70: Double Derby Drama

Hello and welcome back to another episode of Serie A Spotlight, this is Season 2 Episode 30 and we are hosts Matt and Jake here to discuss all the happenings of Matchday 27 of Serie A which included 2 derbies, a Milan upset and a relegation 6-pointer. Absolutely action packed as a weekend bro, not many high quality goals in my opinion for this one.

No, not too many, I believe there was the only one that kind of stood out to us apart from that Napoli one touch play that led to a second goal was Gabbi Addini's second goal against Verona. Yeah, what a strike that was on the turn, he created space very well, it was a snapshot essentially and it was perfect, very difficult to save over there. Yeah, captain leading by example over there in the relegation 6-pointer.

Our betting segment, victory back to winning ways, that makes it like I believe 4 victories in 5 now? Something like that. We bet that Juve would win or draw against Inter and that there'd be over 2 yellow cards in the game and we won. This was kind of clear to us considering Inter's current form and Juve's current form arguably the second best team in the league at the moment.

At the moment I would say so, I know a couple of weeks ago I said that was Roma but football moves so quickly, teams derail so quickly and teams rise to the occasion so quickly. Don't forget to follow us guys at Serial Spotlight on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube and don't forget to rate us 5 stars wherever you're listening Serial Spotlight be it Spotify, Apple Play or Google Podcasts. And please do reach out, we love to hear from you guys.

Absolutely, I noticed that I just said Apple Play and Google Podcasts. Is it Apple Podcasts and Google Play? Yeah exactly, it is Apple Podcasts nowadays, iTunes doesn't exist anymore? No, I don't think it does. I think there's Apple Music. You can tell I'm the Android guy over here. Well I'm not too well versed on Apple either, I just own their products because of AirDrop. There's really few other reasons that I use Macbooks. We were blessed this week to witness an Antonio Conte public meltdown.

My god, that had to be, now I know I'm a Serie A guy and I don't have an anti-prem agenda but I have an anti-prem agenda but this had to be the most entertaining thing that happened all weekend man. This is the second best Italian slating an English team that we've seen, slating Spurs specifically, that we've seen since Scallini right? When he basically said that is the history of the Tottenham. That's basically what Conte kind of said as well. It is, it is.

I have some sound bites over here bro from the interview. This is my personal favourite. The situation went to become worst. I think as an English teacher, I think it'd be a terrible student to teach Conte. I think it would be but at least he had a message and he gave the message and he delivered it. You know what I mean? The situation went to become worst dude. There you go. Here's another one. I don't want to see what I have seen today because this is unacceptable.

Also for the respect for the fans. They follow us, pay the tickets and to see the team another time. To have this type of performance for me, I repeat, this is unacceptable. So we can agree that it's unacceptable. It's absolutely unacceptable by Spurs. Hey, he has every right to be livid but I do think that maybe he didn't try to get himself sacked but maybe he was like, fuck it. If I'm sacked, pros and cons maybe. Yes, that's it bro.

At this point I think he understands that his Spurs career is over. There's no chance he's spending another season. Most likely he'll end up back in Serie A. So we'll see whether it's at Inter, whether it's at Milan. We'll see. Whoever decides to splash the cash and win a trophy and then have to deal with the nagging basically. Because that's the way it works with content. Pretty much. He's on 15 million pounds a season, I believe. So that's going to be very hard to match for any Serie A team.

Yeah, he'll have to probably settle for a pay cut over there. Absolutely brother. So I'll take you guys through the run down of matchday 27 of Serie A and the order, naturally, which we will be discussing them in. So we start with some double derby drama. Juve got the victory and the derby d'Italia a way to Inter with a score of 1-0 where there was some controversy to say the least.

That was Freddie Mercury singing Scandal for anyone who didn't realize there was in fact a game of volleyball that led to Kostich's goal, the only goal of the game. The next game was Lazio 1-0 in the derby de la Capitale, an early red card there for Ibanez, who at this point, I just think he's a bit of a donkey when it comes to the derby. At least that's another derby where he cost Roma three points. Odinese managed to beat Milan three goals to one.

The previous encounter was matchday one where Milan beat Odinese three goals to one. There was a classic Becquiao goal in that game, naturally. Napoli visited Torino in their stadium and beat them four goals to nil. I really did think that Torino could do something over there considering their form, but obviously Napoli are way too strong. Atalanta... Thank you.

Atalanta 2. Napoli 1, Atalanta back to winning ways, Salernitana went out to kill Bologna, but they came 2-2, a brilliant, brilliant game of football over there, jam-packed with drama. Fiorentina 1, Lecce nil. Fiorentina continue their winning ways. Sassuolo 1, Spezia nil. There was Monza 1, Cremona 1, two newly promoted sides going head to head over there.

A relegation six-pointer between Sampdoria and Verona where Sampdoria got their third victory of the season, beating Verona three goals to one. Wow, bro, it seems like every matchday is just pivotal shit that's happening. At this point, we really are at the point of the season where every little decision made by every single player affects the outcome of the entire season. Of course, yes, and the decision of the referee as well will match the outcome of the season at this point.

We are nearing the end of the season, the twilight part of the season. There are 11 games left in Serie A, so if teams actually are serious about top four at the moment, they do need to pick up a good run of form at the moment, particularly the Milan teams. Absolutely, absolutely the Milan teams.

It's interesting we now see Inter that are just as much involved in the race to top four as any other side, as much as Roma, as much as Milan, as much as Lazio, and Juve are getting closer and closer and closer, bro. The teams keep on slipping up, Juve remain consistent. Yes, if it weren't for the points deduction, they would currently be on 56 points in second place ahead of Lazio, Inter, Milan and everyone else, of course, but still 15 points behind Napoli.

So that just goes to show how good Napoli have been this season. Yeah, 15 is the magic number this season for Juve. It is looking likely that those 15 points are going to be granted back, but I don't understand the politics. I don't understand the behind the scenes. We don't have much more information, so unfortunately we can't give you an update on that, but just be prepared and all teams should aim for third just to be safe. Yes, bro.

Inter nil, Juve won, is the first game we're going to be discussing this week. The reverse fixture was a Juventus victory, 2-0. And this was match number 180 between Inter and Juventus in the Serie A, the most played match in the history of the Serie A. Derby d'Italia, my friend. Yes, sir. There we go. Second place is Inter and Roma with 179, by the way. So they've just jumped them there. Juve are ahead in the record over here.

So out of these 180 games, Juve have won 86 times, you, Inter have won 48 times and there were 45 draws. Wow, they're significantly ahead of them. Yeah. And in recent times, Inter have been struggling against Juve in Juve Stadium as, sorry, in their own stadium, as they've only won two of their 12 home league games against the Bianconeri with five draws and five losses. Another fun fact over here about Juve and how well they have been doing.

Only Napoli with 23 goals have scored more goals than Juventus and Serie A since the beginning of 2023, Juve have scored 20. This is a max allegri Juve, which makes it all the more surprising. Exactly. And even the fact that it's decorated with young players at the moment, it's mad. It's like we're living in a parallel universe. Right. Inter have been defeated in four of their last seven, say, matches played after Champions League matches.

Now this is interesting, including the last two in chronological order against Bologna and the one against Juve in the reverse fixture. So that might be a sign of an ageing squad, a squad that can't maybe keep up with the compact nature of the schedule. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So let's get into the structure.

For Inter, it was a 3-5-2 formation as always with Onana in goal, Archery by De Vrij and Darmian at the back with Di Marco on the left, Dumfries on the right, Cialanoglu Brozovic and Barela were in the middle with Martinez and Lukaku up front. For Juve, it was a 3-5-1-1 formation with Cesny in goal, Gatti, Bremer and Danilo at the back with De Cilio on the right, Kostic on the left, Rabiolo, Catelli and Fagioli in the middle and Vlaović playing up front with Sule playing off his shoulder.

Inzaghi made three changes from the Porto game, bringing in Brozovic, De Vrij and Lukaku. Vastoni and Skriniar were not even fit for the bench, by the way. Archery by De Vrij and Darmian formed a makeshift backline over there. It's interesting to note how many youngsters Juve had. They had Sule over here, Fagioli and Gatti, they're all young bucks over there. As you see, their average age was 26.6. I keep thinking De Cilio is younger than he is because he always played like a very young player.

And I would say even Locatelli. But Locatelli has shown significant strides of improvement and even in this match he was really really good. It's true, especially defensively. Many people think of Locatelli as this goal scoring midfielder because of the euros and the fact that he scored two goals during that tournament. But no, that's not his strongest suit. That ain't him. So the action started in the 18th minute when Inter created their best opportunity of the game.

Barela and Lukaku played a swift one-two, so Lukaku playing Barela through who shot it straight to Cesny. And that at the time was, we thought, was a sign of more things to come for Inter. But that did not prove to be the case as that was their best scoring opportunity all game. In the 23rd minute Juventus volleyballed their way towards goal leading to Rabio playing it to Kostic, who placed it in, leaving Onana rooted to the spot. Now this goal can be studied.

Of course there's a lot of controversy over here. It looked to hit three different hands and VAR checked the two handballs by Rabio, which granted might have not been, but the one that VAR did not check was the more controversial one on Vlachovic, exactly, where his arm was extended and it actually looked to be a handball. But somehow, of course, VAR did not spot that. Darmian was very slow to press bro over here and Dumfries got caught in no man's land.

By the time he returned, he was blocking Onana's view of the ball. And eventually, yes, Kostic just guided it into the bottom corner. Needless to say, I think Onana was quite poorly placed in that goal as well. I know it was a good finish by Kostic and few keepers could have done anything about that, but he would have increased his chances had he been positioned more centrally.

He was really, really off to his right, which allowed Kostic to go for the fast, to the far post and get the goal over there. Just a point about the handballs in the build up to that goal. The rule has been created in order to favor the attacking players so that we'll see more goals for the casuals, to see more goals and be more entertained by football. And sometimes the decision making isn't fair.

Obviously, there was that controversy because they said they were checking two handballs and there were in fact three potential handballs in the build up to that. Vlachovic did use an arm to help him control the ball. It wasn't extended. It was kind of against his body. Still controversial over there. Rabio's initial one, his arm was kind of extended and it did bounce off his arm. Technically speaking, I think had this been 10 years ago, all three could have been given us handballs.

But in today's day and age, with the amount of favors that strikers get by the referees, then they can close an eye for that. Yeah, perhaps, bro. Things did not get better for Inter in the first half as they managed just one shot on target for the rest of the half. They ended the first 45 minutes with 69% possession, five efforts to one target against Juve as two total shots and one on target. So far, Max Allegri masterclass.

The second half, so Inter crossing the ball 36 times only, managing to get three shots on target out of 18 attempts. And the game eventually ended with a score of 1-0. Bro, obviously there was a fight at the end. D'Ambrosio and Paredes get sent off. It's always the bench players that go the craziest, right? Yeah. They'll be watching the game like spectators. They're watching their favorite team go head to head. Tensions are running high, etc. You're right to point that out.

I think they understand maybe they're less valuable and if anyone's going to say something, it best be a bench player and not a concrete starter. Yeah, definitely. Lukaku and Lautaro had two shots together combined, I believe, on target. My God. Lukaku had 23 touches all game. He was neutralized perfectly, to be honest, expertly by Bremer while Gatti was responsible for neutralizing Lautaro Martinez and he did a fantastic job as well.

We mentioned that Juve might be quick in the market next summer after they will probably lose Bonucci considering he is getting old and is showing in his performances. Gatti, however, is a strong candidate to be fighting for that place as the third defender. Young Italian, which is something Juve like quite a lot and he put in a spectacular performance over here. We don't see a lot of Gatti. We definitely don't see a lot of mistakes from Gatti. He's a very, very solid defender.

He's a young talent. Really good player, which by the way, on a side note over here, Montrini, the manager of the Italian national team, of course, has criticized Milan recently saying that they do not field enough Italians and Italian teams in general don't field any young Italians. The 25 year old in Italy is considered a youth and all these claims, et cetera. But the guy still calls up Bonucci, who barely gets a sniff at Juve and looks terrible when he does.

Then you have players like Gatti and Trasale playing amazing football and not getting called up. I mean, yes, but then there's also a lack of experience within that very young Italy team. So having a leader in the dressing room like Bonucci, I guess, goes a long way for a team like that. Think of Milan with Zlatan, for example. But I do think it's time to start giving Gatti some call ups because he's dying to be there. Think about the future. You've got Verratti there who's been there for ages.

He could take on the role as a leader. You've got the likes of Ciro Mobila playing up front. I mean, he can take the helm as a leader. But anyway, not quite the personality that Bonucci has, but sure. One of the interesting things that I noticed about this game was that Juve's midfield actually looks very good. And Juve's midfield has been a talking point since the days of Vidal Perdomarchisio. They haven't had a solid midfield like this in a while, man.

And you look at it, it's perfectly balanced at the moment. And they're racking up games together. These guys are getting used to each other. And you can really see it. Rabiot, Locatelli, Fagioli. You've got a little bit of everything over there. Yeah, I think it's very good. They're very effective when they play together. That is mainly where they're winning games at the moment. I think Locatelli has found some new form, which is really gelling the midfield together.

I think that's needless to say about Rabiot as well. And Fagioli is new to the scene and he's doing a fantastic job filling in that role as the right central midfielder on slightly more the attacking side. A very forward thinking player. He's always wanting to move forward over there. Fagioli is a real threat from the center and going forward. Yeah, bro. Do you think that Inter playing in the Champions League actually made a difference over here? That game against Porto was exhausting for them.

I mean, when you look at all the drama and the other time that there was in that game, it's obvious that it is going to have an effect on Inter. However, Juve had an even shorter turnover for this game because they were playing Europa League on a Thursday night. So they recovered well. And on the other hand, Inter did not. So I wouldn't solely blame that essentially. Yeah. But Juve, in fact, did play more recently.

I don't know what's next for Inter, man, because Milan are in a similar situation right now. And apparently they might try the 4-2-3-1 formation again. They might revert to that. So they've got that as kind of a hopeful glimmer. You know what I mean? Having this formation to fall back on one Milan, the league, and with Manon back in goal, there might not be a need to play a 3-5-2 anymore.

However, with Inter, with Simone Enzaghi, the fact that he's been playing a 3-5-2 for ages and pretty much only plays a 3-5-2 formation. He's got his best individual is pretty much playing week in, week out. What can he do over here to turn things around? I mean, that's the criticism for Inter's system in the Conte days and in the Simone Enzaghi days. It's the fact that it is one system. They are one trick ponies. Normally they can really overpower you with those formations.

But you notice when they have, it's never a small spell of bad form for Inter. It's always elongated because they don't have a backup plan on how they can win games if their system is failing. I think that ever since Brozovic has come back into the side, not directly blaming Brozovic, but that has set Inter back a little bit. They haven't been on good form since he's been back. I think they had something really good with Charles Anoghlu playing as a registan.

I think they managed to dominate games a little bit better and to link up play a little bit better. Either Brozovic doesn't give too much of a fuck since he's probably on his way out, or he's just returned from injury to be fair. So he could be getting back to his ways. Brozovic had the most distance covered this matchday. So the classic Brozovic is back, the mulberry smoking, Maltesers eating, Doritos chewing, the same old Brozovic we know to just run his fucking lungs out.

That Brozovic is back. However, there does seem to be something missing from his game. Something that we're so used to seeing is the way he dictate the play, the way he controlled that midfield, the way he set the tempo. That isn't really there yet. Let's see if he can get it back. As you mentioned, his future is uncertain. So there might be a lack of motivation.

That's why I said he might not give a fuck because his work ethic is there and that's never going to leave because it's his style of play. His style of play and his role is to cover as much ground as possible and link the defense to the midfield and to the attack subsequently. Not those leadership traits which Inter so desperately need at the moment, they need that one leader in the team doesn't seem to be present whenever they have a bad performance like this, which they did have in this game.

Barela is always their best player. He is always their best player in these scenarios. Definitely bro. So this was an allegory master class doing what he does best over here. He has taken Juventus to seventh with 41 points. They're on a Champions League push with the points deduction. So that's if they win their appeal over there, that's going to be crazy. Inter on the other hand are in third with 50 points as they continue to slump a little bit. They've now got nine losses.

My God. Nine losses is crazy, man. It's crazy. Honestly, that's like too less than Sasuolo, too fewer. My God. My God. I just want to point out one more thing about Inter and their wing backs. So they have the Marco who is doing well. Obviously like the rest of the team, he's taken a bit of a slump like the rest of them. There's no doubt about that. Denzel Dumfries, I've got some concerns about him as a footballer all around. You could be very replaceable. It was very replaceable.

I don't know who it was. There was a pundit during the Euros who said, I'm curious to see who the fools who believe that this is Denzel Dumfries are. Someone said like, I'm curious to see who's going to buy this guy, who's going to fall for this mirage that we're seeing over here of Dumfries. Inter want millions for him. They want 40 million Euros for Dumfries. Dude, you better stop playing him if you want to. People are starting to see that he's worth 20 at most. He has not been playing well.

His strongest suit during the Euros, the player that he kind of gave the impression that he was, was this guy who just bombed forward and proved to be an offensive threat. But in reality, he can't really take on his man in a 1v1. That's very important from the wings. Right now they're lacking that creative spark out wide. DiMarco is the only winger they have who is actually capable of taking on his man.

It's not as much as taking on his man as it is being able to play a perfect ball before the position to take on his man even arrives. And if it weren't for DiMarco and Barela, Lautaro and Lukaku are totally isolated up there. Totally isolated. Every time they have the ball, it's like you've got Lautaro who's on shit form and you've got Lukaku who is half the player that he used to be. So it's like dumb and dumber trying to do something together. Yes, sir, bro.

That touch in the first opportunity in the 18th minute by the way by Lukaku was a really good flick. But yeah, he's got one strong suit at the moment with his increase in physicality. Let's say that he got stronger not to offend him. He's great at shielding the ball and playing with his backwards goal. Otherwise not much of a goal scorer unless it's from the spot. Definitely bro. I don't know if there's anything else you'd like to add from this game.

No, I think I think you've got it pretty much nailed down brother. The next game we're going to be covering is the second derby that was played in this matchday. It was Lazio won Roma nil in the derby della capitale. Lazio got the double over Roma for the first time since the 2011-2012 season. The previous encounter was an away victory for Lazio, one goal to nil where Ibanez had something to do with that as well.

Now this was not just a bitter local derby, but also a head to head for top four as they were separated by just two points going in. Mabille was still out injured and only fit enough for the bench as Mattias Vecino was suspended and Providel was able to start despite flu symptoms. Someone always has flu symptoms. Someone is always playing with flu symptoms. Jose Mourinho sat out a touch line ban with Marash Kumbulla suspended and Rick Karsdorp suffering from a fractured nose.

Mourinho must have given him that fractured nose. He must have finally decked him. He finally finally did it. He spoke with his fists rather than his mouth. There we go. Now Lazio started their classic 4-3-3 sari formation with Providel in goal and a backline of Hisai, Romagnoli, Crasale and Marisic. They had Luis Alberto Cataldi and Milinkovic Savic in the middle with Zaccani out on the left, Pedra out on the right and Anderson filling in Mabille's boots.

While Stroma started their 3-4-2-1 formation with Rui Patricio in goal, a backline of Mancini, Smolling and Ibanez, Zalevski out on the right, Spinazzola out on the left on the double pivot of Cristante and Wijnaldum with de Baala and Pellegrini playing off the shoulders of Bellotti or Tammy Abraham on the bench once again for Roma.

In the 32nd minute, Ibanez received his second yellow card for a mistimed challenge on Sergei Milinkovic Savic once again throwing the derby away for Roma and proving once again Roma's disciplinary problem. Sergei celebrated that like it was a goal, a lot of passion, the eagle started rattling in its cage, the Lazio supporters started going wild and from then on you just knew it was Lazio's day once again. In fact, and then in the 65th minute in the second half, Zaccani, who else?

Then Zaccani, what a player, got a goal for Lazio. It was Anderson's flick on that was misjudged by Zalevski and Zaccani did a great job to finish perfectly from quite a tough angle. In the 68th minute, just three minutes later, Roma had the ball in the back of the net when Lorenzo Pellegrini's free kick found a mancini header, Rui Patricio saved, Chris Smolling knocked it on to Ciazale who bundled it into his own net.

However, VAR showed that Smolling was offside and the goal was disallowed, what could have been for Roma, brother. A post-match scuffle resulted in Cristanta and Marisic getting sent off but other than that Lazio did a great job in maintaining that one-nil victory against 10-man Roma. What did you make of this derby, bro? So it was clear to me that Roma came out to counter-attack this Lazio side, right?

And of course it would have been an interesting game if it weren't for Ibanez's chaotic 30 minutes man. I'm not sure what it is with Ibanez, whether it's the fact that the stage would be so big and he'd be fueled with so much agenda. No one was calm in this game. You look at the coaches in the first 30 minutes, everyone was telling the players to calm down. Look at for example the coach of Roma who wasn't Lorenzo Pellegrini, the other guy, his second-hand man. The second-hand man.

He was constantly telling everyone to calm down, calm down, calm down. And you have Sarri as well telling his players to calm down. So I don't know if it's just the fact that he's too gassed, he's got too much agenda or the fact that he's just clumsy, man. I think he's, to be fair, I think he's terribly, terribly unlucky. That is one of them. However, his decision-making, I can't help but think that it's poor and I have to agree with you.

I think it must be a rush of blood to the head because it's on the biggest stages that he does it all the time, consistently. Roger Ibanez is just against Lazio. He is one of them. Yeah. I wonder how many Lazio shirts exist with Ibanez at the back. Probably. Ibanez three. I'm sure they do, bro. This guy's giving them three derby victories. Yeah, man. It's absolute crazy. I would go so far as not to play him. Yeah, honestly, honestly.

And I think just to judge him a bit more as a footballer, I think he is great for Mourinho's system when it comes to set pieces. I think he's very involved in that, whether he's getting the final touch, whether he's creating space for Smalling or Mancini. But other than that, as a defender, as a tackler, as someone that forms part of the back line, he really struggles, man. He really struggles. And it goes unnoticed because he's in a back three and because he's got Smalling next to him.

Smalling does a lot of work to cover up for Mancini and Ibanez. I think he is that star man. And I think Mancini, obviously, he's important to have once again in a Mourinho team because he's so tough and they don't have a tougher player than him. He's also quite clumsy and he's quite slow. If he makes a mistake, he really struggles to track back, which is then when Ibanez becomes effective because he is good at backtracking. So it's this good balance that Roma have within the midfield.

But then you pick them out individually and there's not much going on over there, man. No, totally, bro. Mancini and Ibanez can be viewed as Mourinho players because of their aggression, their grinta. But at the end of the day, they do prove to be liabilities too consistently. And I think that would be an area where Roma need to invest. Yeah, absolutely. I have to say, the Lazio-Roma derby is one of the most heated derbies that there is in Italy at the moment.

It seems like none of the players get along. There was that whole Zaccani and Zaniolo situation that actually stopped Zaccani from getting so many call-ups to Italy because he just kept fucking Zaccani's girl. It does get really heated between these two pairs. And Mourinho went so far as to criticize Lazio for their European failure before the game. Originally, it was Sarri that said, oh, wow, Roma won a fucking bullshit tournament. And then Lazio got knocked out of the bullshit tournament.

And Mourinho had the final laugh over there. But then he sent his team to the derby and Lazio managed to get three points. So they did have the final laugh. And then after that... Yeah, he said, it's a shame they have to spend money to ship the conference league trophy out of Rome. It could have stayed in Rome. And he said, unfortunately, now they're probably going to have to ship it to Florence, hinting that Fiorentina might win the conference league, which is a good possibility.

But bro, Zaccani, you talked about Zaccani. In my opinion, there isn't a better Italian forward at the moment form-wise. And I think it's an absolute tragedy that he hasn't been called up to the national team. Yeah, I think it's an absolute tragedy. I would go so far to say that he should have been called up back in his Hellas Verona days because he's been a top player for a while.

Took him a season or so to settle in properly at Lazio, but he's there and he's the first name on the team sheet now, man. I would agree with you. I mean, Berardi is also up there naturally, but he has been out for the majority of the season. And even that guy in the Bundesliga, Grifo. Grifo's got like 13 goals in Bundesliga this season. He's doing really well.

Christ. So I would agree with you, Zaccani, is at least the most effective Italian forward that there is this season, even more than the Premier League legend, Nionto, bro. This was the 180th Rome derby considering all competitions. It was the 158th in Serie A. In the top flight, Roma lead the balance with 56 victories to Lazio's 41 while 60 were draws. So Roma domination all around.

But in recent history, Lazio are unbeaten in their last six home derbies in Serie A. They won four and drew two and half for the first time in their history, gone six consecutive home league games against Lazio, sorry, against Roma without losing, man. So the tide is shifting. The tide is shifting. Serie A has really transformed Lazio and there were conversations that were had amongst pundits about Serie A's future, whether he deserves a bigger club after this. To be honest, we'll see.

The Lazio project is a good one and they seem to be getting Champions League football next season if they manage to keep this. The victory after this game saw the Lazio players in very high spirits. They had their kids on the stadium. You see Luis Alberto. I'm dancing with his kids. You see the players celebrating, dancing with the eagle. There's the guy holding the eagle. I love that eagle, bro. It's so cool. I think they let the eagle fly around, do a lap around the stadium before the game.

It's quite cool. Yeah. I mean, what a mascot to have. A cool-ass mascot. But I do think there was an element of over-celebrating. Obviously, they won the derby. They got the double over Roma. Very heated. They have every right to celebrate. But the way they were celebrating was that they got confirmed Europe. Yeah. You know what I mean? Not done yet, especially with the Uwe lurking and the points possibly returning. Absolutely.

Serie, however, as you said, has really transformed the Lazio team to a team that is taking on these top seven teams like it's nothing. They've been doing a spectacular job this year. They're one of the big dogs and they deserve it. They've been fantastic. Few slip-ups this season and they deserve it. So they are in second place. Roma, on the other hand, keep spiraling downwards a little bit. It seems like there's a lot of tension going around with Mourinho's ban.

They've gotten the entire fans involved. They've gotten the entire club involved. Players are lacking discipline. Kumbulla got a red card in the last game. Now Roger Ibanez got a red card in this game. After the game, there was a red card going both sides, one for Cristante and one for Maricic. So Roma are going to be very compromised in the next game. And Roma need to learn how to keep their heads because it's one thing being a very talented team.

But if you can't keep your heads in a big moment, then it's all for nothing. Lazio in second place on 52 points, whilst Roma are in fifth on 47 points. Very good, bro. One thing I'd like to address before we move on is Immobile. So Immobile, of course, is Mr. Lazio. I know he's the king. He's a goal scoring machine. He's an absolute beast. But I do feel like when Immobile is on the pitch, Lazio have a lot of pressure to serve him.

They're constantly trying to build their play around servicing Immobile. And that kind of takes away from the fluidity and the dynamism. Let's call it that. Dynamism. What's the word, bro? I don't even know what you're trying to say. Dynamic. The dynamism. I don't know if there's even a word for that. Dynamicism. Yeah, dynamicism. Let's stick to that.

The fact that Zakani, Anderson and Pedro shift and gel so nicely together and they're so fluid in their movement that I can't help but feel that they look better. Yeah, I mean, this year they do, especially because when Immobile has been on the pitch, at times he has been a bit of a liability. We saw that game where he missed all of the chances. He's missed more throughout.

And it's good that Sarri has the mentality that, look, if you're not playing as well as Anderson, you're going to be left on the bench. And that's what he's been doing. He's been prioritizing this new look front, three of Zakani, Anderson and Pedro. It's kind of a false nine, which allows Pedro and Zakani to get so close to goal where they are dangerous. They are two very dangerous players in front of goal. And Anderson, very versatile over there, man. He plays really well in the pockets.

Yeah, this does mean that Milinkovic Savic is going to have less assists because Immobile is his man. But otherwise, yeah, unaffected, I would say, at kind of better. Some crazy scenes at the end of the game. Apparently, Mourinho was around the dressing room and he saw the little figure of Claudio Lotito walking around. And apparently Mourinho told Lotito, to which Lotito replied, which basically means, OK, so Mourinho told him, what the fuck are you looking at?

And then Lotito told him, what the fuck are you looking at? This is my house. And you're not allowed here, is what he added after that. And that's James Horncastle speaking Italian over there. Shout out to our boy James, the man with the phenomenal surname. Absolutely. Phenomenal head of hair as well. I do like that look. That was Lazio Roma for you guys.

Just to mention that Roma returned from the international break with back to back fixtures against Atalanta and Milan, so it is not going to get easier for the Roman side. Yeah, definitely not. The next game we're going to be covering is Udinese 3-Milan 1. Balance in the previous eight matches in Udine, between Udinez and Milan, in the league at least, there were three victories for each team. This has proven to be a bogey fixture for Milan.

Udinez away from home is a fixture that Milan have struggled with immensely. Absolutely. In fact, Milan is the team against which Udinez has drawn the most matches in its history in Serie A. 36 draws in 96 matches. My God. Milan were unbeaten in 10 of their previous 11 matches against Udinez in Serie A, with five wins and five draws. The previous loss came in August 2019, thanks to a goal from none other than Rodrigo Bacau, who loves to score against Milan.

He almost managed again this match, winning a header over there. The Udinez lineup was a 3-5-2 formation with Silvestri in goal. Perez, Biol, and Bacau were at the back, with Udodji on the left, Ezebue on the right, Pereira, Wallace and Samardzic in the middle, Sakses and Beto formed the striking partnership.

For Milan, it was Mike Manean in goal in their 3-4-2-1 formation, with Kalulu, Chau, and Tomori at the back, Salamakers on the right, Fado, Balotoure on the left, who was replacing Theo Hernandez, who came down with the flu, as you mentioned before, but randomly players also get the flu. Tonali and Benassir were in the middle, with Ibrahim Diaz and Léo playing off the shoulders of Ibrahimovic, his first start this season.

Now, in the 9th minute, Samardzic drove towards Milan's box and Pereira just kicked the ball off him and passed Manean to score their first goal, the opening goal. That's when Milanists around the world all knew that this was going to be another one of those Udinez away games, where you can see the colourful seats in the distance, but your mood is not very colourful at all.

In the 48th minute, towards the end of the first half, there was a Varchek and it granted Milan a penalty after Biol handled the ball in the box. Zlatan stepped up to take the penalty, he would have become the eldest player to score in Serie A. He went towards the bottom left, but Silvestri managed to save it. Beto ran towards the ball and cleared the ball. Now, it turns out, apparently, it felt like five minutes after the penalty was given, the referee stopped playing and asked for a retake.

This was because Beto encroached inside the area. He entered the box before Zlatan had a shot. Stupid. Yes, but there were also Milan players who encroached. The rule states that because Beto actually cleared the ball, the penalty had to be retaken. Had he not touched the ball, had it been another player who didn't encroach, there would not have been a retake. I don't know how long it's going to take for players to learn this. Yeah, like come on dude.

And for Silvestri, this is a bit of a curse because he has saved three penalties in the past 12 months, but has never saved a penalty in Serie A. Oh my god. That's because these three penalties all had to be retaken. That's fucking crazy bro. He's so unlucky, that GTA looking motherfucker. So unlucky honestly. And time for a new hairstyle. So Zlatan stepped up to retake the penalty.

Now Zlatan has written in his book at Genlin, which I have read, that there's a bit of a mental block when it comes to him and penalties. And he says he's not quite sure what it is, but he doesn't feel as confident as he used to. He doesn't have that killer instinct with penalties anymore. However, he still takes them of course. Yeah, he's Zlatan. He does what he wants. And he actually scored this one. He went powerful, down the middle, high, and he scored.

Becoming the eldest player ever to score in Serie A. Do you remember the player, the eldest player before him to score in Serie A? Fuck I knew this. I knew this. No, it wasn't. No, no. I was going to say Totto di Natale, but definitely not. No, no. It was, it was Billy Costa-Curta. Now Costa-Curta scored a penalty against Udinese in a loss, but that season Milan won the Champions League. Oh, it's happened again. Now we'll see if history repeats itself over there. Okay, so we'll see.

Very curious to see if that's going to happen. Very curious, right? It's good to mention, by the way, when the referee announced the retake because of the encroachment, Sotil was fucking livid and he lost his mind and ended up getting sent off the stands. Oh yes, yes, that's true. And we looked at each other and we're like, wow, they've collapsed like little did we know. They're collapsing, huh?

In the first half, in the 50th minute, just two minutes after the penalty drama, Milan led to Dodgy dribble into the box, play it to success, who squared it to Beto, who scored an uncontested tap and the Milan players crowded the area. Everyone was in the box, but this shit still happened. Okay. They just, it was honestly like there were no defenders around. You see Ciao not marking his man.

You see Tonali failing to press the ball and recover the ball essentially when the Dodgy shouldn't have had so much space and time in the box. He was in the box with the ball and he had three players around him. How does he still get the pause? The lack of press there was ridiculous. Yeah, it was terrible. Then the second half started, Milan changed things up.

They tried and tried and tried, but it was in the 70th minute that they were dealt the killer blow as Isaac's success bullied Ciao who went down holding his face like he was trying to win a penalty, but he was in the wrong box. And he played it to Destiny, who played the ball to Ezebue, who of course scores. Of course, Ezebue scores against Milan after we have spent an entire season mispronouncing his name. Yeah, of course, man. Of course spitting in our face.

Exactly. And the Deners as we're saying, oh, there have been that start to the season and now it's all downhill from here. And of course here they are beating our favorite team, 3-1. But whatever, bro. What did you make of this game? I mean, there's one way to put it, bro. Milan once again, not up to the task at all. We can speak about Lea Wolde and how fucking uninvolved he is and just what a waste of time he's been over the past couple of games. I think that's definitely a point of concern.

We're back to seeing Milan conceding three goals and conceding more goals. It goes to show that it's not just the goalkeeper. It's not the three in the back formation that is stopping this from happening with Kalulu, Chau and Tomori, who before this game were all on fine form. The midfield double pivot of Benassir and Tonali, I think is proving to be quite limited when it comes to when Milan are defending, when Milan are off the ball.

You mentioned earlier that Milan might switch it up to a 4-2-3-1, which is what won them the league last year. Yes, it was, but Kessi was on the team, which gave that defensive physicality. So I really don't think that going back to a 4-2-3-1 is the solution. I think, sure, go back to a four at the back formation. We once saw Milan play a 4-3-3 against Juve, when Pobjega played.

There could even be Kroonich over there to give them some more balls when it comes to the defensive fucking work ethic. A three in the midfield has to be the way Milan go. Milan have to swap to a 4-3-3. You put Diaz on the wing, which is where he's best. You play Leao out wider than he is now, which is where he is best. You put Kalulu on the right because he's a good right back. Then you have Cao and Tomori as the defensive too.

I would play Pobjega personally, but Kroonich has been really putting in a shift and Kroonich could really fit into that midfield. I think Kroonich would be uncontested now at this point. The 4-2-3-1 formation, as we've said before, worked so well for Milan because he had Kessi in there doing a two-man job. Kessi who has just scored the winner in El Clasico, by the way. He was not replaced when he was allowed to walk out for free by Milan.

Tonali and Benassir, it's true, defensively they don't quite offer it and they don't quite have that chemistry that we would like for a double pivot. In a 4-3-3, you make an interesting point, it would allow Milan to play with Tonali, Benassir and Kroonich as the midfield three, very complete over there. It would allow, as you mentioned, Ibrahim Diaz to play out on the right and that would be actually very good layout to play closer, further out wide where he can attack the byline.

That's a great idea to be honest, bro. I really hope that Milan do move to this direction of 4-3-3, especially now that Mike Mannyan is back. There's no reason to add another center back. When you look at the center back depth, it's not even that good of Milan. There's no need to force play with three at the back. I think it worked when it had to. Now I don't want purely to make the same mistake of hanging on to the 4-2-3-1 for so long with the 3-4-3.

Now it seems like that has overstayed its welcome just like the 4-2-3-1. So let's keep being versatile and let's put in that 4-3-3 formation. Hopefully it won't end up being a 4-3-2-1. Yeah. Christ. We'll see. Leao does like to play more centrally. It seems that he does not understand his own strengths. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, bro. So I don't know if there's anything else you'd like to add from this game. Odinese, where great Pereira was at his absolute best over here, a tireless workhorse.

Samardzi showed why some of Italy's finest are looking at him. Odinese have shown the importance of having good players out wide. This was one of the, you know, you look here, they have a Dodger on assist, Ezebu on a goal. And those are the wide players over there. Something that Inter, for example, struggled with, with their wide players and have been struggling with since. Yeah, agreed. Now there's not much I'd like to add. I think, you know, Milan, you know, Odinese played well.

I do think that most teams on this day would have gotten past Milan. It just seems that Milan panic every time a ball is played in an unexpected direction. You've got defenders crashing into each other. You've got Tonali and Benassere with a serious lack of communication. And yeah, it's just a total mess right now for the Milan teams. Yeah. Yes, bro. And of course, rumors are sprouting about a new manager at the helm for Milan, perhaps soon, perhaps next season.

And the hottest name at the moment is Luis Enrique. He's currently managing at an international level. In his first season at Barcelona, he led them to a treble reinventing Tiki Taka at the time and building up from the back. You know, by the time he managed 50 games, this guy had 42 wins, Luis Enrique. So that's not a bad shout. At least I don't like the talk of replacing the manager at such a delicate point in the season, but it has proven to add a boost. So we'll see what Milan decides.

I do think they'll see out the season with Piolli. And if things start to look shakier to the point that Milan go down to sixth, for example, there might be a panic change. But Luis Enrique at least wouldn't be the worst person to bring. Yeah. I mean, you mentioned that he had success at Barca. I mean, yes, he did have great players around him. He had Barcelona and Barca. He is a great man. He's a great man manager. He's very involved with the fans. He always is involved with the fans.

He had those famous post-World Cup live streams to communicate with the fans. Oh yeah, I remember that. He's a good man. He would be a good fit for Milan. But look, Stefano Piolli is at the helm. He will continue to be at the helm for at least the remainder of the season. And hopefully Milan can get top four with him there. Yes. And let's hope that Milan turn things around and go on a mini rampage as they did last season.

Yes. By the way, Milan, Napoli next up and then twice in the Champions League. Yes. So that first game is going to be a bit of a test. Now Napoli are going to come out with this motivation to kill Milan simply because of the Champions League. We'll see how Milan deal with that. It's not looking good. At least it's a Serie A team though. I would have taken Inter and Napoli over most teams because there's that familiarity at least. It's true. It's true. At this point everyone.

It's a different playground. Yeah, it is. It is a different playground. Milan have got the history. They've got the identity to be in the Champions League. So maybe that'll play a part. It doesn't seem like it. But at least Milan took the game to Napoli in the last fixture. I know Napoli got a one-nil victory at the San Siro and Napoli will probably beat Milan at the San Siro because they always do. It seems that it's going to be a good game. An old Italian quarterfinal. Wow. Look at us.

It's going to be really good. And for whoever says, oh, this DNA thing isn't real. It's not tangible. Then how else can you explain to me that Milan managed to beat Barcelona with Kevin Constant, Sully Montari and Kevin Prince Boateng in the midfield against like Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol and those guys. They managed to beat Barcelona. Yeah. No, it's a real thing. I can't explain it, but it's real in football, man. Yeah, it's a whole mental thing. You feel like you're better.

So you will perform like you're better. Yes, sir. So Milan are in fourth with 48 points, while Udinese are in eighth with 38 points. The next game we're going to be covering is Torino nil Napoli four. You know what I mean. The previous encounter was a 3-1 victory for Napoli and Naples. The part on the pace seemed unstoppable this season going into this round. 18 points clear and with a Champions League quarterfinal against Milan coming up. Raspadouri and Demme were left at home.

Oh no. While Chucky Lozano returned to the trident attack. Toro missed Karamo, Zima, Mirancho, Ronaldo, Viera and Valentino Lazaro. So a couple of key players missing over there. Napoli started in their 4-3-3 formation with Alex Maret in goal and the back line of Di Lorenzo, Rahmani, Mingei and Olivera. The Adamit filter of Anguissa Lobot-Ganzielinski with Lozano out on the right, Guevara out on the left and Ossimen up front.

For Torino it was their 3-4-2-1 formation with Milinkovic-Savic in goal and the back line of Rodriguez, Schuers and Gavarillon, Rodriguez rightly so being put back into the defensive tree because he would have faced a direct encounter with Lozano over there. So very wise. Vojvodar was out on the left with Sango out on the right and a double pivot of Ricci and Linetti in the middle. Radonji, Trent Vlasic played behind Sanabria. So in the 9th minute Ossimen opened the scoring.

Zielinski's corner was headed in by the inevitable Victor Ossimen rising higher than the rest In the 22nd minute, Ricci's long range strike was saved by Alex Miret and Sanabria's follow-up hit the post that was the closest that Torino got all game. After that, Napoli domination. 35th minute, Guevara Dona, the man who won the penalty after being dropped by Linetti converted from the spot by going straight down the middle.

And then in the second half in the 50th minute, Ossimen got his second goal of the night and Napoli's third. It was great play by Napoli as Guevara dummyed a cut-in and backheeled the ball to Olivera who whooped across into the box which Ossimen once again headed home. Some brilliant work there by Guevara and good to see Olivera getting so involved in the attack. In the 67th minute, Justerob salt into the wounds.

Ndombele got his first goal for Napoli and his first goal in Serie A. The ball was hoofed upfield and Schürs was unable to deal with it as Ossimen applied pressure. He won the ball as he continued to out-muscle the Dutchman before beating Ricci to the ball and finding Guevara. Guevara squared the ball to Ndombele and finished very well through the legs of Vania. This man, you know how I always say, you can, if you have Ossimen in the team, just hoof it up anywhere and he's going to get to it.

He had no right to get the ball over there. It was all Schürs's, but he put so much pressure on him. He ended up getting to the ball. He out-muscled him and then we thought Ricci was going to get to the ball, but daddy long legs managed to get his leg across and play the ball to Guevara who played it to Ndombele who finished. Ossimen and Guevara once again, absolutely, absolutely unplayable for Napoli. You can't touch them. You can't touch them. They're so good, bro.

And the thing that is riling me up so much and getting me as excited as it is pissing me off is they don't skip a beat. There's no game where they're not phenomenal. They've been on the longest hot streak they've ever been on in their lives and they don't look like they're going to stop at any point. They are out of this planet. The two best players this season by a landslide and I'm telling you, bro, by some serious, serious fucking distance, bro.

They are head and shoulders above the rest, man. There we go. Like the shampoo. No, honestly, like we said last week, it feels like an All-Star exhibition match every time Napoli play and I think this warrants the full length Ossimen song, bro. It does. Go for it. And if you haven't been seeing on social media, Google Ossimen food. In Naples right now, they're making all sorts of food that look exactly like Ossimen. Exactly like pizza, steaks, chocolate eggs. Chicken with the chips on it.

So it was fucking crazy. Great banter. And these videos always have the song in the background. They're amazing. Yeah. 150 million is the asking price for Ossimen. Honestly, honestly, fair enough. I would not sell him for a cent less than that. Not even for a hundred million, bro. There's no need to sell him. I mean, he's fine with his contract. You know, they might as well keep him. So yes, 150 is actually a very fair asking price by the tough man to deal with De Laurentiis.

So we'll see if other clubs are willing to meet that request. He actually broke a record this year. Surprising stuff. No, for us, we're meant to break a record this year. So he got 21 Serie A goals now with these two that he scored against Torino. He has equaled the record set by Samuel Eto'o at Inter in the 2010-2011 season for the most goals from an African player in a top flight campaign. Well deserved Ossimen. Absolutely unplayable this year. One of the best strikers in the world.

And honestly, I'm kind of fucking as a Milan fan, I'm hoping someone's got 150 million to spend from a Serie A fan. Absolutely I don't want to see him go anywhere. And that's the same with Gvarackel. I mean, he too is absolutely unbelievable, man. Unbelievable. And he was pretty much involved in all of these goals. He was involved in well apart from the first one, which was the corner from Zielinski headed in by Ossimen, but he won and scored the penalty.

He played a beautiful back, my God, a beautiful back heel pass to Olivera who assisted Ossimen and then he assisted the last goal for in Dombele. So that's another guy who's been absolutely unplayable this season. To your point of Ossimen becoming the all time African highest goal scorer in Italy in a single season. Do you know who third place is? Let me think. Let me think. So we've got Ossimen, we've got Leto in third place. It's my boy, bro. Your boy? My boy, dude. Kevin Prince Boateng.

No. He's your boy, though. It's Simi Nwankwo. There we go. With Crotone. Simi motherfucking Nwankwo, brother. One of the most fun players to watch in my opinion because he's so tall that he looks like he shouldn't be playing the sport. He looks like he's playing the wrong sport, but his technique for his height and his prime was very, very good. And he managed to even score a bicycle kick against Juventus. I think that was the highlight of his career. It was amazing.

Do you remember when Graziano Pelle just made a random appearance at Parma and scored that fucking overhead kick and you broke the dishwasher? I had a fantasy football that I celebrated so aggressively I broke our dishwasher. This was the first time in history that I saw Alex Mered called up for Italy and I said fair enough. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. There were premature claims saying that he was as good as Donnarumma, but nowadays he has proven to be a very dependable goalkeeper.

Yeah, but where's Vicario on that call up? That's the thing that fucking angers me and then he should definitely be called up over there. Is Sirigu called up? I'm not sure. I'm going to pull that out real quick. If you want to keep the listeners entertained in the meantime. There once was a ship that took to sea and the name of the ship was Abiliety. I don't know the rest unfortunately. I don't even know what Abiliety is.

Okay, so once you find out what Abiliety is, in the meantime, I'm going to read out the goalkeepers that were called up for Italy. It was in fact Donnarumma, Mered, Falcone and Providel. Why is Falcone called up ahead of Vicario? Weird. I think Vicario is way better. Yeah, Falcone, fair enough that he's called up because he's been great, but Vicario has been the best keeper in the league this season in my opinion. Probably, probably, probably. That's not a crazy shout. Thank you, bro.

Yeah, some questionable call-ups there by Mancini. As always. Yeah, maybe. Torino started off decently in this game. They even got close by hitting the post through Tony Sanabria, but there's only so much you can do when you're playing against 1970s Brazil, man. Napoli remain in first place. I can't even do the math anymore. Like they're on 71 points and Lazio are on 52, so that's just ridiculous. They are going to win the league by matchday 32. Torino are in 11th place on 37 points.

Level on points, by the way, with Bologna and Fiorentina. The next game we're going to be covering is Atalanta 2-1. The reverse fixture was a 2-0 victory for Atalanta. This was the first Atalanta double-over with Dines Escense the 2016-2017 season. Atalanta have gone unbeaten in 10 of their 11 home games against Napoli in, say, five wins and five draws over there. Prior to this game, it's interesting to point out that Atalanta hadn't scored in their previous three games.

Oh, so they were due a goal over here. Pressure was mounting. And this is how they approached the game with a 3-4-1-2 formation and one was sawing goal. Scalvini, Palomino and Toloi were at the back over here with Ruggeri out wide on the left and Zappacosta on the right with Ederson and Derun as the holding midfielders with Pasalic playing in front of them. Luis Muriel and Zapata were up front for Atalanta over here. Their own little Colombian connection.

For Empoli, it was a 4-3-1-2 formation, the usual for Paolo Zanetti with Perizan in goal replacing the injured Vicario. Here you go. Fucking hell, that's why it wasn't called up. Oh my god. Yeah, that makes perfect sense actually. The injured Vicario not called up because he is indeed injured. That explains the Falcone call up. Fair enough, Falcone will deserve. Ebuéhi was playing on the right, Parisi was playing on the left with Luperto and De Winter at the back.

Fazzini, Grassi and Viera, I mean, Akpa Akpro were in the midfield with Baldanzi playing as the treco artista and Satriano and Caputo playing up front. I was going to say that Atalanta front two of Muriel and Zapata had been 2019, I'd be shitting myself. Oh yes. Now there was an interesting statistic going into this match. Never in his entire life while playing for Empoli has Chichok Caputo gone four games without contributing to a single goal.

And had he not contributed in this game, he would have made history. But it was in the 44th minute that he managed to get an assist on Ebuéhi's goal. The assist was totally unintentional and he was very lucky to get it as Akpa Akpro chopped the ball to Baldanzi who squared it dangerously into the area. The defenders clearance actually hit Caputo and the ball deflected back into the part of Ebuéhi who turned and shot it in. This was in the 44th minute.

Just 10 minutes, by the way, after Parisi had cleared the ball off the line as Atalanta were mounting the pressure. So totally against the runoff players goal man. Totally totally. And you know, they led, they entered the second half leading. So it was all it was looking good for Empoli. In the 58th minute Zapata demonstrated very good hold up play. He laid the ball off to Ruggeri who cut in on his right foot and crossed the ball to Darun who headed it home.

I love when a player like Darun scores because they celebrate so much because it happens so rarely. It's like when Biglia scored. Exactly. And this doesn't mean that they're not important. These are the silent heroes. That's why we love seeing them score. Exactly. In the 86th minute, Ederson lifted the ball to Pasalic who managed to get it through to Hoylund who smashed it in off the goalkeeper. This was a scrappy winner over there, but I'm sure Atalanta will take it.

Fun fact about Ederson, he was the fastest player this matchday. I didn't think he had it in him. So this was a victory for Atalanta, a much needed victory to keep their Champions League aspirations alive. They are currently on 45 points. So that is still alive for them. Do you think there's a chance? So there's a chance, but I don't think Atalanta are up to the task for it. I think they're the least likely candidates. I think Juve are more likely at this point.

But you know, as we said before, it takes a run and anyone can go on a run. Like you mentioned at the beginning of this episode, every week trajectories change and the way that teams are viewed change. The form mentality can change overnight. And you look at Atalanta, if you're looking at their current form, which obviously is all going to be stuck in forever. But if you look at their last two seasons, they have really struggled to keep up momentum.

The best that they had was the start of the season. And they took that more pragmatic approach and they looked really good. But ever since then, they really haven't had many hot runs. I don't see them having a hot run very soon. They're only three points away from a Champions League spot at this moment. So it is open. They are there, but I think they are the least likely candidates out of all of them. Fair enough. The advantage they do have is that they play once a week.

It's the same advantage that lots of you have nowadays as they've been knocked out to AZ Alkmaar. Yeah, probably willingly. Probably willingly, yes, to focus on the league, take a Champions League next season so they can get knocked out of that. But yes, I wouldn't be surprised if Atalanta go on a run, actually. We've seen them do it before. I would be surprised, however, if they do finish in the top four, so that must be said.

On the other hand, Empoli, they've lost four games in a row and drew one before that. That was the last point they got was five games ago. 28 points. We've seen teams relegated with 28 points. Should there be a cause of concern over here for Empoli or are the teams below them simply too shit? There definitely is a call of concern because if you're losing that amount of points, fuck whoever is below you. It's concerning. It's concerning that they haven't gotten points in so long.

It's funny because again, like we always say, they do play good football. Now their most recent losses were obviously this game against Atalanta. Before that, they lost at home to Udinese. Before that, they lost away to Monza. And before that, they lost at home to Napoli. They were held by Fiorentina the game before that. And they came 2-2 against Spezia the game before that. So not exactly ideal fixtures for them.

It is quite a tough run, but it's this area and these are the teams you're going to face. So it seems like ages ago that they got that victory against Inter, man. It seems like ages ago they were on such hot form during that period. But like I said earlier, there is a call for concern. I don't think they're going to get relegated, but next season they might. You know what I mean? That's a good point. But as Kalini would say, is the history of the Empoli.

The fact that they don't really play in the second part of the season. They're a first part of the season team, right? And they do very well in that part. And they seem to dip. Maybe it's a mentality thing. Maybe it's a fatigue thing. Maybe it's a motivation thing. Who knows? Who knows over there? Because watching them, they do play very good football. It must be said that Caputo was extremely wasteful this game and could have actually doubled the lead for Empoli.

And that would have been a completely different story over there. An aging striker, a striker who's still deployable, but perhaps not the man you would want leading your line up front. Satriano, still young, not the biggest fan of him. I think Empoli would benefit from buying a striker. Maybe it's Sajou next season. Look, Empoli.

One of their main problems is that they're a mid to below table team in Serie A. And they're a respectable side, which makes them the perfect leapfrog club for any young aspiring footballer. So last season we saw Cotrone, for example, playing for them. Not established. He's looking to go bigger. Chico Caputo, the club, Satriano this season, Penamonti. Caputo before he went to Sassuolo. And then they're like, okay, so we kind of need someone in their prime. Bring on Ciccio Caputo.

He's nearing the end of his career. It's like there's no balance. There's no players who are in their prime with Empoli, which is probably why they struggle so much in the latter stages of the season and just all around really. They've got a bunch of youngsters that are looking to get out there and showcase how good they are. Or they've got a bunch of people that are on their way out of the game as a final. Hurrah, the Destros, the Caputos, so on and so forth.

Yes. Unfortunately, there are many teams in that region that are viewed as stepping stones by many players. However, they do have to prove themselves. And Satriano, for example, hasn't done anything to warrant a move out of there. If anything, it's Baldanzi at the moment. We know that everyone must be keeping their eyes on right now. And it's the same thing for Akpac Pro, because I did not know that this guy could play like this when he was at Lazio. He looked like a totally different player.

He looked way worse. He fits in. And I think this is the level he should be at at the moment. And maybe he can establish himself. Look, he's still 30 years old. I thought Akpac Pro was much younger than that. This is his level. This is where he should be and this is where he's going to thrive. Other than that, like you said, Baldanzi has been excellent. They missed Razzvan Maron in this game. They did. They did. And it was evident. Fazzini and Grassi didn't quite cut it.

Grassi is one of those who could have been players. I'm still considered to be young by Italian standards, but is by no means a future bowler. I think that the spine of the San Pogli team is Parisi at the back. No Akpac Pro in the middle and Baldanzi in the pocket over there. Those three guys are what make this team thick. They've got a few nice pieces as well like Henderson who came off the bench this game can put in a bit of a shift. Other full backup where he's quite good.

Luperto is okay at the back as well. Luperto is quite good. I like Luperto and I like Abuahy. And this goes without mentioning Vicario because Vicario, of course, is probably the best of the lot. Yeah, to Vicario. Mamma mia, what a player. Vic was going to get me a Vicario kit, couldn't find one because M-Poly's website is shit, so he got me an Ochoa one. Yes, a Salernetano Ochoa 13, the yellow kit. It's quite sweet. Gorgeous, man. I love it. I wanted to get you a Vicario one, bro.

I think that would have been... I think you would have loved it. I think putting aside any bias, he's probably my favorite goalkeeper at the moment. First, you're not even going to... It sounds like bullshit. The site was genuinely broken. It wouldn't load. You press shop and nothing happens. Then it gives you that your browser has died. And then after that, eventually, when it was finally working, every single shirt size of Vicario was sold out. My God, man. What the fuck?

Well, he's just being discovered now. I discovered him a couple of seasons ago. There we go. But I loved the Ochoa one. It's just a timeless one. It is. I mean, he... because a Vicario kit, I would love it until he moves to Juve. You know what I mean? Like this Ochoa, we got someone that blessed Serial with his presence. He came in, had no reason to his like, I'm going to Salernitana. What do you prioritize when you buy a football kit? I've got soft spots. And those are the players I want.

I've got soft spots for players. I've got soft spot for Insinia. I have a soft spot for Tonali. I have a soft spot for Chiesa. For example, soft spot for Vicario. These are players that I love. It's just players I feel... they're hard workers. They're humble. They... I don't know how to explain it. There's just some players that appeal to me. And then there's like some kits that you must have. There's this lot on kits. You have to have one. And this goes on. I can go on forever.

But to me, it's those players that I have a soft spot for. What do you prioritize? For me, it's a kit that if my kids in the future are looking through my football kits and they ask me, Dad, who is this? I can tell them a cool story. Dad, who's Soriano? Yeah, exactly. Who's Soriano? Soriano was a fucking... was the guy at Bologna for so long. Like, Soriano is one of my weirdest kits. I've got Goran Pandev. I've got an Ozzy Man's kit for an apple. That's going to be a good one.

That was an investment. I told Sarah's mom as a joke. Yeah, that was crazy. She was like, you want something from Naples? I was like, yes, please. An Ozzy Man kit. She comes down and she's like, here you go. I'm like, what the fuck? 90 euro, Jake. Thank you very much. I have a Locatelli Milan kit. You have a Roman Yoli Milan kit. I'm quite unlucky with the Milan kits. But then I have also got a Charawi Bonaventura. I've got a Giuseppe. I have a Giorgio. I have a Giorgio. I have a Giorgio.

I have a Giorgio. I have a Charawi Bonaventura. I've got a Giroud, Ibrahimovic, Pandev. Pandev, did I mention Pandev? I've got Goran Pandev. Quite a few interesting ones as well. And the Venezia kit as well. I love that kit. Yeah. And Saponara. Thank you very much, bro. That's one of my favorites as well. Cool, bro. Is it your game that's up next? It is. I don't know if you want to go through Atalanta a little bit before we move on. They got a victory against a struggling Empoli.

They obviously attacked quite a bit. They had 70% ball possession and they had 27 attempts as they were looking to get a victory. Now, I don't think that's a healthy output to have against Empoli when they're struggling so much. I think they overworked themselves so much to get that late win. And I really don't think it's a sustainable. And we've said this before about Atalanta. They have to work their socks off to beat average teams. And it's not very sustainable.

We saw them take the approach of a 3-4-1-2 rather than the 3-4-3, which seemed to work when they were playing Boga on one side and Lukman on the other. But they started pass-alidge. They played Muriel and Zapata up front. It's weird calls all around by Gasparini as well. We're speaking of weird calls. Look, at the end of the day, Atalanta came into this game without having scored a single goal in their past three games.

They played against an Empoli side who covered the most distance this matchday. So I think at this point, it was just important for Atalanta to score and to take home the three points. This can be seen as a turning point in their season. And I think they'll celebrate this victory quite a lot, to be honest. It was very, very needed for them.

And the fact that they, for example, shifted to this formation when starting with Muriel and Zapata, who aren't really on great form at the moment, gave them the opportunity to strengthen in the second half. And that's exactly what they did when they brought on Boga and Lukman. That they changed the game. Fair enough. Fair enough. Okay, bro. Do you want to let us know where they are? Oh, I thought I did that. Atalanta are in sixth with 45 points, while Empoli are in 14th with 28 points.

Excellent. The next game we're going to be covering is Salernitana 2-Bologna 2. The previous encounter was another draw. It was Bologna 1, Salernitana 1. Now, Cerenegoi and Trustekong were still out injured while Bologna had Orsalini back from suspension but not fully fit. Dominguez was still on the treatment table and Marko Arnautovic again snubbed in favour of Moussa Baro.

But it's good to see these players, Orsalini, Soriano, Arnautovic, featuring a little bit off the bench and coming back to Bologna as they have been struggling with injuries. They in fact lined up with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Skorupski and Gold, and the back line of Posch, Saumauro, Lukumi and Cambiaso. They had Schautel and Moura on the middle with Abishev out on the right, Kiriakopoulos out on the left and Ferguson playing behind Moussa Baro.

For Salernitana it was a 3-4-2-1 formation with Ochoa and Gold. A back line of Pirola, Giomber and Danilulic. They had Broderich out on the left and Matsoki out on the right. They had Koulibaly and Bohnen in the middle with Candreva and Kastanos playing behind Boulaie Dia. Now, the action started in the 7th minute as Pirola opened the scoring for Salernitana. It was a short corner that was quickly crossed in by Candreva and headed in at the near post by Pirola.

Matsoki was played through just 3 minutes later in the 10th minute but attempted to chip Skorupski where he reigned unsuccessful. I did find that to be quite weird and it was easy pickings for the keeper. Just one minute later and then to rub salt in the wounds of Matsoki. Ferguson scored it was an in-swinging cross by Kyriakopoulos that was headed in well by Ferguson.

In the 21st minute, just 10 minutes later, Moura had time and space to finish a lovely piece of play by Bologna but Giomber got back very well to take the ball off him, a champion tackle by him. However, Moura will be disappointed not to have executed. Ferguson had penalty appeals as he went down under pressure from Broderich in the box. Yes it was Broderich but VAR and the referee waved play on. That was just at the end of the first half.

In the 64th minute Diaz scored a shot from inside the area, deflected off Schouten and went in to put Salernitana up with the score of 2-1. However, 9 minutes later, Liko Giannis scored a looping header after a Kyriakopoulos corner. So as I mentioned earlier Bologna are somewhat compromised by injuries. They are recovering so to say because their key pieces are coming back into the squad. But what a performance by Kyriakopoulos in place of Soriano. Two assists for him.

Yes bro, he is proving to be quite the coup for them. A player that was deemed to be quite unextravagant. And he's actually doing really well. Finally I still mix him up with Liko Giannis. Absolutely. Like who is who? I had an aneurysm finding out who assisted who. I'm like Kyriakopoulos assists Liko Giannis, did Liko Giannis assist Kyriakopoulos? I was going crazy. But Kyriakopoulos in case you guys don't remember who he is, he was at Sassuolo.

Sometimes used to play left back, sometimes used to play left wing and if there's one thing he's got it's a sweet left boot. And that's what he utilised in this game and that's what got him the two assists. And Salernitana really, really fucking brought it to Bologna over here. They did and they were unlucky. They conceded two shots on target and they conceded two. I sure didn't actually make a single save in this game. So quite unlucky for them over there. They played really well.

I really like Pirolad the back. Granted he scored okay, he's putting himself out there but he looks really good defensively as well. When it comes to Bologna, I'm surprised Orsalini didn't make it to the national team. Another weird one. Probably because he's recovering from injury. Probably yes. But you know you look at it, it's... Yeah. But whatever. He's a player to counter what you said earlier about Zaccani being the best forward, the Italian forward at the moment.

I think Orsalini gives him a run for his money. Sure, sure. Fair enough and I accept that because he's a fucking beast. He's an absolute beast. Bro, the Dia song? Yes. They don't have asthma, these guys. They definitely don't. They've never smoked a cigarette in their life, these guys. Although I kind of want to smoke a cigarette with them. Bro, Dia, 26 years old, having an incredible breakout season, where will he go next season? Make a bet there, I guess. Imagine he leaves.

This is assuming he leaves, of course. Not everyone has to leave just because they play well. Jake, you dumb fuck. But tell me. If he had to move club, Dia, I see him at Torino, bro. That's a great shout. I do see him at Torino as well. I see him at Bologna. I do see him at Bologna as well. I also, I always, I would gamble that Atalanta would be interested in most of these up and coming strikers in Serie A. They'd be interested in Dia and Zola and all these guys.

Always looking for talent from the local scene, from Serie A. That's where they get most of their coupes. Milan could use him, certainly. Inter could use him. It'd be a cheap solution when Lukaku goes. And Lazio as well, bro, could definitely use a forward right now. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he goes a step further than Bologna and Torino and actually draws attention from these top six sides. Yeah, perhaps. Or maybe from another league, man.

And that's what will most likely happen, I think. Ferguson. Oh, yes. Fantastic player. In the absence of all of these stars, he continues to carry that front line. I know Karyakopoulos got two assists, but he's everywhere. This guy. And it seems like he's just great at everything. If there's a way to sum up, Ferguson is great at everything. He's a good passer of the ball. He can dribble. He can have a shot at goal as well. He's a good finisher. He's a complete player, man.

Yeah, he's great in the air as well. 181 centimeters tall. He's 23 years old. Definitely an exciting talent over there. Yeah, it's interesting to see how Bologna will react to this. They have these players coming back. They will be bummed that they didn't get three points. But in hindsight, they did well to get a point. Salernitana were on fire. Sousa Salernitana came out here on a fucking mission and they were relentless and Bologna did end up coping well and they'll take the point and move on.

They are in ninth place on 37 points, while Salernitana in 16th on 27, eight points ahead of 18th place, Verona. The next game we're going to be covering is Fiorentina. One Lecce nil. Lecce had won three of their previous four away games in Serie A against Fiorentina. So yeah, a bit of a bogey team over there for them. Lecce haven't managed to score more than one goal in Serie A against Fiorentina since January 2009.

Oh, fucking hell. Had Martinez Quarta played this game, we would have seen two of the top four defenders when it comes to aerial duels, one in Serie A this season. Napoli's Kim is first, of course, Martinez Quarta second with 65, Basquerotto is third with 59 and fourth behind them is Torino's Bon Giorno. Wow, man. Bon Giorno. That's a good soundboard snippet. Brad Pitt saying Bon Giorno. That's excellent. Nice. Like right now.

Anyway, Fiorentina lined up with their 4-2-3-1 formation with Terracciano on goal, Biragi as the left back and Dodo as the right back with Igor and Milinkovic as the center back partnership. Mandragora and Amrabat were the double pivot with Ricardo Sapunar out on the left, Nico Gonzalez on the right and Barak in the middle playing behind Kwame up front.

For Lecce, there was Falcone in goal, Jean Drey was out on the right, Gallo was out on the left, Umtiti and Basquerotto formed their formidable defensive partnership. Blinn, Hulman and Gonzalez were the midfield three with Streffetza playing as the right winger, Di Francesco playing as the left winger and Colombo playing as the striker, this time getting the nod over Cissé. Yes, sir. Italiano rotated his team a little bit over here.

We saw Igor and Sapunar and the most surprising of the lot, Kwame getting the call over here, rotating from his, of course, European team because Sapunar does tend to play in the league. Jovic is injured and Cabral was rested after the conference league game. Now hard press from Lecce at the beginning of the game, bro. Fiorentina started to figure it out at the 10 minute mark and started to actually play their way out of Lecce's press after 10 minutes.

Lecce looked like they were going to disrupt them from the get go and they do that to big teams sometimes. In Lecce, they actually press you at the start, get early goals and then hold on and you can't do anything about that. In the 27th minute, Sapunar charged down the left, he did a little shimmy and whipped in an inch perfect across to Nico Gonzalez. The ball was played perfectly between the keeper and the falling onto Nino Gallo, who was unfortunate enough to turn the ball into his own net.

Lecce's intensity died out in the second half. The substitutions were sparse and they killed momentum. Fiorentina were very comfortable on the other hand and managed to take this one nil victory home. Di Francesco had Lecce's best opportunity when Streffetza played him through brilliantly, but Di Francesco had his back towards goal and tried to shoot on the turn. Was one of those, as you described, bro, as ehh, short.

Streffetza also had a powerful shot saved by Terracciano after Igor lost the ball very stupidly, a lapse in concentration over there. For Fiorentina, Barak and Sapunar had good opportunities with their heads, Sapunar forced Falcón into an acrobatic save. No one had more attempts than Sapunar this match, they hit six. Amrabat got close as well when his through ball to Bonaventura came off Bonaventura's heel and back into the path of Amrabat who mishit his shot.

It was an interesting game, quite action packed, quite fast paced, especially the first half. The second half died down a little bit. But bro, once again, having these flare wingers like Nico González, Jonathan Icon, Andrea Sotil, you know, it's not the same as having a high IQ creative on the wing. Absolutely. Because you see Sapunar, man, and he always does what's correct. He never misses a run. He knows when the space is, he knows when he should shoot, he knows when he should pass.

He always makes the correct call and we often praise him over here for a reason because he's a joy to watch because he's got an amazing footballing brain. No, absolutely. And sometimes I think you guys think we're joking by the amount of praise we give Sapunar, but I'm genuinely such a fan of this guy. It's like when in doubt, just play the ball to Sapunar, play the ball right at his feet. That's where he wants it.

Give him the ball right at his feet and he will create space with the pass that he plays. He's super intelligent and if there's a run, he sees it and he picks it out, man. Hasn't got 90 minutes in him, but those 60, 70 minutes that he plays, he really, really gives Fiorentina something different. And then he's replaced with a more direct player, which gives Fiorentina a little kind of plan B. Yes. Some of the goals he scored are some of the best I've seen, to be honest.

Look up his goal against Roma, guys, if you haven't seen it. His goal against Milan. It wasn't pretty at all, but Fiorentina kept their winning streak alive and they pretty much neutralized the tough lecture side. Bar those two opportunities, lecture didn't really threaten at all the whole game. I think it was rather comfortable for Fiorentina. I mean, sure. The first half was a little bit of a struggle, but after that, lecture's intensity dropped. I think they pressed themselves to oblivion.

Yeah, I think so. And the own goal seemed to set them back a little bit as well after the 27th minute. For the remainder of that half, lecture looked like they really wanted to get back into the game. Keep in mind, guys, lecture need points at the moment. They're in a similar boat to Empoli, where they're nearing the bottom end of that table and they're starting to be in an uncomfortable area, really, had it been not for all the positive results they had earlier.

So it's no easy feat playing against a team like that that is desperate for a victory. But Fiorentina are super calm and super composed and super confident at the moment. And I think that's what got them the victory. Definitely, bro, especially when you look at the lecture side that can disrupt these big teams away from home. We've seen them do it against so many of them. But anyway, yes, one thing I noticed this game was that Sotil is still struggling to get back to full fitness.

He's not quite sharp enough yet. And Mandragora, bro, has hit a great run of form. He typically gets injured when he hits a good run of form. So let's hope that it's different this time. And let's hope that we can finally see Mandragora get some momentum and improve as a player because he is very promising. He's great. He is great. And he always has been great. His move to Fiorentina halted his progress a little bit and he struggled with injuries in the beginning.

He said he was going to be that creative outlet for Fiorentina. And now he's back and he's proving to do that. He's got a great work rate. He plays well alongside Amrabat. Amrabat does a lot of the dirty work. And Mandragora, the way he plays the ball around is just beautiful to watch. And having him and Saponara and Birage on the left hand side just makes them so dangerous and so creative. Yes, that's a nice double pivot over there, Amrabat and Mandragora. Absolutely, man.

I don't know if there's anything else to add to this game. It was quite straightforward. Terracciano, of course, had three saves. Three good saves. I mean, they injuredly threatened him. Saves a save, saves a save though. But yes, let's go to where they currently stand in the table. Fiorentina are at ninth as they get their fourth win in a row with 37 points, while Lecce are down at 15th with 27 points as they have complete opposite form, four losses in a row now. Yeah. Sassuolo won.

Spezia nil is the next game we're going to be covering. This was a Friday night fixture. The previous encounter was a 2-2 draw when Spezia were at home. Sassuolo started in their 4-3-3 formation with Concelli in goal and the backline of Rogerio Ferrari, Erlich Antolian, at the midfield three of Henrique Lopez and Torzvet. With Lauriente out on the left, Berardi out on the right and Pinamonti up front.

Spezia played in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Drangovski in goal and the backline of Amian, Caldara, Ampadu and Nicolao. The midfield two of Egdal and Borabia with Agudelo ahead of them, Giasi out on the right, Daniel Maldini out on the left and Inzola up front. Keep in mind this was no easy game for Sassuolo facing an on-form Spezia side. When I say in-form, I mean they just beaten Ter pretty much because other than that, they are towards the relegation zone.

In the 33rd minute, Berardi attempted a left-footed curler from outside the box which hit the woodwork and in the 45th minute, Drangovski denied a close-range Henrique header. This guy just keeps on proving that he is a top goalkeeper. In the 70th minute, Berardi converted from the spot. Drangovski almost got to his penalty which just crept underneath him. The penalty was given away by Amian who blocked a Lauriente shot with his hand. It did take VAR to make that call.

Now Spezia struggled to keep up with the home side after going behind, trying to remain positive on the ball but failing to match Sassuolo's intensity. Their efforts were ultimately in vain as Alessio Dionisi's side picked up another three points after seeing out their victory. Not an easy game for Sassuolo but the run of form continues to be not a run of form and continues to show that they should be higher up the table. They had a very slow start and they've gotten better a lot.

What do you make of this matchup between Sassuolo and Spezia? Two interesting and dynamic teams quite frankly this season. Spezia have looked to be quite the unit at times and now under Semplitri they have a new kind of release of life and we've seen in Zola is definitely not an easy player to tame.

Especially when you put them up against Concelli, Ferrari, Le Chitalian and Rogério you think this guy is going to have a field day but Sassuolo stayed compact and they did very well to continue their hot form over here. Lauriente and Berardi had incredible games. Again, like we said these two are two of the best wingers that there is in the league and definitely as a partnership they're top three together. A very clean sheet for Sassuolo. Good for them right?

It had been a fucking while since we saw an 8.5 on Fanta-Culture for Concelli on my bench. On your bench? I started Mike. You always start Mike. But yeah, great three points for Sassuolo. However a very tight game. Spezia had 11 shots, okay only one on target. Two Sassuolo's 15 and 6 on target but Spezia continue to prove that they're quite an offensive side under Semplice and they really really take the game to their opponents.

They do bro, they play up to their opponents level and they have a few players who are capable of causing problems. Interesting Simaldini starting over here, he played quite a good game to be honest with you. Yeah I mean after his goal against Inter, why not? The guy, you know, hot form. As I said Sassuolo continue their great run of form climbing from 17th to 12th and taking down Milan, Roma and Atalanta in the process bro.

You know they'll probably lose half their players again in the transfer window but they do have a nice little project here under Dionisi and he's just doing his best with what he has. Laurente was a great coup for them, Berardi continues to be Mr. Reliable. At midfield three is just superb together, Henrique Lopez and Torzvet, normally you'd see Frattesi starting ahead of Torzvet but this time there's a bit of rotation going on.

Their defence could still use some work but they managed somehow to tame Nzola in this game. Yeah and I think Nzola, it was more of an Nzola off day than it was a defensive master class to be honest with you. Absolutely I agree with that for sure. Didn't play very well at all. But that was it, I'm not gonna lie it was St. Patrick's on Friday so I didn't catch too much of the game so there's not too much I can add over here.

However Sassuolo do find themselves in 12th place on 36 points while Spezia are in 27th on 24 points, still 5 points ahead of Verona however. The next game we're gonna be covering was Monza 1-Cremonese 1. Cremonese are the 9th team in Serie A history to only win one of their first 26 games. The other 8 teams that have reached this feat have all been relegated. My god. So, the story is under fucked. Now here comes an obscure stat.

Coming into this game, Monza had earned 16 of the 18 points available in games starting at 3pm at the U-Power Stadium in Serie A. Wow like. I know they love playing in the sun these guys. They do, they do. It's all about the glow right? The way your skin glows in the sun. They're probably not distracted by that lovely Monza sunset at 3pm. It's true, it's true that sunset was fucking gorgeous. My god I can't stop thinking about it.

They recorded 4 clean sheets in those 6 matches by the way as well so they were at the top at 3pm. 3pm is not the time to play Monza guys, don't play Monza at 3pm. In the last 12 meetings between two newly promoted sides in Serie A, the host team has only won once. There were 6 draws and 5 losses. Salernitana were the last team to do so. They won 2-1 against Venezia on 5th of May 2022. Only Cremonesa and Verona haven't won away from home this season. It's a fun little stat.

And Davide Ballardini is the first coach not to have recorded any clean sheets in his first 8 games at the helm for Cremonesa. He's doing well. He's doing well yes. I mean it was a bit of a lost cause already when he was fucking, when he was employed. It's a very difficult gig I think at this point. But yes, Monza played their 3-1-4-2 formation over here bro. Palladino. Di Gregorio was in goal with Caldirola Amari and Itzo at the back with Pessina playing in front of the defence.

Carlos Augusto was the left fullback over here while Churia was the right wing back. Maschinen and Sensi played in the middle. Caprari and Petania were up front as the striking partnership. For Cremonesa it was also a 3 at the back formation but a 3-5-2 this time. With Karne Sekki in goal played very well. Vasquez, Bianchetti and Aiu were at the back with Serenicola on the right, Valeri on the left. And then there was Galdames and Pickel in the middle with Ocarecke and Saju up front.

So it was quite a cautious display from both teams in the first half. We saw Monza playing some very attractive football over there. Some nice passages of play over there. We saw Petania with another back heel flip, nutmeg through ball to Itzo who missed over there. We saw crossing as well and the attacker feeling to score, I can't quite remember who it was at this time. But the first goal came in the 61st minute.

There was a through ball to Castagnetti and it was laid off to Cioffani who lobbed it in. The big man does it again. Becoming a bit of a cult hero over here for Cremonesa and Cioffani. Yeah I think so. We've seen this before. Cremonesa after they scored they tend to concede and it was in the 69th minute. Nice. There was a lapse in concentration of course. Churia whipped in a ball to Carlos Augusto. The defender got attached to it but it wasn't quite enough to stop the ball.

Carlos Augusto of course smashed it in. He is Monza's top scorer with five goals. Jesus Christ. When it comes to talking points, I wanted to discuss over here. So we can agree that Petania has been playing very well now. But he's got one goal all season. One? Yeah man. One goal all season. 27 years old. Now he is playing well and he contributes nicely to the link-up play. He really services the wingers, he really services the players around him.

But with Berlusconi's money and this project, he'll be one of the first to be replaced in the starting eleven. Yeah and I think so. I think they've got some pull power in them now that will allow them to find a better goal scorer essentially. Now he's great to link up all of these newbies together. Especially in the final third. You see the likes of Churi, Augusto, Caprari, Sensi, all of them being played through thanks to him. A lot of his work.

And even the fact that he's just that reference point up front makes him very effective for Monza. But this game could have used a difference maker for example. And I'm afraid Petania is not a difference maker. Petania allows Monza to play the way that they do and he encourages that beautiful link-up play and he's good to drag defenders away with him and play a bit deeper. But no, not a difference maker and Monza could really use that up front sometimes. Definitely bro. It's about numbers.

It's a game of numbers at the end of the day. It's ridiculous to have your top scorer be a defender when you've got a striker with the CV that Petania has. At the end of the day, he has Milan, he has Atalanta and he's got Napoli on his CV this guy. You expect him to do a little bit better. Now I'm not saying that he'll be shipped off. He's still deployable. He can definitely put in a shift and work in rotation.

But I do think that they will replace him for a better goal scorer, someone who can rack up the numbers. Now it is safe to mention as well, it's only fair to mention that Karnecek was massive this game and did pull off six games denying Petania on a few occasions as well. Six saves I think. Six saves. Yes. Fucking incredible. And he is one of the goalkeepers that Juve are looking at long term. Juventus are looking at Vicario, Donnarumma and Cesny.

Apparently they want an Italian goalkeeper for the future. Wait, you said Cesny now. Sorry, sorry. Vicario, Karnecek and Donnarumma. It's classic Juve again to look at young Italian talent. I think Karnecek still has a couple of seasons left for him to get to that level. I think goalkeepers like Vicario and Donnarumma will be better instantly at Juve. However, Karnecek will be a great goalkeeper. He's got cat-like reflexes. He's still learning how to command his area.

He's still learning how to set up a wall when there's a free kick. He just needs more experience. And who knows, maybe like Maret, he just needs a change in goalkeeping coach and he'll be there in no time. Yeah, 22 years old, super young for a goalkeeper. Absolutely, man. When I look at this Cremonaese team, who do I see in Serie A? Let's replace I with you. Let's ask you this question. Who do you see from this team staying in Serie A players wise if they do get relegated? Not many, man.

Not many at all. Karnecek, 100% in Serie A next year, even if he's Atalanta's reserve keeper. I think Oker Räke can fit into a lot of teams because he's a good player to bring on and he's a good player to base a newly promoted side around. I think Sajou, although he is getting there, I think he could use a season in Serie A just to gain some confidence and rack up some more goals. Just spent a few on Serie A, Sajou.

I don't think he's fully ready to maintain his spot in Serie A. And Cioffani, I would say definitely Oker Räke, Cioffani and Karnecek, otherwise not many, man. It's fair to mention that Cioffani is 37 years old. Oh, wow. He looks younger, right? Wow. Cioffani is a pundit next year. Yes, next year he's going to be next to Diletta, you know, interview. All right. Okay. So it's to me, it's Oker Räke and Karnecek. Yes. Meta, I think, can be used by other teams as well. He's quite a nifty player.

I can't see him playing in Serie A, but for example, he'll definitely play in a top five league next season. And I think Valeri will be an interesting player to pick up as well. He's quite good out on the left. 24 years old, you know, Italian, if it's the criteria. And he's very good at bombing forward. He works hard. He has a good mentality as well, leadership skills. I think he might be able to stay as well.

When it comes to the defenders, I think Vasquez has a lot of Serie A experience that might attract certain players. But other than that, I can't see any of the other guys. Maybe because he's 22 years old, but Bianchetti certainly not. I mean, like, Piquel and Desserts have had decent seasons, nothing to write home about. And Desserts has had some really good moments. Aska Sibar. Aska Sibar is definitely a player who can remain at this level. But you never know, bro.

Who was that Venezia trecuartista last year? Aramu. Aramu, like where Parma is he at? Genoa. Genoa. Like he should have stayed in Serie A. You know what I mean? He was really, really good for Venezia that season. Really good. That's a fair point. And no one would have thought that the 27 year old, 26 at the time, Mattia Aramu would actually go down and play in Serie A. But let's hope that he's growing as a player and let's hope to see him in Serie A very soon because he was good, bro.

Definitely. And Dennis Mann was another one still playing in Serie A, and he had a really good season in Serie A. So you never know. You never know which one of these players could prove to be pivotal for Serie A sides next season. Who the fuck knows? Who the fuck knows, bro? Not me. I have a note here before we move on. It's also involved in the offensive play. So I'm crossing on shooting. He crosses much better than he shoots. Yeah, that's for sure.

It's funny you see him bombing down the right quite a bit, man. So he's very involved. He's good. He's technical for a center back. In fact, playing in a back three is ideal for him because it gives him that kind of leeway. No? Yeah. I think genuinely a bit of a crazy call, but as a squad player, Itso could be anywhere in that league. Any kind of... He could be at the top teams as a substitute because he is good, man. He is very good and he's in his prime 31 years old defender.

His fitness is very, very good. He's in great shape. He's rough, but he's calculated. He's a very good tackler. He can go forward. He can hit the ball. He can cross the ball. I think he can fit in anywhere as a squad player. And then from the bottom 10 teams, I reckon he can start. For sure, bro. Definitely. I do like, man, what Itso has to offer. He's again, super technical, hardworking, tough, very tough. I think he might have had attitude problems in his career. I think so.

Yes. And I think that's what probably made him fall out with the Torino management. Yeah. But yes, let's go to the league table and we'll move on to our final game. Yeah. My game is the last one, I believe. Yeah. The Cremona are currently in 13th with 34 points. Their first ever season in Serie A going very well for them over there. While Cremona is set in 20th with 13 points, their return to Serie A is going terribly.

Yeah. The next game and the final game we're going to be covering is a relegation six pointer between Sampdoria and Verona, where Sampdoria reigned victorious with the score of three goes to one. The previous encounter was a rare victory for Verona with the score of two one. Sampdoria have three victories this season, while Verona have four. This was Sampdoria's first home victory of the season.

Now the missing players in this game were Emil Audeiro, Andrea Conti, De Luca, Lammers, Puseto and Rincon for Sampdoria. Few players out there. For Verona, it's Tomas Onri, Hian, Hrustic and Ngonj. Fewer players, but possibly more pivotal players. For Sampdoria, they lined up in their 3-4-2-1 formation with Turc in goal and a back line of Amione, Nuitink and Gunther. They had Augela out on the left and Zanoli out on the right with Juricic and Winx in the middle.

Liris was the left winger, Kuisance was the right winger and Manolo Gabbiadini, super captain, started up front. For Verona, they also played a 3-4-2-1 formation with Monte Pogon goal. They had Davidovic, Coppola and Magnani at the back with Faroni out on the right and Doig out on the left. Duda and Tamez formed the midfield too, with Braff and Lazovic playing behind Juricic. Not for long, however.

It was good to see Lazovic closer to goal again in this game and Doig playing out as a left wing back once again. In the 22nd minute, Amione hit the post with a header from a corner, showing that Sampdoria weren't here to fuck around. And then two minutes later, Gabbiadini scored. It was a corner kick that led to confusion in the area, but Nuitink managed to get a good ball away to Gabbiadini, who slotted home.

Some brave attacking play for Nuitink that passed the ball whilst colliding with a defender, and a good finish by captain fantastic Manolo Gabbiadini. In the 28th minute, the assistor Nuitink cleared Lazovic's attempt off the line to save Sampdoria from conceding over there, and then the 34th minute. Unfortunately for Verona, things went from bad to worse, as Juricic went out with an injury to be replaced by Gajic. Just a minute later, in the 35th, Gabbiadini scored our goal of the week.

He initially did look offside, but Gabbiadini controlled the ball outside the area with his back-to-words goal, took the ball past two challengers and released a strike on the turn which flew into the top corner, with Monte-Paul getting a hand to it. 2-0. Things look great for Sampdoria. In the 49th minute, in the second half, Verona came out way more offensive, Braff hit the post with a low strike from outside the area.

In the 60th minute, Gajic finished well after being played brilliantly by Duda, but the goal was ruled offside. The 7 minutes later, Gajic and Verona saw another goal ruled out for offside after he was once again spotted on an offside position when tapping in a rebounded save from a flying header. And then finally, in the 88th minute, Faroni managed to get one back for Verona, making them 2-1 down. A Verona corner was headed to Faroni by Davidovic, who chested in.

Thankfully for the Italian, the goal stood, although there were claims of an attacking handball and they did take to VAR to figure that one out. 10 minutes later, and then in the 98th as Verona were piling men forward for the equaliser, Sampdoria were able to counter. It was Jose Rodriguez that squared the ball to Zanoli, who finished with the last kick of the game, giving Sampdoria a gargantuan victory in this relegation 6-pointer over Verona.

They are still in significant trouble, they are still just on 15 points, they are still 9 points behind Spezia, but we have 11 games to go. We saw what Salernitana were capable of doing last year. Who the fuck knows? Who knows? This victory might change everything, they are playing good football, it's just they weren't getting results. Now they got a result, where do Sampdoria go from here, and where do Verona go from here? What a terrible loss for them.

So bro, this was the best Bram Nuitink performance I have ever seen in my life. 100%. He was incredible. Now as a player I rate very highly already Bram Nuitink, but this game in particular, he was incredible. Everywhere bro he was, he was in the final third, he got the assist on one of the goals. He cleared the ball off the line and just overall his presence in that Sampdoria defense just changes them entirely.

So when you look at the fact that you have a leader up front and a leader at the back in Gabbiadini and Bram Nuitink, that actually gives you the foundation to go forward. We have said that this Sampdoria team are underachieving and they should be doing a little bit better, especially with these new additions. Gabbiadini is back in full fitness and if you serve as Gabbiadini, he will give you gold. Kuisantz, as we said, has been a good link to connect the midfield and attack.

Juricic as well has been okay. You look at how Jelle on the left, he's a player who's good, Zanoli's proven to be a player who's ready to be honest to be Di Lorenzo's understudy of Napoli because he's owned by Napoli. So I don't know about the Sampdoria side. I certainly think that at the moment the way the tides have shifted with Hellas Verona just selling anyone who plays well. This is all self-inflicted. Yeah, exactly. They're the best team in the bottom three Sampdoria.

I don't know, Verona were on a crazy good streak before this crazy bad streak. But now they've got on Riaut, Juric has relapsed his injury, Ngonj is still out, they've sold the Lich. There's nothing left at Verona man. And honestly, everyone's just fucking playing to get them out of there at the moment. Like I highly doubt Lazovic would be there again next season.

But anyway, bro, Sampdoria have also, as we said, you remember, I mean, if you listen to the past eight, nine episodes, Sampdoria another good game, no goal. Another good game for Sampdoria, no goal. They've been playing well for a while, but now finally they have found how to score goals. It was against Hellas Verona, who are also in the bottom three. But you know, this might be the confidence boost they need to actually take this goal scoring form. Let's call it that into a big game.

Who's up next for Sampdoria anyway? I'm going to find out right now. Sampdoria schedule is what I'm typing in to find out. Okay, no, no, no. I'm looking at second April. Oh, that is the next game. Roma away, Roma away. Okay. And then after that, criminal is a home. Okay, there was that. Let's share away after that. Spezia home. There we go. Dude, that's a lot of Sampdoria. Sampdoria, Sampdoria climbing out of the relegation pool and what? Spezia are getting relegated. Maybe maybe.

Wow. A bold claim here by Jake, ladies and gentlemen, that Sampdoria stay alive. Let's not get carried away. They got a good victory over the struggling Hellas Verona. But like you said, they have been playing well. They haven't been getting the results. Now they got a result. Momentum. Exactly. Confidence. The thing that attracts me to this team, the thing that intrigues me about this team is they play so well together and all that was missing was the goal.

And now they have even Hesse coming off the bench and he actually got an assist. So his confidence would be higher as well right now. They've got Sabiri who they barely play. My God, I forgot about Sabiri. That's a good player to bring on. You could play him in midfield as well over there instead of Juričić or instead of Harry Winks and play Juričić, for example, behind Gabiadini. There are so many options over here now. The squad's looking a bit better.

They made, before I criticized them because they got like Hesse Rodriguez and Kuisant who don't really have Serie A experience, albeit Kuisant had six months with Venezia on the top flight. Bram Nuitink and Gunther, brilliant signings. Brilliant signings for them. Yes, definitely. Gunther, I'm not a massive fan of but he does play well most of the time. But then when he doesn't play well, he's getting fucking red cards, giving away penalties. That type of player, you know, giving the ball away.

But they need the Serie A experience, especially in that shaky defense that they had. And now him and Nuitink together and suddenly it doesn't look that bad over there. And this is without Audera, by the way. Yeah. And bear in mind, Sampdoria managed to take a point away from Inter. So who knows, man. Maybe they go to Roma and they fucking get something out of that. Roma are such a compromised squad. But they're going to want to win over there. Roma are going to want to win.

If they close down the ball, that's very possible because this defense is hard to penetrate. And Roma aren't the most creative team in the world and they often rely on their set pieces or a moment from the ball. Right. So we'll see how they cope over there. Yeah. Verona on the other hand, like we said, self-inflicted all the way. I just don't get it. I just don't get it because, okay, you lose all of these great players that we've mentioned a thousand times. The list goes on and on.

Their key players, Zakani, Amrabat, Silvione, Barak, Caprari, Rahmani. They lose these guys in three seasons. Di Marco. Di Marco, seven guys, seven top players. And I'm sure we're missing someone in the last three seasons. What do they do in January? They fucking let Illich go. Yes. They let Illich go to Torino. I wouldn't care about making money off him at that point. I would tell him to play out his contract. Staying in Serie A is bigger than turning around a couple of millions for him.

You know what I mean? And they were looking more alive, you know, with Illich and the team. They were looking creative and now they've shipped them off and they've brought in a guy called fucking Duda. I would say small dick and more dick. Like a baby's dick. You know what I see happening to Verona? They get relegated and they lose the fucking rest of them. They lose Lazovic, they lose Tamez, they lose Farahoni, they lose Doig, they lose Monte Pau, they lose absolutely everyone.

They lose fucking De Pauli and guess what? The next season, Lasagna is their main man up front. They'll probably lose Henri because now, you know, he's apparently a Serie A player. I'm seeing fucking what happened to Kjell, to Kjell and Verona where they slipped to Serie A but then perhaps slipped to Serie A. Tjell might happen to fucking hell as Verona if their management, if their top tier management keep making all these stupid, stupid, stupid decisions.

To be honest, Kjell had to liquidate because of their financial woes. The fact that these guys are selling, maybe they want the opposite. Maybe they'd rather go down to Serie A better than have to liquidate. But I can't help but think it's greed at this point because they don't return the invest. They don't invest after they sell and that's the most shocking thing. You know, they just weaken and weaken and weaken to the point that they're in this situation that they're in now.

They're terrible salesmen. They're terrible salesmen. They sell their best players for chips, bro. For chips they sell their biggest players. And how's that money being reinvested? Where? Where? On Jurich and Henry? You know what I mean. It could be much better with supposedly. So you bring in two strikers and then you sell your most creative midfielder. Yeah, and you leave the defense as is. That terrible, terrible shaky, slow, static fucking defense.

There was a board room somewhere aboard of men. They were like, Davidovic, Coppola, Maniani. Fine as we are. What the fuck? My God. Miguel Veloso, by the way, at like 300 years old, putting quite a good shift this game. He's a good player. Yes, 36 years old he is nowadays. He's slow. He's out of a good, good little career. With the ball at his feet. He's very creative and very mature though. Sometimes to slow things down.

It's what Verona need, although they never really need to slow things down, do they? They need to fucking speed things up at this point. With frustrating by Verona, they'll be very, very, very disappointed. And this is where we can see the tide starting to shift. Sampdoria still in 19th place on 15 points, nine points from Salvation. Verona still in 18th place on 19 points, five points from Salvation. And that was my last episode for a month. You're off to Australia, bro.

I'm off to Australia for an entire month next Monday, guys. We'll still find a way to incorporate me. Yes. Here and there. I'll probably ask you for voice notes. I'll probably record with Mintov and include them in our live call. You see how you are on the episode and all that. That's the thing. Guys, it won't be the same without him. It upsets me, man. The shit thing, guys, because I know Zoom is a thing and we can do it like that, but it's the most awkward time zone difference ever.

It's 10 hours. I'd be 10 hours ahead in Australia. Had it been 12 hours ahead, it would be better, man. Because we can find a middle ground with 12 hours ahead. Like I wake up at 8 a.m. and you record at 8 p.m. and we record like that. But as well, man, even if we were to do something similar, it won't be the same vibe. So I think it's best that just someone fills in and I'll make my presence known at least. Yes, bro.

We will call you at the beginning of the episode so you can say hello and all that. That's nice. At 4 a.m. But don't worry, bro. It'll be fine. It's four episodes and you'll be back. Yeah, absolutely. I'm going to miss doing this so much, man. Imagine our viewership goes up. No, it certainly won't. I can guarantee, bro, you are a great host. Thank you very much, brother. Thank you. And thank you all for listening to this episode. Once again, guys, just a great weekend of football.

I feel like this league season after season keeps on blessing us with just weekends like this. And what a joy it is to have zero plans and just to sit in front of your TV and watch the master class that is Serie A. We'll have the international break coming up Sunday. We're actually blessed by a visit from Italy. It's Italy against Malta. Jake and I are going to be with the Maltese Kurwa. Yes, come on. Tonali is my favorite player in the world, but I am going to murder him.

I'm going to boo the shit out of him. Let out all the frustration. Forza Malta, right to goal. Vucicoda, right to goal. Metanilabujotaali. Come on, you boys in red. Yeah, I get so pumped. Let's go. It's going to be great. Guys, give us a follow. We'll shoot content while we're there. That's good. That's good. We should wait here. I'm not going to say anything. No, we should wait here. We should wait here. We should wait here. We should wait here. We should wait here. We should wait here.

I'm not going to say that. No chance. No chance. Underneath so that when we can lift it up and that are really funny. TikTok, bro. That is a good TikTok. You know what I mean? I think I get the guy. You can get me cunted by some southerners. Oh my God. I love the southerners. My mom's a southerner. Oh my God. Saved it. Saved it. Follow us, rate us, kiss us, love us, DM us, send us voice notes. Love you guys. Thank you very much. I will see you next month.

And Jake is lucky enough to see you all next week. Take care. See ya.