Follow Runchop and he's still going follow runchop.
As I go from distance as well, a beauty from Michael follow runchop.
Hey yo and welcome to episode 110 of Say A Spotlight, we are Josep Jake and Matt and this
week we'll be covering all the events of matchday 22 as well as the Supercoppa Italiano.
As you guys heard from our intro, now this is a bit of a debatable one, our goal of the week
was follow runchop's goal against Roma for Verona, it ended up being a consolation goal but at the
time Verona really looked like they were gonna get back into the game. Now don't get me wrong,
dribbled past two players in midfield in great fashion like mental, debatable there was a block
on bove or whatever but got past those two players. He let fly from non-talking yards like 35 yards out,
dipping curling strike but definitely think Rui Patricio could have done much better. Absolutely
yes he could have definitely done better however I don't think that takes anything away from
the great goal that Michael Follorouncio scored. I liked Solez's goal as well, the free kick was
perfect. Now that was because obviously we disagreed a little bit, I liked Solez, I thought that
just outside the area like that, that technique to get it up and down over the wall and into the
top corner, leave the keeper rooted to the spot. Yeah, a pitch but I thought Follorouncio had so
much to do man, he did it all so perfectly and the strike wasn't bad, granted it was a great
strike, it was a blunt, but it was a great strike anyway. Quite central but it was dipping and
weaving. Zierkowski's goal, the first one. The first on the volley, amazing, amazing, love of
volley, just outside the area, low, hard, brilliant. Yeah, the episode's called the perfect hat trick
because Zierkowski of course scored the perfect hat trick, one with the right, one with his head,
the one with his left. Two of them absolutely gifted to him, it was almost like you know,
Mercury was in retrograde and it wanted Zierkowski to get a random hat trick,
but yeah, brilliant, what a couple of games Zierkowski has had off the territory. Yeah,
the thing he was rotting at Spazio in Serie B, trying to survive, he's just moved to Ampoli,
played two games over there, he's become the top scorer this season. There you go, two games,
that says a lot about Ampoli as well. Our giveaway has ended, I repeat, our giveaway has ended. If
you didn't enter, I'm sorry, but we told you, we told you, you have now missed out on your
opportunity to win an exclusive Serie A spotlight black embroidered sweater. You're finished,
our winner is actually Nicholas Bianchini. Congratulations brother, we still have not
delivered it to him, just to remain transparent. He's currently in London studying, however in
the most Maltese fashion possible, we can drop it off at his pay. Exactly, and guess what,
his parents live right next to my girlfriend. I love Malta. I love Malta, man. I love Malta.
Also, our highly anticipated interview with Joseph Minala has been published on all platforms,
I do recommend that you go watch it on YouTube because we've got video in that, so you could
watch us conversing with him in our studio. It's a very bite-sized, enjoyable watch, we get to speak
about things other than the scandal, how he's played for Salernetana, how he's played for Bari
and all of these teams, how he's playing in Malta, what his mental state was like when going
through that experience and ultimately, naturally, even the experience itself. So it's a brilliant,
brilliant watch. Absolutely, yes. It turned out to be quite a wholesome interview. Yes.
From the feedback we got, which is great. He enjoyed it, we enjoyed it, and it was a great
experience, speaking to a profession. Absolutely, we should invite him for a kick-about.
So that would be fun. We get destroyed. Yeah, we'll have a picnic with...
With what penalty shootout, bro? You and Goul against Minala. Me and Goul for sure. I just dive
right all the time. I don't know if you know that about me, but I was always really good at
diving to my right, but I could barely dive to my left. With reflexes I could, but I was always
scared because it's my weaker arm, I was scared I'd break it or some stuff. Yeah, I definitely have
preferred sides to dive, even though I'm the worst goalkeeper you've ever seen.
I'm not even exaggerating when I say you're the worst goalkeeper I've ever seen in my life.
I'll never forget once, bro, we're at a five a side, and I remember just before I was in Goul,
and it was with your friends at the time when you used to play with Alpha Q.
By the way, brilliant. These were guys that took it really seriously, and I remember first they
put me in Goul, and one of your friends fell in love with me because I had a really good game.
And after that, the other Fennec went in Goul, Jake Fennec. I go in Goul when I'm tired.
I'll never forget. Bless you, it was a great shot that flew past you, but like,
fucking, well, I tell you, like two seconds passed, and you dove to the left. And I remember
when you were diving, I could see your legs shuffle in me. I'm not blessed, bro. I'm not crazy
enough to be a goalkeeper, right? That's what they say. Yeah, goalkeepers are mad. Yeah, so Inter
won the Supercopa after defeating Napoli 1-0 in the final. A few interesting takes from this
Coppa from the Supercopa. Taliyan, of course, it was the first time that it was with a semi-final
single knockout format. Enjoy those 11 million. I'll never get all those hours back again in my
life. It was in Riyadh. The turnout was absolutely dreadful, especially for the semi-finals. The
final itself had a turnout of 24,900 people. So not great at all. It feels like the Supercopa
was taken away from the fans of the clubs. I like the format. Sure, why not? But keep it local.
Interesting things to note is that in the semi-finals Napoli played Fjordentina and beat them 3-0.
Simeone scored a goal. Nice to see him scoring after saying he wants to leave because he's not
getting enough playing time. It was a gorgeous goal. An absolutely gorgeous goal, man. He had so
much to do and his finishing, his finish was top notch. And his celebration was like so sad
because you can see him looking for the fans and he can't really find the section and the stands
dedicated to Napoli. So he just turns to his teammates and celebrates facing
his teammates with his back to the fans. Very weird. And then shortly after, Zerbin was introduced
into the game and he scored. But as he scored, he clattered into the post and banged his head
really badly on the post. And he didn't even celebrate. In fact, he just looked up, raised his
hand and passed out. The medics came. The commentators were really serious. They were like,
we can't even celebrate this goal right now because the guy's knocked out cold. They just hope he's
okay. He takes him off as we're wondering if he's okay and the game's going on. Next thing,
you know, a ball's played to the middle. The commentators are like, oh, it's Zerbin. He's
on. He gets the ball. And like he shoots from way out. Fantastic finish and he scores bottom
corner. Like he's probably still concussed. He's still dizzy. He's seeing stars, but what a goal
he scored. Amazing, man. Two goals for Zerbin and a super cup semi-final. Brilliant. Yeah, Fjordentina
were holding on for quite some time in that game, but literally Zerbin turned the, he didn't turn
the game around because Napoli were already winning, but he sealed the deal alone. 84th and 86th.
There you go. That's it. And Simeone scored in the 22nd minute, of course. So that was Fjordentina's
trip over and then Inter played Laci where they dominated them. You know, it wasn't them. They
killed them. They absolutely killed them. Thuram scored. Insha'Allah, Nogla scored his, what,
78th, 9th, the penalty of the season. But Nosn and Fratese scored in the 87th minute
to seal things off and then in the final. At least the final was what was supposed to be the
Super Cup, Paltaglia and a final. And that's why the winners of the league faced the runners up of
the cup and the winners of the cup faced the runners up of the league. So at least they are
favouring the champions. Absolutely. And one thing I didn't mention actually is the most interesting
thing about the semifinal game between Napoli and Fjordentina was that Napoli went back to their
three at the back formation. Mazzari was like, fuck this. It doesn't make sense for him to keep
playing a system that's not doing well simply because it did well to managers. It doesn't make
sense at all. So he swapped back to a three at the back formation just as he knows best and they
looked solid. And they played against Inter in the final with that formation. And once again,
they looked quite solid. Inter couldn't penetrate them until the very end in the 91st minute.
Of course, Simeone got a red card that game, but Napoli managed to hold off and was going to go
straight to Penalty's world to have been a 50-50. But of course, the inevitable Lautaro Martinez
scored in the 91st minute and took off in celebration, took off his shirt to reveal his
underwhelmingly shredded body and flung his shirt around and you know, the whole interthing.
He ran, he actually had to run the full length of the pitch to find a couple of geysers in an
Inter kit. Like again, man, I, I, I understand that Seria, they need the money and I get that.
But taking the game away from Italy to me, it doesn't feel right. Like Napoli and Inter fans,
that would have been such a turnout in the Olympic, for example, that would have been
sold out. Of course. Sold out. And you'd have the piazza full of, full of ultras and you'd have the,
the T-Force and you'd have all this, the true Italian culture. But I guess, you know, at least
it's not the Coppa Italia, at least it's not the Seria, at least it's, you know, the, a fringe
cup. Let's put it that way. You know, to make it way more exciting, actually. What if it were the
last game of the season that that was played, man? Team wins the league, team wins the cup,
Champions League ends, Europa League ends. And then a week later, a week later, it's the winners of
the league versus the winners of the cup. Think of how much value and how much pride would be added
to that trophy, man. That's not bad. It'll be a bit hot. Yeah. Get over it, you athletes. You run
all day. That's a good idea, actually. Because then you get the, the truest forms of those teams
as well. Because let's admit this isn't Spallotty's Napoli without, you know, at all. So that's a good
point, bro. Thank you, King. Guess what? What? We have a new patron.
So welcome, Campbell. Congratulations. You are a Spothead and you've joined the list of great
Spotheads that make our family so great. Shout out to all of them. Shout out to Ed, Alan, Andy,
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Sluge, McNoodle, Tim, and now, Campbell. Yes. Thank you as always, guys. Thank you to Campbell for
allowing us to play that song on our podcast. We always get so excited to plug that in, just
give whoever is driving or whoever has headphones on that have a real fucking treat.
If you want to hear that more often, become a patron. It's 3.99 a month. You can find it in our,
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has everything. Basically, you can see our website. You can find our YouTube. We're quite late on the
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follow over there and just like the videos, listen to the videos over there. That would really help
us out. Yeah. We could also get monetized on YouTube. So I mean, we've been pushing Spotify and
realized there's no monetization here. So if you guys want to have no, leave our videos on repeat
on YouTube, do us a bit of a solid. We need 3000 hours. If you've got 3000 hours, you can listen
to us. But without further ado, let's get into what happened this week. As you guys know, it was a
bite sized matchday. Obviously, Inter versus Atlanta, Bologna versus Fiorentina, Torino versus
Lazio and Saswala versus Napoli were pushed. They're going to be being played between mid-February
and mid-March naturally, because Inter, Fiorentina, Lazio and Napoli were competing in the Super
Coppa Italiana. So now it's that classic thing, the most frustrating thing when we're reading out
the league tables and we're like, you were first one point above Inter who have a game in hand.
Do you remember season one was all like that because of fucking COVID, man. And that one game
in hand happened to be the Bologna. Exactly. Exactly. Thanks to Radu, baby.
Now, take nothing away from Sansone. Absolutely. Absolutely. For the rundown,
the first game we're going to start with is Udinese 2 Milan 3. What is it about Udinese Milan and
just these fiery encounters? There was that famous Theo Hernandez last minute ago, a couple of years
back when Roman Yoli was still at Milan. This game unfortunately had a terrible moment in it,
where Udinese fans, Udinese ultras were throwing racist remarks at Mike Manjano, who ended up
Milan, ended up walking out of the pitch shortly after returning back and going on to win the game
with a last minute winner by Noah Okofor. Darussi's debut was a good one and Roma won two goals to
one against Verona. It wasn't easy, but Stefano Ciarra, we played a pivotal part in a very counter
attacking Roma side. Let's try Nyl Uve 3. It was another doppietta by Duzan Vlau, which was really,
really found his form. Empoli 3, Monza Nyl in the debut of Davide Nikola, a perfect hat trick by
Zyrkovski. I can't wait to get to that game, so we could discuss it a little bit. Salernitana 1,
Genoa 2. Salernitana once again opening the scoring, but failing to take it over the line.
This time it was against newly promoted Genoa and Frazzinone 3, Kalyari 1 between these two sides
that let's be real, every time they play each other it's a fucking spectacle. The last time they
played it was the 4-3 comeback by Kalyari. Frazzinone were winning 3-0 up until the 71st minute,
which is absolutely crazy. I can't believe you missed that one because you were in Australia.
I know. That's why I decided that I can't live in Australia because the hours of the games were
just bzerk. And then obviously I'd wake up early to watch the Milan's, the Inter's, the Uve's,
but perhaps if there was a 2am game I could miss, maybe it's between the two newly promoted sides,
but obviously the match of the season so far had to take place. Yeah, shout out to our Australian
listeners of course who are so dedicated. How the hell do you stay up to date? I know right.
Yeah bro, but Udine is a Milan, that's the talk of the town at the moment. Of course what happened
was absolutely despicable and it's a shame that these things still happen in 2024 and we still
have to discuss them and remind people the importance. The thing is, you know,
people are, I would say the majority of football fans are fine. They enjoy the moment,
they go to the stadium, it's a very family oriented, they're there for the game,
a little bit of banter, where they chant maybe against the opposition team, whatever,
it's all in good spirit. But then you have these minorities who have to make the fucking
majority listen to the same old thing man. It's very obvious that racism is bad and that you
shouldn't be racist and it doesn't belong in football and that everyone in a football stadium
is there for the same reason and football is meant to unite and it does unite and that's why
you have 80,000 people from all walks of life in a stadium watching a game supporting the same
two teams essentially. You know, you look at the pitch, you have, you've got so many different
ethnicities and religious affiliations. That's the beauty of it, exactly. No one cares. What they
care about is, you know, can you play the ball well? Can you score? Can you dribble? Can you defend?
Can you make saves? You know, those are the things that matter. Yeah. So it's absolutely
ridiculous that we still have to deal with these things and then the hypocrisy and then the
ignorance. But when you look at Odenes' esteem and you look at, you know, you're offending
the goalkeeper of Milan when you've got many black players in your team. Yeah, exactly. They've
got so many black players. Like, respect your own players. Literally. You're disrespecting your
own team, you moron. Yeah. And now, as a result, I believe they're banned for one game. Like,
they have to play the match behind closed doors. Yeah, because apparently it would be unfair if
due to a couple minority fans, which is what do you, Odenes, some Odenes official said after the
game said it was only a few fans. Shut up. You fucking idiot. It's a problem in your fan base.
Would it be unfair to ban everyone to ban there? Let's say 30,000 spectators because of, let's say,
10, 20? Yes, because there needs to be a solution to this. There needs to be complete bans. I'm not
sure I agree with that. With banning, with closing the doors to the stadium. Like, why should, why
should the majority be affected for the actions of the ignorant minority? Because in order for us to
get a better future and in order for us to teach people, so do you know what's the best way when
you've got a kindergarten class because it is what these guys are, they're fucking kids, you know,
the these races, they're idiots. What's the best way to discipline a group of kids? It's you all
get a break in if no one owns up. And that's that's that's how you need to treat them. Of course,
that's how you need to do it. Totally disagree. Totally. I think that that's that's that's daft.
And let's look at, for example, the let's say this happens in a Champions League semi final.
You're gonna close the doors for it doesn't it doesn't it doesn't to me. I don't give a fuck
when it happens if that happens within your fan base, which causes the players to walk out because
of racist remarks coming from your fan base, then the people need to be responsible for the repercussions
that are happening afterwards. And and it I'm not gonna say it won't happen again, but it'll be
reduced so much because they know if I'm going to do that, there's the ultimate punishment. My team
is going to need to play without fans in the derby. My team is going to need to play without fans
in the final and it's it's zero. It's come to a point where now we've they've tried being
understanding, lenient, so on so forth. It's time to just fucking take just no no stop. I think
I think permanent bands for people involved. Absolutely as well are necessary.
As well as well. Yeah. And if the teams don't want to invest in the infrastructure to be able
to catch these these people out, then find the clubs club finds you know, you find you find the club
in this case, Odeneza, you know, you give them a massive fine. So that next time they'll be
preventative and improve their infrastructure in order to catch out the racist minority. I think
that's enough. I think you you propose stadium bands and all of a sudden you'll have people
they'll be afraid, you know, but there aren't stadium bands. So if if if they're going to stick
to this whole removing the fans and stuff giving people lifelong stadium bands because there isn't
the technology, the Odeneza fans have been confirmed, some of them have been caught and
they're banned for life. They're banned for life. Excellent. Excellent. But but I really believe
we need to go on next step as well. And it needs to it needs to impact the club they love.
That's what needs to happen. Yeah, I just don't think it's fair when it affects the innocent
basically, you know, I don't like collateral damage. I think that granted yes, and then
the entire fan base will be on board and you know, people will be more vocal if they hear
these chants and the stands, you know, that shut them up. They'll be like, listen, we want to come
back next week, shut the fuck up. Exactly. But I still don't think it's fair. And I think there
are better solutions. I think that with today's technology, you can identify people from their
fucking eyes or their fingers, you know, you can easily point a camera at the fans and identify
who's being racist, ban them for life. Simple as you know, eventually, you'll you'll trim the fat
enough. Yeah. Well, let's let's get into the game. But yes, bro. And when it comes to the lineups,
Manian was in goal for Milan in the 4 3 3 formation with Theo Hernandez and Calabria's
the full backs and Simon Kier and Gabia has a center back partnership, Reinders,
Adley and Loftus Creek where the midfield three with Poulissik out on the right,
Leao out on the left and Jiru up front. We might be seeing Ben Aser back into the steam
quicker than anticipated, although he is carrying a knock but Algeria have been knocked out of the
African Cup of Nations. Yeah, as well as Cameroon. It's crazy. Yeah. It's a 3511 for
Odineza. I don't believe you're first talking about that.
Okoya was in goal with Ferreira Perez and Christensen at the back of Bossella was on the
right Kamara was on the left with some art, Zichlov Rich and Wallace in the middle. And
Ferreira was playing behind the formidable Tower of Lucca. So the first half was all Milan and
Milan started very well. Well, the beginning of the first half was Milan. Ok, Milan were
absolutely dominating and eventually managed to get a goal when Theo's cut back ball was
turned in by Ruben Loftus Creek. That was the 31st minute. However, shortly after that,
that's when the racist incident happened and Manon walked off the picture essentially followed
by his teammates who were really encouraging him. It was actually quite beautiful to see.
Theo Hernandez was like, look, we're all we're all walking off right now. Adley was the first
one to walk into the tunnel with Mike Manon. That was very nice to see. Shout out to the
Odineza 11 that also walked out. That also walked out as well. That's true. Good point.
Yeah, it was this moment that there was a bit of a turning point in the game though because
when play continued, it seemed like Milan were a little bit disgruntled and Odineza were allowed
back into the game. And that's when in the 42nd minute, Lorenzo Lucca set up some
odds who absolutely destroyed Simone Kier and scored equalizing one one and going into half
time. Yeah, before that, Kier was having a flaw this game. But the second someone starts
running at him, you realize that he's not a he's an A no spring chicken. No, definitely not.
And he's fine. You know, his position and play is good. He's good in the air. But then when it
comes to these situations, when a man gets the better of him, there's no recovering. Yeah,
at the same at his age. At times, you know, he might be a bit of a liability. However,
however, his leadership skills might compensate for that. Of course, he's still a good squad
member to have. It's just the fact that Milan have such a bad crisis that he has to feature more
often than not. Now, after the break, Milan appeared even less dynamic and responsive.
So Vaughn exploited defensive errors, attributed particularly in this case to Theo Hernandez
and Reinders to put Odinez in the lead. Can you please explain to me what the hell they were
doing? It seemed like Theo made a tackle and then tried to play it to Reinders. Did he the Reinders
get in his way? What the hell happened there? To be honest, so I don't think there was tackling
was convincing. I feel like it was like a half tackle kind of thing. He didn't comment himself
fully. And Reinders was too close. So the ball kind of ricocheted off him. And he shouldn't have
been positioned over there and just ended up falling back to Thouvan. You know, when you
used to play football in like a junior one, kindergarten and all that, where it's everyone
chasing the ball and kicking the ball, no one is like taking position. Yeah, that's what it looked
like between the two players. That's true. Absolutely. That reminds me of, I'm not going to
say the school name actually, no free advertisement. CHS. SMC. That reminds me of CAA. Well, both
of them. Playing in the tennis courts, football in the tennis courts, there are like five games
happening at the same time. Yes, bro. Yes, but I'm saying everyone's kicking the same ball, CHS.
Yeah, man, those were some fun times. We would suit up and go play football.
Yeah, purely responded with substitutions he brought on Okafor and Jovic.
Jovic scored immediately after Jeroz attempted the crossbar to make it 2-2. This would be in the 83rd
minute and then in the 92nd minute, Milan had a corner and at this point, you know, I wasn't
expecting anything. I thought the game was over. It's a draw. I'll take the draw. Milan scored in
the 83rd minute. Late comeback. It's fine. Odineza, you know, like the title dream is dead.
But then Okafor at the far post being the pure poacher that he seems to be. I didn't expect him
to have this kind of prowess in him. There was a flick on and he by Jeroz and he just slotted it
home. Beautiful goal. Yeah, I mean riveting stuff. It's always, it's such a rush when your team wins
through a last minute goal. What I want to say is, I don't believe Milan had a bad game by any means.
I think Odineza have a tricky side to play against. I think there was that moment that really obviously
shifted the momentum because the momentum was all Milan. And then Milan, like you said correctly,
got disgruntled. Samaritzec had a moment of brilliance. Wow, what a goal by him. That's
an absolutely un-on-rable mention. And then there was that, I'll call it a f*** at between
between Theo and Ryan. There's that led to Thuvan finishing at the near post. But what do I always
say, bro? Good teams win when they shouldn't. Yeah, that's absolutely true. This game is difficult
to read because of what happened. Milan started off very strongly. That incident happened. Milan
seemed to lose their focus and they conceded a goal at the end of the first half and then
the 60-second minute. But then they showed good resilience to come back and not only come back
in the 83rd, but also score again in the 92nd. So overall, as you're saying, a positive performance
because Milan came out strongly. And so the setup to the game was well and the reaction was good
as well to go in. Yeah, because purely substitutions made an impact. And that was about to say that.
Great impact. Jovi Trandocco for both scored. And it's good to see perhaps some of these players
that were brought in are actually, so it was always a worry like, are Milan actually going to
have depth or are they going to have a bunch of Charles de Keitel Arez on the bench like last
season or have a bunch of Bacca Jocos on the bench that basically have zero impact. But purely
he's bringing on people that have impact. Jović has had a fantastic couple of months, brilliant
couple of months. Okka 4, we all know what he's capable of. And there's certain changes in the
midfield as well that are impacting the team positively. So it's good to see that finally
Milan are in a stage where they say, okay, like, keep in mind, we'll have a fucking crisis going
on right now with Caldor, Caldor, at Chow, Pobbe, Gattomori, Benasse and Cioquese all out. And
they're on a winning streak. Yeah. Granted, they crashed out of the Coppa Italia when they could
have respected Atlanta a little bit more. Yeah. But overall, the trajectory is most definitely
positive when you look at the fact that Milan are out of the Champions League because they were in the
group of death and they're out because of a penalty that shouldn't have even been given between
Piazza Gry and Newcastle. So granted, yes, it's true Milan could have done better against
Dortmund and Newcastle, but that's just the way things go sometimes. Yeah. Two performances I want
to highlight. So first of all, Manjan granted he seemed a little bit disgruntled after the abuse,
but he did pull off a fantastic save at one point with his leg, as he always seems to do. Another
performer, like the highlight, is Matteo Gabia, who has come in and fit in like a glove, two incredible
blocks, lost ditch tackles. One of them in the box, a cross was coming and he slid and
intercepted it. Another one, someone would have been cleaned through one goal and he intercepted
the ball as well with a very good sliding tackle. He's been super, very dependable and it's time
for him to make a name for himself and he really is. Yeah, absolutely. And I think he's enjoying
his football. That's a big thing you see in him, especially, you know, okay, everyone's enjoying
their football when you score a goal in the last minute, but the passion that you see in him when
something like that happens. And one thing I really like about him, and I think I mentioned this in
the last episode, is when a midfielder or striker receives the ball, his judgment on whether to press
or not is fantastic at the moment. Obviously, it's a long season. These defenders that I mentioned
previously, the injured ones are going to be out for some time, so Milan are going to need to depend
on Matteo Gabia for a longer time now. Yeah, absolutely. By the way, as we're recording this
Zambia on Morocco or play, yes, there's also the other game going on right now between Congo
and Tanzania. And fun fact, Congo are starting Charles Pickle. Oh my god,
Piquel. He's still at Cremoniza, he's representing Congo at the moment. Tanzania, I'm going to
tell you two words that you'll understand very well. Pole, Pole, you can do it. You can do it.
So Milan are currently third with 45 points, while Udinese are down in 16th with 18 points.
Next game, Roma to Verona one, Roma coming off a 3-1 loss against Milan where Morinio was sacked.
And so this is Daniela De Rossi's first game in charge for Roma. Verona were coming off a good
win, 2-1 over Empoli and the previous encounter in this game. Not sure if you remember this one,
Verona to Roma one in the earlier stages of this season. So Roma had a point to prove over here
under their new manager. Now coming into this match, Roma and Hellas Verona were equal in their
last seven encounters in Serie A. Three wins each, however, it does include the awarded three-nil victory
for Verona on the 19th of September 2020 because Roma hadn't shown up due to a significant increase
in Covid cases within their team and there was also one draw between these two sides.
Now it had been an eventful few days in Roma as Morinio was sacked after crashing out of the
Coppa Italia against arch rivals Lazio and losing to Milan in the league. New manager De Rossi revamped
most tactics to a 4-3-1 formation but he had a few absentees including Mancini and Cristante
who were suspended as Moon, Indica and Awar on international duty plus Renato Sanchez, Chris
Molling, Tammy Abraham and Marash Kumbulla out injured. Hellas had Laziovic, Duda and Coppola
all banned too and they also sold Cyril in Goncetunapoli and perhaps one that's gone under the radar,
Josh Doig to Saswolo. What a signing! That happened! That has happened, a great signing,
a great defensive signing by Saswolo, you don't often tend to see that but that's just what I
said in previous episodes is Verona really letting all their players go just to combat
this financial crisis that are currently... They played a good game over here, offensively
they were great, genuinely. Now as for the lineups like I said it was a 4-3-2-1 for Roma with Rui Patricio
and Golan the backline of Spinazzola, Laurenti Huyssen and Karzdorp and midfield three of Pelle
Greeny Paredes and Bove, Elsharawi and Dibala playing behind Locaku. It was a 4-2-3-1 for Verona
with Montepoen goal, Ciaccia on the right, Caballo on the left and the two centre backs
Romanjani and Davidovic, Fodoruncio and Serdar in the double pivot with Imboula out on the right,
Saponara out on the left and Souslo playing behind the massive Juric. Now in the 19th minute
was a dream start for the Rossi's first game for Roma, Locaku opened the scoring, it was Pelle Greeny
that found Elsharawi in the final third who did extremely well to break through two defenders
and square the ball to Locaku who made no mistake placing the ball into the back of the net on his
favourite left foot. Shortly after just five minutes later in the 24th minute it was captain
Pelle Greeny that made it two, Locaku's cross was cleverly flicked on by Elsharawi into the
part of Pelle Greeny who had time to control and beat Montepo for power at his near post.
Now Spinazzola went off injured with a muscular problem moments later and Huysin's angle drive
flashed across the face of goal while Parades was booked and will be suspended for the trip
to Salernetana. I thought that Huysin miss was quite bad. Yeah but it's Huysin. He had to hit
the target you know like even of the shots weak like if he failed to hit the target they're granted
he tried to go for the far post that was a bit of a poor attempt in my opinion granted young player
young defender you know young defender not known right exactly the goal scoring prowess yeah yeah
yeah he'll actually we'll be seeing more of him Huysin I'm quite sure he's quite a bright
young talent. Now in the 56th minute Helas Verona had the ball in the back of the net with a
follow run show header but it was very harshly disallowed by the referee for a slight push
on Ric Carrsdorp I thought that was really harsh to disallow you see those tussles in goals you
know what I mean all the time and I really do think that was harsh refereeing there. Now Verona
were awarded a penalty for Jurich's header striking Lorente on the arm in the 64th minute
Jurich stepped up and blasted the penalty well over the bar despite sending Patricio the wrong
way as you could see from the 56th minute onwards Verona really starting to attack this
Roma side which was when the Rossi said hey yo I think it's best we go for a three at the back
formation over here give these guys that's stability they're used to under Morinio however in the 75th
minute follow run show did manage to get his name on the score sheet the Italian carried the ball
forward from the center of the pitch skipped past the sliding bofe brilliantly fainted past Paredes
and took a strike for an entire solar system away which moved enough on its way to bamboozle
Rui Patricio who didn't manage to keep it out despite getting both hands on the ball and it
being rather central but it was moving a beauty but a blunder by the goalkeeper nice to see
follow rune show doing well he's had a pretty good season he's actually owned by Naples and has
been out on loan for quite a while now many years had no idea he was Italian by the way so thank you
for that you're welcome very very good display by him yeah I think so and and his show was quite a
bit of maturity for his age as well he's still he's still just a young young oh it's 25 I thought he
was younger okay it's been out on loan for so long yeah yes you know what's funny man um with Napoli
um there was a video recently where they were playing one of those tiktok games and
Guevara had to describe um a certain player to to someone else and the player was Gaitano
okay and he described him as a new arrival Gaitano's been there for ages yeah he's been there a long
time yeah of course of course he's like no bro you're the new arrival
how did you think the Rossi did on his debut obviously he implemented a new 4-3-2-1 system
he got the best out of certain players but perhaps the stability at the back is something of the past
without more in you this could have gone terribly wrong um dream start for him of course um Roma were
were inspired coming into the game and that's what usually happens when you change your manager
initially everyone wants to impress the manager and everyone gives their utmost um Elshara we played
like vintage Elshara like I don't I'm not sure I've ever seen him play this right that hold up
played he displayed before laying it off to um Lukaku was incredible yeah um so yeah definitely
inspired um they looked very fluid offensively and they they did look more um lively and willing
to attack however however they didn't look as solid at the back and in fact they allowed Varona away
and in which we're not really used to seeing Roma doing yeah once they once they get a lead usually
they don't concede right and there was a disallowed goal and missed penalty and then that goal by
for the run show yeah exactly so so I'm sure the Rossi will take it but we'll see um how he manages
to cope against stronger opposition I wonder how he'll do in the Europa League against Feyenoord
because I'm not too sure about that um I would have signed under good under Morinio Roma were the
favorites yeah now are Roma's from favorites I'm not sure now it's interesting Cescó uh Roma fan
that has listened to the podcast well that a good friend of ours um and we've brought him up on this
podcast before he's a Roma fan and and he mentioned it was good to bring in the Rossi now because they
have a run of slightly favorable fixtures so he could really find his feet before facing any of
the top seven teams and that is something at least he could he's right over there to say that at least
he could get some hands-on experience before facing off against any of these tougher opponents I think
it's at least he starts off with three points something to work with we've even seen a tactical
adjustment in his first match where he went three at the back to be more defensive so promising
it's just they they do need to be careful especially without Paredes in the midfield
against Salernetana yeah that's gonna be tough but offensively even their counterattacks they're
way swifter because the Rossi um he really brought because Morinio used to play like a 3-5-2
with the wing backs and then Lukaku and Dabala up front isolated exactly but Dabala's playing
in a more creative role alongside El-Sharawi in a more creative role Pellegrini is in a three-man
midfield so he adds the creativity over there Bovega gets that box-to-box and Paredes is like
that crusher Lukaku up front for them to feed so going forward I do believe that this setup is
is more ideal for Roma to grab goals yeah absolutely um do you think that once Munchini is back
he'll slot in instead of Huizen or will he go back to a three at the back you can't not start
Munchini in this Roma team you can't not he's he's the leader you know what I mean he's he's not
the captain but he's the captain you know what I mean he it's like not starting Sergio Ramos for
that Real Madrid team that won so many Champions Leagues now obviously I suspect Huizen will be
benched um for how long is the question because of course Juve would have sent him out on loan to
play yeah and and it's also a debate is it gonna is he is Munchini gonna play alongside Huizen is
it gonna be Evan and Dica is it gonna be Yorente because Cameron got knocked out there you go
Yorente who is a solid despite him giving away a penalty in this I want to talk a bit about the
atmosphere and the reception coming into this because obviously dream kind of debut for Derossi
coming into this game greeted by the Roma fans that he's you know so he's so accustomed to
and that's such a great relationship with however there were um it's a surreal atmosphere but it
did include fans reactions banners and messages to Mourinho saying mister you've always protected
us we will always love you um and like we can't believe it kind of kind of thing um so obviously
it's it's an emotional time for Roma fans I don't know now maybe if I was walking out instead of
Derossi on my first game it's a dream and I just say everyone Mourinho we miss you like
I fucking wanted here I don't know like um correction by the way um on myself um in Dica's
from the ivory course not okay okay however I do believe they've been knocked out as well
I've got a mistake and I need to fact check that all the big teams are being knocked out of
afghan it's crazy it's been a really interesting tournament so far I'm keeping a bit of an iron
it's always exciting the african cup of nations I really enjoyed the gana coach's press conference
after he got knocked out bro bro he's like he's like a moody teenager that doesn't want to speak
to his aunties and uncles when they come over like I'm like sure man the ivory course started third
in their group with three points for top two have seven they're out they're out they're out now we
we already mentioned the first half dominance by Roma so no need to touch upon it too much I believe
the system brings out the best of El-Sharawi and and the Bala in particular um Verona got close to
I mean they they arguably could have won the game they were the better team in the in the second half
um let's just talk a bit about through a patricio and then we can move on because I did clash with
Chesco on the group chat I said who hasn't right right um how funny last time him and Andy had a
little had a little tiff on the group chat he's a Chesco told him stop talking about Morinio
because obviously sensitive Roma if I'm going through a tough time and Andy's like then block me lol
yeah he was a conforming mate yeah he's right he's right um the chat lives on yes sorry Chesco
um but through a patricio so I made the joke of saying through patricio has had three good games
for Roma which is obviously an exaggeration because he hasn't lived up to the expectations
you know the starting goalkeeper for Portugal at least at the time signing for Roma expectations
were high um to be honest if I'm if I'm being a harsh not even a harsh critic
Rui patricio has been a flop Rui patricio has been a flop he was very good in the Premier League
with Wilves yeah he was he was rated as a great keeper he's displayed good shot stopping ability
however so good saves yeah however there there's a lot to be desired because he could have done
better on many in many situations as well so many I don't see many shots and there are times they
concede one shot and it slips through so many up until recently against Juve Rabia's placement
at the at the near post for example somewhere he could have done better yeah now Chesco said
listen you don't watch Roma as much as me so you wouldn't have seen um that many you know
I would say we keep an eye out I'd say we watch a fair few Roma games firstly and maybe without the
the unconscious bias but but sure yeah I don't want to take up too much on this yeah I think it's
quite clear I think the audience gets gets a good idea um of what went down over here at least a
victory in the Rossi's first game now Roma find themselves in seventh on 32 points I'm not going
to stay going through who has a game in hand above them and below them um whereas Veron I find
themselves in 18th on 17 points they will be kicking themselves so they didn't manage to get a draw
over here yeah bro Lecce took on Juve at home yeah and they lost 3-0 the previous encounter was a
Juve 1-0 victory at home thanks to a Millic goal um the lineups we had Chesney and Gould for Juventus
in a 3-5-2 formation Danilo Bremmer and Gatti at the back with Costich out on the left Cambiasso
out on the right with Meretti Locatelli and McKenny in the middle Yildiz and the Duzan Vlaovic
were up front for Lecce it was a 4-1 4-1 formation with Falcone and Gould, Jean-Jeré Pongratius
Basquerotto and Gallo at the back with Ramadani playing in front of the defense Alngvisque was
out on the right with Udon out on the left Kaba and Gonzalez playing behind Kristović now in the
first half um it was a little bit cagey um Juve almost scored and Alngvisque cleared the ball
of the line he headed the ball of the line brilliantly and he celebrated that like a goal
he's been on did you say I believe this was Kristović Kristović as I say Alngvisque I believe so
I'm terribly sorry I thought I'm terrible yeah yeah it was Kristović yes and it was a very good
clearance and he celebrated that like a goal because he's been on a bit of a dry streak it's been a
while since he's celebrated so you can do that why not yeah absolutely um the absence of Rabio
did affect Juve's tempo in the first half and they really did struggle however in the second half
Duzan Vlau which exploded as he has been doing lately in the 59th minute he scored a goal after
being set up by Kambiazon then later on in 68th minute was McKenny who set him up um for his double
and then the 85th minute was Bremer who scored a towering header um assisted by Samuel Illing Jr
brother Juve are back they are the highest scoring team in Europe stop five in 2024 oh I didn't
I yeah yeah yeah actually yes they they have outscored Real Madrid Barcelona Bayern Munich
Manchester City they've outscored all the big dogs Liverpool as well what is going on with a leagry
so this is Porto Muzo no no but but it's his last season maybe he's going a bit all out over here
also who knows man maybe a leagry's always competed in three competitions when he's been at Juve this
is the first season where he's not perhaps his pragmatic style of play was a way to keep his
players fit and to keep his players performing in three competitions and now that they have less
he's letting loose a little bit and letting them battle to the bone but earlier this season when
they were partaking in simply the Copa and the league they played in exactly the same way as they
always have questionable in certain games perhaps but you know even in the in the opening game of
the season we saw them score a couple of goals and and we saw that fire in them we're saying Juve
looks scary you remember that Kiesa's goal yeah so inspired no they're definitely a united group
absolutely this this year and I give I tip my hat to a leagry who has created such a group
it's nice to see him blowing teams out of the water because they definitely have the fire power
to do so honestly confidence is a crazy thing man in football I've loved which has transformed as a
player it's I would say bro when it comes to player performances I don't want to take anything away
from technique class quality or anything like that but I would safely say 80% of it is the state of
mind that you're in you see some footballers I was watching a video today of the Nigerian players
after a game and and like they're all playing FIFA and all doing this and that finding their way
to relax after a game and I got this thought I was like the life of a footballer man constantly
on the road in a hotel room with your boys now sounds fun sounds like a dream but these guys have
got their wives their girlfriends their family their kids at home they're constantly out on the road
they're getting abused by fans they're constantly being critiqued by people like us and and social
media and Twitter so on so what it's tough it's no wonder that it's 0.5% that make it to the
professional stage some people and then they go through a drought they think Vladovic
Vladovic went through a drought I remember there was in particular one team he always
fails to score against and we said he's never gonna score against them because it's just a
state of mind it's it's a mental block but once they regain that confidence once the it's one
goal that can change everything bro you think Charles de Ketelari had he not scored that first
particular goal for Atalanta would he be playing as well as he is now perhaps fucking not he wouldn't
have these six goals or how many as you would look at the way he played for Milan at the beginning
and at the end yeah yeah absolutely it's true confidence is massive man and it's it's nice to
see Vladovic thriving and apparently I think I mentioned in the last episode he has a new girlfriend
so that might help yeah do you know Vladovic is known to have a massive penis do you know that
I had no idea bro but please I was scrolling through Tik Tok it was during the time of the
the last World Cup and Vladovic had in the game for sustained somewhat of what you can consider
to be a cock injury all right the studs to his cock I believe and and obviously the first thing
you do when you hurt yourself in your nether regions is you put your hands on my dick oh my
boy whatever bro clasped it with two hands and girls were reposting that moment on Tik Tok saying
yo who is he like that is hilarious I have no idea it's funny we know we know Vladovic to be a
goal scorer former fear and Tina player playing for you girls know him as that handsome guy with
the big dick yeah would love to be him for a day huh his new girlfriend's fan yeah shout out McKenny
as well McKenny fantastic fantastic season he's having yeah a great character on social media
as well as seeing more of him on podcasts so on so forth he's funny man he's funny he's very funny
but that's the thing about Americans they're so authentic yeah they can they're really themselves
and interviews they're they are shamelessly themselves you know and that's that's nice to see
it's refreshing yeah oh marocco's respect yes hakim ziek um yes McKenny has been amazing he went out
on loan to leads last year they got relegated he came back I think at the fright of his life
he's like I need to work I need to work I'm gonna end up in the championship it was cold we kept losing
everyone kept talking about Bielsa and this bucket he was Bielsa was a bucket
but yeah I thought let's open the game off quite well they were good man and Christavich was well
looked lively Kaaba looked good as well um I liked the I like the fact that Christavich
I'm really squeezed a shot out from yeah yeah that's my favorite thing about man that's why
I'm always so excited to see him because he can be between two players at an awkward angle and
still squeeze the shot out yeah and and that's what I enjoy that I think he's a very talented
young player absolutely but of course they didn't have enough to to go all the way no no yeah
Pongratio by the way has been better than Basquerato this year hasn't he yeah yeah no
without a doubt I don't think we've seen Basquerato's greatest qualities at the forefront of his
performances recently yeah in fact I have him on Fanta and I'm like when the hell am I gonna play
this guy I think I'm playing him this week yeah yeah might as well man maybe I'll get the hit or
something yeah yeah yeah but at the moment when recording the standings Juve are first with 52
points and the game in hand do keep in mind what happened the last time in the game in hand
Lecce are down and 14th with 21 points this is bragging rights to not get it twisted Juve and
Inter they absolutely despise each other Juve will Juve fans and whatever will be teasing Inter fans
saying we're first you're second we're first you're second this is personal now Juve are getting a
taste of it pressure is suddenly on Inter who are competing in all competitions I believe they play
on my birthday they play each other February 4th baby what we're gonna do what we're gonna do we're
gonna watch the game watch the game that's how we get baby on the couch at home um Empoli 3
Monsignola I was looking forward to doing this one ever since the start of this episode um Empoli
we're coming off a 2-1 loss to Verona that got Andrea Tsoley sacked and prompted the the hiring
of Davide Nikola who is a miracle worker this is their third manager of the season fun fact he
was also Salernetana third manager of the season when he managed to keep the boat afloat and fun
fact he was also Joseph Manala's manager at Barri and this is did we speak about this we mentioned
it it's fine new listeners since the Manala episode yeah um Joseph Manala the former player
with former Lazio Salernetana and Barri player and Slema Wanderers player who we interviewed in
our last episode and spoke very highly of Davide Nikola once we had stopped recording it's a shame
we stopped recording because he gave us some really insightful information about Nikola's
managerial style and the fact that he really gets the team behind him and the team will die for him
on the pitch and Manala was there on loan and he said that I was there for six months but this guy
had me playing like yes I would have died for him yeah yeah probably so I believe he said to some
of the best football he's ever played yeah um Monsauer coming off a 5-1 home loss to Winted the
biggest in their history of during their time in Syria big whoop it's their second season
the previous encounter was a 2-0 clean victory for Monsauer now this was Davide Nikola's managerial
debut for Empoli after the club sacked Andrea Azoli during his fourth spell at Empoli after
being 19th in the standings and suffering their 13th league loss in 20 games when they were beaten
2-1 by fellow Strucklers Helas Farona on Saturday this is their third manager of the season um after
Andrea Azoli had taken over from Paolo Zanetti in September after a 7-0 thrashing at A.S. Roma
left them bottom of Serie A without a single point in four games you remember that I believe they
hadn't even scored a goal yet yeah Nikola who's previously coached Salernetana saved them from
relegation in the 2021-22 season as you guys would remember um but he did have to make do without
the suspended Canceleri injured Caputo Bastoni everywhere he is Miley Gaurino and Petzella
so he threw in the new signing Cherry straight into the starting 11 and I really like Cherry he
looked good he looked good I like his um I like his mold I like his uh the type of player he is yeah
no nonsense big powerful forward yeah not particularly great yeah but just hustle baby
hustle it's power and hustle yeah absolutely absolutely Monza had Birindelli banned Maschine
on international duty plus the Gregorio and Caprari on the treatment table coach Palladino
also had to watch from the stands due to a touchline ban now Nikola instantly inserted
history at the back formation over here we saw this as well with De Rossi that instantly went
with his system a four at the back it's always interesting to see how managers approach joining
a new team we were saying how Mazzaria attempted the four at the back formation that Napoli were so
used to only to go back to history at the back sometimes it's the coaches system that would be
the way to go sometimes it'll be um what the team is used to and how the team performs best
so three five two formation for Empoli Caprila and goal and the back line of Luperto Valukovic
and Ismaili Giasi has the left wing back Berezynski has the right wing back and the midfield three
of Marin welcome back Marin good to see you on the pitch Grassy and Zurgowski uh Cherry up front
alongside Kambiagi for Monza it was a three four to one formation Sorrentino and goal and the
back line of Itzomari and Calderola Kiriokopoulos on the left Pereira on the right and the midfield
two of Gallardini and Pessina and Colpania and Muata playing behind Colombo now in the 10th minute
Luperto unleashed an inch perfect pass to Giasi who was cleaned through one goal and should have
scored but was denied expertly to be honest by the 21 year old Sorrentino um classic Giasi there
I say we throw a bit of shade here and there but he should be scoring those chances uh two minutes
later in the 12th minute Zurgowski scored his first goal of the night Pablo Mari cleared Kambiagi's
cross only as far as Zurgowski at the edge of the area who powerfully volleyed the ball into the
bottom corner with his right foot amazing goal in the 31st minute Gallardini almost got the
equalizer with a brilliant strike from distance which just curled a fraction too wide of Caprila's
post seven minutes later and the 38 Zurgowski got his second Kambiagi once again delivered a
dangerous ball into the area this time to the oncoming cherry whose strike was denied by Sorrentino
but the ball fell to Zurgowski who headed in off the crossbar in the 55th minute Caprila got down
very well to deny Muata's close range header and 73rd minute Carboni's Miss Carboni misplaced his
pass in his own half to Zurgowski who played it out wide to Maleh Maleh squared the ball to Spendi
but his strike was blocked by Calderola but the ball fell too you guessed it Zurgowski who slid in
and smashed in the rebound on his left foot completing his perfect hat trick and his fourth goal
in only two matches in Serie A this season making him M police top scorer this season in just two
matches overtaking the striker the veteran striker Ciccio Caputo so is this form is he amazing what is
it about Zurgowski he's inspired right um he's just come back to Serie A after being in a probably
terrible environment in Spetia they're not doing very well um in Serie B they're pretty much a club
that's free falling right now um he got off that ship and he found himself in an environment where
there aren't many goal scorers there isn't much going for them but they've brought in a new coach
so everyone around him's probably inspired which inspired him even more and he he did really well
and he's he looks amazing right now I wonder how much his Fanta culture stocks have gone up man like
you know the January transfer market is coming up for us and it's going to be whoever has the most
credits is going to take him like Zurgowski right well do you think this is sustainable how many
goals do you think he'll end the season with no I don't think it's incredibly sustainable I like I
don't think he's going to be scoring hat tricks willy nilly not scoring regularly maybe not regularly
but he has definitely inserted himself as a goal scoring midfielder which is what he is now it is
highly dependent on how impoli are playing their football um David Nicola who creates an atmosphere
of togetherness could really get the best out of his players so if impoli keep playing well then I do
expect to see Zurgowski on the on the square sheet more absolutely his late runs into the box much
like Ruben Loftus-Triek are very effective it's not just like the ball fell to him and he was lucky
but he was his position and where he roams allows him to be in the right place at the right time so
if someone clears the ball away and it forces Zurgowski and he can volley it in from outside the
area or smash in a rebound with his head or with his foot it's brilliant um he is definitely a great
addition to an impoli side that we're struggling to get goals absolutely man and at 26 years old I'm
sure he was worried about his career when he found himself at Spezia but nice to see him back at
impoli where he has played very well and where he's continuing to play very well regarding on whether
this is sustainable or not it's not this is not his own he's not going to be scoring very regularly
I can guarantee that he will dip of course this is abnormal but he can turn their season around
and that's more than enough you know and that's what he was brought in to do and hopefully he
can keep impoli afloat yeah you are judged on your of course on your accomplishments but when
you're a smaller team like impoli naturally your accomplishment is staying up so if he manages to
help the team stay up then he's going to be sought after um he's quite marketable as well
they could have a good career he can turn it around at 26 years old um if he keeps performing the way
he is as the game ended Nikola had his players huddled up in the center circle for a pep talk
after the victory displaying just how he unites each squad that he manages I have a note here that
says Minnala said that he would have died for him yeah he's really showcasing that togetherness kind
of because it's one thing you know everyone knows that Nikola is going to get the best out of these
players and that he's a miracle worker so on so forth but just he wants to show everyone look
look at us we're together we've got arms around each other we're celebrating this victory together
but on to the next it's not over he's definitely in that center circle telling them this is just
the start don't get carried away don't let it get to your heads yeah yeah um absolutely he is a
fantastic manager and he always seems to disappear after saving a team from relegation against all
odds he disappears and then he comes back when another team is in danger of being relegated
he's just riding a bicycle around Italy and that was another thing he did by the way once he I
forgot from where to where but he said that if we managed to stay up I believe it was when he was
a Croto on a yeah he said I will I'll ride my bike from it was a crazy unreasonable distance and he
did it he did the picture I wouldn't do it with a car on our own exactly he did it on a bike yeah
he could have easily been like you know how we survived fuck it no one will remember every time
I'm on the score a 13 year old starts going berserk on the mega phone
it's hilarious it's always like I can't believe that there's a that there's a goal that's such a
that's that's the club man very family based and worker based you know like a child on the
mega phone yeah that's that's great well I think it's a definitely sounds like it's definitely not
a man so it's either a boy or a woman I think it sounds like a boy to me sounds like a kid I don't
know because if I say it sounds like a boy and it's a woman I don't know maybe people with shit on me
so I definitely doesn't sound like a man I can't believe that the guy with the mustache on
so yeah spotlight is he gonna tell us what a woman should sound like and this is em police first
win in eight matches fun fact and and yeah I mean there's not too much to say I think it's it's a great
instillment of confidence for em empoly again through the new system I think this three five
two formation suits them really well I thought come be a g and as a striker he was getting out
white quite a bit and for the two first goals he was the guy that whooped the ball into the box
initially and that's a place where they really struggled getting the ball into the box and so
I definitely think that offensively and defensive to be honest of course inspired but they had a
great performance Monza on the other hand they looked dreadful defensively okay what can you do
about the two rebounds and the great volley you know what I mean I can't critique them well I can
critique them on their defense because they still can't see the three goals to fucking empoly but it
was more you remember that sexy free-flowing fucking football that play going forward yeah
yeah that bold football nowhere near that yeah nowhere and and to be honest man as we spoke
about confidence earlier on they started the season of well Colpani was on fire they were flying
people were saying maybe they can make a push for the conference leave this season and then all of
a sudden they took a bit of a slump and I think their their confidence took a bit of a hit and then
that plowing against them there's something they're not used to at all because they went there they
played their brand of football they probably thought they could get an upset or something or
maybe even hold them hold them off but they they got trashed and and yeah and they came into this
game probably demoralized thinking okay let's try to turn this around and they lost three nil so
I'm a little bit worried about them let's see what Paladino can do over here this this will be very
telling of him as a manager because so far it's always been an upward trajectory with Paladino
now he's facing a crisis of some sort you know eight goals in two games that's that's not a joke
it's not a joke at all he and and no goals well did they score against him? they scored one
one okay Pesina Penalty yes Pesina Penalty yeah um yes and Pesina had missed a penalty as well
before that so confidence has been a bit of an issue for them but we'll see we'll see if you
can't turn it around I'm curious because I do believe at this point that he's a good and promising
manager let's see yep absolutely when it comes to where they stand in the table winning myself
sometimes just like Jake here Empoli 19th on 16 points they're only two away from Kalyari who are
in 17 so Empoli have a lot of time to make this work and they have the manager just to do that
um when it comes to Monza they're in 12th on 25 points level on points with Genoa speaking of
Genoa that's the perfect transition actually Salernitan took on Genoa at home and lost to one
after taking the lead classic Salernitan right yeah their previous encounter was a 1-0 victory
for Genoa thanks to a goal by guess who Albert fucking Goodmanson baby hell yeah and this time
Salernitana got the show starting early but before we get into that let's look at the lineup so
we had Ochoa and Gold for Salernitana in the 4-3-2-1 formation the Christmas tree formation
he must have got this one from Carl Angelotti right 2007 exactly Pierotti out on the right
brother each out on the left the brother each by the way totally transformed as a player he's
looking much better at Domagoi shout out brother Gionbert and Lovato were at the back with Martegani
Majora and Basic in the middle Chuna and Kandreva playing behind the great Simeon Wangqo yeah or as
we like to call him the Wangqo for Genoa it was a 3-5-2 formation with Martinez in gold the ever
impressive Josep Martinez he is my favorite this season he's good him and the Greg the Greggy baby
Vasquez Bani and Voleaccio were at the back with new boy Spence out on the left where did Spence come
from Spurs what up Spence what up friend Rupp was on the right with Strittman Badeli and
Malinowski in the middle I always struggle to pronounce his name Badeli Badel Milan
Badeli I call him Badel but that's us playing it safe Badeli Badel correct us please I'm sure
there's someone good mitzvah and Rittag we were up front so the first half was marred by incidents
of the pitch this was not a very good ad for Seiya this weekend because of the off field issues
and there was there was tension between the fans and the police and there were objects thrown
and unfortunately Rittag we was hit by one of the objects yeah by a rock from a rock yes there were
like people that up and showed everyone it was a fucking rock like a rock you know you think
you throw a rock at someone probably wasn't from the Amalfi coast it was a lovely rock one of those
you take home you know keep it like near a candle or something there's a memory flinging at Rittag we
man keep it at home so you can throw it out of the bottle my god honestly I'm gonna I'm gonna say
it's fucking caveman caveman and dude I've been to games in Italy the security is shit man they
pretended to frisky like they just like tap you twice on the hips until you go you know well one
took my lighter once you remember for the sasvolo game one took my lighter one fucking I don't even
know if I should say this right now say it now squeeze my wiener yes yes old fucking perverted
man fuck yes man fuck yes get give me a nice job before the game yeah thanks bro say I'm ready
no go be that I was like what's this I want to fuck it you think that is you fucker I don't move it
around but yeah both teams displayed great determination Kondreva of course tested the
goalkeeper from from range and there was a moment where he failed to hit the target and he dropped
on his knees desperately because he couldn't believe that his rocket from miles away didn't go in for
the first time in his life is like no no I can't believe that I'm human Simi came close on the other
end but Martínez came out super bravely good defensive work by both by both sides in the first
half however yes it was sorry I forgot to mention that Martínez actually scored an early goal
assisted by brother Rich that was the second minute and then Retegui equalized in the 13th minute
thanks to our buddy assistant had been a while since we saw Retegui score and this was a very
very convincing goal yeah he was in Andal but here he did excellently to score at the near post with
a thunderous strike absolutely bro so they went into halftime with the score of 1-1 however in
the second half Salernitana continued their aggressive approach but Genoa capitalized on a
Lovato handball with Goodman's and converting the penalty Lovato it was very naive of him he went
ahead the ball he mistimed it and was judged with completely he had his arm extended a bit of a rookie
move to be honest in the ball if you hit him on the arm it was a blatant and obvious handball
scusey scusey ma Matteo Lovato non è fenomeno non è fenomeno il primo il secondo Lovato non è un
giocatore di Serie A capace in Serie A capace capace he shouldn't be in Serie A he shouldn't be in
Serie A look Lovato is one of those players who looked amazing at the other time he was one of
the ones they were they were saying when when Duvano Zapata was in great form Lovato was the
only defender who managed to pocket Duvano Zapata the season everyone's saying that now he's showing
his flaws and I don't think he should be depended on at all perhaps his level might be Serie A but
not as a starter I think personally I don't know man I think I've given him a lot of time
to show growth he's plateaued man that's it he's plateaued he looks like bro he plays like a like
a 17 year old coming off the bench to feature for Milan a little bit you know what I mean those are
better than him to be fair absolutely yeah in Salernitana hit the crossbar shortly after
Kandreva from a free kick he smashed the crossbar and then he turned to try to come back into the
game in Zaghi switched to a 4-2-3-1 introducing Kastanos there were substitutions as well Thors
Bianzanoli came in to try to control the game but unfortunately for Salernitana they couldn't do it
and Janawa got the ball over the line taking home all three points Salernitana it's depressing bro
it's super depressing because they're reminding me of all the teams I've fallen in love with man
they're reminding me of that season of Crotone with Benali, Simi and all those guys they're
reminding me of Venetia where they play a positive brand of football they get close and they get
close and they get close but you know what the problem is if you continue to get close but you
don't actually manage to get those points you'll fall into oblivion and you drop you know and I
worry because this Salernitana team is good for the league man granted they're out here throwing
rocks at the players but the atmosphere is fantastic at the stadium the camera angle when
you watch it on tv in that stadium is so cool man and they have a nice project going on with
their supporting director maybe not a nice project they have a good supporting director not a nice
project you mentioned you mentioned those those teams they remind me of that Empoli team they
remind me of Spal and most of all bro they they remind not most of all but they also remind me
of another team Pepon Zaghi had gotten relegated Benevento yes Benevento with Gaich up front yeah
exactly and Spal had Patania they were 10th or 11th and just free fall
absolutely crazy and well I just want to point this out please when in Zaghi's start at Salernitana
they were playing at three at the back yeah yeah yeah past two three games they've been playing
with a four at the back and Simi as a striker we say this all the time he's the first line of
defense and that's the way that they're playing yeah they played the counter and that goal that goal
they scored today today against Genoa yes was absolutely beautiful what a team goal that was
started with a semi tackle and the transition was supposed to do do do do do do do do do do you think
they're going for a more defensive approach with the four at the back or a more offensive
compact system tougher to penetrate but good on the break you know offensive they have offensive
options but they three at the back had really impressed me against Milan because when it came
to attacking and defending it was always in significant numbers now tell me that they're
still doing that absolutely but they had a system like in a three five I believe it was a three four
one two that they used to play or a three five one one much like Odinesa but basically a system in
which the two players or the yes it was a three four two one the two players that played behind
the striker used to join the center of midfield when they were defending so they had a line and
then obviously the center midfielders would drop deeper in order to support the three at the back
and the wing backs would drop back to create a five at the back so and then when they were attacking
the wing backs would go back to wing back the two center midfielders would go back to being
wingers and the two defensive midfielders would push forward and they would often when they attack
that have seven bodies forward you see in that game against Milan they were devastating Milan
with their numbers yeah I feel like that is a real pro that I used to see with the three at the back
formation man he still tries it in Zaghi has tried many different formations he adapts during the
game sometimes not very well he sets up better than he adapts and I've said this before yeah I
like the way he approaches games the way he adapts to them not as much granted they have been unlucky
yeah like goals coming so late on in the 90th minute onwards 80 50 minute onwards this game
granted it came a little bit earlier in the 58th much earlier but but yeah they couldn't get it
over the line and I'm a little bit worried about them I don't think they'll go down still I still
don't think Salernitana will go down I agree with you like I wouldn't say it with my chest I'm saying
it with my chest say with your chest because they're playing well man they're playing very well and
and I feel like they've got the personnel to make a difference and with that organization now that
think about it this is a new manager in the new system and they're playing so much better than
they had already they're only gonna get better right now they're dead lost with 12 points 17th
place is on 18 points so it's still early days they're still very much capable they just need to get
a few points now this was a game this was a must not lose game against Genoa and they lost so
that's one challenge already already lost when it comes to Genoa by the way they're 11 to 25 points
man oh man how I wish this was a Boulayedia season but it's a shame they really need him
they really need him to step up it's a significant shame he's currently away of course the the biggest
shame in the world I would say that's that's true um credit to Genoa by the way Albert Goodman
Singh continues to show that he's a fantastic player and a very good penalty taker as well he
hasn't missed one Rete Guineas is him scoring again he's had quite a difficult season when it comes
to injuries he's spent at a very good game considering he's just coming um other than that
solid stuff by by Genoa yeah that was your lost game right that was my lost game okay um what a
bite sized episode you know what prepping for three games and I watched pretty much all of them
even yours I watched a lot of them but it's it's nice obviously I prefer it when there's
10 matches to the fucking choose from but this was this was a bit different um let's jump to
Frosinone 3 caliari 1 this was another very interesting game that took place Frosinone
were coming off a 5 and they lost to Atalanta so you would think that that that would have
affected their confidence right uh caliari coming off a 2-1 win over Bologna so you think that make
them confident right um the previous encounter was caliari 4 Frosinone 3 in the comeback of the ages
and the match of the season thus far without any shadow of a doubt um in this reverse fixture on
the 29th of October 2023 caliari became the first side in Serie A history um to win a match with a
three goal deficit after the 70th minute bringing it back to 4-3. Frosinone were missing Baez,
Monterizzi, Oyono, Cali and Marquitza and Bonifazi um Zortea was thrown straight into the starting
11 for them after his move from Atalanta Ranieri was without Zito Lovumbo, Mancozu, Shumorodov,
Oristanio and Rog I love like just saying Rog um a 4-3 yeah yeah yeah he has um Himbro and
Nandes and I remember when I think of those two players the first one comes to mind is Marin
you know what I mean yeah yeah yeah absolutely now there's a 4-3 to 1 formation for Frosinone
with Turati and Gold and the backline of Gelli, Ocoli, Romaniole and Zortea, Brescianini, Berencea and
Mazzatelli as the midfield three, Rainier and Sule playing behind Kedira. I can't help but look
at this team and like it because they're so young and they're so you know they're so fresh onto the
scene like you look at Rainier, Sule, Berencea, you know the Ocoli, Turati even though Turati has
had his struggles but I do have a significant soft spot for Frosinone. A 3-5-2 formation for
Kallieri with Skufe and Gold, a backline of Vietesca, Dosena and Zappa, Nandes as the right
wingback, Azia as the left wingback and Sulema and Aprati and Mukumbu as the midfield three,
Petania and Viola starting up front together that's interesting Viola naturally a bit more of a free role
now in the 16th minute Kedira forced a great stop from Skufe striking with power from a tight angle
then on the resulting corner Kedira scored but only after wandering offside so the goal was
chalked off immediately. In the 26th minute Kallieri opened the scoring through Sulemana,
it was an in swinging cross by Atzi that ended up falling perfectly to Sulemana after a physical
battle between Petania and Ocoli and Sulemana made no mistake by powerfully striking the
ball into the bottom corner for the 20 year olds first ever Seria Al-Gol. Frosinone thought they
equalized on the stroke of half time where they put incredible pressure on Kallieri's backline
Berentia had the ball in the back of the net but VAR spotted a foul by Brescianini on Dosena amidst the chaos
Skufe denied a brilliant solo attempt by Gelli in the 52nd and in the 64th minute Frosinone
equalized through Mazzatelli the captain was totally unmarked in the box heading in an in
swinging harrowing cross to equalize for the hosts. In the 75th minute Sule got the second goal
for Frosinone making it to 1 a free kick from just outside the area at an angle you barely see
these go in when they're so close and the wall you know it it's so hard to get the ball up and
down so quickly but Sule managed to curl and dip his strike with power into the top corner
leaving Skufe rooted to the spot brilliant technique. In the 93rd minute Turati's save was
described as stupendous by the commentator as the young Italian tonight Pavoletti's low and
powerful header with cat-like reflexes in the 95th minute Kyo George made it a fact making
it 3-1 on the counter attack Zortea squared the ball brilliantly to George George who finished
into an empty net. Now I don't want to sound too basic but Kaliari slowed down and it seemed like
they got tired to a degree and Frosinone sped up we know that Frosinone go for 90 minutes now you
can tell me ah but Frosinone in the previous game they were winning 3-0 and Kaliari went for 90
minutes and they got a 4-3 lead yes but this is another game. Yeah it's the it's the personnel
that they brought on right now Lovum was away at Afqon so Kaliari didn't have that gear switch
that they usually have yeah the triple substitution that Ranieri opted for in the 72nd minute
were included Di Pardo, Goldaniga and Pavoletti again they're nothing it's not an injection
of flair and pace you've got a target man you've got a center back and you've got Di Pardo over
there not not the fastest players in the world not the most flair players in the world of course
with Pavoletti great to have them there but you still need to give them the ball and they did get
close on certain occasions but not quite close enough I do think that they need a person like Zito
Lovumbo to really give them that different dynamic because other than that this team is quite flat
yeah yeah they don't have many technical or creative they they're all about like like Nandes is all
about industry and he's fast and he's he can dribble but but he's not the type to obviously
burst into space and deliver a perfect cross he's a hustler on the wing he's gonna win the ball
back he's gonna cross half his crosses aren't even gonna land Lovumbo is the only freak they have
in their team yes yes yes yes he's the only non-human that they have in their team they're
almost they remind me of and that's why I like them I'm a working class team do you know what I
mean like if they get a point from a game there's blood sweat and tears that is left on the pitch
which makes me worry about their longevity in Syria because as much as it's great when they win a
game and sometimes they look they never look convincing but they look like they put the work
in and I wonder I wonder just how far that'll get them in Syria um it might be enough for them to
survive I think um it's funny that last week we said that first and oner will will go down oh first
no they're going down bro they'll go down I think um as we mentioned right they don't have the
experience but that's what Kaliere do have they have the oldest manager in the league in Claudia
Ranieri you know the thinker man and he'll definitely figure a way how to keep these guys alive and
with Lovumbo coming back they can hold out until bringing him on in the 70th minute to terrorize
the exhausted fullback yeah yeah you know I'm actually dealing with Nandes for 70 minutes
just pulling at your shirt and stomping on your feet um and just trying to run past you and like
trying to pass the ball between your legs you know he's Nandes like a little hustler imagine
substitution you know he's off and Lovumbo comes and you're like yeah shit have to deal with this
guy now yeah absolute nightmare um now typically relegation six pointers in Syria they tend to be
quite cagey afage you know especially this part of the this time of the season it's the time of the
season teams they they would rather ensure that they get one point rather than risk getting three
and get none but when these two teams go head to head for Zinone and Caliari it's almost personal
now because for Zinone and for Zinone would feel embarrassed that they you know the that breakthrough
stat of the comeback from three goes down after 70 minutes um it's very flattering for Caliari but
it's fucking embarrassing for for Zinone yeah fucking embarrassing to concede four goals in 20 minutes
after having a three in the lead it's it's it's shameful for them so so this is you know how like
Napoli Milan last season was personal you know what I mean yeah this season for Zinone Caliari is
very very personal just because of what happened in the last game yeah good point it was a fun
watch to be honest and that last goal really meant a lot to them Zortea breaking through of
course breaking free on the counter and setting up Jorge Zortea I'm not sure I'm sure you mentioned
it in your rundown Amazon loan from Atalanta correct yeah he's doing he's doing great already
yeah he's a good player he came in at a perfect time for Frozano on a firstly smart coupe but yeah
that's a good sign firstly some to to a degree not experience but I level up yeah um higher
standard higher standard and secondly Monterese and Ollano are out injured so so it's it's great
to to be able to to put him in over there why are you smirking I'm wondering who actually plays for
Frozano and I'm looking at the steam I'm like all right Reiner on loan from Real Madrid you know
Suley on loan for Juventus Bresciani and he okay recently signed from Milan I'm sure they have a
buyback Berencea on loan from Juve Zortea on loan from Atalanta on loan from Atalanta George
on loan from from Juve to Ratio on loan from Saswala do these guys don't own any other player
this is why like like I have a soft spot for them because there are a group of youngsters but yeah
how fucking sustainable is this like Monza they had a clause on everyone look we have the finances
to buy these players which automatically gets triggered if we survive not only did they survive
but they came 10th yeah and it was 10th I believe and but this frozen on there they're not backed
by mad finances and it's just like like last season the team that got them to Syria is a
completely fucking different team like managed by a different person as well imagine they stay up
what's gonna happen like because they're gonna lose all their players everyone's gonna predict
them to go back down exactly I will be here going oh my prediction is frozen on exactly
exactly but think about it like I remember Verona they had so many loaned players in I remember
there there was Giovanni Simione who was on loan from from Caliari there was country Larry that was
on loan from Latio from Latio I believe or was he loaned out to Latio from Verona yes he was on
loan loaned out to Latio from Verona and Capriari was on loan with them as well but they still had
a good backbone back then yeah they did own a few solid players granted of course many of them would
have a buyback or whatever but it wasn't as ridiculous as this yes this frozen on a team is
ridiculous yeah yeah absolutely I don't have too much to add about this game in particular
um frozen on are they're in 13 on 22 points it's crazy bro because you go all the way up to 11th
place Genoa on 25 points and you think Christ they're only eight points ahead of there are only
eight points ahead of 18th place Verona on 17 it's it's still early man anything can happen
literally brother I'm telling you Genoa Monza frozen on a leche sasuo Odinese Caliari Verona
Empodi Salernetana none of them are in the clear neither Torino on 28 you know I haven't been relegated
with 33 points and lots you have 33 points right now and they're in sixth so that's how early it is
yeah oh man I this is one of my as much as I always love the end of a season um this is probably my
favorite time because I can all I can also I'm enjoying the now and I can look forward and say
so much good shit is to come like it's bittersweet right the end of a season because yeah you want
to know what's gonna happen and every game there's so much on the line um but then you know that after
that like last five matchdays you know you're gonna have a summer yeah rumors you know you never know
which players are gonna be episode what's the segment gonna be and we have as well bro we're
emotionally attached to so many players now because of this podcast and we've always been we watch the
league quite quite um intrinsically um and it's always the summer rumors always come in you know
like this time we had winter winter rumors and winter coupes as well like draguesin was taken
from the league for example god knows who's gonna be taken in the summer and zeet olivombo
wolves have come in fume he's gone you know you never know yeah yeah odenesia whatford playing
there no you take him no you take him no you take him but yeah that i mean that's it i don't believe
i said where kalyar here kalyar and 17th on 18 points just one from from survival but funny thing
is like i was saying about how there's so much to come which makes the league all that more exciting
in the now when milan won the league when milan won that last game against aswolo sure i had a
smile on my face for two months but a massive void was inside me because it's always you know
they always say like it's about the journey kind of thing like the fact that i wasn't watching milan
strive to win the league anymore kind of upset me yeah it was over we like it was there's sense of now what
did that the olympic gold medal effect like you know but then you need to remind yourself that
that moment is etched in his history forever forever forever forever that's if you ever feel
like a football game isn't that significant if you ever watching the super coppa italian and you
think to yourself ah because it's in rio then there are 23 000 fans and no one cares you know
that will if that trophy no man people do care that trophy is in your trophy room and if you're
ever watching a documentary in the future about in zaghi's inter that's going to be mentioned you
know tell daniel vs who has one of the deepest fucking collection of medals and trophies that a
single one of those trophies didn't matter exactly yeah you're one of the most i do believe he's the
most decorated footballer of all time like yeah probably go tell him one of those one of those
cups doesn't matter absolutely i think that's that that's that that's that we'll have more to bring
you in the next episode and i can't wait for the latter stages of march so we will no longer have
games in hand and we'll have full transparency um on what's going on but thank you so much if
you've made it this far guys um love you all and we'll see you next week grazie hafna
this is seria spotlight if you like syria 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 it 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 and sometimes maybe good sometimes 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