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Free Weekly Episode - Inter Milan CRUSH Milan In Derby, The ‘Fiorentina Vlahovic’ Is Back, Rudi Garcia Destroys Napoli, Dybala-Lukaku Show, UCL Preview & Much More (Ep. 360)
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From Inter Milan show in the Milan Derby, if Marcus Thuram is an upgrade on Romelu Lukaku, what went wrong tactically for AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli, Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa star for Juventus, if Weston McKennie is the answer to Juve's wingback problems, why Lazio are hemorrhaging goals and Maurizio Sarri can do about it, if it's time to start phasing out Ciro Immobile, how Rudi Garcia has destroyed Luciano Spalletti's work at Napoli, to Paulo Dybala show for Roma, goalfest when Fiorentina and Frosinone beat Atalanta and Sassuolo respectively as well as previewing midweek opening fixtures in the group stage of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League and much, much more as Nima and Carlo break down all the main talking points from a jam-packed weekend in Italian football.
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Transcript
Inter's Dominance in the Derby
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian Football Podcast.
00:00:21
Speaker
Inter win their fifth Milan derby in a row by destroying Milan 5-1 to send a skedetto message to the rest of the league. Inter looking better than ever under Simona Inzagi, as does the ageless Henrik Makitarian.
00:00:40
Speaker
Is Marcus Taram scored an incredible goal, an upgrade on Romelu Lukaku who started so well at Inter?
Juventus Shines Against Lazio
00:00:46
Speaker
As for Milan, we'll have a look at what went so horribly wrong and is Stefano Pioli to blame. Juventus produced a fantastic performance of their own beating Lazio 3-1 with some brilliant performances from Dusan Vlawovic, Manuel Locatelli and even Weston Mckenny.
Napoli's Struggles Under Rudy Garcia
00:01:04
Speaker
Napoli slip up again, has Rudy Garcia already destroyed Luciano Spelletti's work in less than a month.
Roma's Victory Over Empoli
00:01:13
Speaker
As for Lukaku, he played for the first time with Paolo Di Bala together as Roma thumped Empoli 7-0. So we'll review all the rest of the weekend action and we'll also preview the first matchday of European football this midweek with some big, big games in the Champions League, including Milan versus Newcastle.
Italian Football Podcast Overview
00:01:33
Speaker
For all our first-time listeners, this is our free weekly episode that we do every Monday, reviewing the weekend Serie action and all the biggest talking points in Italian football. If you want to support the Italian football podcast and receive all our content that we do throughout the week, including a weekly Q&A episode every Tuesday, where we answer all the questions from our Patreons, plus the weekly Thursday midweek review show, plus interviews, post-match reaction and much, much more, then you can go to patreon.com slash TIP and become a subscriber for just $2.99 a month plus VAT.
00:02:02
Speaker
And you can also sign up to be a paid subscriber on Spotify instead. We'll provide the link in the description. It's the same price, the same terms. And for those of you that do listen on Spotify or on Apple, iTunes podcast, we'd really appreciate if you give a five-star rating, give us a follow and a like. We're also on YouTube. It really helps us to grow and do more quality content for you guys. So let's get into today's show. But first, a word from our sponsor.
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Inter's Tactical Adaptability
00:03:32
Speaker
Okay, so only one place to start, the Milan Derby, Inter smashing Milan for 5, 5-1 win. Another brilliant Inter performance, both collectively and individually, all over the pitch. Nimmer,
00:03:49
Speaker
I know that you're you're over the moon because I think you've been shouting and cheering so much that your voice is almost gone. Yeah, it is. It is gone. And it's also missed the temperature changes in Stockholm. But yeah, let's go with your story. Instead, it's the shouting because I was shouting and Marcus to make me absolutely lose my mind.
00:04:08
Speaker
I am completely blown away by what a talent he is. I wanted him two years ago when he got injured on that last weekend and we ended up buying Quaking Korea, who hopefully won't ever come back again to Inter and Serie A. But no, I'm incredibly, I'm a little bit shell shocked because
00:04:30
Speaker
For me, what Inter showed was, because I think that up until the 71st minute, something like that, if you look on the preponderance of play, if you look on how it was, it was fairly balanced. Milan were all up until, you know, Mikitania scored 3-1 and then it's it. But Milan had just gotten their goal back. Inter were, they were putting pressure on Inter. They were imposing themselves. Inter looked to be a little bit on the back foot, but they never panicked Inter. They were incredibly mature.
00:04:59
Speaker
a very controlled, calm, cool performance that when they were in a difficult period, when Liao did score that goal after some defensive blunders, Ynto didn't choke, they didn't stress, but instead they reverted back to their game plan, they found balance, and then they proceeded to seal right up the storm, and then you look back after that and just thump Milan, take him to the cleaners towards the end.
00:05:29
Speaker
But I mean, it was and it was also an inter that played in very many different ways. I mean, if you look at the first half, I think inter had 31 percent of the ball possession played very deep, very, you know, did not at all walk into purely strap, but in fact gave them the ball and said, here, you do something with it. And they were unable to. They really were unable to. And they were.
00:05:52
Speaker
the clinical aspect of Intel that we've been very critical about, that they create so much, but they can't score. Well, they were lethal in the first half. I mean, yes, Miguitarian should have probably scored another one with a free header from DiMarco's cross. But other than that, Intel were just lethal. And
00:06:13
Speaker
they in the second half when they when they needed to be again and to dominate possession and dominate midfield and take control and that's why they had 40 I think they had something like 49% possession in the second half and overall it was 60 40 in Milan's favor but that just shows to me the versatility of this team that Inzaghi has so much depth available to him so much so many different kinds of players that allows him to play
00:06:43
Speaker
in very many different ways, but always keeping his system intact. His system is the triangles, the numerical advantages in big triangles. He kept doing that over and over and over again. It was so interesting to see. I think it was in the 50th or 60th minute when
00:07:06
Speaker
The ball goes from Inter's left-hand side diagonally all the way to the right-hand side, and then it's played right back to the left-hand side, like a huge triangle. And he does that all the time. This is a defining characteristic of Inzaghi's football. That, together with, obviously, Inter not having a single dribbler on the team. I think we're 20th in the Serie A for dribbles completed per game.
00:07:34
Speaker
but the passing, they are such a safe passing side and now they are solid defensively in a way that we've not seen under Inzagi and they are lethal up front and they showed that this is going to be
00:07:52
Speaker
They are sending out a message and I think that after a performance like that and after the start of the season like that, well, they've raised the bar. It's not me raising the bar after a Derby win, it's they who have raised the bar.
Milan's Defensive Challenges
00:08:05
Speaker
Definitely. I think that the Champions League run has given into confidence.
00:08:12
Speaker
They have grown. They've clearly grown. You can see that they feel so much more confident in themselves in all scenarios, like you said. Milan made it 2-1. They didn't panic. They just brushed it off and they did what they had to do and they got the third goal. They never felt flustered.
00:08:35
Speaker
They were mentally in total control of themselves and that's what really impressed me the most. They looked like masters on the pitch despite Milan having the more possession, despite Milan taking the game to them.
00:08:51
Speaker
it was always into the look like the Masters. There's a difference. There's a difference between having possession where you look like you're in control of the game. Milan had possession but interlooked like they're in control of the game. This is the key thing with possession when we have debates over possession. You can have possession but not look like you're in control of the game.
00:09:08
Speaker
inter look like they were the ones that were, were calling the shots. Throughout the game, throughout the game. Yeah. And they look so complete as what you said as well. You know, are there any weaknesses? We said this, you know, a week or two ago. Is there any weaknesses in this? Yes. And I think we saw that. For me, it's only really a lack of pace. Yeah. Lower down the pitch.
00:09:30
Speaker
That's what I'm thinking. For me, that's all I see is a clear, clear weakness because the depth and the suspension is so strong as well. You know, at 2-1, Milan are looking good. Inter can bring on Fraterzi, Augusto, Arnaltovic for an injection. You know, they know how to manage the game now as well. So, I mean, yeah, absolutely fantastic. But I want to talk about, well, two players, Taram, who we've got a segment on, so we'll hold him for the moment, but Makatarian.
00:09:59
Speaker
I mean, when he joined Inter last year at the age of 33, almost 34, I don't think anybody, nobody at all could have expected him to be a rotation player. Yesterday, I think he gave the best performance of his career.
00:10:17
Speaker
It was the best performance of his career, one of the best performances he's ever played. He was absolutely unbelievable. He looked so fresh, so light in his step. It was so easy. Everything looked so calm and controlled.
00:10:33
Speaker
I was, I just couldn't believe it. And I was so surprised because I was calling for Fratesi to start because I think he was so good. And I think he, you know, I wanted to see him next to Barella. But Nick Italian was the man of the match. And it wasn't even close. He was unbelievable in both phases in possession. His football IQ we know is through the roof. But the way that he called the shots in midfield,
00:11:01
Speaker
Obviously, it helps when you've got Chalanogla and Barella next to you to express yourself, but I thought he was simply outstanding. And you know what, he's adding to his game, and I think people forget about this, that when he was at Dortmund, and I think it's probably his best performance since he exploded at Dortmund, definitely.
00:11:18
Speaker
is, you know, at Dorman, he was like an attacking midfielder. He was, you know, he played as kind of like an AMC in a, in a like four, two, three, one, didn't he? Under, under clock, you know, that was his position. But then he kind of became a little bit deeper. And then Mourinho kind of reinvented him into a more of a deep lion player. And people kind of forgotten that that was actually his natural role, you know, that he was more of more, much more attacking player. I feel like an intern, and we definitely saw this in this game, that, you know, we were talking about
00:11:45
Speaker
Italy, ahead of their international games, about how in the Luciano Spoletti system, having that player that can play like in a three man midfield, but then can morph into the link player and be almost like a number 10 in like, you know, the Zilinski, the Zilinski rather Spoletti system morphs into a four, two, three, one, obviously.
00:12:05
Speaker
uh in zag he doesn't play he plays a three three five two but you see makatarian has been now his role is i see that role that he's been almost like a zilinski like player for interim that he plays in the midfield three but then he's he's then linking he links the he's linking the place so so well in between the lines but he's i mean he can do everything he's so he's so complete and he
00:12:29
Speaker
And I mean, he's nearly 35 years old, but I mean, I mean, he was insane in this game. He scored two goals. He's got a brilliant assist for Fortezi. He also got an even better hockey assist for the Taram goal. Have a look at that pass that he puts out to the right hand side in the build up to the in the build up to the goal for Taram. I mean,
00:12:51
Speaker
I mean, he could have had a hat trick as well because he missed a big chance, didn't he? No, he was he was simply unbelievable. And he you can tell also by the reactions of his teammates on social media, but he's very, very popular. And I think what has happened now that Jeko Handano, which Dan Browsi or all these kind of players that used to kind of
00:13:15
Speaker
be leaders in the dressing room have left it's that you've got the ones that are left that are experience they've taken more control and more space and it's working really well he's very popular they like him and he needs by example he's become a leader and it's really insane again given that he was brought in to be a rotational player and now he is a starter you do not
00:13:42
Speaker
We have to give praise to Zinsagi for getting the best out of these two plays. He's reinvented the challenge. He's got out of Makatarin something that no one, as much as Mourinho did and we have to give praise to Mourinho. Mourinho reinvented him and gave him a second life at Roma.
00:13:58
Speaker
But no one expected him to go to interim play. So we have to give him Zaggy presentation. Both of those two players. And Armenian and a Turk. I think they've done more for Armenian-Turkish relations than anyone's ever done. Because I've never seen a partnership between an Armenian and a Turk like these two. I mean, they're just both fantastic.
00:14:19
Speaker
No, it is. But he's done this at Lazio before he made Luis Alberto. He unlocked him. Sergey Minkovic Savage exploded under him. We've seen it. Keita Balde had his best season ever under him. Inzaghi does this. The best managers are the ones that improve players, that get players regardless of age to improve and get the most out of them. And Inzaghi does this systematically.
00:14:48
Speaker
No, I was very, very happy by when Fratizzi and Carlos Augusto came on, because I think Carlos Augusto is going to be so useful. And Fratizzi, we know, I was surprised that he took but a laugh. I was thinking, hmm, but
00:15:08
Speaker
I've got to say this, I can't remember. The last time an Inter team, in terms of the players and the manager, were on the same wavelength, tactically, mentally, psychologically, was when Mourinho was an Inter in 2009-2010.
00:15:30
Speaker
No other comparisons between them, but that was the last time when I saw an Inter squad so balanced and so in tune at every level with their manager, who's also in tune with them.
00:15:43
Speaker
They look so formidable, they really do. It's early days, you know. It's early days, but they look formidable. They look, they look, doesn't look like there's weaknesses in the team. They look complete. They look like they've moved on to another level. They've got depth. And let's remember, I mean, their biggest, the biggest sign in the Serie A summer, am I most optimistic? I'm not forgetting someone, am I? He hasn't even played a minute yet. You know, so Benjamin Pavard. So I mean, it's, yeah, it's really, but we have to talk about Taram. I want to talk about Taram because
00:16:12
Speaker
because, you know, I always thought he had potential, always thought he was a good player, but I didn't, I wasn't sure, I had my questions whether he could move on to the level that we've, and again, it's still early days, to move on to the level that we've seen it into, because he's looked a fantastic player so far. He's looked like, again, keep using this word complete, he's looked like the complete attacker.
00:16:33
Speaker
He can do everything. He can run with the ball. He runs the channels. He's worked great. He wins the ball back. He presses. He, you know, he's linked up the chemistry already with Lautaro after just four games. I mean, when it was even the first game, we saw it. I mean, it's incredible that the impact that he's had. And then you see the goal that he scored. I mean, wow, what's a goal? I mean, I have to ask the question.
00:17:00
Speaker
I'm not going to say at this time. Is Taram an upgrade on Lukaki? Yes, yes he is. He was brought in to replace Edin Jekyll and he's doing everything Jekyll did, only quicker, better and faster, because Jekyll was middle aged by the time he reached Team Third and could no longer do that. But he's doing all of those things, so that's what I was expecting him to do.
00:17:24
Speaker
But I didn't expect him to do what Lukaku did when he was at his best in Inter as well. And together with Lautaro, they are both such complete attackers right now, and they have such an understanding.
00:17:36
Speaker
that they just look unplayable together. And again, the lightness in the step, when he runs, he looks like as light as a feather. They all do. This heavy heaviness isn't there that I felt there many times. He's a big guy as well. I think he's like six foot four. He is. He's a big guy. But all of them, regardless if it's Mighitarian or if it's Lautaro or Turan,
00:17:59
Speaker
They don't look heavy. I don't know if they've changed something and how they prepare or how they train or how the diet or whatever it is. But they all look so feather light. They don't look there's a spring in every one step. And and that is truly, truly unreal to see. I mean, the only negativity if I'm going to be out, you know, for free, if I have to be a little bit critical is finishing.
00:18:24
Speaker
Yeah. His finishing is not perfect. He needs to be more clinical. But we know that. We know that. And that's something he's working on. And if Nzagi can turn him into a 25-30 goal season striker, then you know.
00:18:36
Speaker
Yeah, that the one thing that Lukaku has on to ram is his finishing to Lukaku is a better finisher than I if you if you forget about the the kind of you know, the mean mayonnaise like me misses that Lukaku has no that unfortunately the end of his career there's going to be a there's going to be a long video probably about 15 of them but you
00:18:56
Speaker
If you put those aside, because those have always been part of Lukaku's career, he is a fantastic top finisher. He's one of the best finishers in the game. He's one-on-one. There's not too many players you'd want in a one-on-one situation ahead of Lukaku. Aside from that, it's a small sample size so far, but what we've seen of Taran, he definitely, for me, he presses and works for the team much better than Lukaku. Off the ball, Lukaku
00:19:23
Speaker
is not great. For me, that's his biggest problem. That was the reason why he failed at Chelsea. That's the reason why Tuchel couldn't get on with him. The fact that Lukaku's pressing off the ball, certainly in alignment with his team-mates, wasn't good. I think that he's very good at that. Coming back and winning the ball, running the channels and
00:19:48
Speaker
I mean, what can you say? Two goals, two assists in four games. You also scored for France in the international break. And again, we're talking about these are the kind of little things that give a player confidence. You know, when you do something on the international stage like
00:20:04
Speaker
into getting to the Champions League final. I think these give you that, that these take you on to a little, they, these are the kind of almost intangibles that take you on to the next level. And I think that with Taran, even something as simple as that scoring for France, you know, I think we'll give him such a boost. So brilliant. Fantastic from Inter's point of view, fantastic from Taran's point of view, but we have to look at Milan because there's always two, two sides of the coin. And as good as, as good as Inter were,
00:20:31
Speaker
I mean Milan were humiliated. This was a humiliation and they really were sent back to earth because let's not forget they went into this game light into with three wins out brilliant starts the season all the talk was about you know it's going to be in Milan Derby for the Scudetto you know
00:20:46
Speaker
We even said it in ourselves in the previous, we didn't expect, we expect this to be a lot closer. We didn't think this was going to be a runaway like it was in the Champions League semi-final. We thought this would be tight, but here we are, a fifth win in a row for, for Intel. And this was the most, this was the most emphatic of them all. So what went wrong? What went wrong from the Milan point of view?
00:21:09
Speaker
I think they were, we shouldn't forget that they were missing starters in defence. Tiao Tiao Kiere was one of the worst central defensive pairings I've seen in the Milancia ever. It was genuinely awful.
00:21:26
Speaker
Um, I think Kalulu was missed, but, but, but also the fact that Ciao to try to stop Marcus Taram, he just couldn't get near him. And we saw that as well last season when against Lukaku as well, Ciao struggled against him. He just bounced off him.
00:21:46
Speaker
And I think there was a lot of, they didn't look like a cohesive unit in defence either. It was a bit of a, you know, makeshift defence. But also, I think tactically, Nzargis outclassed purely. I think he did. The way that
00:22:04
Speaker
You know, I was so worried that Inzaghi was going to go into Pioli's trap and start praying high up and give conceit space and allow Milan to counter-attack them, but it was the exact opposite. Inter defended deep. In the first, you know, Pioli spoke about the opening four minutes we had the ball. But yeah, where did you have the ball? Go look at those four minutes, those opening four minutes. Inter were defending deep. They were pressing high up. Most of that possession that Milan had was in their own half.
00:22:34
Speaker
And then after that, it interscored. And then from then on, it was just inter-show for the rest of the half. I do think that Milan, if we talk about the positive side we'll get to, I think Milan were in this game until Mikitajian scored 3-1.
00:22:51
Speaker
And they did show that they could hurt Inter, especially for pace in defense. I mean, when that run from Teo Hernandez, when he went off on that run and no one could stop him, he just put the ball wide. And then similarly, when Liao and Giroud dropped deep and played that beautiful ball to Liao for his goal,
00:23:14
Speaker
That's where Milan needed to be more and hurt Inter more, but they were unable to because Inter was so compact, and they had read Milan.
00:23:24
Speaker
But I'm really surprised to see them concede five goals the way they did. After 3-1, they gave up, and that's how I felt. They felt like Milan switched off after 3-1. And that's when Inter turned on the style and really killed them off.
00:23:44
Speaker
But if we're talking about individual errors, yes. I just want to expand on Pioli. I want to expand on the Pioli point because I agree and I disagree with you. I don't see this as Inzaghi not falling into the Pioli trap. I see this as Pioli just playing the same tactics again that failed into last season. I have to be really critical of Pioli's tactics in this game. What did he expect? If you use the same tactics,
00:24:13
Speaker
that have already failed last season. Why should you expect them to change this season? Maybe he thought because of the new signings that maybe this was a better and stronger Milan and they could use the same tactics. But Inter showed even against the best team in the world, Man City, they deserve to win that Champions League final, Inter. Against the best team in the world, the best passing team, the best pressing team in the world, the best possession team in the world, that even them, Man City, could really hardly get through them and create.
00:24:41
Speaker
you know, what did so why would purely think that playing the same way would work? And for me, the one the biggest question mark with purely and this is something you've said for a long time, is, is he still to one dimensional, you know, is it still that this is the only way that purely can can play at least with you know, this kind of system? Because for me, you know, Milan work just just they were just, they just, if anything, they fell into interest trap.
00:25:06
Speaker
Yeah, they did. It was the other way around. I was scared that Inzaghi was going to walk into Pioli's trap, but instead it was the other way around, where Nita was so disciplined and had a clear game plan and had the players to execute it.
00:25:23
Speaker
I don't have to ask. Can Milan only play, can Pioli only play front foot football? You know, still, can they, I mean, you know, I'm totally, and I think it's shown that in modern football, playing front foot football is more successful than playing the other way. But even if you play front foot football, you still have to be able to defend your area at times. You still have to be able to defend your final third at times. You still have to make sure that you're not
00:25:52
Speaker
so open the transitions as Milan were even on the second goal for as brilliant as Taram's goal was. They were so wide open on that counter. You know, they're too easy to play through. And, you know, they can't, you know, I mean, they were just too easy. It was too easy, for instance, to create chances against them. And Milan did defend badly. They made some terrible errors. I mean, Tial was shocking.
00:26:16
Speaker
He was to blame on the first two goals. Thio Hernandez I thought was the only Milan player really that did anything going offensively. He had one brilliant run in the first half but he was terrible defensively again as he always is against him so he gave away the penalty. Have a look at the fifth goal of him just rolling back making no attempt.
00:26:34
Speaker
given up by then. It's a mentality thing isn't it? The problem for me is that he wears the captain's armband and he can't give up when you wear the captain's armband in a derby and that to me is a bigger problem than anything else. I'm not sure him having that captain's armband is the right decision.
00:26:52
Speaker
But that's where I think purely needs to purely needs to, you know, he needs to these things, he needs to work on these two things, these things. And, you know, and I just thought they were just a little bit suicidal in this game. And there's a fence also I know they had, they were about to Maury and that big, but
00:27:11
Speaker
They were that one first team plan. The four of the back five, including the goalkeeper, were playing. It shouldn't have been that much a problem. This season, as good as their starters have been, they've only kept one clean sheet in their four games. That was against Bologna, who probably deserved to score in that game, if we're being honest, because he did six goals in four games. They're going to have to defend better. They're going to have to defend better if
00:27:36
Speaker
you know if they uh sorry seven goals in four games sorry seven goals in four games so you know they're gonna have to defend better if they really want to you know if they want to challenge I mean the calculation has been and they've been very open about it that they they're going to Milan is a side that is going to outscore their opponents the problem is that when you go up against a team that is
00:27:58
Speaker
that can defend and match you in terms of attack, then what are you going to do defensively? And Milan showed in this game that they're not defensively there yet, even though, again, they did have to start as missing. I think Tomori would have done a better job against Turam than Ciao did.
00:28:19
Speaker
And I think Calulu would have done a better job against Lautaro than what Simon Kia did. You know, these are backup players. I actually thought Kia was the best out of the Milan backline. Well, yeah. But I don't think it was very good. That's not saying much, but I'm saying that. Exactly. Exactly. I think he was the I think he was definitely the best. Yeah, he was the best out of the bad punch. But it's I do think that there's issues, but I don't think this is going to harm Milan and, you know,
Vlahovic's Form for Juventus
00:28:46
Speaker
I think that they will think this could harm them in the Champions League. I think if they're going to play like this against PSG or Newcastle, well, I feel I worry. I really worry. But I don't worry in the Serie A because I don't see the quality.
00:29:02
Speaker
in most of these teams. That's absolutely true. I absolutely agree with that. I'm not worried. I think they'll definitely be in the Scudetto race. I think we're going to have a classic, a few days having thought about it now, it's an interview of a Milan Scudetto race and we haven't had that for 20 years.
00:29:23
Speaker
We'll see. I mean, just to finish off in Milan, I think that the other thing, I still, again, very early days and we're probably going to see some changes in the Champions League game against Newcastle. We need to start seeing more from the Milan substitutes. Some of them
00:29:39
Speaker
Very expensive signings, you know, so far, Okafor, Samuel Chukweze, Musa, you know, we haven't seen any of their contributions. I mean, Musa hasn't played much, but, you know, they've come on, they haven't really done much when they've come on.
00:29:56
Speaker
And some will say, well, they've only come on a substitute. What do you expect them to do? But look at the intersubs. Look at the impact that they've had. So we need to start seeing more from them because that's the whole point of Milan's transfer market was also to give them depth and give them players to come off the bench and make a difference.
00:30:15
Speaker
You know, we'll see. We'll see. The Newcastle game, I expect some of them to play. I think Chukwezi will probably play maybe Moussa as well. So we'll start to see what they can offer more. But we definitely need to see more from the bench, from Milan. And I just have one other thing. One final thing to say. Completely unrelated. Giroud. Why is Giroud taking free kicks? This triggers me. This is one thing that triggers me in football. You know, when you get a player,
00:30:39
Speaker
that's played, had like a 20-year career, never taken a free kick in his whole career. Then all of a sudden he's taken free kicks. And 37 in the case of Giroud, suddenly starts being the free kick taker, never been a free kick taker, never been able to take a free kick even in the peak of his career. All of a sudden he starts taking free kicks. Don't understand that either. What's going on? What is going on? Milano in a great position on the edge of the area. Giroud takes the free kick and predictably puts it into Rosette.
00:31:07
Speaker
I just want to say one last thing on Milan. I think we have to acknowledge that Benasser, he is missing. And I think when he comes back, it will be a different Milan. Him and Reinders, I think, will love life together.
00:31:22
Speaker
I rate Benassar highly have for many years and I think he's really important to this Milan side. For sure, for sure. Krunic is an ordinary footballer, tactically very good, you know, if that makes sense. He's a very good tactical player.
00:31:40
Speaker
If we look at him as an actual player, he is a very ordinary player. Benassah is quality. I think if you get a fit Benassah into this team, together with what they got, I wouldn't be too worried about Milan. For Milan, if I'm perfectly honest, I think they will recover from this and they'll be in the school to race together with you.
00:32:02
Speaker
Yeah, okay. Right. Let's move on to Juventus then because they put on a really, really good performance of their own in this win against Lazio. I have to say, first of all, all four goals in this game, top, top goals.
00:32:17
Speaker
top-class goals, all four of them. It was a very, very good game to watch. Juventus' first half, fantastic. They blitzed Lazio. The intensity and the aggression was what we saw in the first half of the first game against Udenezer. The opposition, Lazio in this case, just couldn't live with the intensity and the aggression physically.
00:32:39
Speaker
they were just outmatched and Juventus created numerous chances in that first half. The second half they dipped a little bit, but overall it was a great performance by Juventus. There were three players in particular that stood out. Three and a half, let's say. First of all, though, we have to talk about Vlawovic. I mean, this was the Fiorentina Vlawovic. Vlawovic has been a weird player to analyse this season because he was very good in the first game.
00:33:09
Speaker
then he was pretty much dreadful in the last two games and especially in his kind of overall game and we were very critical of that and almost questioning, you know, what we had over. Yeah, if we had overrated maybe him. Yeah. And then he comes in and he puts in a performance like this. I mean, these were world class finishes. These were half chances, half chances, both of them. The first one, you know, cross comes in and just, you know, just
00:33:34
Speaker
lethal world-class penalty box striking. That was just hit that with his right foot as well. The second goal, I mean, we'll talk about Lazio, I thought the defending was atrocious on his chest down, but the way that he chested it down and then right footed it outside the area, bottom corner, all in one maneuver.
00:33:52
Speaker
absolutely sensational. This was the kind of lethal, just... Well, this was the Vlovich event. This was the Vlovich event they bought, they'd signed, you know, if this was the player they wanted. I'm still thinking he was better with his back against the goal of this game, but I still think he needs to improve on that. But he also again, like in the inter-game, we talk about players' physique, he looks light.
00:34:19
Speaker
He looks light like a feather. Last season he looked heavy. And also those two games where he was poor, he looked heavy as hell, heavy footed, just everything about him. But in this game he just looked like light as a feather, spring in his step. And he is powerful. We know the talent that he's got. We never put that up for debate.
00:34:46
Speaker
if he continues down this path and has a season on par with the performance we saw against Lazio, well then we are talking about... This is when Vlavic is at his best, is when he's just single-minded when the opportunity to get a strike away is there and just...
00:35:04
Speaker
he just takes it straight away where he is. No faffing around. Do you know what I mean? He's in the zone. He was in the zone in this game. Brilliant goals. Yeah, of course. We have to see if he can keep this up. That's amazing. He's been weird. Blauwitsch has been weird this season, but you look at his goal record. How many goals he got now?
00:35:28
Speaker
He's got, is it four this season or is it five? I mean, you know, he keeps scoring. I think he's got four. If he keeps scoring, it's four for him, three for Chies. I mean, you know, he keeps scoring like this. Juventus, you know, he's gonna, you know, Juventus are gonna do well as a result of that. He's gonna guarantee goals for Juventus. So, yeah, fantastic. Also fantastic, Manuel Locatelli. He brought his Italy form to Juventus.
00:35:55
Speaker
Luciano Spelletti has unlocked it. It took him one week to unlock it. No, but seriously, he was so good. I've always been a fan of his, but I didn't think the Regista thing was the only question mark I really had.
00:36:13
Speaker
But if he's going to play like this, Juventus were so good against Lazio. Kiesa, Locatelli, the top players were great. And obviously we're going to talk about McKinney as well, because I thought he was really, really good. I mean, Locatelli, let's just say for Locatelli, having great assists for the Vlauovic goal, and then a brilliant cross-field pass in the build-up to the Kiesa goal. But he just ran the midfield. Yeah, he did. It's the same as it was for Italy against Ukraine. He ran it.
00:36:42
Speaker
Everything went through him. He was you know, his passes were crisp. He he was just dictating the game That's what I want from a midfielder. That's what I expect from a central midfielder. I expect them to dictate the game And and and yeah, he was so good. He was so so good He was one step ahead of everyone else on the pitch. So, you know, he he has it is in him. It's just can
00:37:03
Speaker
can he be consistent? That's the question. Can Allegri and can you then just give him the environment to play like that? And you know, we'll see, we'll see. I mean, that's what, that's what, you know, both for him and Vlauvić, it is the consistency part now. That's the difficult part. To play like this is great. We know the talent that you've got, both of them, they're unbelievable. They're fantastic talents. But
00:37:30
Speaker
now you have to do it consistently. It's also different at home as it is away, you know, from away from home at home, you're going to have more of the ball and everything in a way you can have to, you know, absorb more pressure and have the defensive side of the game, which I still think there will be probably the biggest question mark I've been looking to. He will be his defensive side of the game. How good is he at protecting that space and covering, you know, he's not the fastest guy. He's not, you know, so I mean, that's the question. But I mean, listen,
00:37:58
Speaker
When praise is due, I will give praise. And Western McKinney, everybody knows I don't like the guy. I don't rate him as a footballer at all. But, you know, this season he has been good. And in this game, as a right, as a converted right wing back, maybe this is his best position. Maybe this is the best place for McKinney.
00:38:17
Speaker
because, you know, in the center of midfield, McKinney is so bad around tight spaces in the short passes, the kind of things that we praise Loca Telly for being able to pass and move through the triangles, you know, that side of the game, he's not he just he's just not good enough at that. But right wing back, maybe it brings out his best attributes, which is he's got a good engine, he can get up and down, he's actually tactically pretty,
00:38:41
Speaker
He's pretty smart when it comes to the defensive side of tactics in terms of covering, being in the right position positionally. He's actually not bad one-on-one. If a player's running at him, he's actually pretty good at that. These are his strengths, so maybe the right wing back position brings out those strengths. Obviously, I'm not going to sit here and say that, of course, Juventus
00:39:05
Speaker
should be doing better than McKinney as a right wing back. But he was great in this game. I have to give praise to where it's due. He was fantastic. He was involved in all three goals. He did a great crossfield ball for the Vlawic third goal. Fantastic. And yeah, like I said, he was involved in the other two goals as well. That opening goal.
00:39:26
Speaker
Yeah, there's no doubt about that with McKinney, but whether the ball was out or not, that is such a weird discussion. It was definitely in. They've shown close-ups, the shadow of the ball was over the line. Yeah, this is what I need, why this should have been shown in the game. And also, shouldn't the VAR, if I'm not mistaken, shouldn't the VAR be able to look at that?
00:39:49
Speaker
Um, apparently they looked at it, whether they had the angle that they showed off the game of the shadow, whether they had that, I have no idea. They probably guessed it, but, but, uh, yeah, I mean, the angle I've seen, we've seen the angle on social media up again, there's the shadow, it shows the shadows is over the lights. It was one of those, you know, like, I think it was in the world cup, was it Japan against somebody where it looked, it was like, it was not, it looked like it was over the line, but then when you see it from the other angle,
00:40:16
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. That's what I was thinking. That's what I was thinking, too. But to me, it's just weird that they didn't make it clear that the images wasn't clear to show that. Well, this is the issue we always complain about, isn't it? About VAR not having enough images available when they should be. It wouldn't surprise me if they guessed on it, but they would have guessed right if they did.
00:40:39
Speaker
But if I can say Kiezer, word of praise for Kiezer as well, that was a brilliant goal. Honestly, that was so much harder than it may have looked with his weak foot hitting it, kind of slashing across the ball. That is such a hard skill in football. It really is so difficult to slash a ball like that. That was brilliant, brilliant goal. The biggest step forward this season so far for Juventus,
00:41:05
Speaker
is the lines are higher and the wingbacks are pushed much higher up so it's not a 5-3-2. Juventus last season was a 5-3-2, well actually it was often a 5-3-1-1. You might call it a 3-5-2 or 3-5-1-1 but the wingbacks were so deep
00:41:23
Speaker
that was basically playing a 5-3-2 or 5-3-1-1 and Juventus just couldn't get on the pitch. They couldn't support the forwards like Wlawicz and that's probably another reason why Wlawicz is doing bets this season. Juventus are pushing men higher up the pitch, they're getting more men forward and they're just more aggressive. That's my biggest praise I have.
00:41:43
Speaker
for what has changed with Allegri's Juventus this season. Still, the passing, the patterns of play, that still needs to improve. But the mentality definitely has been consistent, even when they played badly in the second game against Bologna, and even when they were so-so against Empoli. At least we saw Juventus pushing higher up the pitch. So that is the biggest praise I have for Juve. And also, and this is really important,
00:42:13
Speaker
There's been, for a number of years now, there's been this war, ongoing war between the Ultras, the Juventus fans and the club. And we've seen empty, half empty stadiums. Obviously, that's down to the football, but it's also down to this war that's been going on. Well, for this game, it was
00:42:35
Speaker
electric, the atmosphere. Yeah, it was behind the eventors and they fed off the energy. They fed off the energy of the fans. We saw that in the first half. Like I said, how intense and aggressive, you know, when you have that. So, you know, let's see. I mean, I don't know whether it is just a one off that the ultras were trying to show that this is what we can bring to the eventors. We'll see. We'll see. But you saw the difference that it makes when you've got your fans behind you.
00:43:01
Speaker
spot home. So I think that could potentially be another big weapon for Juventus this season, in addition to obviously playing once a week. No, it is. And Allegri, his selections and his decisions, you've got to give credit to
Lazio's Defensive Decline
00:43:17
Speaker
him. He got everything spot on.
00:43:21
Speaker
I didn't like the idea of Cambiaso not starting again but you have to say it worked in this game because actually when Cambiaso came on he made a mistake for the Lazio goals, his fault, he gave it away. I mean it worked, you can't criticise when it works. We'll see again, we'll see if they can be consistent but one thing for sure though, Lazio again like Milan, Lazio were very bad in this game.
00:43:44
Speaker
No, let's say we're terrible. They were terrible. I just didn't like how they looked at all. All the good things that they produced against Napoli were just gone, completely gone.
00:43:58
Speaker
and they... Provedil was good in goal and still they were just defensively so awful. They were so good defensively overall and then they had the most clean sheets last season and then this year... What happens with defense is weird because it's the same... it's the same defense really. I mean it is the same... it's the same to backline, isn't it? It is, it's essentially the same. It's been injuries, I mean it's...
00:44:24
Speaker
It's strange because they had the second best defense last season. I believe they had the most clean sheets, as you just say, they had the most clean sheets. I think they had the most clean sheets last season, if I remember correctly. Seven conceded already in four games, no clean sheets.
00:44:40
Speaker
this season. It's very strange. And defensive howlers, defensive howlers. Look, I, as I said... Passane and Romanioli have been very bad, very bad this season. They're not, you know what, my biggest criticism from having watched, I think I've watched all of that series games this season in full, they're not attacking the ball well enough. Passive. You're so passive. Do you remember the Lecce goals? Do you remember the second goal, the Lecce score? It was just, it was embarrassing. They were all watching the ball in the middle of the penalty area.
00:45:08
Speaker
A Saudi team, when in form, attacks the ball. There's aggression. They're not passive. This is a very passive side. They're almost waiting for someone else to do something. And I find that really strange. Yeah. I mean, look at the Wlawicz second goal. I mean, it was a fantastic goal, but there was no way in a million years that you should have a ball that comes over your head.
00:45:31
Speaker
that Wlawicz chess it down just outside the area and look at the Lazio, there's two Lazio players there on him. No one closes him down. I mean, he shouldn't be allowed to get a shot away. He shouldn't be allowed. And so again, that's the kind of just standing off passive and not being aggressive. I mean, that was really bad. The only positive for me was Luis Alberto.
00:45:58
Speaker
brilliant goal. Stunning. I thought he was great, actually. I thought he was the only player, an outfield player, other than Provodel and goal. I thought he was fantastic. I've seen some talk that he could even be called up for the Italy. Well, then they'd better call him up immediately. What do you think? You want someone? Did you take him for Italy? Yes, yes, yes.
00:46:19
Speaker
He's a fantastic player. He could see the Spelletti system, couldn't he? We're talking again about that Zielinski role. I was exactly about to say that in the Zielinski role. You want him, someone to tie the midfield together like that. Who's better than Luis Alberto? If it's possible, but I don't know if it's possible. I think it is possible because I think he's only played in a friendly and I think he's been in Italy long enough to be eligible for them.
00:46:42
Speaker
I think I think I might be I might be wrong. He's very close to anyway. Final point on Lazio, though. Is it time for that suit? Yes, yes, it is because Saudi system requires it's a marching band similar like like content and it starts with the number nine. Immobile can't do what Saudi wants his number nine is to do.
00:47:08
Speaker
And this has a drop-on effect. It makes Lazio essentially play with 10 men, because he's not being able to adapt and do what Sarri wants. If you remember, when Lazio were at their best last season, Immobolo was injured. He wasn't on the pitch when they played with a false 9, and they were absolutely unplayable.
00:47:27
Speaker
And again, cheering Mobula, his career speaks for itself. He's not getting any younger and he looks past it. He looks very past his best. I still say it was a mistake not to sell him in the summer. I think they should have cashed in on him.
00:47:45
Speaker
they should have pushed for him to leave. And yeah, I think it's time to start thinking about life without children mobula at Lazio. Yes, I think it absolutely is. And I think for the same reason that we saw with Italy, you know, when
00:48:01
Speaker
You play with an Aspadori as a Falstein, you have so much movement, you have so much energy. You don't have that with a Mobula. And he's never been that kind of a player, but he used to be able to make up for it with other things. Now he can't do that either, because he's looking old. He's looking older and old, and it's not the same player that he once was. So, yes, I think it's time to start thinking about life after Chiroi Mobula and Latsu.
00:48:25
Speaker
Yeah, maybe straight away because let's see if it's made such a bad start to season one, one win in four. That one win came against Napoli who things are not going well for Napoli. I was walking. I was watching this game. It was after the Derby and
00:48:42
Speaker
Napoli are awful. Yeah, it's incredible, isn't it? I mean, they drew two-two with Genoa, and they only drew two-two. They were rescued by their two substitutes, one of them, Raspidori, actually, and Politano, who came on to rescue a barely deserved draw, let's be honest. Genoa with a better team. Napoli had no shots on goal until the 71st minute. I find this astonishing. Everybody predicted, you know, we couldn't believe it ourselves.
00:49:12
Speaker
how on earth Rudy Garcia got the job. But never did I think that he would destroy Luchana's abilities work within one month. I mean, usually the stamp of a great team, it lasts for a few months before it starts to wear off, you know, the ink starts to wear off. It doesn't get destroyed right away. I mean, I was having a think and I was speaking to some colleagues about this, like, can you think in the past of any formerly great teams who
00:49:42
Speaker
a new manager came in, took over a team that was great, and then it all unraveled instantly. And honestly, I couldn't think of any. The only ones I could think of were teams that were actually aging teams. To give you an example,
00:49:57
Speaker
Brian Clough at Leeds, it's the famous 44 days at Leeds. We took over from Don Reavy and then he left after 44 days. David Moyes at Man United, you know, when he took over from Ferguson in 2013 and it was a total disaster the next season. Rafa Benitez at Inter, of course, after the treble with Jose Mourinho. These are all good examples, but these were all aging teams. These were teams that were kind of, you know, players that had a lot of plays in their 30s. You know, they were teams that
00:50:27
Speaker
you know, it was coming sooner or later, that decline was coming sooner or later. This Napoli team, they're not an agent team. This is a Napoli team that should still be in its peak. They've got players like Kavadot Scalia and Aussie men. I mean, they've got so much quality in there. And how on earth can this happen in the space of a month in Emma?
00:50:52
Speaker
It's not just the tactical side, it's everything. The body language that the players show. They're not happy, they're frustrated. What he wants them to do is unclear to them and they don't get it. And he's not exactly
00:51:11
Speaker
helping himself either. It feels like he's the kind of person who walks in there and he doesn't know how to build bridges with players or build relationships with players. That's how I feel at least. He seems to just go in there and just tell them this is what you're doing and you know, if you're not, then he has no aura about him. Even watching him, watching his body language on the touchline, he doesn't, yeah, doesn't give off that aura and that kind of confidence.
00:51:38
Speaker
I wonder how long, because I am genuinely worried about what will happen in the Champions League for Napoli.
Napoli's Tactical Concerns
00:51:46
Speaker
I think, I wonder if, because I think F.C. Union-Berlin could be like the surprise team of the Champions League this season. And I think that will come at Napoli's expense because they look just so, they look clueless.
00:52:00
Speaker
They look clueless in the final third. I think they look clueless all over, not just the final third. I think there is no cohesion and fluency and patterns in play at all. That's not disappeared, which was the hallmark of Spelletti. The departments, I said this after the second game or the third game.
00:52:18
Speaker
The departments are too far apart. The defence is too far away from the midfield, the midfield is too far away from the attack. I don't know what the plan, the game plan is. The only thing you see, it was drummed in and the Garcia said himself that he wants to be more direct, he wants to put in that long ball or that ball over the top for Osseman more. We've seen a bit of that, but it's not really, it's all aimless. I mean, Osseman,
00:52:47
Speaker
I've never seen Osseman play as bad as that against Genoa. This is Osseman, you know, one of the best players in the world. And he, credit skater is different credit skater is in a crisis that's just lost back to March. You know, he's gone 22 games without scoring and he's got one assist in that time. His is a crisis that out date that predates
00:53:08
Speaker
predates Garcia. So we can't just blame Garcia for coming out of the scale. But for Osseman to look that bad, but the whole team, everyone, as a collective, I mean, I mean, they're just terrible. The defense was terrible. I mean, what the hell is going on at center back? I mean, OK, that's also down to the transfer line. Two goals conceded off corners in this game. So where's the organization? That is down to the manager. Where's the organization on corners?
00:53:36
Speaker
I mean, I just think if anybody wants to see how important a coach is in football, look at Napoli this season. Look at Napoli. Anybody that says, ah, but they've got the players, look at Man City, they've got all the money, they've got all the players in the world, Pep Guardiola, anyone could win with Man City.
00:53:52
Speaker
Okay, some of that is true. It definitely, you know, having all that money in the world and all those great players. Of course, you can't win without it. But if you have a bad coach, you can't win. It doesn't matter who you've got. And I think Napoli, Napoli is a perfect example of that. And honestly, Nimr,
00:54:10
Speaker
I would sack him now. Sacking now, while there's still time, while there's still time for Napoli to, because if they wait too long, they're going to be out of the Scudetta race and who knows what else, you know? Maybe I'm talking too fast. I think we will see Napoli bounce back, but I don't see Napoli
00:54:31
Speaker
being anywhere near Escudetto this season at all. I don't see them winning any trophies this season if it continues like this, even if they bounce back, because Rudy Garcia is clearly not the right man. I really believe that. I firmly believe that from the moment he was appointed, and I think we're being proven right now.
00:54:52
Speaker
But I just didn't expect it this fast, Nima. That's it. I thought they'd have a good start to the season. I thought they'd probably start well, they'd win most of their first games, and then it would start to wear off, and then they'd maybe fall away. That's what I thought would happen. I didn't expect for it just to be... To fall apart. Yeah, just like this.
00:55:15
Speaker
It's incredible. I don't think I've seen anything like this. Maybe I should wait. I can't remember a decline, this visible decline. But again, I understand why you're saying you want to wait because what is it for? Will they bounce back? I expect them to do because I think they have quality players.
00:55:36
Speaker
But I wonder if he's going to continue. It doesn't seem like they have someone who can lead this group. There is a distance between Lulligasi and the players. And that is almost, you can almost touch it. And that is a problem. That is a problem.
00:55:55
Speaker
For sure. We have to say though, Genoa played very well. And I have to say, Gudmundsson, I really like what I've seen of him so far this season. Gudmundsson. He was great in this game. Great, great little player to watch. Really, really enjoyable. So I think he's one to watch this season, Gudmundsson. And Rettaghi continues his great starts the season. What I like about Rettaghi is a bit like what I said about Wlawicz before. He's just like any
00:56:24
Speaker
sniff of an opening, bang, he takes a shot at goal. He does everything about that. Everything that Chiro Imobile can't do or doesn't seem able to do anymore, Rettigy does. If Rettigy played like that, I mean, if Rettigy... The issue with Rettigy also is I'm not sure about him outside the box, his hold-up play, a bit like Vlautovic actually, I'm not sure about him.
00:56:46
Speaker
In the penalty box, if he gets a sniff at goal, and he's got a fantastic shot at him, got a powerful, powerful shot with both feet, saw that with a goal, and he's good in the air. I think he's a fox in the box. He's that kind of a striker. He's powerful though. He's got power. He can be a handful. If he puts that, if he's someone with a good coach that can coach him to use that, his physical status, yeah, I think he's a
00:57:13
Speaker
It'll be interesting. I'm interested to see this development. I still think he'll score at least 15 goals. 15 goals, yeah. I think so. I think so.
Roma's Comeback with Lukaku
00:57:22
Speaker
All right. Roma and Empoli, I mean, wow. Roma had had a bad start to the season, one point from three games. They absolutely thrashed Empoli 7-0. This was the first game of Di Bala and Lukaku together.
00:57:35
Speaker
Not a bad start for them, isn't it? Not a bad debut for them. Two goals for Di Barla, one for Lukaku. Brilliant second goal from Di Barla, fainted in silence and then put it past the keeper. Lukaku with a nice finish as well. Three-kick hit at the bar from Di Barla as well.
00:57:52
Speaker
brilliant goal from Cristante as well, top corner from 30 yards. Yeah, this was wonderful. Yeah, Renato Sanchez was really good. I mean, yeah, listen, well done to Roma. They're off the mark. And I think really by the end of the car, he couldn't do well, but. Emply. Worst team in the Serie A. Worst team in the Serie A. They are absolutely unwatchable. And I know they're going to probably blame Zanetti, but I wonder if anyone can do anything better with this team. No, I agree.
00:58:22
Speaker
It's just they've sold everything and what's left is just not good enough.
00:58:28
Speaker
Palazzanetti is going to be the first coach to go, isn't he? Yeah, I think so. I think it's becoming quite obvious. I thought by the time of recording this, I thought after losing 7-0, I thought they would have sacked him by now. Again, I'm not saying he deserves to, but I mean, just look at their starts this season. Yeah, I mean, it's seven goals. Lost four, scored none, conceded 12. Yeah, and let's remember that Roma hit the woodwork twice as well. It could have been nine.
00:58:55
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it's just, did you see the, have a look at the third goal? Yeah, I did. That's not even, that's not even kids Sunday. No, it was embarrassing to watch. Genuinely embarrassing. Also embarrassing defending. Did you see the defending?
00:59:17
Speaker
What I did say, I did say, previewing this on Thursday, didn't I, that if you're looking for goals and not that much defending, you should watch Argentina at the Lanta. And the winner, did you look at the winner? Oh my gosh. I laughed. I laughed. The worst defending I've ever seen. I laughed. I genuinely laughed. I genuinely laughed, burst out laughing when I saw that. It was just cartoonish. But I mean, you know,
00:59:44
Speaker
It was a very insane game but it was so bad. Yeah it was absolutely horrible. I think these two teams we saw that these are two teams that yeah I think Atalanta's lofty ambitions that say of getting in the top four I think this game shows that they're not going to have enough for that and Fiorentina I think that
01:00:10
Speaker
I don't see them qualifying for Europe this season, Fiorentina. Unless Atalanta win the Europa League and Fiorentina win the Conference League, which I think could happen. I think Atalanta, the way they play, the football they play in Europe will pay off as well. And I think it wouldn't surprise me if they went really far in the Europa League.
01:00:32
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not convinced to be honest. I don't really like the look of Fiorentina this season, but you know... I was saying at Alanta in the Europa League, Fiorentina and in the Conference League... Oh, sorry, sorry, yeah, yeah. No, Fiorentina and the Conference League, they have to get to us and we find one. Yeah, sorry, I was thinking Fiorentina win the Conference League. I mean, I just think that Aston Villa and maybe one of the other teams will be better than this season.
01:00:53
Speaker
One of the most entertaining games ever in Syria was madness. Absolute madness.
01:01:06
Speaker
Fantastic saves, drama, you know, Frosinone coming back from two goals down to scoring four. It was madness, absolute madness. Frosinone had a fantastic start to the season. They got seven points from 12. And yeah, they're doing well. The guy they bought from Bari, or they got, it was at Bari last season. Chidi, that's it. And then the two players on loan from Juventus, Barinecea and Soule.
01:01:34
Speaker
Um, you know, D Francesco, again, hats off where, where it's due, you know, there's raised people where they, where it's due. We've been much critical of everyone. We've made fun of him nonstop for three years. I mean, he's doing it so far, very early days, but so far, well done to him. I mean, you have to say he's, he's, he's, he's.
01:01:52
Speaker
punch him well above weight right now. They're a captain as well, scoring twice, two good goals. Matsitelli was a good team. They're a fun team to watch, but that was such a fantastic lead.
01:02:10
Speaker
Not so fun, it was Cagliari Neil, Udenezi Neil, not even Nimr, I bet people would have enjoyed that. And then Monza won, Lecce won, which I just want to, we'll talk about in two seconds, because Selenetana played Torino, Verona played Bologna on
Lecce's Rising Star Krstovic
01:02:23
Speaker
Monday evening. But talking of Lecce,
01:02:26
Speaker
But Pantaleo Corvino, as their transfer chief, they're always liable to unearth some gems. And it seems that the latest gem they've unearthed is Nicola Christovic, who's a Montenegrin forward, who I don't think anybody really would have heard of ahead of this season. And they signed him in the summer. Corvino scouted him and signed him from
01:02:55
Speaker
The Slovak team, Doonažka, they signed him in the summer and he has been an absolute revelation so far this season. And so much so that you can correct me, Inter have sent scouts to watch him play in Monza's 1-1 draw with Lecce.
01:03:23
Speaker
They are looking at him. He's only 23 years old. We have to remember this is the youngest ever goal scorer in the Montenegrin league. He scored the youngest ever player to appear in the top flight of the month in Montenegro. He made his debut 16 years and 18 days. And then he the following year, he scored seven goals in in 19 games at the age of 17.
01:03:52
Speaker
And then, of course, before leaving, he became the top score for them. And he was born. He went to.
01:04:03
Speaker
He was signed by Red Star Belgrade the following season where he didn't really enjoy life. He was loaned out to the second tier. But then he went to Slovakia and he did really well there. He became the top goal scorer there.
01:04:22
Speaker
at the age of 22. So he scored 26 goals last season in the Slovak Super League, or in all competitions, I should say. And then started this season great, scored two goals in his first three games, and then Lecce come up and they snap him up.
01:04:37
Speaker
Yeah, Pantaleo Corvino does. He's got his thing about Balkans. He knows how to find gems. You know, Jovetic is a B.I.H. You know, these kinds of players. But it's very interesting. He is a... Did he get Vuchenich as well? Was Vuchenich? Yeah, of course, Mirko Vuchenich. Yeah, Lecha, Mirko Vuchenich.
01:04:57
Speaker
He seems to have a knack for finding these unknown attackers, especially when they're from the Balkans.
01:05:14
Speaker
So could he be the next gem? I mean, I'll be honest, I haven't seen enough of him. I think it's early days. It's a very interesting player. He's a very explosive player in the sense that you feel him come in there. Do you know what I mean? Like you see him, you know that he's got presence about him. Yes, he's got presence about him in the penalty area. But look, it's still very early days. It's a very interesting side.
01:05:38
Speaker
and he plays, and I think he's going to get a few minutes and he is their penalty taker and he can, he doesn't mess about with penalties. It's Brexit penalties all the way. He puts his laces through it, son. I love it. Absolutely love it. He doesn't mess about. I love Brexit penalties. It's so good.
01:05:57
Speaker
It was Uncle Shama who came up with that. He started calling me, what's his name? The guy with the glasses, who sounds like a Bond villain, the British politician. Oh, yeah, I know. The one that said he never wants to get married because he doesn't want them to take his money. Yeah, Jacob Rees-Mogg. He started calling me Jacob Rees-Mogg because I always said that I like penalty takers to put their laces through a top corner, don't mess about. None of this hop, skip nonsense.
01:06:27
Speaker
And he started calling it and saying it was a Brexit penalty. Then I took that and I started calling it Brexit football, a leg replay of Brexit football. Brexit penalty, he does not mess about with penalties. They are always well taken and high up where it's impossible for the goalkeeper to
01:06:47
Speaker
to reach them and he draws attention from defenders as well. His movement pattern is very good and he's got this kind of, in the penalty area, he was speaking about how loudly it's like penalty box player, that he is a penalty box striker.
01:07:07
Speaker
But it remains to be seen how well he can do and where he can go. But yeah, I know that Inter are looking at him. It's a big jump up and he's started so well. I just feel like these are the kind of signings that we want to see from Serie A teams, rather than signing players that I already know are already being recycled. You already know they're probably not going to be good enough.
01:07:31
Speaker
that is worth taking a gamble on these kind of players and you know when it pays off you know but then that that's what also comes down to the scouting and the data scouting as well as the just the the scouting with the eye and Corvino is so good at that and you know he's not the only one this summer either is he because let's show you I mean Anquist that great celebrate you didn't like the celebration I loved it
01:07:54
Speaker
The golf celebration. I don't like the golf celebration, but I like the acrobatic swivel acrobats that he did. There's also the Mohammed Khaba, who's very highly rated, that's come in as well.
01:08:13
Speaker
It's yeah, they're interesting, interesting. And they've had a great, so they're unbeaten. Yeah, in the full game, two wins, two draws. So yeah, they've been a great success story. And Christa Titch is obviously a big part of that. So we'll be interested to see what his development is from here.
01:08:29
Speaker
Right, just before we do Padgett and Primface of the Week, it is Champions League Match Day 1 this week and I'll just read through the games. So on Tuesday we have Laxia playing Atletico Madrid in Group E, Finals and Celtic also in that group. Group F, Milan play Newcastle with PSG,
01:08:51
Speaker
and Dortmund, the other teams in that group. And then on Wednesday, Baraka versus Napoli, Real Madrid play Union Berlin, and group D, Real Sociedad, play against Inter with Benfica against Salzburg. So yeah, the Champions League is back. I think we already gave our predictions, didn't we, when the group announced that we believed, we were confident then that Milan would go through, Napoli would go through second,
01:09:19
Speaker
into would go through first and then Lazio you thought they would go through and I have to go through I'm sorry I don't trust them at all no I don't trust them either but they cannot fail in that group Feynord and Celtic I mean come on for the love of God
01:09:33
Speaker
like they should but you know look at them and say yeah they've lost to Lecce and who's the other team they lost to this season so you know they lost to Juve as well so yeah but yeah I know what you mean they I think Milan have to get a they have to get a win in this first game it's Newcastle they have to win their home games this this winning your home matches is what's going to be the difference between going through because it's such a difficult creep of death
01:09:57
Speaker
Milan have to get a win here in a game that Tonali is going to make his return, assuming he's fit, will make his return to San Siro. Napoli against Bellaga, Napoli have to get a win. Come on. They have to get a win because, again, it's absolute crisis time. It's crisis. If they lose that game, if they draw that game, I think it's crisis time for Bellaga.
01:10:18
Speaker
And as for Inter, I mean, yeah, tricky game. Look, Real Sociedad are a good site. You saw against Real Madrid yesterday, if you watch that game, that they can take it to anyone.
01:10:32
Speaker
If you're not switched on, they'll make you pay. And it's an away game. I think Inter, it seems that Simon is not going to make too many changes. I think Pavard is going to make his debut. But other than that, he's going to go to the same team and then he's going to rotate further down the line against Empoli and Sasolo and so on and so forth. But it's going to be a tricky game for Inter.
01:10:55
Speaker
and I wouldn't be surprised if they cancelled each other out and we were talking 0-0-0-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-
01:11:12
Speaker
I hope I pronounced that right. Sturmgratz and Sporting Lisbon. We expect both teams to go through their groups. Those games will be on Thursday. And then Group F of the Conference League, matchday one, Genk against Bjorn Sino, Fenich Varros and Kukariki are in that group. No, the feeling that I have to win and Roma and Atalanta. Kukaraka means cockroach. Like Kukaracha. Kukaracha, yeah.
01:11:41
Speaker
Do you remember Sam the Hayek saying it in a movie? Yes, yes, yes. Right. It was to Samuel Jaxon. That was her nickname for him, my Kukaracha. I just loved how she said it. Kukaracha. Right. Bad Joe in Prime Face of the Week. Right. Bad Joe.
01:12:03
Speaker
I've got three, Inter as a whole, Frasezzi for a magical week for scoring twice for Italy and then scoring again in the Derby. I guess you could have Taram as well in that. And then Roberto Deserbe, I know you won't like this, but if you anybody that scores a 30-pass goal against Manchester United, it deserves that. I'm not taking anything away from Deserbe, but you cannot tell me
01:12:27
Speaker
that that is deserving football being magical when you are look at when united players they were running around this is if you want to look know how we looked on sunday morning when we played digs in uni we were hung over slash drunk that's how we looked they were just walking around aimlessly on the pitch bowl watching come on this was not you don't this was not
01:12:49
Speaker
You don't score a 30 pass goal with it. That was a work of magic. This was one team that was sober, playing a team that was hungover. I don't know what they were doing. I've never seen anything like that. It was low tempo, too. They were walking. Yeah, 30 pass, brilliant, but come on.
01:13:13
Speaker
Let's be honest here, you can't just say that that is good by me. We can criticise Man United a lot and say that things are not going well, but I watched this game and in the first 20 minutes of this game, Brighton couldn't get out of their penalty area. Man United's press was working fantastically, the way they were cutting out lanes.
01:13:36
Speaker
being the amazing manager that he is, worked it out again like he did against Newcastle, made some tactical switches, including moving his centre backs wide so that it was impossible for them to cut out the lane into the midfield, into I think it was Dahoud or one or the other, or Groves, I can't remember which one it was. And as a result,
01:13:56
Speaker
From there, Man United, they were just completely shell-shocked. They didn't know what to do. They couldn't stop any of the passing lanes. And as a result, they were playing through them. So, I'm OK. You can criticise and say, you know, Man United could have done better. But, you know, this is all deservedly, again, working your position out and being a possession master. One thing I will give you is that I find that he's improved ridiculously since leaving the Serie A.
01:14:22
Speaker
That is his in-game management is truly unbelievable. He makes, and the fact that he's prepared his players for this too, so that when he makes these changes, the players don't look awkward. They know what they're doing. That I think is something that is just, that's unique. That is unique.
01:14:42
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Lewis Dunk said it at the end of the game, actually. Let me see if I find the quotes. He says, I see football in a completely different way. I picture it in a different way, and that is the biggest thing since working with Deserbe.
Understanding Football Tactics
01:14:54
Speaker
Football is not what I thought it was, just how we play now. The idea of what I did before, I thought it made sense. But when you learn something completely different, you believe in it, and this makes sense. You think, why didn't I know this before? Why didn't I do this before?
01:15:05
Speaker
All our games now are about pressure, playing with opposition teams, with their pressing high and pressing low, when to pass the ball. We know when to pass the ball, the timing of it and the timing of the movement. It's rehearsed. We rehearse it every day. This is our training. I couldn't play this position that I play now, but now I know how to play every position on the pitch and where every player, every single one of my teammates should be.
01:15:27
Speaker
when my teammates should move, what angles they should give, I know everything. We practice it so everybody knows that we all know every scenario. One presses from this angle, one presses from that angle. We know where the ball should go and to reach past the pressure, we know it inside out and we do a lot of hours on it. I just think that this guy is, I think he's created something really, really special.
01:15:50
Speaker
just watching the way that I mean, as much as even if you want to criticise Man United, you know, I saw someone break this down, how if you watch that move, that the team are moving with triangles and diamonds up the pitch in unison to create, to create the to create that passing 30 pass move, and how it was actually deserby was actually copying a tactic from the NBA.
01:16:14
Speaker
that the Chicago Bulls used in the 90s called the triple post offence, where three players move it as one in triangles up the pitch and it's impossible for the opposition to basically cut them out the passes because they're moving in triangles and how Deserbe is now using that and how that was used in that 30-pass goal. I think there's a lot of method that goes into it and I just think that we have to give praise to Deserbe because I think that what he's building there is something very, very special.
01:16:44
Speaker
Prem
Social Media Controversies
01:16:45
Speaker
face of the week. I know, I know who you're going to, you're going to, you're going to choose because you got blocked again. Didn't you never this week by somebody max rush them. I just find that it was such a bizarre situation because it was, he was blatantly trying to do what they do on, on which I believe now I'm convinced that they do it on purpose on talk sport. You see,
01:17:14
Speaker
I'm 100% sure that they say and do and say stupid, weird things and outlandish things just for interactions. Only his attempt was so lame. It wasn't even good enough. And I made some lighthearted fun of it and saying, look, this is the worst attempt at primeface baiting I've seen in my life. At least she could have done this to say that Lautaro doesn't get into the Brentford team.
01:17:38
Speaker
Right? And he didn't do that. And he got all offended and started saying, I support Cambridge, so I'm not in a position to make fun of anyone. And I don't know what's that on the other. And it was as if it was as if he was like acting as if I don't know.
01:17:54
Speaker
He was some sort of a victim in all of this, which was so weird. What a weird way to handle it. And so I just... What has actually happened? He basically dismissed insight. Yeah, he said something on air, I think in Australia, where he lives, to Bosnich and Ben Foster that, you know, this is the group, you know, I don't really think that at all or something like that to that effect. And Mark Bosnich said to him,
01:18:22
Speaker
that I see. I think you're doing I've noticed we worked together for a while. I think you do this on purpose. Like, and
Mark Bosnich and Goalkeeping Skills
01:18:29
Speaker
that's, that's all I think. Bosnitch is a great guy. He's a great guy. He really is. But yeah, he is. He's actually very good at his job too. So no, he is. He's actually one. He's actually good at his job too, which is not always the case in the media as you can. I'm sure we'll get to it. Yeah, he's great.
01:18:47
Speaker
He is good at his job. He has amazing penalty stops. You know what, Bosnitz during the night, he used to scare me. When my team used to play against Aston Villa, he used to frighten me because he was so good at saving penalties. And I remember on Championship Manager, he used to save everything on Championship Manager. If your team had a penalty against Mark Bosnitz,
01:19:05
Speaker
You'd never, you know, never score against him. He was just disabled. Anyway, so, yeah, no. So, you know, it was it was it wasn't more than that. But then he proceeded to get all offended and and act like a victim and start sending me, you know, things like, oh, it's interactions like this that make me consider relieving Twitter. And I was like, bye, Felicia. Like, watch for doing your favor. Like, I mean, I'm sorry, but
01:19:30
Speaker
If you're doing me a favor by staying on twitter and interacting with me like bye goodbye bye bye like what if you don't want to be on twitter don't be on twitter what you stop you know this is the thing i can't stand you know and immediately turn to always just having a laugh and it's like.
01:19:48
Speaker
Well, no, you were trying to rile up interactions. It's just you weren't very good at it. And I just made fun of that. And then you proceeded to pretend that your fundamental human rights were violated and that, you know, you threatened with leaving Twitter.
01:20:07
Speaker
Bye-bye. Like, what do you want me to say? It's ridiculous.
CBS Galazzo's Social Media Criticism
01:20:11
Speaker
Ridiculous. Where does that bye Felicia come from? Oh, Friday. Friday. Ice Cube. The Friday movies. Bye, Felicia.
01:20:21
Speaker
me every time. I have another one. Nigerian scams on CBS Galazzo. He's the guy that runs the CBS Galazzo Twitter account. The CBS Galazzo is one of the one of the only corporate accounts that rivals the Seria account for cringe. The worst and the worst English on an English language Twitter account is so bad. Well, anyway, they
01:20:50
Speaker
the CBS Galazzo tweeted, and I'm sure I'm assuming it's Nigerian scams, seen as it's about Nigeria, said that Nigeria had the best group of forwards in football history. Right now, proceeded to list them all and included Cyril Desser's Paul Onuacu and Emmanuel Denice. Are you serious? Was this a joke? No, I think it was genuine.
01:21:18
Speaker
We see this is why I probably shouldn't say that, but this is why I've muted all these people because I don't want to see the bullshit on my timeline because it literally gives me PTSD like stupid people give me PTSD. It's like it's as if their stupidity is contagious. So I just mute them. I don't even don't even block them. Just mute them and be on with it. And that guy particularly, I've had my run ins with him as well. He is not the sharpest tool in the shed. He had a YouTube channel called take your shirt off or something. Um,
01:21:47
Speaker
And I remember he was talking absolute nonsense about something because again, he doesn't speak English very well. It's apparently his first language, but he doesn't speak it very well because he completely misconstrued everything I said. And I think I remember ending the whole interaction with saying, maybe you should put your shirt on because you're suffering from hypothermia because you're absolutely waffling. And that's what he does. He waffles continuously. And it's just is nonstop with him. So I'm not surprised. But thank God for the mute button. That's all I'm going to say.
01:22:17
Speaker
I know for a person who went for that job actually, for the CBS social media job. And this person, I'm not going to name him, is like literally one of the best and most experienced people in the industry at that job and didn't get it. So I'm not going to say any more other than that. Well, they've also got the, I mean, they also hired WhatisFace who can barely string two sentences in English together to write for them. What's his name? The Portio.
01:22:44
Speaker
who is Fabrizio's right-hand man, so he literally can't speak English. So, you know, it is what it is. The Americans are saving us. They're saving us. You can't be Americans, they're saving us.
01:22:59
Speaker
Right,
Upcoming Shows and Announcements
01:23:00
Speaker
let's leave it at that because I think your voice is starting to fall apart now. Right, we'll be back on Tuesday for Q&A, Thursday for midweek show. It'll be the first big midweek show of the season because we have the Champions League to review. So that should be really, really good. So yeah, see you on Tuesday and have a great midweek. Enjoy the games. Until then, ciao ciao.