Latest / The Calcio Guys / Roma-Inter with classic, Milan win in Serie A after disappointing UEL - Ep. 317 Ft. Franco Palumbo

Transcript

Roma-Inter with classic, Milan win in Serie A after disappointing UEL - Ep. 317 Ft. Franco Palumbo · The Calcio Guys

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: When you're a kid and the substitute teacher walked into
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: the room, you know it was going to be the
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: best day ever. And today we have the substitute teacher
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: here with us, Mr. Palumbo, replacing Adrian on the couch
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: with Johnny. I'm Nicholas. How are you guys doing?
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Wow, what an intro. I haven't been called a substitute
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: in a while, but I just got a lot of...
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: ptsd from that so thank you but um no thanks
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: it's great i'm happy to be back um i really
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: enjoyed myself last time and like i said uh you
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: know uh last time i felt like i would enter
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: the big leagues and i did again today uh big
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: shoes to fill with adriano here being the milan insider
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: but uh i'll do my.
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: Best i'm doing fine uh yeah no honestly just uh
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: you know getting to the rhythm of the school year
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: starting i'm pretty sure frank over here understands what i'm
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: going through and stuff as we go through it together
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: but yeah uh excited to get some days.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: It feels like june and we're only in september yeah
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: okay you know.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: That uh spongebob meme or like squidward's looking out the
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: window and you got spongebob and patrick running.
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah pretty much that's what it feels like no that's
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: what it feels like here because i'm the only one
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: that's not a teacher.
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: Sounds like an issue not an issue i'm just kidding
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: you're probably tired now with all these teacher stories like
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: i could like i could just imagine you're like you
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: have johnny in your one ear you have me and
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: the other complaining about uh teaching life it's okay.
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: I don't mind honestly teaching life's always the best life
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: man yes yes no i would never i wouldn't change
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: it for the.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: World that's the spirit Uh, guys, so look, um, Franco, you're,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: you're on, you are our guest of honor tonight. We'll,
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: we'll start with, with Milan. I know there's a lot
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: to talk about here on the couch guys. You can
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: follow us by the way, all your favorite podcasting platforms
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: and social media at the couch guys. Don't forget to
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: hit that subscribe button. Um, yeah, Milan, uh, three, nothing
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: win this weekend against Sledge, a third win in the season. Uh,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: they beat, they started the season strong wins against Trino
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: and Venezia. Then they, you know, got the draws against, uh,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: you've in and Milan and, uh, Sorry, Juve and Lazio.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: The Lazio game was one they came back from. And
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: I don't know what you've made of their season so far, Franco.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you were disappointed with those draws.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: What are your thoughts? Let it all out, Franco.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, so the season just started. They were only
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: five games in. But I think a couple of things. So,
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: number one, yeah, the 3-0 loss, 3-0 win versus Lecce
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: was a big confidence boost, I think. for fans because,
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: you know, we had two, like you said, two draws
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: back to back. I think we really wanted that Juventus
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: win and you guys equalized it in the last minutes
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: of the game. So that kind of, you know, kind
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: of was hard to stomach because we were in the
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: lead for most of that game.
• 3:04
  Speaker 5: But no, it looks good.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: I think the biggest criticism, just, you know, looking at
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: the score, looking at the stat sheet, is really the
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: performances of Ramos. I think he was our big season
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: acquisition in the summertime. And, you know, we're waiting for something.
• 3:23
  Speaker 5: When I saw that signing, I.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: Had mixed emotions because, you know, we got someone in
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: the position that we really needed, right? Last time I
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: was here, we talked about Pulisic and Leao and how
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: they're not strikers. And then we finally get, you know,
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: a striker that is known to put him back in net.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: But the positive thing is that, you know, we have
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: some young guys stepping in like Cissé, you know, two goals.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: And our defense, you know, that clean sheet was really
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: impressive for me. You know, 3-0 lead, 3-0 win.
• 3:57
  Speaker 5: Sorry, you don't see.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: That often in Serie A with how good the defenses are,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: even if it's a team like Lecce.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 4:06
  Speaker 5: I was winning for that dominant win.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: We got it on Sunday or on Saturday, whenever it was.
• 4:13
  Speaker 5: I'm feeling positive. I'm being optimistic.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: I think it's when we play the top teams, like
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: we saw it with Benfica, the Europa League.
• 4:22
  Speaker 5: That's when we struggle.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: I like the fact that we're definitely attacking more than
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: last year.
• 4:29
  Speaker 5: We talked about Allegri being so defensive.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: That's a you know, that's something I like to see,
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: even though we're still playing three in the back, which
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: I'm not crazy about, but, um, yeah, just overall I'm happy,
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: but I definitely, I would rate the season so far
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: a B, which, you know, is good, but room to grow.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: I'm really, I really think that, uh, we can finish
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: the top three. Um, you know, considering that Napoli hasn't
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: had a good start, that Juventus, uh, you know, just,
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: just right below us. So, uh, If we can continue
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: winning those games that seem to be like draws right now,
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: if we can get that one or two goals. But yeah,
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: we'll see. It's the top teams that I'm worried about.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: Because when we went with teams like Lecce, that's starting
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: to be expected. But when we play bigger competition, that's
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: where we seem to struggle, which is not.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: A bad thing in the sense that you want to,
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: if you're losing, at least you're losing to teams that are, are,
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: you know, are upstanding.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I think, uh, at the end of the day, um,
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: it's the fact that you could still take the positives
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: from it because like, if you compare it to it,
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: to like last year with like, just completely to like
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: what Allegheny did for Milan and, and, and not in
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: a positive sense, it's, it's definitely a more refreshing start
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: that you would want. Right. Does the lack of Liao
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: on the, do you think the lack of Liao on
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: the roster is also another factor to consider for this?
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: Cause I was a big believer in Liao and I
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: still am. Do you think with him not being there
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: was probably like a, just a refresher or like a
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: change of pace? Do you think maybe it's just allowed
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: more players to, you know, try some things out? Like,
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: you know, it's not often you get to talk about
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: like a player leaving and the impact that they have
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: when they leave. It's mostly when they come, but you know,
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: player like him, who's been on Milan for what? Nine seasons,
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: eight seasons about.
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: Yeah. Yeah. It was a big spot for sure.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: And, uh, Yeah, no, honestly, I had my question marks, too,
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: in terms of how they were going to react with
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: him gone. Like you said, he was such a big piece,
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: nine seasons. You know, I actually looked up his stats
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: right before coming here with Galatasaray, and he hasn't had
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: a full start yet, and they're struggling.
• 6:54
  Speaker 5: So I'm wishing the best. I hope he makes an
• 6:57
  Speaker 5: impact there.
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: But, you know, we had so many new acquisitions, especially
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: on the attacking side. I think defensively, our defense pretty
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: much stayed the same from last year. But on the
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: attacking sense of the game, we made a lot of changes. So,
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: you know, when you make that many changes on the
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: offensive side, it usually takes time to, you know, players
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: take time to deliver.
• 7:20
  Speaker 5: You know, even players.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: That, you know, like Pulisic, who've been there, you know,
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: for a couple of seasons now. But no, it seems
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: I'm actually impressed. You know, like I said, the players
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: that I didn't expect stepping up. I really like Moreira. Moreira,
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: am I saying that? correctly i think um yeah so
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: he's he's been good i hope he starts honestly we
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: because he was on the bench um so but yeah
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: just to say like i wish they all the best
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: but i think it was time i was i think
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: we gave him enough opportunity you know we we we
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: did him a disservice too you know we put him
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: in positions he wasn't uh comfortable being in and uh
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: I think it was just ultimately time and, you know,
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: they're playing well. But I think, like I said earlier,
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: you know, we want more from Ramos because he's playing
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: a position that we lacked. I was thinking before, like,
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: when's the last time we had an ultimate striker? And
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: I don't know why the name, the first thing that
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: came to mind was Pipo Nzaghi, which was like 20
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: years ago.
• 8:22
  Speaker 5: So it's like, and then before that, Shevchenko.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: So it's like, You know, we haven't had a prolific
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: striker in such a long time.
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: Would you consider Olivier Giroud a prolific striker?
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: Yes, but he wasn't there long enough, in my opinion. Yeah,
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: I think he was. But he was also at the
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: end of his... You know, I think he was a
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: little past his prime. But yeah, for sure. I think he...
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: You know, when you talk about finishing, there's not many
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: better finishers than him.
• 8:53
  Speaker 5: You know, he was.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: You know, would he bring the ball up and down
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: the field?
• 8:57
  Speaker 5: Not exactly.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: But, you know, on a free kick or not free kick, sorry,
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: on a corner kick, you know, was there anyone, you know,
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: there's not many players that are better than him in
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: the air, which, you know, you need sometimes. And listen,
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: it's five games in. Hopefully Ramos steps up. He got
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: an assist last game. And, you know, if he can
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: at least contribute in one way or another, you know,
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: we'll take it.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: Europa League. They played the first game versus Benfica. I
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: forget the exact score. I was going to say 3-0.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: It was 2-0. Yeah, what did you make of that?
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you had the chance to watch it.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you have any expectations for them
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: in Europa League because, look, we talked about it for
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: Juve on the other side, the only other Italian team.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: I think for Juve, there's expectations. I think for a
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: team like Milan, there has to be expectations too, but
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: What do you think?
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: Of course, like I said last time, I'm such a
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: believer in a team like Milan having high.
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: Standards.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: And I think we have to aim for Champions League.
• 10:03
  Speaker 5: That's what it is.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: Europa League, if we can win that, that's fantastic. But
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: we want to get back into Champions League. Benfica, 2-0 loss.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: I took it as them still.
• 10:17
  Speaker 5: finding ways to play together.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: Like I said, we have had so many transitions and we,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: you know, that was what we were missing that game to.
• 10:26
  Speaker 5: Put it behind the net.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: And yeah, to be honest, I didn't watch the game,
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: but I saw clips and it's, yeah, Benfica, you know,
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: when I think of a team like Benfica, Porto, those
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: Portuguese teams, a lot of their players are Portuguese or
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: a lot of players. So they're kind of, I find
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: like they take a lot of like their youth system.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: And I think that's what, And you could tell their
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: chemistry was there, something that we lacked. So hopefully that
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: just takes time. So with all these new acquisitions, with time,
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: I think we're going to get there. And I think
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: that's a team we can beat in the future for sure.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, look, I know I said we want to talk
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: about more than Milan. I think the story has to
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: be of the week. It has to be Gianni's aroma.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: He got up to a 2-0 lead, playing fantastic. Two
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: goals from Kone. Kone.
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: Right. Yeah, Manu Kone. Manu Kone scored both.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah. In my head, I said Kone. You think it
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: was Ismael?
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: Right away.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: I thought Ismael Kone was right.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: I'll be honest.
• 11:31
  Speaker 5: I thought of the same thing when I saw his
• 11:33
  Speaker 5: name here.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: Kone is a very common last name.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: No, I know.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: It's like Kamara as well. Anyways.
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: Kone 2012. No, I'm just kidding.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: And then Inter comes back. Two goals. Inter has come
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: back kings of the season so far.
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: I mean, they did it against Napoli and they won 3-2.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: Both of your teams.
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: Yep. Sorry.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: No, go, Johnny.
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: No, because that's basically... When Roma had the 2-0 lead,
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: I'm talking in a group chat for the card shop
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: that I go to. And I'm talking to Mass Riccio.
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: Shout out to a friend of the show, Massimo Riccio.
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: And another friend of mine named Mario Minera, a big interista.
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: And we're just talking and Roma's up 2-0, right? And
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: I'm like, like Mario's like not talking shit. Like he's
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: just like, fuck man, you guys are something like, I'm
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: not holding my breath. I'm not, I'm holding my breath
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: because like, because I'm like, I've seen this before. I've
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: seen my team go up 2-0. And Inter, Pazza Inter happens.
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: And it almost happened this time. Actually, it could have
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: been another 3-2 win for Inter. Because Lautaro Martinez missed
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: a very, very dangerous chance. He had to slide in,
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: so he didn't get a good touch on it. But
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: it was so close, man. But as the games go on,
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: Gasparini is turning me into a bit of a believer again.
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: um he's making me realize that okay uh maybe he
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: does have the capabilities of elevating the squad definitely he's
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: gonna like have a way to keep them in the
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: top four but it's looking dangerous in a sense of
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: you know is it possible is roma gonna break the
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: curse the 25 year curse that they've had right now
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: you know so um it would be cool but wait
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: and see um i'm just not gonna say anything.
• 13:25
  Speaker 5: Uh When do you see a team beating.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: Sorry, Gianni, but I want to just add praise to
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: Roma because when do you see a team winning 4-0
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: twice in a row?
• 13:36
  Speaker 5: It rarely happens.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: So when I saw that, I was like, wow, I
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: was really in awe of that.
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: But that's the thing. That's what Gasparini does. He just
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: finds a way to unlock offenses for teams. It's ridiculous because,
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: I mean, all of a sudden like Daniel Mallon is
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: like this world beater, you know, like he's getting these
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: nice plays, but this was a game where, you know,
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: it was nice to see the support squad come up
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: around because when you don't have like your top offensive
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: guys producing the absolute best or the producing results, it's
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: nice to see the depth come in and, you know,
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: capitalize on it. So this game, unfortunately, like, like I
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: said it on the show, Like, I'm not going to
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: be mad with a draw, but it doesn't do a
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: favor to either team because now look, now Lazio's breathing
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: down their necks. It's a three-way tie for the top, right?
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: And you got Cagliari for some reason right behind them.
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: And that's another little surprise. So in the grad scheme
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: of things– oh, I just disappeared because my camera's messed up.
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: In the grad scheme of things, you don't mind a tie?
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: You don't mind a draw because– you're going to get
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: those wins against the smaller teams that they've been doing
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: so far, but you have to like that next game
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: is going to probably be like one of the deciding
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: factors of who wins this year. Like it feels that
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: even though it's the start of an early season, it
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: feels like the heavy hitter matchups have extra weight to
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: them this season. I don't know if you guys understand
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: what I'm trying to say. Like there's like an extra,
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: there's an extra spice to it. There's, there's, There's a
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: bigger draw.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: There's more weight to those games because they have more
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: to prove.
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: There were still big draws, but now there's even more.
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: That's the way I'm starting to feel it and see it.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: I praise them a lot because they're a team I
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: find never gets enough credit in terms of because they'll
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: always not to be like I always, I don't think
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: I'm like the black sheep of Serie A, but I
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: always think of them like they're never talked about in
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: the same breath as Inter and Juve or, and, and,
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: you know, those, those three teams and even Napoli now
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: I find there's still, you know, so I, I really
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: hope they, they go far. I've always had an appreciation
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: for Rome, Roma and, uh, yeah, hopefully they keep the
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: good times going. That's one team I wouldn't be, I
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: wouldn't mind, uh, being below in terms of the standings,
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: because I really do enjoy watching them.
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: But there's lots of right there, too.
• 16:25
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: They won 2-0 against Venezia, bottom feeders of Venezia, this
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: past weekend. But they're a team, you know, Franco, in
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: our season preview, we said they're going to be close
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: to relegation. I said Gattuso's going to be the first fired.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: This is a team, look, they're undefeated. I think a
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: lot of people have not even talked about that, right?
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: No.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: It's crazy that they're undefeated with Inter and Roma. It
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: feels like this international break is going to be a
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: wrong time for them. But it's, you know, it is
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: good to see, you know, we've had periods of both
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: Milan teams and now, you know, I know it's five
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: games in, but if both Rome teams could battle it out,
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: that'd be cool to see. I don't know if you've
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: had a chance to watch any of the last two games, Franco.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: What do you think?
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: No, but the last time I remember them being this
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: good was when Immobile was on the team, honestly.
• 17:19
  Speaker 5: So that's been a while.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: Even though I know that the last couple of years
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: they made some flashes, but like Johnny said about Rome,
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: with them it's been consistency.
• 17:32
  Speaker 5: They've had some good.
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: Battles over the years with top teams and stayed competitive.
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: Another team I have a lot of respect for and
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: I hope they do well. But again, that's why I'm
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: even watching Serie A more this year than I was.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: The polarity, but even the competition between these smaller clubs.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: You mentioned Como, Lazio... you know, Cagliari's fourth place. Like
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: these are, there's always going to be teams like that,
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: which you don't see in all leagues. Like you don't
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: talk about this when you talk about La Liga or,
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: you know, Bundesliga or stuff like that.
• 18:15
  Speaker 5: So, yeah, I hope they keep it going. It's a
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: long season, you know, but yeah, them too.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: I find when they win, it's like always like a
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: team win. They don't have like anyone that kind of
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: stands out right now. So it's just even more impressive
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: because they seem to be on the same page and yeah,
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: we'll see if it keeps going.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: Look, let's talk, let's talk Napoli first. 1-1 against Fiorentina.
• 18:47
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: That was, you know, it's Fiorentina team that they haven't, no,
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: they won one game this season.
• 18:54
  Speaker 5: I don't know.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: Napoli, it's, it has to be disappointing to say the least.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: I don't know if there's these hiccups with Allegri now,
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: but it, Jenny, it feels like whenever Napoli competes for
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: the Scudetto, you know, they compete their top, you know,
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: top one, top two. And then recently they have those
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: off years where they finished around nine 10th. And it, it,
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: it seems like that's where the season's going.
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: Well, it's, I don't want to say those words just
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: yet because I still have faith that something's going to
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: change at some point, but I do feel that like,
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: like this game, they, it was a draw because you know,
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: deflection and it goes in and it's, You know, it happens,
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: but I'm starting to believe that the frustrations with Allegri's
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: system are starting to grow and the team themselves are not,
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: you know, like, I guess just not buying in just yet. Like,
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: I don't know. Like it's, you're trying to make us
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: around like a square piece fit into a round hole. That's,
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: that's what it feels like right now. And Milan had
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: the same situation last season where, you know, like he
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: comes in and he's, you know, not playing like he's
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: not playing them to their strengths. Uh, it feels out
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: of place for the whole roster. It's, uh, It's frustration
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: because the talent is still there, but they're not playing
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: to the best of their abilities. So that's what it
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: basically feels like for Napoli right now. I think it
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: does or will get better. I feel like it has
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: to get better because it doesn't make sense that it's
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: going to stay like this until the end of the season.
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: I think it's an adjustment period. I think it's still
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: growing pains.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: They're too good of a team. They're too good of
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: a team to, to, to let that, you know, to
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: keep going in this path.
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: Well, that I, I, I fully agree because like they
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: dominated in ball possession, you know, they had about, you know,
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: 13 shots on that. Their expected goals wasn't the highest,
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: but it's, there's generation there. There's, there's, there's something it's,
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: It's just defensively, it's always been error after error after
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: error that these results. It costed them a draw versus Como.
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: The error costed them a loss versus Inter. And now
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: this defensive error is going to cost them a draw
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: versus Fiorentina. So it's annoying because this is what's going
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: to cost them towards the end of the season. They
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: slip out of a top four spot because of this. It's...
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: there's still time for them to turn it around.
• 21:34
  Speaker 5: Sorry, not a draw for Scomo. Lost versus Scomo.
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: I forgot about that.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: But I still think they have time to turn it around,
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: but not for a Scudetto push, unless some divine intervention
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: happens that they just, you know, go on this crazy
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: streak and they just get there.
• 21:46
  Speaker 5: Yeah. But like you said, it's way too early. And I,
• 21:48
  Speaker 5: I never know.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: I could, I still think they could finish the top three.
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: They could, they could like that. The potential is there.
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: And I, and I honestly think they, they attain it.
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: It's just, you know, like it's going to, take a
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: serious effort from them and things to fit. That's the
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: thing I'm waiting for right now.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: I'm curious what made them, and like I said, Allegri
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: won with Milan before, so I know he can do it,
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: but I wonder what did Allegri do last year that
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: made Napoli want to jump in and grab him as
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: a head coach?
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: So essentially what it was is that we knew Conte
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: was leaving. He told De Laurentiis prospectively that he was.
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: And they were like, okay, well, we need to find somebody.
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: We're not going to have another Spalletti situation where it
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: happens towards the end of the transfer window and you're
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: scrambling to find somebody. Let's actually work our hardest to
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: find somebody. And the thing is, The logic was, first
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: of all, Allegri has ties to Napoli because he used
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: to play for them back in the day. He's not Napolitan,
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: but he played for Napoli. Second thing, they kind of
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: modeled the Juventus approach where after Conte left Juve, Allegri
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: took over and Allegri had, what was it, five Scudetti, Nick?
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: Four Scudetti? Five. So they figured.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: I'm not saying that it was going to be another
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: long streak of Scudetti because that happened because of other
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: factors from other teams, obviously. But they're like, well, if
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: the transition to Conte to Allegri was flawless for Juve
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: in the past, then logically speaking, it might be the
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: same thing for us here. You go from a Conte
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: system to an Allegri system. He's actually playing a 4-3-3,
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: something that Milan needed. But the 4-3-3 is just.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know.
• 23:44
  Speaker 5: He didn't switch it up at all last year. And
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: then you guys from the beginning, I guess... I don't know,
• 23:48
  Speaker 5: maybe he saw.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: Something in the roster that he didn't see in Milan
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: and he said, let me do it.
• 23:53
  Speaker 5: But yeah, I think it's going to change, honestly.
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: I think the transition period, I'm surprised Milan is not
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: going through that as well. Mind you, we're not two
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: different understandings right now, but yeah.
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I agree.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: I think, but yeah, you're right in terms of that
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: transfer makes sense. Well, I think you're right. I don't know,
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: but if there's ties with Napoli and he's a good coach,
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: I don't think he's a bad coach. I just think
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: like you said it perfectly before, you know, you can't force,
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: sometimes you have to adapt to the roster.
• 24:32
  Speaker 5: You can't always enforce your.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: Belief system or philosophy to a team that it just
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: doesn't fit. So, yeah, maybe he has done that. Cause
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: like you said, he's putting a, he's playing a four, three, three.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: So that's, that's not usually in Allegri's wheelhouse.
• 24:50
  Speaker 5: So we'll see. We'll see.
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: And like I said, the, the, it's the, the season
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: is still young. It's still started, but I'm excited. It's
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: the most I've ever been kind of excited about a
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: city season. Like you guys, you guys are part of
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: it too. You guys got me into it. So I,
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: you know, it's, it's, It's going to be good. I
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: have to see now when there's some big games on
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: the calendar, whether it's versus Napoli or Inter again.
• 25:22
  Speaker 5: Sorry, Juve again or Inter.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, there's going to be some good matchups that
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: we should be circling on the calendar for sure.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I might as well just go to
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: Juve now because they had the 2-0 win against Atalanta.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: goals from Conceição, and then Bremer, so you had a
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: Portuguese and a Brazilian scoring. But this comes after the
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: 5-0 win in Europa League against NEC, or N-E-C, I
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: don't know how they pronounce it. Yeah, like the singer.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: You know, I gotta say, I was happy. For once,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to come on the podcast and complain
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: about our strikers. They each scored against NEC. Okay, sure,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: Voltemade was a penalty, and then Colomani was a was
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: um you know a keeper's mistake that left him wide
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: open in front of the net he almost missed it
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: but i'll take it um but you know what i
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: i think they played well even against atlanta i only
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: watched the first half i wasn't able to watch the
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: second uh regardless um you know what i saw in
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: highlights and all that like they were you know call
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: money was very involved that's what you want to see
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: right even if they're not scoring um you know you
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: want to see something um but I can't say so.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: I really appreciate his game. I think he's stepped up
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: this season, especially without Yildiz. I do think he's become
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: Juve's best player straight up. And so, you know, obviously
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: what we want to see from him is consistency moving forward.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: But it's a good period. I know, you know, historically,
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: these past few seasons, you know, Juve's had these periods
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: where they look like they're dominating. They're winning these games
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: like 5-0. But they just didn't continue this, especially Europa League.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: I forget who their next opponent is in Europa League,
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: but I do think this is a competition. They have
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: to finish in the top eight to get that bye
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: to the next round. So it's a good start. You know,
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: the international break, I do think it comes at a
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: good time. UA does have a good amount of injuries.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: I'm just worried. I think they have 12 or 13
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: players going out on international break. So I'm just worried
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: that they're going to get some injuries on this break.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: But overall, you know, I can't complain.
• 27:27
  Speaker 5: It's a 2-0 win.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and you guys only really lost that one game
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: versus Sassuolo.
• 27:33
  Speaker 5: Every other game has been either a draw or a win.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, a lot of draws. A lot of draws. I
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: can't even think of it off the top of my
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: head now, but yeah, exactly. I think there's just been
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: too many drop points. Look, they drew against Milan. Sorry,
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: they drew against Milan. They lost to Sassuolo.
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: And I'm already drawing a blank. It's only five games
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: and I'm drawing a blank.
• 28:05
  Speaker 5: Yeah. No, that's it.
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: You drew Milan.
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: It feels like more.
• 28:11
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I drew Torino.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: No, we didn't play Torino yet.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: Oh, okay.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: Well, only drew to Milan and lost to Sassuolo. But look,
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: that's five drop points. So, you know, already, okay, there
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: are 10 points. There are a couple of points behind Sassuolo.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: the leaders, but I think they're too far. I think
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: Franco's frozen. Franco!
• 28:36
  Speaker 5: Wait. There you go. I'm back.
• 28:44
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: No, I think all our teams right now, it's really
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: too early to tell. But yeah, overall, you know, I
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: think it's not like Even Napoli, I don't think it's...
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: We all want.
• 28:59
  Speaker 5: A game at this point.
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: So if we were winless, then I'd start to shed
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: a tear. But I think we're going to be fine.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: Frank, you're excited to say season this and that. Are
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: there any teams that have surprised you so far or
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: maybe disappointed? Because surprise, I think the clear name is Caledon. Uh,
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: they're a team going to season. I really wasn't too
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: sure how they, how they do. Uh, you know, they're always,
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: you know, mid table, bottom table team, but, um, they've
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: come in four wins, four wins and one loss and they're,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: they're strong. And, you know, I'm going to throw in
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: frozen on a two.
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: They're both Cali and Frosinone. What I like, they're getting
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: it done with the talent players. Look at Daniele Malvini.
• 29:46
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: He's had a fantastic start to the season. He's scored
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: in a couple of games already.
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: Well, now he's on the roster, I think for.
• 29:53
  Speaker 5: Italy, right?
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: He got called up. Yeah. And yeah, Sometimes it's just
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: like he needs that change of pace. You know, you
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: go to a new environment. So I think Maldini's case that,
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: you know, frozen frozen on it, too. I think they're
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: a bit more quiet with the success that they've had.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: They just beat Como on the weekend. So, look, they're tight.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: They're tied with both Juve and Como now. And they
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: have more points than Napoli. So obviously these teams, I
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: think it's tough because it's only five games. And the
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: challenge is getting consistency because we've seen this before. Johnny,
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: you remember our first season doing this? There was a spall.
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: You know, like, I'm pretty sure they're in, like, City
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: of Dina. And we were talking about them maybe playing
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: in the Champions League.
• 30:34
  Speaker 5: Yeah, but there's only that one team.
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: Like, for me, sorry not to cut you off, Nick,
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: but I just wanted to, I don't know, when I
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: think of these surprises, I always think of Leicester City.
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: I know it's a different league, a different, you know,
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: it's the BPL, but... yeah, there's always one, but it
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: seems like in Italy now there's more than one, right?
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: Like Como, Cagliari, Frosinone, like, you know, there's a lot
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: of teams, which is great. I, you know, even if
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: I'm a follower of one of the top teams, I
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: think that's great. The more competition there is, the better
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: it is for the league. The more opportunity it gets
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: for players to be in competitive games, you know, some,
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: you know, there's some of these teams have some good
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: young stars that, uh, you know, deserve to be recognized.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: And the more they win, they will be. So, yeah,
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: I just think it's great for the league. And, yeah,
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: I mean, I was surprised at Coyote. For me, I
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: have to say, and I don't know if you guys
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: know this, but I'm a little bit of a Chelsea fan.
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: So when I found out that Fabregas was coaching Como and,
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: you know, and you could kind of see that team evolve,
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: like there's a bunch of Spaniards on it. And I
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: know as an Italian, like, you want to see more
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: Italians and I don't think he has a single Italian
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: on the starting roster, but it's still great to see
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: that his philosophy is kind of rubbing off on them.
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: And it's kind of, you know, he's making the team
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: his own. Um, so, uh, even though it's not like
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: Italian roster, I think it's great to see that that's
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: a young team that's just getting better and better. Uh,
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: you know, they stayed pretty consistent last season as well.
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: And hopefully the same goes for Coyote. Cause you know, um,
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: those young players will get better and hopefully we'll end
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: up making impacts even in the international squad. So hopefully
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: what we see with Como, we can see for how
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: long we've seen it with Como, we can see it
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: with Cagliari too. And hopefully that rubs off on the
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: Italian national team.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: Feels like this is a good transition to the Italian
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: national team. Yeah, big roster, 34 players. We're called up here.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: I'll pull it up. Nets, Donnarumma, Vicario, Carnesecchi, Pessina. We
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: got defenders. I'm just reading the bottom, the bottom taker,
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: so it might be slow. Di Lorenzo, Bastoni, Mancini, Calafiori, Scalvini,
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: Honest Ajanor, Diego Coppola. I'll pull up another list, go
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: through all 34. Dio Coppa, Daniele Gallardi, Michael Coyote, Eddie Coyadio,
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: and Matteo Ruggeri. In the mid, famous Barella. I'll pull
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: it up in another website, guys. Barella, Fertesi, Tonali, Ricci, Fagioli, Mandragora, Dumbia,
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: and Alessandro Romano from Caleri. And then up top, Raspadori, Keane, Scamacca, Zaniolo, Esposito,
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: Pio Esposito, Daniele Maldini, Cambiaghi, Samuel Inacio, Sebastiano Esposito, Antonio Vergara,
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: and Mohamed Ali Zoma. So a lot of interesting names,
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: a lot of young players too. There are a couple
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: of names, like I know, Jenny, we talked about Pazili
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: last week. He didn't get called up. So he's with
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: the U21 team. They do have qualifiers for the Euros.
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: So it feels like they kind of prioritized players from
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: that team. So there's a lot of like, you know,
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: 22-year-olds here. 22, 23, but, you know, 18, 19, but
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: U21 seems like they got their roster for the Euros.
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: But I don't know if there are any surprise names
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: in here. For me, I'm going to have to go
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: with Samuel Ignacio. He's a player. He's a dual national.
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: I think he could also play for Brazil. So it
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: seems like they want to get him. They want to
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: get him locked into Italy. I wouldn't be surprised if
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: they throw him on as a sub in one of
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: these games in the Nations League because it'll count. It'll
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: lock him into the Italian national team. You know, same
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: thing with, I was reading Mohamed Alizoma. He plays in Germany.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: He was born in Italy, but he could represent other
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: countries as well. I forget exactly which. I'll just pull
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: it up. For Cote d'Ivoire, you could play for Cote d'Ivoire.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: So it feels like for him too. They just want
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: to lock him in. So we'll see. Look, 34 players.
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: Not all these players could even make the team like
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: when they play the game. So It'll be interesting to
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: see who makes it, but I don't know if you
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: guys had any surprises.
• 35:14
  Speaker 3: Just the fact that it's a very young roster. I
• 35:19
  Speaker 3: think they're, Mancini's really embracing the whole turnover mentality. That's
• 35:24
  Speaker 3: something that I really think we should really emphasize because
• 35:27
  Speaker 3: I'll be real. It's, there's a lot of players here
• 35:30
  Speaker 3: that what kind of, you know, scouting do you have
• 35:33
  Speaker 3: on them besides the youth system, right? The youth system.
• 35:36
  Speaker 3: So like it's, It's something that it's exciting to see.
• 35:46
  Speaker 3: I would like to see them play. I think we
• 35:48
  Speaker 3: need a refresher. I need to see some mixing up.
• 35:51
  Speaker 3: It is a huge roster, so I don't know how
• 35:53
  Speaker 3: he's going to do it. I think he's probably making
• 35:54
  Speaker 3: a squad A and a squad B just to play
• 35:55
  Speaker 3: the two games. You know what I'm trying to say?
• 35:59
  Speaker 3: I think that's what he's going with just to go
• 36:02
  Speaker 3: with that. the four keepers thing is really unnecessary. I
• 36:05
  Speaker 3: guess he's just bringing them up for training purposes and
• 36:07
  Speaker 3: see how they, they, they like, like, especially in the
• 36:10
  Speaker 3: case of Pacino, you know, just to see how he
• 36:13
  Speaker 3: blends with, with the vets, just like that. You know,
• 36:18
  Speaker 3: like afterwards when he probably plays in the U twenties
• 36:21
  Speaker 3: or the U 21s, he got, he has like some
• 36:23
  Speaker 3: kind of veteran leadership. Like, I feel like it's, it's
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: a bit like a mentorship program. It's kind of going
• 36:27
  Speaker 3: on right now. You know what I'm.
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: Trying to say?
• 36:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: It seems like, it seems like that.
• 36:33
  Speaker 3: Not just for him, but for a lot of these
• 36:35
  Speaker 3: young kids. I feel like it's some kind of mentorship program,
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: which could be very helpful because it probably helps kids
• 36:41
  Speaker 3: ease their nerves on playing in the men's league.
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: That's why the leaders that, well, so-called leaders, the ones
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: that have been on the team for a while now,
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: pressure's on them too, right? Because they've got to lead
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: this team and mentor these young kids. And I think
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: You brought up a good point where, unfortunately, we can't
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: go back in the past, but in a perfect world,
• 37:07
  Speaker 2: these are players like the 23, 24-year-olds that should have
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: gotten more games under their belt until now, right? That
• 37:15
  Speaker 2: would have been a perfect scenario where it's like, okay,
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: you've had already time on the field, both maybe in
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: your clubs and the international field.
• 37:27
  Speaker 5: But it's not the case.
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: Like we spoke about Daniel Maldini, he's 24 years old
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: and it's the first time that he's on the roster.
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: Not to say maybe he deserved to be before, but
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: I find like, you know, we, it's the first time
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: with Cagliari that he, you know, Milan never really played
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: him ever when he was in the youth system. And
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: he's been there since he was 16 years old. So
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: it's like this, I feel like is being a little
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: rushed right now, but at the same time, what else
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: are you going to do?
• 37:55
  Speaker 5: You need to, you just need to play them.
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: You need to play them and you, you live and
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: die with the sword, so to speak, where no matter
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: how they play, this is the, this is the only
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: way to go.
• 38:05
  Speaker 5: You've tried the other way.
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: You've tried playing your vets or veteran guys and it
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: hasn't worked.
• 38:12
  Speaker 5: So you know what? Just let them play. If it's
• 38:14
  Speaker 5: not a development league right now, these tournaments, but if
• 38:19
  Speaker 5: that's the, if, that's the way you got to do it,
• 38:22
  Speaker 5: do it.
• 38:22
  Speaker 2: And sometimes it works. Sometimes it takes longer. Hopefully it
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: won't take this long this time, but there's no other way.
• 38:29
  Speaker 5: To do this.
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: You need to rebuild, you know, from the ground up.
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: And that's what these young guys.
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: So I think it's, so they play Belgium on Friday.
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: Let me, I think it's Belgium on Friday. Turkey on Monday,
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: France the following Friday, and then Turkey the following Monday
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: on the 5th. So it's the first time that they're
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: doing these two-week long or three-week long, however you want
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: to look at it, international breaks. I don't know if
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: you guys like this or if you prefer how it was.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: One in September, one in October.
• 39:04
  Speaker 3: I'll go first. I find it's a bit weird, but
• 39:11
  Speaker 3: in the case of, for example... Like McFratma being injured,
• 39:15
  Speaker 3: you know, the more time off that he has, the better,
• 39:17
  Speaker 3: like the less, less it impacts the season, the better
• 39:20
  Speaker 3: it is, you know? So especially when he's very crucial
• 39:23
  Speaker 3: for the roster and just kind of injury, like it's,
• 39:26
  Speaker 3: it's double-edged sword, but the problem is, sorry for sorry
• 39:29
  Speaker 3: for like going off Franco for a bit, but like,
• 39:32
  Speaker 3: there's no perfect middle ground. You know what I'm trying
• 39:34
  Speaker 3: to say? Like, like there's, there's pros and cons in
• 39:37
  Speaker 3: one sense and there's pros and cons with the other.
• 39:38
  Speaker 3: Like it's at this point, just, I think, yeah, like
• 39:42
  Speaker 3: the longer breaks are better. Just get the more games
• 39:44
  Speaker 3: out of the way. Like, it's just honestly speaking, like,
• 39:49
  Speaker 3: they're going to happen. Let them happen. It's better to
• 39:53
  Speaker 3: kind of have them like less sporadic. You know what
• 39:56
  Speaker 3: I'm trying to say? My personal opinion. I like this
• 39:58
  Speaker 3: kind of approach.
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 40:00
  Speaker 3: I prefer to weird, but I like it.
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: I agree just because I don't think there is a
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: perfect approach.
• 40:06
  Speaker 5: You know what I mean?
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: Like this is no matter when they play, it's, it's a,
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: it's a very rushed, you know, tournament, like your short tournament, sorry,
• 40:18
  Speaker 2: short tournament. So it's like, what do they play even
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: in the summertime?
• 40:21
  Speaker 5: You know what I mean?
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: It's like, it's always going to be, it's always going
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: to be a, it's, it's the time between games that
• 40:30
  Speaker 2: is very short.
• 40:31
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 40:31
  Speaker 2: So that's where it becomes, you know, prone to injury. And,
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: and so I think, I think it's not when the
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: tournament is, it's how spread out it is, but at
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: the same time, how long do you want this tournament
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: to go off for? You're not going to let it
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: go for, over a month or two months, three months.
• 40:48
  Speaker 5: Like, so I think there's a perfect approach.
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: So the fact that you said to get it out
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: of the way at the beginning of the season, why not?
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I, I agree. I, I like that it's
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: come together. I would even like put the November one together,
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: but if I, if I had to choose, I would
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: put this in like, uh, end of August, beginning of September.
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: And then the season starts after, because, I'm not a
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: fan of the season stopping and then starting again. I
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: feel like that kind of kills the momentum. So I
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: do prefer this over how it was, you know, three
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: breaks in the fall. So it's still going to feel
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: weird with one in November, but I think it's fine.
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: You know, it's a good compromise to just get everyone
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: together at once. And four games, like, it almost feels
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: like it's a mini World Cup here. Like, you know,
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: if a team plays in the World Cup, they get
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: three games in June. This time they get four games
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: in September or October or so.
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: And I think that the roster is chosen with that
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: in mind, right? That's why they chose so many players.
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: There's probably going to be so much movement going around
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: in terms of substitution. And so I'm not going to
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: say everyone's going to get a chance to play because
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: I don't think you'll ever get to play whatever 30-something players.
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: But I think that there are probably going to be
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: substitutions happening pretty... Often, and the roster is going to
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: be a lot of change from one to the next. And, yeah,
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: so we'll see what happens. But, yeah, but we've got
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: the games pretty competitive, like Belgium from the hop, and
• 42:23
  Speaker 2: then you said France at one point too, right?
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah.
• 42:29
  Speaker 5: I don't know what you guys expect.
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: I don't know what you guys expect for this thing,
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: because I feel like they always– get out of the
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: group or they usually get out of the group and
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: then they don't really do much after they don't, they
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: struggle getting to the final. It's top two, get advanced
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: to the quarterfinals. I look, I think they do it.
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: I think they do it. Yeah. You know, France going
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: through a transition. So is Belgium. Turkey's Turkey, you know,
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: technically Italy is too. Turkey, Turkey, Turkey. But I, you know,
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: with the fact that, you know, they missed the world
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: cup again.
• 43:03
  Speaker 5: Sorry, Nick, you said the top two make it.
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, top two. It's the redemption, right? So I think
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: they make it... Look, at the end of the day,
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: it's glorified friendlies in a way, but it's competitive football.
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: They haven't had that since losing to Bosnia in March.
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: So they got to go in with a good mindset.
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: They have the two home games. They have one in Rome,
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: one in Bologna. So it's going to be fun. So yeah,
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: they play these games and they play again in November
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: and then the knockout comes in March. But these always
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: have an impact also for the qualification for Euros. So
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: they just need to do well.
• 43:45
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: The vets need to play with a chip on his shoulder.
• 43:47
  Speaker 2: And hopefully when I mean chip on his shoulder, I
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: don't mean red card like Bastoni has done in the past.
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: I mean like just with motivation to like, you know,
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: there's only so many kicks in the can you're going
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: to get or whatever the expression goes where it's like,
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: it's now or never. And yeah, it's a, I guess a.
• 44:09
  Speaker 5: Strict competition, but they could do it.
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: And at the end of the day, they just got
• 44:13
  Speaker 2: to be better than two other teams.
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: Good point.
• 44:18
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 44:19
  Speaker 3: And, and they have that capability, like despite, like despite
• 44:22
  Speaker 3: it being a tournament of friendlies, like it's, there's, there's,
• 44:26
  Speaker 3: there's still quality there. Like despite missing the world cups,
• 44:30
  Speaker 3: it's the world cups it's missed because of like frustrations
• 44:33
  Speaker 3: and idiocy. We got the Ventura era. We got the
• 44:37
  Speaker 3: complacency era. And then we have the recent one where
• 44:40
  Speaker 3: it's like you lose one game, sorry, two games only.
• 44:44
  Speaker 3: And those, and because like, it's still not enough to
• 44:47
  Speaker 3: qualify because you could win every single one and lose two.
• 44:50
  Speaker 3: And for some reason you don't qualify for, you have
• 44:52
  Speaker 3: to go through a playoff session and you get fucked
• 44:55
  Speaker 3: over in penalties. Like it's, they shouldn't like, especially that
• 44:58
  Speaker 3: they weren't playing at home, even though they had the
• 45:00
  Speaker 3: better record, like, It's it's that, that run, this last
• 45:03
  Speaker 3: one was just basically stupidities. And I, that was the
• 45:06
  Speaker 3: one where it's like, okay, no, we got fucked over here. Like,
• 45:08
  Speaker 3: this is one where it's like, I'm mad that we
• 45:10
  Speaker 3: didn't qualify because Ventura was an idiot. And like, it's
• 45:13
  Speaker 3: at the end of the day, it's easy to figure
• 45:14
  Speaker 3: out the issue for that one. The complacency one was like,
• 45:17
  Speaker 3: we know what was going on. The team was just like,
• 45:18
  Speaker 3: all right, thank you, Mancini.
• 45:19
  Speaker 5: That's it. Now he's back.
• 45:21
  Speaker 3: And now this, the last one was like the one
• 45:23
  Speaker 3: I was like, I'm throwing in the towel because this
• 45:26
  Speaker 3: is like, like I'm not even, the players didn't miss,
• 45:29
  Speaker 3: like didn't malperform either. You know what I'm trying to say? Like,
• 45:32
  Speaker 3: Keane had a fantastic run. Esposito had a fantastic run.
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: They were winning.
• 45:36
  Speaker 3: The only losses were to Norway and then penalty shots.
• 45:39
  Speaker 3: You know, like, what can you do?
• 45:41
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: Another question. Were they put in that situation of how
• 45:46
  Speaker 2: they played in past years?
• 45:48
  Speaker 5: Because, like I agree with you, I think that.
• 45:52
  Speaker 3: No, it was just FIFA being FIFA in terms of, like,
• 45:55
  Speaker 3: they just decided that was where the group, the playoff
• 45:57
  Speaker 3: game was going to be.
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: It's... It was a random drop, Franco. They had no control.
• 46:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 46:06
  Speaker 5: It's just annoying. Do you want to go protest, Johnny?
• 46:12
  Speaker 3: Honestly, I mean, I would, but who am I? I'm
• 46:15
  Speaker 3: just a bald guy in Montreal. What can I say?
• 46:18
  Speaker 5: If you take Saint-Michel, I got Saint-Honoré, okay?
• 46:20
  Speaker 3: Okay, beautiful. So there you go, all three saints.
• 46:23
  Speaker 5: If you take Saint-Michel, I go and... Yeah, exactly.
• 46:26
  Speaker 3: I got the oak.
• 46:28
  Speaker 5: You guys think Michel? What do you have? Colbert, Zizia,
• 46:31
  Speaker 5: and Nick.
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: Pretty much. Marcelo and Ray. But I think that'll pretty
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: much do it, guys. I don't know if there's anything
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: else you want to talk about, especially with this national team.
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: How long are you going to sing the anthem, Franco?
• 46:49
  Speaker 5: Sing the anthem? As long as it takes.
• 46:50
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: My voice hasn't sang. I haven't sang in a while.
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: But you know what? Come out of retirement.
• 46:57
  Speaker 5: I don't mind.
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: When it comes to Italy, you know, listen, everything is strong.
• 47:02
  Speaker 5: We still go to our traditions.
• 47:03
  Speaker 2: We still do our tomato sauce in August.
• 47:06
  Speaker 5: We still do everything we have to do.
• 47:07
  Speaker 2: It's just Italy's got to step up. And, you know,
• 47:11
  Speaker 2: I want to be wearing that Italy jersey the next
• 47:14
  Speaker 2: World Cup. Like that's, you know, I finally got one.
• 47:17
  Speaker 2: I literally got a new one right before I found
• 47:22
  Speaker 2: out they weren't making it. Like, literally, I got it
• 47:26
  Speaker 2: right before, so I was like, you got to be
• 47:27
  Speaker 2: kidding me. I got to win another four years to
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: wear this in the tournament.
• 47:31
  Speaker 5: And that's it. And I haven't got a Canadian one yet,
• 47:34
  Speaker 5: so watch.
• 47:35
  Speaker 2: Watch me get a Canadian one, and Italy makes it,
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: and Canada doesn't.
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: Oh, my God.
• 47:40
  Speaker 5: But, yeah, anyway, that's where I'm at.
• 47:45
  Speaker 2: But for sure, you guys will be– well, you guys
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: for sure– you know we'll post it and uh once
• 47:52
  Speaker 2: i find out that they make it uh you know
• 47:56
  Speaker 2: uh book tickets to go see a world cup game
• 47:58
  Speaker 2: and uh hopefully not have to spend a mortgage on.
• 48:01
  Speaker 3: It you.
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: Know yeah that's it in 2030 and uh where's it
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: gonna be portugal spain and morocco so we'll see if they.
• 48:10
  Speaker 2: Make it yeah which whole destinations though like uh Yeah. Like,
• 48:15
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't mind going and watching any one of those places, honestly. Like,
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: they're all places that I've wanted to visit. It was Spain, Morocco,
• 48:21
  Speaker 2: and Portugal, you said, right?
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: And then, I think it's like Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: as each are going to host one game.
• 48:29
  Speaker 2: Really? Yeah.
• 48:31
  Speaker 5: Oh, okay.
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: Think of that as you will.
• 48:33
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 48:33
  Speaker 2: Well, listen, the only country I've been out of all
• 48:36
  Speaker 2: those is Spain. So, and I wouldn't mind going back.
• 48:39
  Speaker 2: It's one of my favorite countries.
• 48:40
  Speaker 5: So, I, yeah.
• 48:44
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't mind if that's something you guys are interested
• 48:47
  Speaker 2: to when the time comes, let's, let's just book and, uh,
• 48:51
  Speaker 2: look at the price later.
• 48:52
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: Start saving them now.
• 48:55
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 48:55
  Speaker 5: Yeah, for sure. For sure.
• 48:57
  Speaker 2: But listen, it's, it's far as far, I think right now, uh,
• 49:00
  Speaker 2: you know, we, it's too far to look, let's look
• 49:03
  Speaker 2: at this tournament and take it from there. Um, you know,
• 49:06
  Speaker 2: Johnny and I, I think we have our little, uh,
• 49:09
  Speaker 2: little school clubs to focus on now. Uh, And, you know,
• 49:15
  Speaker 2: that's what honestly gets me excited right now. So, you know,
• 49:19
  Speaker 2: like they said, yeah, soccer, I'm happy it's back. But,
• 49:22
  Speaker 2: you know, when we start playing in significant games in
• 49:27
  Speaker 2: March and April, that's when it gets a little tense. So, yeah,
• 49:34
  Speaker 2: right now it's just, yeah. So, you know, now it's sports.
• 49:39
  Speaker 2: All the sports right now are back in. When I
• 49:42
  Speaker 2: was getting fed up of seeing only baseball and golf
• 49:45
  Speaker 2: for a while. So I'm happy that, you know, hockey's back,
• 49:49
  Speaker 2: you know, soccer's back.
• 49:50
  Speaker 5: And, you know, we're ready to.
• 49:54
  Speaker 2: Go.
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: That's it, Franco. Well, you know, thanks for joining us, Franco,
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: for replacing Adriano this week. Usually Adriano goes through all
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: the social media that people could follow us. I don't
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: know if you want to do that, Franco, or I'll
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: do it.
• 50:07
  Speaker 5: You're going to put me on the spot.
• 50:09
  Speaker 2: The question is, do I know all the social medias?
• 50:14
  Speaker 2: I'll try, I'll try, I'll try. You can follow the
• 50:18
  Speaker 2: Culture Guys, right? You can follow the Culture Guys on Instagram, Facebook,
• 50:23
  Speaker 2: and any social media. We appreciate the support. And that's it, guys.
• 50:29
  Speaker 2: It's a great show.
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: That's it.
• 50:33
  Speaker 5: How was that?
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: Perfect.
• 50:36
  Speaker 2: Honestly, good.
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: That's all it is. Tell people to follow us on
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: social media.
• 50:40
  Speaker 2: I'm not pointing again. Last time, it was a brutal fail.
• 50:44
  Speaker 2: I'm just going to avoid it altogether.
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: No worries. That's it, guys. Thanks for listening. Don't forget
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: to hit that subscribe button.
• 50:57
  Speaker 5: Ciao.
• 50:58
  Speaker 3: Bye.