're thinking of Aston Villa. Sorry, yeah, yeah, sorry, I mixed it up with the conference league, Lille and what's his name? Yeah, Emery, yeah. Okay, yeah, I don't think... Yeah, I gotta be honest, I don't think Gasparini watches a lot of David Moyes. That would be funny, I mean, Gasparini learning from David Moyes, that would be kind of like Pep Guardiola learning from Sam Alidair, I saw.
01:27:35
Speaker
push them about.
01:27:51
Speaker
or Mike Bassett. My next print post of the week was, I mean, listen, you have to watch this to appreciate it.
Football Influencers: Authenticity in Question
01:28:04
Speaker
It's hard for me to kind of describe it in words, but it's after Mauricio Pochettino got sat by Chelsea and this video of Rory the Tory
01:28:14
Speaker
went viral and it's a compilation of Rory the Tory throughout the 23-24 season and it clips together probably about a dozen videos of Rory the Tory talking about Pochettino. So first of all it starts at the beginning of when he was first when Pochettino first got the job and Rory the Tory's like you know really like building up a
01:28:38
Speaker
this is a fantastic site, a fantastic hire. He's going to win us the league. He's a world-class manager. And then, you know, then kind of like a month later, next one, I'm Pochettino. Yeah, he's the best thing. You know, we finally got a great that he's really building it up. And then it kind of gradually shows that shows how Rory the Tories just suddenly, you know,
01:29:00
Speaker
it all starts to fall apart and his opinion changes. And by the end, he's like, oh, Pochettino needs to be sacked. He's Tottenham. He spurs. He's always been spurs. I've always said he spurs. We should never have appointed him. I never wanted to have appointed him. Like he's just like contradicting everything that he said at the start. It's just vintage Rory de Torre.
01:29:25
Speaker
I don't know what to say to that. I just think this guy is such a... I just can't stand these people, these influencers. I don't even know what he does. All of these gold bridges, this Rory guy, speed. It's just so fake, all of it. Speed. Oh my God. Did you see that video of Speed at the FA Cup final?
01:29:46
Speaker
he was like he stood up in that many night they were tuning up and he stood up among the man united section and he's trying to hype up try and get the man united crowd going he just stands up and he goes come on guys get hyped up guys and and there was these two like sort of like 40 something man united fans they were like shut
01:30:07
Speaker
And he's like, what, what, why are you getting mad at me? You know, we're winning too. And it was just, oh my God, it was cringe. It was absolute cringe. And he just summed me up for me. I was just thinking like, that would be me. Like if this, if I have speed, if I was in a football stadium watching my team, even if they were winning and this speed guy is like, cause he's not a fan of many night. And obviously he just, you know, he's just going there as an influencer wearing a many nights.
01:30:31
Speaker
shirt if he was there like shouting the kind of stuff that he'd done doing the kind of stuff he does i would like to be like just shut the f up man and if my team were losing i'd probably throw him out of stadium myself it's like oh my god
01:30:50
Speaker
Yeah, it's just embarrassing. I just find them irrelevant. I don't get the point of this side show and this bad acting, because that's all it is. It's just bad acting.
01:31:06
Speaker
I mean, it's just when he was when he would, you know, when they're just pretending to they're pretending to know what they're talking about. Same thing with that Rory the Tory guy when he was talking about Holland and it's disrespectful to the establishment, whatever the hell that means. You miss using terms. He doesn't even know what they mean. And then and then he's you know, all you know, the speed guys. It's just so it's just fake, man. I don't you know, whatever.
01:31:31
Speaker
Just move on. I just can't, I just can't. It's just, it's a side show, you know, to me it's just a side show and they're irrelevant really. It's more fun when these journalists like Martin Samuel and what's his name, Henry Winter and these guys, when they have meltdown, that is genuinely entertaining to me. You talk about Allegri stealing a living. I mean,
01:32:00
Speaker
Oh yeah, if you see the salaries, these guys are on. I'm sorry, Mike and Samuel are on £200,000 a year just to write a few columns and destroy the buffet tray every team stayed in.
01:32:19
Speaker
Oh my god. And have a go at NIMA on TalkSpark. That's so funny. That's one of the funniest things ever. Right. And then write columns about it, trying to cope. It's very, very funny. Seria Ass of the Week, NIMA. I've got one. You've got mine, how many?
01:32:38
Speaker
Yeah, you can go first. Yeah, so first one was, of course, it wouldn't be a week of Cédias of the week without having something from the Serie A official Twitter account. And that was the Serie A announced their nominations for under 23 Player of the Year. And guess who was on there?
01:32:58
Speaker
Raul Belenova. Look, how old is Raul Belenova? 24 years old. Yeah, but the thing is, I don't want to be like, let's be a bit fair. To be fair to Raul Belenova. He's born, he turned 24 on the 17th of May.
01:33:14
Speaker
So he's been 23 the entire season, except for until 17th of May. I get what he's saying, but it's not like he turned 24 at the beginning of the season. Then I think he should be excluded. But when they put out the post, he was 24. Yeah, but it's the end of the season. He turned on the 17th of May. I thought that was a little bit
Serie A's Controversial Nominations and Blunders
01:33:37
Speaker
Any, any awards, any awards for these, because other leagues do these for like under 21 players a season, under 23 players a season, they always cut it off so that you can't be over the age at the end of the season. Because you have, you have to be, because I mean, like Belanova has played a game this season when he's 24. So that doesn't count. But whenever they do awards, they're always cut off.
01:33:58
Speaker
So, I mean, I'm not necessarily blaming the Serie A Twitter account for this. They're just announcing what the league is announced. But let's just say Serie A is the Serie A of the week for having an under 23 player every year where the player is over the age. So it's just not how things are done. If they want to change the rules, they can do. If they want to change how it's normally done and say, oh, well, we're going to do it like this, they have to be
01:34:22
Speaker
Under the age, you know, I mean it can be done. I mean under 21's for example, you're on the 21 tournament You know, you have to be 21 or under at the state at the time when the qualification starts and then you have you have players that 23 at the actual Finals themselves, you know, so, you know this this if we want to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I just found it amusing that they put our place with the nominations for the best youngster and then the players over the age limit and
01:34:54
Speaker
Yeah, mine is, I've got two seriases. One is, it's so funny because it's so stupid and hilarious. So Marco Arnautovic, Hakan Chalanoglu, and who was the third one? It was Hakan, it was Arnautovic,
01:35:14
Speaker
I can't remember the third one now, but whatever, Turam, sorry, Marcus Turam, Hakan Chellonov, and Marco Arnautovic commissioned rings from a very famous jeweler, apparently, famous celebrity jeweler, to commemorate that interim 120 Seria,
01:35:34
Speaker
seria titles and it's it's uh in my opinion an absolute monstrosity which probably cost them all a fortune it's one of the most ugliest pieces of jewelry i have ever seen in my life but that's just my personal opinion it's just it's like it looks like like just everything like you just put a bunch of shiny shit together on a metal case like it's just it's just it's so so just trashy and tacky in my opinion
01:36:04
Speaker
But that's not the funny part. God knows how much they've paid for this because they misspelled internationala.
01:36:15
Speaker
on the ring. Oh, I saw this, Internationale. Yeah, Internationale, they spelled it instead of Internationale. And it's just so, I can't stop laughing. So, you know, and the way they hyped it up and it was like, you know, the guy came and handed it over, took photos with everyone, showed how it works. And you can, the first part, the part of the ring can be taken apart and it can turn into a necklace. I mean, you can hang it as, I mean, it's just, it's, you know, whatever, each to their own, it's taste and preference.
01:36:43
Speaker
But the fact that they couldn't even get the spelling right, and they say it the way that, you know, Carragher said it on that viral clip now on CBS when he said it with his, you know, internationally. And it's like, it's just very, very, very, very funny. But the second part is, is seria a, seria a embarrassing themselves again. This is a week or two old now.
01:37:09
Speaker
But Alessandro Alcato is a journalist who works for Radio Seria. It's their new kind of, you know, they're, you know, Seria doing interviews, radio and video interviews of people in Calchon and basically doing it professionally instead of these kind of safe stuff where they don't see anything of any importance or significance.
01:37:32
Speaker
Radio official TV of the Serie A Football League is what it's called. And it was on May 9th that Paolo Maldini did this interview with Alessandro Alcato.
01:37:48
Speaker
And in this interview, Maldini basically praised Inter for doing things right and saying that their directors have stability, that they can work in stable conditions, essentially. Milan did not like this and put pressure on the Serie A to not air this, something Alessandro Alcato, the journalist, confirmed.
01:38:16
Speaker
And then, of course, you know, he, you know, he was told, you know, he was pressured to not air this. And then of the seria, this is where it gets weird. The seria then release a statement saying,
01:38:30
Speaker
that there was there was no that they they it's absolutely false there was no pressure by anyone no one's pressured us we've you know we we aired the interview blah blah blah blah no one said anything Maldini's lawyer Danilo Bonjorno has really released a statement hitting out at the censorship of the interview you know
01:38:52
Speaker
warning of possible legal action and then Al-Chahto after being made to look like a liar by the Syria released a long Twitter post saying oh basically you know very sarcastic using oh so I imagined all of this happening I imagined
01:39:09
Speaker
the pressure. I imagined all of this that you didn't want me to air this. I imagined that you changed your mind after Paolo Maldini rang you and yelled at you and so on and so forth. I mean, it just turned into a complete and utter shit show, which the Seria, of course, did not handle properly because they are unable of handling conflicts. And
01:39:33
Speaker
I mean, if Milan are uncomfortable with an interview being broadcast by the league in their Serie A TV radio, that's one thing. That happens. That's not new. That can happen anywhere, everywhere. But the way to handle that is to not try to censor it, piss off the guy you interviewed so that he's threatening legal action, make the journalist who did the interview look like a liar so he resigns in protest,
01:40:02
Speaker
all because of a harmless comment. Okay, you can be seen as a dig at Milan. I understand that Milan weren't happy with it. And I understand that they raised their concerns. That's fine. But the way that the city are handled this is just...
01:40:15
Speaker
vintage Serias. There exists no situation on God's green earth that the Lega Calcio cannot make infinitely worse via their own making. It's just unbelievable how clumsy they are. And so it's turned into this circus now.
01:40:35
Speaker
And it's just embarrassing. So yeah, that's got to be, for me, this is like vintage, said he asked. And of course, I'll chat up going out and confirming because he's been called, you know, he's basically been branded to be a liar when he isn't. And he just went out and said all these things. And then he resigned in that post as well. But it's just never changed, said he asked. Yeah. Clown show.
01:40:58
Speaker
That's what it is, a clown show. Right, let's leave it at that then. We'll be back on Tuesday for the Q&A and then later in the week for reaction to the final of the conference league and also a few other little bits and bobs in that. Yeah, Seria Awards of the Week, Seria Awards of the Week and so on.
01:41:22
Speaker
Not the season, not the season. So it's the awards of the season, yeah, exactly. Prem Face of the season as well. So please make sure to send in your patrons. Please make sure to send in your favourite Prem Faces because we're going to have some fun with that. Yeah, we will do. OK, thanks everyone for listening. See you next time. Ciao ciao.