Episode Transcript
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The tension before the game.
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That Napoli section, the Settore Ospiti
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was stacked,
sardines, crammed into there.
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I think there was a few extras.
There was more people and seats.
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Yeah, yeah.
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and you know Retegui scoring first
going over to the Atalanta Ultras
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right next to the Napoli fans
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And you could see that
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you know, were they expecting another three
nil result in Atalanta's favor.
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That was a six pointer.
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You know the Bergamasci ready
to continue the job on go to two nil,
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three nil.
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Napoli coming back McTominay
huge, huge goal from him
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I think he's on five goals
now. Every goal.
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Yeah. Was unbelievable.
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Five goals
and every one of them were spectacular.
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Retegui’s, Politano’s yeah I mean the keepers
didn't even see those.
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They were just shot into the roof
of the net and it was ruthless.
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It reminded me of the old Bati days
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or maybe a bit of Claudio Carniggia,
seeing as we're in Bergamo there.
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But, let's go to X. British players
used to struggle in Italy.
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Have they changed,
or has Italy changed?
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That's from Kbscott on X
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I wouldn't necessarily say that
British players struggled in Italy.
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There just wasn't that many of them
that made the journey out.
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You know, if you think of obviously
Gazza is a famous case.
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Didn't do that well at Lazio,
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but Paul Ince was a success,
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and then really in the 2000’s
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there wasn't many.
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You know, David Beckham obviously had that,
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his two spells.
It was the odd stint wasn't there
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Yeah.
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Then it was Hart,
the goalkeeper at Torino.
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Yeah. Yeah, exactly,
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but now I think you're seeing more.
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There's a block. Yeah.
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Now you've obviously got Tammy
Abraham at Roma.
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Now, Milan.
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You know you've Fikayo Tomori
and now you've got Scott McTominay
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Billy Gilmour, obviously Josh Doig
at Sassuolo I think, also you're seeing
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British players are more adventurous
in trying a new league.
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Obviously there's a lot of them,
Jadon Sancho
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for example at the Bundesliga.
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So I do think there is, they understand
now that the world is a bigger place
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and they’re giving, because famously British
players just wanted to play in England,
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but I think
now you're seeing that sense of adventure,
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and now you’re getting, obviously as a result of that,
more British players
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playing in Serie A, playing in the
five major European leagues.
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So I wouldn't
necessarily say that they've changed,
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but they're just being more adventurous
in their choices.
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I do think that it also speaks volumes
for the importance
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of coaching, because McTominay is doing so
well because of Conte.
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Yeah.
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It's funny
because we get into this weird situation
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where, okay, if an English player is
going or British player is going to Serie A
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he must be doing well
because the league isn't that great,
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and if a Serie A player comes to England
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well he's not doing well because Serie A
isn't that great, and it's a step up,
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but I think that it’s often
just about the coaching
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you see Joshua Zirkzee for example,
he was superb for Bologna last season.
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He’s struggled at United.
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Does that come back to a step up
in the league or is it down to coaching.
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Likewise for McTominay.
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He's moved over there and he's looked a lot
better than he was over here.
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How much of that is down to the difference
in levels between the Premier League and Serie A
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and now much of that is down
to actually have a manager with a clear
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tactical plan. He wanted him
Conte said it last month, we want McTominay.
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I want to bring him in because I knew
howto get the best of him.
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I think that's a big part of it
as well as reading now about
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and you’ve written about that on destinationcalcio.com,
go check out those articles
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I was going to throw to you, Dan,
originally about the, football culture.
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It's a global shift
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and it's also about right place,
right time.
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Not every player should play at that club,
especially with that coach.
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Like you said, Conte looks for specific
personalities, specific traits
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and that's what we see
now when it comes to scouting
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the data sets they're using goes on
forever and ever and ever,
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and we we can now
see smaller clubs implementing that
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and then improving
over the seasons, season by season.
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We've seen the clubs coming out from Serie
B as well.
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Speaking of football culture
and that mindset, we're going to
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attack that in a second.
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First of all, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s departure
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hasn't had much of an effect on the pitch,
especially because he was out
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he was only available off the bench
once or twice in the last
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5 or 6 games, but
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what can you see coming for Napoli now, Emmet?
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Well, just to kind of circle
back to the victory, I think the win over
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Atlanta was all the more impressive
considering going into the game.
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All the talk was of Kvaratskhelia and
his departure, and it kind of overshadowed
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Napoli's preparation
leading into the the big game
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and I wrote about, you know, last week
for Destination Calcio.
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He's not been that important to Napoli
this season.
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Five goals, three assists.
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You know in 16/17 games
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I don't think, for this season at least
he's not going to be that big of a miss.
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Considering Napoli are only playing
once a week bar the odd Coppa Italia game.
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So I do think Napoli have enough in them
to keep going in the title race
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but obviously they've been linked
with Alejandro Garnacho of Man United.
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Whether that
happens or not, is a different story,
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but I do think it left a bitter taste
in Neapolitan mouths
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the way that he left mid-season.
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Why not stay for the season, win
another Scudetto, and leave as a hero?
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I do think his legacy is tarnished
slightly, but
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I don't think, honestly,
Napoli will miss him.
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Yeah, at this point, their performances
haven't suffered from Kvaratskhelia
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even through his injury issues,
he's had them every single season.
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You could argue that in that first season
under Spalletti, Spalletti had a plan.
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He brought him in.
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He was relatively unknown at the time,
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and we saw by February,
when Milan defeated Napoli four nil.
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At the Maradona that season,
there was, you know, the scales
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started to shift and Kvaratskhelia was found out.
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Well, not
that he's found out on a one on one level
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because we know that
he'll blitz anyone one on one. Yeah.
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They just doubled up on him.
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And every team would love to have him.
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yeah but they
they played a kind of lateral,
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man marking system
where there’d be three guys.
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We could see someone like Bennacer
go and double up with Calabria on him
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and everyone was like,
well, Calabria had him in his pocket.
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I don't think so.
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It was just that, well it was Calabria,
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Bennacer and also Tomori or Kjaer,
whoever was there in support.
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You're going to triple team someone.
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No one's going to get out of that.
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We’ve seen what happened with Lukaku
on the weekend.
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Let's go to the next tweet.
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Put up a provocative tweet
while we were at the game boys come out
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Kvara-WHO? he's the guy
who brought the Scudetto after Maradona.
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That is in reply to a tweet
I put up with Kvara-WHO?
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Look how Scott McTominay makes Napoli fans
feel and it's not in, a go at Khvicha
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at all.
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It's not because we know what he's done
for Napoli over the years,
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and he is is part of that group
that brought glory to Napoli.
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But let's be honest,
we're talking about in context.
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There's a week where he's left
and it hasn't really affected them.
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They were still able to pull together
mentally, collectively as a team
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and come together
and win a match in Bergamo.
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We've seen what Atalanta have done to
teams in the Champions League There.
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We saw Arsenal struggle.
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Napoli have come there after a three
nil shellacking in Naples,
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and they've gone there and pulled
that off in possibly what was the best
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Serie A match of the season.
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Dan, the relationship with Aurelio De Laurentiis
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how do you think it's finished there
with Khvicha?
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Well, I don't know how we ended with
between Kvara and De Laurentiis,
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but I do think that his departure
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more to the point,
any potential replacement
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would define the relationship
between De Laurentiis and Conte.
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Conte’s made it clear that he doesn't want
just any player to replace him.
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He wants a talented player.
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He wants a big signing.
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De Laurentiis is notoriously,
should we say, reluctant to spend money?
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at the same time though, Conte forced his hand
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in the summer, didn’t he? He said that
we need to overhaul the squad.
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They did with Lukaku, David Neres,
McTominay, Buongiorno coming in.
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I do feel the Conte could probably win
the Scudetto
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without a replacement for Kvara
because Napoli play once a week,
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but come the end of the season,
he will be telling
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De Laurentiis we've sold him.
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We need to bring in a big name,
particularly because Napoli,
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pretty much almost,
you know, the Champions League spot
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is pretty much, you know,
it's in their pocket, it's sewn up.
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and there is an injury concern around
Politano.
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We've seen David Neres
now come into his own.
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He's had the time to adapt
and assimilate into that squad.
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There could be an issue
seeing as the other back up is Spinazzola
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and he's been linked to a move
as well away from Naples.
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The other one is Mazzocchi that Conte was
using a lot at the start of the season,
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before he worked out his favorite,
you know, strategy and formation.
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So, in that regard, Napoli may need
an extra hand up forward on those flanks
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because we've seen Neres unlike Kvaratskhelia
he can adapt to the right wing.
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We saw Spinazzola start the game
before on the left and he did a great job.
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We were in Florence to see that as well
for those of you
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who want to go and follow our socials.
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Go and follow us at Destination Calcio
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on Facebook, YouTube, on Twitter
though it is at DstnCalcio.
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Let's move on.
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Speaking of football
culture, and the mindset, there's a player
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that's just made a comeback
and he's going to end up
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playing for Como in Serie A.
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Dele Alli big name €100 million
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valuation back at his peak in 2017.
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He hasn't played professionally
since February 2023.
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Now can he bring we've got behind me here
Como shirt, vintage Como.
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That's mid 80s.
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The Matteoli shirt number ten.
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Can he help Como get a footing in Serie A.
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Stay in Serie A for a period of time
because it is a newly promoted club.
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What can he bring?
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There's been an interview
on The Overlap recently.
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He come out to Gary Neville
didn't he a couple of years ago,
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and he had that chat
about some issues in his life.
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I won't go into all of them, but he hasn't
played professionally since then.
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We've got a comment from NorthernSoul90
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on X
saying it’s superb signing Como going places.
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What are your thoughts on that, Emmet?
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Serie A, is as we all know,
a famously difficult league to adapt to.
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It's very tactical.
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It's like a game of chess.
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So and the fact that he's coming in
mid-season
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is not going to make it easy for him.
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He could contribute,
but I think you may see the best of Dele Alli
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next season when he gets
a full pre-season in his legs.
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Obviously works with Fabregas,
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who understands what tactical positions
he wants him to play.
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So it is a gamble.
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It may work it may not
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but yeah, I think it's an interesting
signing from Como's perspective.
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Let's sthrow to Dan here.
00:12:07:24 - 00:12:08:20
I've got a question for you.
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Probably want to say a piece here
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because you've watched a lot more Premier
League than I have in your time
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At Tottenham, absolutely sensational the way he played
that attacking midfield role.
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Sometimes on the left,
he could get around the back
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of defenders, long balls over the top,
he could control them, bring them down.
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We saw him
score on debut for England against,
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Lloris, his old Tottenham teammate.
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England, France.
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He's scored big goals at Wembley.
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Now, we're a long way away from that.
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That was a decade ago when he debuted.
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What can he produce in 2025?
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I do think the best we can hope out of this signing
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for Como, is for Dele to be back
enjoying his football, which is not it's
00:12:44:17 - 00:12:46:01
which I know is a cliche
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but as you mentioned,
he's gone through a lot of, hard times of late
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and, I mean, the interview
he did with Gary Neville,
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I thought it was brilliant.
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How he had like the strength,
the inner strength to sort of
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you know, open himself up.
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The main thing is just for him
to be enjoying his football. 28 years old.
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he is, that's the thing.
00:13:06:00 - 00:13:08:18
I don’t think to be fair that neither Everton
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nor Besiktas were the right places for him to succeed
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I think Everton
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you know the Premier League, we know that
00:13:15:11 - 00:13:18:21
the attention there is on players and
you know he was an England international.
00:13:18:21 - 00:13:21:15
I don't think he was set up for success.
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Then again, who is at Everton these days?
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Besiktas. You know they're a big team.
two goals in 13 games.
00:13:30:18 - 00:13:31:23
Yeah
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there is a lot of expectation
then Como is you know, I think
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you know he's got nothing to lose,
Como has nothing to lose by signing him
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I think it may well work for him
and, you know,
00:13:44:03 - 00:13:47:03
it's on to a winner anyway
because he's going to be playing in Serie A
00:13:47:14 - 00:13:49:05
If he does well,
00:13:49:05 - 00:13:52:05
may even put himself back into contention
for an England call up.
00:13:52:05 - 00:13:54:00
Who knows,
Thomas Tuchel said that he hasn't
00:13:54:00 - 00:13:57:05
ruled out calling any players up,
so I don't see why he wouldn't.
00:13:57:12 - 00:14:00:03
He's been out for so long.
Could be a, look,
00:14:00:03 - 00:14:01:05
There's a couple of points
00:14:01:05 - 00:14:04:03
I want to make exposure therapy,
getting him back involved.
00:14:04:03 - 00:14:05:07
Obviously Como
00:14:05:07 - 00:14:07:08
any Serie
A club is going to bring back a player
00:14:07:08 - 00:14:09:07
that hasn't played
for a couple of seasons, two years.
00:14:09:07 - 00:14:11:23
It'll be next month
that he hasn't played a competitive game.
00:14:11:23 - 00:14:15:01
However,
probably a long term project like Como
00:14:15:06 - 00:14:18:03
itself is a long term project
come from fourth Division.
00:14:18:03 - 00:14:19:14
It's about building their brand.
00:14:19:14 - 00:14:21:09
It's about making players flourish.
00:14:21:09 - 00:14:25:14
We can see, you know, certain clubs,
they go out and get specific scouts
00:14:25:14 - 00:14:29:00
to find players
with the right traits, the right mindset.
00:14:29:08 - 00:14:34:16
And obviously Dele
Alli hasn't had the recent history,
00:14:34:16 - 00:14:39:05
especially post lockdown, that era there
where he hasn't been able to play much.
00:14:39:22 - 00:14:42:13
He had to change his environment.
00:14:42:13 - 00:14:46:02
It was about going to another landscape,
you know, at Besiktas.
00:14:46:02 - 00:14:49:02
Now he's got his chance in Como.
00:14:49:04 - 00:14:54:05
Now is this a chance where he can be
taken under Fabregas’ wing.
00:14:55:01 - 00:14:58:14
Just be part of the squad, slowly
immerse himself in
00:14:58:14 - 00:15:02:09
and perhaps
be made to flourish in 2025, 26.
00:15:02:23 - 00:15:05:09
Yeah I think that's
yeah I think that's his best option
00:15:05:09 - 00:15:07:04
as you know, as I said,
00:15:08:05 - 00:15:09:02
he's not going to
00:15:09:02 - 00:15:14:01
be the main man he’s going to be part
of the squad potentially a fringe player
00:15:14:01 - 00:15:17:01
to start with because as we said,
he hasn't played football in two years.
00:15:17:05 - 00:15:18:24
I think that's probably the best scenario
for him.
00:15:18:24 - 00:15:20:18
You know,
as you said, he's going to be given time.
00:15:20:18 - 00:15:23:18
He's not going to be asked
to, you know, produce
00:15:24:08 - 00:15:26:10
on a week in, week out basis.
00:15:26:10 - 00:15:30:07
He's not going to be asked to come in
and turn the club's fortunes around
00:15:30:07 - 00:15:32:01
because they've made
so many new signings.
00:15:32:01 - 00:15:36:17
He's going to be one of the players
who could help Como stay up,
00:15:36:17 - 00:15:37:17
but I agree with Emmet,
00:15:37:17 - 00:15:39:04
he needs to regain fitness because,
00:15:39:04 - 00:15:41:02
you know, not playing football
for two years. It's a long time.
00:15:41:02 - 00:15:45:09
I think that the fact that he's been
training with the club since December,
00:15:45:15 - 00:15:49:07
he's obviously proven to a certain degree.
They’ve done their due diligence.
00:15:49:07 - 00:15:52:06
Yeah, that he's physically fit
with the demands of the league.
00:15:52:06 - 00:15:56:19
But I do think on a tactical level,
we have seen British players in the past
00:15:56:19 - 00:15:59:13
come and struggle
with the tactical nature of Serie A
00:15:59:13 - 00:16:01:05
because it is a very tactical league.
00:16:01:05 - 00:16:03:05
So he is going to need time.
00:16:03:05 - 00:16:06:12
And the fact that he has an 18 month
contract means I think we might see
00:16:06:12 - 00:16:09:15
the best of him next season
when he's got a pre-season under his belt.
00:16:09:15 - 00:16:13:00
I agree Emmet and we saw Como rattle Udinese
00:16:13:00 - 00:16:16:00
2-1, both teams down to ten men
00:16:16:04 - 00:16:20:00
but can you imagine Dele Alli
maybe not at his peak, but coming back
00:16:20:00 - 00:16:23:19
28/29 he'd be more mature,
perhaps a different mindset.
00:16:24:06 - 00:16:27:04
Nico Paz pinging a long ball over the top,
00:16:27:04 - 00:16:30:05
chesting down, doing the old Ferrini
bottom corner.
00:16:30:21 - 00:16:34:03
Wish him all the
best and, Como on fire.
00:16:37:15 - 00:16:39:00
destinationcalcio.com
00:16:39:00 - 00:16:42:05
And for those of you who don't know,
we are the official broadcaster.
00:16:42:05 - 00:16:45:08
Proud to be the official broadcaster of Lega B.
00:16:45:08 - 00:16:48:22
Serie B, Italian football
for free on our app.
00:16:48:22 - 00:16:52:11
You should download that for iOS
and for Android.
00:16:52:23 - 00:16:56:01
I was fortunate enough recently
to meet up with one of the players
00:16:56:01 - 00:16:59:21
making a massive impact
in the league, Palermo's Kristoffer Lund.
00:16:59:21 - 00:17:02:22
We started by talking
about how the American international
00:17:02:22 - 00:17:07:17
and Danish native
has embedded himself into Italian life.
00:17:09:01 - 00:17:12:03
Of course the Sicilian, Sicilian
00:17:12:03 - 00:17:16:07
and Italian culture is very different
from the Danish culture.
00:17:16:22 - 00:17:22:07
So it took some time to get used to,
but I would say I've embraced it a lot.
00:17:22:12 - 00:17:24:20
I put a lot of
00:17:24:20 - 00:17:27:03
effort into trying to learn the language,
00:17:27:03 - 00:17:32:07
because I know how important it is to
learn the language and to be able to adapt
00:17:32:07 - 00:17:35:18
in, in the what I say, the circumstances
00:17:35:18 - 00:17:38:18
or the country that you're in
and the culture.
00:17:38:18 - 00:17:42:03
Yeah, everything
still got room for improvement, but,
00:17:42:19 - 00:17:45:24
I'm learning gradually I might see
if you've got some Italian in you
00:17:45:24 - 00:17:48:07
a little bit later on in this chat here.
00:17:48:07 - 00:17:51:06
You were saying that you were playing
in Sweden before you won the title there.
00:17:51:06 - 00:17:52:23
You were nearly relegated with Hacken.
00:17:52:23 - 00:17:54:01
Yeah.
00:17:54:01 - 00:17:56:22
That winning mentality,
you were able to learn a lot.
00:17:56:22 - 00:17:59:20
Is that something you feel
that you could bring to Palermo?
00:17:59:20 - 00:18:03:12
Of course. I mean, there's always,
00:18:03:12 - 00:18:06:04
the hunger to wanting more and to winning.
00:18:06:04 - 00:18:10:22
And as I humbly learned
when I won the championship in Sweden,
00:18:10:22 - 00:18:16:09
is that there's not a lot of players
that in their actual career
00:18:16:12 - 00:18:20:19
experience,
winning a championship or a trophy.
00:18:21:05 - 00:18:25:12
So of course, coming here,
I knew that would be a very important like
00:18:25:21 - 00:18:31:17
perspective or thing to have experienced
before that, to be able to, display?
00:18:31:23 - 00:18:36:01
Yeah, display kind of,
what you think is needed.
00:18:36:05 - 00:18:38:13
But at the same time,
I know that there's a lot of guys
00:18:38:13 - 00:18:41:12
in the team
that has experienced that as well.
00:18:41:12 - 00:18:44:06
So yeah, we've got a good group
00:18:44:06 - 00:18:47:19
and you've got guys
from all echelons of football,
00:18:48:11 - 00:18:50:19
you've come from Sweden,
there's other guys from other countries.
00:18:50:19 - 00:18:54:15
You've got people that played,
very high levels, European trophies.
00:18:55:07 - 00:18:56:19
World trophies
00:18:56:19 - 00:19:00:09
Is there a good mix between a collective,
I would say, yeah.
00:19:00:13 - 00:19:02:14
I mean, of course there are
00:19:04:06 - 00:19:06:14
as, as a reason, a lot of Italians.
00:19:06:14 - 00:19:08:23
But, this year also a lot of French guys.
00:19:08:23 - 00:19:10:13
Last year I had one Danish guy
00:19:10:13 - 00:19:14:02
that I could
join, which was nice in the beginning.
00:19:14:13 - 00:19:19:24
But I can also see that after he left
this summer, that him not being here,
00:19:19:24 - 00:19:25:17
I don't really have the the same kind
of social anchor that I always can go to.
00:19:25:17 - 00:19:28:17
So it's, it's more widened a bit and,
00:19:29:04 - 00:19:32:13
and I will say I'm
a bit more open for stuff.
00:19:32:17 - 00:19:35:17
Normally I'm very short circled
00:19:36:15 - 00:19:40:02
regarding that,
but I will say I've improved this year.
00:19:40:14 - 00:19:43:20
You can watch that interview
in full on Destination Calcio's YouTube
00:19:43:20 - 00:19:48:24
channel, and soon to be on the Destination
Calcio TV app. Now,
00:19:49:01 - 00:19:52:01
Lund, stats pretty good heading his way.
00:19:52:01 - 00:19:55:14
Alessio Dionisi, dispersing him down that left flank.
00:19:55:17 - 00:19:58:23
Dan, you were there in Palermo with me
when we did that interview
00:19:58:23 - 00:20:01:18
but the day before
we saw them up against Catanzaro.
00:20:01:18 - 00:20:04:05
What are your thoughts on Lund?
00:20:04:05 - 00:20:08:07
Lund is probably one of the last of the
00:20:08:07 - 00:20:11:16
what I call the great
dependable fullbacks.
00:20:12:03 - 00:20:15:04
Someone who is not a modern fullback, by any stretch of the imagination
00:20:15:04 - 00:20:17:02
he's not like a throwback
00:20:17:02 - 00:20:18:24
to the old days of the Catenaccio either,
00:20:18:24 - 00:20:23:24
but he’s just does what it says on the
tin, he’s up and down the left flank.
00:20:24:19 - 00:20:27:19
and he's been one of Palermo's
most consistent players this season.
00:20:27:20 - 00:20:31:20
And, you know, to be fair,
there have not been many Palermo players
00:20:31:20 - 00:20:34:19
who have been consistent this season.
00:20:34:19 - 00:20:39:20
I think there is something to be said,
as Kristoffer mentioned to us in Palermo,
00:20:40:08 - 00:20:45:03
about how, playing in Serie B
has already helped him so much
00:20:45:03 - 00:20:47:06
at international level
because of how difficult
00:20:47:06 - 00:20:50:06
the league is, how tactical it is,
00:20:50:11 - 00:20:54:12
because of the caliber of opponents
he comes up against, on a weekly basis.
00:20:54:12 - 00:20:55:20
I thought that was really interesting,
00:20:55:20 - 00:21:00:06
you know the hindsight that we obviously don't get
because we are not players
00:21:00:06 - 00:21:03:18
but you know, from a professional standpoint,
having that knowledge of,
00:21:03:18 - 00:21:08:09
you know, coming up against someone
who's that good that makes you feel
00:21:08:09 - 00:21:11:23
you are more prepared to take on, players
at international level.
00:21:11:23 - 00:21:13:02
I thought that was very interesting.
00:21:13:02 - 00:21:15:18
Yeah, well Mauricio Pochettino is his international
coach.
00:21:15:18 - 00:21:19:22
We're going to see if Kristoffer Lund
can make the American squad for the World Cup
00:21:19:22 - 00:21:23:10
they’re joint hosts
that set up in Sicily for him.
00:21:23:22 - 00:21:25:08
That training center. Outstanding.
00:21:25:08 - 00:21:27:14
It's state of the art guys you've seen,
00:21:27:14 - 00:21:29:20
We'll roll the video for you, Emmet.
What do you think?
00:21:29:20 - 00:21:31:03
Yeah. Look, very impressive.
00:21:31:03 - 00:21:32:19
Obviously. Palermo.
00:21:32:19 - 00:21:36:19
Now they’re part of the city group, and
there's there's investments made
00:21:36:19 - 00:21:37:20
Yeah, it looks,
00:21:37:20 - 00:21:41:15
you know, by Italian standards,
it's very modern, very impressive.
00:21:41:15 - 00:21:44:16
So yeah, obviously him, Lund, being in
00:21:44:16 - 00:21:48:09
that environment is going to improve him
as a player and obviously playing in Serie B
00:21:48:09 - 00:21:51:17
will make him progress
and hopefully he can forge his way
00:21:51:17 - 00:21:56:02
into the US men's national team
over the coming six months to a year.
00:21:56:07 - 00:21:59:08
Well Palermo back in the top
eight calculations, I think they're fifth
00:21:59:08 - 00:22:02:23
at the moment after that win,
they beat Juve Stabia in that six pointer
00:22:02:23 - 00:22:07:19
over the weekend and Lund playing his role,
he's started for Dionisi in that lineup
00:22:07:19 - 00:22:11:10
and you can watch the live games as we've
already said on Destination Calcio TV.
00:22:11:10 - 00:22:12:06
Get the app now.
00:22:12:06 - 00:22:15:17
Jordan Allan on X
says this is absolutely class.
00:22:15:17 - 00:22:18:19
I can finally watch Bari games
now, showing Bari this weekend
00:22:18:19 - 00:22:23:16
Sean on X, will games that are streamed be available
to watch on demand for a short period.
00:22:23:16 - 00:22:25:06
Indeed they will, my friend.
00:22:25:06 - 00:22:29:16
So make sure you keep getting on the app
and seeing the three games
00:22:29:16 - 00:22:32:01
that we show each week,
you can go back as well.
00:22:32:01 - 00:22:33:09
It's not just this week.
00:22:33:09 - 00:22:35:01
Plenty of games on there and moving on.
00:22:35:01 - 00:22:36:21
Let's talk about Sassuolo
00:22:36:21 - 00:22:40:10
because Dan's written a couple of articles
about them this season.
00:22:40:10 - 00:22:41:04
In fact, we all have.
00:22:41:04 - 00:22:43:14
But we do write those Serie B,
00:22:43:14 - 00:22:46:23
sort of look backs
and look forward to the next week.
00:22:46:23 - 00:22:51:19
We're showing Spezia against Sassuolo
this weekend, but first,
00:22:52:09 - 00:22:56:05
Dan, your thoughts on Fabio Grosso’s side.
00:22:56:05 - 00:22:57:07
How have they been going?
00:22:57:07 - 00:22:59:05
I mean not too bad.
00:22:59:05 - 00:23:01:20
Well not too bad is an understatement.
00:23:01:20 - 00:23:04:02
They started off slowly,
00:23:04:02 - 00:23:07:04
but when they hit their strides and they,
00:23:07:05 - 00:23:10:03
Yeah, I mean they’ve been,
00:23:10:03 - 00:23:12:21
an absolute,
they've steamrolled the competition.
00:23:12:21 - 00:23:14:17
I think it's fair to say
they're top of the league.
00:23:14:17 - 00:23:19:02
They are the top scoring in Serie
B, they average over two goals per game,
00:23:19:07 - 00:23:22:05
which in a league
where you know, as we all
00:23:22:05 - 00:23:25:05
know, goals can be at a premium at times.
00:23:26:01 - 00:23:28:20
You know,
it just shows you how good they are.
00:23:28:20 - 00:23:30:02
Grass has done this before.
00:23:30:02 - 00:23:30:20
Of course, you Know.
00:23:30:20 - 00:23:35:07
he took Frosinone up two seasons ago
and there are incredible similarities
00:23:35:07 - 00:23:38:19
because Frosinone went
top of the table ten games into the season,
00:23:39:07 - 00:23:41:07
and they never look back.
00:23:41:07 - 00:23:43:08
And I don't think Sassuolo will be looking back
either.
00:23:43:08 - 00:23:46:05
You know they've been top of the league.
They're already looking forward.
00:23:46:05 - 00:23:48:06
Yeah they've been top of the league since November.
00:23:48:06 - 00:23:49:23
They lost to Pisa on Boxing Day.
00:23:49:23 - 00:23:55:11
And Pisa are probably the only team
who could deny them top spot this season.
00:23:55:11 - 00:23:58:11
Well Emmet,
they've got the man, Domenico Berardi.
00:23:58:11 - 00:23:59:23
Which is part of the Calciatori magazine
00:23:59:23 - 00:24:02:15
that we picked up in Bergamo last weekend.
00:24:02:15 - 00:24:06:03
But, look, these kind of players
like Berardi here Thorstvedt
00:24:06:03 - 00:24:09:21
Mulattieri up forward, Laurienté,
I mean, that is a Serie A side.
00:24:09:21 - 00:24:10:21
Yes, indeed.
00:24:10:21 - 00:24:13:19
So Emmet, looking forward to this weekend?
00:24:13:19 - 00:24:15:02
Yeah. Spezia.
00:24:15:02 - 00:24:16:24
Yeah exactly. It's first against third.
00:24:16:24 - 00:24:19:13
You know I think it's it's a
must win game.
00:24:19:13 - 00:24:22:17
The similarities with the Atalanta, Napoli game
that we went to
00:24:23:02 - 00:24:28:01
last weekend. Spezia need a win to kind of
keep on the the coattails of Pisa
00:24:28:01 - 00:24:30:07
and Sassuolo at the top.
00:24:30:07 - 00:24:32:01
There’s ten points separating both teams.
00:24:32:01 - 00:24:34:22
But if Sassuolo win this,
you like to think
00:24:34:22 - 00:24:37:11
Spezia is going to find it
difficult to catch
00:24:37:11 - 00:24:38:14
certainly Sassuolo.
00:24:38:14 - 00:24:42:03
They're not far back from Pisa,
but yeah it'll be a cracking game.
00:24:43:17 - 00:24:46:23
Both teams like to attack
obviously Sassuolo scoring goals for fun.
00:24:46:23 - 00:24:50:16
You've got Berardi who's by far and away
probably the most talented player
00:24:50:16 - 00:24:54:12
in the league, should be in Serie
A playing for a team in the top ten,
00:24:54:12 - 00:24:57:03
but he stayed loyal to Sassuolo.
00:24:57:03 - 00:25:01:02
Well, for those of you new to Calcio, new
to Italian football Domenico Berardi yes,
00:25:01:02 - 00:25:02:17
he won the euros in 2020
00:25:02:17 - 00:25:06:12
with Italy under Roberto Mancini, but
he's coming back from a lengthy layoff,
00:25:06:19 - 00:25:10:05
so that's why a big part of Sassuolo
is doubtful as well.
00:25:10:14 - 00:25:11:17
with Berardi being injured
00:25:11:17 - 00:25:15:03
for a lot of last season
and now Fabio Grosso taking over.
00:25:15:20 - 00:25:19:08
We've now seen, Luca D’angelo
take over Spezia.
00:25:19:08 - 00:25:20:20
It's the best defense.
00:25:20:20 - 00:25:25:16
Spezia at home at the Alberto Picco, against Sassuolo
00:25:25:16 - 00:25:27:10
best attack, Dan.
00:25:27:10 - 00:25:28:12
How do you see this going?
00:25:28:12 - 00:25:31:17
I think Spezia could pull off a surprise
here, purely
00:25:31:17 - 00:25:37:01
because if there is one kind of team,
Sassuolo strulle against, a team that
00:25:37:01 - 00:25:40:11
don't just sit back but sit back
with an actual plan,
00:25:40:11 - 00:25:43:20
that Spezia have been doing, they’ve been so good they defend,
00:25:43:20 - 00:25:46:04
they are really difficult to break down.
00:25:46:04 - 00:25:48:09
But they are not just happy with sitting back.
00:25:48:09 - 00:25:49:17
They want to hit you on the counter.
00:25:49:17 - 00:25:52:12
They want to do, sort of damage.
00:25:52:12 - 00:25:55:00
And if you go back to the game
on Boxing Day against Pisa
00:25:55:00 - 00:25:57:11
I think that's what
one piece of the game
00:25:57:11 - 00:26:01:05
Pisa didn't just set out to like draw
or close Sassuolo down.
00:26:01:05 - 00:26:03:00
They were like, okay,
we are not going to let you score,
00:26:03:00 - 00:26:04:20
but we're going to beat you
on the counter.
00:26:04:20 - 00:26:07:11
We're going to like try
and put you on the back foot,
00:26:07:11 - 00:26:09:06
and no team has really been able to do it.
00:26:09:06 - 00:26:11:23
to Sassuolo this season
And Pisa were at home that game as well.
00:26:11:23 - 00:26:12:18
Sassuolo on the road
00:26:12:18 - 00:26:16:02
I mean no team has done that this season
largely because how good Sassuolo are.
00:26:16:02 - 00:26:16:21
As you said,
00:26:16:21 - 00:26:21:08
they are effectively a serie A side playing
in Serie B. pumped five against Südtirol
00:26:21:12 - 00:26:25:11
and look, even if you sit back,
there's always a player like Josh Doig
00:26:25:11 - 00:26:26:13
that's going to get you from
00:26:26:13 - 00:26:30:14
outside the box and thunderbolt
you into the top left corner
00:26:30:14 - 00:26:31:15
like he did on the weekend.
00:26:31:15 - 00:26:34:07
There is,
and I think that Spezia would be
00:26:34:07 - 00:26:37:05
sort of encouraged
by the fact that Südtirol scored three goals
00:26:37:05 - 00:26:40:05
against Sassuolo because Sassuolo
have also been really good defensively
00:26:40:06 - 00:26:43:11
and conceding three goals at home to a side like Südtirol
00:26:43:11 - 00:26:47:07
With all due respect, they've not exactly
been scoring goals for fun this season.
00:26:48:07 - 00:26:49:16
You know you would like to think that
00:26:49:16 - 00:26:51:18
Spezia will sort of draw some inspiration
from that.
00:26:51:18 - 00:26:53:17
A bit of encouragement if nothing else.
00:26:53:17 - 00:26:56:10
Also Südtirol took the lead, so. They did.
00:26:56:10 - 00:26:58:02
I mean, they’ll be gutted,
00:26:58:02 - 00:27:00:13
because if you go away
to the top team, top of the league,
00:27:00:13 - 00:27:03:13
and you scored three times
and you come away with nothing,
00:27:03:17 - 00:27:04:17
that was a crazy game.
00:27:04:17 - 00:27:07:04
It was 2-1 at half time to Südtirol.
00:27:07:04 - 00:27:08:14
Yeah. And end up 5-3.
00:27:08:14 - 00:27:10:21
So there was a rain of goals
in the second half.
00:27:10:21 - 00:27:12:10
What do they say?
“Pioggia di goals” (It’s Raining Goals)
00:27:12:10 - 00:27:14:05
“Partita pazzesca” (A bonkers match)
00:27:14:05 - 00:27:16:08
obviously Josh Doig’s
goal was the pick of the bunch.
00:27:16:08 - 00:27:17:01
Thunderbolt.
00:27:17:01 - 00:27:21:12
Yeah. Outside of the left foot
top corner from 25 yards.
00:27:21:12 - 00:27:23:19
And that's the thing
with Sassuolo it’s not that
00:27:23:19 - 00:27:26:14
you know, you always say, oh, you don't
know where the goals are going to come from.
00:27:26:14 - 00:27:30:18
Well, you, you don't in Sassuolo’s case
because they have so many players
00:27:30:19 - 00:27:32:01
who can score and literally
00:27:32:01 - 00:27:35:13
like they have four of the top
15 scorers in the league.
00:27:36:17 - 00:27:39:13
Berardi hasn’t even been scoring goals for fun.
00:27:39:13 - 00:27:41:07
He’s got four?
00:27:41:07 - 00:27:45:24
But like you know he leads like
he has to use a very modern football term.
00:27:45:24 - 00:27:49:11
Goal involvements I believe that's
what they're called these days,
00:27:49:11 - 00:27:51:19
and you know
he just sets them up for his team mate.
00:27:51:19 - 00:27:57:06
you know, you can close two down,
but you got someone else popping up.
00:27:58:11 - 00:27:59:13
It's just hard.
00:27:59:13 - 00:28:02:13
It's impossible
for other teams to to stop them, I think.
00:28:02:15 - 00:28:04:14
Spezia hosting Sassuolo Friday night.
00:28:04:14 - 00:28:08:20
Saturday's game that we're showing
is Mantova hosting Sampdoria,
00:28:08:20 - 00:28:13:03
one of the biggest teams former greats
Roberto Mancini, Gianluca Vialli days.
00:28:13:03 - 00:28:16:18
The Sampdoriani, they’re in desperate need of a win there boys
00:28:16:18 - 00:28:17:15
Montova, though,
00:28:17:15 - 00:28:22:17
could extend their gap over Sampdoria
and affirm their place in the mid-table.
00:28:22:17 - 00:28:25:24
And then Sunday Cremonese,
who are just teetering on the brink
00:28:25:24 - 00:28:28:24
of the top four, hosting Modena.
00:28:29:07 - 00:28:33:13
And that's it this week for me,
David Ferrini, Emmet Gates and Dan Cancian.
00:28:33:13 - 00:28:35:11
Thank you for your attendance.
00:28:35:11 - 00:28:39:04
You can contact us on our individual
X profiles.
00:28:39:09 - 00:28:44:01
I am @davidferrini_, Emmett?
I am @emmetgates
00:28:44:24 - 00:28:49:11
Dan? and I am @dan_cancian
and of course there's
00:28:49:11 - 00:28:53:04
a Destination Calcio page
@dstncalcio for everything Italian
00:28:53:04 - 00:28:54:09
football and culture.
00:28:55:09 - 00:28:58:09
Serie B is coming your way this week.
00:28:58:20 - 00:29:00:11
Have a look at our YouTube
channels as well.
00:29:00:11 - 00:29:01:24
Got plenty of good content on there.
00:29:01:24 - 00:29:04:14
We do those destinations
with everything you need to know.
00:29:04:14 - 00:29:08:03
Just put up the Bergamo video from the weekend
00:29:08:03 - 00:29:11:09
so you can see Emmet stuffing his face
with pizza.
00:29:11:09 - 00:29:13:05
Bit of rock, paper, scissors between the boys
00:29:13:05 - 00:29:17:01
and of course, the fans at the Gewiss
Stadium.
00:29:17:01 - 00:29:20:06
Immaculate, Immaculate town,
the Citta Alta the Citta Bassa.
00:29:21:01 - 00:29:24:22
Join us every Thursday
on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
00:29:24:22 - 00:29:28:00
And remember,
the destination is always Calcio.
