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Free Weekly Episode - AC Milan Fans Sandro Tonali Heartbreak, Inter Milan Steal Marcus Thuram & Cesar Azpilicueta, Juventus Swoop For Timothy Weah & Much More (Ep. 336)
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From AC Milan fans in uproar following the aftermath of Sandro Tonali being sold to Newcastle as well as losing out on Marcus Thuram to Inter Milan who are close to wrapping up both Cesar Azpilicueta and Davide Frattesi but only after selling Marcelo Brozovic with possibly André Onana on his way to Manchester United, to Juventus fans angry due to signing Timothy Weah to replace Juan Cuadrado, Italy U21 robbed in Euro opener against France after scandalous refereeing, as well as a deep-dive and analysis on the impact on the Serie A as a whole both short-term and long term, given the mass exodus from the league of star players and much, much more as Nima and Carlo break down all the talking points from a jam-packed week in in Italian football.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Italian Football Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast. Hello everybody and welcome to the Italian football podcast. I'm Carlo Garganese here as always with Nima Tavalli. So the Mercato has absolutely exploded over the last week. I have no idea how we are going to get through all of it today but
00:00:22
Speaker
We will do our best.
Sandro Tonali's Historic Transfer and its Impact
00:00:24
Speaker
The big story of course, Sandro Tonali who is about to join Newcastle in a record transfer for an Italian and Milan fans are absolutely heartbroken about that. So we're going to discuss all about Tonali.
00:00:38
Speaker
and it's not been a good week for Milan because they have lost or are about to lose Marcus Taram who was their top attacking target to their rivals, city rivals Inter and they've been beaten and to the punch by Inter there.
00:00:54
Speaker
Very, very busy at Atinta. Marcello Brozovic, who we can probably describe as an Inter legend, is leaving the club to go to Saudi Arabia. He's about to be replaced by David A. Fratesi. Inter are also about to sign Cesar Espeliqueta on a free transfer from Chelsea to replace Milan Scrinia.
00:01:15
Speaker
Their goalkeeping position on Nana's future will discuss about him because the probable replacement for him was going to be Guglielmo Bicario, but he's on the way to Tottenham from Empoli. We're going to discuss that. Juventus,
Juventus Transfers and Allegri's Decisions
00:01:30
Speaker
the chaos continues there. They are about to sign Timothy Weyer, the United States international from Lille for 12 million. This is a transfer that hasn't really pleased Juventus fans.
00:01:45
Speaker
Allegri has rejected a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia. He's going to stay. Rabio is about to sign a new contract at Juventus for another year. So there's so much so much to talk about. Also, of course, following on from Tenali, this whole kind of exodus of big stars from Serie A is concerning. So we are going to discuss that.
00:02:08
Speaker
Away from the transfer market, Italy are in the under 21 euros. They've played two games since our last show. They lost to France in one of the most controversial, well, I would say scandalous referee performances I've ever seen in my life. But they did recover with a very, very nervy 3-2 win against Switzerland. There's lots to talk about that.
00:02:30
Speaker
So yeah, lots to talk about today. We're going to try our best to zoom through each topic as fast as we can, but lots to talk about.
00:02:42
Speaker
For all our first time listeners, this is our free weekly episode, which we do every Monday, reviewing the weekend Serie A action and all the biggest talking points in Italian football. If you want to support the Italian football podcast and receive all of our content that we do throughout the week, which includes our weekly Q&A episode every Tuesday, where we answer all the questions sent in from our Patreons,
00:03:03
Speaker
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00:03:31
Speaker
OK, let's start off with Tonali's move to Newcastle. OK, Nima. So
Milan's Strategy and Fan Concerns
00:03:38
Speaker
for those listening who are regular listeners and Patreons, we did a special podcast, extra podcast on this. It was almost an hour long on Thursday. We went into great detail talking about Tonali's move to Newcastle.
00:03:55
Speaker
from all different angles. So we aren't going to talk about this for too long today. What we are going to do is just focus on what I consider to be the biggest issue here and that is the feeling of the Milan fans, how heartbroken they are and how concerned they are about the direction that Milan are going and whether they are now not only a selling club but a club that only care about profit and not about success on the pitch.
00:04:24
Speaker
What do you have to add to what we already discussed on Thursday? Well, it just continues that to reinforce that feeling of everything we said that, you know, the more I think about it from a broader perspective, the football that we all grew up with, those of us who were born from 95 and earlier, club football is completely dead. It is now a hybrid between
00:04:51
Speaker
this kind of US player trading franchise sports with transfer fees. These clubs are entertainment companies, they're not football clubs at the highest level and that's all there is really. It's not that. All of that, all of those stuff, all of those things that we grew up with
00:05:10
Speaker
To some extent, they've been dead for a long time, but now they're absolutely dead. And this, as I said on Thursday, the road to get to here, before you get to the letter Z, you start with the letter A. This has been a long time coming to get to this.
00:05:26
Speaker
and there are no one, no one's innocent. You know, Italian football, we're doing this in the 80s and 90s when they hovered up all the talent then. Now we're seeing it at a level that we've never seen before with state-owned clubs coming in and pumping in money. Some, you know, violating the laws that are there, the rules and regulations in place and getting away with it while others
00:05:50
Speaker
get caught in the web of the settlement agreement with UEFA. But it is what it is. This is how it is. And I understand Milan fans being upset, but I think more than Tonali leaving, I think this is more about illusions dying, the illusion of Milan as the club that they grew up with, the family club. That's dead, officially, fully dead.
00:06:15
Speaker
And, you know, with Silvio Berlusconi dying the other week, it kind of becomes, it's a lot to take in from Milan fans, because regardless of how you feel about him as a politician, he was the most successful football president that Italian football and world football had at one stage. And he is such a, he brought so much joy to Milan and Milanisti. So it's a lot of
00:06:37
Speaker
you know, changes all at once. Yeah. Emotionally, it's been really tough for the last few weeks, losing Maldenia and the manner that he was tossed away like trash and with a 76 word statement. And not even anything on social media, not even a thank you for anything. No, I mean, that just sums up the corporate world. Yeah, no, no, there's no sentimentality. There's no nothing. It's no respect.
00:07:05
Speaker
No, nothing. It's the numbers and I decide and if you don't like it, there's the door. Do one. Yeah, Luca Mardini losing Sonali. But you know, as we discussed on length on in Thursday's show, like we, us Serie A fans, not just Milan fans, have come to accept that this is the way things are now. Yeah. That Serie A cannot compete and we've got a segment on this lower down set. Serie A cannot compete with the Premier League, with the money that they have.
00:07:32
Speaker
and you know, Serie A teams are going to be, to an extent, selling clubs. We've had to accept that. I've accepted it now. I don't even get angry about it anymore. I'm just almost indifferent to it right now, which is in a way worse. But at the same time, I feel like the way that Milan fans feel right now is that their owner, Cardinale, is an owner who
00:08:00
Speaker
only wants to make money and doesn't care about success. And there's levels to that, but not not to these levels that, you know, this is this is this is this is his intention going forward. He wants to be profitable and a bit like the Glazers Manchester United, where, you know, they've been happy to finish in the top four each year as long as they are generating a certain amount of revenue.
00:08:27
Speaker
that they can then take their dividends out of the club, that they are making a certain amount of money. As long as they're, you know, ticking along, that's fine. But in terms of actual real success, the success that Milan fans, even if it's not going to be on a European level, because like I said, we've accepted that the Serie A teams just can't compete the Premier League, but at least on a domestic level, at least a general level, you know, that
00:08:54
Speaker
Well, actually, Cardinale doesn't really care about that. As long as he's getting into the Champions League each year, he's generating revenue, well, it doesn't bother him if they're going to challenge it consistently for the Scudetto or if they're going to be putting together these kind of teams. Do you know what I mean? So this is, I think, this is definitely the biggest concern from a medium to long term point of view for Milan fans with this owner, with Cardinale.
00:09:19
Speaker
Yeah, no, this is what they want to do. I mean, he's been very honest about that. There's a reason why these hedge fund guys salivate at the mouth at the Atalanta model. How much does Atalanta want? Nothing, but they are profitable. That's the key here. When they talk about the Atalanta model, that's just a really polite way of saying we're here to make lots of money and to
00:09:43
Speaker
capitalize on it and we won't return on investment and if we don't win we don't care as long as we're profitable.
Profitability vs Winning: Serie A's New Model
00:09:49
Speaker
That's what the atalanta model means. It doesn't mean anything other than that. It means finding young players for pennies, developing them, cashing in big and moving on. That means that one of the biggest institutions in Italian football, Milan, will no longer actively compete for the Champions League or can do. Something we already kind of knew anyway, it's not like news to anyone. But this is like, it's kind of become so
00:10:13
Speaker
It's so obvious that this is where Italian football is, when Milan is doing this, when Milan is in the hands of a guy who is openly like this.
00:10:21
Speaker
Well, Juve and Miente will follow. And Napoli's been like that for a long time with the Leontes. He's been very honest about that. Udinese have been very clear about that. Yeah, we'll come onto this. One thing though, I think one thing that is good about this is that it'll make the Serie A much more exciting because no team will open up a winning dominant cycle.
00:10:45
Speaker
for the foreseeable future. And it means that there's a lot of chance for many clubs in the Serie A to win the Serie A because every year players will disappear from winning. We'll come on to this in the segment about the exodus of the Serie A stars. We should just say though, and this will lead us on nicely to our second segment about Marcus Tarra, is that Milan's
00:11:09
Speaker
if they had any plans of how they would replace Sonali, it's not going well. All of their first targets, not just in that position, but elsewhere, they are falling very short on. We've just learnt as we're recording this on Monday morning that Milan are now in advanced talks with Ruben Loftus-Cheek, which again, that is not going to
00:11:32
Speaker
That's not going to please Milan fans. And again, I think he's a good player, but it's not, you know, this is not what you do. You don't replace Sandra Tonali with with Reba not a chic. And, you know, so. So this brings me on nicely to Milan missing out on.
00:11:49
Speaker
Marcus Taran to Inter because I think that, again, as we were discussing on Thursday about how Cardinal just clearly doesn't understand the differences between football or soccer with American sports, which he does have knowledge and experience working in, he wants to completely Americanise AC Milan.
00:12:14
Speaker
with a way of working this moneyball model that he's talking about, this this use of data and analytics and spreadsheets and science and stuff that is important in football, but needs to be married together with with actual knowledge of the understanding and intangibles in football, which means that Maldini being and that brings us on brings me on nicely to how he shoved
00:12:38
Speaker
Maldini and Massada aside, they got rid of them. And he thought that he could appoint in their positions for Lani, give him a promotion, well not promotion, but he'd be in charge of kind of like negotiations and everything together with Monsada.
00:12:55
Speaker
who is a scout, who is a world-class scout, one of the best scouts in the world, one of the best talent spotters in the world, and I talk about it all the time about how fantastic he is at spotting players. But, you know, being a scout is different to being a
00:13:14
Speaker
a sporting director and for Olani, the same as well from what he's been doing from a financial background. And Cardinale has cannot understand this, the importance of Maldini and Masala and the roles that they played. And that has obviously played in these negotiations with Taram and with these other players that they haven't been able to do and they're now having to move down the list of players.
00:13:44
Speaker
because Fellani comes from a corporate background, completely corporate. He worked for Elliot and then he worked for the Lehman Brothers and he has no knowledge or understanding or experience in football, in actual football matters, the understanding of football. And Mansada, he does, but he's a scout. So these people, Cardinale has moved these people into positions that they have no experience or knowledge or understanding of doing. And you can't tell me that that didn't play a role in these negotiations with Taran.
00:14:15
Speaker
No, I think that's part of it. And I think it's going to be some learning, a grace period for them to learn and get into the swing of things. But it's obvious that they don't understand. They're not football people. Football is the way it is. And it's going to take some time for them to understand how it is. And if you've got Paolo Maldini on the phone, just the intangible
00:14:39
Speaker
prestige that he brings. And it's not just him being Paulo Maldín, it's also how he carries himself, the respectful way in which he carries himself and all doors are open to him because he is who he is, not just as a player, but also as a person, off the pitch, always respectful, always a gentleman. So, you know, of course he makes mistakes too, mixed stakes too, but
00:15:01
Speaker
I think it had some impact but I don't think it had that much of an impact that people want to turn it into because you have to remember that Marcus Taram was on the verge of joining Inter two summers ago when on the last weekend before the transfer window closed he injured himself, injured his knee and was away for two months and was missed two months and Inter instead went after Joaquin Correa and then of course Inter have maintained this relationship with Taram
00:15:27
Speaker
Al Azilio met his agents during the World Cup and so they've always been in contact. So it's not like Inter just waltzed in here to just steal a player from Milan. He's a player Inter have been linked to and they've built a relationship with him and his entourage over a long period of time.
00:15:45
Speaker
So that's the full story. But look, if we talk about an inter-perspective, I'm absolutely delighted with this role, with this signing. Because from an asset management point of view, which is what we have to talk about now when we are talking about Italian football, you lose Milan Scrinyar on a free transfer, you get a player not as highly valued as Scrinyar, of course, but
00:16:12
Speaker
someone who, you know, you bring in someone on a free transfer to make up for that. And that's incredibly important. Then you look at and also given the settlement agreement that I think they are in, that's fundamentally important. And then you look at the player attributes of him and he may not be a prolific goalscorer this season. I think he scored more. He had a fantastic start to the season and then there were minor injuries and then the World Cup kind of disrupted that.
00:16:39
Speaker
But he's the kind of striker that Inter need, especially with Jeko Gom. And he's the kind of striker who's a good link-up player, he's fast, he's technical, he can dribble. Inter don't have that. And I think with Lautaro and with Lukaku not owning Lukaku, they had to, they had to get Marco Storam, Inter needed Marco Storam way more than Milan did. And I was very annoyed that they hadn't already wrapped this up.
00:17:07
Speaker
But now it seems they have to ram is about to arrive on we're recording this on a Monday. It's supposed to arrive on Tuesday So no, it's it's he's gonna sign a five-year contract. It's it's it's a smart move again last summer Andre on Anna Mickey Tarjan you know the summer before the a chair be on loan Lukaku on loan the season before that you had a Jekyll on a free transfer, you know, so and then Darnian and so on so this this is how you have to operate now, you know, there's no
00:17:36
Speaker
Champ, there's no money being thrown around like in a 1990s hip-hop video. People aren't throwing dollar bills at the camera. But this is how they have to do it because they, you know, and they've got one of the best in the game to do it in Beppe Marotta. So this is a bit of a redemption for him as well after the ginormous screw-up of Milan screen. What do you think of the salary, six million a season?
00:18:01
Speaker
You have to understand that it's the Kreta Kreshita, the growth decree. So for the first two or three years, they'll pay a lower tax on it. So Jeko was on 10 million gross. He'll be on eight. So he's cheaper than Jeko. And I don't expect Taram to stay at Inter for a longer period of time. I think within the next two years, he'll be sold. Because again, this is the reality we live in. Yeah.
00:18:23
Speaker
Yeah, I think I think there's a good sign in. I mean, he's not prolific, which I think he does need to improve scoring. And if he's it depends how into user if they go with the two up front, he plays with with Lautaro. I mean, into still don't have that that clinical first striker. Of course, he could improve. But you know, I think he'll be that
00:18:45
Speaker
If you look at his last, if you look at his six seasons as a player in the top league, like in the first top flight league, he scored three, nine, 10, eight, three, 13. So, you know, that isn't, last season was his best, best season with 13 goals. So, you know, you can say, okay, easy.
00:19:06
Speaker
he's improving. But yeah, I think he definitely needs to score more goals than he's been scoring. I think he will. I think at Inter he will have that role. I think he will have that role and he will share it together with Lautaro, who is becoming more and more of a complete striker at Inter, even though I don't think he'll ever become that kind of 35 goal plus season kind of striker. But with Turan, you have something else. And if they are able to somehow bring in Romelu Lukaku as well,
00:19:34
Speaker
Well, Lautaro, Taram, Lukaku, and Correa, I don't even mind if Quackin Correa stays. Because that's an attack that tells me that Simone Nzagi is going to rotate exactly like he did the last two months of the season. And I think he's going to do that pretty much from when the Champions League starts. I think that's the plan moving forward, that he needs to keep the players fresh. He's not going to run some players into the ground. He's going to rotate and rotate and rotate. And he wants players of a certain quality.
00:20:04
Speaker
across the board of the team. No, I think Marotta is doing a fantastic job this summer. Again, just to finish off from one final point and the Milan point of view, I think that with Taram, in addition to what I said about Forlani and Moncada, I always believe that as it stands at the moment,
00:20:25
Speaker
You look at Inter and then you compare them to Milan. And if it's a 50-50 decision between the players, possible signing, they're going to go to Inter because that you're looking at Milan, a semi-established player I'm talking about, like Taram. I'm not going to call him an established player. I'm going to call him a semi-established player.
00:20:44
Speaker
Would you want to join Milan after you see that they're selling to Gnarly, they're open to selling Teo Hernandez, they've disheside Maldini, they've pretty much shown that they're a club that just wanna gonna buy youngsters and develop them and then sell on. Or would you join Inter who, yes, as we said, it's Serie A, but they've shown last season they got to Champions League final, there's definitely a brotherhood there togetherness.
00:21:10
Speaker
And they are still, they've shown a willingness to still try and fight out for the biggest trophies, not just in Italy, but in Europe as well. Now, if I'm Taran,
00:21:23
Speaker
I'm joining Insta. For young players, it's fine to have that model of Milan because those young players will say, right, it's a stepping stone for me at Milan. Sounds crazy me saying that Milan is a stepping stone. Yeah. But that's been a long time coming. I mean, Elia played the groundwork for that, didn't they? Yeah. And that was the project. And the issue was that Marlene was very vocal about him wanting Milan to start investing more. And he's no longer there because they're not going to do that.
00:21:53
Speaker
But as a kind of the image of Milan now is after this Tenali deal, especially, is completely that now. Whereas Inter, yes, we accept they have to make sacrifices, they might have to sell a Nana, you know, they're going to have to wheel and deal, which is what Marotta does. But they are still doing that with the aim of being. Biting it out with the very best and Milan just don't have that image. So I think that that is also a reason why Taram
00:22:23
Speaker
probably made a decision to join into a head of Milan. And it's
Inter's Brozovic Transfer Dilemma
00:22:27
Speaker
also a reason why probably Fretezi might now make the same decision and be the man to replace.
00:22:33
Speaker
Marcelo Brozovic choose on his way to Al Nasser. Is that correct, Nimmer? Yeah, it seems like, I mean, Brozovic himself had an Instagram interaction with Fabrizio Biassine, the journalist who basically Biassine wrote him and said, you know, thank you for, you know, I'm going to miss you so much. Thank you for everything. And he said, everyone's saying, writing me saying goodbye and I've not spoken to anyone what's going on and laugh emojis. But, you know, we all know that, bro, he's not so he's not decided to leave, but I think he's close to leaving.
00:23:03
Speaker
And in there are I have said they wanted they want 25 million euros. I think in deal can be agreed for 23 Barcelona don't have the money and also they've signed signed Gundogan the Gundogan now, so You know on a free so we'll see I still think broswich would like to play for Barcelona rather than Al Nasser but Al Nasser are paying him ridiculous amounts of money and it's from what I understand his there his agents think he should go to
00:23:29
Speaker
Saudi Arabia. We'll see what happens, but regardless... The Barcelona have just signed Güntergan. Yeah, that's what I say. Yeah, so they're not going to sign paid 23 million for... No, no, they're not. They're really not. And financially, they're a mess as well. Yeah, exactly. So, no, and also the interview Fratese did with the Gazetta, I think it was, was very, very telling. He said, I'm a Mitzala, I mean, I don't really play with Mitzala. He wants to play in a 4-3-3, or he wants to play in a three-man midfield.
00:23:56
Speaker
Mila play with a 4-2-3-1 so and and also Carnevale which I totally agree with which I totally agree with by the way me too and also Sasolo CEO basically said the other weeks and on Friday I think he said that you know we haven't even had a phone call from Mila yet
00:24:10
Speaker
So we know that they had a meeting with Juve, but nothing from Mila. So we'll see. I think it depends on Brozovic. I think UNTAR are going to basically put their foot down and demand something here and say, look, we need in or out Brozovic. If you're going, we're selling you to this because this is what we want. If not, you're staying. And then they're going to land on it. Francesi's a fantastic, will be a fantastic replacement for UNTAN. It just shows. I mean, I think Marotta's doing an amazing job. And again,
00:24:38
Speaker
in comparison to Milan and in comparison to Juventus, you know, into have a clear idea, a clear project of what they're trying, in terms of team building and what they're trying to do. And Fratesi obviously can see that. Like he said, he sees himself as a Metzala. He sees what intro building and he sees a place for him in the inter team. Whereas he looks at Milan and then if he looks at Juventus, who are the other team who have been in
00:25:05
Speaker
for a long time and I've had talks with Sasawa a lot recently as well. Well, how can he possibly look at Juventus and say, right, should I join Juventus over Inter? Well, where am I going to play? They've got a bunch of midfielders. Rabio might stay, he might leave. Pogba, he might be fit, he might not be fit.
00:25:24
Speaker
you know allegory is the coach is that good for my development what formation they gonna play we still don't even know what formation what system is gonna play the play three five two they gonna play a four three three they gonna play something else.
00:25:37
Speaker
You know, so for me, it's a no brainer for that for his career. And he said he didn't want to go to the Premier League either. He said he wants to stay. No, no, he was very great. He wanted to stay in Italy. He was very, very, which I think is wise as well, especially in a Euro 2024 year in the year of that of the of the of the Euros. It's I always think it's I don't want to move. I always think it's risky going out of your comfort zone.
00:25:59
Speaker
Do it in a non-tournament year, you know, give yourself time to... And that's a risk for tonality as well. But I think Marotta's doing a fantastic job. I think he's doing amazing... I think Manotaro did a fantastic job with Marcus Turan. We have to wait and see with Fratesi. Yeah, if it gets done. And that brings us on to Aspeliqueta as the replacement. The Scrino, this deal is basically done. Free transfer. You're not so happy about this? No, I think this is an embarrassment. You talk about Inter having a project. What project?
00:26:28
Speaker
You sell, you get, you lose, you fumble away Milan Scrinyar and you bring in Césaras Piliqueta as his replacement on a two-year deal because he comes on a free transfer. You're basically begging, you're telling him, you know, liberate yourself from Chelsea and we'll get you on a free transfer for two years. He's not coming in to replace Danilo D'Ambrosio, anyone who thinks that, it's a reality check.
00:26:48
Speaker
because the wages he's going to be on, even with the growth decree, is going to be so high. He's coming in to replace Milan Scrinyan, and anyone who says in 2023 that Cesar Azpilicueta is an upgrade, or even a step sideways compared to Milan Scrinyan, don't know what they're talking about. They don't understand football. It's as simple as that. Cesar Azpilicueta can do a job for Inter. Absolutely. He can probably be good for a year or two.
00:27:11
Speaker
but don't talk to me about a project when it's another stopgap, another stopgap solution. You're in to have an alternative here, to a stopgap. What would you have arrived at? Who would you have arrived and gone for? Marotta's had 12 months to find her an alternative and this is what he comes up with. It's pathetic, really. I'm sorry, but it is. It's absolutely pathetic. You have 12 months to deal with the whole Scrinya debacle and this is your reply.
00:27:38
Speaker
No, I think that's fair. It's taken in isolation on this transfer only. I think the other work he's done has been really good. Well, of course, but if we're talking about this... This summer in terms of Taram, in terms of replacing... Yeah, but look, I think this is absurd, but it is what it is. This is where Inter are.
00:27:59
Speaker
Um, and hopefully he can, you know, I think, you know, if we previous, you know, it's anything to go by previous years or anything. Well, he's a great to the right. He's a great right center back in a back three. He can probably do a good job. He can probably help.
00:28:13
Speaker
do what, you know, do what Simon Inzagi wants his left and right center back to do in the attacking phase. I have severe doubts about the defensive phase because you have now Bastoni and then two 34, 35, 36, 37 year olds. And then you have Defray on top of that.
00:28:33
Speaker
and then Darnian as well. There's a big lack of pace, although the Spiddly Glitz is pretty quick over a few yards, but not over distancing. Yeah, but everyone is over 30, except for Bastoni. Spiddly Glitz is about to turn 34, so I guess we have to see is he still up for it, up to it. He hasn't been at his best in the last year or so, but then who has at Chelsea?
00:28:53
Speaker
No, look, what I'm saying is, look, Francesco Arcieri was also had a dreadful season and he came to Inter and was fantastic, but I'm saying he can do a job, he can probably do a good job, but there is no vision here. You can't tell me with another stopgap solution like Espiliqueta and your entire back line is now 30 plus barring Bastoni.
00:29:15
Speaker
Yeah. Well, we'll see. We'll see. Maybe, you know, they might cash in on Andre Onana and that might free up cash to sign another sense. Which is insane, because if you sell Marcelo Brozovic, you need to have someone who can help you build from the back. And Andre Onana does that. He has the feet of a regista, even though he's a goalkeeper. He has the vision and the passing range and the creativity. So just to sum up here, Inter were planning
00:29:45
Speaker
to potentially sell Anana to Manage United and then use that money to sign Guglielmo Bicario, probably half the price or more. But now Bicario is on the way to Tottenham as we're recording this. He's having his medical on Monday. So he's joining Tottenham now. So that's taken that possibility out now. So I guess the question is what happens now? I mean, you see the names being linked. Jan Sommer, Keilor Navas, Mamadashvili.
00:30:13
Speaker
It's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. So I'm sorry, no, I'm not going to, you know, it's for me now, Onana is off the market. You cannot sell them. If you're selling both of it, you can't sell Onana. You can't sell them both. You need to have someone who can play those all important passes. And Onana also allows Inter, with Onana, Inter have 11 outfield players.
00:30:36
Speaker
because of how fantastic he is in the attacking phase. And I'm talking strictly the attacking phase. I'm not worried. Defensively, there are, you know, he's a great shot stopper, but there are great shot stoppers out there. But there are no goalkeepers who have, who are as good in the build up phase, in the attacking phase with their feet as Andrea Onana. Okay. Well, enough about insight. Is this a good, is this a good transfer for Tottenham? I think so. Yeah. I think I really like him. I think he's, he's, he's a modern goalkeeper. He's like,
00:31:06
Speaker
For me, he's always been, like I said, to me, it's been Handanovic, but 2.0. This kind of great shot stopper, good reflexes, he's good with this, much better with his feet at this age than Handanovic was in the corresponding age. He's a reflex goalkeeper, he's good in the air, he commands the air well. My only concern is that the rebounds are straight out, just like Handanovic.
00:31:30
Speaker
Um, he's not very good at controlling rebounds when shots come in. He puts them always straight out. That's what I don't like. Um, so he needs to improve on that. And I think.
00:31:40
Speaker
And of course, you know, he's no Andre 109. The build up phase is a good parser, but he doesn't have that vision. His distribution is very good, actually. He's one of the top. In fact, we did a we did a profile on him recently, which is on our YouTube, which is on our YouTube, which has been shared quite a lot by Tottenham, Tottenham fans, where we talked about went through some of his stats. He has got some of the best stats in in Serie A for distribution and as a kind of a sweeper keep out.
00:32:07
Speaker
and although he's nowhere near Onana's level, I don't think anybody is really. No, no, Onana's the best in the world at that. And that's what I'm worried about from an intro perspective. But for Vicario, I think as people have asked me from Spurs outlets, I've told them, you need to be patient with him. I think he's going to need some time to get acquainted with him. I think it's a good chance. I mean, for me, it's a bargain if you can consider they were going to pay double the price for Rhea from
00:32:34
Speaker
Brentford. I think they save a lot of money there. I think for the money they paid, it's another blow for Serie A which we'll come to. But for Vicario, I think it'll be the number one and I think it'll definitely be an upgrade on
00:32:53
Speaker
on
Serie A Talent Exodus: Vicario and More
00:32:54
Speaker
Lorise, who's been shambles the last few seasons. So yeah, I think that's a good deal for Tottenham. Let's move on to Juventus now. I'm not sure how good of a deal this is. So, Timothy Weyer,
00:33:07
Speaker
who is the son of the legend, George Weyer, who we learnt last week was the Juventus fan, growing up, even though he was obviously, he won the Ballon d'Or while playing for Milan. So his son, Timothy, who's at Lille, United States international attacker, is the deal is basically done, and it looks like it's going to be completed this week for 12
00:33:33
Speaker
million euros. This hasn't gone down well with the Juventus fans and for a few simple reasons as they look at one stat from last season, this is an attacker who played 32 games last season and scored zero goals, zero. Now there is a caveat there in that
00:33:51
Speaker
He didn't play all the season as an attacker or a winger. He can play as a striker or as a winger, which is his natural roles. He actually played a fair few games as a right bat. He was pushed to right bat because partly to do with injuries, but also he couldn't get into the team in the attack or in the wing.
00:34:11
Speaker
So I think he's obviously being brought in to replace Colorado is where I think is it's just to me that's just well that's for the people that yeah people that are close to you that is are suggesting that that he is seen as a replacement for Colorado. But
00:34:26
Speaker
I mean, it's to see Juventus level player. I haven't watched much of him last season. I have seen him in previous seasons. But I mean, yeah, I mean, people I've spoken to in France, legal experts that say this is not a Juventus level player. So I mean, I don't know. Maybe I'm being harsh, but it's another sign that just doesn't really make much sense to me. Juventus need to make 100 to 140 million euros this season.
00:34:52
Speaker
then they spend 12 million on their way up. 12 million is not a huge amount, but...
00:34:57
Speaker
Do you spend 12 million on wear when you don't have much to spend while they aren't prepared to give Kiazaa a wage hike and they're having to make sacrifices elsewhere? Is this somebody you want to be signing? And is he someone that's going to make the difference? I mean, maybe it's a genius move. Maybe someone's seen something and he can be this Alfonso Davis at right back or something. We haven't seen something, I don't know. But he could be molded into a star right wing back or right back.
00:35:23
Speaker
But yeah, I'm going to wait. I'm going to wait to see a little bit more. I have a closer look at him before I make my mind up. But it's the kind of player that, you know, Juve and Inter and Milan and all these cups have to miss. I know it's, you know.
00:35:37
Speaker
younger, cheaper wages, cheaper transfer fees, and then hope that they can be able to develop them to become stars and then maybe sell them on. That's the kind of move we expect. But whether or not Timothy Veya will be success, I don't know. I want to wait a little bit. I want to see some more first. Yeah, but I mean, yeah, I mean, I have to say I'm suspicious. This is once again just signing someone for the North American market. It's another mechanic.
00:36:06
Speaker
I mean, I don't see, if he wasn't American, would they have signed this player? I mean, zero goals in 32 games last season. I mean, 12 million. I mean, it's...
00:36:19
Speaker
On paper, it's just insane. I thought it was a joke when I first saw it. But, you know, this is your business now, so nothing surprises me anymore. Rabio, though, it looks like he's going to sign a new contract, one year renewal, seven million euros contract, the same.
00:36:39
Speaker
I mean, I guess it depends how you look at this. You know, it's a one-year contract. It's not a bad deal for Juve. But again, kind of like what you were saying with Aspilicueta is that this, again, just shows it's just another stock gap. And it puts into question whether Juve have any kind of project because it's more short-termism. Aspilicueta was Scrinha's replacement. Rabio is Rabio's replacement. So it's not a step back. You're getting exactly what you had before.
00:37:08
Speaker
So there's the difference. There's a drop-off of Grand Canyon proportions of going from Aspiloqueta to Scrinyard. You're going literally sideways. That's fair. But it's the same thing that, you know, Juventus, do they actually have a project? Do they actually have any plan of where they want to be in three to five years? Or is it just like,
00:37:27
Speaker
Oh, we need to buy a midfielder. Oh, let's just get Rabio. Let's just kick the can down for another year. I mean, it's like DeMaria Paredes last year why I was so against their signs including DeMaria despite, you know, what legend he is, because it just shows that there is no project that you've entered. There is no plan of what they want to build there. And you can't build a successful and sustainable project this way. It's just, well, we'll just sign him up for another year.
00:37:51
Speaker
So that's my issue with this. It's not taken in isolation of whether this is a, you know, I'm sure he'll do, he can do another good job next season, but it's what does this mean in terms of Juventus trying to build a project and get out the mess that they're in. And for me, that just shows that there, well, there isn't one. There isn't one. And it also shows for sure. And we've learned that Allegri is rejected a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia.
00:38:19
Speaker
which has infuriated most Juventus fans, but it definitely shows that Allegri's staying because Rabio, if there's one thing Allegri has done, he's got the best out of Rabio. Rabio appreciates him and Rabio probably feels well in Euro 2024 year.
00:38:35
Speaker
You know, this is probably the best for me to stay at the state with the manager who's got the best out of me. And so, yeah, this, this definitely shows that Allegri is staying. Rabio would not sign, would not be signing on for another year if Allegri left. No chance. No chance in a million years. I think Allegri is staying in and I'm not entirely sure about the Saudi Arabian links. There's lots of people saying that it's nonsense that he was never offered anything. So we'll see.
00:39:03
Speaker
Yeah, my understanding is he definitely was offered, but he was never had any intention ever of moving there, regardless of the salary. Either way, he's staying, unfortunately. So that's another year written off for Juventus. Let's move on to an issue that, again, we discussed on Thursday about where
00:39:32
Speaker
this Tonali sale puts Seria in terms of their future and their present. Because Tonali is not the only big star that
00:39:44
Speaker
is leaving Serie A. This summer Scrini, of course, is already going to PSG. Teo Hernandez, multiple sources saying that he's available for sale from Milan if a big bid comes in. Arnana, of course, as we've said, he is available from Interfera, right bid comes in. We know Manchester United are wanting to sign him. Wlawicz will be sold by Juventus. Kiese is available and wants to leave.
00:40:10
Speaker
Bids from Aston Villa, interests from Newcastle and Liverpool. Kim Min-J is almost certain he's going to leave Napoli, probably to buy a minute. Osseman is wanted by every big club, and we have to hope that De Laurentiis will save us on that. Milinkovic Savage, I think, will definitely leave Lazio, although it looks more likely he will stay in Serie A. Amrabbat will leave Fiorentina to go to a big club abroad, and there's no doubt about that. Vicario is joining Tottenham. Udoji has joined Tottenham already.
00:40:40
Speaker
Coupe Miners is receiving Premier League bids. So if you work your way down every single big club or top seven, top eight club, you can pretty much pick out at least one or two from each team in terms of the big name stars and potentially leaving Serie A. So how worrying is this for Serie A?
00:40:59
Speaker
Well, the city is a feeder league. It's as simple as that. We've I don't want to repeat because we've gone through this 100 times on this podcast in detail and contextualized it. But the city is a feeder league. Some of it is their own fault. Some of them, some of it, you know, because of, for example, how they not grown their brand abroad, the TV, the international TV deals and stuff like that. And some of it is also
00:41:29
Speaker
because the EPL is just backed by such big political and financial powers that the Serie A can't compete. So no, this is what it is now. The Serie A is a feeder league and just accept it. This is why when the European Super League came along, I was all in favor of it. And everyone who said that football was saved when the European Super League crashed, well, enjoy. Enjoy. I mean, what do you want me to say?
00:41:58
Speaker
You know, nobody said the sue European Super League was the the best something good It was the lesser of two evils because it spread the money around it spread the wealth around it didn't concentrate it on in one country in one league well now that's completely gone and UEFA's Made it absolutely clear their mission is to protect the EPL. That's why they exist the e in UEFA stands for England and It's it's as simple as that so
00:42:26
Speaker
It's this is the reality and there's no point moaning about it. It's as simple as that. This is where we are now. And I didn't want it to come to this because I think it kills football. I think the interest is is what will be killed because, you know, lots of people, you know, the entire Latin American audience, the Asian audience, yes, they are Premier League fans, but they also love Italy and Spain. These are historic clubs.
00:42:53
Speaker
And then turning into feeder leagues for Brighton and Bournemouth. Well, it kind of kills the beauty of it that together with Jerry Cardinale trying to reenact the Hollywood movie at Milan and whatever the hell Stephen Jang is doing at Inter and whatever the hell is going on at Juva.
00:43:12
Speaker
Yeah, I was waiting for you to come to you, mate. Elkan is the Bilderberg group this week. No, I mean, it's just like, you know, this is where it is. But there is a positive side to this in the short term, I think. And that is that no team will dominate in the Serie A. And that in and of itself means domestically that is. And that means, in my opinion, that it'll make the Serie A more attractive.
00:43:35
Speaker
for people to watch generally because it becomes a tighter league. Every year, the league winner will be forced to sell their jewels, their Joyelli, as the Italians say. And that means that they have to reinvest and rebuild. And that also means that the league is going to be much tighter. And I think from a domestic point of view, that makes it more interesting. That means that Napoli can win after 33 years.
00:43:55
Speaker
That means that if Sarrio, that if Sarri at Lazio or Mourinho at Roma play their cards, right, they can actually win a Miraculous Currito. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Absolutely. So that's a good thing in the short term. That's the positive side. That's the positive of it. But until the Serie A gets their heads out of their butts and start realising that it's 2023 and that they need to start growing their brand in a modern way,
00:44:21
Speaker
and that they stop being dysfunctional internally. They put in together a system in place that is not susceptible to political pressure, like it is constantly, and, and, and, and, and, and, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. There's so much... Yeah, that's all fair. I just think that what we definitely need to avoid is, and I'm sorry,
00:44:43
Speaker
we're not going to polish a turd to quote you. We are moving towards Serie A becoming an Italian area divisi, just as all the other leagues are, just as the Bundesliga is. But it's already happened. Yeah, well, we're not at the area divisi level. No, but I don't think we'll ever be at the area divisi level because Serie A is a bigger league. But basically, the point I'm making is, like I said on Thursday, is once you reach a level of football where the quality really is
00:45:13
Speaker
at that level, like the area Divisi is now or like the Scottish Premier League is now, you know, the interest will go. People won't want to watch that, you know, even, you know, even in the countries that the interest will go even in their own domestic countries. And that is the concern. And when you look at, you know, even the domestic TV negotiations at the moment, I mean, that is very concerning because, you know, you look at that they were hoping to get 1.2 billion per year from the three broadcasters that are bidding.
00:45:44
Speaker
And I've actually spoke to someone who's actually close to one of these companies in their negotiations. Now, they didn't even reach, I was told, not even close to half. De Laurentiis basically confirmed that, but they're not even anywhere close to half. Now, part of that's negotiations, it will eventually go up.
00:46:03
Speaker
This is hugely concerning that the TV, the gap in the TV revenue between Serie A and the Premier League, we know is absolutely astronomical. Domestically, the last TV cycle was worth just over 900,000 euros a year in Serie A. That's the one that ends next year in 2004. Not on 900,000. There's no way it can be worth 900,000 a year. 900,000, yeah.
00:46:29
Speaker
The last TV cycle, which is not even a million euros, not even a million. Yeah. The last TV cycle was just over 900,000 euros a year domestically. Now, that's actually not so bad in comparison to the other leagues because the last premier league domestic TV deal was just under 1.9 million a year. So, okay, it's doubled. It's still a big gap there. Hell of a big gap. But
00:46:57
Speaker
Sorry, 900 million. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. 900 million, not 100,000. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. There's no way that 900 million, yeah, and the PL won 1.9 billion. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, I meant to say 900 million. Yeah, I was going to say you gave me a complete heart attack, like 900,000. That's what like Jan Bisek would earn us.
00:47:16
Speaker
It's like under 21 defender. That's where we go. That's where we go, though. We're not careful. So 900 million a year. Right. And the Premier League domestic TV deal was worth just under one point nine billion a year. The Bundesliga just over one billion. La Liga just under one billion.
00:47:37
Speaker
So, I mean, it's still a big gap there, but that's not the problem. That is not what has been the problem. Domestic TV hasn't been the problem. It's been the overseas revenue where Serie A just gets absolutely blasted out of the waters, and not just by the Premier League. The Premier League is making over $2 billion a year from foreign TV revenue. Serie A is making $300 million.
00:48:05
Speaker
Over 2 billion to 300 million. Congratulations. Well done. It's just embarrassing. La Liga is just under a billion. And I think Serie A is the fourth of the big five leagues in this. But that is where the problem has been. But now, if we're talking about the domestic TV, but we're now going to be struggling to sell domestic TV in addition to this foreign TV revenue, then I mean,
Financial Struggles of Serie A
00:48:28
Speaker
I mean, then we are becoming the Italian area to visit. So, I mean, we'll see where these numbers end up. This is part of the negotiation. It will definitely won't be, you know, what, you know, they'll do private negotiations.
00:48:42
Speaker
with each broadcaster, and I'm sure that number will go up. But this just adds to the concern about where Serie A is going and why there is this exodus. And we saw Roberto Mancini saying himself, if a player like Tenali leaves Italy, there is a problem. That's his exact words. Yeah, but it is what it is. And there's no point. This is the reality we're in.
00:49:08
Speaker
And when you have a completely deregulated market where the one with the biggest wallet, the biggest fish eats up the small fish, then you can't really complain. Like I said, we were on this path, we were set on this path to reach where we are decades ago.
00:49:25
Speaker
Before you reach the Z, you start with A. A was decades ago. Now we're at Z. And the Saudis are doing the exact same thing. So I have no empathy for anyone who complains because when you reap the benefits and you're all in favor of it, this being the model that you want to use, then you don't get to complain when it doesn't go your way. And this is the reality. The European football
00:49:52
Speaker
ecosystem is built like this. It's not sustainable. There is one league that dominates because it has an incredible revenue stream. Some would say inflated revenue stream in terms of the TV deal and that they are worried about the balloon bursting there. But this is just a reality we're in. It's as simple as that. But I think for the Serie A in the short term,
00:50:20
Speaker
It makes the league more exciting. It means that the younger players will come up through the Serie A. It'll be tighter for the top four and the top six, and the league title will be a battle every year. And so will the relegation scrap. God bless it. So it's, you know, this is what it does. You'll be fine, Nima, you will. Even if Italian football... As long as Serie B and Serie C exist, I'll be fine. Yeah, exactly. I'll be perfectly fine.
00:50:50
Speaker
No, look, it's, you know, I think... Even if Serie A turns into the Bedford Michael R. Peters Sunday League, you will still be fighting. You'll still have your relegation, don't you? Yeah, but as long as I get to watch, Fodja and Lechko have their little... I'm not biting today. I'm just about getting over that.
00:51:09
Speaker
As long as I get to watch lecture, you know, beats, you know, against Spezia, Hellas against Spezia, you know, these kind of scraps. And the league is beautiful. It's the city of B as well. The playoff there, you know, Caliarian's body was insane. You know, it's the Italian football will always produce players. It just needs to get a hold of itself. It just needs to start realize that it's 2023. They need to get rid of all the
00:51:38
Speaker
Incompetent old people and their sons and daughters who've been appointed to to the to to to take over after them because Yeah, well that's the only is a problem But you know you need to have competent people in there, but I think I think it'll change I think one good thing with
00:51:57
Speaker
you know, these venture capitalists and these corporate guys like Jerry Cardinale and these guys coming in is that they don't give a crap about whose dad is with, like, they don't, they will vote for what's best for them in terms of revenue. And that means the Serie A will modernize. It has to.
00:52:16
Speaker
Oh yeah, they'd rob their own grandma. They can make money from it though. Exactly, they will. And they will have zero. If they can sack Paolo Maldini unceremoniously, they will not care about someone's son and daughter
00:52:34
Speaker
Being being the face of seria or being in charge of marketing at seria when he's in color he or she is incompetent That's just that's just a name name of the game And I think that you know everything nothing's just bad and good everything has you know there are nuances to this So I think the seria is going through a metamorphosis And I a new identity is being created and
00:52:56
Speaker
Um, not just Milan, not just, you know, all the clubs, all the entire league. And I think it's good for Italian football. I think it's time to modernize whether they're successful or not. I think we have to wait until the dust settles. Yeah. But, okay. Well, let's, let's, let's, you mentioned that one, one good aspect from all this could be the youngsters coming through. So let's talk about Italy's under 21s who are at the European championship. Uh, and they played two games since, since our last show. Um,
Italy U-21 Controversies and VAR Issues
00:53:25
Speaker
They lost the first game to France 2-1 and then they beat Switzerland 3-2 on
00:53:30
Speaker
on Sunday. Let's start off with the France game first. In your ranking of the biggest scandals, referee scandals of football history, where does this rank? I really don't. I have no words. For me, what's worse is how UEFA handled it. Once this happens, then they go, yeah, from the quarterfinals, we'll have VAR in place. Because as a friend of mine who is a referee, he's a producer also,
00:53:57
Speaker
for TSN in Canada. Michael Gallo, he's a trained referee, and he basically said that, look, the VAR costs lots of money. It's a very expensive thing. And UEFA wanted to cut costs. UEFA don't have any money? Yeah.
00:54:17
Speaker
Like, yeah, they do, but they want to cut costs. And it's utterly bizarre. But yeah, so basically what he said was that the referee couldn't give the goal. It's the assistant referee that should have been there when the VAR isn't there. It's the job of the assistant referee to be by the line, and he wasn't there. He wasn't doing his job.
00:54:40
Speaker
But I saw a clip of French commentators and they were like, that's a goal. That is a goal. That ball is inside the goal line. It's a goal. It's as simple as that. Even the referee should see that. And the referee is in perfect position. I mean, yes, the protocol is that the find the buck end, the buck stops with the assistant on over the line goals, which are
00:55:08
Speaker
close. This wasn't close. The guy was standing halfway in the light, his feet, his right foot, his right side of his body and his right foot, which is the side of his body which he used to claw it out with his hand, by the way, was halfway in the goal line. You can see the picture. There's an image of it. I mean, for me, it was just like Montari with that thing. It was more than Montari.
00:55:32
Speaker
Obviously, with Montara, you can see clearly because you've got the actual perfect image. But I mean, if you look at this from, you know, you don't need to have a degree in physics to see that the guy who is halfway inside the line uses the right side of his body to get the ball out. Well, the ball's over the line. You know, it's insane. It's a scandal, but at least it had some effect because now the VAR is around. They're going to have goal line technology and VAR from the quarterfinals, which is they should have had anyway.
00:56:17
Speaker
He had his hand out like a fascist salute. And then they got their foul on the goal for France's winner as well, which was a clear foul with the referee right there. This is why I want the VAR. This is why I was always in favor of the VAR. And this is why I think the VAR is a fantastic tool, even though it has its flaws. I think it can improve. But I think this is fundamentally what it does well. It stops these outrageous decisions. And people who say that this is the charm of football
00:56:25
Speaker
at the under 21 level?
00:56:47
Speaker
are insane. It's insane to me to say that this is the controversy is part of football and it's part of the charm. That to me is mental. That is genuinely insane. How can you think it's charming when wrong decisions are made? No, when big decisions are made like this. I mean, I think you're
00:57:04
Speaker
There's nothing charming about it. It's it's wrong. I find it bizarre. But so I think I think this was good in the sense that I think it killed off the VAR discussion once and for all for everyone who was on the fence. Yeah. So that's good. You know, people have to learn the hard way. Italy had to beat Switzerland in the game on Sunday. If they hadn't won that, it would have been definitely game over for Italy.
00:57:30
Speaker
and they won 3-2 but I mean that only doesn't tell even a fraction of the story which is Italy with 3-0 up at half time cruising in cruise control
00:57:42
Speaker
and then absolutely fell apart in the second half. And what I draw from this game, a few things, but the number one is that our concerns at the beginning of the tournament was, is Paolo Nicolato, the manager, is he good enough? Is he a good enough manager for Italy to go all the way and win this tournament? And that is my biggest conclusion from the Switzerland game is, I don't know if Italy can win this tournament with Nicolato as manager. Is that your takeaway?
00:58:12
Speaker
I don't think he's good enough. But I do still think that Italy have a very good squad and should reach at least a quarterfinal, regardless of who the manager is. But this is again, like with DiBiaggio, I don't understand why they give these jobs under 21 level to people who shouldn't have them. It's this thing in the FIGC where they give these fantastic squads
00:58:38
Speaker
to managers that aren't good enough and end up costing Italy. Italy should qualify through to the quarter-finals and then the defence is an issue. It's not just the defence, it's the defensive aspect of how the midfield gets overplayed and overrun and exposes the back three constantly, time and time and time again, and he doesn't seem able to address that.
00:59:03
Speaker
That was the most alarming part of the second half. The second half tactically was a total structurally intact. It was a total shambles for it. The gaps between the three departments, the fence to the midfield and the midfield to the attack, I mean, it was absolutely massive. It was like 30 yards between each department. That's not an exaggeration. It was absolutely huge.
00:59:25
Speaker
You can't win football games playing like that. It was so visible on TV.
00:59:35
Speaker
Nicolas was there and he's not doing anything about it. All it needed was just to talk to his squad, tie it together, get the departments tied together, keep it tight. And he was doing nothing. He changed nothing structurally or tactically during that second half. And Italy were lucky to win that game in the end because Switzerland had a one-on-one at 3-2. And they could have squared it for an open goal as well. And he curled it just wide.
01:00:04
Speaker
and they were on the ropes, they were completely on the ropes and the midfield
01:00:10
Speaker
fell apart and it got completely overrun, partly because they made the field too big. The gaps in between the wing backs as well. The defensive line was awful. One player, 10 yards behind the rest of them, one player, 10 yards in front. It looked embarrassing. It looked like a play school. It was ridiculous. That's what annoyed me the most. At this level, yes, I get there under 21.
01:00:36
Speaker
But look at the players there. We're talking how much Champions League and European football experience do you have in that squad and look at the way they played. Sometimes it was embarrassing to watch and that falls squarely on Nicolato to me.
01:00:49
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. Under the fence, yeah, I mean, O'Carly and Scalvini were horrible. Horrible. O'Carly has the excuse that he's barely played this year for Atalanta, but, you know, we were both quite big on him. And, you know, now that gives me more question marks after watching that performance because his distribution was terrible. We gave it away almost every time he had it, but he was getting done so easily. He looked lethargic. He was
01:01:16
Speaker
positionally with all over the place, that was a concern. But from a longer term point of view, Scalvini, I still don't know whether I'm being too harsh on the guy, but I'm still waiting to see what is the fuss about with Scalvini, because all the experts in Italy talk about what a phenomenon this guy is.
01:01:35
Speaker
and I'm still waiting for it. I'm like, what am I supposed to be seeing here from Sculvini? And he was bad. He was getting done. He turned his back on the second goal, which was bizarre. He's slow on the turn. I never trust defenders that are slow. And I don't know. Am I being too harsh with Sculvini when he's 19 years old? So he is very, very young. Maybe I'm being too harsh for his age, maybe.
01:02:04
Speaker
No, I think that the criticism is fair, but I want to wait a little bit more. But I'm not, I agree with you in the sense that there are, I'm not the phenomenon, the new Bastoni stuff. This guy's not a wonder kid, is he? No, that's where I'm with you on that. I don't think we're talking some sort of new Bastoni here that people are raving about. I haven't seen it. Maybe he is, but I haven't seen it. But
01:02:29
Speaker
He's, I still think, you know, he's still pretty young and I think we should wait a little bit. Yeah. And one of our Patreons, we were having a chat, weren't we? It's the evening about Skalvini. Shama, Uncle Shama has a great
01:02:40
Speaker
a great show into show on YouTube. He was saying that Scalbini is just a typical Atalanta defender, can only play on the front foot. So when he's having to defend his box or actually, I'd actually think on his box, maybe he didn't say that, but when he has to turn basically is what he was saying. When he defends high up and he has to press and when the ball fires, that's what Atalanta defenders do. But when he has to defend
01:03:03
Speaker
in the space behind him, that's where he struggles, which I think is definitely true. But I actually think in the box he's not too bad. I mean, he's very good air really. Very, very good air really. And that is actually probably, if he's speaking of strength this tournament, they're so good on corners. One thing I'll give to Nicolato, he's worked out some kind of corner routine. They are so dangerous on corners. That is something that they need to definitely explore, especially if they play as it looks like Spain in the quarterfinal, who have looked really good in this tournament. That's something they're allowed to exploit against Spain. For sure. Okay.
01:03:33
Speaker
If we want to get positives though Parisian Belanova, fantastic. Outstanding. Belanova is just, this is why I'm so annoyed with Inter because seven million is nothing for this guy. He will be a good player. You can see it there. He struggled once. That's the wrong one it is. Yeah. It's just, oh.
01:03:56
Speaker
it's just his final ball but actually his crossing in the first half was actually good he got an assist in this game and Parisi was that was excellent he got a goal and he showed he can play as a wingback now so you know there's no way yeah i think he's i think he's very complete i think he can play three or four for sure he can absolutely
01:04:13
Speaker
Okay, right, before we finish off with Bad Show in Prim Face of the Week, we've been doing a lot of transfer profiles in recent weeks, obviously, because it's the transfer market. So let's just do one on Andre Onana, who, of course, is very well known, but maybe not so well known among Premier League fans. It looks like Onana is going to be
01:04:34
Speaker
probably move into the Premier League this summer to Manchester United. Manchester United want to sign him. So first of all, for United fans, what will they be getting from Manana? They will be getting the best goalkeeper in the world in terms of the ball at his feet in the build-up phase.
01:04:53
Speaker
There is no one like him. There are some of the passes this guy plays. It's like playing with Pirlo in goal. It's bizarre. He's so, so good. And I'm not just talking in terms of the long balls in the air. I'm talking even 50-yard passes on the ground. The awareness and the ability to execute that this guy has. If the midfielders and the strikers are intelligent enough to pick up and move
01:05:23
Speaker
in terms of their movement and can find those runs, he will pick them out. And just to stress the importance of that, Nima, Guardiola said, even ahead of the Champions League final, that he basically wasn't even going to attempt to do an ultra-high press against Inter's defence, because when you play against a team that has a goalkeeper that's so good with his feet, as Onana, it's basically impossible to press him that high with that ultra-high press, which I find
01:05:52
Speaker
I mean, I bow to Pep because he has become the master of press. I never thought he would have that much of an impact. Obviously, it's important, but if Pep's saying it, then he knows. Well, of course it is, because if you press high up and you have someone that is so good with the ball at his feet, he's just one simple pass and he's played past every line of press. Of course, yeah. But you still need your defenders to be able to play out as well. But yeah, it is very, very important. And for Manny Knighton, who have David De Gea, who
01:06:21
Speaker
who is very bad with his feet and pretend how he likes to have and he actually coached Onana to have that he will add an extra dimension. Oh for sure and the fact that you know they know each other from IACS as well and no it's I think Manchester United are getting in the in the in the attacking phase they're essentially going to have 11 outfield players with Onana if they get it.
Andre Onana's Potential Move to Manchester United
01:06:44
Speaker
And I think there are red flags in terms of aerially, meaning when the ball is played into the penalty area, crosses, I think that's his weakness. I think sometimes he misjudges and he flaps a bit, doesn't he? Yeah, flaps, exactly that. But as a shot stopper, his reflexes are great. One thing I really rate him for
01:07:06
Speaker
is his ability to not give rebounds straight out. He pushes rebounds whenever he gives them to his sides, which is incredibly important. That has already got down. But in terms of the build-up phase, the guy is the best in the world. There is no one who is as good as him with a ball at his feet. No one. And
01:07:28
Speaker
He's going to help Manchester. They're going to have 11 outfield players if they sign him, because he can be that... If you look at what happens with Inter, they play a 4-5-2, because when Ana becomes the right centre-back.
01:07:39
Speaker
in a back four, and the right center back in the back three becomes a full back, the wing backs become wingers, and you can push forward like that with him. It's truly, truly fantastic to see. The attacking phase part of his game is simply world class, and it's the evolution of
01:08:00
Speaker
Football. This is something new. We've never seen a goalkeeper play like this. I think he does a disservice to him that everybody only seems to talk about how good he is with his feet. I mean, he's a fantastic goalkeeper overall as well. And he's commanding. I love his personality. I love how he's a mentality monster. Yeah. And I love how cool he is as well. He gives calm to the defence. He makes the defence.
01:08:25
Speaker
play better. I mean, I don't need to tell you how different in terms of how well the inter-defense play when he's there and when Hanannic is there regardless of whether the keeper makes any saves or not. And he's just somebody that's very confident in his abilities and who belongs on the big stage. And we saw his performances in the Champions League, in the big matches. He was the best goalkeeper in the Champions League. Best goalkeeper in the Champions League, more clean sheets than anyone.
01:08:50
Speaker
I think it was eight in total. Last season had some massive games on the route to the final, especially against Porto in the second, in the last 16. And he's in the peak of his career. He's 26, 27, I think now, years old. And he is... He could even play up front.
01:09:10
Speaker
Man United, they need a striker. And I saw a video of him that went viral of him telling Dumfries how to shoot. Teaching Dumfries how to play football, essentially. You should probably keep him and play him as the right wing back and just buy a new goalkeeper and sell Dumfries. But it's not... I set that up on purpose. Of course you do. I think I don't know that.
01:09:34
Speaker
No, he is. He's unbelievable in the attacking phase. So yes, he's a good good shortstop and all that too. But the the build up phase is truly remarkable. But he's going to I think in the Premier League, he's going to let in some howlers on in area because sometimes he flaps until he masters that fully. But on the in the build up stage and the mentality he has and his attitude and winning mentality that he has and the leadership he shows, the leadership he shows on the pitch is just
01:10:03
Speaker
Inter are making a gargantuan mistake by selling him. Especially if they're selling him. Are you resigned to them losing him? Or do you think there is a chance they could? I'm not resigned. I'm not resigned because I'm not resigned. I think there's much more to this. But I think they are making a gargantuan mistake if they sell him. And especially so if they sell him to buy Romelu Lukaku on a permanent basis. That's suicide to me. That is just mental. I don't see that happening. I think Marotta's too shrewd to do something like that.
01:10:31
Speaker
Well, I hope so. But at this stage, I don't exclude anything. But we'll see. All right, let's finish off with Bad Joe and Prim Face of the Week. Bad Joe, Nimmer, who you got?
01:10:46
Speaker
I really liked Belanova this week. I thought he was outstanding. I thought his performance for the under 21 and the maturity that he's shown was really, really good. And also he should have had a goal against France, which was unfairly not given, even though the ball was well inside. So for me, it's Belanova. What about you?
01:11:06
Speaker
Yeah, no, I would go with that. I mean, it's the football that's being played, isn't it? So we go with a... I mean, if I can give a honorable mention, not an Italian... Well, actually, he does have an Italian grandparent, I believe, and Mancini was trying to sign him. Rayan Sherky for the France under 21s. Oh my gosh, I am in love with watching this guy play. Just watching him play, just from an artistry point of view. I mean, this guy, come on as a sub in both games.
01:11:35
Speaker
for France and just, oh my gosh, some of the stuff, the back hills, the three passes, but just the elegance and the technique and the guile and the vision and the little flicks and the tricks. And it's like watching a number 10 from the 80s or the 90s. It's a player that
01:11:59
Speaker
has gone out being disappeared from the game. And I wonder if it's not coming back again now, because I think, yeah, I think we will see a modified version of it, I think. I think, you know, for me, football goes in cycles.
01:12:14
Speaker
I think we're going to see the tricortista return, but it's just not going to be like back in the day where then he walked around. If it does, that that player still needs to do defensive work. Exactly my point. Gone are the days where we have a number 10 who doesn't, he just, he doesn't. Francesco Totti walking around the pitch. Yeah, Raquel Maggio, Raquel Maggio literally walking on the pitch with a cane, with a walking stick. But those days are gone. But we're, you're gonna, I think we're seeing a return of that because
01:12:43
Speaker
When you have those qualities in the central part of the pitch that can unlock defenses, that's not... He's a joy to watch. Honestly, he's the kind of player that you would pay the admission fee just to watch him play. Even if your team loses 6-0, he's just magic. He's magic to watch. I thoroughly enjoy watching him play. And I can see why Mancini tried to steal him for Italy.
01:13:07
Speaker
And I guess we could still stay there. I mean, it's some 21 so you can still play after the only 21. So I don't think it will happen, but you know, it would be it would be a lot of fun if you did. OK, prim face of the week. I know you have something you want to talk about. You feel very strongly about.
01:13:26
Speaker
No, you go first. Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville and their hypocrisy over Saudi Arabia being able to not being allowed to spend any money on players. That was your one, wasn't it? And that's my one as well. Look, it's astonishing to me when
01:13:54
Speaker
It's okay for Saudi Arabia to be a military ally. It's okay for Saudi Arabia to be a political ally. It's okay to have Saudi Arabia for the West to commit genocide in Yemen. It's even okay for Saudi Arabia to buy Newcastle and make them and pump money there, but it's not okay for Saudi Arabia. And Chelsea. Yeah, exactly. But they're not allowed
01:14:24
Speaker
to build their own league. Why? Makes no sense.
Ethics and Money: The Iran International Job Offer
01:14:30
Speaker
And before I have a bunch of low IQ idiots talking to me about me being paid by Saudi Arabia, let me explain to you something. I am one of the few people of Iranian heritage outside of Iran who has actively turned down Saudi money.
01:14:49
Speaker
In 2020, on the 5th of January, 2020, I received an email from one of the producers of the Saudi carbon cutout TV station known as Iran International, and they wanted me to join them to come on. I can read you the email. They wanted us to, they wanted me to
01:15:14
Speaker
They say, we would love to have you interview with us at Iran International as part of our sports programming. Your knowledge and expertise and experience as a sports journalist would be an invaluable contribution to our coverage and would be greatly appreciated by our audience. Specifically, we would like to invite you to join us for commentary on any of the following Italian football games. Romallazio, Napoli, Juve, Inter Milan, Juve, Inter Milan, Roma. In addition, should there be any news developments related to Italian football, we would like to invite you to join us as part of our sports news coverage.
01:15:43
Speaker
And they were gonna pay me they wanted to fly me out to their studios and they wanted to pay me and my response to that was do one literally because I don't I don't That was back then when I believe that you should talk to people about
01:16:04
Speaker
of who don't agree with you politically. Absolutely. This is, for example, I wouldn't turn down to debate on Fox News or BBC Persian or anything like that, because I think you should be able to talk to whoever you want. But I don't ever accept money for that. And I'm not going to... This was after Jamal Khashoggi, who is a journalist, who I have profound political disagreements with. But I didn't go on their show.
01:16:33
Speaker
on Iran International, which is directly funded by Saudi and the Saudi state, because of that. But it doesn't mean that I'm going to sit here and pretend that what is going on now is anything other than racism. It is the notion that
01:16:53
Speaker
White is right and anything darker than that is not okay. It's the family guy meme of okay and not okay, the darker skin. That's what it is. Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville and Gary Lineker and all these guys have no problem taking money from countries.
01:17:08
Speaker
from those countries. They just don't want them to sit as equals at the table with them. That's the issue.
Criticism of Saudi Influence in Football
01:17:16
Speaker
And that is a level of hypocrisy. I'm not buying it. I'm sorry. That's a spot we're not out. It's also with Carragher and Neville. I'm sure that is definitely part of it, at least on an unconscious level, no doubt about it. But it's also that Carragher and Neville are shields for the Premier League. They want the Premier League to reign supreme and be the
01:17:37
Speaker
the rulers and the only rulers of the world. And when the Premier League have been destroying every other league and have destroyed Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga, Liga, and all these other leagues, what they said about that? Nothing. No, but this is what I mean. It's like either Saudi has every right to buy players on equal terms. And if you're actually looking at what they're doing, they're not overpaying for any players in terms of transfer fees. The wages
01:18:07
Speaker
that they might be, but they're not bound by UEFA's rules because they're not in the European zone. They're doing it the way that everyone else did. When the Premier League hovers up players, when Newcastle bought Tonali, they're all celebrating.
01:18:26
Speaker
So why is that okay? But it's not okay for Saudi clubs to buy five players. It makes no sense whatsoever. Let me just also one thing, just because a lot of people don't know anything about Asian football, Saudi is not Qatar. Saudi is a country with a long history of football history and a deep football culture. It's a country of almost 40 million people who are all very, very deeply passionate about their football. They love their football.
01:18:54
Speaker
So they're going to a league that has packed stadiums, they're going to a league that has a footballing culture, and it's just that Saudi has more money now than the Premier League clubs. It's as simple as that. It's not harder than that.
Conclusion and Future Podcast Plans
01:19:08
Speaker
Yeah, there's a lot we could talk about this, but we have to finish the show now. We will be back on Tuesday for the Q&A, then on Thursday.
01:19:20
Speaker
Yeah, and then on Thursday for a special transfer pod and also, well, there's still the Euro and the 21s as well this week. Is it this week we're doing the JUVA thing, right? This week or next week, I just need to get confirmation from Rameo Agresti. He's promised to come on. But we did pencil in this week, but he's a very busy guy, so we will
01:19:43
Speaker
Yeah, we will get confirmation of that for you, but that is in the works. And of course, if there are any other big transfers, we will be ready to react, like we did with Tenali, to Newcastle, which was really, really popular. Thanks for everyone and all your lovely words about that. Yeah, we will be doing that on some of the bigger transfers that happened during the summer.
01:20:07
Speaker
Okay, right. We will be back on Tuesday then. We will see you then and have a great week. Ciao ciao.