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Serie A Match Week 2 Recap | Milan Off the Mark, Inter Stumble & Lazio Dominate
149 Plays21 days ago
Matchweek 2 of Serie A delivered drama across the peninsula. Milan secured their first points of the season, while Bologna proved they’re picking up right where they left off. Juventus, Napoli, and Roma kept their strong starts rolling with narrow wins, but Atalanta, Fiorentina, and Inter all stumbled. Lazio, meanwhile, ran wild in Rome, dismantling Verona in style. We also dive into Inter’s defensive questions, Juventus's physical battle in Genoa, Milan’s win at Lecce, Bologna’s high-press success, Napoli’s Conte-fueled passion, and much more. Plus, Player of the Week, Stunad of the Week, and Paisano Shoutouts before the international break.
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Transcript
00:00:06
Speaker
Ciao paisans, welcome back to another wonderful episode of Coucho Culture. We're coming at you hot with Match Week 2 coverage. Ton of storylines to cover. Milan picks up their first points of the season against Lecce.
00:00:21
Speaker
Bologna. Show they're picking up right where they left off with a big win at home this past weekend. Juve, Napoli, Roma doing their best to be triplets this week and continue their solid starts with 1-0 victories.
00:00:34
Speaker
While on the other hand, Atalanta, Fiorentina, Inter all drop points. And to round it all off, Lazio belt to ass in the capital against the lovers of Veronia.
00:00:45
Speaker
A beautiful match week to coverage here. I am your host today, Logs. I'm here with both my co-hosts, Mats and Bose. The transfer market, boys, is officially closed as of this afternoon. We are recording on Monday. The first league table predictions coming in hot next week.
00:01:02
Speaker
But Mots, one big headline from the transfer window that you need to cover, that you need to vent about. Yes. um Went to bed late last night with the news that the Colomawani deal to Juventus might be falling through due to a sorry excuse for a club PSG wanting an obligation to buy. Champions League winners.
00:01:27
Speaker
not well they they will exit they won't make it to the knockout stage this year or the playoff stage um cursed but they wanted an obligation to buy juventus was doing an option to buy ah and psg i don't even want to say their names anymore i'll just say the the club with no name basically said it's got to be an obligation that's the only way we'll let him go uh so juventus then pivoted and i woke up in the morning to the club with no name accepting a dry loan for $5 million dollars for Kolomani to Tottenham. So I woke up pretty pissed off because we offered an obligation to buy at $55 million and a loan on $5 million. So much better than what Tottenham offered.
00:02:09
Speaker
I don't know what, why or how, or what happened in the negotiations that made it happen. Very, very upset. I loved Kolomani. He wanted Juventus. It came down to the last day and he was either...
00:02:22
Speaker
don't play, sit on PSG's bench or go play somewhere else. So he did what he had to do. This was not on Komali or Juventus. They did what they had to do. They offered it. This was strictly on the club with no name. Absolutely disgusting negotiations from them.
00:02:35
Speaker
Just disgusting club overall. I hate them. I'm very upset that one of my favorite players, Cavada, is now on that team. Just a pitiful, pitiful excuse for a club and just terrible, awful. Hate them.
00:02:47
Speaker
It is pretty rude what they did to you guys, I will say. um Thomas Frank must have done something behind the scenes that Tudor was simply not willing to do because they did have a better a better offer from Juve. So it's unfortunate, but you did get some business done bringing Lake Openda.
00:03:02
Speaker
We'll definitely cover that in the coming weeks. I'd also say that if for my Game of Thrones fans out there, I now have a list like Arya and it is everybody on the PS or on the club with no names ah front management that is on my list that we'll see what happens to those lives because that's it's on my list.
00:03:22
Speaker
They got to be on high alert. Security all over the place in Paris. But thank you, Mats. Sorry to hear that your transfer window did not go the way you wanted. Sometimes, not ah no, we can't get everything that we want.
00:03:33
Speaker
You're talking to the guy that got nothing. and Nothing that he wanted. So, in any case, moving on to a couple of big Paisan shoutouts. Vos. Line them up. Yeah, first one, i don't i don't know what happened. Maybe the comment disappeared, but somebody did comment on our Spotify.
00:03:50
Speaker
The username Amir Lampt, I mean, it could be nothing. it could be a bunch of random letters, but you're getting your full pronunciation. Took a shot at Logue's tape. on Milan saying they could blow the doors off at Torino.
00:04:02
Speaker
He then took it down. If you're going to post, leave it up. I love the comments. Definitely. Sure. I love everything. So if you're going to post guys, just leave it up. Like we don't share. We want to hear people's opinions. Abba Logs is marking down a specific date as a result of the comment that no longer exists.
00:04:17
Speaker
Amir, my only response to your now ghost comment is I'll see you December 7th when Milan wins 6-0 against Torino. You heard it here first. We'll see you then. Put a jersey on it easily. i will be taking Milan. There's a kid. There's a kid. Amir, if you reach out, there's a kid on this one.
00:04:32
Speaker
Yeah, then last Paisan shout. I'm going hand it over to Mats. This is a really positive one. We're super happy about this. um So big shout out here. Yeah, this is a great comment here from coming in on YouTube from MichaelW27.
00:04:47
Speaker
Basically just said, found the podcast, subscribed immediately, lifelong soccer fan. I'm a Prem fan, mostly are supporting Liverpool because that's where his parents are from, but found the Serie A and he loves it and he's going to be supporting Juve. So come join the bandwagon.
00:05:01
Speaker
And just for an explanation of the comment that I left you, we, us two, have a friend of the pod. ah His name is Potts. There's three of us He's a or us three yeah my bad us three i have a friend of the pod his name is potts he's one of the biggest liverpool fans around and i tend to just like he's so big that i just get i just jump on the bandwagon with him and he jumps on my on the juventus bandwagon as well so we have combined the two names of liverpool and juventus to be juve pool so michael come join juve pool with me and pots it's a squad of three we welcome everybody so happy to have you and welcome to juve pool officially michael
00:05:40
Speaker
W27. Juve Poole runs deep. Love it. We have Chiesa. And you guys, Chiesa was on Juventus. That's true. Big pipe. Liverpool. Big pipeline.
00:05:53
Speaker
Paisans, listen, whether it's shots, praise, comments, likes, subscribes, we want it all. We appreciate all the interaction these past couple of weeks. Before we get into it, you guys know where to find us on all the socials, at X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, at Couch for Culture FC.
00:06:09
Speaker
Comment, subscribe, five stars, please, and thank you. And you can find us on all your streaming sites for podcasts, Spotify, and Apple Pods. And with that, Bose. It's all you.
00:06:20
Speaker
Match week number two. Calcio is on all the time right now. I'm loving it. I've watched a shitload of games. But we do have an international break coming up, unfortunately.
00:06:30
Speaker
Gave us a little of taste. They gave us the tip, and then they said, no, but just the tip. I know, this sucks. They do this every year now. But first game we got to start with. I think it's... Unquestionable kind of the headline coming out of this weekend.
00:06:44
Speaker
Inter Milan dropping points at home to Udinese. They lose this game 2-1. Game goes. Denzel Dumfries gets the opener. Then gives away a penalty about five minutes later. I think maybe less than that. Kennan Davies then converts that.
00:06:57
Speaker
And then Udinese... Top it off with a goal from Arthur Otta. Electric goal. Cuts in. Delivers a curler to the far post. My big takeaway from this one immediately is Udinese are a lot better than I expected.
00:07:11
Speaker
I think they had a lot of good players on the field, particularly in the front line. And then I think everybody saw how good the center backs were in this game. From an Inter Milan perspective though, that's really what we got to talk about this from.
00:07:22
Speaker
For me, it looked a lot like what we saw last year. Kind of questionable defense, questionable mentality. Are they going to be that team that can be 100% focused every game for 90 minutes? Because we didn't see that last year.
00:07:34
Speaker
And we saw that kind of frailty in defense where they would switch off for a second and then get burned. And the other thing on this is once again, the goal is not coming from Bastoni's side, it's coming from the other side. And we saw some pretty pitiful defending from Bissek and Ocherby, who are the center center back and right center back.
00:07:51
Speaker
And then what, what I did like, I will say is Christian Kivu really went for it. He went 4-2-4, basically with like 15 minutes to go, had four true forwards on the field at all times.
00:08:02
Speaker
But at the end of the day, they didn't create all that many opportunities and really couldn't go get it done. So my question to you guys, are we going to see the same inter we saw last year who on any given week, they can put up that five, nothing performance.
00:08:15
Speaker
And then maybe they'll come back, switch off. And we don't really know what we're going to get. are we going to see a team that can go win the Scudetto? Because this is really similar to what we saw last year.
00:08:28
Speaker
Yeah, from from my perspective, and we Inter comes in second last year and and easily with a couple of different results and a little bit of ah a little bit of a concentration fix, they are for sure top of the table.
00:08:42
Speaker
I think that it's going to be the same story where they have a slow start here and they get it going. What I will say from my perspective that really grinds my gears, really pisses me off is that when you have this result from Milan,
00:08:56
Speaker
The world crumbles, the world goes to shit. We're to get relegated, this, that, the other thing. To Inter's credit, the way they lost this game and to the way Kivu went after it was adamant about getting a point, at least out of this game.
00:09:08
Speaker
They really, really were aggressive and they showed that they had the ability to get after it. Unfortunately, didn't get that second goal, but I think they had ample opportunities to do so. And they weren't afraid to do it. I think that there was a ah there was a hunger about this team that you just, it was so blatant in that second half that you wouldn't see it of other teams and why I'm not totally concerned about this result.
00:09:30
Speaker
And as you said, I think Unesey is a lot stronger than what we had first thought. Again, a weird result last week against Verona. i don't think Verona had should have had any... any chance in that game based off their latest result. But this Inter team is going to be fine.
00:09:45
Speaker
This Inter team is rather strong and they did just pick up ah what we'll talk about in the next episode in a big center back in Akonji. So if anything, the idea that a Cherby is slowing down was just completely fixed by the buy of Akonji. So from my perspective, again, Inter will be fine.
00:10:05
Speaker
I listen, it's match week two. and Obviously, there's a big overreaction match week one with Inter. There's going to be a big overreaction match week two with the loss. Serie A doesn't necessarily start till 10 matches in, like I always say.
00:10:18
Speaker
But this is kind of what I thought was going to happen. I'm not surprised about this result at all. Kivu. is a new manager. He ah might not have been ready to take the step up to a club like Inter that is required to win every single game and fight for all three trophies.
00:10:40
Speaker
We saw it last year with Mata on Juventus. He wasn't necessarily ready to take that step. And I think Mata was far more accomplished than Christian Kivu has ever been.
00:10:50
Speaker
I'm not shocked that this happened. I do like that, like you said, Vossey really went for it, but that could have blew up in his face even worse if Udinese did end up scoring a second goal. And then now you're talking, especially with, it's big with the ah with the international break right now. So like you're left with a loss immediately.
00:11:11
Speaker
in your mouth. Like, that's the last thing that you remember. So that's that's big because it's like, oh, we left off on a loss. You can't really right the ship quick. You can't really forget about it. Like, we're going to be sitting here for two weeks thinking about this.
00:11:23
Speaker
So that's a little frustrating there. But I'm not surprised by this result. I said it in the beginning of the season. I think that their defense is lacking. Yes, like to Logue's points, they did get a really good name who I'm very high on to kind of replace the Cheruby. But it's exactly like I said last week, Bo's Acherbi played great last week, but that is what you don't want because you think he's going to be fine every game, and he looked super slow.
00:11:48
Speaker
Bissic did not close down that that shot at all. Listen, it was a great shot, great finish. Close him down. He gave him all the time in the world. Acherbi backed off. So, yeah, I think there's a lot of question marks. I think Nzaghi, they're playing the same style of soccer, 3-5-2, but it's different, and I think that...
00:12:07
Speaker
Under Kivu, some players might take a step back. So I'm not shocked at all that this happened. Yeah, and the notable change in this one from last week that I will say is Hakan Chonuroglu was back. Soverello was back in his normal right center mid. Sujic was the left center mid. And then Hakan was kind of the deep lying six. He had a pretty bad game overall. i couldn' of really get Couldn't really get going.
00:12:26
Speaker
um But look, you just want to jump in really quick. No, I just wanted to point out, and Tamat's saying that we talked about this last week, we I i'd pointed it out, and i think we can all agree, that Torino was poor. was incredibly poor last week, and that was the reason for a 5-0 win.
00:12:41
Speaker
Inter is not always going to be putting in five goals a week. yeah and Granted, DeMarco had one taken back on a very small offsides on Terram. um So they they had their chances. But again, this isn't going be a 5-0 win every single week for Inter. That Torino squad kind boosted them up a bit there.
00:12:58
Speaker
And so Inter will have to get their shit together early on in games for them to pull out three points week in and week out. Yeah, quick question from a personal standpoint, guys. so Because they did bring in a congee, but...
00:13:09
Speaker
And you guys think that he replaces a Cheruby maybe? I don't know about that. I kind of see him getting pushed to right center back or replacing Bissek personally. Because i I think as a club, they're going to stick with a Cheruby there. And i I think regardless, I think Bissek's kind of a liability right now.
00:13:26
Speaker
I think it's still like I have this faith that he's going to get better, but I haven't really seen it. So I think Akanji does plug one of the holes, but then you ship Pavard out the other way, who's kind of the other one that...
00:13:37
Speaker
Like that made no sense to me because before right now, the season is the best, the second best center back probably. Priya Kanji. But I think even with that, like you don't really fix the issue. pull up one of the holes, but it's still there in my mind.
00:13:54
Speaker
I feel better about Akanji starting over a Cherubi and having DeVry and Bissic rotate on the right side. Like you said, I think sending out Pavard was such a crazy move considering what your back line could have been if you just kept him and brought in Akanji at the same time.
00:14:10
Speaker
I don't know why they were... they were one ah One and the other, not both. But no, I think Acherby is very quickly showing that he's he's much too old to be playing in this roster, in this level.
00:14:23
Speaker
I can see him playing against a Sass or against a Verona, which is totally fine. Once you get to Champions League, that guy should not be seeing the pitch unless you have him on assignment, which we know he's very good at.
00:14:35
Speaker
But in a general center back sense, I'd rather have Akanji take his spot over and have that Bissek-DeVry combination on the right. I'm in agreeance. I didn't understand it.
00:14:47
Speaker
They would have, ah to me, they would have, if they kept Pobard and they got Akonji, They are now realistically challenging Napoli for winning the Scudetto with that strong of a defense and having Bissek, De Vrij, and De Chirby all as rotational pieces.
00:15:03
Speaker
But now they're just in the same exact situation that they are, that they were in without Akanji. Like, literally the same exact situation. And Bissek... so He's got the physicals to be one of the best centerbacks in this league.
00:15:17
Speaker
He got a high bid from Crystal Palace. I think it was like $35 or $40 million. His potential is massive, but every time he's out there, he kind of loses his head and causes a lot of dropped points for Inter. And you're going to have that, you can't play him. I remember Nzaghi benched him for a ah large part of last season because of those mental lapses. So you can't have that, but...
00:15:40
Speaker
I understand why you play him because of his large potential there, um but we'll see what happens. But they just shifted their they just shifted the depth problem, right? it Even if, let's say, Cherubi moves to right center back, then they're still at the center center back problem. If he goes to center center back, then the right center back is now kind of weak.
00:16:00
Speaker
Definitely an issue. um And then the other thing that i that I kind of thought about in this game, that just quickly on this one. In a game like this, where Udinese was up and they sat very low, they were very organized and they were sitting back defensively.
00:16:12
Speaker
Is this why they wanted to go and get a lookman? Because they don't really have a guy that can go take people on 1v1. Because Taram is more of like a transitional player. Lataro is also like a transitional player.
00:16:24
Speaker
And you have a lot of guys that are good at getting into at the end of crosses in the box and progressing play very quickly. But they don't really have a guy that's going to really like take a couple guys on, get in the box, draw a penalty, maybe get it like a shot off.
00:16:38
Speaker
So... That could be a thing again, too. I mean, and some of these inter is going to be in games like this a lot and probably most of the time they'll get that goal off of a cross, but a lookman in here, probably not necessarily, but could get this done for you.
00:16:53
Speaker
So the just an interesting point there. I think the fact that DeMarco is so involved on the offense until he was brought off just brings up the fact that that left side needed some help in terms of the offense.
00:17:04
Speaker
um And DeMarco was obviously there, but you'd rather have a full-on attacker in that position. But you'd know better, Vos, than I, just from you watching Parma last season. yeah And I think that they brought in Boney to kind of be that guy. know we I think he's more of a Teron player, but can he take on a guy? And to Matsa's point that he usually brings up and letting guys get into a game, not waiting to the 85th minute to bring them on so they get into the flow and get used to the the play style there.
00:17:32
Speaker
Why are you bringing them on to the eighty third Why are we, you know, you're down 2-1 for a long a very long time. Why are we not making moves early? Yeah, but they had gone to a 3-4-3 with Pio Esposito. Yeah, he got he got his full debut and they went a full front three.
00:17:47
Speaker
So I think that's that was the waiting. But big to your point, Loews, Boney is very similar to Taram. Like, it's kind of crazy. I'm similar there. They do almost all of the exact same things. The difference is Taram has played off the right before he did that at Gladbach a bunch. So he's used to playing that position. But again,
00:18:03
Speaker
They can take on a guy, but like that's not what they're going to go do. I also say that, like, Taram isn't that effective when he's pushed further out wide like we saw him in France when he's with Mbappe. Like, he doesn't do that well there.
00:18:18
Speaker
But... Boney, I thought Boney did well when he came in, but he played left wing, which also is not his natural spot. So you really don't have a wide guy, especially off the left to come in because their backup is Carlos Augusto off the left wing back. He's more of a defensive substitution.
00:18:39
Speaker
So it's really like, who do you have off that left that can go create something or take on a man? Like you said, both. So I do think that was a very good point. And I understand why Inter moved on from Lookman because they got they felt like they Their bid was fair and Adelante said no.
00:18:56
Speaker
But then they didn't pivot to another profile like a lookman. They then pivoted to a possibly a Kone, didn't get him. And then they just were like, all right, we're all set. Actually, we don't need anybody.
00:19:08
Speaker
And I think that that's a very good point that having a lookman there to sub in in the 60th minute or even start who's always looking to attack and kind of be selfish, like I said earlier in the year, would have definitely helped in this situation and of this game.
00:19:23
Speaker
Cool. Quickly on Udinese, because I think we have to shout them out because that was a great game by them. Took their chances. Phenomenal defensive performance. It's going to be a very hard team to break down throughout the season. I think their offense is going to be dangerous. And Kenon Davies ought to now, like, really handful kind of guys. Like,
00:19:42
Speaker
Guys that you're going to struggle to deal with. And then from a center back perspective, Soleil and Christensen both have shout outs for player of the week. They were phenomenal back there. Both had lights out performance. And so good things to start from an SA team.
00:19:55
Speaker
I'm not sure they're necessarily going to break through that like 12 out of the 10 spot, but they're securely in there because a couple of years ago, they were in that relegation battle and it's looking like there's going to be a solid team for a whole play against all season long.
00:20:11
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, listen, them keeping their center back, because he was he was highly sought after. Solet is very big. He was balling. He's offensive. He can progress the ball as well. Christensen was all over the pitch, blocking shots, stopping shots.
00:20:25
Speaker
And then they're they're good on the counter. So you don't want to kind of do what Inter did this game and get down early to Udinese because it's going to be tough to break them down.
00:20:36
Speaker
Perfect. All right. Moving it and on at Genoa. Mats, you've been waiting for this moment. I'm going to hand it over to you. Our first discussion of Juve on the season. and um And I'm pretty hot on them, but I'll let you take over here.
00:20:50
Speaker
Yeah, this was an absolute battle on the pitch. It was World War III, fouls all over the place. But I really, really liked what I saw from Juventus in terms of the grit and the determination that they had this game.
00:21:07
Speaker
And I think that this is that is a clear reflection of one man, and that's Tudor. I think last season under Mata, we tied this game. We tied this game. They, Genoa, were pressing the shit out of us. They were they smothered Yildiz. They triple teamed him so he couldn't go one-on-one and kind of create.
00:21:28
Speaker
And they absolutely pressed the crap out of us from the forwards and the midfielders, especially because they know that our... Center backs aren't necessarily the greatest on the ball with Kelly, Bremer, and Gatti back there.
00:21:40
Speaker
So there was a ah definitely a good game plan by Genoa. But I think Tudor's mindset of the players was, we're going to keep at it. We're going to stay in this game just as hard as they're pressing. We're going to press them as well.
00:21:55
Speaker
And it paid off. Big substitution from Dusan Blaovic. Second sub, second goal off of a corner kick. Starting off hot. kind of proving to the Juventus fan base that I should be kept.
00:22:06
Speaker
I don't want to read too much into that because he always starts his seasons off very hot and then he cools down. But listen, definitely a good player to bring in off the bench.
00:22:18
Speaker
So whether he's starting or whether he's on the bench, like bringing on either Dusan or Jonathan David is really going to help us in the ah this season. And then one last player I want to highlight is Bremer.
00:22:31
Speaker
He's just an absolute beast. i'd also It's Bremer and Di Gregoria. They are very good together. Bremer, we forget how good this man is. He is... a beast in the air. You will not win an aerial duel over Bremer.
00:22:44
Speaker
He's a beast on a man-to-man marking. He has great anticipation. And people forget, when we when Bremer was healthy last year, we had like, I think it was like eight clean sheets in a row.
00:22:55
Speaker
We're starting off again with two clean sheets with Bremer. So I liked a lot from what I saw from this Juventus. um I liked the fight, the grit. And this is a game we would have tied last year, and we won it. So that's good. And we are obviously 2-0 now. So good start to the season.
00:23:10
Speaker
I think one of the things that you said that that is important, when you look at this Juventus team now, They have gotten very deep. Like you look at guys that came off the bench. I know Kostic hasn't been everybody's favorite player, but like that's a guy that's been around and is good at one thing in particular and crossing the ball. And he did take the corner kick that led to the goal.
00:23:29
Speaker
You have to Sam Gwohabish come off the bench, who is the guy that is going to get on the end of said crosses. Toon Coop Miners, Weston McKinney, and that's not even including the guys that were out of this game. Moretti, Cabal, Cambiasso. There were a lot of dangerous players that are very good on this team. and They're going to be ahead.
00:23:47
Speaker
I do feel really good about them this season. i The biggest thing for me was, and it's almost like a tale of two sides, because I thought the left side of Juve, and Mons has touched on this before, especially being Yildiz's side, was phenomenal.
00:24:02
Speaker
I thought that Jaumario and when Kostic came in were incredibly dangerous, breaking the press and being able to alleviate that pressure that Jenna was was pretty successfully putting on the first half, I would say. Second half was a different story.
00:24:15
Speaker
And just the progression of the ball from that side, including Terram, which we've noted before. Incredibly progressive, very good at trying to just attacking space with the ball, which is ah allows him to break those lines quite easily.
00:24:27
Speaker
I thought the right side had a lot to be desired, especially between Kalulu being the wingback over there, who looked very uncomfortable um playing that high up. I've seen him play him before, especially for the the younger teams of the France and the france national team.
00:24:42
Speaker
But I think that him and Constance were simply not the pairing on that side, um which just led to the overload on the left. One thing I will say, though, the decision making in the final third on a couple of occasions was pretty bad. And I think Juve could have had two or two more goals in this game.
00:25:01
Speaker
if they had just made a but ah better last minute last second decision, whether it be Thuram attacking the box or Yildiz passing the ball across. I think there was just a couple of things where a little bit of a tweak and you're up, this is a 3-0 game and Juve wins it handedly.
00:25:15
Speaker
But... I think that the point of Kostich for me, he's been on the outs and loaned out last year because he's been so he's been so undesired. I still think he's got a lot to add, and especially if you're just playing as a backup, there's nothing wrong with having him on that um that roster.
00:25:30
Speaker
And what Juve just brought in up top gives them so much more creativity, so many more options. And if Toussaint's playing the way that he's playing and kept his roster spot after almost being shipped out, that could be dangerous. That's could be there's something to watch.
00:25:44
Speaker
Yeah, I definitely agree that Juventus could have won this game a little bit more handily. Jonathan David missed a a sitter off of a rebound that he should definitely finish. who He's also he struggled in terms of like the physicality or like the close-knit defending in the Serie A in his first two games.
00:26:03
Speaker
um So we'll have to see how that that's that's kind of what I expected out of him. Like, he's kind of like a incomplete version of Randall Colawani, really. Like he does the athletic piece of Colawani's game well, but he doesn't do like to hold up playing as well, I would say.
00:26:21
Speaker
They should have just got Colawani. and solved all their problems. Oh, listen, he's going to grow into the league. I think he's got to lose a little bit of weight. He looks a little pudgy out there as well. That's never going to be. Jume is horrible at dealing with that. I've always said that.
00:26:35
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, was it the best game ever? No. Did we see flashes of what they can be? Yes, I did. Kostic on the corner kick is smart. I've been screaming for him when he's on the team to take our corner kicks since he since two, three seasons ago.
00:26:51
Speaker
That was our first corner kick goal since... like two years. um That's embarrassing. um But listen, we we got some depth now after the transfer market to make the right hand side of the pitch stronger because and actual in reality, Jao Mario is going to play that right wing back with now Zagroba or Concei Cao and then Cambiasso and the others on the left, which makes it a ah ah very ah handful going up in attack.
00:27:20
Speaker
Lacking slightly defensively. But yeah. where We have some depth that we've added. We have some players that can score goals. So I think that's kind of the approach. That Juventus kind of taking this year. Is like we're going to score goals.
00:27:33
Speaker
But like I said. the Really the main takeaway here is Your team on the pitch is a screenshot or a snapott of a snapshot of what your coach is.
00:27:44
Speaker
And this was a Igor Tudor game 2-8. There was 15 one. fifteen thousands by Juventus in 14 by January, there was fouls all over the place. It was a grind out game. It was a grit game. It was, they are, they're trying to get in our heads. Don't let them get in our heads and then just battle it out, battle it out, battle it out and score. And that's exactly what we did. And that's, that's very good to see because I'm telling you last year, this game is a draw a hundred percent of the time. Definitely. Right.
00:28:13
Speaker
Um, my question of Fremont is cause I was texting about it today. i think we all know it's a pretty big season. and We said Juve is going to go as this guy goes. Dan Nildiz has been very good under Igor Tudor.
00:28:25
Speaker
And I think although like he didn't have necessarily a statistical impact in this game, he looks a little bit different in terms of more effective in the final third, more confident. What have you seen from him that has kind of elevated this game under Tudor?
00:28:38
Speaker
Because it it does go back to like the Club World Cup, and now it's kind of carrying through, but he's a big one this year. Listen, to start, one, he's playing every game.
00:28:48
Speaker
Mata, people don't realize Mata didn't play him that much. And Mata was like, hey, in practice, he was like, you're not messy. And Mata also was playing him on the right, not in his natural position. So it kind of goes back to what Ranieri did with Roma last year. Just simplify it.
00:29:02
Speaker
Hey, yo know this you prefer the left side? I'm going to play you there. And then Tudor, the difference between Tudor and Mata that helps you, know this is he is so direct. He wants he just wants to create chances.
00:29:15
Speaker
to score goals. Mata is trying to pass the ball to get players to come out of position to exploit mistakes. Tudor is like, go take on your man, beat your man.
00:29:25
Speaker
That's what Yildiz specializes in, dribbling by your man, one-on-one, kind of like you said, what Inter's missing. This game specifically, Genoa absolutely threw bodies at him. So we're going to...
00:29:37
Speaker
I think the additions that we have now with Zagrova and Openda are going to help because it doesn't necessarily need to rely solely on Yildiz for the offense because if you throw three bodies at him, he's not going be get by those three guys. But that's the biggest part is just...
00:29:52
Speaker
being direct, playing him, giving him the confidence to be played game in and game out. And also, I think he's gotten a little bit stronger physically. Like he's put some weight on so he doesn't get muscled off the ball as much as he used to when he first started.
00:30:04
Speaker
But yeah, I think those are the three key takeaways. And I'm excited to see his growth this year because he's going to be huge. He didn't do so matt that much statistically, but he created a ah huge chance that Jonathan David just didn't finish.
00:30:18
Speaker
And Jonathan David finishes that. It's kind of like an assist because it was a shot that was a rebound. So wasn't his greatest greatest game statistically, but just his threat on the pitch is always going to be, he had three guys on him. So it's always going to be there.
00:30:31
Speaker
Yeah, and very quickly, just to give Tudor his flowers here, and i'm not going to, and don't want this to be an overreaction by any means. We still have not gotten to three competitions. We'll definitely change it up and see the quality of the manager that he could be.
00:30:43
Speaker
But the way that Tudor has managed Juve since taking over after Mata has shown that he's an unbelievable balance of man management and having tactics. He's got that ability, like Manj just said with Ranieri and Roma last year, but I think we point to Zidane and Encelotti who are able to just put guys where they play best and let them be them. That's what he's that's what he's done exactly with Yildiz. That's what he's done with Taram.
00:31:08
Speaker
And then on the backside of that, he's able to keep a structure, keep a little bit of a tactic on the back line and those wingbacks who I think are still rather you know rather rigid, rather structured, but they know their job. So I think it's a really good balance there and I'm excited to see what he's able to do.
00:31:22
Speaker
Again, balancing more competitions as we see this come to the Champions League season. Sweet. Moving on, ah we had another kind of like a World War III. like the way you describe that game. Very similar one in Bologna. We had Como visiting Bologna.
00:31:36
Speaker
This game ended 1-0 courtesy of a Ricardo Orselini goal assisted by Santiago Castro, who got the start um off of a zero immobile injury. it was kind of an interesting one there, how the game started.
00:31:47
Speaker
um But how this game went, this was a really exciting 1-0 game. Como held of the ball. they I think they had like 65% possession is kind of what the stat says. But basically they were just passing the ball around in their defensive third for the majority of the game and just could not find a way through the Bologna press. And they were, Bologna was pressing wicked high up to field the entire game.
00:32:10
Speaker
And basically forcing them to just play long if they did break that first line of defense. um And then on the flip side of things, from a Bologna offensive perspective, this is the second game in the or in a row where they were comfortable not with the ball and were more willing to take risks on the ball and trying to play direct.
00:32:29
Speaker
The goal came from a ball from Lukumi into the channel to Castro and then Castro slotting one across to Orsolini. So... Maybe we're looking at an evolution in Italiano. I don't know. we're Again, we're only two games in against Roma. They are like 50% possession and they did play kind of that direct long ball.
00:32:45
Speaker
So um this is what I'm watching for the rest of the season, because if Italiano can kind of change this team a little bit to be more risk-taking in some games like this, where like last year, this is one that i would think 0-0, 100%. Italiano just holds the ball nothing happens.
00:33:01
Speaker
But it's kind of this risk-taking and adding Tambiaghi to replace Ndoy looks like it's going to work really well. It's a really direct player. He had a big impact in this game. And then Zortea coming in and...
00:33:12
Speaker
The team's getting deeper. I like what they're doing. i have a lot of confidence in this team. Beating Como is kind of a big deal. now We can't look at Como as just like a team like, oh, you got to go get the dub against them.
00:33:23
Speaker
This is a big game for them. And this is coming off of a one nothing loss at Roma. So I think it's a good start to the season, no matter how you slice it. And I think a lot of players are looking like they're going to queue up big seasons here.
00:33:36
Speaker
I don't know if this is Italiano really changing it for the whole season. i will say that I think Roma is 100% very comfortable having possession um and being aggressive. And I think Como is the same way. they you know Running it through Nico Paz is something that they're going to do, and they're never going to stray away from that.
00:33:54
Speaker
um And so they they want to have the ball. But I think that they're just defensive solidity is one thing that that can't go unnoticed in the fact that we talk about how much that they've been broken up in the back line and book book, my whatever his name is, was certainly a big part of that. Luke Meade did not start.
00:34:10
Speaker
um And so you look at bringing in two other center backs here that really held it down. That's a good start. You know, you look at Duvacast you look at Morata. Morata, obviously not that good. We know this, but a good backup in this league. And Duvacast has really shown that he's a quality striker. Zero shots from both of those nines through the whole game.
00:34:28
Speaker
i just think you have to point to that fact is something that is going to help them for sure down the line. Yeah, know listen, that's a great shout because this is today or this this past season.
00:34:41
Speaker
match week, they were two different center back pairing, right? Like last season, Bologna had Lukumi and Sam Bukama back there every game. And you have a different center back pairing. Like you are, it's big. like And that was their, every game, those two were the first names on the on the team sheet.
00:34:58
Speaker
So that was big and they held it down ah clean sheet. It looks like they kept Lukumi, which is amazing for them. if He really wanted to push his way out. But now that the window's closed, he'll probably... He'll definitely retake his spot and hopefully find the form of last year.
00:35:14
Speaker
But for me, this game came down to Orselini. He has... at the At the later half of last season when he was scoring like a goal every single game and would go up to the camera and knock on it to say, hey, Spalletti, why haven't you called me up?
00:35:29
Speaker
He has taken a legitimate step in his career. He is one of, if not the best wingers in the league. He does it at consistent game in and game out.
00:35:40
Speaker
He creates ton of chances. He scored in this game. He can, if you guard him one-on-one, he is beating... He's beating his man every time and he's eyeing Robin. He wants to go left.
00:35:51
Speaker
He's going to go left. You're not going to stop him and he's going to try to score. And he's, in in my opinion, he's taking a large step. He should be a auto lock every single international call up for Italy.
00:36:03
Speaker
because of the form that he's had. And if he can continue to do this, Bologna are going to be a hard team to beat. He's going to have to do it, though, too, because losing in Doyen is definitely a large hole to fill.
00:36:13
Speaker
But he had the mentality of, I'm going to take this game to Como. I'm going to score. Every time he got the ball, he was trying to be his man. um So that was nice to see. He's definitely taken a step in my eyes.
00:36:26
Speaker
Yeah, from a Colo perspective, I think it's you kind of look at it the same way as as Bologna last week. You go to Bologna, you lose one nothing. it just didn't go their way. I mean, this is when you play this kind of football where you're trying to build from the back, you're sometimes going to run it into teams that just press you and and beat you with the press. And that's really what happened.
00:36:43
Speaker
The big takeaway for me in this game was their new center back, Hacobo Ramon. Looks like he's going to be really good. That is a guy to watch, really good on the ball, really tall, really athletic. um But other than that, nothing, don't think there's any new news with Kolo from this one.
00:36:58
Speaker
They just couldn't go and get it done. They just, I think they came up against a team that had a plan and executed the plan better than that realistically. Ramon came from didn't he? Yeah, another one of those Real Madrid Academy guys. Yeah, he um he actually got some decent playing time for the first team last year for Real just because of their injury woes.
00:37:17
Speaker
um And he really showed out. he's He's got actually Champions League experience at this point. um So it'll be interesting to see if he really comes into his own similar to how Nico Paz has under Sheck. So... under check so It might be, Como might just be a breeding for Spanish players. Yeah, it might be a new recipe for success. Like, there are not of other teams still that. Like a Dortmund situation. Yeah, it is. It is similar that, would say, yeah. And they also brought in Alex Jimenez from Milan.
00:37:41
Speaker
He's another really talented young Spanish player. so but ah I thought he went to Bournemouth. Yeah, he did. He did fall through. very much all i thought He went to was linked to Como. I think then the interesting thing about Como, as opposed to Dortmund,
00:37:56
Speaker
They're in a better position to keep their players, I think. I mean, we're certainly they're getting a new stadium very soon. Like this is like, why wouldn't you stay there? Well, they have to make the jump. yeah They definitely have to make the jump in order to do it. But they got it's an attractive project for sure.
00:38:11
Speaker
um But what I would say about Como is like they bought a ton of players. It's going to take a little while to gel. You are at Bologna, not an easy place to win. You played a good game.
00:38:22
Speaker
So I wouldn't, um it's not the end-all be-all Tacoma. Obviously, it's match week two. They're missing one of their best players last year in Ascendiao. Lightning quick off the left there. Still right now. So they played very well.
00:38:34
Speaker
They're going to continue to play well. They have absolute lightning in a bottle with these young players. They're going to be a tough out game in and game out. but Bologna just got it done this game, but Como didn't look bad at all, in my opinion.
00:38:47
Speaker
And they're going they're going to play well. They're just going to need a couple games to to gel with all these new players. Definitely. All my boys love Como. Keep it rolling to another team that Logue loves.
00:38:59
Speaker
Milano. Get off the line. Took out two games. They win this one 2-0 courtesy goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic. Notably, we had two goals called back.
00:39:10
Speaker
Gabby on like the third minute on a corner kick. And then Ruben Loftus-Cheek had another one called off for an offsides, I think. And then, no, Santi Jimenez had one called off. Santi. I think Ruben did too. There may have been three goals pulled back.
00:39:22
Speaker
But, Lokes, how do you feel after this one? Because for me... It kind of looked the same as Kravinesse, just when the result went the other way. When they just went different. No, I agree. I think, and before I get into it, um and I'll try to keep it short because i know I babble about Milan, but that's just my job.
00:39:37
Speaker
We, no layout, Pulisic not totally fit. Who else was not in this lineup? Obviously, Jashari the day before gets taken out by... None other than Santhi Menos in practice. He's going to be out between three and nine months. I don't know how quickly a fibula gets back together, but that thing is broken and that's a crazy time.
00:39:58
Speaker
Yeah. And so, again, not our full lineup. And we did have some pretty big business in the last couple of days that weren't included in the lineup. So in any case, not the full team here.
00:40:09
Speaker
But again, the first half was very much the same as Kremenese. Slow. i Just shout out to Modric. And I know Mats is going to get into this at some point, but This man put in an absolute shift, full 90, ran probably a full marathon, 26.2 miles because he had to cover not only the Regista spot, but again, two games in a row now where he's playing all three center backs when we're in possession because we do not have a single center back starting right now that is able to pass or dribble.
00:40:39
Speaker
They can only defend. And when they get on the ball, they freak out like they're playing kindergarten kickers and it's straight up the pitch. In any case, I think in the second half, we were able to create more chances.
00:40:51
Speaker
I want to give my praise to Santi Jimenez because it was an absolute act of terrorism that Tare did to this man before the game.
00:41:03
Speaker
Tare at his presser comes out and basically says that there were very interested in Artem Dovbic of Roma, that we would be very open and interested to swapping him with Santi Jimenez.
00:41:14
Speaker
And if it didn't go through, then we'll just keep the roster we have. But to have that in and I talk about this a lot. The nine, the striker, is probably one of the biggest mental positions on the pitch. And when you take that confidence away from him, which has already been taken away from him just by the fact that we we were...
00:41:31
Speaker
scratching and clawing to get a nine. Nine's harder from Sporting, Vlaavich from Juve. I mean, it was coming left and right. And Santi has gone through a tough summer here. Rightfully so. A little bit of oh some poor performance on the pitch. Of course, some really bad misses, especially in this game.
00:41:49
Speaker
A bunch of offsides called. I'm still ready for him to take back the form that he had at Feyenoord. But he is our nine. The window is closed. I'm happy to... just be supportive of him and get him back into form because if he continue if he picks up where he left off from Feyenoord and Leao comes back and he's healthy, and we have Pulisic who scored a goal here off the bench even though he wasn't totally fit, and then we have Nkunku who we just signed for 38 million euro,
00:42:16
Speaker
coming in and getting the form back that he had from Leipzig a couple of years ago, which people don't remember, but Nkunku before going to Chelsea was phenomenal at all four positions up front for Leipzig.
00:42:28
Speaker
ah this This team could come to form. I'm still incredibly... nervous with the back line selection. We signed some guy from Wolfsburg who I watched a couple of highlights today can pass and can dribble. So definitely a step up from what we have at center back. Now he's played like three games.
00:42:45
Speaker
He's only played 11 games less than Leone and he's the same age. So I don't know why everyone's freaking out. But in any case, no, the back line is definitely something to to watch here. But the midfield Modric played incredibly well. Again, looking like he still has legs and um' in one game a week, he'll be totally fine.
00:43:01
Speaker
um I would have liked to see Ricci a little earlier in this game. And one thing that I will say about Allegri is that I don't understand... why he continues to play Ricci, not in the regista.
00:43:16
Speaker
I know Modric is very comfortable there and he was playing well, but again, we want that creativity for Modric and Ricci just wants to play it low. Ricci came in and played at that eighth spot, kind of where Loftus-Cheek had been or was at the same time. So...
00:43:30
Speaker
We'll see how that works out. Fofana probably shouldn't see the pitch for the rest of the season the way he's playing. um But that's all I'm... They just brought in his replacements. so His son. I don't want to talk about it i saw at it. I don't want to talk about it.
00:43:41
Speaker
I'm not talking about it. but's i and I want to take this out of Mons because what I will say is the Pulisic goal came late. It was kind of a fluke. So this should have been really like a 1-0 game. sure they weren't really in it. Is this not just what we're going to see every game from Allegri for the entire season? Like, don't take any risks, play defense.
00:43:59
Speaker
If we get a goal, we'll take it kind of thing. Yeah, I mean, that's legendary football. His tactics are from the dinosaur era. um But this game was so weird because they had like two goals called back. They won 2-0. So if you think about it, they're not offsides. It's 4-0.
00:44:15
Speaker
But they really didn't create a lot. The first goal from Loftus-Cheek was off of a a set piece. And then like Pulisic scored also. But like they weren't like I wasn't blown away by the way that they were playing, but they kind of did handily win this game.
00:44:30
Speaker
But then again, did they like it was a lot of like I don't understand what's happening on the pitch right now for Milan besides. Luka Modric is just worst class. like That's the only, like I saw that, like that was just, that was jumping off the screen. It was just Luka Modric is going to, hair he said, get on my back, all 10 of you guys. I will, give me the ball. I'll figure it out for us.
00:44:55
Speaker
so it So it was just a weird game. i think, let let listen, Lecce, They're very, very not strong going forward. I don't know why they subbed off Camarda after 45 minutes.
00:45:06
Speaker
I think it was something to with the contract. yeah No, he got injured. Oh. he like took it He took a knock to the head, and then they got him in locker room at halftime, and he was like, I don't remember where I just was, so they took him to the hospital.
00:45:18
Speaker
Okay, well. Somebody looked fine, though, in the first half. We'll well have to watch him. He comes back. He looked better than Santihumenez in the first half. Sometimes it's not hard to look better than Santiman. I do. The other thing about Lecce, because I don't want to spend a ton of time on them because i they were not very good.
00:45:32
Speaker
The guy that came in for Camarda, the new signing, Nikola Stulic, he was good. He was a handful. He got a couple chances at kind of just creating up there by himself.
00:45:43
Speaker
That is like a very much they lost Kerstovich and then just replaced him with another Kerstovich kind of thing in my mind. No, he looked decent. It'll be promising to see, and I'm definitely going to watch out for him because that's where strikers get picked off. But I do think that this Lecce side should have gotten relegated last season. i think that they're in relegation watch right now for this season.
00:46:00
Speaker
So that that remains to be seen. But just to round it off from Milan, I think that... where I'm nervous. Also, not so hot also nervous classic Allegri just losing his mind on the side of the pitch.
00:46:15
Speaker
You guys are up like 2-0 and Musa wants to take the throne and he's screaming. Like, obviously, it's not over to the whistle blows, but like, Lecce's going to score two goals in four minutes. He kicked him when he was on the ground. Yeah, that last one, he only had him do it. Then he got shipped off to Atlanta. He kicked him while he was down and then shook him off. Unbelievable.
00:46:37
Speaker
Yeah, but like I said, not it's it seems to me like Milan has, and we'll we'll go on into the ah their transfer window in another episode, but they, i don't know how on earth they were selling the names that they were selling for the the money that they got in. That was incredible.
00:46:56
Speaker
But then the players they brought in, a lot of question marks, right? Like, they did they did great with Nkunku and Modric and Ricci, but then Rabiot, you know, it's his son. but like, the center backs, it's like, I don't understand. So, to me, they did a ton of moving parts, which we said last season that they needed to do, just to end up in the same exact position that they were last year with, what do we have every single game? So, ah it's kind of crazy.
00:47:23
Speaker
Yeah, and until Leao comes back, like, We don't even know what they're going to really look like. What is their best 11? It's going to be a while before we even know that. Yeah, I think Liao is coming back relatively soon, though, especially with this break.
00:47:40
Speaker
with With the break as well, he should be back next game, I i would assume. I didn't look into how severe his injury was, but I would be shocked if he's not back soon. But they got so many midfielders that I don't know who plays. Like, Deshaunri was like the signing of the season. And it's like almost a benefit that he got injured. So there's not ah there's not like a question, who do we play today? Because we have 17 center mids.
00:48:09
Speaker
All I'll say about the next game against Bologna is it's hilarious that we signed Rabiot because the guy that he got into an altercation with that made him leave was at Marseille. Oh, yeah. It was now now plays for Bologna.
00:48:21
Speaker
So both of their day moves going to be against each other and their very first game for their new team. So it might there might be another altercation coming up. Stay tuned for that. I cannot wait for Logan to experience this season of Allegri and his son rathy I'm not excited. It is insane. Like, hang on. We're going to wrap up on Milan with this.
00:48:44
Speaker
It is insane that on deadline day, they went and signed Adrian Rabiot with all of the midfielders they already had. Yeah, well, I just want to say to the Paisans that I texted our Calcio Culture group chat on May 29th when Allegri was appointed that they will get Rabiot.
00:49:04
Speaker
I knew it was going to happen, and it happened. Inevitable. just It's inevitable, but we had some other games that happened. Cremines, they kept it rolling. They won three to two against Sessuolo at home in the hole opener.
00:49:17
Speaker
Love that one. personally Firmly in the Scudetto. This was a great game. um Both these teams look like they're going to be competitive this year. A lot of good players to watch. Berardi got on the score sheet for the first time, so I'd like to see that.
00:49:28
Speaker
And Pinamonte, once again, getting on the score sheet. Good player there. In Rome, we had Lazio and Verona, who looked like they might be a punching bag this year. They won 4-0 goals from Banduzzi, Zicani, Castellanos, and Boyadilla.
00:49:42
Speaker
And Castellanos also had a sick assist, if you haven't seen it. Rabona assist on the Zicani goal. That was crazy. Oh, the other thing, you had a quick stat here my boy here, Lokes. You can throw that one in there.
00:49:53
Speaker
Yeah, player of the match, not Tati Castellanos, who had three gold contributions, but Nicolo Vravella, who had one assist. But more so than that, just to preface this stat, teams sometimes will only have 150, 175 passes for the entire Niccolo Varela by himself had 105 passes completed with a 91% completion percentage and had man of the match in a game where somebody had three goal contributions. So unbelievable by him. That's Vos' boy, friend of the pot at this point. We all love Ravella, but what an absolute performance. Masterclass. Listen, at this point, we we have an international break coming up and we're going try to get an episode out before that.
00:50:37
Speaker
He, for me, should be the base of the midfield for the Azorri at this point. And it should be Barella and Tonali ahead of him. i yeah like It was kind of like maybe Ricci. But, I mean, this is the guy. He's better defensively. i think he's the best defender of the midfielders that they have. Like a defensive midfielder who's also capable of contributing offensively.
00:50:55
Speaker
Yeah, it should be an easy decision for Gattuso. I just think it comes down to the formation that they run. If it's a two-man midfield, it's tough to play him with when you have Tonali and Barella.
00:51:06
Speaker
But if it's a three-man midfield, I agree. Yeah, probably every two-man midfield. um Other games we had, Parma, those to Atalanta, pass the Lich, got on the board, and then seven minutes later in the eighty five eighty fifth minute, new signing, Patrick Cotrone, still hanging around, levels it, steals some points from Atalanta.
00:51:24
Speaker
Notably in this one, there was also a Skamaka miss that he probably should have buried. But little bit rocky start for Juric here. I don't know what this season's going to look like. It might be a little bit of mixed bag, especially if you're asking Mott. He's not too confident on this team.
00:51:39
Speaker
I will say, though, interesting to see what happens. They were able to keep Lookman. like No one bought him or paid the money that they wanted. He was like, I am not playing for this club.
00:51:52
Speaker
Obviously, now with the market closed, he probably has to play. so Might end up in Turkey. This is what Turkey do. That their window open. That's true. shout. Hex book.
00:52:03
Speaker
He goes to Galatasaray. Dude, if they get him, if they get him, that team has Oseman, Sané. They got Gundogan. theyre They got a good squad over there that they're building.
00:52:14
Speaker
But I didn't think of that. but That's a good shout. If they do keep him, though, He's obviously a great player. Then theirre their up top is going to be Lukman Skamaka and Charles. de charles So like that's going to be a good front three.
00:52:26
Speaker
But if they don't keep him or if he doesn't play, i think we're starting to see what they might look like this year. little bit boring. I mean, realistically, I know that we got to move on here, but do you see Luckman playing for this squad after this saga? the song It was the same thing last year. It was the exact same thing, and he ended up playing and was really good, but I don't know. he has a figure I don't know if Juric is going to take I don't think Juric is going to take that shit from him, though. I mean— look Gladly, Dave Luckman.
00:52:53
Speaker
Gasparini had been dealing with him for years, but like he will gladly take Luckman on his team. But I mean, just look at these two teams that they drew 1-1 to. We're talking about Kisa and Parma here. Like through relegation.
00:53:06
Speaker
like They should have six points right here and it's one to one draws. Bad. Not good. knock Not good. Not good. Keep it rolling. Scudetto champions, defenders.
00:53:17
Speaker
Napoli, home opener. We saw KDB take his first steps at the Maradona. They won this game. 95th minute. Took a really long time. Classic. Zombo and Giza. Once again, getting it done.
00:53:28
Speaker
And, Loves, you have something you want to point out here that you liked about this. Or maybe didn't like. Yeah. don't know if you liked it I mean, i'm ah I'm not totally in on it, but it can't be a bad thing.
00:53:39
Speaker
But they do score this 96-minute winner against a very subpar Cagliari team. No, no, no, no. Cagliari is a good team. I'm not here for it yet, but in any case, we'll we'll see. But in Napoli, Scudetto winners from last season. Scudetto favorites for this season.
00:53:52
Speaker
Maybe not in the books, but maybe in our hearts. And they're going wild. They just they look they look like they just won the Scudetto in this game. They did the same thing last week when Scott McTominay scored. I mean, these guys go fucking nuts every time they score.
00:54:06
Speaker
Is that good for camaraderie? Sure. Should they be celebrating like that? Probably not. I mean, they they are clearly the one or two, like one or two ah finishers here in the league. And They should be beating teams like this pretty handily and much earlier on than the 96th minute.
00:54:22
Speaker
Good for them to celebrate. They love each other. They love the city. They love the club. They love the badge. But a little bit of an overreaction, I think, from that squad. I mean, that's just what Antonio Conte teams do. He unites them. i'd I'd argue it's better that way than having people pissed that they're not playing.
00:54:36
Speaker
So I'd argue it's good. And and that's what Conte teams do. I want to bring up two things about this game. Scott McTominay in that left mid, not really left mid position this game, not good at it.
00:54:49
Speaker
Did not play well at all. So we'll see what happens there because it's going to be, it looks different. So, because obviously De Bruyne is in the Scott role this season, um but I did not think he played well at all this game.
00:55:01
Speaker
And The disc went to show the pure depth that Napoli have. um And they subbed on Bongiorno and he put in an incredible ball.
00:55:12
Speaker
And Zombo, right place, right time, easy tap-in. But they subbed in a center back who provided the final assist in the 95th minute to show their depth in the team.
00:55:25
Speaker
We haven't even seen Vanya Malenkovich Savage. Noah Lang has played like a total of... 11 minutes so far. So we're just scratching the surface with this club, um but it showed the depth for sure.
00:55:37
Speaker
Yeah, the other thing that I brought and they just brought in Hoyland too. Yeah, they did bring in Hoyland and like from a depth perspective on these could have left and they brought into Brian and they like the Laurentiis could have made the decision.
00:55:49
Speaker
We'll just let him go. Keeping him, you immediately get dividends from that. Like, we all know good how good Zombo is, but now having all of these guys that you can kind of, like, jamble together, like, they played, a they're playing like a diamond right now, essentially.
00:56:02
Speaker
But you can go to a three, you can go to a two-man midfield. There are so many things you can do. And, I mean, there's no reason to think they can't do it again this year and win Scudetto.
00:56:13
Speaker
They keep on rolling. Keeping. And we keep on rolling as well. Leaning tower. Pisa saw its opener. Pisa lost 1-0 to Roma. Sule scored in this one. He also had a goal pulled back, but Rolo off to a good start. um Two 1-0 wins.
00:56:28
Speaker
Atalanta ball, not quite there quite yet for Gasparini, but I think they're going to get better. But I mean, you can't start the season better than that. Two for Joe. Quick note here, Evan Ferguson again played 73 minutes. Dovbic was really looking on the outs, but windows closed.
00:56:47
Speaker
He did not get shipped out. So we'll see what happens there. I didn't even think Ferguson had like a tremendous game. I thought he played decent, but I was like, get Dovbic in a little bit earlier, in my opinion, see what he's got.
00:57:00
Speaker
um But clearly, we see the pecking order for Gasparini, although it was pretty widely known that he much rather prefers Ferguson than Dobrik. The funny thing about Ferguson here is, and i'm i'm just I've been following Milan Twitter, obviously the last couple of days, just being that it was the end of the the ah transfer deadline here. But as when we were still in the race for a striker, so I forgot who posted this and ill have to find it and shout you out. But it was ah tweet of a video. There's the highlights from Evan Ferguson's first game for Roma. And he was like, Milan, where do we find a guy like this?
00:57:33
Speaker
why like Why can we not be in conversation with a guy like this? Roma, no one was talking about Evan Ferguson before that first game. We knew he was talented, but the highlight is basically he drops in gets the ball. If there's no one on his back, he's able to turn and dribble very consistently, drives the ball forward. He he can lay it off.
00:57:51
Speaker
He's a perfect target man. He helps him build up. he He's very, very quick, direct, wants to score. I mean, he's an all-around great striker. I think that people are going to take very kindly to his presence in Serie A this season.
00:58:02
Speaker
And so just keep an eye out as to why Dobrik's not playing over him right now. question for you guys real quick. Second game under Gasparini, same exact lineup.
00:58:13
Speaker
Dybala comes in a little bit earlier. What do we think about Dybala under Gasparini? Because we know Gasparini demands run all over the pitch, man-to-man defense.
00:58:25
Speaker
Dybala's probably not going to do that. I mean, he he probably he'll do it sometimes, but he's not going to do it for 90 minutes. Doesn't probably have the legs to do it anymore. Do we see Dybala being ah super sub now? Are we going to see Dybala ever for 90 minutes? You think under Gasparini, what are your thoughts?
00:58:42
Speaker
I'm happy you said this because I was really thinking about this because I was kind of back to the point. Like, why isn't Dybala playing? How do you get him in the team versus Suley on the team? And I think comes down to two things. Gasparini is not a one year, two year manager.
00:58:56
Speaker
He is looking at this as like a six, seven, eight year project that he is going to be the man at. And Sule is one of those guys that is going to be with him the entire time. So that I think he has a bias to play Sule over Dybala there.
00:59:09
Speaker
And I think the other thing Dybala gets hurt. And if you're super subbing him, you are reducing the chances of him getting hurt. So I don't think it's it's the wall thing to do.
00:59:20
Speaker
And then number two, you're not forcing one of them to play left wing where they, they, neither of them really are effective over there because it's not what they want to do. And you just brought in Leon Bailey, you have El Sharaway, and they're going to kind of control that side of the field.
00:59:34
Speaker
So I think it's going to be Sule pretty much every game of the season. And must be gets hurt in my mind. those as You say, you say he's a six to seven year manager, which I'm, he's old. We don't really have, we don't really have a huge sample size. Obviously he was Atlanta for ages, but,
00:59:50
Speaker
Yes, he's playing Sule, who also had a couple of starts for the most part last year. But this is the second game in a row to start the season. No Baldanzi, no Pizzili. So is he really here to develop the younger guys like we know he can? Yeah, but I think um that is a portion of the reason Cristante is in there is he's the guy that made Cristante. So it's like I have 100% trust in this guy to play a position that I know is really hard to play in my system.
01:00:12
Speaker
So we're going to stick with him like because I know he can do it. I know he's going to get it done. He pretty much gives the same performance every week. So I think it's a little bit different there. Yeah, but that's my thought on the Cristante one.
01:00:24
Speaker
Like that Darun spot. Yeah, exactly. exact Low ceiling type deal. Sure.
01:00:31
Speaker
We'll see. Any thoughts on Sule? one well You just completely ignored Mats' question. What was Mons' question? and Moving on. Moving on. and Oh, my God. ah Last game that happened. ah These are two teams I love. Fiorentino went to Torino. Torino really needed a bounce back game.
01:00:47
Speaker
This one ended nil-nil, but I do think there were some storylines. um From a Torino perspective, we saw more of the Barone midfield in a midfield three. Aslani had his debut. Illich had his first debut of the season in Cesare Casaday.
01:00:59
Speaker
ah They kind of played as twin eights with a number six. It did look a lot better. They probably could have won this game. And then from a Fiorentina perspective, just classic Pioli here, like no idea what they're trying to achieve, have good players on the field and their preferred positions, but just a lot of the ball and zero offense. say That's kind of Pioli and can't teach an old dog new directs kind of thing.
01:01:24
Speaker
De Gea, two great games from the goalies here. De Gea had a great game. and And also just wanted to shout out Torino's new goalie, Franco Israel. He had a good game.
01:01:35
Speaker
Maybe it's just Torino pumps him out. Maybe Vanya is really not that good. Who knows? No, no, no, no, no. He missed the first week against Inter. He was absolutely hard. I mean, that's that's that's not just that's defending. that There's a whole lot of of different of things going on there. it was horrid, horrid.
01:01:51
Speaker
But what i what I want to talk about here on the Pioli side is he had a lot of players that could really grab the game by themselves. I don't think that this Fiore and Tina team is there yet in terms of can they go out there and make a game of it by themselves. They need structure.
01:02:09
Speaker
I know we're one we're one more season into it, but like we talked about last year, it was kind of a hodgepodge, like a bunch of ah rejects from of other teams that were really trying to prove themselves, which they certainly did.
01:02:20
Speaker
But i I think that here, this one's going to be a little bit more of a challenge for Pioli just because I know Moise Keane's been around, but you look at the other guys that they brought in, and especially Goodmanson and some guys in the midfield, I think they need a little bit more direction, which I'm not sure Pioli has in his back pocket.
01:02:36
Speaker
He will get into the locker room and pat on the back and say it's okay, they drew. But I think that if they're going challenge for that next step being Europa League or even top four, which I don't think they look like a top four team at this point.
01:02:48
Speaker
They're going to need a little bit more tactic, little more tactical advice from the manager. It's also ah ginormous change from Palladino, who has a style of play. He has his parameters, which he wants players to play. There's always something to do.
01:03:01
Speaker
Pioli is very much a man manager. Just go out there and do your best, guys. like you can You guys are professional soccer players. You know play. Just go play. And that can that can be lacking offense if you don't have a specific system or style of play in kind of dogfights like this game. What I am surprised about is he got away from his 4-2-3-1.
01:03:21
Speaker
I was shocked when it was not a 4-2-3-1 in this game. That's just classic field league ball. But we'll see what happens there. Watched it for far too long. But guys, we got a new segment we're adding this week. i guess we're going to keep rolling for the entire season. We're all picking a guy out for a player of the week. We're going to start Monson.
01:03:38
Speaker
Yeah, I covered mine a little bit earlier in the episode. Mine player the week was Luka Modric. I think the only reason why Milan got three points was because Luka Modric. He was all over the pitch. He had the ball at all times.
01:03:50
Speaker
He was facilitating. He was creating opportunities. little less passes than Rovella, but he had 54 accurate passes. He had four key passes. He had one assist.
01:04:02
Speaker
He was also doing it defensively. So for an older guy, being able to cover ground, he had a clearance, he had an interception, ah he had a tackle, he dribbled by people. So great game. He kept Milan in the game. He kind of, I like to say when you're winning, take the sting out of the game. But this one was opposite. He was the reason why they were allowed to be in the game at all times. It was literally just...
01:04:23
Speaker
pass the ball to Modric and let him do stuff because he knows how to win a soccer game and how to play. So listen, if Allegri plays him 90 minutes and he's on the pitch, like Milan is going to be tough to be because he is so good and can control a game. And you really saw it last week. So Luka Modric is my player.
01:04:45
Speaker
Close. Wait, look, do you want to go? I a dog bar. I'll take it. Yeah, I think that when you put a shift in with three goal contributions, you should be getting a shout-out. I know that Rivella had an absolute performance, but Tati Castellanos, especially with the assist that he had to Zucani, he's got to be the player of week. Three goal contributions, one game. I know Verona is absolute dog shit, but it was a great performance by him.
01:05:10
Speaker
Lazio does this all the time, flash in the pan one week, and they're horrible the next, but this was the one where they were on, and Castellanos was a huge driver of that. So player the week, Tati Castellanos. Love it. Shout out to NYCFC. Yeah, sure. Good point.
01:05:22
Speaker
And to wrap it up, I have Santi sany Castro from Bologna. He's kind of one of my players to watch for the entire season. um Just two games in here, I think he looks a lot better than he did last year. More complete player.
01:05:33
Speaker
He was the guy that was leading the Bologna press. He didn't start in match week one. Like I said, he came in off the bench and has really just shown why he should be playing. and In the first game against Roma, he had a bunch of shots on goal.
01:05:45
Speaker
And in this one, again, he was the guy that was running the hard miles. He had the assist to... Orselini. And I just think he's a player to watch. He's kind of reminding me a a little bit of like Luis Suarez in a way.
01:05:57
Speaker
Like very similar movement. I think good at similar things. I think he's hes somebody to watch this year. I think it's a good one for him. um But that's our player of the week. We also one special segment this week.
01:06:09
Speaker
There's a couple players that made it. We're not going to do this every week. It's going to be very specific situations. But Mots, you got two guys for us giving out another award here. Yes, this award that you'll see from time and time again, when it's when it's required, is the Stunad of the Week.
01:06:25
Speaker
Two guys, we have co-stunads of the week because we couldn't decide a winner. The first one is going came on Winner Milan Play Friday. Friday? Let's say Friday. let We came on Friday, and it is none other than Santi Jimenez, who scored a goal, good finish, good play, ended up being offsides. But before it was called offsides, he ran over to get none on only than his teammates' Cheshari's jersey because he broke his fibula in practice and then was called offsides.
01:06:57
Speaker
Absolutely hilarious to try to honor the player that you... You injured for three to nine months and with his jersey and you're just offside. So i was called back.
01:07:10
Speaker
Santi, I just want to point that out. I was not supportive of this nomination this week. I love you. You're to be great this season. also missed a one-on-one. Keep on keeping on. That was not offside and just missed the next one. That was not good.
01:07:22
Speaker
Yeah, that one was and wasn't good either. But not to be outdone by Moisey Keane from Fiorentina, who I believe it was Robert Gosens had a header. It got over the goalie. I do think the goalie got a slight touch to it.
01:07:38
Speaker
um But that ball was 100% going in. And you have a classic striker trying to pad his stats, get a goal. And he tried to head it in.
01:07:49
Speaker
And he launched it over the crossbar. It was literally in the net. I'm not sure how it happened. If you haven't seen it, go back and look. Because Moisey Keane was doing his best torino center back in impersonation there so those two are the stew nods of the week we have co this week and week two moise keen and santi jimenez yeah moise it keen with 0.97 xg out of one in the net like i don't know how he hit it over the net like it could not have been closer to being inside of the goal when he touched it
01:08:26
Speaker
And it was almost an anomaly because he didn't actually move his head. It just bounced off of his face, like his noggin, because like he didn't need to do much with it, but it literally went to the moon. Yeah, it made no sense.
01:08:38
Speaker
Soccer game of inches. That's it with us, guys. That was metric number two. We're going into an international break now. So next week, we're going to be dropping our table predictions. um ah my The transfer window is closed. Couldn't think of it.
01:08:51
Speaker
And we're going to try to hop on to a couple other quick segments, talk an international break with the Azore, little bit of transfers, but we'll be back soon. You'll see us. so As always. Yeah, thank you.
01:09:01
Speaker
Thank you, Paisans. If you're still listening, really appreciate it Like I said in the beginning of the episode, you know where to find us. Comment, subscribe on all the socials at Cultural Culture FC, X, twit x YouTube, Instagram, TikTok.
01:09:14
Speaker
We'll have some good content coming out. A couple of shorter episodes going to be on YouTube. Let us know how you guys like it. And you can always find us on Spotify and Apple Pods. Five stars, por favor.
01:09:26
Speaker
Mats, take us away. This is great episode. Very sad that we have the international break coming up. Little hiatus from Calcio, even though it just came back. Very frustrating. I feel like they should ah kind of take a look at that, maybe change it up, allow like maybe four to five games before they go to international break. But that's okay because we got a taste and we will be back with more.
01:09:46
Speaker
Paisanos, thank you for listening. And oh as always, do not be a gaguz in Forza Calcio culture.
01:10:30
Speaker
Thank you.