Lookman, will he shoot?
Stare with Lookman!
The perfect parting gift
Before jetting off to the African Cup of Nations with Nigeria
Hello and welcome back to another episode of Seria our spotlight. This is episode 106 and where your host Jake and Matt
Here to bring you all the events of matchday 18 in Syria not without wishing all of you a very very happy new year
Yes, 2024 bro. Have you had to use tepecs yet at work?
I don't use tepecs at work. Do you use pens?
Well just for my notes when I get them wrong. I just scribble it off, you know
I'm a highlight my completed tasks kind of guy. I've never been about that life. I'm personally no no
I've always to be honest. I've never been about tepecs either. I just cross things off like yeah, but yeah, fuck tepecs
So the hell uses tepecs. The mix is weird. You have to make mistakes to use tepecs. Yeah, we don't make mistakes
Exactly our goal of the week. This might have been a mistake
Yeah, this was probably I'm so we actually disagreed for for a bit on this
First of all the goals this week were not brilliant
There weren't many goals and the goals that took place weren't great. Yeah, I mean there was look men's and
Chuanas yeah, and they were very similar very identical
I think look men's dribble was a little bit sorsier a little bit more refined even the finish had less of a bubble to the shot
I think it was cleaner, but Chuan I almost wanted to give it to him because of the stage
No, and I'm a relegation battle relegation six pointer and he single-handedly
Kept selling it on a live with a moment of brilliance. Yeah. Yeah, he still had so much to do with that man
Obviously, Pajero had had a great goal and a volley for denez and a massive 3-0 victory over Bologna
Who the fuck would have thought like he was a volleying it all game. Yeah, man
He's he's been playing really well since that red card. He's really stepped it up
He's been having it from everywhere and Robbie over. Yeah
The reason we didn't pick Pajero is because the ball fell to him and he was placed in the right place at the right time kind of thing
And the shot was kind of central as well. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but very powerful
and Robbie Osgold obviously gave you know, you were the victory over a
Pragmatic and tough opponent in in Roma
The build-up play okay that the back heel ball by Vlaovic was brilliant was a bit messy in the build up to that
And then the finish at the near post. I do think Rui Patricio could have done a little bit better
Absolutely, absolutely. I think it's between Lukman and Chuan and I think Lukman's was as you said the more refined goal
And Chuan as would be special because of the stage, of course
Please let us know below vote on the poll or drop your opinion in the comments
Yeah, and while you're at it obviously like follow rate date chat. This is my favorite thing to do now
I don't know if you guys remember the era on on Facebook me and Jake certainly remember it
When someone would post like like this and I'll post what I think on your wall
And then there's like at the bottom. There's rate date and chat and you will rate the person
You're right. Yes or no if you date the person and then chat you're like yell chat or no
I won't chat but some people get absolutely destroyed bro on the underwalls like it's like rating four
There's one like best feature and that give me hair like what I got on this as well
I mean, oh
Remember my hair was like a toothbrush back then. I don't know why they would choose hair
But anyway, yeah, that's enough about our trauma and our you know
Maybe a little bit about what we enjoyed doing on Facebook at a younger age. There was the Coppa Italia
They still is the Coppa Italia going on right now as we record
Yeah, Atlanta are currently beating Saswolo to nil to goals from CDK who the fuck would have thought huh?
Yeah, new year new CDK even blew the fans a kiss after the first one. That's a confident ladder
I mean brother. It's friggin Wednesday, right?
And the the stadium is packed without a lot of fans in Milan's leg in the champions lead man
Milan's yesterday wasn't even wasn't even packed
But Milan did have a great victory yesterday for goals to one against Caliari fielding for 18 year olds and
He scored Chaka Traore
Yeah, I scored the third goal Jovic scored the opening to then Lea came on and also scored
But man, oh man was I blown away by Milan's new left-back in him in his man
He was incredible
Incredible I would have never guessed that that was his professional debut. He was
Real Madrid the factor that the factory of these left-backs, please keep them coming man
Back on all of them
But whatever this guy is super finally advice for tail. Yeah, I think he's ready
Bro, he's performance left nothing to be designed like everything make any
Mistakes, it's true. He made no man. He was it's not like he played it safe the entire time. He was being risky
Yeah, you know
He's a very saucy a lot of tail Hernandez a lot of them and he looks like Salamacca's by the way
He is Salamacca. Yeah, essentially is Salamacca's
But yeah, we also have patreon guys and we have a new patron
Thank you Tim and this is a new thing that we're gonna be doing guys every time we get a new patron and you subscriber
We're going to be
Blasting that song. I mean, it's party time. No one will get a new patron. Yeah, bro
But first, no, I'm kidding
But yeah, thank you to everyone in the family, thank you Ed, thank you Alan and the Lena was a Luke Mike Matteo
Mattias Luca Anthony Michael David Kyle Andrew sluge Mcnoodle and finally Tim Warner our latest family member
Thank you. Welcome. Welcome to the spothead. Yep. We
Appreciate the way in which you signed up as well. I believe he told us fuck you. I'm becoming a patron. Fuck you guys
I'm signing up
So we appreciate you brother that song was for you if you guys become a patron will have a song for you as well
We've got one more announcement before the rundown
Yes, we do keep your eyes peeled on our Instagram as we're launching our first ever giveaway in collaboration with the very talented
Embroidered Malta. Yes, we're giving away an exclusive all-black
Serious spotlight sweater with our logo beautifully embroidered on the top left
Check out our Instagram where you'll find the giveaway post including images of the sweater and all the steps to enter
Follow these steps and you'll be in a good chance to win the winner will be announced on Thursday the 18th of January on our Instagram
Shout out to embroidered Malta for their fantastic work
Do check them out on Instagram at embroidered underscore Malta and maybe even get yourself a custom embroidered sweater
You're certainly in good hands
So without further ado guys, let's get to the rundown
Yes, we're gonna start things off with the staple match of this weekend where you've a beat Rama one goal to nil
Which was great news for them because league leaders inter suffered and a way draw to Genoa with the score of 1-1
Meaning that gap is narrowed down to two
Milan got past Saswolo with one goal to nil. It wasn't pretty but that is the result Milan so desperately needed
Napoli drew nil nil to Monza where Meret saved a dreadful penalty by Pesina and then went off injured
Odineze shocked this area after they beat Bologna three goals to nil
Absolutely, no one was expecting a stellar performance by Odineze and the manner in which they managed to pull that off
Fiorentina one Torino nil. Thanks to a late Ranieri header
Atalanta one lecce nil. Thanks to our goal of the week by Adamola Lukman before he is off to the African Cup of Nations
Lazio three frozino on a one what a second half by Latio and what a second half by Tati Castellanios
Verona nil Salernitana one which Juana got a great goal and Salernitana one a relegation six pointer
Massive for them especially since they were in last place and another relegation six pointer Kaliari nil
Empoli nil
Yeah, this this week was a low scoring affair first of all the games happened so quickly across Friday and Saturday
Yeah, that's it boom match day over
It was a blur to be honest boss so quickly
Yeah, and now we're halfway through the season. We're exactly at the halfway point of the season
So it's do or die for most of these teams so Salernitana for example had to win this game
Yeah, they had to win this game to remain relevant like if you're still on a slow start now
It's not just a slow start. You're having a bad season
If you're off to a good start, you're having a good season everything that happens from here on out is pivotal for
the
The final outcome of this season of Serie A
Absolutely man should be jumping to the action with Juventus Roma. Yep
Juve one Roma nil to start things off now since Inter had dropped two points against Genoa earlier in the weekend
This was a great opportunity for Juve to narrow the gap at the top of the table heading into 2024
But they faced a Roma site who are coming off a strong tunnel victory over
Napoli on the other hand
It was also a good opportunity for Roma to go level on points with fifth place Bologna. I had just lost to Odinese
The ball are returned from injury to face his former club along with Leonardo Parades
Not many people remember Parades at you well because he didn't get much playing time
Smiling Abraham and kumbola were still out of action due to injury for Roma as for you
There can be also Pogba and Fajoli were suspended with moist keen Alexandra and Mattia de Shilio out injured
Federico Chiesa was not that 100% so teenage sensation
Keenan Yildiz again started this time with Duzan Vlaovic and the returning Timothy Wea on the right-hand side
Now the game started aggressively and it started quickly in the fourth minute
Cristian as powerful volley from inside the area
deflected off of Lovic and struck the post for the first close call of the game in the
19th minute Mancini denied Vlaovic with an excellent sliding block after the Serbian was through on goal after out
Muscling Laurenti on the turn that is the Vlaovic we know the one that could on the turn
Just out muscle the defender and end up clean throw on goal. But Mancini was excellent over there
31st minute the ball a strike with his left foot skimmed just wide of Ciesney's far post in the 42nd minute a
Super long throw into the box by McKenny Felto Kostich who volleyed it very well and very cleanly
He had Patricio beaten but Indica ran onto the line and headed the ball off the line
Amazing what a clearance with a goal line clearance
He saw that the shot was gonna get past Patricio. He sprinted on to the line and he headed it off
It's not like he was placed there. You know you have to be
Mental to put your head
Yeah, I'm not for shot like that a costage volley
From point blank must have like have a speech impediment of
In the 47th minute just after half time
Rabiou opened the scoring with a clean finish into Patricio's near corner after a lovely back heel flick
Assist by Dousan Vlaovic
It was taken to Var but Var footage showed this was extremely tight
But the Frenchman was just on side in the 83rd minute
Kieza broke forward well and squared a dangerous pass to McKenney
But his center strike was denied by Patricio
And later on Kieza had the ball in the net on 88 minutes, but it was ruled offside because the block on a Samuel
Illing Jr. Shot did not qualify as a pass
So it was not enough to get him on side again
alright, so
How predictable was you were one Roman Nill as a result coming into this
Incredibly predictable for either one of them or Nill Nill right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that was it
two of the most okay the two most pragmatic teams in the top seven coming face to face may see each other very
It was a weird game though, it was so
Punchy I don't know to describe it, you know, yeah, I wouldn't say it was cage
I heard I heard someone describe it as a cagey affair
But both teams were in it the thing is you were wanted Roma to have the ball and Roma wanted you there to have the ball
I think
There was a slight mistake in Roma's approach because you were being the home team you would anticipate that that
Their game plan was going to be the one that was gonna be pulled off to a more effective kind of
Degree so if you've at home want you to have the ball
Yeah, you're probably gonna have the fucking ball plus you've ever have been better than Roma throughout the season
So I think Roma were a bit overconfident in the fact that they said let's go in with
like the midfield of
Christante Paredes and Bove and
So that we could defend and so that we can hold back and disrupt and disrupt instead of playing someone like Pellegrini
In midfield and who just got a goal against Napoli on a big stage because you're gonna need someone creative
Because you're gonna have a lot more of the ball. So I don't feel like Rome
I really prepared for the team that they had in front of them. I don't know if you agree with that
Ah, but I guess you never know what your opponent is gonna do right in a situation like this
Like are you we're going to change their approach?
like like
I'll agree and
Marino would have been thinking the exact same thing. Are they gonna let us have the ball and
You never quite know what the other team is gonna do
I think what you need to do is put your best eleven out there
The the team that's gonna get you the team that can get you goals man
Because I do agree that the setup is very defensive. Yeah by Roma and to be honest with you
I think Roma would have settled for a draw over here. Absolutely. So I think
Approach wise not much would have changed
If they they know they were gonna have the ball more often than not
He would have probably still lined up with both a parades and Cristante
Yeah, but but I was I was impressed though the game was very entertaining. Yeah, it was it was entertaining. I do think that the
Deciding factor in this game despite not getting a goal. I got an assist do some love it
How good was love it in this game his work ethic?
His strength his pace the way he turned the pace
Like like no other and just his involvement throughout the entire game. He was a menace man. He was powerful
He was he was determined, you know
He he was a handful for the for that back three and at one point even had Diego Larenta on the floor rolling around and even mocked him
He was the whole way way way
Robbing tears of his eyes. Oh baby. Yeah
No goal for him, but I'll assist his brilliant right now to the chest
We can see exactly exactly. He had a bicycle
He had a bicycle kick attempt for an assist. I think love which he was just
Confident he was he was still you know what I mean. Yeah, he had a fantastic game
I think a massive deciding factor as to naturally why you've won this game if you look at you
They defensively that back three the way that it was able to just neutralize the dangerous
DiBala and Lukaku
so
Firstly, you know what you were do they got that goal in the 47th minute and then they took a very defensive approach
I Kroama have the ball. Yeah dangerous because there's DiBala and Lukaku, which as a combination
You can have someone that gets your goal out of nothing and then you have that poacher in the box
With that strength to kind of someone a layoff
They can just be so creative with those two and so dangerous with those two
But more than anyone gils and Bremer, bro. What a time he
Fucking had Lukaku in his pocket for the entire game
Lukaku didn't get a single sniff with Bremer. I think Bremer had a slow start to the season but
His performances recently have just been in I said he had a slow start. He was out injured though for a while
And since he's been back. He's been fantastic for you. I don't think he put the foot wrong this game man. Literally had
Honestly, he had Lukaku in his pocket and he's pocketed some of the finest this season, you know, he had layout. Yeah, no choke
Oh, he had the Aussie man as well. I'm not sure. Oh
He's been he's been super. He's probably
One of the best if not the best center back in the league and there's a reason he won MVP
For defenders in Syria when he was back at Torino. Yeah, absolutely
I think he is that fucking just the the anchor for for you
He and Danilo Gatti does get that kind of freedom to go up because we know he can get you out later
But there was absolutely none of that in this game because you've had a clear game plan
It's get that goal and just just stick back again very dangerous decision
No, by a leg with drama's ability to have that firepower
It's almost like he tells the opposition score right there. Yeah, you know, like come come try score on us
You know and the thing is you look at
The back line of you van you look at Shezny man. They trust each other so much
Yeah, so even like if someone goes to take a shot a long-range shot, you know, that's the only way you're really gonna challenge
Challenge as me unless you have a set piece
They trust Shezny and goal, you know, he's just gonna collect it. No problem. He's a fantastic goalkeeper as well
Yeah, and he had a decent game. I believe he had well
Roma had four shots on target. So she doesn't have to be responsible for those four saves
And I think if we look at the other side
Out obviously not not ignoring any other performances by you
I think he'll this had a had a decent performance as well
Yeah, especially considering it's a second or third start a second start
Yeah, second start and even the midfield three man of McKenney look at the Robby Oh tough man
Shout out McKenney because he's been he's been very very good and who knew he had that throw in his locker
I had that that long throw
I'm thinking sorry to interrupt. Do you think Robby Oh starts anywhere he goes in the world?
those Robby Oh start and probably not anywhere in the world because
Like what he started city
If it you know, you know, I think more yes, then no his start at most places Robby Oh, I see he's got everything
No, man contention for a starting place wherever he goes. I think literally he's an all-rounder and he's determined
He's hard-working very technical. He can score he can defend he wins his duals
He covers a lot of ground man. He's a beast, you know, he's a monster man Robby Oh absolutely
I think I think you might be right over there, bro
And keep in mind how highly rated this guy was in his early years at PSG as a teenager
The entire world wanted him Real Madrid wanted him Barcelona wanted him ended up going to Juve
It took him a while to adapt to the league
But once he adapted
Wow man, yeah, and he adapted as his contract was running out. He was off. He was off the United bro
He was off the United all the uva fans were like, oh my god. He's just playing well to get a renewal. They're new to me
They're like, no, what are we doing?
They're super happy. I'll never forget 28 years old nowadays, of course
Um, he's he's he's in his prime. Yeah, and he's our episode artwork for you didn't recognize him
We thought he was someone else
But yeah, great great performance as well by him Rabio
Looking over at Roma, and I think what we said earlier kind of sums up wrong
I think it was the factor of the decision-making going into this game did Roma lose this game
Before the game even started because they were going in for an approach which isn't gonna hold well against a side like
you've at least
You've a show that they have the bigger dick in this in this contest
Um, but just to highlight Evan Indica and Evan Indica's performance particularly in this match
Not because he had the goal line clearance
But just his involvement all around the fact that I don't believe he lost a single duel. No, he won the man in fact
Yeah
He had 94 percent accurate passes as well 95 touches. He was very involved. He pushed up field. He was he was confident
I think he was probably the best defender for Roma this day and they played alright, you know
Yeah, you'll see that in this in this match if you guys look at the heat map
Obviously, you'll see that all three of the center backs were placed quite high up the field
Yeah, but that's because yeah, but that's because you were weren't attacking and Roma were just piling everyone forward and then and
playing the ball around but
John Luca Mancini getting forward and Dica getting forward and then you're into being that that last man
You know on the spot of the of the center midfield
But I do feel like they leave a lot to be the they left a lot to be desired drama
Simply because they were shut off by a very effective you decide. Yeah
It's it's weird
The approach would have been as we often say over here, you know
We could have easily been ended up praising more in your approach over here. Um, let's say that Brian
Cristante shot went in
Earlier on in the first half when he struck the post and they held back and they didn't concede for the rest of the game
You know what I mean or they conceded one later in the finish one one would have been like our Roma put up a fight here
They approached the game with the fact that they
They didn't really manage to get the ball over the line
Really fucks them in I mean, it's it's a simple thing. It's an obvious thing
But but that's what it is a uva are aside that pretty much mirror Roma
But they're better at what they do. Yeah, that's what they do and they have better quality not to mention
Okay, it's true. Roma have look a cool and the ball fair enough to very good players, but let's
Let's say that look a cool is new
Let's not forget that look a cool is new and that the ball is fucking playing game-in game out with his injury
It's always a little problem. So I don't think he's ever fully fully fully fit
Where whereas on uva
You've got Rob, you know, who's as we discussed pretty much a world beater
You've got Vlaovic who let's not forget is a top striker
You know, you've got the likes of Kierza coming off the bench
You can do a lot of damage
Especially when Roma were placed so high up the field and Kierza came on he was breaking through those lines
Yeah, man, absolutely like
Who's gonna do that spin at all?
Zalewski, they don't really have anyone to do that
What what Roma players offers a lot of industry look at Christante Paredes, Christensen, Bovez, Zalewski like those five guys
They're not the most technical guys in the world at all at all at all
But they're gonna work and work and work and I think that was the plan here
Yeah, try to hold back defend with everyone except for the ball and Lukaku and then try to hit them on the break with the ball and
Lukaku in fact, I think what you're saying is exactly why Zalewski is being favored over spin at Zola
Because if you were to tell me two years ago
and
That this kid Zalewski is gonna bench spin at Zola against you there for Roma
I'll tell you you're crazy
but
Spin at Zola because he's more of an offensive player and maybe because of his problems with injury
He doesn't offer you that you know
Going forward and tracking back and going forward and tracking back. He's I feel like Roma's
Morinio, sorry is using Zalewski for his legs
More than anything that that fucking work ethic the fact that he's a horse down that left-hand side
I think spin at Zola's tide here, but Zalewski's more of a Morinio kind of player
But I think that's pretty much it when it comes to this game again
Obviously a pragmatic approach by both teams. So I think you all
expected
This outcome you were in second now just two points behind Inter
While strong are in seventh place on 28 points. They are just
Five points behind Fiorentina in fourth. Yeah
You mentioned that Inter are still leading however, they did slip up
They drew 1-1 to Genoa away from home. They were missing key players like Lautaro and DiMarco
And they faced a Genoa side managed by Alberto Jillardino, of course who mirrored their setup with a 3-5-2 formation
And I love by the way when smaller teams do this. They just mirror your formation. They go man for man
Yeah, they play up strong 11, you know, and you just have a hard time playing quite frankly
For Genoa's lineup, it was Ekuban and Goodman's and starting up front together
And everything else was pretty much business as usual. They are in Martin out on the left Kevin Strutman in the middle, etc
etc for Inter it was Arnautovic and Carlos Augustos stepping in for DiMarco and
Lautaro. Yeah
The match began with Inter pressing and attacking but there was actually a funny interruption
Caused by smoke flares from Genoa fans
Earlier on in the game and this delayed the game by nearly 10 minutes. It's happened about like literally 10 minutes into the game
And it did throw Inter off a little bit because Inter started way better before this whole situation happened than they continued that half
The 12th man, am I right? Yeah
Despite the interruption Inter managed to take the lead through Arnautovic who
Capitalized on a deflected ball from Barela shot, which came off the post scoring his first Serie A goal of the season
However, there was a bit of controversy around this goal as Bissec did seem to push
Strutman and a header that led up to the goal the referee did not consult Var
However, I always find it strange when they don't check Var
Yeah, that's why isn't there like go check it out
Now there's that thing that is the contact significant and then if it's an argument of whether or not the contact was significant
it's typically
The look that the referee had that should count because he saw it in real time
You know what I mean? Yeah, I think he should have gone to the monitor though. It seemed like a
Like a pretty bad push. I'm not pretty bad. I mean, it wasn't a crazy bad push
But it was a shove in the box. I have no opinion
Just before the halftime whistle Genoa did actually equalize through Drago Zin
Drago Zin, sorry Drago Zin
Drago Zin or Drago Zout, am I right? Drago Zin hopefully in
Drago Zin hopefully fucking in is one of my favorite centre-backs
I know God forbid he goes to Spurs. He beat Carlos Augusto and Archeryby
To head the ball into the back of the net off of Summer to conclude the first half at 1-1
He's brilliant in the air man. He's proven to be that guy that guy that you could ping a ball to and and he is
that
Center-back in a back three that really really gets forward and pushes forward for this team and man
Goodman Zin and Ekuban
Great upfront. Obviously, we know how good particularly Goodman Zin is we know Caleb's hold-up play has been better
Yes, I just
But it
Imagine you're facing that front too and then for an aerial threat you've got Drago Zin
Sprinting in as the last man and he's particularly dangerous as well on set pieces all of their set pieces
involve the simple
Technique or tactic of crossing the ball to Drago Zin and he's typically so like he's beyond the far post
To the point that if anyone goes to mark him they're out of position and he'll stretch the lines
So no one typically marks him and then when the ball is going to a beck was like oh shit
And he'll volley it like a striker, you know
Yeah, there are talks that he might be off to Spurs, but apparently not well. You're interested as well and they're offering
20 million and lost the guard. I really hope that happens
That's it because I would love as much as I love having a beast like that
At a newly promoted team which I have a strong soft spot for
Let's let's see him at one of these big teams
He's squad are you there? These guys are professional. He can be very very good. He's still so young
I believe he's 21 on my 21 years. Yes, man. 21 years old. It's crazy how young he is and he plays like a veteran player
Yeah, but anyway off to the second half we go
Genoa continued to push in the second half their energetic play led by Goodman's in space and ecobahn's physical presence
Of course tested enters defense center tried feeding the ball to an out of which but they really struggled to pick him out
Due to resolute defending by Genoa, bro. They were tighter than tighter than what dog?
As you just leave it
That was tight. It was tight. It was really tight, bro
Jalardino made strategic substitutions. Of course, I tried to actually push for a winner. That's why I respect Genoa and
They've come such a long way from that Genoa
We saw that got relegated a few years back man because this guy brought on retegui and Malinowski like to push for the win against
Intel or dominating the league because I think we're starting to find out and there's a bit of a trend in football right now that the
Progressive teams are the more successful ones man. Yeah, it's simply it's true
It's well, however, there are certain teams that do defy that point like you've a world literally
Probably second closest team to being in well the closest team to being in contention for the title
Other than Inter of course. Yeah, I think
Yeah, but but of course positivity is a trend in Italy. It's a new kind of movement
Not only in Italy though. You look at you look at Klopp's Liverpool and in their finest hour
You look at a spallettis Napoli in their finest hour. You look at city, you know what?
I mean these are all super super offensive teams and you look at frozen on it
And you look at Genoa and you look at the success these teams are having man
Yeah, it's definitely a trend and it's proven it's proving to be a successful one
Yeah, and Zaghi did run out of options on the bench
He brought on Sanchez and Dumfries to try to cook something up
Despite their efforts, of course the match ended in a deadlock disappointing both
Inter and Juventus of hope for different outcomes for the title race, of course. Yeah, so bro
Let's talk about our now to a little bit. So he got a lovely assist
Last week and then this week he scored this goal, right? Yeah, he scored the goal in the Champions League and that's pretty much it
Yeah
Do you think that Inter should bring another striker in in January? I mean
I'd say yes, but they kind of shot themselves in the foot by bringing in
Sanchez in addition to the aren't out of it signing which is obviously
The depth that maybe they needed and
But now they're they're struggling in the absence of Lautaro Martinez
I think teams like Milan and Inter are proving that the more choices you have the better because you never know when a plague is gonna come
About and kill your entire squad
I think they do need more quality up front other than those two because we're seeing aren't out of it
And he doesn't have the same
approach that Lautaro has which Lautaro is a massive factor that links the midfield to that attack and
Allows to run a lot of freedom up front to be that that pinpoint kind of striker
When you get on out of it, you lose some legs and it's like you've got it's like in in Milan terms
It's like you've got a Yovitch and Giroux up front. You know what I mean and then Sanchez
I don't really have an opinion because we haven't seen him in so long
We know what he's capable of but I think he's past that I don't think it might be a fitness issue at this point
Because he's a very good player and if he's fitted definitely be getting more minutes
Yeah, you look at some situations like this game. They really need it and they really needed a spark off the bench
And let's not get it twisted. It's not just the the fact that that
Lautaro was missing. It's a fact that DiMarco was missing. DiMarco is a massive outlet for them
He he can advance the ball from the midfield get it into the box from literally anywhere on the pitch
Imagine on out of it how much better it be with the mark on the pitch especially with his area threat
In fact, that was most of the struggle. They couldn't get the ball to an out of it
Um, what his attempts were all on loose balls from deflections or spilled
Balls basically. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I do think though. They they are in dire need of another striker because if you look at
It's only going to get harder for Inter
Inter have champions league games coming. They have well, no, they don't have Copa Tali games
They have champions league games coming and they're going to be big games because these guys were finalists last year and they're going to want to go far
So far we've seen them prioritize the league
Um and sacrificing
Literally the top spot in champions league finishing second and now they have a tougher run in
But when these games come in hot and heavy, they're going to have to start resting players in the league
And eventually when you're resting the mark on the or not, which are these guys going to cut it
More more often than not these players have demonstrated that they're good enough to get inter over the line
But will that be the case until the end of the season?
You can never tell we've seen teams at this point with a notable advantage on the table particularly Milan winter champions
Lazio in the covid season. Yeah
We're doing very well
And then all of a sudden they hit a poor run of form and they they throw it away, you know when they end up winning nothing
Yeah, yeah, so it can happen
It can especially with another competition and like you're saying it's a competition where you require your 11 best players
Now there are going to be situations where you're going to have a tough run in with a european opponent and then straight after that
You're going to have a tough run in with a with a local opponent
Yeah, these are these are things that that's going to happen and as the season progresses now
I still think in tarah are going to win the league right but as the season progresses
There's also going to even though it's tight man even though it's tight
There's also going to be uh teams that are getting better
These teams that are in the relegations zone now the salernitan as the helas varron as when they're fighting for survival
They're going to be some of the toughest opponents you can face man. There comes a point from matchday 30 onwards
Everyone's a fucking tough draw man. Everyone the mid table teams are the easiest
You're right. You're right, man. Um so far when it comes to inter's moves in the market
They've brought in tyon buccanon from club brug who seems to operate as a right midfielder or right defender
I assume he'll be the one replacing dumfries who seems to be on his way out
And quadrado who's not really always available
Um, yeah regarding the game by the way, um, I was very impressed with stefan osavelli's performance
Yep, um, he won his duel with carlos augusto and pretty much
Destroyed him all game. Um, he was always one step ahead of him
No, we saw inter lose the wing battles in this game, which isn't something we're typically used to seeing
in it because they pressed high man they pressed high and um
It wasn't you know, it wasn't demarco quite yet. Yeah, yeah
Um, hakan I felt had a bit of an off game. He was ineffective at creating
He tried to operate right behind the strikers to try to play them through but he he struggled to do so
Yeah, I I think when a team is struggling because of press
The midfielders are obviously going to be the ones that struggle the most now
We've already discussed how hakan is in the most press resistant midfielder in the league and I think
Yet again, that was exposed. Look everywhere to ask me
Who's been the best defensive midfielder so far this season?
It's an old brain that it's been hakan challan okulu
But I do think that these past three four games
Where he hasn't been banging in penalties, you know and then and kind of um
It's like the it's like a treat code no scoring all those penalties it it puts it puts your value up so much
I think he has a still a lot to work on and I think they are missing brosovic
They are no of course, of course, of course, I don't think that um challan okulu filled the void entirely
I mean brosovic was just so complete as a player man and in that role man he left
He had nothing missing, you know, he could do it all not to mention his just
Toughness in this they love him in Saudi Arabia. Have you seen the boom thing?
What's the boom thing bro? They'll they'll be holding up so the entire stadium
Of al-nasir
They'll be holding up not the tifos, but around the entire stadium. It's a grenade
And then brosovic pretends to grab the grenade of his neck. He throws it in the air and they all pull up another
T4 and it's an explosion and they'll go
BOOM!
You're joking. I swear to god it's crazy, but I've done it once for sure. I don't know if it's something they do week in week out
But there's a there's a viral clip of it and Ronaldo's looking at him like wow like I kind of want that
He's not jealous. I mean he's got a sui, you know
Yeah
Jake and I might go to Madeira with the gyaldems and if we go to Madeira, I'm gonna spend the entire time
Suiing man. I'm not gonna stop suiing. I show speed, no?
Cristiano now suiing
Shut up speed. Yeah, because he needs one
Genoa the season have had napoli inter uva and destroyed Roma not a bad return for them
They they have impressed me and
Their only rough patch in my opinion was when they had that injury crisis
That really only affected their best players. This is uncanny
But mind these guys have got your tag way out, you know, yeah
They don't just find he's coming back in slowly, but yeah, he was injured for quite a while
But yeah, inter are in first place with 45 points
While Genoa find themselves in 12th place with 20 points
Milan one Sasuolo nil brother
Milan's fucking injury crisis
has significantly intensified with Fikaio Tomori out injured now
Along with Eunice Musa Malik Chau Pierre Calulun or Okofar Marco Pellegrino
Tomasso Pobega Mattia Caldara and Marco Sportiello all out of action
Kier was the only fit senior centre back starting alongside Theo Hernandez with Florencia left back
Otherwise to be honest full strength
Other than that defensive
You know despite losing a leg you're at full strength
The narrow very the missed vignette vignette
Defrel, Rackage and Bologna
But Berardi returned from his injury. However, he was unable to complete 90 minutes
Now when you look at Milan and Sasuolo's last head-to-head matches
So before this one nil victory for
Milan, last season Milan didn't beat Sasuolo
Milan lost 5-2 at home to Sasuolo
when Tiramisu was in gold
Tatarusado
And they drew nil-nil the time before
Before that Milan won 3-nil at the Mappe
which is a historic event, no because Milan won the league over there
and before that Sasuolo beat Milan 3-1
Because Sasuolo as we often refer to them they are Robin Hood
They do like winning against big teams and let me tell you what these Milan teams are their favourite teams to play
They love a game against Inter, they love a game against Milan
Keep in mind Sasuolo are the only team to have beaten
Inter this season
That's quite a claim to fame
They haven't won in like 5 games in a row and they are the only team that have beaten Inter
They are crazy man I can't put a finger on them
Reinders created a few chances for himself in the opening stages of the match
having a crack at goal, dribbling past a few players
Reinders were the Reinders midfield and we are all just watching and observing
In the 23rd minute Benacer got close with a strike from
just outside the area hitting the side netting after he beat 2 players
That's the Benacer I like to see the Benacer
So he could be Benacer
but he also could be Benacer
and when he has that ball and he has people pressuring him and he is just
f***ing fidget spinning around them that is Benacer man
Benacer now he is off to the African Cup
He played a brilliant game, reminded us exactly what we were missing and then he left to Afghan
We will be rooting for Algeria, come on Algeria
Will it be because there is also Morocco I don't know
I haven't made my alliance yet but Benacer
In the 33rd minute Berardis Tira Aijira was tipped over the bar well
by Magic Mike Manian
In the 58th minute Pulisic got the decisive goal for Milan finishing off a brilliant
through pass by Benacer which Tresoldi got attached to
and then Concili got attached to the finish as well by Pulisic
Not the cleanest but Milan absolutely needed that and it was a combination of two great actions
by two great players
6 goals and 4 assists for Crissy P who only missed 2 matches due to injury this season
So you will really
this is all my Chelsea fan friends, you will enjoy him man
until his inevitable 4 month injury
I am very happy to see that he is breaking out
right now, his injury record is very concerning
but it's just nice to see that in Milan's squad
there is an option for that right hand side
and this is something that Milan didn't have for a very long time
since Sousa and Sousa was quite one-dimensional as well
it's just crazy how nowadays it seems that
Pulisic more often than not is being double-teamed and Laos not sometimes
that's wild to me
and it seems that teams have realized that if they defend deep
and tight enough then Laos kind of isn't as effective
Exactly because he is running into a brick wall or he is having a crack from distance
which isn't his strongest point but then in these situations Pulisic can be
very slippery so it's nice to have that outlet as well
and Pulisic is also very refined
he is one of the most well-rounded players Milan have
he has very close ball control, his passing is excellent, his shooting is excellent
he tracks back man, he is just a very refined professional
and he is still what 24 years of age man, we forget that
and in fact checking that right now
it doesn't sound right, it's absolutely right
he is 24 years old
25, 25, maybe
definitely, Milan signed when he was 24 years old
that's wild, I would have guessed he was 26
but let's give him his flowers, 6 goals, 4 assists this season
only 2 matches out, it's been a dream start to his life
in Milan man, he has exceeded all my expectations
to be honest with you
now whilst I give props to the likes of Kier and Florensi
for showcasing their experience in this team
Pulisic for his goal, Jovic for his hold up play
when coming on, there is still naturally a concern with Milan
which is this infamous
it's being called the 505 formation
this tactical approach is an absolute disaster
and it rids Milan of any creativity
whatsoever
I don't understand why this is a thing
I've been noticing it for a while
you've been pulling out your phone and drawing dots for it, it is Milan's formation right now
it's ridiculous, because you have, literally, a 505 is the best way to put it
so it's like the 4 defenders, you have Ben-Assar right between them
for example, driving or Reinders or Kronechby
and then you have just 5 men in a straight line up front
along the opposition defence
all with the defensive line up their asses
how are you going to build up Leila, what's the plan here chief
the front can't even win aerial duels, they're kind of small
I mean Leao doesn't really have the
the gir to win a duel, you know what I mean
Giroud can, because he has the strength, but he's kind of on the older side as well
and most defences are tough enough to deal with him
then you have the likes of Pulisic, you have Chouquette, these guys aren't going to win you an aerial duel
and you put your men up like that, and then you insist that you have to play the ball
down to Giroud to flick off to the midfielder
to try to break him free, you're essentially wasting the wide players
it doesn't make any sense, I don't understand it, I don't see the logic in it
I much prefer Milan's approach on the Coppa Italia personally
I think so as well, and the 505 has been
it's been talked about in Italian
media, now speculation continues about Pulisic position
he was told that
if he doesn't get maximum points against Saswalo and Empoli
this is according to reports, if he doesn't get
maximum points against Saswalo and Empoli, then he's done for
and apparently, according to certain sources
there is a replacement lined up, which is not
Conte, which is not Dionisi, which is not Tiago Motta
but it's former Frankfurt manager Oliver Glasner
reportedly in talks to replace him
now Oliver Glasner
his owners are basically runner up in the DFB
Poccal
and he won the Europa League for Frankfurt in 2021
2022, so it's good to see Milan are focusing
on the Europa League
what do you make of that is sacking purely halfway through the season
the way to go for Milan? No, no, no, no, no, definitely not
Milan objectives wise are on course
they had the group of death in the Champions League
which many people, ok, didn't quite
people didn't rule Milan out by any means
but it's still the group of death, it's still understandable if you finish third
it was literally by one decision that favored PSUG
that shouldn't have, that led Milan to being in the Europa League and not in the Champions League
they're third despite all their injuries
they have missing players, they have no defences playing without a defence
so they're still third in the league and still alive in the Coppa Italia
winning with their youngsters over there
the thing is, yes, structurally
and tactically there is a problem
with the team, to say the least
it's not that bad and it's not pervasive
it's not always there, it's just this weird setup
I don't know why, I don't know how, I've never seen it quite work
I don't get it but he seems to insist on it purely
I do want Milan to go for a new coach next season
but if you change manager halfway through the season
you better bring in a profile, that's permanent
don't bring in someone, he's the only guy available and you're stuck with him
we've seen the United and other teams do this caretaker manager for
six months, United had done it with Ragnick, they had done it I believe with Van Gaal
so it's not sustainable
however it can get an instant reaction out of players
yes, sure, but how sustainable is that?
let's say you bring in Abate, Abate goes in, he's like
I've been here, I've been here, he says, shouting, riling everyone up, they go out
and they score three goals, you think every time Abate shouts they're going to get riled up
yeah, he can shout all he wants when Milan are in the derby della Madonina
against Inter, or facing Juve or Roma
sometimes you need someone with experience who has looked after the team
I'm in a gril with you there, I say
if you're going to line anyone up, line one up for the end of the season, if it gets to a point
where Milan aren't going to get top four, Milan are falling out of favour for top four
and there are ten games to go
perhaps hit the panic button and get in a caretaker manager to try
get some motivation out of these players, because to be honest it does seem like
the players aren't willing to die for purely like they were a couple of seasons ago
yeah, I would agree with that
and if you look at what's going on right now in the table, though Milan are building some distance
between themselves and that fifth position, which by the end of the season
might still get you a Champions League place, we haven't even
addressed the growth decree
so there are going to be basically, basically, basically
changes in tax laws that are going to affect the Italian clubs negatively when it comes to bringing
foreign players, this will affect
the number of foreign players that can be found in each team
if you look at the smaller teams right now, so the Hellas Veranas, the Southern Etanas, they've got many
foreigners, simply because financially it's worth it because they don't
have to pay as much tax on them, now with this
rule change, essentially this law change
teams are going to have to focus more on their youth development and actually on local talent
on homegrown talent, which is great to see that Milan have been
doing that, playing Zeroli in this match bringing him on
it's almost like they're testing the waters, right?
but you look at the signings like Morinio, Lukaku
Zlatan when he came into Milan
originally on his salary, yeah these won't be obviously sustainable
which might be good for the national team but for
our Serie A, it might take another dipping quality
just when it was getting back to the Serie A we all know and love
of course, presidents and spokespersons
for clubs are freaking out, they're calling it a terrible thing to happen, like Italian football
already struggles financially to compete with the rest of the world
and this was one of the only good things going for the Italian league
it's January, so Milan have brought in Gabbia
it's been confirmed that Gabbia is a Milan player
once again, filling in for all the centre back injuries that Milan have right now
although Teo left centre back
Jimenez left back isn't looking like a
terrible shout in today's day and age
but where do you think Milan should prioritise? because
Jovic has been on fire to a ridiculous level
he's been excellent, his technique, his finishing
his presence, I feel like he's being allowed to operate closer
to the midfield which allows him to dictate where he wants the play to go
and since he's a striker who knows where he wants the ball
in the final third, he could set himself up nicely over there
and you see with Manjan's long balls to him with the clearances that fall to Jovic
this touch he had too in this game bro, ridiculous
do you think Milan should still bring in another striker? absolutely
yes, I think so 100%
if you look at the profiles right now, natural number 9s you've got 2
one of them is Jovic who's only started playing well recently
granted he set up a patch of fine form
let's not forget though how he started and what his worst case can be
absolutely invisible, let's not forget that because it would be foolish to forget that
and Giroud on the other hand who's
an injury away from the end of his career unfortunately
as harsh as it sounds, he's at the age now where a serious injury will finish
him and you look around Giroud, look around
him, everyone's already dropped, everyone's already suffered from an injury
Boccafort who's another contender for that number 9 role
so if you're taking part in 3 competitions Jovic and Giroud definitely aren't enough
definitely not, definitely not and then you say ok because Boccafort can play as a 9
can he though? is it really ideal to have Boccafort as a makeshift 9?
why not bring in a natural 9 when in reality Milan have wingers
it's not the end of the world, Milan's wingers are fine even if you have to really
dip into the depth of the squad and look at Luca Romero
you look at the likes of Shakatra or they can put in a shift
but when it comes to the strikers, the third one in line after
Boccafort as a natural striker is fucking Camargo man
he's 15 years old, no you need to bring in a striker
however a lot of emphasis needs to go into that centre back position
I think Milan's need to make another signing in that centre back role
and not to mention now Cicuerre is off to the
African Cup of Nations and so is Ben Asser
now Cicuerre Milan can make do without even though he's great for
rotation but with Pulsic and with the two gentlemen that you mentioned earlier
even with Occofort coming back and obviously
Romero and Shakatra or they could do something
but when it comes to the loss of Ben Asser in the midfield
how are Milan going to line up because
Khrunich fell out of favour and he's probably off to the Turkish League
Adli looked incredible midweek
against Cagliari so he might be a solution but do you think
there's Moussa as well obviously alongside Loftus
I mean Amit Fiederer would be nice as well I don't think it's the most
pressing thing I think the striker situation and the
centre back situations need to be addressed first ideally you know you bring one of
each one but let's be real like we're not playing PlayStation over here
Some manager mode
Hopefully LG get knocked out as early as possible
Yeah fuck you take LG I come to think of it
just two more points before we move on
Leao said that he idolises Ronaldo
my numbers aren't as good though I just need to be a little bit more selfish
respect to Leao because he's still the star
for Milan even with Pulisic I do believe that Leao is still the star
I think he's having a bit of an after an injury
he's a quality player he's loved by the fans he's loved by the squad he's somewhat of a father figure
in a weird way for a lot of these young players as well you see the way he hugged
Chaka after his goal amazing
but Leao
we're watching you and we have eyes and we see that
maybe you have been trying to be a little bit more selfish recently
Yeah you've been trying to score goals that you've never scored before in your life
We see that as well
The long range shots, the excessive dribbling at times
the excessive dribbling I can't play that for you know we can get over that
he's very good at it and that's what he does
it's not like he's hammering them in like Malinowski
his long range shooting isn't great you should stop doing that
if he's claiming that he isn't selfish then maybe you should act a little bit lesser
but I do, there is an element of truth to his game
He takes the ball to the byline and when it comes to his expected goals
and his expected assists compared to some of the other big wingers
in the league you can notice an interesting observation
the fact that Leao doesn't even appear in the expected goals
argument whereas the likes of Gvara at Scalia for example
are all over it
it's a tweet by Satornion
Leao is simply not a goal scoring winger and Seria right now
Gvara takes the most shots per game while Leao is not even in the top 50
Kezan Gvara both top 5 and big missed chances
meanwhile Leao has the most big chances created and the most
expected assists while the other two are not even in the top 10
yet they all have around the same goals and assists
Leao needs to get more selfish to level up is what this guy said
No Leao needs to do it but like he doesn't find himself
in those positions because he typically plays to his strengths or at least he's
advised to play to his strengths and his strengths are out wide
he started off his career at Milan as a striker and I'm sorry but that is not
his position and we've seen him when it was 3-4-3 and he was playing
closer to Giroud up front and I'm sorry that's not his position either
he needs to be as wide as possible
he can break in, he can play a square ball, he could go for goals sometimes
sure but from outside the box I don't want to be seeing any of
that until one goes in I do think his shooting is improving
but still a lot more work to be done
one more point, Sasuolo who haven't won a game in 5
matches yet are the only team to have beaten Inter this year
they are going through a significantly dry spell
there are talks about them getting relegated this year
I know it's a stretch but that is the reality they currently find themselves
in halfway through the season should Dionysio be out
like now, get them out
there are two points ahead of Kalyari in 18th
they are terrible, they are the side that conceded the second most goals
in the league, they have the second most losses in the league
alongside Verona, alongside Kalyari and alongside Salernetana
with 10 and Polly have 11, I think Dionysio's time is up
I think they need a change manager to simply motivate these guys enough
for survival because there seems to be a lack of unity as well
in the Sasuolo team, I don't know if it's because many of these guys are young or new
but you look at for example Kalyari, even Salernetana
you look at Frosinone and Doudineza, there is a sense of
they are a team, they fight for each other, they sweat for each other
they bleed for each other, Sasuolo don't have that
in the season, they don't have that at all, they don't have the unity
it's not working for them, it's not working for them at all
individual areas are absolutely destroying them, it's true to a certain point
it is a harsh look on Dionysio and perhaps it's unfair
to judge from the fact that every single game it seems like one of his players
lets him down, but that's the harsh reality of football
it's other people who get you fired, a player makes a mistake, the manager gets fired
exactly, no, and that's it in business everywhere
not just football, as a manager, supervisor, you are responsible
for what the people under you are doing, no, and if they're not up to par
then why are you fielding them, if you don't have any other options
why aren't you getting in any other options
but he insists on bringing in players like Castillo, just mind-boggling
Milan in third on 36 points
just three ahead of Fiorentina and they are seven
behind you in second, Sasuola in 16th
only two points from 18th placed Cagliari
Napoli took on Monza and they came in in the
the approach of the game from Mazzari involved a tactical
change where he opted for Zerbin over Politano
Paladino on the other hand addressed Monza's defensive crisis by
lining up with Calderola, Galliardini and the D'Ambrosio at the back
the only natural center back of the three obviously being Calderola
we've seen this with quite a few teams, Milan, Atalanta, Monza
they've all had defensive disasters
the first half was quite a cautious half both sides seemed to
avoid defensive lapses more than anything else
notable chances were of course few and far between until the 40th minute
when Mario Rui found Angus on the box with a beautiful cross
the Cameroonians volley was weird to say the least
it's like he really wanted to take it on his favorite foot so he shifted
his body to try to hit it with his favorite foot
but D'Gregorio saved it pretty comfortably to be honest running out and he's making
himself big in front of him this was a big miss by Angus
towards the end of the half Gvartskeliattempted a solo effort narrowly
missing the target he does so well to get there
so I might cut it at the end at the moment
the second half started with Gvartskeliatt again missing an excellent opportunity to put Napoli ahead
early on the tempo increased as
Beringdelli replaced Pereira for Monza at half time and Beringdelli ran down the left
and he actually won a penalty after he found Calpani and
his shot struck Mario Rui's arm, Pesina stepped up to take the penalty
but his slow run up and the whistles in the Maradona
weak attempt which was easily saved by Maret who was quick to mock Pesina
by doing the Luca 20 celebration essentially
basically saying this guy is crazy, this guy is crazy for the slow run up and trying to slot it
yeah because Maret's good from the spot I really thought Pesina would try to nail
that it was a weird approach sometimes you just have to fucking
that's why I like Ronaldo's penalties matters exactly you know Ronaldo's never going to pass
it in slowly he's always gonna rife everything you know and then
that's the only way you should approach penalties in my opinion I think so
because even if you get a touch on it you know it's either gonna deflect out and you get a tap in
or it's gonna hit the keeper and go and find it's way into the net I just think that powerful penalties
are the way to go yeah Napoli tried to
respond with DeLorentso testing the Gregorio and they've been squandering a great
chance created by Guevara tempers flared eventually
there was a bit of a fight between Bondo and Guevara
you know Bondo went in hard on Guevara they got up they started pushing each other out
of nowhere Mazzari goes in you know gets a red card after that
Paladino gets a red card as well it was all crazy by the end of the game
he tried to bring in Simeone Mazzari
at the end well not he tried to bring him and he brought him in the Gregorio had a crucial
save on Gaitano and the match ended in a goalless draw
so Napoli are actually creating quite a lot bro
it's just the wasteful nature in which they're playing obviously they had
Ossimen out due to his red card against Roma
in this game so they started with Raspadori up front
they also had Zerbin to his side and not Paletano who we all know
what his left foot is like not other than that because
even with Ossimen and Paletano we have seen them being a bit more wasteful
this season which has a lot to do with Guevara's confidence
and the fact that the whole team's confidence bro and this was the point I was going to make
so you look at this game for example 19 shots 58% ball
possession 9 shots on target like come on you don't square a single goal
that's obviously a psychological issue and Napoli's issue is purely
psychological they lost Spalletti who
apart from other than being a great manager he's a great man and a great leader
right Spalletti
giving you know lifting them to another level
ascending the team taking the team up to fucking European status everyone
talking about them as a dark horse for the Champions League they were brilliant
everyone loved watching them he was sacked Garcia
he wasn't sacked okay but Spalletti
he left okay but he was allowed to leave
let's say that you know ADL didn't fight for him
he won person ADL fought for
other than himself
he was replaced by Garcia bro who is the opposite of Spalletti
okay granted they both play a 4-3-3 but Garcia is a cold figure
Garcia is not like an arm around the shoulder kind of manager
he's quite distant from the players and he's not in the trenches with the players
and they had this guy for six months and then Madzar
he came in who wasn't at the time to really implement his ideal system
and it's not like Napoli have been terrible you know they've just been super wasteful and they clearly lack confidence
because they've gone through so many changes and not to mention as well Kim Minjray is a big factor
I think a big factor to maybe the wasteful nature
of Napoli at least in this game was a certain Michele DiGregorio
who got nine saves goals prevented 1.7
over here I mean just definitely the best goal
keeper in the league so far this season he's been the best
and even with that mistake that he made playing the ball
when Marry gave him the ball and closed the door
like that was his only mistake and he's been
he's been super you know the new Vicario
very different kind of you know Vicario is a very small acrobatic keeper
who by the way I'm so glad he's doing insanely for Spurs
he's got some highlights like even they conceded four recent Lisburs
and Vicario if it weren't for him they would have conceded seven bro
the saves that guy pulls off DiGregorio
he's so big and he's so like dominant like a traditional goalkeeper
that probably when you're in front of you like where the fuck am I gonna shoot this ball like how am I gonna beat this guy
and then he's really nimble on top of it or he's really agile
yeah what a keeper man what a keeper he's lovely he's really good man
other than that I feel like this should have been a victory for Napoli
and funnily enough it could have easily been a victory for Monza
if they approached it the penalty was a bit better
I do think that the whistles played a big part I think they threw him off they were so loud
because Pestina it didn't seem like he was dead set on taking this tricky
soft penalty like the Giorgio Niowan's or something like that
but it almost seemed like he was kind of caught in between two minds because it's not like he
was dedicated to the full technique you know what I mean it was just a shit
penalty he got me a 2 on Fanta bro and Mered got me a 12
it was crazy I was like what the hell do I do
that's crazy yeah man I think that he
reacted negatively so quickly as well that maybe it's true he did get in his own head about it
yeah I think so and just a few weeks ago I said
I like this new role that Pestina is playing because he's not too refined in front of
goal and his leadership qualities are really coming through on this work ethic
and Chesco have disagreed with me well guess what Chesco
you know the proof is in the pudding they put him in front of goal and he literally missed
no that's it so yeah Napoli are currently
in eighth actually with 28 points this is a terrible
terrible fall from Greysa for them Michael they've got Fiorintino
Bologna, Atalanta and Roma all ahead of them while on the other
hand Monza are in 11th with 22 points they've
hit a bit of a rough patch as well Monza I'm sure they'll be back though
I think so I think both teams probably will be back just concerning
especially Napoli to see that dip from one season to the next
Odeneze 3 Bologna Nyl
could you believe that result when you saw it? No and I couldn't believe
the possession stats either I believe it was a multi-spolitician that
in the European Parliament he once had this really brave saying
what the hell what the hell
and that's exactly what I had to say about this result I mean
there was so blue needed a victory to hold on to fourth place
they missed Dan and Doi, Adam as Aomauro and Jesper Carlson
and then coming off
back to back draws with Torino and Saswalo Odeneze's injury list
was really extensive including Ezeboa, Delfaou, Bijol, Bosse, Zamoura,
Papundi, Samedo and Brenner
Sylvester was dropped in favour of Nigeria International
Maduka Okoye making hysteria debut
with Afcon coming up all the bros are featuring
I mean Chouquette has played 96 minutes yesterday
come on sprain your ankle bro
so unfair and sort of protecting them so they can go and have a great tournament
and play 90 minutes but oh my god
so we're watching the Coppa Italia and Roma are really threatening
against Cremonaise right now they're going to smack the crossbar also Atalanta did win
so it is Milan, Atalanta and the quarter finals
it was 3-0 for Atalanta, Marantjeuk eventually got the third so that's
one save by the keeper and then Pelik Green is off the crossbar
and the line, wow crazy
I wish we had the time to record 2-3 episodes a week man
but yeah let's get into the play by play
in the opening stage Skorupski was left with a bloody nose after heavy collision with his teammate
Lewis Ferguson nonetheless the goalkeeper made a great double save
on Festi, Bosse and the Kamara follow up as well
showcasing the quality that this keeper has we forget
I'm really glad the season that he has a good team ahead of him
Skorupski because he is a top goalkeeper
Odenes opened the scoring on the resulting corner where Skorupski pulled off a
great save to the Nipah Gero who struck the ball from outside the area first
time but could do nothing about the Pereira rebound
in the 47th minute just in the beginning of the second half
Lovriks shot was guided into the back of the net by Luka to
make it 2-0 initially I didn't think Luka
I thought he just deflected off Luka and went in but Luka did great to stay on
side and in a split second he really guided the ball well it's not that easy man
of course and all he technically did was angle his body
so that the ball can hit him and literally deflect
off of him it was a matter of physics that goal
he could even move his leg like you know very intelligent play by Luka
you need physics private lessons Lorenzo Luka
in the 52nd minute Christensen's looping cross fell
perfectly to Pagiero who smashed in the first time
it was very central but little that Skorupski could do about it
because you blink on the balls in the back of the net
Motta made a quadruple change and shifted to a
3 at the back he brought on Lukumi, Abysse, Fabian and Orsolini
for Posh Morrow, Christensen and Salem Akers to try to
get a bit more offensive and a bit more direct
but to no avail and frustrations were flying towards the end
for Bologna and I have no idea how Xerxes didn't receive
a second yellow card for his follow through on Pagiero in the closing stages
of the match because it was a high foot it was late
brother that's not a red card like and he was already on a yellow
card but for some reason he didn't
Odinesa 3 Bologna Nyl was the final result
now Odinesa have only 2 victories this season and they came against Milan
and Bologna the very informed Bologna
yeah I think Odinesa are a tough nut to crack
but I think they shocked Bologna over here
absolutely they pressed them high
they didn't get them any space they are physically superior
the most teams as we often highlight that they are just big
powerful and fast they are also quite technical
they've got the likes of Pereira and Luca who are very technical and love
reach as well isn't bad with the ball and I feel like they just
overwhelmed Bologna absolutely overwhelmed them
and they stunned them with each and every goal and there was almost no reaction
I think Bologna had already considered the game to be over and you look at the stats
it's just a manager's dream for Odinesa and a manager's nightmare for Bologna
because you look at the expected goals they have won a piece ball possession
is 27% for Odinesa are you mad you know and then
they got it done quite early yeah of course
they have the ball no problem good luck penetrating we've drawn
the most games this season out of everyone like you know like
not scoring 73%
ball possession with only 5 shots on target for Bologna
they were forced out man they couldn't penetrate
yeah they didn't let Bologna play the football that they wanted to play
simply because like you said they stunned them the amount of
and you look at their line up does that look like an offensive team to you
no but fucking hell were they offensive in this game they were direct
they were ruthless they were offensive and it's just interesting because
Odinesa have struggled so much to win games this season
because their offensive output is weak especially without a player
like Gérard Delafoe and keep in mind they lost
Béatour in summer you know what I mean who was the next big thing for them who would at least get you
8 goals in a season which is massive for it for take leave of breed
with Lorenzo Lucca yes I mean come on but
he had 2-3 seasons Béatour he was decent absolutely decent
at most I think that Lucca will probably hit
the numbers yeah it's too early to say I think but
what's his best season Béatour for Odinesa I highly doubt he has
way more than 10 goals because he always scores in phases either at the beginning of the season
or as he often does towards the end of the season yeah and then he goes quiet
Béatour was good because he was again
powerful he was quick and he could absolutely
physically destroy his opponents and then he strife a little bit to the top of the net
Lucca offers way more than that man Lucca's technique
Lucca's touch Lucca's the way he sees the
game the way he reads the game for me I'd much rather
have Lorenzo Lucca than Béatour it depends totally on the style of the team because
Odinesa who are a pragmatic team they need someone who could
fucking like Delifer or Béatour who could just charge forward but then they've got those
wingers man they're rapid the wingers are rapid
if there's something they're rapid you know what I mean they're very very
very quick so Lucca stylistically could prove to be if the
team plays a bit more for Lorenzo Lucca then I agree with you because he's so technically
gifted he's so big his control is so good and his finishing is decent
as well he's a smart striker
yeah that's how essentially Odinesa just blew Bologna out of the water
a special shout out goes to
Pagiero for his influence in this game I feel like
ever since that stupid red card that he got he's really upgraded
he was having it from distance and he's got
a good shot in him he had
I'm not sure how many touches he had but he was very very very involved in this game
and it's also the defense of solidarity like you look at a team man that
are so hard to penetrate like Odinesa have been struggling
so much this season to like I was saying to win games because they're lack of
offensive output this is where I was going
but their defense on the other hand is
AOK bro it's AOK like they've only lost
five games Context Fiorentina lost five games
you know what I mean they only lost five games they won two which is
dreadful obviously they've lost more than they won that 11 draws
bro that's why 11 draws is absolutely crazy like
a couple of good wins could really change the season for Odinesa and this
is one of them this is one great win like the
ownership must be looking down at that manager and thinking how should I even perceive this
like 11 draws 11 draws all right five defeats
good 11 draws good and bad two wins bad
like what the hell you know by the way I just googled them
Beto's highest scoring season for Odinesa
he scored 11 goals so he had two back to back seasons where he did
in 2022 10 goals in 2021
11 goals right Lorenzo Lucca halfway through the season is on
six goals so if he actually does continue scoring he can pretty much
output wise replace yeah he just needs to be more
consistent than Beto that's it that's it that's it then then
certainly but I still think it's obviously a bit too early to tell you
and he's younger Lucca not very young but in Italian terms he's younger now it's easy to look at
this game C Bologna concede the three goals and say what's the matter with Bologna's defense
but do keep in mind that this is this has been a sturdy defense for
one of the best for the whole yeah for the entire season
I don't think this was a matter of their defense but I think
it all happened so quickly with
they conceding
early on in the game and then in the 47th and the 52nd
Bologna crumbled the entire team crumbled
I don't think it was the defense I don't think it was an
individual in particular I think just Bologna were out worked
by Odinezaman and they were
shocked to oblivion by them as well
interesting to see Cremonese have taken the lead against Roma over here
in the 37th minute Zazou baby remember you raving about
Zazou I predicted that he'd be picked up if he was one of those that's picked up it's nice to see
his scoring still he's a good player former Milan youth product
I remember him being an agile Winger type
of player and now he plays as a number nine which is interesting what Puberty does
do
Bologna fifth place on 31 points now two
points behind Fiorentina who have Champions League football
at the moment naturally whilst Odinez are in 15th place
on 17 points just three points ahead of Kalyari
in 18th Fiorentina bro played Torino at home
and they beat them one good game Torino were by far the better team
I think Torino were very good but Fiorentina
bit of a juve yes absolutely and that's a point that
we will be just screw up your talking points yeah you absolutely fuck like we're done
like that's it that's the game Fiorentina in fourth
so Kwame was on the left, Giorco was on the right, Melinkovic and Ranieri were
at the back together Arthur and Duncan were in the midfield
for Torino it was pretty much the usual line up
with one interesting tweak Pietro Pellegri was playing
off the shoulder of Duvon Zapata weird weird yeah
and it all started with Torino taking control
they display the dynamic and well structured style
particularly down the right hand side with Bellanova who has been very
very impressive and to be honest if he had
kept this form up or if he had even shown this type of quality with Inter
they would have probably kept him yeah maybe maybe
Fiorentina couldn't find their rhythm with
Arthur and Bonaventura really struggling in the first half
Torino had several chances notably a strong header by Zapata
one of those headers where he pulled his neck so fucking far back
and just whacked it you know what I mean brilliantly saved by Terra Trano
is most definitely the most underrated goalkeeper in the league
definitely we didn't even speak about him potentially being called up for
Italy last time and like he's a contender
of course he's brilliant man a shot stopping not many
goalkeepers are better than him. Lazara then attempted
was also denied by Terra Trano's acrobatics
Torino ended the half
leading the chances bored for one
to Fiorentina so they had four chances Fiorentina only had one
but they failed to capitalize and would eventually prove to be
fatal for them. The second half saw a rejuvenated Fiorentina
Italiano probably fucking gave them
a piece of his mind a half time you know. I wouldn't like to be
part of the Fiorentina team at half time or disappointing and there's Italiano
as the coach. Italiano's a bit of an angry
coaching kind of style kind of guy. Drake, bold
Italian managers are all nuts
prove me wrong man. Well I mean remember
Brocchi's kind of bold. No but Brocchi would count as a bull. Brocchi had that fucking
fall back in the day. Yes and then he had that jailed back look I was going to say
Brocchi's first game was screaming at the players remember in the cup. Yeah
bold Italian managers are a mental man. You're right
and Italiano's definitely a crazy type. You see him after the game
you know fucking riling up the fans it's hilarious. Konte has a hair transplant
he's crazy. You're right absolutely. Fiorentina
increased their tempo and they tried to attempt to break through Torino's defense
Neural should introduce Sanabria and Linnetti for some fresh
legs. Italiano responded by bringing in Enzola and Mandragora. Fiorentina
dictated the game in the second half. They struggled to trouble Vania Milinkovic
Savage until the 83rd minute when Ranieri emerged
as a hero for Fiorentina. Rising above Voivoda
to head home across from Coyote who is the ever
impressive Italian young right back Coyote. Michael Coyote
whipped in a lovely ball over there securing the three points
for Fiorentina. Ranieri bro
has scored three continental goals this season
but this is his first ever Serie A goal for Fiorentina. Wow
congratulations and celebration.
Yes, he did very well to take that goal and he emerged as a hero
over here very happy for him. But yes your point stands bro Fiorentina
have kind of become this juve type of team
where they know how to suffer without conceding
and they always seem to get that winning goal and
it comes through different avenues. I mean you have to adapt
and that's exactly what Fiorentina did. How could you keep on being this offensive unit
of a team which they wear a couple of seasons ago when
unfortunately you don't have the players that could give you that output.
I believe Bonaventura is their top scorer this season.
Enzola has been struggling Beltran I think he got two three goals now
so it's tough to be an offensive side
when you don't have someone to get that finishing touch. So fuck it let's be pragmatic
let's be a bit more defensive. I can't help but feel that they have never
got their striking situation right. I think Beltran is the closest
they've come to getting it right but
Jovic the way he was deployed made him look like
a bad player and I was out here literally saying that Jovic
doesn't seem to have anything going for him as a number nine simply because they would play him
hugging the defensive line and trying to feed him like a target man. That's not
how you fucking use it. Jovic needs to drop deep, collect the ball and build up.
He was wasted at Fiorentina. He wasn't deployed like that at all.
Enzola on the other hand is a counter attacking team
who will literally hold up the play and wait for
teammates to arrive and play it to them. That's what he excel at. He was good at Spetsia
for that reason. He'll get the ball at the halfway line, turn, run at
goal, hold up, play it to the wingers. You know it was very good in those situations.
They need someone who fucking
scores goals. They need an actual finisher. They need a fox in the box. That's what they need.
That's the type of striker they need with this system. With the amount of creativity
that this player is going to have around him. Think of when Niko is fit
when they've got Sotil on the other side Bonaventura just behind them. They want
more firepower. They could bring on Kwame. They could bring on Giorgo Econe.
Lorenzo Locca, bro. Imagine Lorenzo Locca.
Imagine him with his technique, his goal
prowess, his intelligence, his ability to move. He would be amazing over there I think.
Especially with the tax laws changing. They want to look local, shop local.
Absolutely. Yes.
Yeah, I mean Terraciano, brilliant
Ranieri scored the goal. I'd like to just highlight Michael Cagliotti
a little bit because I don't think we do it enough kind of thing.
19 years old. 19 years old. And he's playing
like he's been playing in Serie A for a while.
In fact, it's his first season. Yes, he has 11 appearances
bro. He's played 915 minutes so far. And he
hasn't really looked out of place at all. No, no.
They just signed Parisi. They were trying him out as a right back
like Income, Michael Cagliotti and they've never looked back since playing him
the first time they haven't looked back. Absolutely.
Bro, I think we can move on from this one. Torino's usual problems in front of goal.
They're such an organized side. They're such a nice team but they really struggle to get
goals basically. Regarding the standings
Torino finds themselves in 10th
with 24 points while Fiorentina are up in
4th with 33 points. Dude,
dude. Who's they crept up on us? They crept up on us out of
nowhere completely. So first was Bologna crept up on us like jumped into
4th place and now all of a sudden it's Fiorentina. And to be honest
it's all about how they look week by week because
last week I was convinced that Bologna looked so much better.
Its consistency is key brother and this is a team that
fitness and health and prosperity. Yes, she is to
that. Insha'Allah. Insha'Allah. But there's also a team
that has great European experience together making the
the conference league final together. They made the Coppa Italia final together.
There's a real sense of unity over there. So even if they haven't got dry spell
lest we forget they are a team. Yeah, and they're a team that
wins more than than Bologna do. Bologna have
7 draws for example while Fiorentina have 3 draws.
Fiorentina have 10 wins. Bologna 8 wins. Then Bologna don't lose
as we mentioned. 3 losses for them and then Fiorentina have 5 losses.
2 points separating them. Very interesting. Same amount of losses as
Odenes. Atlanta lurking of course. Roma and Napoli lurking.
5th spot might get you Champions League.
This is Seria Spotlight.
Atalanta 1 lecce nil. Speaking of Atalanta, you mentioned them so I'm going to use that as a segue.
Nice. Bouncing off each other. Yes, Atalanta defeated
Lecce with the score of 1 nil. Atalanta secured their
3rd consecutive home victory propelling them into the Europa League zone.
Toloi, Palomino, Hattber and Elbilal Ture
were still out of action. Scalvini pulled out in the warm up
replaced by Mario Pasalic with Derun dropping into
defence. I think this is the first time in a while that I've said Derun and not
Deron. So this is track back. Deron
dropped into defence. La McBanda
and Marim Pongracic set out bands for Lecce
with Pontus Almecifist, Nicola Sansone and Castillo Dermaco
out injured. Now the first half saw Lecce managing
to keep Atalanta at bay despite the home team's attempts to break through.
Atalanta controlled possession but Lecce's defence with several key players
missing held firm. We know the approach that Lecce can take
how they can disrupt, how they can sit back and be this brick wall
for you. Lecce are the kind of team to make Raphael Leao
seem like he's not good at football. In the second half
Atalanta continued to search for an opening and they got very
very close through Pasalic who from a very tight
angle rattled the woodwork with an absolute bullet
now that would have been our goal of the week without a shadow of a doubt
but unfortunately for Pasalic that was not the case.
In the 58 minutes our goal of the week apparently took
place just moments after Pasalic's attempt Lukman received an assist from
Pasalic and managed to score with a well placed low shot from outside the area
after making quick work of the defender giving Atalanta a crucial
1-0 lead. Skamaka missed a couple of opportunities
it was quite a frustrating night for Skamaka and then in fact he was brought
off for the in form Muriel. Now
it was a 1-0 lead for Atalanta, cometh the
89th minute in the dying minutes of the match. Lecce had a golden
opportunity to equalize when Udon's first time strike from 12 yards out
was brilliantly saved by Karnasekki.
Karnasekki isn't known to be a solid goalkeeper
just yet. He has moments of brilliance, he has moments
of clumsiness but he's a very very promising young goalkeeper
for Italy. This save was magnificent
and he sealed the victory at the entire team celebrating with him
what I say it was by Karnasekki. You wouldn't
guess that he's 23 years old, you know that's so young again for a goalkeeper.
It was a great experience he got with Kremonez last season
starting game in game out after Rado fell out of favor
and Karnasekki simply he is now a very good goalkeeper
so I want to highlight a couple of things regarding
Atalanta who are now in fine form, they beat Milan, now they beat Lecce
they're doing well
Lookman is pivotal in this, their top scorer
with seven goals and three assists and he seems to get goals when
no one else is getting goals. He creates them out of nothing it seems.
It's great to see that he has continued that momentum
that he gathered in his first season in Serie A last year
proving to be a very good striker.
I did think at one point when he started scoring upon arrival I was like he'll calm down eventually
it never did and he's off to Afghanistan now as well
with Nigeria who by the way are absolutely stacked
Yes man, ridiculous. Come on Nigeria
Three different nations
Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, Ivory Coast
Ivorico, Seco Fofana, I am anticipating
a top African cup of nations after how the African teams did in the World Cup
Four years ago with the African cup of nations everyone was laughing at them
It's only for the group stages because there are some countries who are a little bit
unfortunate to say the least
but as the bigger teams start to play each other
it gets better and better
and fuck that man, those games are the best to watch man
They are small nations man, I am from Malta, I am used to it
You love watching Malta? I love watching Malta man
I love supporting Malta, I hate watching them
Can I tell you by the way
how I've been screaming for Christovic for so long
he finally starts
and he drops this fucking stinker and he was missing chances
That's the position I was talking about
where Piccoli would miss typically and Christovic would do better
He had like three of those games and he missed them or he was really off form
It wasn't a good performance by Christovic, I was watching and that's exactly
what I was thinking, would I prefer Piccoli over there
I mean it's tough when you have to choose between garbage and shit
You know what I mean?
I am being a bit too harsh here
They are going through a tough spell but you know it's like what I called
Verona Strikers, Ed Dedinadi
Giovanni Simione who I've been calling Diego Simione for
106 episodes now
Kevin Lasagna and Thomas Henri
I think would you prefer those three or Ed Dedinadi
jokes? One more thing about Atalanta
I like this Pasalic way more than the Pasalic
that was playing before, the Pasalic that is allowed to roam into
the areas he wants to roam into because he is such an intelligent player
you cannot put him in a system where like
Atalanta we know the formation they play, it's either a 343
or a 352, always always always
in a pivot Pasalic, do not put him in a pivot
If you are going to put him in a pivot, make sure your defense
is holding a tight low block
because obviously you are going to be compromised one center in midfielder
but man as an attacking midfielder or at least when they tell him
push up brother push up, that is when he is most dangerous
and we are seeing it, he is grabbing goals, he is grabbing assists, he is having cracks
this is Pasalic bro, this is Pasalic
he is not a pass sideways run a lot type of player, simplicity in itself is an art
in the game of course, we look at so many players
who are praised and hailed for keeping it simple more often than not
Pasalic on the other hand is a player who is
creatively brilliant, the pitch is an empty canvas
let him paint it, let him paint it with his heatmap and stuff
this got too artsy, but the thing is there is Coup Miners
who is much better right? No I mean yes and way more
versatile, Coup Miners can play in a pivot, Coup Miners can play
in front of the defense for crying out loud, Coup Miners can play in any position in that midfielder
exactly, by the way guys I know you got me a scalvini shirt
and Jake knows I got a macau miner shirt, yes we obviously Christmas is over and we exchanged
gifts, fun fact I had to buy two atalanta kits
because I forgot to print the name on the first one because Jake does things
so Jake doesn't do things strategically, Jake does things where he gets a motivational
rush to do things and sometimes it gets the better of his
brain, I have ADHD
and I don't take medication, it's undiagnosed
ADHD, but it's always like you know what I mean
I don't know, sometimes I just feel like a boomer when it comes to this thing
I hold I manage, I literally I have a memory clicking it
like the, but yeah at least we have two kits now atalanta, they're different
three, we've got a blank one, a lovely
awake kit from last season with the woman running as the badge
Jake has the awake kit of this season, without a sponsor
we've both got each other kits without sponsors because atalanta sponsors can be fucking
dreadful, I have a scalvini home this season, Jake has Coup Miners
away this season, what a collection, I'm gonna close off this
game because now we're just talking about kits
but atalanta were frustrated
by Lecce, they missed several opportunities but
they did manage to get a victory and that is what good teams do
atalanta keep themselves in the picture in sixth place on 29 points
there are just four points behind Fiorintina on 14, you know what I mean
as Lecce 13th place on 20 points
Lazio beat Frosinone 3-1, the initial half was a contest
with both teams struggling to find the net
Lazio started aggressively but neither team managed to score
Frosinone were quite confident with their defensive approach
and they did manage to frustrate Lazio's attacking efforts and the first
half concluded an ungoaless draw, the second half witnessed a
thrilling turn around however, Frosinone took the lead through a penalty
by Solea after Gwendozzi's handball, this was their first ever goal against
Lazio by the way, and then Lazio swiftly responded
with goals through Castellanios and Isaacson as the pair
linked up twice to score two lovely goals in quick succession
Castellanios' goal was a looping header and Isaacson's was a well-placed shot
and both brilliant goals, I'm gonna go. Yeah, I love the looping header.
Lazio took advantage of Frosinone's laps in concentration
at the end when Rick scored, concealing the victory.
Oh, my name's not break!
That's so good bro, you had it ready and everything. Thank you, I love that.
It's been on my lap all episode, on that video
caused on 14 seconds, just waiting to use it.
Patrick, for those of you who live under a rock.
Amazing, amazing.
So this game, respect to Sarri, Castellanios was having
a stinker, a nightmare, and he kept him on.
He showed faith in Castellanios and Castellanios repaid him
and the second half it was an absolutely completely different player.
He took out Philipp Anderson, he took out Pellegrini, he took out Camada
but he didn't take out Castellanios.
Who else are you gonna bring on to be honest as well?
Three rows out injured, you know?
Yeah, but you know you can bring on the likes of...
You could put Philipp Anderson as a false nine, bring on a winger maybe.
Yes, there are many alternatives and even Pedro, you bring on Pedro as a false nine.
But yes man, it has to be said that these guys Castellanios and Isaacson
have both repaid Sarri when he didn't substitute them.
Isaacson had a similar thing in Europe, I believe he had a game
in the Champions League where he was having a stinker, he took off someone else
and then eventually Isaacson scored and I can't quite remember the details of the game
but it definitely occurred.
I want to talk about a little bit bro, Philipp Anderson,
what the hell happened to him and one of the cheekiest players there is in the league?
I don't know why you seem surprised because he's literally yes, like he's very streety.
It's been his personality and his character style for a while, right?
But last season was a fantastic season for Philipp Anderson.
He was one of the best players man, how can you just go from that to this?
He looks abysmal right now, he looks terrible man.
When it's something like that, I have no idea what it is about the player.
I think it's more a question of their, like how good they are mentally
because in order to remain consistent you need to be a fucking brick,
you need to have a brick mind, you know what I mean, impenetrable.
Maybe he's just not one of those guys but to me he's been cheeky a long, long time
and this and now he started the season off well and like you're saying he had a great season last season
but hey, cheeky players have good seasons.
Absolutely, yes man.
They were missing Luis Alberto for this game, however they still managed to score three goals
which is very good for them.
Luis Alberto I noticed the thing by the way recently it's like him and Zacani play alone.
Luis Alberto and Zacani.
Yes bro, I mean.
In fact, Luis Alberto doesn't often change, he doesn't often switch sides,
switch the play, he keeps it on his side and he just plays with Zacani
and Kamada is growing more and more frustrated man.
Kamada is being left out and it's sad to see bro.
Yeah, we posted that snippet recently, go watch it on our TikTok guys, that's area spotlight.
Or Instagram or anywhere.
Yeah, he looks very frustrated with it.
Yeah, he's often ignored and it's sad to see.
But yeah, solid win for Lazio, good management by Zacani
and a very good reaction from the players, Frasinone of course,
terrible mistake by Luca Garretano also on that second goal leading up to it,
he just gave the ball away so clumsily.
And you know it's so frustrating for a player because when you make a mistake like that you need to run back
and there's no way you're getting the ball but you have to run back or else you're going to get shot on.
So he just runs back to just kick the ball in, that's already in the back of the net.
Yeah, there's nothing worse for a footballer.
Lazio are in ninth with 27 points, while Frasinone are in 14th with 19 points.
A relegation, 6 pointer, dogfights, are you ready Verona, Nilsa, Leone, Natana, one, yes.
This was a massive clash as Hellas were just one point clear of the drop zone
and Pippo and Zago are already feeling the pressure at rock bottom despite a 2-2 draw with Milan earlier on.
Andre Duda was suspended and Jadon Braff was injured for the hosts,
while Ochoa and Bulaia Dia were still out of action for Salernitana.
Now both teams started cautiously with Salernitana having some more possession.
There are few chances in the opening 30 minutes including a header from Ciuana and a shot from Davidovic.
In the final moments of the first half Salernitana created a couple of opportunities with Montepo
making crucial saves, particularly the ones on Simi and Castanos.
Salernitana took the lead early in the second half with Ciuana's well-placed diagonal shot after a counterattack.
Like we said, it was very similar to Lukman's goal.
Verona had a chance to equalize at the 65th minute but in Gonj missed a sitter from close range.
Now despite Verona pushing forward Salernitana, though fatigued, maintained possession and defended well.
Towards the end Salernitana had a chance on the counter with Cullibali but failed to convert
and it was a massive victory for Salernitana. Yes, they're still dead last but this is the momentum
that they need before they start jumping other teams, no?
Absolutely, of course. And this was a crucial win because as you mentioned this would have been the definition of a six-pointer.
Had Salernitana lost this, the survival hopes would be fucking demolished practically.
They've cut the distance between them and Verona to two points.
There you go. Like it's massive.
They're no longer guaranteed, not that they were ever guaranteed relegation but it was looking pretty fucking obvious that they were strong contenders.
Now they're in a very similar situation essentially to their 18th place Cagliari and fucking 17th place Verona.
So yeah, massive, massive victory for them. I want to highlight the performance of Tzuana who yes got the goal but he also cleared the ball of the line.
So there's some versatility for you by Tzuana. So shout out Tzuana from Serie A spotlight.
I love that Nizagi is playing Simi. It makes me feel like Simi is a good striker and really recognized real.
However Simi keeps having shocker after shocker after shocker man. You know?
Yeah. I really hope he grows into it, love the player.
But he hadn't been in Serie A for a while so he needs some time.
The raid on Salernitana has begun. The raid on all these bottom teams has begun to be honest.
Did I mention that Taracano is off the Milan by the way?
No, I think I was supposed to mention that.
Taracano, the full back of Verona is probably joining Milan most likely.
Very first at a young player. I believe he was born in 2003 if I'm not mistaken.
Yes, yes. Very young.
Could play right back, left back, defensive midfield, anywhere.
The likes of BrotherH and Matsuki are being rumored out as well.
I heard rumors of BrotherH to Torino for example.
And Matsuki to Napoli.
On the other hand they have many African players who are believing Tuafkan or who have left their other Tuafkan.
So we'll see what they do in January. They have brought in Walter Savatini who was a legendary sporting director in the industry.
He was previously at Palermo, at Roma, Lazio, Salernitana, the miracle survival season.
He's always managed to build one hell of a team wherever he's been.
So we'll see what he can do with Salernitana this January.
Yes, and I think there's a lot of work to be done over there.
We'll see what Verona are going to do because it's not looking good for them from an ownership perspective.
They are claimed to be bankrupt.
Their precedent is bankrupt and they're probably going to be taken over by the appropriate shareholders.
So it's selling season for Hellos Verona right now. We'll see what the new owners do.
When isn't it selling season for Verona? The only difference is they are no longer a goldmine. Let's put it that way.
Salernitana are still lost on just 12 points in 18 matches. However, they are getting closer and closer to competing with Empoli, Kaliari and Verona.
Verona who are in 17th are on 14 points.
Also, Isaac Hian has joined Atalanta and that's a massive sign. Hellos Verona's best centre back.
There was also another relegation 6 pointer between Kaliari and Empoli where Kaliari were, to be honest, better than Empoli, I think, for the majority of the game.
Both teams fielded at Treco Artista, funnily enough, this game.
I was very excited to watch the game as it was a 4-3-1-2 for both teams with Viola and Daniel Maldini acting as the Treco Artista.
It led to no goals, so it was quite disappointing.
The interesting thing to note was that Paavalletti did win a penalty for Kaliari, but it was missed by Viola as the goalkeeper saved it.
Viola did score from a crazy free kick, very unscorable angle.
He shot and it looped its way into the back of the net, but there was a foul by Paavalletti on Caprile, the goalkeeper, so it didn't actually count.
That was pretty much the game. Empoli liked the counter-attack using their pace with Kambiagi and Caputo, of course, trying to break through the lines.
Daniel Maldini looks pretty good, surprisingly enough.
But that was pretty much the game.
Caprile, obviously, with the penalty save, do remember, I believe he's owned by Napoli.
Caprile, if I'm not mistaken, brilliant save to the night, and I was surprised to see him start, even though he has had a couple of stinking, but he's also had some good performances.
But I always find it bold when teams drop their starting goalkeeper. I always find it's a big ball's move.
I agree, but Caprile has been brilliant, and he was brilliant last season at Barri as well.
He had a great save on Petani at the end, as well as an all-round fantastic display by him.
When it comes to the standings, of course, they are both bottom tier teams. Kalliari are in 18th with 14 points, while Empoli are in 19th with 13 points.
They had the opportunity to jump each other, but couldn't quite do it. Kalliari getting so close with that penalty and that offside goal, but of course they couldn't.
A lot of these games tend to end up nil-nil, because none of the teams want to risk too much.
In fact, it's always a good bet to put on, even though Verona, Salernetana would have lost your money in that sense.
But it is typical that relegation, six-pointers, especially earlier on in the season, and title contention matches earlier on in the season typically lead to draws.
This was another game where Zito Levumbo started in the second half.
Wow.
Then he starts from minute one against Milan.
Exactly.
For the counter against Milan, I guess.
But yes, guys, that's it for this episode.
We do apologize because we have promised you that question segment episode, which is something that we've been doing recently, instead of cramming it into one episode.
We like to do separate episodes addressing our listener questions.
It's not something that we like avoiding or ignoring, but the schedule has been so tight and with Christmas as well.
Games happening over the festive period has just been much tougher for us, especially since we're humans with lives and had to do all of this stuff.
It was bloody tough to keep it up, but we will get it out as soon as we can.
Can't guarantee I did, but as soon as we can, we will get that out.
And don't forget to enter our giveaway, guys.
The post is going to be live very soon.
If you're listening to this, chances are it's already live.
Go check it out.
They are really cool sweaters, and Jake and I have one, and then there's just the one you guys are going to own.
So they are literally limited edition, and who knows, maybe we'll be something big one day.
Yeah, yeah.
And maybe we'll be mass producing them as well one day.
But if you are interested in these sweaters, do let us know.
We'll try to arrange something for you.
I'm apart from the giveaway, of course.
Yeah, naturally.
At embroidered underscore Malta on Instagram are the company we are collaborating with.
They do a magnificent job.
This is a dying art, the embroidered industry.
Nowadays, you can print, you could do stuff via machine, this and that, but these are a couple of very talented women who do a spectacular job embroidering.
Yeah, that's the word, embroidering.
So shout out to them.
Shout out to all of you.
Don't forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, rate us five stars wherever you're listening.
We've been Seria Spotlight, and we'll see you all next week.
This is Seria Spotlight.
If you like Seria art or have ever liked it in the past, it's a good opportunity for you to listen once a week and you'll get filled in.
In the football weekend, that's like the main dish.
But then a few days later, you drop your episode and that's like the dessert.
And the dessert is just perfect.
It's good, okay?
It makes you feel like we're all sitting in a room together, just be assing with each other.
The atmosphere is fantastic.
I promise nobody will ask you to send boob pics.
Some time it's maybe good, some time it's maybe shit.
I love how you go into so much detail and show so much passion towards each and every team.
Literally, no team is left undiscussed.
When I listen to you, it's like I'm talking to you in a pub.
It's like I'm chatting to a friend and you're chatting to me.