Latest / The Calcio Guys / Inter dominate Champions League and Serie A - Ep. 257 Ft. Alex Donno

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Inter dominate Champions League and Serie A - Ep. 257 Ft. Alex Donno · The Calcio Guys

0:15
Speaker 1: The weather is he dump here Montreal? It's already hot
0:18
Speaker 1: in Florida, where our guest Alex Dono is joining us from.
0:21
Speaker 2: And the school that the race is always it's hot
0:23
Speaker 2: this season.
0:24
Speaker 3: Uh.
0:24
Speaker 2: Here on the couch of guys with Johnny Egano, I'm Nicholas.
0:27
Speaker 2: But Alex, it's been a while. It's been two years.
0:28
Speaker 2: I checked, it's been two years since you've been on
0:30
Speaker 2: the plot.
0:31
Speaker 3: Time flying.
0:33
Speaker 4: Yeah, Jesus, wow, two freaking years.
0:37
Speaker 5: Too long?
0:38
Speaker 2: Too long, years, You're too long. Well, how's it going, Alex?
0:43
Speaker 3: I'm I'm happy to be back.
0:46
Speaker 6: I miss you, guys, and I miss a shout out
0:48
Speaker 6: to Jerry Mantini if you're watching this, he's he's got
0:51
Speaker 6: a little one at home now, so he's i know,
0:53
Speaker 6: very busy changing diapers all day and and the beatings
0:57
Speaker 6: and all that. I remember what it was like to
0:58
Speaker 6: have a newborn. And yeah, I'm really enjoying SETI ah
1:02
Speaker 6: this season. I mean you mentioned scudetto race as every time,
1:06
Speaker 6: you know, weeks ago, we felt like for a while
1:09
Speaker 6: maybe Inter had a chance to pull away, and then
1:12
Speaker 6: Inter hit a bad run of form. Is Napoli going
1:14
Speaker 6: to pull away? Obviously? Uh? Sorry that about that Juventus
1:19
Speaker 6: match over the weekend against Atalanta, but that was that
1:22
Speaker 6: was important for the Scudetto race as well. So this
1:25
Speaker 6: has been as exciting as I've remembered it because you know,
1:27
Speaker 6: over the past, at least the past couple of seasons,
1:29
Speaker 6: when I think when when Milan won UH the Scudetto
1:33
Speaker 6: a few years ago, was a pretty close race, like
1:34
Speaker 6: he Inter had an opportunity. It was neck and neck,
1:37
Speaker 6: but then Napoli won it by a mile two seasons ago,
1:41
Speaker 6: Inter won it by a mile last year. You know,
1:44
Speaker 6: all those all those years when Juventus was winning Scudetti,
1:48
Speaker 6: most of those weren't close. So it's really nice to
1:50
Speaker 6: get a Scudetto race like this where you know, with
1:52
Speaker 6: about what about ten match days left, you feel like
1:55
Speaker 6: it's totally up for grabs.
1:57
Speaker 5: Absolutely, Alex, and that's a great It's a good way
1:59
Speaker 5: to start. I think you you kicked it off perfectly.
2:03
Speaker 5: I think, like you said, all those teams are are
2:06
Speaker 5: in the mix, and maybe a lot of people didn't
2:08
Speaker 5: think maybe Atlanta would be there, but you know, it's
2:10
Speaker 5: it's good to see them into the into the mix there.
2:12
Speaker 5: But as an Inter fan, UH was this was this
2:18
Speaker 5: where you expected to be at this point in the season,
2:20
Speaker 5: like at the business end of the season.
2:21
Speaker 2: Like obviously the goal is to win every year.
2:23
Speaker 5: You know that that's great and always an objective, but
2:26
Speaker 5: you know, the top four obviously is the is the
2:28
Speaker 5: biggest thing. But as an Inter fan and just seeing
2:31
Speaker 5: the competitions that you would be in and just seeing
2:33
Speaker 5: how the season would unfold, is this kind of where
2:35
Speaker 5: you were envisioned Inter to be.
2:38
Speaker 2: Like I said, in the business end of the season, Yes,
2:40
Speaker 2: and no.
2:41
Speaker 6: Heading into the season, I felt that that Inter probably had,
2:47
Speaker 6: you know, obviously a proven squad being pretty similar to
2:50
Speaker 6: the one that won the Scudetto last season. You know,
2:54
Speaker 6: the certainly the quality to be able to defend the Scudetto.
2:58
Speaker 6: So I I did it expect to be, you know,
3:01
Speaker 6: either first or hanging around first this time of year.
3:04
Speaker 6: So that's the yes, I'll say. The no would be
3:08
Speaker 6: as the season has progressed, you know, and we'll talk
3:11
Speaker 6: more about this, I'm sure Inter to me, you know,
3:15
Speaker 6: haven't played consistently nearly as good football as they played
3:19
Speaker 6: last season, So just based on the form and on
3:24
Speaker 6: really just the lack of killer instincts in the big matches,
3:27
Speaker 6: like the Inter have overall taken care of business against
3:30
Speaker 6: you know, the teams that you're supposed to beat, which
3:32
Speaker 6: you know, actually the reason why I enter in first
3:35
Speaker 6: place right now is that the other you know teams
3:37
Speaker 6: in this Gudeto race have had more trouble, you know,
3:40
Speaker 6: beating the teams that they're supposed to beat. But when
3:41
Speaker 6: Inter have these big matches, they haven't been able to
3:44
Speaker 6: put nopoly away. You know, Melan has kind of been
3:47
Speaker 6: Inter's daddy this year. Have you know, gotten big results
3:51
Speaker 6: again against Inter so far the season, Well, we'll do
3:54
Speaker 6: it again in Kolpa pretty soon. I feel like Milan
3:57
Speaker 6: all the time, inter versus Milan, you know, in you know,
4:00
Speaker 6: struggled against Uventus. They had the four to four draw
4:03
Speaker 6: that they should have won, they had the one nil loss.
4:06
Speaker 6: And so it's like when when you're an Inter have
4:09
Speaker 6: done well against Atalanta, will play them against this weekend.
4:12
Speaker 6: They beat them four nil the first time they played
4:14
Speaker 6: them the seasons. That was like the one, you know,
4:16
Speaker 6: good result the Inter god against top competition. Other than that,
4:20
Speaker 6: Inter really, if you just look at it that way,
4:23
Speaker 6: against top competition, you don't really feel like they have
4:25
Speaker 6: any business being in first, but they're in first by
4:29
Speaker 6: slim margin because of the attack and the consistency of
4:33
Speaker 6: goal scoring. Even though you know Latado has been up
4:36
Speaker 6: and down this year, Inter still have scored a ton
4:38
Speaker 6: of goals this season, and you know, you've been able
4:42
Speaker 6: to see you know, players like Lautado, Turam at times,
4:47
Speaker 6: bad Ella Chalinolu, like even when Inter in certain games
4:51
Speaker 6: haven't played that well. You just the individual quality of
4:54
Speaker 6: a handful of the world class players that they have
4:56
Speaker 6: have been able to make the difference in some of
4:58
Speaker 6: the close games. I mean, Inter we're just down to
5:01
Speaker 6: nil against against Manza, We're able to turn that game
5:05
Speaker 6: around and that that really I think speaks a lot
5:07
Speaker 6: to the the individual quality. So you know, it's it's
5:11
Speaker 6: it's one of those things. And then moving forward in
5:13
Speaker 6: the Scudento race, I I can't confidently say whether it's
5:17
Speaker 6: going to be Inter or Monopoly or even Atalanta, because again,
5:21
Speaker 6: like you know, normally Inter being in this position of
5:24
Speaker 6: having even the slightest of leads, you know, last season,
5:27
Speaker 6: a couple of seasons prior, they would have been able
5:29
Speaker 6: to have like the quality to hold onto that lead
5:31
Speaker 6: and close it out. But this they've been a little
5:33
Speaker 6: bit unpredictable this season, so I don't I don't know
5:36
Speaker 6: how confident I feel in this group and actually closing
5:39
Speaker 6: it out and seeing it through. So it's I'm gonna
5:41
Speaker 6: be on the edge of my seat for the next
5:43
Speaker 6: couple of months.
5:44
Speaker 1: Guys, well just saying like low Barra, so you don't
5:48
Speaker 1: get disappointed.
5:49
Speaker 5: Donald, mind games, Donald, mind games.
5:53
Speaker 3: Yeah, but but it's it's hard.
5:55
Speaker 6: It's hard not to to feel that way again because
6:00
Speaker 6: you know you're you're going to, like, I'm a little
6:01
Speaker 6: bit nervous about the match this weekend. Have to go
6:04
Speaker 6: too bad room All to take on at the LANs.
6:06
Speaker 6: It's gonna be a very, very tough game to win
6:09
Speaker 6: because inter again, they've not really been decisive in the
6:11
Speaker 6: big games. It's been you know, they've been able to
6:14
Speaker 6: to drop very few points against the lesser opponents.
6:19
Speaker 4: But like that, so this weekend it's a non lesser
6:24
Speaker 4: opponent and you've mentioned two out of three, it's basically
6:28
Speaker 4: a plant to enter on the sixteenth. What are you like,
6:32
Speaker 4: so you just emphasize the importance of it. I'm you know,
6:36
Speaker 4: obviously stressing out. I'm gonna have a big eye on
6:39
Speaker 4: that game because right now the difference between Napotly and
6:42
Speaker 4: there is only one point, and Lacomo game has been
6:45
Speaker 4: really costly for Anopoly, So I'm kind of hoping something
6:49
Speaker 4: happens here. But how do you feel going into this
6:53
Speaker 4: matchup right now, especially with the tight race that you
6:55
Speaker 4: just emphasize for for our listeners.
6:58
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean they some some a little bit of
7:01
Speaker 6: momentum heading into the weekend, you know, getting a good
7:04
Speaker 6: result and advancing through Champions League, uh, and you know,
7:08
Speaker 6: being able to being able to not not exert yourselves
7:12
Speaker 6: too much against against fian RD in either of those
7:15
Speaker 6: two legs. And you know Inter have had some injury
7:19
Speaker 6: specifically at the wing back spots, you have it at
7:22
Speaker 6: center back. It sounds like DEVII is going to be
7:24
Speaker 6: able to return this weekend, which will be big because
7:27
Speaker 6: the depth on defense has really been tested for Inter
7:30
Speaker 6: in recent weeks. Demonico, I don't think we're going to
7:33
Speaker 6: see him for a while longer in Darmion, but you know,
7:35
Speaker 6: having having Divide back is going to be big. And
7:38
Speaker 6: you know, you always you like to have that confidence
7:40
Speaker 6: of advancing to the quarterfinals in Champions League and doing
7:44
Speaker 6: it on a Tuesday, so at least you get because
7:47
Speaker 6: I think the match with Atalanta is Sunday, so you're
7:49
Speaker 6: going to get a decent, decent amount of rest heading
7:52
Speaker 6: into that. It's not like a three or four day turnaround.
7:55
Speaker 6: And you know, having coming off of victory where you
7:58
Speaker 6: were able to rest some of your players. You know,
8:01
Speaker 6: they Intera able to put two prima Veda players on
8:03
Speaker 6: in the late stages against Faianorid, which I think was
8:06
Speaker 6: nice to give them a little bit more rest. And
8:08
Speaker 6: so it's one of those feelings heading into it where uh,
8:13
Speaker 6: you really have no excuse but to go in there
8:15
Speaker 6: and get a result. I mean, you know, being without
8:17
Speaker 6: a guy like Demodico obviously could you know, make things
8:20
Speaker 6: a little bit tougher for you with his with his
8:23
Speaker 6: creativity and what he's able to do on set pieces.
8:26
Speaker 6: But you know inter will have most of their horses,
8:28
Speaker 6: including jan sohmaher being healthy again in goal, although Yo
8:32
Speaker 6: set Martinez did a really good job, Like I didn't
8:33
Speaker 6: feel like they they didn't skip a beat with the
8:36
Speaker 6: backup keeper, which is always you know that that's why
8:38
Speaker 6: you pay your backup keeper presumably over a million euros,
8:42
Speaker 6: is to be able to step in but so Maer
8:44
Speaker 6: being back is big, and you know Inter have certain
8:46
Speaker 6: players who are on really good form and obviously Atalanta
8:50
Speaker 6: is riding high after the big result that they just
8:53
Speaker 6: got four nil, So it's it's gonna be a tough game.
8:55
Speaker 6: But you know, you feel like, uh, if Inter come
8:58
Speaker 6: out of it, you know, with a draw or or
9:00
Speaker 6: God forbid a loss, you'd say you have no one
9:02
Speaker 6: to blame but yourselves for it, because there's really no
9:05
Speaker 6: excuse not to go in there and get three points
9:07
Speaker 6: out of that match.
9:11
Speaker 1: You know, let's talk about before talking about champions. Guys,
9:14
Speaker 1: saw someone a circle about the city last weekend kind
9:18
Speaker 1: of was to come back weekend for the melon teams
9:19
Speaker 1: three two and obviously you know we want to focus
9:22
Speaker 1: on Interro but to go down to nothing, to get
9:24
Speaker 1: one back right away before halftime, and to climb back
9:28
Speaker 1: three too. But you know, a third goal with technically
9:30
Speaker 1: an own goal from Manza. You know, is this a
9:34
Speaker 1: game where you know, some people could say Inter got
9:37
Speaker 1: lucky with the own goal, you could say, you know,
9:39
Speaker 1: it takes skills come back from to nothing.
9:41
Speaker 2: Is it a bit of both? What What did you
9:42
Speaker 2: make of the game on the weekend?
9:45
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a bit of both.
9:46
Speaker 6: You know, you could you can if it was literally
9:48
Speaker 6: about a millimeter away from being a two two draw
9:51
Speaker 6: instead of a three to two win, and thank goodness
9:54
Speaker 6: to the goal line technology and and listen, the goal
9:57
Speaker 6: line technology, I understand is a pretty cut and dry thing,
10:00
Speaker 6: and that if you look at the image that came
10:02
Speaker 6: out of it, there was like this much space between
10:06
Speaker 6: the ball and the line, and so it's it's a
10:09
Speaker 6: it's a good goal. It was a good it was
10:11
Speaker 6: a good opportunity. So you know, Inter obviously had some
10:14
Speaker 6: good scoring chances they should have converted on, you know,
10:17
Speaker 6: they they should have should have done better and put
10:19
Speaker 6: some chances away early on in the match. But so
10:22
Speaker 6: a little bit of luck to have the three two
10:23
Speaker 6: versus a two two, because a two two would have
10:25
Speaker 6: been very deserved. The three two is maybe a little
10:28
Speaker 6: bit lucky. And again I think I thought that that
10:31
Speaker 6: game against Manza is the perfect illustration of how Inter
10:37
Speaker 6: have been too inconsistent this season, because I feel like
10:41
Speaker 6: last year's Inter squad at home probably that's a three nil,
10:46
Speaker 6: four nil type of result last season, but this season,
10:49
Speaker 6: play with your food a little bit more, you know,
10:51
Speaker 6: the squad is a little bit more beat up than
10:53
Speaker 6: I think it was this time of year last year,
10:56
Speaker 6: and you have to rely on really heart and grit
11:00
Speaker 6: come back and win the match. And of course, you
11:02
Speaker 6: know you had a really important goal by Marko or
11:05
Speaker 6: Natovich to get the one back before halftime to be
11:08
Speaker 6: only down two to one, you know, rather than down
11:11
Speaker 6: two nil, which was big. You know, Chaalonolu has an
11:14
Speaker 6: absolute wonder strike, which is you know something you know
11:18
Speaker 6: he's good for a couple times per season, and you know,
11:22
Speaker 6: the own goal maybe being a little bit lucky, but
11:23
Speaker 6: it's certainly it's one of those matches where for as
11:26
Speaker 6: much as they made me sweated out watching the game,
11:29
Speaker 6: the only thing that really matters this time of year, guys,
11:32
Speaker 6: is the result. Like it's the only thing that matters.
11:35
Speaker 6: And you know, this is the sort of inter that
11:37
Speaker 6: can look very decisive in a Champions League game, and
11:42
Speaker 6: yet when they go up against you know, the twentieth
11:45
Speaker 6: team on the city table can look really shaky at home.
11:49
Speaker 6: It doesn't really always add up. I guess that goes
11:51
Speaker 6: back to the old Patse inters coming back a little bit.
11:54
Speaker 6: But you know, to put the positive spin on what
11:58
Speaker 6: happened against Monza. I mean you and the same thing
12:00
Speaker 6: could be said for melon with what they did. It's
12:02
Speaker 6: it's a great show of character to be down two nil,
12:06
Speaker 6: because I'm old enough to remember, you know, when Setia
12:09
Speaker 6: was such a more defensive league, you know, in the
12:11
Speaker 6: in the nineties, early two thousands, you were down two nil.
12:14
Speaker 6: That was a wrap like you're not you're not coming
12:16
Speaker 6: back from that in SETI. But Inter showing the character
12:19
Speaker 6: to do that I thought was big because every every
12:22
Speaker 6: single point counts for this scudetto race, and had they
12:24
Speaker 6: lost that match, you drop points to the twentieth team
12:28
Speaker 6: in the table. A scudetto finished would seem pretty perilous
12:32
Speaker 6: had they not gotten three points out of that.
12:34
Speaker 5: Yeah, and I honest, I think I still think, and
12:37
Speaker 5: I think we're gonna all kind of agree and even
12:39
Speaker 5: if we don't want to. But you know, Inter, despite
12:42
Speaker 5: the doubt, despite the maybe the inconsistencies and what have you.
12:47
Speaker 2: Are the best team in Italy there. It just it
12:49
Speaker 2: is what it is.
12:50
Speaker 5: At this point that they're the best team, not only
12:52
Speaker 5: on paper but on the pitch.
12:54
Speaker 3: The results speak for themselves.
12:56
Speaker 5: I kind of want to circle back to this weekend's game, Alex,
13:02
Speaker 5: what obviously, you know, the result of that match I
13:06
Speaker 5: think is is probably has the scudental applications on it.
13:10
Speaker 5: If not, you know, unless you know, some calamity happens
13:13
Speaker 5: for the other teams. But what's it gonna take for
13:17
Speaker 5: you to to pick up the three points and what
13:18
Speaker 5: are you looking for in the team to to to
13:21
Speaker 5: pull through for for that victory?
13:24
Speaker 6: Yeah, you're talking about coming up this weekend against Atalanta,
13:28
Speaker 6: coming up to Sunday exactly, Yeah, I really it's it's
13:33
Speaker 6: going to take. I just believe, full full energy from
13:38
Speaker 6: the start because a lot of times this year and
13:42
Speaker 6: again this is I'm shooting straight here. I'm not trying
13:45
Speaker 6: to make excuses or anything, you know, and it goes
13:48
Speaker 6: to you know, certain times when we've seen teams like
13:51
Speaker 6: Juventus go on crazy runs scudetto after scudetto after scudetto,
13:55
Speaker 6: deep runs in Champions League, all of that is so
13:58
Speaker 6: physically taxing and I can't help the field. In a
14:02
Speaker 6: lot of the moments when Inter haven't been at their
14:03
Speaker 6: best this season, they've looked very tired, like having to
14:07
Speaker 6: do this in three and at times four competitions because
14:10
Speaker 6: they were in Super at Kopa as well until until
14:13
Speaker 6: the finals against Milan. So to be doing this in
14:17
Speaker 6: three four competitions consistently and now you know, no one
14:21
Speaker 6: else has said he is still in Champions League and
14:23
Speaker 6: the majority of teams are no longer playing in multiple competitions,
14:27
Speaker 6: so it's very it's very taxing. So I think against
14:30
Speaker 6: Atalanta this weekend, and the crowd in Bergomo is always great,
14:34
Speaker 6: and it's it's so close to Milano that I know
14:36
Speaker 6: that they get extra allowed when when one of the
14:39
Speaker 6: Milan teams are in their buildings. So I think getting
14:42
Speaker 6: a goal early is going to be really important if
14:45
Speaker 6: they can, you know, maybe find the back of the
14:47
Speaker 6: net in the first fifteen minutes, because you know, sometimes
14:51
Speaker 6: when when you get towards the second half without a
14:54
Speaker 6: goal and two teams that really you know, obviously both
14:57
Speaker 6: teams really need three points, but one point better than nothing.
15:00
Speaker 6: So you wonder if no one scores in the first half,
15:03
Speaker 6: does it get a little bit more kg and tight
15:05
Speaker 6: in the second half and maybe the match doesn't open
15:07
Speaker 6: up and you head more towards a nil nil type
15:10
Speaker 6: of draw. So I really think scoring early is important
15:13
Speaker 6: and I would like to see I want to see
15:16
Speaker 6: Tudam stay hot. You know, scored a really good goal
15:20
Speaker 6: and should have had a second one against Fianord and
15:22
Speaker 6: Champions League on Tuesday. He really seems like he's catching
15:26
Speaker 6: fire again because he you know, in recent weeks he
15:29
Speaker 6: had an injury and he was coming back and kind
15:31
Speaker 6: of playing through it, but he didn't really look like himself.
15:33
Speaker 6: So if if Tudam is truly back to full fitness
15:36
Speaker 6: and Batado has gotten hot again as well, I mean,
15:39
Speaker 6: if the two of them can kind of reach full
15:41
Speaker 6: power again in their partnership, I think that's what you
15:44
Speaker 6: need to beat a team like Atalanta. You need your
15:47
Speaker 6: forwards to be at their best, and I think you
15:49
Speaker 6: need to score in the first fifteen to twenty minutes
15:51
Speaker 6: to settle that crowd down a little bit and build
15:53
Speaker 6: some momentum.
15:58
Speaker 4: And speaking for City, so far, like it seemed like
16:02
Speaker 4: Inter is just doing very well on both fronts. Do
16:05
Speaker 4: you feel like as if like this is something that
16:08
Speaker 4: the momentum that can contain, like they can maintain. Do
16:11
Speaker 4: you think they have that quality and this is probably
16:13
Speaker 4: like the same Inter we've seen a few years ago
16:15
Speaker 4: when they you know, they made the Chapions League Final
16:17
Speaker 4: and unfortunately lost to man City, which I think honestly,
16:19
Speaker 4: they probably could have easily won that game. They just
16:22
Speaker 4: played very well. But do you think this is something
16:25
Speaker 4: that is sustainable this year round or do you think it's.
16:30
Speaker 2: Gonna be.
16:32
Speaker 4: Like a different story towards the end. Do you think
16:34
Speaker 4: feel like it's a maybe they might just swap attention
16:35
Speaker 4: from one or the other.
16:39
Speaker 6: It seems to me like they're going all in to
16:41
Speaker 6: try to make as deep a possible run in both competitions.
16:45
Speaker 6: And I'm not just saying that because it's the right
16:47
Speaker 6: thing to say, but I I really you know, when
16:49
Speaker 6: I had when I had and I'm very superstitious, guys,
16:52
Speaker 6: so I didn't really like it when I saw Simony
16:54
Speaker 6: and Zagie making a comment about going for the treble
16:57
Speaker 6: in a weekend presser, Like I'm like, don't you don't
17:00
Speaker 6: have to say that out loud, like you do it,
17:02
Speaker 6: you have to say it out loud, But you know,
17:04
Speaker 6: but that that really seems to be the goal, Like
17:06
Speaker 6: they don't want to they don't want to punt on
17:08
Speaker 6: any of these competitions, and you know, I and I
17:11
Speaker 6: think that would be And of course I'm not predicting
17:14
Speaker 6: a treble for Inter, don't get me wrong, but I'm
17:16
Speaker 6: saying that they're going to go for it because that
17:17
Speaker 6: would really be, you know, the next milestone for Inzagie
17:21
Speaker 6: and for this syche for this cycle to get as
17:23
Speaker 6: close to that as possible, right, I mean, trebles are
17:26
Speaker 6: not easy, It's only been done once in the history
17:28
Speaker 6: of Italian football. But going for that h because you know,
17:32
Speaker 6: in Zogie has had the Kopa Trophy, Soupetcopa finally got
17:36
Speaker 6: his scudetto this past season with Inter, and and to
17:39
Speaker 6: try to try to really be dominated in both competitions
17:43
Speaker 6: Champions League and Seti I at once would kind of
17:45
Speaker 6: be the icing on the cake for him because it'susually
17:47
Speaker 6: been a one or the other. Because when Inter had
17:48
Speaker 6: that run to the Champions League final, it was a
17:51
Speaker 6: little bit of a little bit of a down campaign
17:54
Speaker 6: that year. In SETI I think they were there, were second,
17:56
Speaker 6: but probably could have done better in that competition, but
17:59
Speaker 6: had to the deeper run in Champions League. I think
18:02
Speaker 6: this season, what it's going to take to get there,
18:04
Speaker 6: it's hard for me to even imagine because when you
18:08
Speaker 6: are when you're playing Kalcho, you know two times per
18:11
Speaker 6: week on a consistent basis. In Zagi needs to be
18:16
Speaker 6: really really wise with the rotation in terms of, you know,
18:20
Speaker 6: being deep enough at certain positions in the midfield, you know,
18:23
Speaker 6: being able to, you know, in the first half sometimes
18:26
Speaker 6: giving arrest to Chalonolu or maybe taking him out around
18:30
Speaker 6: the sixtieth minute, you know, which means you know, player
18:32
Speaker 6: like Aslani is really going to have to become more consistent.
18:36
Speaker 6: Someone who I'm happy to see has had an uptick
18:39
Speaker 6: and form recently, as Marco Ornatovich. He's he's looked like
18:42
Speaker 6: a different player and you need him to step up
18:45
Speaker 6: because what you have gotten from Mehdi Terremi, that guy
18:50
Speaker 6: looks like he's playing for the other team when he's
18:52
Speaker 6: on the pitch. When Tereremi is on the pitch, all
18:54
Speaker 6: of his touches end in giveaways like it's the most
18:57
Speaker 6: frustrating thing and are not to be looked like that
19:00
Speaker 6: for a while. But Arnatavich has really picked up his
19:03
Speaker 6: game and he's in a good run of form, and
19:05
Speaker 6: you know, inter have I'm not even sure if Joaquin
19:08
Speaker 6: Korea is healthy at this moment, because you never know
19:10
Speaker 6: with him, but he's he's had a couple of appearances recently,
19:13
Speaker 6: and you know it's a little bit of like sizzle,
19:16
Speaker 6: but not not consistent enough on the pitch. And a
19:18
Speaker 6: guy like Davide Feratesi, I think is really important because
19:21
Speaker 6: he's been you know, at times.
19:23
Speaker 3: Either a super sub or a spot starter.
19:26
Speaker 6: And Fatesi is someone and I I like the player
19:30
Speaker 6: a lot, but he's I don't always feel like he's
19:33
Speaker 6: the best fit uh at Inter because he he's very
19:38
Speaker 6: good going forward, but I don't think he gives you
19:40
Speaker 6: enough box to box and he doesn't track back very well.
19:44
Speaker 6: You know, to try to compare him to someone like
19:46
Speaker 6: about Ella, it's like a big difference in just the
19:49
Speaker 6: style of play, with the way that Bedella fits with
19:51
Speaker 6: Inter and and Fatesi not so much. But Fantaisi is
19:54
Speaker 6: a quality player, uh. And so you know, if players
19:57
Speaker 6: like ar Natovich and Fanatesi and of course you know,
20:00
Speaker 6: uh depth pieces like b sec and and of course
20:04
Speaker 6: Bavard in the in the three line three men back line,
20:08
Speaker 6: you know, to be able to get consistently good stuff
20:10
Speaker 6: from some of these guys who aren't usually you know,
20:12
Speaker 6: they're not usually the protagonists, but you know, to be
20:15
Speaker 6: able to have them step up and play big because depth,
20:18
Speaker 6: depth is what gets you through, Like you have to
20:19
Speaker 6: have a strong mentality, you have to have a little
20:22
Speaker 6: bit of luck, you know, not having too many injuries
20:24
Speaker 6: the rest of the way, I believe, try to get
20:25
Speaker 6: your squad healthy, you know, and in April and May.
20:29
Speaker 6: But being able to have that sort of depth and
20:31
Speaker 6: strong mentality, that's what in Zoggie needs. Because guys, they're
20:34
Speaker 6: not going to punt on any of these competitions. I mean,
20:36
Speaker 6: Byron will be difficult. In the round of eight and
20:39
Speaker 6: Champions League. We'll see if Inter can advance. I believe
20:41
Speaker 6: they can, but it won't be easy. And then of
20:43
Speaker 6: course competing for SETI ah, they're going to be very
20:46
Speaker 6: tired by the end of May. This group, I feel like.
20:51
Speaker 1: You're kind of answering all of our questions from our
20:53
Speaker 1: friend Dieter on Twitter. He asked three different questions.
20:56
Speaker 6: I still want to answer because Dieter is is the
20:58
Speaker 6: absolute man.
20:59
Speaker 3: I love.
21:00
Speaker 6: Yeah, he used to go aultro connection, he goes way back.
21:03
Speaker 3: I love theater, so I'll answer again. I'll change my
21:06
Speaker 3: answers if I have.
21:11
Speaker 1: Uh so, yeah, three different questions. What are the chances
21:14
Speaker 1: of entering against Byron in the Champions League. Is Simonian
21:17
Speaker 1: Zagie the best question in city nowadays? And who's the
21:20
Speaker 1: best player A entered this season?
21:21
Speaker 3: And why?
21:22
Speaker 2: Thanks for answering my questions and events, No problem, Theater
21:25
Speaker 2: the Goat always always retweeting our our episodes before I'm
21:29
Speaker 2: I'm even able to retweet it. The guys super fast
21:32
Speaker 2: on Twitter.
21:33
Speaker 1: But I think I think we, you know, you kind
21:35
Speaker 1: of bringing it up talking about simonings, you know, talking
21:38
Speaker 1: about how he doesn't want to doesn't want to give
21:41
Speaker 1: up on any of the competitions.
21:43
Speaker 2: But in that sense, is he the best question in
21:45
Speaker 2: city right now?
21:47
Speaker 6: I mean, I it's either Ham or Conte for me,
21:50
Speaker 6: I have I have a soft spot. I have a
21:51
Speaker 6: soft spot for Conte. I I feel like in Zagie
21:57
Speaker 6: is it's it's definitely a more It's a prettier brand
22:02
Speaker 6: of football usually, although not monopoly or easy on the
22:05
Speaker 6: eyes though, because a lot of that also has to
22:07
Speaker 6: do with who you have on the pitch. But like
22:09
Speaker 6: going back to like Conte's days with with the inter
22:11
Speaker 6: squad that he had and with the Uventu squads. Yet
22:14
Speaker 6: it wasn't always like the prettiest brand of football, but
22:17
Speaker 6: it's it's extremely effective.
22:19
Speaker 3: But you know, in Zagie you get a.
22:21
Speaker 6: Little bit more when it's running on all cylinders, a
22:23
Speaker 6: little bit more Champagne football. I think in Zogie is uh,
22:27
Speaker 6: he's he's historically a little bit more versatile and and
22:32
Speaker 6: I think in Zagi I'd probably rather have been Zagie
22:35
Speaker 6: in Champions League, but I'd probably rather have Conte and
22:39
Speaker 6: Seti Ah. I think that that's always been kind of
22:41
Speaker 6: the Conte style really really fits better domestically, and in
22:46
Speaker 6: Zagi probably a little bit more in European football. But yeah,
22:50
Speaker 6: to me, it's either one of those two. Like I'll
22:52
Speaker 6: ride within Zogie because he's my guy right now. And
22:54
Speaker 6: as far as as far as Bayern, I you know,
22:58
Speaker 6: I haven't. I haven't watched Bayern as much this year
23:01
Speaker 6: as I normally do. I saw what they did though
23:04
Speaker 6: to Bayer Levercus in the previous tie it was like
23:07
Speaker 6: five mierl aggregate, so they you know, they blew aside
23:11
Speaker 6: their their their domestic opponents there and and Byron obviously
23:15
Speaker 6: historically has been a European power, so I think, but
23:18
Speaker 6: everything that I've seen with folks talking about that and
23:21
Speaker 6: actually a really good friend of mine is a Byron
23:23
Speaker 6: super fan. He used to be the president of the
23:26
Speaker 6: Miami Bayern Fan Club, And so we're already starting to
23:29
Speaker 6: talk a little a little trash. You know, if I
23:33
Speaker 6: think statistically, if you look at the betting sites, I
23:35
Speaker 6: think Byron are slight favorites to advance, but most people
23:40
Speaker 6: handicap it is pretty close to a fifty to fifty.
23:42
Speaker 6: So I would give into a shot to get through
23:45
Speaker 6: Byron because obviously, and it's crazy now that we're talking
23:48
Speaker 6: Champions League, you know, I talked about like Inter's inconsistent
23:52
Speaker 6: form in Setia. They they have been a different team
23:56
Speaker 6: in Champions League because they they rarely allow any goals.
23:59
Speaker 6: They've only allowed two goals in the entire competition so far.
24:02
Speaker 6: So I think if anything like maybe in Zogie, it's like, okay,
24:06
Speaker 6: defense is optional on the weekend Saturdays and Sundays, you
24:10
Speaker 6: need to we need to rest our back line for
24:12
Speaker 6: the Tuesdays and Wednesdays, because well, when it's a SETI
24:16
Speaker 6: on match, it's like, oh, I don't know, are they
24:17
Speaker 6: going to give up two goals three goals today? But
24:19
Speaker 6: if it's Champions League, clean sheets are on the way.
24:22
Speaker 6: So with the Champions League form they enter it been on.
24:25
Speaker 6: I absolutely give them a chance.
24:27
Speaker 4: Do you think like, like I like that you brought
24:29
Speaker 4: that up because it's something we've probably discussed amongst ourselves
24:32
Speaker 4: and like also discussed with friends. Probably do you think
24:35
Speaker 4: that SETI a right now? The reason why it's like
24:37
Speaker 4: that is because managerial wise, it's probably the best club
24:41
Speaker 4: in not best club, best league in the world in
24:44
Speaker 4: terms of like managers just knowing how to pit against
24:46
Speaker 4: each other, you know what I mean, Like they know
24:48
Speaker 4: how to Do you think that's that's that's what the
24:50
Speaker 4: difference maker is for them?
24:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a great question.
24:54
Speaker 6: I think if anything, we've had more more of a
24:57
Speaker 6: of a managerial evolution. It's finally reached Italy where you know,
25:02
Speaker 6: like another form of defense is attacking that like you know,
25:06
Speaker 6: packing the bus and having eleven men behind the ball
25:09
Speaker 6: like that. That's the way it used to happen with
25:11
Speaker 6: the Catanacio days is Setia. But I think even Italian
25:15
Speaker 6: managers and you know the foreign managers were in Setia
25:17
Speaker 6: as well, have evolved to a point where possession is
25:21
Speaker 6: also a form of defense because the opponent cannot score
25:24
Speaker 6: if they don't have the ball. So I think it's
25:27
Speaker 6: evolved a little bit to this point. And you know,
25:30
Speaker 6: obviously more and more foreign players in setia A, which
25:34
Speaker 6: is a good thing and a bad thing. Like on
25:36
Speaker 6: the one hand, you like the diversity, you know, just
25:38
Speaker 6: having like players from from different countries having different qualities
25:41
Speaker 6: and stuff. But then you know, on the other side, like,
25:44
Speaker 6: you know, I think one of the reasons why the
25:46
Speaker 6: Azuriti used to be so great was, you know when
25:49
Speaker 6: obviously there used to be rules where your team had
25:51
Speaker 6: to be majority Italian, So you don't have as many
25:54
Speaker 6: Italians on the pitch in seti A games, so maybe
25:56
Speaker 6: you don't develop as many of your your Italian internationals
25:59
Speaker 6: is used to. But yeah, but if nothing else, it's
26:03
Speaker 6: more exciting. And I say this as someone guys, I
26:06
Speaker 6: I don't mind a good one nil game, Like I'm
26:09
Speaker 6: I'm always old school, like I'm very I'm a man
26:12
Speaker 6: on an island, like down here in the States, especially
26:14
Speaker 6: in Florida, because in Florida there's a very you know,
26:17
Speaker 6: a big Spanish influence and a lot of a lot
26:20
Speaker 6: of people are fans of, you know, of the Spanish League,
26:25
Speaker 6: where it's just usually more free flowing and a lot
26:27
Speaker 6: more goals to get scored. So usually when I tell
26:30
Speaker 6: people I know I'm a Setia guy, they're like, oh,
26:32
Speaker 6: it's bored, like nil nil games, that's bored.
26:34
Speaker 3: Like, it's not boring to me.
26:35
Speaker 6: You give me like a good one nil, dramatic, a
26:38
Speaker 6: lot of defense, a lot of saves and stuff. I
26:40
Speaker 6: don't mind it, but I know that in terms of
26:42
Speaker 6: like creating new fans for Italian football, having more goals
26:45
Speaker 6: and having you know, two nil come from behind wins,
26:48
Speaker 6: it's it's more exciting to most other people.
26:50
Speaker 3: So I'm okay with that too.
26:52
Speaker 1: Not even that and just having like an aesthetically pleasing
26:57
Speaker 1: product to watch. You know, we talk about this so
26:59
Speaker 1: much with stadium. You know, you watch a game in England,
27:02
Speaker 1: the crowds right, you know, next.
27:03
Speaker 2: To the pitch.
27:04
Speaker 1: You're watching on TV. It's a nice broadcast. You know
27:07
Speaker 1: they have available in forour K. I don't know how
27:09
Speaker 1: it is in the States, alex uh, but.
27:11
Speaker 6: We don't have four K for city, at least at
27:13
Speaker 6: least not on my on my paramount. Plus it's no
27:16
Speaker 6: no four K, which is annoying.
27:17
Speaker 1: No here here neither And you you know, there's some
27:19
Speaker 1: stadiums where you don't even see the fans, you know,
27:23
Speaker 1: the pit there's still running tracks around pitches there, So.
27:26
Speaker 6: I hate you're just not alone. And it's such a
27:29
Speaker 6: big on TV when you have exact track. Yeah, exactly,
27:32
Speaker 6: hate it.
27:33
Speaker 4: Sorry, mind it though, like it adds like a charm
27:36
Speaker 4: to it. You know, I'm sinking because like you know,
27:39
Speaker 4: but it's like, it's it's the Olympic. It's the Olympic stadium, right,
27:42
Speaker 4: It's there, it's there, It's an Olympic sized stadium. It's
27:45
Speaker 4: just it's an honor to say, like our city at
27:47
Speaker 4: one point hosted Olympic athletes or trained Olympic athletes. So
27:50
Speaker 4: it's like, yes, you could have dedicated football pitches, which
27:53
Speaker 4: are fine. I understand that, but it adds like a
27:56
Speaker 4: nice flare to it. It makes it seem bigger than
27:58
Speaker 4: it actually is. It's like, I I do agree that.
28:02
Speaker 2: It like it's it looks a bit off putting.
28:06
Speaker 4: I guess it's like, you know, like but it just
28:09
Speaker 4: I don't I like seeing that every time they scored,
28:11
Speaker 4: like a player will score, hops over the barrier, runs
28:14
Speaker 4: the tract to the crowd and stuff and just like
28:17
Speaker 4: I don't know it adds.
28:19
Speaker 6: I will say that, like what watching games at the
28:22
Speaker 6: Mona Donna, like ever since it was a few years
28:25
Speaker 6: ago when they did the big renovation, like at least
28:27
Speaker 6: like they they made the track that like nice shiny blue,
28:30
Speaker 6: because it used to, like, like I read, like a
28:32
Speaker 6: few years ago, I thought the track used to look
28:34
Speaker 6: kind of run down, like hey, nobody's really run on
28:36
Speaker 6: this in like twenty years. But now like they made
28:39
Speaker 6: they made the track at least look pretty, which makes
28:41
Speaker 6: it look better on TV.
28:42
Speaker 4: Actually funny enough, it's funny that you say that because
28:44
Speaker 4: at one point my I think it was my TikTok
28:47
Speaker 4: or Instagram algorithm probably just I don't know what it was.
28:50
Speaker 4: But actually, like at one point I got onto the
28:53
Speaker 4: because probably because I liked all on a Napoly posts
28:55
Speaker 4: or something like that, that I eventually got to track
28:57
Speaker 4: runners and in Napoli actually like posting an account, and
29:01
Speaker 4: they would train at the Maradonna like uh, like there
29:04
Speaker 4: was times where it's like one of the runners were
29:06
Speaker 4: constantly bump into uh Lorentz and stuff. She never talked
29:10
Speaker 4: to him because she was like, you don't want to
29:12
Speaker 4: like obvious stuff on his toes and stuff. But it's
29:14
Speaker 4: it's just so funny how you like, like those worlds
29:16
Speaker 4: will collide and stuff, and I'm just there.
29:17
Speaker 2: Like because I used to think the same way. It's like,
29:20
Speaker 2: you know, like you look at you look at the games,
29:22
Speaker 2: You're like.
29:22
Speaker 4: Is anybody even running on these tracks anymore?
29:24
Speaker 2: Like what was the last time they host the Dealer.
29:26
Speaker 6: Like like because like I feel like like a few
29:28
Speaker 6: years ago, like there used to be like potholes on
29:30
Speaker 6: that track and it was like yeah, but now but now,
29:33
Speaker 6: like the the track looks like you could run on
29:35
Speaker 6: it tonight and you could have an Olympic there tonight.
29:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, I do want I want to go back.
29:41
Speaker 6: I'm not sure if you asked this or if I
29:43
Speaker 6: skipped over this, because I remember I saw Dieter's question
29:46
Speaker 6: on X yeah and he also asked And I want
29:49
Speaker 6: to make sure to answer this now because I purposely
29:52
Speaker 6: held this back because I knew Deeter's question was coming
29:55
Speaker 6: about who has been the best player on inter this season?
29:58
Speaker 6: Like I purposely did not say this name earlier, but
30:01
Speaker 6: in my humble opinion, guys, I think Bastoni I believe
30:05
Speaker 6: him been the best players on Inter this season.
30:08
Speaker 3: He has.
30:09
Speaker 6: He's been the most consistent on defense by far. I
30:14
Speaker 6: saw this stat recently and and first of all, I
30:16
Speaker 6: don't know why in Zagie is subbing him out like
30:18
Speaker 6: in so many games. Yeah, so like every every time time. Yeah,
30:24
Speaker 6: but but it's always a clean sheet. While Bostoni is
30:27
Speaker 6: on the pitch, in Zagie subs him off and then
30:29
Speaker 6: internships a goal. It always happens, and then he's Bastoni
30:34
Speaker 6: has gotten so confident going forward, like he he really
30:38
Speaker 6: he really looks smooth, you know, with his with his
30:41
Speaker 6: dribbling and with his crosses, and you know, he's He's
30:44
Speaker 6: also had to be deputized as a wing back, which
30:48
Speaker 6: is really not a natural position for him, but it
30:51
Speaker 6: goes back to that wing back injury crisis. They've been
30:53
Speaker 6: able to slide Bostoni out to left wing back and
30:56
Speaker 6: he's he's looked good, very good at that spoty and
31:00
Speaker 6: if center back is really his natural position with his
31:02
Speaker 6: height and with his size, so yeah, I think Bostoni
31:05
Speaker 6: to me has been the best and most consistent player
31:10
Speaker 6: on inter this year, because I can never everybody else
31:12
Speaker 6: I can say like Latado has had poor runs of form,
31:16
Speaker 6: Tounam has had poor runs of form, but Ella has
31:20
Speaker 6: when he's great, he's great, but he's had some lesser
31:22
Speaker 6: runs of form. But like BOSTONI has been lights out
31:25
Speaker 6: all season long.
31:26
Speaker 2: I I think I'm how joking, I says.
31:29
Speaker 4: I think the reason why Bostonia gets subbed out is
31:31
Speaker 4: because Fuddy does him like, hey, look, we don't have
31:32
Speaker 4: any other defenders. Please just just just please, we don't
31:35
Speaker 4: have any other center back. Please like Bastoni not be
31:37
Speaker 4: injured for the national team.
31:39
Speaker 2: We need him.
31:41
Speaker 6: Yeah, I saw Spiletti was at it might have been
31:44
Speaker 6: the Monza game, you know he was. He was at
31:47
Speaker 6: the Intermonza game, and he was probably like he was
31:49
Speaker 6: on a secret headset within Zoggie. He's like, all right,
31:51
Speaker 6: it's toime seventieth minutes. Time take BOSTONI off. Now I
31:54
Speaker 6: need him healthy and.
31:56
Speaker 2: He's gotta work it.
31:57
Speaker 5: Left forty, like you said, caught in the like on
32:00
Speaker 5: that left f link. If he needs to a hell
32:03
Speaker 5: of a left foot he put in a cross he
32:05
Speaker 5: could even if he has the if he has the
32:08
Speaker 5: time and space, he could even you know, rifle one
32:10
Speaker 5: in there. So I think he's been a lot. I
32:12
Speaker 5: don't even I don't know about minutes wise, but I
32:14
Speaker 5: think he's he must have the most minutes.
32:16
Speaker 2: Played free into this season.
32:17
Speaker 5: I would I would assume so, like if it's not him,
32:20
Speaker 5: I don't know who.
32:20
Speaker 6: It is, but yeah, because he always starts. Because other
32:24
Speaker 6: other center backs have been in and out at times
32:27
Speaker 6: with with injuries. At Cherby he's been injured for he's
32:31
Speaker 6: he's healthy now, but he was injured for like half
32:33
Speaker 6: the season. The Rye Pavard has been injured, but Bastoni
32:37
Speaker 6: like sometimes they'll sub him out. But I think he's
32:40
Speaker 6: he started pretty much every game, not every single game.
32:44
Speaker 5: Going you answered obviously, the who do you think the
32:46
Speaker 5: best player uh free into this season has been just
32:49
Speaker 5: to go on the flip side, if there's anybody that
32:51
Speaker 5: you've been maybe disappointed about or maybe you know, if
32:54
Speaker 5: BOSTONI is the top who's your flop for inter so
32:57
Speaker 5: far this season?
32:58
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean low hanging fruits. Easiest answer is Mediteremi.
33:03
Speaker 6: He's you know, he's been he's just been dreadful quite frankly,
33:08
Speaker 6: you know, I know, I know he's he's not been
33:10
Speaker 6: completely healthy, like I've heard about him having to play
33:13
Speaker 6: through some some minor injuries he had in one of
33:17
Speaker 6: Inter's Champions League game. He had a good performance, but
33:20
Speaker 6: like he's he's had to play quite a bit lately,
33:23
Speaker 6: like during the time when Tunam wasn't healthy, and it's
33:26
Speaker 6: just unfortunately he can't seem to put a good touch.
33:28
Speaker 6: And I don't know if it's a mental thing at times,
33:31
Speaker 6: because he was really good in Portugal last season and
33:35
Speaker 6: so it's hard to think that like the decline would
33:37
Speaker 6: happen so.
33:38
Speaker 3: Steep with him.
33:39
Speaker 6: You know, he's he's probably been the biggest flop this season.
33:42
Speaker 6: Like he's looked unplayable at times when he's been on
33:44
Speaker 6: the pitch quite frankly, and you can't say that about
33:46
Speaker 6: too many inter players, you know, in terms of of
33:49
Speaker 6: other you know, there's inconsistency at.
33:52
Speaker 3: Time for Aslani.
33:54
Speaker 6: You know, he's not always that reliable, but he's he's
33:56
Speaker 6: he's been good at times, Like there's definitely been a
33:58
Speaker 6: few matches I thought, okay, this was a really good shift,
34:01
Speaker 6: good performance from Oslani. You know, his level has not
34:04
Speaker 6: been like consistently up to par, and you know, Bickatarian
34:10
Speaker 6: very very up and down. Like there there are some
34:12
Speaker 6: some matches where Mikatarian looks like Man of the Match
34:16
Speaker 6: and then other matches where he can't seem to to
34:19
Speaker 6: get a touch, right, So maybe that comes probably. I
34:22
Speaker 6: mean he runs a lot for his age, you know,
34:24
Speaker 6: mid thirties. I mean he's he you know, he never
34:27
Speaker 6: stops running, that guy, So the consistency is not always
34:30
Speaker 6: there though, those would probably be I mean, the one
34:32
Speaker 6: true flop and then the others that have not always
34:35
Speaker 6: been that reliable this year.
34:39
Speaker 1: And Alex before you know, before we we wrap up tonight,
34:44
Speaker 1: I want to look ahead. You know, we got Champions League.
34:47
Speaker 1: Koban Tyler said, you know, you talked about ZACT. You're
34:50
Speaker 1: talking about trouble. But if you had to choose one,
34:53
Speaker 1: if you had to choose just one, Alex, which one
34:56
Speaker 1: it would it? Would it be that you want your
34:58
Speaker 1: team to win?
34:59
Speaker 3: Yeah? Uh, it's it's tough.
35:01
Speaker 6: Obviously obviously you give you give up Cope Italia with
35:05
Speaker 6: the easy, easy elimination, right, could you eliminate Kolpa? I
35:10
Speaker 6: I would say, I would say Champions League because of
35:14
Speaker 6: the prestige that comes with that. I mean there are
35:16
Speaker 6: more more eyes on the Champions League final internationally than
35:22
Speaker 6: most any sporting event in the world. You know, outside
35:25
Speaker 6: of maybe World Cup final being being the obvious number one.
35:28
Speaker 6: Champions League final is right up there, and just the
35:30
Speaker 6: amount of respect that you get around the globe, right
35:32
Speaker 6: because it's obviously it would be hard for me if
35:36
Speaker 6: I had to sacrifice a scudetto for a Champions League.
35:39
Speaker 6: It's not an easy thing to do. But you know,
35:42
Speaker 6: a lot a lot less people pay attention to the
35:45
Speaker 6: domestic Citia title race than they do the Champions League.
35:48
Speaker 6: So if if Enter and obviously you know, Italian teams
35:51
Speaker 6: winning the Champions League has been more rare. You know,
35:53
Speaker 6: meet Milan of course has carried Italy statistically in that
35:56
Speaker 6: with the seven Inter with three, Juve with two, so
36:00
Speaker 6: you know, you you can count them on a twelve
36:03
Speaker 6: fingers the Champions League titles that that they Italy have had.
36:07
Speaker 6: So yeah, if Inter could do that, I would I
36:10
Speaker 6: would trade in the other competitions for that if I
36:12
Speaker 6: have the choice.
36:13
Speaker 1: And looking at the Champions League bracket, because this year
36:16
Speaker 1: it's it's a fixed bracket right through from the knockout
36:19
Speaker 1: playoffs right through the final U so Intern knew they
36:22
Speaker 1: were going.
36:22
Speaker 2: To play Byron on Tuesday.
36:26
Speaker 1: On that side of the bracket, there's Barcelona and Dormant
36:28
Speaker 1: and then the other side we got Arsenal, Reale, psg
36:31
Speaker 1: Aisen Villa. Obviously, what do you make of chances versus Byron,
36:37
Speaker 1: But not only that, just you know, the whole side
36:39
Speaker 1: of the bracket.
36:41
Speaker 6: You give me, give you the ones again after after Byron,
36:44
Speaker 6: so I can think because I don't have it in
36:45
Speaker 6: front of me. So I want to think about because
36:47
Speaker 6: I feel like enter or on the better side of
36:50
Speaker 6: the bracket, Like if you can avoid the Real Madrid
36:53
Speaker 6: side of the bracket because of their European pedigree, that
36:56
Speaker 6: that's never. That's never a team I would run to
36:58
Speaker 6: run into before the final, specially.
37:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, Barsa, Barcia, Dorman is on the same side as
37:05
Speaker 1: Byron Intern and then we got psg As and Villa and
37:08
Speaker 1: then Real Madrid Arsenal. So uh, if UFA has their way,
37:11
Speaker 1: we got a Real Madrid Barcelona final.
37:14
Speaker 2: Sure absolutely, you know the chances of that are are
37:16
Speaker 2: kind of low.
37:17
Speaker 6: But anyways, yeah, I mean, I feel I feel that
37:22
Speaker 6: why why not inter with the especially the defensive form
37:26
Speaker 6: that they've had in Champions League, They've been so difficult
37:29
Speaker 6: to score against. I I optimistically I could see them.
37:35
Speaker 6: I could see them getting to the semi final and
37:38
Speaker 6: then being on maybe the friendlier side of the bracket,
37:40
Speaker 6: you would have an opportunity. I mean, I will say
37:42
Speaker 6: that I feel like the European form of this year's
37:47
Speaker 6: Inter and Champions League up to this point have been
37:51
Speaker 6: probably even better than the one that reached the Champions
37:54
Speaker 6: League final a couple of years ago. And Inter got
37:57
Speaker 6: pretty lucky on the side of the bracket that they
37:59
Speaker 6: were on, you know, especially being able to have you know,
38:02
Speaker 6: a Milan Darby in the semi final, or your two
38:04
Speaker 6: teams that you thought were both probably punching over their
38:06
Speaker 6: weight to even get that far. So they're not gonna
38:09
Speaker 6: be quite that fortunate this year. But I think their
38:11
Speaker 6: form in Europe has actually been better than it was
38:14
Speaker 6: a couple of seasons ago. So I will I will say,
38:17
Speaker 6: why why not enter to have a chance to be
38:19
Speaker 6: in the mix. I don't I don't necessarily think they
38:21
Speaker 6: will win Champions League, but it's good to advance as
38:24
Speaker 6: far as you can go, Fellas, because that the Euros
38:27
Speaker 6: start rolling in, I think they've already they've already netted
38:30
Speaker 6: I think I saw the stat about ninety eight million
38:33
Speaker 6: euros for as far as they've already gone in the
38:35
Speaker 6: Champions League. So if you can get a couple of
38:37
Speaker 6: rounds deeper, it's gonna be a great thing. Because we
38:40
Speaker 6: know how we know how these American ownership groups are.
38:43
Speaker 6: They don't they don't like to spend money that they
38:44
Speaker 6: don't have, so you know you're gonna have the the
38:47
Speaker 6: bank as much as possible for the transfer windows coming up.
38:51
Speaker 5: No, but I honestly I think it's it's gonna be tough,
38:55
Speaker 5: I think, like regardless, but you know, I think they
38:59
Speaker 5: as much is you know, being rafful fan, you don't
39:02
Speaker 5: want to see them do well. But I think they
39:04
Speaker 5: have it. Like you said, I do think they have
39:05
Speaker 5: a chance. I mean I think if they can get
39:09
Speaker 5: but I mean it's one game, it's one well what
39:12
Speaker 5: a time. So if they get past Byron and you
39:14
Speaker 5: know they face at Barcelona. But again, Barcelona's been surprisingly
39:17
Speaker 5: really like really good this season from what I've been
39:20
Speaker 5: earing and seeing, So you know, Raphenias on hell of
39:23
Speaker 5: a form and on the other side, you know, if
39:26
Speaker 5: it ends up being a phg Reil Madrid type of
39:29
Speaker 5: semi final, you know those two teams are are some good,
39:33
Speaker 5: some good competition. Obviously we saw what Jijo de Numa
39:36
Speaker 5: did in the penalties shootouts against Liverpool, just once again
39:42
Speaker 5: coming up clutch. So yeah, I mean, I don't see
39:47
Speaker 5: why they can't get to another you know, Champions League final.
39:52
Speaker 5: If winning it, I don't know, it's it's it's a final.
39:55
Speaker 5: Anything can happen. But what would be your predictions for
39:58
Speaker 5: the other matchups?
40:00
Speaker 3: Uh?
40:00
Speaker 5: So you would be the byron Sorry, Barcelona, dortmun.
40:06
Speaker 3: Real, Barcelona.
40:07
Speaker 6: I'll go Barcelona based on their form, and I'll go
40:10
Speaker 6: I'll go Real over Arsenal.
40:12
Speaker 3: And then.
40:15
Speaker 4: Was it.
40:18
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, yeah, I'll go I'll go p S G.
40:23
Speaker 6: Real, I'll make the home er pick uh for for
40:27
Speaker 6: inter uh to make it? And and who who's the
40:31
Speaker 6: other one? I said with advance on on that side
40:32
Speaker 6: of the bracket, Barca. I'll go into Barca in the
40:38
Speaker 6: semi final, and.
40:40
Speaker 3: Then p S G Real Madrid.
40:43
Speaker 5: And if you would have to pick a final, since
40:46
Speaker 5: we're going to continue going.
40:48
Speaker 3: I'm gonna I'm gonna go.
40:48
Speaker 6: I'm gonna go inter Real Madrid and it's gonna go
40:51
Speaker 6: to a penalty kicks shootout and then God, God help
40:53
Speaker 6: us all.
40:57
Speaker 5: Well said, yeah, I don't know if we still have time, Alex,
41:03
Speaker 5: I know you guys are on a bit of a
41:05
Speaker 5: on a bit of a crunch.
41:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, I got a few more.
41:08
Speaker 6: Yeah, I want to go about probably seven eight minutes
41:10
Speaker 6: because I got an early early wake up call tomorrow
41:12
Speaker 6: for sure.
41:14
Speaker 5: Before we have like one last question maybe to well.
41:18
Speaker 5: We had one question that we wanted to end it
41:19
Speaker 5: with because, uh, you know this, we're sort of handing
41:24
Speaker 5: into uh international break soon, so we want to ask
41:26
Speaker 5: you just one edzwalty question at the end end, but
41:30
Speaker 5: one thing before that, I just wanted to ask another question.
41:36
Speaker 5: You know this, this inter team has has obviously gone
41:39
Speaker 5: through the progressions, uh you know, season after season, if
41:41
Speaker 5: it be with like you said, Conte now now in Zagie,
41:45
Speaker 5: they've really tried to become a you know, a polish
41:49
Speaker 5: finished product. I don't think there's still one hundred percent there.
41:52
Speaker 5: I think there is still obviously room for improvement. In
41:55
Speaker 5: your humble opinion, and you obviously you're the inter fan tonight,
41:58
Speaker 5: but do you see or what do you need to
42:02
Speaker 5: see this team do to kind of get to that
42:06
Speaker 5: maybe final finished, polished product that you maybe want to
42:10
Speaker 5: see inter at or fans think that inter can get
42:13
Speaker 5: at like what is it is a players, is it coaching,
42:15
Speaker 5: is it some upper management or what.
42:17
Speaker 3: Do you see?
42:19
Speaker 6: Honestly, you know, thinking for the rest of this season,
42:22
Speaker 6: if they're going to close it out and try to
42:24
Speaker 6: win a scudetto try to win a Champions League, I
42:28
Speaker 6: really think the top thing that they need and this
42:31
Speaker 6: if you just look at the statistics of how much
42:33
Speaker 6: they've scored this season, this is going to seem odd.
42:36
Speaker 6: But if you watch inter game in and game out,
42:39
Speaker 6: they need to be more clinical this season. I don't
42:43
Speaker 6: know if I've ever consistently seen as many missed sitters
42:48
Speaker 6: as I have this year, which is obviously a testament
42:51
Speaker 6: to creating chances and putting the ball into dangerous areas.
42:55
Speaker 6: But you know, to have certain certain spots where you know, Lata,
43:01
Speaker 6: you know, has a volley from five feet away from
43:04
Speaker 6: the net and somehow can put it over the net,
43:06
Speaker 6: which seems you know, harder to do from that distance
43:09
Speaker 6: and put it in. Or you know Tuam Tudam in
43:12
Speaker 6: the Champions League match the other day, he scored a
43:14
Speaker 6: brilliant goal in the first half, but he created this
43:17
Speaker 6: unbelievable chance against Finord in the second half where he
43:20
Speaker 6: dribbled two defenders in the box and then the finish
43:23
Speaker 6: was right there he somehow hit a goal post. So
43:25
Speaker 6: I think inter especially in seti AH matches, have hit
43:28
Speaker 6: more goal posts this season than I think I've ever
43:31
Speaker 6: seen in my entire life, and so you make your
43:34
Speaker 6: lives more difficult, especially when at times your defense has
43:37
Speaker 6: been injured in a little bit leaky. If you're creating
43:40
Speaker 6: this many chances and you have, you know, at least
43:42
Speaker 6: two world class strikers, if they're both on the pitch
43:45
Speaker 6: at the same time, you should be able to more
43:47
Speaker 6: consistently put some of these games away. So I think
43:50
Speaker 6: that's really the big thing. Be more clinical in front
43:53
Speaker 6: of the net, because there have been certain matches this
43:56
Speaker 6: season where maybe Ters had one to one draws where
44:00
Speaker 6: they really should have won maybe two to one, three
44:02
Speaker 6: to one based on the chance has created that sort
44:04
Speaker 6: of thing, or you know, matches they should have probably
44:07
Speaker 6: won three nil that they won one nil.
44:09
Speaker 3: So it's it's been that thing.
44:11
Speaker 6: I think if they can really find more clinical form
44:13
Speaker 6: in front of the net, I think they could. I'm
44:15
Speaker 6: not gonna say cruise because it's a tight race this year,
44:18
Speaker 6: but they could maybe have a more comfortable finish on
44:21
Speaker 6: top of the table than what we're building towards right now.
44:26
Speaker 4: And uh, now to kind of ask and wrap it
44:29
Speaker 4: up with the last question, a competition that I can
44:32
Speaker 4: believe even forgot about Nations League coming up, Jenny, Yeah,
44:41
Speaker 4: how do you feel about the Azudi's chances versus Germany
44:45
Speaker 4: playing against them on the twentieth and twenty third.
44:48
Speaker 2: We were talking about it before, you know, like needing Bastoni.
44:50
Speaker 4: For the national team. Now obviously we're gonna need him
44:52
Speaker 4: against the team like Germany, so you know.
44:55
Speaker 5: And they're playing Milano, so we're gonna have to do
44:57
Speaker 5: a couple more prayer, a couple more prayers. Maybe, I
45:00
Speaker 5: don't know, it's always seemed to be, Yeah, they're missed
45:02
Speaker 5: when they go to they go to Milano.
45:05
Speaker 6: I'm feeling I'm feeling a little bit better about the
45:07
Speaker 6: Azuriti lately. I think they're they're hitting, they're hitting a
45:10
Speaker 6: little bit of what I think can be a cycle.
45:13
Speaker 6: You know, when they when they won that that Euro
45:15
Speaker 6: twenty twenty that was played in twenty twenty one, like
45:18
Speaker 6: they they just caught like a great bit of form.
45:20
Speaker 6: It was like a magic carpet ride at the right time.
45:23
Speaker 6: But even at the competitions that were you know, Sandwich
45:26
Speaker 6: around that one, they weren't performing that well. Uh, they
45:29
Speaker 6: caught lightning in a bottle. But yeah, I think that
45:31
Speaker 6: we're seeing some of these young Italian technicians and I
45:35
Speaker 6: like Spaletti, you know, I like him for this gig guy.
45:38
Speaker 6: I think that they can hit a run of form
45:40
Speaker 6: and and hopefully put away put away Deutsche Land coming up.
45:44
Speaker 3: You know.
45:44
Speaker 6: I like obviously what the inter players have been doing
45:46
Speaker 6: at the national level, you know, but Ella, I want
45:49
Speaker 6: to see him more play more consistently for country, because
45:52
Speaker 6: there's sometimes where like but Ella's in really good form
45:54
Speaker 6: for inter and not as much for the Azuriti. You know,
45:57
Speaker 6: Bostonia has been in good form wherever he's been, so
46:00
Speaker 6: I'm feeling better about the Azuriti. I'm not feeling good
46:02
Speaker 6: about Nations League though. I feel like Nations League to
46:05
Speaker 6: me is a competition I feel like was created just
46:09
Speaker 6: to make your club teams more tired, Like how can
46:12
Speaker 6: we add more international breaks and how can we have
46:16
Speaker 6: more players because players always get injured and it's always
46:19
Speaker 6: the ones you least want get injured during the international duty.
46:22
Speaker 6: Like I feel like Nations League is a is a
46:25
Speaker 6: trophy outside of the Pride. I don't you know, I
46:28
Speaker 6: don't know how serious of a trophy that I would love.
46:30
Speaker 3: To win it.
46:30
Speaker 6: Don't get me wrong, but Nations League, I feel like,
46:33
Speaker 6: was just made to frustrate the fans who put club
46:37
Speaker 6: over country. And I'm not saying that's me because you know,
46:40
Speaker 6: for as many as many joyous moments I've had watching
46:43
Speaker 6: inter watching the two thousand and six World Cup final
46:48
Speaker 6: for the Adzuditi is probably maybe the most joyous moment
46:51
Speaker 6: I've ever had watching football. So I maybe I am
46:54
Speaker 6: country over club. But I also you know, the Nation's
46:57
Speaker 6: League not necessarily.
46:59
Speaker 5: We always we always say it no matter what game
47:01
Speaker 5: it is, and I think we spoke about it Bill
47:03
Speaker 5: last week. If I have my memory suits me right,
47:05
Speaker 5: doesn't matter what competition, doesn't matter who they're playing, if
47:08
Speaker 5: it's the we're gonna still watch. It doesn't matter.
47:10
Speaker 2: Like I grew one.
47:11
Speaker 5: Hundred percent with what you're saying about the Nation's League trophy,
47:14
Speaker 5: it's it's maybe a Mickey Mouse trophy, whatever you want
47:16
Speaker 5: to say it, like label or ask, but we already
47:18
Speaker 5: know we're still gonna be able to find attempt to watch.
47:20
Speaker 5: If we're at work, if we're home, if we're here,
47:23
Speaker 5: we're there with the kid, we're with. It doesn't matter,
47:26
Speaker 5: you know, the the play. You know, I feel like
47:29
Speaker 5: we always tune in.
47:29
Speaker 1: But yeah, one thing, uh, these Nation league these Nations
47:37
Speaker 1: league games actually have an impact on World Cup qualifying
47:39
Speaker 1: because if Italy lose, if it only lose, they start
47:44
Speaker 1: qualifying in the June window and they get put in
47:47
Speaker 1: a group of five teams with Norway, Israel, Estonia, Moldova,
47:52
Speaker 1: and if they win, they only uh play a group
47:56
Speaker 1: of four teams and they start World Cup qualifying in
47:59
Speaker 1: September group of Slovakia and Northern Ireland and Luxembourg. So
48:03
Speaker 1: you know, you know, whichever way both groups, Italy has
48:06
Speaker 1: to win straight up, they have to. We talked about this,
48:09
Speaker 1: qualified for the World Cup. Do you want to be
48:12
Speaker 1: in a group of four or a group of five?
48:13
Speaker 1: Do you want to start World Cup qualifying in June
48:15
Speaker 1: or step You know, that's a toss up.
48:17
Speaker 4: But sometimes sometimes maybe it's not.
48:21
Speaker 6: You know, it's not all I cannot for my sanity,
48:26
Speaker 6: I cannot watch another World Cup that doesn't involve the.
48:31
Speaker 2: Especially especially right here in North America.
48:34
Speaker 6: Yeah, and I know like they've made They've made the
48:36
Speaker 6: World Cup bigger, so you're ready. It's gonna be harder
48:39
Speaker 6: to miss it. But I don't want to find a
48:41
Speaker 6: way to not qualify.
48:43
Speaker 5: For it because it to the Italians to kind of
48:45
Speaker 5: try to find the weasel their way out of And you.
48:48
Speaker 6: Know, whether they make it or not, it's gonna come
48:50
Speaker 6: down to a one nil win or loss in the
48:53
Speaker 6: final against Luxembourg.
48:54
Speaker 3: You know it's lose one.
49:00
Speaker 5: We're gonna have to save this clip because this is
49:02
Speaker 5: gonna haunt us later on.
49:03
Speaker 1: We're yeah, man, Alex, thank you so much. It's honestly
49:09
Speaker 1: such always a pleasure to talk to you. I love
49:11
Speaker 1: listening to you because you have such a radio voice.
49:12
Speaker 1: I mean it's your job, right, uh So it's always
49:15
Speaker 1: such a nice uh listen. Where can people find you
49:19
Speaker 1: on social media?
49:21
Speaker 6: Thank you so much? Yeah, you can find me. Yeah,
49:24
Speaker 6: I have I have the wrong I have two X accounts.
49:27
Speaker 6: One of them is for the College American football show
49:30
Speaker 6: that I do at Lockdown Kanes. The other one is
49:32
Speaker 6: just my name at Alex Donno on X you can
49:35
Speaker 6: find me there. You know, I'll talk a little bit
49:39
Speaker 6: a little bit more cal show on the personal account,
49:42
Speaker 6: so you could check it out. And obviously when interplay,
49:45
Speaker 6: I usually I usually react favorably to the goals interscore,
49:49
Speaker 6: and then I disappear because I throw my phone against
49:51
Speaker 6: the wall when they when they can see. It's usually
49:53
Speaker 6: how that goes on matchdays. So yeah, make sure you
49:56
Speaker 6: make sure you follow me there, and if you do,
49:58
Speaker 6: for anyone watching this, if you're you know, in North
50:00
Speaker 6: America or you have interest in American football, you know,
50:03
Speaker 6: I host a couple of a couple of shows on
50:05
Speaker 6: that Locked on Canes where I cover the Miami Hurricanes
50:08
Speaker 6: and Locked on ACC where I covered the Atlantic Coast
50:11
Speaker 6: Conference in college football.
50:12
Speaker 3: So check those out.
50:13
Speaker 5: Absolutely, And your boycam More maybe goes kind of first. Overall,
50:16
Speaker 5: we'll see.
50:17
Speaker 6: I don't know, I think Hurricanes, there's too many cam More.
50:23
Speaker 6: I think there's another cam Ward even in addition to that.
50:26
Speaker 5: Yeah, but no, guys, honestly, uh, you know, been been
50:32
Speaker 5: uh close friends with without for for quite a while. Now.
50:35
Speaker 5: We go way back, and we always appreciate his support.
50:37
Speaker 5: We appreciate him coming on once again. Two years I
50:40
Speaker 5: still can't believe it's been that long. Because your last appearance,
50:43
Speaker 5: we hope and promise that does not happen again. We
50:46
Speaker 5: want to see you back on the show please very
50:48
Speaker 5: very soon. But yeah, we wish you nothing but the best.
50:51
Speaker 5: And again, guys, go follow him locked on canes out,
50:53
Speaker 5: Don't Know on on X and all the on all
50:55
Speaker 5: social media platforms. For us, guys, what you say every
50:58
Speaker 5: week at the cultural guys, it's very very simple on socials.
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51:21
Speaker 3: Thanks for listening.
51:23
Speaker 4: Nice