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Free Weekly Episode - The New Italian Football Podcast, Juve's Pogba Problems, Juric vs Vagnati Fight & More (Ep. 243)
488 Plays3 years ago
From Juventus Paul Pogba injury nightmare, Juric and Vagnati fighting at Torino to Chelsea's interest in Inter's Denzel Dumfries, status of Roma's Georginio Wijnaldum and Andrea Belotti talks to people sleeping on AC Milan, Carlo, Nima and John unpack an eventful week in Italian football.
Every Monday episode of The Italian Football Podcast is free for all. To listen to this and all other full episodes of The Italian Football Podcast, go to Patreon.com/TIFP to become a Patron for only $2.99 USD per month (excluding VAT).
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Relaunch
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast with John Solano, Carlo Garganese and Nima Tuvali.
00:00:24
Speaker
All right. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the first. I'll call it the first of the newest rendition of the Italian football podcast. We hope you are doing well.
00:00:39
Speaker
So you have undoubtedly read the social media posts. You have read the updates that we had for you. So if you haven't caught that for all of our patrons, you can check out the notes on Patreon. But if you haven't seen that,
00:00:56
Speaker
We will get into all of that now. Of course, we will do all of the news, all of the transfer market stuff. We are less than two weeks until the season begins. So a lot to go over. But first we will do some housekeeping stuff and we will go over what in the world this is going to look like now.
New Podcast Format and Network Collaboration
00:01:16
Speaker
And obviously it's going to look like an arsenal fan TV. We are going to we're going to do interviews. We're going to yell at each other. There might be some violence involved.
00:01:26
Speaker
Arsenal fan TV only works when Arsenal are rubbish basically. So I guess Juventus fan TV maybe? Seeing as how bad they are. And John is too happy as a Roma fan. Well this is the type of show I've been dying to do. I'm too cooped up so being able to smack some people is finally the way of unleashing my anger and
00:01:55
Speaker
relatively healthy man. What have you got to be angry about? Roma has been at a fantastic summit. Well, I'm allowed to be angry when you break balls on here and you come on here and ink that up 25 points in the table and I have to hear you were bullshit about. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Like last season. Like last season. No, no. OK, let's let's just get into it. We'll start out with what is exactly happening here.
00:02:20
Speaker
And then we'll get into all the newsy stuff that we always do. So let's get going. A lot to get to.
00:02:29
Speaker
Okay, Nima, you take it away. Okay. Well, first and foremost, we've joined a UK-based world-renowned network called the Rocket Sports Internet LTD Network. They boast some of the biggest brands in football, Caught Offside, Empire of the Cop, Talk Chelsea, Football España, Streaty News, and many, many more.
00:02:53
Speaker
What this partnership allows us to do, us joining their network, means simply that we are going to produce much more content for our existing and future patrons. And it also helps us reach a global audience because they have a giant platform.
00:03:08
Speaker
Now, for patrons, what does this mean? Nothing more than you'll be listening to me, myself, John and Carlo, more times per week.
Patron Benefits and Content Access
00:03:19
Speaker
But for the same price, $299 per month, excluding VAT, the review Monday show, which we're doing now, will continue. We're adding a Thursday show, which is exclusive for patrons, which will be like a review show where we review all the midweek action from the City and the Champions League.
00:03:36
Speaker
On Tuesdays, we do a Patreon exclusive show where we answer all your questions that you send to us via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, email, and DM on Patreon. And we will continue doing, as we've done throughout the seasons, the post-match reaction pods, transfer reaction pods, and breaking news reaction and analysis episodes.
00:03:56
Speaker
And the interview episode will be doing every two weeks on Wednesdays or Fridays, depending on the availability of those who were interviewing. And Patreons get all of this for the same price, $2.99, no ads. And you will also be supporting the Italian Football Podcast as you already have.
00:04:15
Speaker
We reached over 400 patrons for the first time in a month last month in July, which was amazing for us. And we're really, really grateful. What this also means is that for those of us for those who aren't patrons, they can listen to the Monday review show and the two weeks, the fortnightly interview episodes for free on Spotify, Apple podcast, a cast and Google podcasts.
00:04:37
Speaker
But for patrons, nothing will change other than you'll just hear a lot more for us for the same price. That's it. A lot more than them are moaning. Well, no, more like you moaning about you, how horrible they are when they have the best Metacathlon in a long time. But yeah, I don't know about that. I'm sure we'll get into that, I mean. Yeah. Well, you've all been forewarned. I don't know whether we should express condolences or not.
00:05:04
Speaker
I was going to say, should we apologize? So to simplify it for everybody, you're just, you're getting more and then people who aren't patrons are just going to be able to hear us. That's really all this is for those who are patrons.
00:05:21
Speaker
You're getting more. Everybody won't have access to even the post-match reaction podcast that we do With the season coming up obviously we're going to have a ton of those so Stay tuned.
Pogba's Injury and Juventus Impact
00:05:33
Speaker
Yeah stay tuned and you've been forewarned No reasons to complain to either of us you have been warned so please buyer beware
00:05:49
Speaker
buyer beware. Okay, speaking of buyer beware, that's a great segue into the first topic that we have here. We brought it up last week. So comes back for free. He is reunited. Everybody's excited and it takes all of half an hour for that to come to an end. So he does his knee and
00:06:15
Speaker
Carlo, it's a really weird sort of situation because he has a few routes that he can go. Now, it is a torn meniscus. Far be it for me to play doctor, but I've done my meniscus twice, one in each knee. You can pretty much do, as we all know, I'm a high level athlete as Paul Pogba, so clearly my my comparison here is apt.
00:06:42
Speaker
You probably played more than him in the last few years. I was going to say. You haven't played like football because you were an American football player. Man, people of my stature just, no, we weren't made for this football. No, you were American football is one's name. Yes. You were a linebacker, right?
00:07:04
Speaker
Yes. Yes. What is it? Those who can't do for those who can't listen. Isn't that isn't that the saying or those who can't? Whatever. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. That's basically what it was. But anyway, so Paul Pogba, he's in a really weird place because, again, meniscus, it's a weird thing. If you get the surgery done, you wouldn't think it'd be this way, but you're going to be out longer. You can do a minor surgery.
00:07:28
Speaker
obviously less time to recover, or you can just do therapy and try and play through the pain. Now, I don't know Paul Pogba's level of pain tolerance, but it's really not that bad a meniscus. However,
00:07:47
Speaker
You obviously run the risk of this making things worse. Carlo, what do you think they're going to do here? Because clearly, Pogba is central to the plans, central to the transfer market as they've operated this summer.
00:08:05
Speaker
I mean, for me, I couldn't care less about long-term prospects or any of this other crap. You do, you know, therapy. You make sure that he's relatively healthy. You see if he can play through it. Yeah. I don't know. He's got the consultation today, Monday, as we record. Um, I'm sure something will come out later as to what the decision either today or tomorrow will come out as to what the decision is. He's already delayed his decision for a whole week now.
00:08:33
Speaker
And the problem, the big problem here is the World Cup is in November, which is only, you know, a few just over a few months away. And if he has.
00:08:44
Speaker
Pogba clearly wants to play in that World Cup, so he would prefer more conservative solution. So that's either playing through the pain and hoping that everything goes well, or having the minor surgery, which would hopefully would mean he's back in a month to two months. The problem with either of those two solutions is that it doesn't solve it, the problem.
Juventus' Strategic Challenges
00:09:10
Speaker
you know, things get worse. And that is basically what happened in a similar kind of way really to Samuel Umtiti for France in the head of the 2018 World Cup, where he played through an injury at the 2018 World Cup and
00:09:26
Speaker
you could say it paid off because he played a great tournament and France won the World Cup, but his career basically ended because of playing that tournament. His body's been finished since then. So this is the problem Pogba has. If he has the full surgery, it will solve the issue, but he will be out until
00:09:50
Speaker
for five months until 2022. So he will miss the World Cup, he will miss half the season for Juventus. By the time he then gets back to full fitness, you know, what are we looking at? You know, match fitness, February, maybe March. I mean, it's whatever Pogba does, whatever decision he takes,
00:10:08
Speaker
is there's a huge risk involved and it's a disaster. For Juventus, it's a disaster. We're looking at this just from Juventus' point of view. Whichever decision he makes is a disaster for Juventus. I mean, it's unbelievable that they're in this position.
00:10:25
Speaker
Look, for me, the thing that I want to know, because I think that's the most important part of this, is when did you even know about this, and what did they know? Because he had a medical not too long ago. Was this something that has been lingering for quite some time? Did they discover it? Did they see it and say, let's take our chances with this?
00:10:55
Speaker
it's, it's, it's remarkably, it's, it's remarkable in its incompetence. Because I didn't expect this is not how you usually behave, if previous behavior is anything to go, behavior is anything to go by. This is a huge risk, of course, it's, it's,
00:11:13
Speaker
you know, whatever the decision, there's risk involved and it is a disaster for you. This was not how this was supposed to go and I'm really surprised and shocked that they have, that they are here where they found themselves and because they can't afford
00:11:28
Speaker
to not have Pogba, Pogba central to Allegri's plans, Pogba central to how Allegri wants to play. And now he's gone for, I don't know how much, three months, seven months, whatever happens.
00:11:43
Speaker
Team Rabio, resurrecting itself? Yeah, I'm a Rabio. Oh, man. Ms. Villalonique, she pulls another rabbit out of the hat. She really does. She gets him a new contract. But yeah, I think we don't know for sure. There has been reports that this is a problem that he's had been carrying at United for a long time. We don't really know the truth.
00:12:07
Speaker
there, what we do know. And this is why when all your mentors were not saying all your mentors fans, but the majority of your mentors fans were all celebrating the return of Pogba, I wasn't, you know, and everybody was calling me are you being negative, you know, it's just logic, you know, you can say and some people say, this injury has nothing to do with his with his injury proneness over the last three years, but I'm sorry, it does. Because you sign a player who's missed 72 games in 33 months.
00:12:36
Speaker
I mean, whether you believe this latest injury is bad luck or not, I mean, what do you expect when you sign such an injury-prone player? And you mentioned, Nima, that this is not how Juventus generally do things, and that's true if we're talking traditionally. If we're talking about Juventus' medical department over the last season or two, it's been a complete disaster.
00:12:57
Speaker
And it's no surprise to me that this has happened and that if there was something there, they missed it. Signing Pogba was a huge gamble. It's a gamble because if you sign a play, it doesn't matter how good they are, that has such a bad injury record. It'll be the same for Di Barlo at Roma as well. You're taking a gamble, a huge gamble. When Juventus' midfield was so desperate for a top-class midfielder, you then signed someone who might be injured more than he plays.
00:13:24
Speaker
This is what happens and when I think that Juventus were also trying to sign Zaniolo this summer who's coming off two ACLs, one on each leg and I'm thinking this is not how you operate as a top club. A top club doesn't take these kind of gambles and you know it hasn't paid off for Juventus and now
00:13:42
Speaker
They're going to go into the new season. I know we're going to talk about the midfield in what they do now. And I want to talk a bit about the Madrid game, mid-rid friendly the other day. You know, Juventus are going into this season in, you know, not in good shape at all. No, no. So who should they get?
00:14:04
Speaker
Well, that's the thing. Who can they get? I think that's... What about Bangsbo? Well, yeah. By the way, hold on. Do we call that redemption on my part very quickly? Or do we say that a leopard never changes its spots? No, no. Google Bangsbo inventors and doping and you'll find your answer there. But regardless, if... We are first ever free episode and we're already about to get sued. Brilliant. Fantastic.
00:14:34
Speaker
It's there. Let's just say that we have zero proof of bangs by being anything to do with Palomino. It worked for you, didn't it, then, at that point, wouldn't it? Well, no, the Palomino thing, for sure. I mean, the pharmacist.
00:14:52
Speaker
the farmers i mean yeah i mean the palomino thing okay okay yeah who can they get i don't know who can i like to get um that's exactly it who can they sign you resurrect him that's what you do no but i mean you go i think art or melo i think it's becoming a point now where
00:15:08
Speaker
where Allegri just has to understand that he's got Artomello, who is a good player. He's in advanced negotiations to join Valencia now, he's gone. So they have to forget about Artomello. Well, John asked me what I would do and I would keep Artomello and I would work around him with Zakarian, Locatelli and Rabion and try to get the best of the situation because I think Artomello is a creative player. We've seen what he can do when he's at his best and he's never really been given a chance at you.
00:15:38
Speaker
But yeah, he's going. But OK, so he's going. Who do you get? They don't. There aren't players with with those particular skill sets, you know, around that many. We're going to come to Milinkovich Savage afterwards. So I don't want to discuss it now. We've got a section just on him and his future, because he's also been linked as a possible alternative to.
00:15:59
Speaker
Frank De Jong at Man United, but just talking about Juventus. Juventus have a lot of central midfielders. I mean, Ramsey's gone. Arthur Mello's about to go. That will probably happen, I would expect this week. He'll go to Valencia probably on loan. Juventus will pay half of his salary. So, brilliant business there as well, eBay.
00:16:16
Speaker
They've got Locatelli, Pogba obviously injured, Rabio, one year left on his contract, was probably, well, potentially could have left, but maybe they might keep him now. Mckenny's just got injured for, he's just dislocated or he's hurt his shoulder, he's going to be out for a month or two, that's good. Ravela, Ravela, Ravela, Fagioli, Meretti are the other midfielders, and Zaccaria, I forgot. So they do have a lot of central midfielders. Now,
00:16:47
Speaker
In an ideal world, I would say that the manager, it would be up to the manager to create a fluid midfield system and develop some of these young central midfielders who have potential. Perfect man in place to do that.
00:17:02
Speaker
Well, exactly. That's the issue here. Fagioli has potential. Ravella has potential. Meretti has potential. They're all good players, technically. But none of them are anywhere near the finished article. And you need the right manager to be able to develop these players and to put them into a fluid
00:17:20
Speaker
team or fluid midfield trio for assuming Juventus are going to play. Man, you've somehow made this into an indictment on Allegri. Welcome everybody to the first episode. But this is the problem. Yeah, this is the problem. Allegri has shown he can't create a fluid team, you know, with an identity, a midfield that dominates, that keeps the ball, that passes it well, that develops young players. You know, I'd argue even that Locatelli, who I really am a fan of, and
00:17:50
Speaker
has the ability to be a Juventus level player. For me, he did not improve even a single percent last season under Allegri, which is a damning indictment for me on Allegri. So for that reason, I think Juventus have to go out and sign a ready-made
00:18:07
Speaker
central midfielder. Who that is, is another question together, but they need to sign a ready made central midfielder because Allegri, I don't see him being able to develop Ravella, Fagioli, Meretti, you know, these kind of players. I don't see him being able to do that. So who does he go out there and sign? I mean, Paredes seems to be the favorite. He's a good friend of Di Maria. Oh God, God help everybody who listens to this show if that happens.
00:18:32
Speaker
Well, there you go. And Pjanic is the other one. You know, Gianni's told him that he's available. And, you know, neither of these players are going to turn the dial for you, though. We know that. They might help the team, though, a little bit structurally because I do think Juventus need a regista. Go on social media. You'll find half of the people who are convinced Paredes is a good player.
00:18:55
Speaker
I'm praying that he comes to you. If you think I'm insufferable now, wait. I don't know how I have to manifest that to happen, but just tell me whatever forces in the ether gods, whatever, just tell me what I have to do to get Paredes to Torino and I will do it.
00:19:15
Speaker
Yeah, I for me harming another human being I think you and I are one of the people who don't rate him Oh, he sucks. He sucks. He's a player. No, you know, you will thank you. Thank you That's exactly what I wanted to say. He's an indoor football play. It's a footstyle player. It's technically really good But on the pitch
00:19:34
Speaker
He just I don't you know when you for PSG ever though. Look how important is for PSG? Yeah, look at the players He's surrounded by a PSG. Okay, then every time whether it was Roma or Zenith or everywhere else for me He's an Argentinian Kuzmanovich. That's all he is has always been and will always be he's an Argentinian Kuzmanovich and if you ever go after him I know that Allegri can get the can can can if I if I like he wants him then he sees something you know, and I think he'll probably do okay for you, but
00:20:03
Speaker
But this is not, you know, I am not his biggest fan. But if Allegri accepts this and says he can do something with it, then I actually think he can do something for you. But I really do think so, because Allegri knows what kinds of... It's like when people make fun of Antonio Conte for obsessing over, you know, Vidal and Kolarov and, you know, Ashley Young and Darmian and these guys and Padouin, and then he still delivers results.
00:20:27
Speaker
You know, you can make fun of all you want, but these guys, they know what they want and why they want it, and they think they can get something out of it. Sometimes they miss, sometimes they hit home runs more often than not. But I think Paredes could do well for you, and I'm saying this as someone who literally does not rate him.
00:20:46
Speaker
I think Juventus need a lot of work in the midfield, but in other areas as well. But certainly in the centre of midfield, if anybody has watched them in pre-season, the games against Barcelona and certainly against Real Madrid. I know it's pre-season, you shouldn't always read too much into pre-season when fitness levels are low. But having watched Juventus last season,
00:21:13
Speaker
It was exactly the same leg routine, completely dominated in midfield, can't string two or three passes together, passive, completely passive. Against Real Madrid, it was embarrassing at times. Madrid just completely controlled that central midfield. They just passed, passed, passed. Juventus, they weren't pressing. They weren't moving as a unit. It was just disjointed.
00:21:39
Speaker
no fluidity, like I said before, no patterns of play, no team passing moves. It's just the same story over and over again. And he looked at that midfield and it was just way off. They were cutting through them so easily. So inviting pressure. I mean, this is what I was saying before. This is as much down to the manager as it is the players because Allegri just doesn't seem to be able to create a team that can just keep the ball, dominate the midfield, dominate possession.
AC Milan's New Signings and Tactics
00:22:08
Speaker
Zakaria was just running around like a headless chicken. You know, there was, there's just a, Locatelli was decent actually. Locatelli looked like a player that if he had the right players around him could do something. He looked, he played well. But they just, Juventus' midfield is just way off it. I don't really know. I don't know what the solution is. You know, Juventus go into this new season and honestly, I don't really have much, much hope for them right now at all. I think they need a, they need a lot more work in the transfer market.
00:22:37
Speaker
Even if they bring in place, it's going to be up to a legary to make the team play better. And, you know, I spoke to a journalist yesterday who's been covering Juventus in the States. And she's been at Juventus training. She's been to their matches. She's been to the press conferences. She's been around the camp.
00:22:53
Speaker
And she said the vibe around the Juventus campus has not been good compared to the other teams that are in the States. She said the training, I don't know how much access they got to training. Usually journalists don't get access to the real in-depth stuff. It's usually just the stuff for the press. But, you know, she said that training the vibe wasn't good. It was very basic stuff.
00:23:12
Speaker
And obviously the matches, certainly the Real Madrid match was just terrible. You may look way off at the fullbacks. They need two fullbacks as well, desperately. They need a load if anybody sees the penalty that he gave away. Alexandre has been terrible in both games. They need two new fullbacks, let alone one.
00:23:34
Speaker
So they need attackers as well. They can't go into the season with Moisuke. And I know he scored two goals to Barcelona. So they deep down midfield, they needed the fans. And also the other thing, the other thing, the fourth, this fourth, I mean, Allegri, we thought it'd go 4-3-3, but it seems like he's going to go 4-3-1-2 with Di Maria.
00:23:51
Speaker
as the number 10 in between the back two. I mean, who plays a 4-3-1-2? I mean, we criticize Allegri for being outdated. Tell me, does any other team use a 4-3-1-2? Who last used a 4-3-1-2 formation? I mean, so yeah, a lot of question marks. The only saving grace is that Israel Madrid, they're the best team, all the European champions and the teams in Serie A are going to be a lot weaker.
00:24:17
Speaker
Well, there's no doubt about that. Okay, let's move on. Nima, you and I were pretty harsh on Mila, but it looks like they are about to get their first deal over the line, or I should say, first big deal. I don't want to disrespect Alessandro Florianzi, like that at least. It's a Monday, I'll be kind. You did a great interview about this new acquisition that they have. What do you think about this?
00:24:46
Speaker
Well, yeah, Christoph Tarar's, the interview we did last Thursday, very insightful. Yeah, he really is probably the most famous one, but also the best Belgian football journalist out there. The level of depth he went to and the knowledge and analysis was really, really great and it was really insightful.
00:25:08
Speaker
For me, you know, even if you're not a Milan fan, it hyped me up listening to him and talking. It seems to me this is a player who, and also from what I've read afterwards, that the kitle's agent has personally asked Zlatan to take the kitle under his wing. And we know that when Zlatan does that, it always goes well. I mean, look at what happened at Milan with all the other players. They want a bloody scudetto that way.
00:25:34
Speaker
Raphael Liao, Theo Hernandez, all these players, when he's there, he shows them because he's done it and they respect him and he shows them the level of work ethic that is required. Look, it's going to be interesting. I think this guy is going to be quite the excitement. I think we need to give him a little bit of time. I don't expect him to hit the ground running.
00:25:56
Speaker
But I do think that he could be quite the player for Milan. Again, Milan's project, they continue to do these intelligent signings. They continue to invest in young, talented players at low wages, keep them for a few years and then sell them at a profit. They've understood where they are in the food chain and they're doing impressive things. And I understand we're not happy about
00:26:20
Speaker
that as fans of Milan or as fans of Italian football. But look, there was an article in Gazzetta de la Sport last week showcasing how much TV rights are sold in each country, in the country and abroad. And the Serie A was below Ligue 1.
00:26:36
Speaker
So this is where it is. And they have to compete in this difficult climate. And I think he plays in a number 10 role. That's where they like him. He's a left-footed player. He's more of a silky smooth operator than De Bruyne, who's much more of an energetic player. And I think that's what Milan have been lacking. And if he can really start doing that, then Milan are under the radar. They didn't have a good June.
00:27:06
Speaker
You know, for me, as things stand today, I have Milan winning the school. See, I don't. Carlo, what do you make of this? I suppose my issue is they they haven't. Yes, this is a good signing, but I don't think they address their most pressing needs.
00:27:24
Speaker
Well, I think this is one of the needs they have. They are missing a number 10. I mean, Ibrahim Diaz started last season really, really well. We thought, at first, we all of us thought that, well, certainly me and Nimint did, we thought that he would be maybe an upgrade on Chelanoglu. But in the end, he just fell away completely after like September last year, after starting really well.
00:27:44
Speaker
So they needed a number 10, but they also need a right-winger. I know Maseas just got a lovely goal in a preseason friendly against Marseille, and it's a great story, but they definitely need a right-winger. They can't. I don't think Maseas or Cellarmakers, that is going to be any kind of medium. Hold on to number nine under the age of 50.
00:28:03
Speaker
Well, yeah, yeah, I mean, that's, that's something as well. But I mean, Giroud helped them win the league, still doing all right. I mean, what, what I like about Milan is again, coming back to Juventus is that Milan have a clear identity, they have a clear way they play. And you can say that maybe next season,
00:28:20
Speaker
teams might find them out. It's pretty obvious what Milan's main area of strength is, and that is the left-hand side through Teo Hernandez and Rafael Liao. I remember watching that Sassuolo game on the last day of last season and thinking, it's so obvious what they're doing here, and yet they're leaving themselves so open, double up on that left-hand side. I think teams will become a little bit wiser to Milan this coming season. That's what Italian teams do well, even now.
00:28:47
Speaker
I think with Milan, they have a clear identity. We know how they're going to play. We know what patterns of play they have. We know they're going to go wide to Liao. They're going to try the overloads. They're going to put in crosses to Giroud. It's a clear...
00:29:01
Speaker
clear how they play. They're two central midfielders who will probably now be Beneser and Sonali. We know that they're both good on the ball. We know they're good short passes. We know that they can dominate a central midfield and dictate the tempo of the game. So we know their wing backs will get forward.
00:29:19
Speaker
They've got a clear identity. Not all the other teams have that. Juventus clearly don't have that. They have it, but we'll see. We're going to come to them. They're probably going to make some changes. They're probably going to lose one or two players. They'll have to.
00:29:38
Speaker
They're going to maybe lose both wing backs, so we'll see how that affects them. I think there's less questions for Milan, maybe, than other teams. Napoli, loads of question marks because of all the turnover of players. Roma are coming up. We're going to speak about Roma. I don't know if I'd make Milan favourites, but I feel confident that they're going to have another good season.
00:30:02
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, we'll have to see.
Torino's Internal Tensions
00:30:04
Speaker
Okay, Torino, very interesting side. We just mentioned one of the players from Inter, who is on his way there. However, our boy Ivan Yurich
00:30:19
Speaker
Doesn't seem to be getting on with the sporting director. Did you see the actual video that was published? I saw all of it. I saw the whole full redacted 93 minutes.
00:30:36
Speaker
Yeah, so a few seconds of the shouting match, which starts at the training round that they're on, which is at the hotel that they're staying at in the Austrian Alps, which is named for some reason something to do with cows. And there are two statues, two giant statues of cows, as all of this is going on. It really is. The whole thing reads and sounds like
00:31:06
Speaker
like something like a performance art exhibition, because it's the Alps, everything is calm, there are statues of cows, Ivan Yurich is pissed off. He's telling Vagnati to do one and leave him alone. He also speaks better Italian than 90% of Italians, by the way. Yeah, he really speaks well. Just to clarify, Vagnati is the sporting director of Serena.
00:31:31
Speaker
Yeah, he said didn't he say that I thought he said I come on man. I said that yeah replacement of the legendary Jean Luca Patraki Look, so so what happens is um, he you know, he he gets angry you each they're having a heated debate and he pushes Vanyaati away
00:31:48
Speaker
Um, the team manager then hears all this comes in between and Vaniati loses his shit completely. Um, and wants to fight your itch and tells him to don't scream at me and don't, don't you dare raise your voice to people who, who protect you against in, in, in front of that dickhead. Yes. And that was his biggest mistake in saying, yeah. And that dickhead he's referring to is none other than Urbano Keirot, the, the club owner and president.
00:32:14
Speaker
And by the way has me blocked on WhatsApp. I just want that on the record Well done Once once it is all finally settled I have to wait two years and then I think I can comment on it but it had to do with
00:32:37
Speaker
Gianluca Petrachi when he was working for Roma while still under contract with Torino. Actually, one of my tweets and my stories made it into Roma's defense when they got sued by Petrachi. Apparently, Cairo, when I asked him a question, perhaps he didn't appreciate it, but he blocked me. That's good. I don't know. By the way, for them,
00:33:04
Speaker
to, I guess, for Vanyati to be having a go at Jorich, okay? He would be back into a position in less than 30 minutes by some Serie A club. I mean, if I look at the list of teams in Serie A, probably half of them would do with Jorich at this very moment.
00:33:29
Speaker
You could probably even think of some clubs in the top seven or eight that might even prefer him. I just don't know if you're Torino. Why would you even tempt fate like this? Do you remember what this guy did last season for you? And mind you, what he did with
00:33:47
Speaker
the stable of players that were crap. I mean, he turned Ricardo Rodriguez into an actual viable footballer. OK, the guy who was crap at Milan. OK, he was starting with Jurec. OK, so Tony, you know, you don't don't do this. OK, don't do this. Do not do this. You are. You're in a very good position with this guy. Do not tempt fate.
00:34:16
Speaker
or you'll be back in serie abi so don't just exactly and and that's what's so frustrating because everything looked good i mean all they had to do this summer was okay belot is gonna go bremen was gonna it was gonna was gonna be sold um they had to just make sure to keep mandragora
00:34:33
Speaker
And you know try to see if they could keep a big and break all and then try to replace them and they've just done nothing and so I can understand that he's pissed off because right now. The players that I mean clearly he doesn't want than I am doesn't want majority doesn't want you reach it doesn't want all of these players that.
00:34:51
Speaker
the Vaniati wants to get for him. And it's, it creates, I mean, it's not best players, you know, and they've signed basically no one. So you can understand why he's pissed off. No, they signed no one. Yeah. And of course he's going to be angry and he's not happy with the replacements. I mean, Giulio Maggiore, I like you. I like, I think Filippi Ulicic is a decent player, but Giulio Maggiore, Jason Denea, I mean, I don't know. And it's, it's strange. It's really, really strange. And I understand that
00:35:20
Speaker
for me it's it's weird that when you can't get you reach on board and why do you go is it when you are too slow or is it kairos is it what you are too slow i think it's absolutely think it's it's kairoan and when you combine my issue is you can't.
00:35:38
Speaker
Why are you in talks with players that your coach clearly doesn't want? And in fact, one of the one of the unconfirmed reports that I've seen about this is that Yurich has called Cairo and told him not to sign these players because he doesn't want them. And that's why they've been blocked. And that's part of the reason why they've been fighting as well. So, I mean, it's not a good thing. And like you said, John, this do not push them to faith. You could end up being relegated. Don't. And it won't be Yurich's fault.
00:36:05
Speaker
I mean, this is, you know, he's shown what he can do with the little. And this year, when he was supposed to take that next step, it's going to be one of those, you know, turn off, you know, try to put out fires kind of thing. You have to say one thing that only in Serie A do you get, do you get scenes like this?
00:36:22
Speaker
Yeah, I mean that day in Serie A was fantastic. The incident with Palermo Coach and the sporting director, Baldini resigning in fury and rage the way they did.
00:36:39
Speaker
and getting punched in the face by his own manager. Last time I remember Silvio Bellini, he kicked his own player in the backside. No, no, no, no. It was Domenico Di Carlo, the Panama coach, when he was at Catania. And he kicked him in the backside. And then he kicked someone in the backside.
00:36:58
Speaker
In his parmaham, we say that's how we describe this. He kicked him up the parmaham because he was a parliament coach at the time. No, Baldini's crazy. If you saw him this summer after he got Palermo promoted to Surya B, he hadn't slept for maybe two days.
00:37:15
Speaker
And he was on Sky talking about the most incoherent shit that I think I've ever seen someone do in a sports program afterwards. And it was just weird. He's not like everyone else.
00:37:31
Speaker
And now the sporting director and coach have resigned. The season starts in two weeks. And that happened on the same day. And what also happened on the same day, for some reason, Ron Moss, who played Ridge Forrester on the Bold and the Beautiful, pop culture reference from 1980, he turns up at Inter and claims he's an Inter fan and makes the most cringe-worthy Forza Inter video I've seen in my life.
00:37:56
Speaker
And this all happened. If we're doing the hierarchy of worst, like, accents to say in Italian, the Caio Krause is the very top of the hierarchy. Like, I have to turn on my American accent to like... No, I think Jerry Cardinale is Italiano Americano.
00:38:18
Speaker
or is my favorite one and Abiamo Vinto Lo Scudetto. That's that's my that's my I'm Jerry Cardinale. And it's only added by the by the work. We can say that's never mind. I don't want to get never mind. I take that back. Yeah, do that. I want to get Presidente on here. Yeah. Well, I want to have Carl Crosses here. Well, one guy who's definitely not coming on here is your friend, Steven Zhang.
00:38:48
Speaker
Where are they at with this market Nima because we're saying things about Chelsea coming in for skinny are we're seeing All sorts of involving dumb frees with Being linked with Manchester United being linked with every in everybody
Inter Milan's Transfer and Ownership Issues
00:39:05
Speaker
else as well. Yeah, I think it's done freezing Scriny are the two Chelsea talks about them all so dumb freeze anyway
00:39:13
Speaker
Yeah, for Dunfries more than Scrinyar, because Scrinyar, they're backing down. He's going to cost 70 million euros just in cash. That's where Inter are. And Simone Inzaghi has been very clear. Denzel Dunfries, they're very interested in Denzel Dunfries, but Inter want 40, 50 million euros for an under not budging. And they do have a plan being in place, should they not be able to. But regardless of this, it's
00:39:42
Speaker
This ownership group, and I think this is why I get so bored with the debate on social media. Everything is so polarized and there's no room for nuance. Look, Suning have done absolutely amazing. They have invested almost a billion euros at this club, including buying the club for 200 million euros. They've modernized, they've done some amazing things. They've done incredible work getting Inter to
00:40:06
Speaker
to enter the 21st century. But it's clear that they don't have the capital to keep this going and it's not sustainable for them to do that because Italian football is structurally a mess. I get that.
00:40:21
Speaker
But what's going on in Inter is ridiculous. When you negotiate with a player for seven months, and you can't drag that deal over the line, when you have to sacrifice a big player every single summer to end the Mercato on a plus net of 60, or last year, however it was, 100 million, now it's 60, this is not sustainable. You cannot compete, even in Italy, by doing this.
00:40:50
Speaker
year and year again, and I think we've reached the ceiling with Suning. I think the pandemic and the geopolitical state of the world has basically precluded Chinese investment in football.
00:41:05
Speaker
And so they need to sell as soon as possible. Now, here's the kicker. I don't want them to sell just to anyone. I want them to, because the last thing I want is a jerry carvinaler. I don't want an American hedge fund. I want what you have at home. I want a free kit. I want a family business group who wants to invest and is willing to take a hit whilst understanding that they can make up their money elsewhere. So we've got to be careful what you wish for there.
00:41:33
Speaker
But as for the Chelsea and Dumfries thing, for the right price, I keep saying this, I've been saying this throughout the summer, for the right price, all Inter players are for sale. And I think all Italian players are for sale, except for Juve, who have the Aniele family and XOR, who made that cash injection of 400 million euros.
00:41:54
Speaker
And they don't have to sell. But they too also needed to sell the Licht before they could go after Bremen. So it's not a good place for Italian football to be. We'll see what happens. And Inter will have to sign a replacement if they get rid of Dumfries. I think they're going to sell Dumfries. I think that's what's going to happen.
00:42:20
Speaker
whether or not, I mean, I would like to know from you, if they do sell Dunfries, do you think that they stick with Damien and Belanova as their two right wing backs?
00:42:29
Speaker
But then they have to sign a left wing back. You know, that's the thing. Personally, I think... But they've got Gosen's and DiMarco's left wing back. Yeah, but DiMarco's more of a left-wing. And Dale and Dale are there if desperate as well. So, I mean, they've got the numbers, but have they got the quality? Yeah, but that's the thing. Simonin Zaghi won't be happy, and he's made it clear that he wants, you know, if somebody's sold, he wants someone in. And if they sell Dezil Dumfries, the last thing I heard is he wants Manuel Lazary from Lazio, which makes perfect sense to me, because he's the kind of player that you lack.
00:42:58
Speaker
and also a kind of player who we know has done really well under Simone Zagie at Lazio and who's frankly been terrible at Lazio under Sarri and is not very, and from what I understand is not too happy there either. But then you have to deal with Lotito and Inter kid clearly can't, you know, then that's not a good place to be because dealing with Lotito when you're chasing a player is not, even if it's a player that he doesn't want, he's a giant pain in the butt. Well, and he's already getting annihilated this summer by
00:43:28
Speaker
supporters. And which is weird because they've got, I mean, I think they've had a good summer. I think actually Lazio for once have had a good summer, even though they signed Patrick down to a five-year contract for reasons that only God and Claudio Lotito know and understand. But I think they've had a good season. I think they've had a good summer, Lazio.
00:43:48
Speaker
Yeah, still can't sell tickets though, so I don't know. Okay, Roma moving on. Roma still dealing with PSG for Winaldum.
00:44:05
Speaker
I don't know how or when this will get over the line. It's kind of odd because Roma have been kind of, they've gone from quiet, not really leaking anything to these last two deals. The first for Di Bala and now this one for Vinaldom. They've been pretty transparent with everything that's been happening.
00:44:27
Speaker
The biggest hurdle, obviously, his wages, he earns eight to nine million euros in debts, which would make him by far the highest earner, the new highest earner, Paulo de Bala at six, which includes bonus. It's really if you want to do just base salary, he's at around four and a half, five.
00:44:47
Speaker
So he would be the highest earner, they need PSJA to contribute to his wage. I was told that just on Friday, PSJA, they were willing, after not willing to do so, up until that point, they finally relented, were willing to contribute up to 20%, 25% of the wage, which would be important, but still,
00:45:12
Speaker
costly for Roma. However, they are insisting on an obligation to buy. And I saw Sky Sport, Gianluca Di Marzio came out with something similar to what I had the other day about this obligation to buy Roma.
Roma's Transfer Market Strategy
00:45:26
Speaker
They don't want that. They just want to bring them in on loan, perhaps an option. We'll see how it works out. But
00:45:32
Speaker
if they're able to get him, and then Belotti on top of that, that is about as good of a summer as you can get. And I would be tempted to say the best summer that I have ever followed Roma of these what? It's 2022.
00:45:54
Speaker
I mean, the last time they had to five years, I'm trying to think of better. This has been the best summer Mercatorome I've had since the summer they bought Battistuta. It's as simple as that. I mean, it's really that simple. They've done everything right. They've they lost Mikitariam, but they replaced them well enough.
00:46:10
Speaker
If they get Rinaldum as well, if they bring in Bellotti and if they manage to offload El Doroshomorodal, that's a fantastic summer. They've really, truly done everything they needed to do. We know that Mourinho's second season is when things really click together.
00:46:25
Speaker
Keeping their players as well, I think is also key. If they manage to keep the top players as well. At some point, nobody really talks about this one, but Zeke Chelyk, the guy from LEO that they got, I said I need to do an investigation as to where all this money is coming from from Friedkin. We need to investigate LEO as to why they only gave this guy away for seven and a half million euros. I am dumbfounded by it.
00:46:52
Speaker
I almost want to call Interpol to look into this and perhaps make some arrests. Where was his contract running out?
00:47:01
Speaker
He had in 2024 so he had another year after this season But I mean he was there starting right back when they won the league a couple of years ago. I Do not understand it. I mean Roma tried to get him last summer. They were quoted 14 and a half million euros Now they have new ownership. I've mentioned this before Leo's new ownership the head of the group
00:47:25
Speaker
very good friends with Dan Freak and Roma advised him throughout his acquisition process of Roma. But still, I just that aside, I'm I'm absolutely unequivocally dumbfounded as to how they got Zagicelli for seven and a half million euros. But I mean, I mean, it's one of them is an interesting one because I
00:47:48
Speaker
I don't think anybody expected him to struggle as much as he did at PSG. And I was speaking to Robin Berner, who's one of the top French journalists, about why he struggled so much at PSG. And he said that he was basically played out of position. He was played out on the right and on the few occasions that he did play.
00:48:07
Speaker
sense of midfield, it was all kind of disjointed because he came from a very well-oiled machine at Liverpool and then suddenly came to PSG where he had those three up front who just basically did what they wanted, never tracked back, never defended, never worked as a team. So it was all kind of chaotic and he seems to work better when he's in a very clear system which I
00:48:30
Speaker
I guess he will have it with Mourinho, even if it's more conservative. But I think things are looking really good for Roma. We already said in the last few weeks, haven't we, that we think that they've overtaken Napoli as the top four team. And I look at the players that they've bought,
00:48:50
Speaker
and I look at the fact that there's a lot of experience that they've brought as well. I mean that's it, I have my question whatsoever whether his legs have gone, but you know he's experienced. Vinaldom's experience, Balotti, lots of experience. Dibala, lots of experience. I mean they're buying players that you know know how to win and have won things.
00:49:08
Speaker
Uh, they've kept all their plays apart from mechatarian. And, you know, the Tottenham game, I watched the Tottenham game at the weekend and I thought they were very, very organized. I mean, they played the way that Mourinho has played in recent years. They didn't, you know, they sat back, they put a bank of five at the back, but Tottenham, how much did Tottenham create in that game? Very little. They didn't have a single shot on target. Um, I mean, Roma.
00:49:36
Speaker
The thing that is always concerned me has been the midfield I've said since beginning. They need a mediano, a physical defensive midfield presence. I think, you know, barring something different, I mean, clearly Jose Mourinho is fine with Christante and Matice sort of filling that role, which does surprise me.
00:50:00
Speaker
Um, my other concern, uh, had to do with at the back. He's been, I mean, dying for left footed central defender, still haven't gotten one. However, I, I don't, I don't know who you would take out from the back three small and he really likes machini. He likes, uh, maybe Banias. I don't know. Um, okay.
00:50:32
Speaker
Yeah, I think he's going to, yeah, I think you'll see Pellegrini behind Di Bala, Tammy Abraham, and then you'll see Kars Dorp, Matych, and I don't know. So Pellegrini will play as a, because against Tottenham, Pellegrini started as a central midfielder. Correct, he dropped him deep and then he put Di Bala behind. Do you think that can work, Pellegrini, in that role?
00:50:46
Speaker
I tend to think that, as of this moment, he wouldn't want to mess with that.
00:50:55
Speaker
I have concerns because that's essentially what Mikitarian did last season. He played in this hybrid attacker slash midfield role. I have said from the beginning, Lorenzo Pellegrini is not a medsala, cannot be asked to do too much defensively.
00:51:18
Speaker
However, I thought they actually looked really, really balanced. I mean, they conceded next to nothing. Yeah, they looked solid. Yeah, I mean, they were incredibly, and it wasn't like your normal, you know, Italian shit housing, like you see from a Pescada side, you know, playing with 10 at the back.
00:51:39
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, they were they weren't afraid to come out. I was pleasantly surprised that, you know, I don't know who that match spoke more about its preseason. You don't want to make a big deal of it. However, I was very shocked at how balanced they looked.
00:51:55
Speaker
Because I always thought that you can't play Pellegrini, DiBala, Zaniyolo and Tammy Abraham on the pitch at once. However, this is why you pay big money to guys like Jose Mourinho. It worked in that instance. Clearly, these people are smarter than all of us.
00:52:15
Speaker
So I'm curious to see if he continues with it. Again, my only concern is Mati, as you said, Carlo, I mean, it's not as if this guy has been featuring a lot in recent seasons for United. Can you really just bring him and say, OK, now you need to play 40 matches for us, OK? Go ahead and do it. That seems like a tall order for him, but
00:52:40
Speaker
I have my doubts over him, I'll be honest, but maybe in the slowest area, maybe as a player to bring on in the last 20 minutes to see out the game, maybe that could be his role. And just one last thing, because getting information about Bel-Alti is kind of weird because he technically has an agent, but it's on like an as-needed basis. He has a lawyer that he uses. It's a very weird setup. So like when he does contractual stuff, he brings in this agent, but the people who speak for him are all lawyers.
00:53:12
Speaker
I'm shocked that this is even, first off, the fact that we're two weeks away and Bellotti is still even available because I can find, again, seven teams in Serie A at this very moment who could use him.
00:53:27
Speaker
he would fit this perfect little niche of a player that Roma need. How many years have we been saying that the best solution would be for him to go to Roma where he would be an understudy to Jeko and given how he works, his work rate and the kind of player he is, I think he would absolutely love to play for. Well, I think he and Tammy Abraham are a perfect match.
00:53:53
Speaker
We really are. The thing is that the options that Roma are now going to have in attack is, you know, Tammy Abraham and Bellotti. So, you know, Abraham's out, you play Bellotti, or you say they might even be able to play together, but, you know, you've got two strikers, two number nines, you've got Di Barla and Zagnolo.
00:54:09
Speaker
You know, then you've got Pellegrini from a deeper role or can play higher up as well. Then you've got a few of the youngsters. I mean, they've got good options there as well. They really do. Yeah. I mean, this would be the first time. I mean, Roroma supporters, when we think depth, we just think somebody who doesn't belong in Seriati, who won't urinate himself on the pitch. We don't really think of a strong. But I wanted to ask you about that because your defense does not, I mean, Ibanez, Smalling, Mancini, like,
00:54:38
Speaker
Good. Sorry? Kumbula. Kumbula, man. Manas Kumbula. I mean, they may be, you know, I think Mancini, I haven't given up on Mancini in Kumbula, but I don't think they are good enough to win the Serie A in the back. I think that's where the weaknesses are. But how do you counter that? Well, is it the classic Mourinho?
00:54:59
Speaker
playing low blocks, risk minimisation from the rest of the team and playing deeper, that could be an option and that could make Roma really... I like Rome with the wing back areas though. I think they've got two wing backs. Oh my God, the first time in my life. You've got two wing backs, two strong wing backs on both sides. Zalevski... First time since the Scudetto season when you had... Yeah, Zalevski in spin at Zola and on one side and then you've got Chelic and Karstorpe. I mean, yeah, you can just strengthen that with that. No, they're really strong there. It's just the central defence I have questions over.
00:55:28
Speaker
But regardless, I don't think... And maybe sentiment. Yeah, maybe sentiment fair. But I mean, no, I'm not too worried about the sentiment. I think that for me, the biggest weakness is the central defense. But again, if Mourinho counters that by getting the entire team to buy into this and having using Di Bala as his Wesley Schneider, which seems to be what he wants to do, and if he can get him to do that.
00:55:50
Speaker
then Roma are going to be incredibly difficult to break down and they're going to be difficult, they're going to be a pain in the ass to play because they're going to hurt you on the counter-attack and they have dangerous players up front.
Mourinho's Influence on Roma
00:56:02
Speaker
Do I think they are good enough to win this Corretto? No, absolutely not.
00:56:07
Speaker
But if he does this, if Mourinho pulls this rabbit out of the hat and he wins the Serie A with Roma, if Roma, if he does this, if he does this and he wins the Serie A with this Roma this season, that's his biggest miracle in his career, no doubt.
00:56:33
Speaker
undoubtedly. But it eclipses every other accomplishment he's ever done. But I don't think he will. I really don't think so. I think Milan and Inter and even Juve are a little bit stronger than Roma. But Roma are for sure together with Napoli. I think they're ahead of Napoli for the top four, no doubt.
00:56:51
Speaker
And those who have been to Rome, they would say to you, you leave more Tashi too. That's all I can say to that. No, listen. And also, and also I think, I think Roma in the Europa League is going to be, I have them as my, they're my, they're my dark horse to win the Europa League.
00:57:10
Speaker
Very quickly, I just have to say, Balotti, if you were to come to Roma, Roma over the years, my entire life, they have struggled against the, you know, the Wednesday evening matches where it's raining in Veneto, Liguria, those sorts of matches where it's just grip crap. They don't want to be there. Nobody wants to be there. Andrea Balotti,
00:57:31
Speaker
is the kind of guy who pulls those goals out of his backside. He does. Where you just, you know, you shit house for 80 minutes and then you manage to score at the very end because he gets, he gets one on the counter attack. I mean, he is like the embodiment of the Syrian striker who can just pull one out from his backside, like Lapadula. He used to be able to do that.
00:57:55
Speaker
They've never had anybody like that. Only Belok is good and Lapadoula is absolute crap. I'm just saying, you know, Lapadoula, he always seemed to score at like opportune moments. You know, he never scored in like the 16th minute. Okay, let's keep going. Napoli.
Napoli's Rebuilding Efforts
00:58:13
Speaker
I like what they've done. I'll say I don't. But did they get because they are being linked with Raspadori of Sassuolo. Sassuolo remains to be seen what's going to happen. They're trying everything they can to hold on to Raspadori, Fratese, who's close to Roma. They don't want to give them up. However, I think both of these guys are going to be tempted to leave.
00:58:37
Speaker
If I were Cessuola, obviously you don't want to lose both of them. However, you might not have any choice. But what do you think about Napoli? Because I said on last week's episode, I'm not a huge fan of what they've done. It more so has to do with not on the pitch, but off the pitch, you've lost the, you know, the sanitary of the dressing room.
00:58:59
Speaker
Yeah, they've done relatively well in replacing this isn't the first time Aurelio de la rentes deserves and this Napoli deserves us to give them the benefit of the doubt based on what they've done since since he took them over. This is not the first time that Lavetzi Hamshikavani have left.
00:59:15
Speaker
This is not the first time that Higuain was sold for stupid money. Look, I have no problems with it. I like Kim Minye. I think he's a good player. I think he's a giant next to Rahmani and also Astigord, the Norwegian. With Genoa, we saw what a stable player he is. They've definitely improved their defense. During the preseason it's been their standout player.
00:59:52
Speaker
You made that pronunciation up. No, I didn't. That sounds like my uncle trying, you know, as you're here trying to, looking at me right now as if I'm speaking a foreign language.
01:00:06
Speaker
He said it himself, because there were so many questions. He did a video, Napoli put out a video with him pronouncing his name. I listened. Did they spell it right though, like West Ham did? Yeah, but we'll get to that. But no, I like what they've done. It's a changing of the guards, and it's not the first time Napoli have done this, and I like that they brought in players that fit Sparaspalletti's system. The only thing I'm missing is a Deolo Feo and a Raspadori, someone like that.
01:00:33
Speaker
I personally would have liked to prefer to have seen De Ulo Feo play at Napoli, but of course, you know, I think Raspadori is still a little bit unproven. I think I'd like to see him stay one more season. It's a solo, and a solo don't need to stay. We'll see what happens. But I think De Ulo Feo is ready now.
01:00:49
Speaker
to take that next step and play for top four side. And I think playing for Spalletti in that system, he's born to play there. And I think he would be brilliant there. So, no, I like what they've done. I do think that it's going to take maybe, you know, it's a changing of the guards and there are question marks.
01:01:06
Speaker
But no, it's becoming clear to me. I mean, to me, when I look at the Serie A, I see a clear top three. I see a clear four and fourth and fifth. And then I see, you know, Lazio Fiorentina a little bit further down. But I think, and then the rest of the league, the rest of the teams in the league are way off.
01:01:25
Speaker
It's like the, it's the seven sisters. It's the return of the, of the football culture of the seven sisters that we were, that we grew up. I don't have the same enthusiasm for Napoli. I have to be honest. I think they've lost, they've just lost too many big names. I mean, you mentioned before that they've done well to sell big name players in the past, like Levetsi, like Kavani, like, you know,
01:01:47
Speaker
But you know they never sold three four five of them all at once and which is what they've done this summer they just got rid of all of that all of their leaders in one summer. All of that big name stars in one summer pretty much and you know that that is so much to replace that and not just on the pitch but in the in the dressing room changing room as well.
01:02:07
Speaker
And, you know, some of these players, they put a point behind a lot of youngsters. I think it's definitely a clear change of model from from De Laurentiis this season. He's he's trying to cut the wage bill massively. No, no longer will they pay high, high salaries, which is what made the Ronaldo link so hilariously ridiculous. The fact that they're basically cutting their work, they're lowering their wage ceiling to like under five million, I think, going forward. And they're going to sign Ronaldo on 60 million or wherever much he earns.
01:02:36
Speaker
Um, but, um, so yeah, I, I, I, it's still a month ago. We have to see what else they do. They do bring in as for Dory. Then that is, that is definitely one step forward. Uh, and just from a purely, from his point of view and from the Italy national team, I hope he does go because, you know, we want our young talents playing for the bigger clubs and playing in the bigger competitions, start the champions me. And I think that would be a good move for, for, for us, but Dory, if he does, if he does join a team like Napoli.
01:03:08
Speaker
We'll see, we'll see.
01:03:10
Speaker
Okay, a couple more things to get to Malinkovich Savage being linked as a potential alternative for Manchester United to Frankie de Jong.
Milinkovic-Savic's Future Speculations
01:03:22
Speaker
And there's also interest from Juve. I'm not going to hold my breath because this happens every summer with him. So do we really have to say anything? He's going to stay, right? He's a lifer. He's not, you know, with an exit for every summer since he's arrived there.
01:03:41
Speaker
Yeah, but it's Claudio Lottito. I mean, this is, you sign a, when you sign a contract with Claudio Lottito and Urbano Cajero and Aurelio De Laurentiis here, you're kind of signing a contract with the devil. It's kind of hard to get out of. And they've shown that they
01:04:03
Speaker
They mean business. They won't sell for a penny less than they want. And even with Napoli, now with Fabiano Ruiz, he's perfectly content to let Fabiano Ruiz roto 12 months on the bench and not see the pitch unless he signs the contract extension. I mean, this is how they operate and lotitos no different.
01:04:29
Speaker
And look, his contract expires in June 2024. This was the last summer to sell him for big money, but no real offers have come in and he's not going to sign a contract extension. We know that.
01:04:46
Speaker
So this summer or latest next summer, because I don't think Lazio can afford, they're not as well run as in terms of revenue streams in, as Napoli is, and they cannot afford to lose Milicovic Savage that cheaply, as Napoli could afford to lose players like Milic, who they paid lots of money for, or Luis even, but Lazio can't do that. So for me, I think this is one of those
01:05:12
Speaker
Fina Mercato, Deadline Day, 60-70 million deals, or its next summer or even January.
01:05:19
Speaker
Yeah, I don't see happening because they're already trying to sell already negotiations on to sell Luis Alberto and I can't see them get rid of Milankovic Savage and Lucas Lever basically replacing their entire center midfield in in one summer having already lost their entire center backs, center back players because they've lost. Well, they've lost Luis Felipe and and the chair is probably going to leave as well. So
01:05:43
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think it will happen and you know, I think I'm doubtful over the Man United interest how much truth there's in that to be honest I don't think he's a completely different player to Frankie the young. I'm not sure he fits ten hags style of football So I don't really I'm not sure how much truth is in that and as for Juventus and we've seen that because of the poker injury They might there's been a lot of reports
01:06:07
Speaker
this morning on Monday that they might come in with an offer. I don't see Juventus being able to be prepared to pay the money that Lozito is asking, $60 million at least, for him. The only thing that surprised me, and maybe from Milinkovic Savage's point of view, is that he's obviously been one of the best
01:06:28
Speaker
midfielders in Serie A, of his generation, yet he could spend his whole career at Lazio. He's going to be 27 now, 28 next season by the time he gets a move. He's in his peak now, he's not got long left before he starts declining. I don't want to say it's a shame, but you do wonder what he could have done at a really, really top club.
01:06:52
Speaker
Well, you absolutely can, but he was very unlucky, some things, and some, you know, no one forced him to sign the contract extension five-year deal, which kept him at Lazio until now. But I'm happy in a way that he stayed at Lazio such a long time. I think it's so good to see such a fantastic complete midfielder, and he really is. I mean, he can play in every single position in that central midfield, and he's done so brilliantly. So I'm happy for Serie A and Lazio fans as such, but for his perspective,
01:07:22
Speaker
Maybe signing that contract extension was not the wisest decision he did. Perhaps. Okay. Let's go to Baggio and Prem Face of the Week.
Roma's Marketing Success with DiBala
01:07:36
Speaker
Okay, Bajo of the Week, who's taking that? Nima? Yeah, I mean, it has to be. It can't be anything else other than an absolutely spectacular player presentation by Roma with DiBala.
01:07:54
Speaker
I mean, it was it was that's how you present players. That's how you unveil star signings. And at the ending there, when when I don't know how many people were singing Roma, Roma, Roma, Antón de la Venditti song and Di Bala just sitting there just sitting on the steps watching it and almost crying. That's all. And that's we're all Paolo Di Bala, regardless of who you support. We're all Paolo Di Bala that moment. It was absolutely spectacular from the way they directed that to the
01:08:22
Speaker
from start to finish. It was just stunning, absolutely stunning. I can't believe you took that Nima and you didn't leave that to John.
01:08:34
Speaker
Well, I mean, he said... Well, no, because I would have worked in the fact that Lazio felt so offended by Roma supporters, and more in particular, Sky Sport, pointing out that they were doing a chant against Lazio, and they were very offended that it made it onto the television, and that one of the Sky Sport presenters
01:08:57
Speaker
Just made a light-hearted joke about it. You liked that didn't you? Straight into my veins, man. Straight into my veins. This is an on-re-mention for Badger that we have to say Sabiri's goal for Sampdoria against Bashiktas. I don't know if you guys saw it. Halfway line, log.
01:09:15
Speaker
Yeah, it was stunning. It was, it was Ascoli man. Yeah. Matt Rizzetta's Ascoli. Look, no, it was fantastic. I saw it. It was, it was, it was stunning. It's the kind of stuff that you see from quality. And I guess training with, with quality makes you do quality things. Yeah. Yeah, certainly does. Okay. I think John's just had to, had to nip out. So we'll finish off with prim face of the week.
01:09:43
Speaker
I have, I mean, I've got to say, I think the idea to do this was bad job worthy, but the execution
01:10:01
Speaker
of this is the prim face of all prim faces. West Ham sign and make their marquee signing in Jaluka Skamaka, and they can't spell his name properly in the announcement video. It's just, it's the most West Ham thing ever, and then delete it. And when they delete it and change it, they posted out the shorter version.
01:10:24
Speaker
And it was like the misspelling of foreign names and two M's and one C's and it's just like... It is the common trait of the prem face. And if anybody's listening for the first time today and they don't know what a prem face is, just Google it or just go on to Urban Dictionary and it's actually in there. It's a term that I came up with probably about 10, 15 years ago now.
01:10:48
Speaker
And yeah, it is a common trait of the premise is misspelling foreign names and yeah, Italian names especially. Giuseppe is one that's commonly misspelled by premise faces. They mix the I and the U up. They put G-U-I instead of G-I-U. That's another common one.
01:11:11
Speaker
I have to say, I remember one day on the first day of a new boss at my work, this is going back about 10 years ago, and he's in our CMS, which is like a content management system, anybody that works. And he was trying to find Wesley Schneider, who at the time was playing for Inter. And he was looking, searching in our database, looking for it. And he was complaining. He was like, I can't find Schneider. Why is he not here? Why is he not here?
01:11:37
Speaker
So I came over to his laptop to have a look, and he was spelling his name the German way, like Bern Schneider. Schneider. Yeah, sort of S-N-E-I-J-D-E-R. It was S-C-H-N-E-I-D-R. And that was just the classic prim face. That was his first day, and I just thought, oh, God, prim face was joy. He was a lovely guy, by the way.
01:11:59
Speaker
Yeah, no, it's not nice. But I got to say that announcement video, for those of you who don't live in the UK, there was a 1990s show on Channel 4, Football Italia was called, and, you know, when Calcho ruled the world and James Richardson hosted it. And they kind of did a remake of that, like an homage to that with James Richardson presenting it, sitting there doing what he did in the 90s, holding up the pink paper of the gazellezado sport with an espresso on the table outside.
01:12:27
Speaker
talking. It was really, really cool to see. And that became an iconic show in the UK for Italian football. And they did a remake of that for the announcement of Skamaka talking to him. And now, I mean, the execution was dreadful, but the idea and everything around it was really, really good. I really liked it. So, yeah, the Skamaka with an S-C-A-M-M-A-C-A was, that was just so, oh, dear.
01:12:55
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, definitely. OK, everybody, that is where we are going to leave it for this episode. So once more, we will be back later in the week. However, if you would like to gain access to all of the content that we put out here at the Italian football podcast, you can go to Patreon dot com slash.
01:13:19
Speaker
again patreon.com slash T I F P okay we will chat with you later in the week thank you so so much for tuning in we'll be back once more in just a few days until then bye bye