Roy Hodgson's Reality Check, Matt Dickinson and Serie A

We range far and wide this week. Roy Hodgson joins us to dissect the task facing him at Craven Cottage: keeping Fulham up, a tall order by any measure.
Matt Dickinson is on board to deal with the two biggies of the week in our Premier League Review: the Messiah's return to St. James' Park and the brewing storm clouds over Liverpool's owners.
We take a look at events in Serie A this season with Mark Chapman host of Five's Football Italiano. And, to the delight of his legions of adoring fans, Bill Edgar returns triumphantly to the show.

Hodgson reveals that he was given no time to think about whether to take the Fulham job or not, so he did the Carpe Diem thing. He reflects on the enormity of the task ahead and the need of changing "some of the physical profiles" of the team. Which, I guess, means brining a whole raft of new faces.
Skepticism is rampant outside the Toon at the appointment of Kevin Keegan. And Guillem and Matt are no different. Matt questions how many Premier League managers would be better bets than Keegan right now. Guillem reveals that they actually made approaches to half a dozen potential bosses. I'm a bit hesitant to knock Mike Ashley just yet... the guy is a self-made billionaire so he gets the benefit of the doubt in my book.

Tom Hicks and George Gillett are not exactly flavour of the month on Merseyside. They get no love from Dicko or Guillem (or me for that matter). Unlike Guillem, I'm not sold on the Dubai folks either (somehow I'm in a minority here, but the idea of a fund owned by a bunch of unelected blue-bloods in a country with a questionable human rights record doesn't exactly float my boat). But I'm also very concerned about the ease with which the pair were able to just borrow a whole load of money to buy a club. It's time for the Premier League to tighten up its standards when it comes to the purchase of clubs. Guillem, on the other hand is riding the Dubai bandwagon.

In our Serie A round-up, Guillem reveals his profound love for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and asks if he's the best player in the world. I'm not convinced, not yet anyway. Mark says "he pushes Owen Hargreaves close", but he's just joking (I hope). We also praise Pasquale Marino, the Udinese manager, for being one of the biggest innovators in the game today.

Bill is back, of course, and we have Quick Hits (with less annoying sound effects this time around). So join the debate below and let us know what you think (about the sound effects or anything else you want to natter about).

To listen to the podcast, click here.

Comments

[Football Credit Card]

If ferguson retired, it would end in tears. But the big question is who would replace him? I think replacing him would be the hardest job in the world. Any manager stepping in would also be either brave or stupid. I think Carlos Quirez would be the best man.

[James Flynn]

Giles

What has Wenger won since Benitez came to england? An FA Cup and a League Cup compared to a FA Cup and Champions League for Benitez. Arsenal have finished in 4th place the last two seasons. Mabey Wenger should start spendin some more money on proven talent unlike the 12 million spent/wasted on walcott.

[Asher Gilani]

Pele and Suazo don't play that often and Samuel is 29 and none of the others are younger than 26. I think that the problem with Inter is that they don't have enough match winning players. Infact maybe just the one in Ibrahimovic. They do however have a very competent bunch of seasoned professionals who are good enough to win a pretty weak league. Maybe its the hype but I just don't think they have the caliber of players as Man Utd, Barcelona or Real Madrid.

As for Liverpool I think that the owners are completely out of their depth. Looking at who runs the other 3 in the big 4 it is easy to see why they have been successful and Liverpool don't seem to be on the right path. The Arsenal board gave Wenger time and trusted him enough to implement his philosophies which had been proven already and again seem to be working. Man Utd's owners knew that they were out of their depth and hence completely put their complete faith in the manager and gave him enough financial backing and now they are reaping the rewards. Abramovich on the other hand took full control and it is completely justifiable given the amount of money he's put in. Hicks and Gillette seem to want the same type of authority as Abramovic but they don't realize that they need to put in millions and millions which they haven't even come close to doing. They also don't recognize that they don't have a clue about football which is why conflicts have arisen. Not only does Rafa have way better managerial credentials than Klinsman, he has been to as many champions league finals as Wenger, Ferguson and Mourinho(at Chelsea) in his 3 years at Liverpool. The owners have a gem of a manager on their hands and they seem to be completely ignorant.

Also Guillem could you help me understand what on earth has been going on at Valencia this season. I think they've been one of the best things to happen to European football this decade, not only dethroning Barca and Real but also reaching 2 champions league finals, giving real hope to other not so big teams. They have a very talented squad but made some awful signings in the summer. Helguera, Zigic (12 million) , Fernandes (11 million). I'm delighted with them having signed Banega but does Koeman actually know what he's doing? I know managers should be given time but his results have been pretty dismal. Is it time for Rafa to return?

[guillem balague]

Stuart, about United, what I am trying to say is that, as sir Alex himself admits, it is a strong defence what has allowed them to be where they are now. They are defending much better. Last year they were scoring plenty of goals, but conceding many more too. And about Arsenal, their football is based around the ball, defending and attacking with posession. But as Alfredo di Stefano used to say, you need 5 years in university to build a house, but a hammer to bring it down -it is much easier to defend than to attack. Good offensive football doesn't always come off but the fact they are constantly trying makes them a joy to watch.

[Gabriele Marcotti]

1. Sam - I agree with you, it's the journey, not the outcome. And mangerial careers don't necessarily have to end in tears. If Sir Alex retired at the end of the season, would you say it ended in tears?
2. Asher - It might surprise you, but I actually don't disagree. The days of the seven sisters are indeed long gone (and in fact, have been gone for four or five years now). One would have to be a real mug to argue that Serie A is qualitatively where it was ten years ago. But, to me, that doesn't make it any less worthwhile. Sometimes, the more interesting things football-wise happen outside the limelight (think of Mourinho's Porto a few years ago, or Werder Bremen or indeed Hiddin's PSV).
Inter are definitely a team built to win here and now, it's cerainly not a young side. As for your statement of world class players operating at their peak I guess you also need to look at what you consider a players' peak and who you consider to be world class. Esteban Cambiasso is 26 and Dejan Stankovic 28, are they world class? It depends where you set the bar. And how much does it matter if a guy is past his peak? Giggs is 34, Gallas is 30, they still seem pretty darn good to me.
As for Mancini's record in the Champions' League at Inter, I think you're way off the mark:
2004-05 - undefeated until the quarterfinal against Milan (lost first leg 2-0, second leg abandoned after flares hit Dida)
2005-06 - Lost just once en route to the quarterfinals. Dominated Villarreal, but went out on away goals rule
2006-07 - Went out in second round to Valencia on away goals rule, after dominating tie.
It's not great, but it's not terrible.

[Martin]

Regarding Inter I would certainly agree that they have one of the better squads in Europe at the moment. I think that maybe their still lacking a couple of top names at the back to have the best squad and to be able to win the Champions league.

On the Ibrahimovic debate I would tend to agree with Gab that he is not yet the best in the world. So far in his career he seems to step down rather than up to the big occasions. Meeting the big teams he seems to be content to put in a decent performance and leave it up to the everyone else to win the game. He certainly has the potential though so if he fixes this deficiency he will be top dog in my book.

[Stuart]

Guillem, you refer to Arsenal only being able to play attractive football, so I can only assume you missed their mugging of Everton recently. I also think it's curious that you characterise Man Utd's game as being built around their defence. Agreed they have an effective back four but they're blatently an attacking team.

[guillem balague]

Will, I think Sissoko never fully recovered from his eye injury. Not sure if it was down to a lower confidence or something else, but after it he never felt respected by players and managers, and his performances were poor. Juve is taking a big risk signing him but in the Ranieri system he will be more protected defensively and his deficiencies will be less noticed

Chris, the mystery continues. I do think that the average height of players has grown (no stats to back this up, just the general idea that managers prefer huge tall defenders to others), but I am convinced that the set pieces are worked with more detail in training and as a consequence the defending is always behind new forms of attacking them.

Asher, under 30 year olds at Inter: Julio Cesar, Chivu, Burdisso, Maicon, Samuel, Cambiasso, Maxwell, Pele, Ibra, Suazo. Over 30: Toldo, Cordoba, Materazzi, Zanetti, Maniche, Vieira, Stankovic, Figo, Julio Cruz, Crespo. Doesn't that sound like the most complete and balanced squad in Europe?

Sam, that interview you mention was done by a friend of Torres and a fanatical Atletico Madrid fan who sounded hurt by his departure. I felt Torres dealt with the accusations well but I must say the aggressive style of the journalist is not usual in Spain.

Giles, Benitez has had this summer a net spending of £19 milion. Check and you will realize that is similar to Aston Villa, Spurs or Manchester City. Not Chelsea or Manchester United. And Arsene Wenger has had a long time to make his philosophy succeed. You cannot expect someone with three years and a half at the job to be compared in terms of youth development.

[Will H]

I disagree with the popular sentiments about Mohamed Sissoko. While he certainly has technical deficiencies he’s still very young and has proven himself more than useful in big games for Liverpool. Against Barcelona in the Champions League he was dominant at 22. He’s in rare company there.

His eye injury and the arrival of the superior Mascherano have made life difficult for him, but he’s still a capable and promising player that could prove very effective in Serie A. He’s shown poor form this season, particularly his passing, but he’s had little chance to turn it around. Surely he could fit into a side looking for defence in midfield? His position is not a priority for Juve, but they could use help in many, many departments and they are always going to pay more for players than most other teams.

As far as the number of goals scored in the Prem this season my impression has been that there are more fouls resulting in attacking free kick than in recent season before, combined with what seems to be consistently good set pieces from most teams in the league. Paging Mr. Edgar…

Looking forward to Udinese, please more Euro Game podcasts….

[Chris]

Guillem other than just random statistical coincidence, i've also been thinking that the average height of centre halves and fullbacks has been going down.

In the high scoring games this season, santa cruz, marcus bent, martin laursen, adebayor and ronaldo have all been prolific and scored with a number of headers.
Ok Martin O'Neill might not feel this philosophy but Ridgewell, Toure, Evra, and Micah Richards are prominent defenders who will get shirked by the Berbatov's and Kitson's.

But to be honest i still think its just a freak and nothing to do with the lack of tactical training that can't possibly be squeezed into the packed and exhaustative schedules of Premiership players. Michael Essien needs to sleep sometime.

And the quick hits skit, there was nothing wrong with it about 10 weeks ago when it was just a little quiet bleep between pieces.

[Asher Gilani]

Although it was interesting to hear about Serie A, I have to disagree with Guillem's notion that Inter Milan have the best squad in Europe.

The vast majority of their players are above 30 and beyond their prime. The only real world class players they have who are operating at their peak are Ibrahimovic and Chivu. Though its hard to argue against Mancini, Inter's Champions League record has been pretty poor and their Serie A streak has only come after an increasingly declining league was further hit by the match fixing scandal.

Gab is sure to disagree but it seems to me that the days of the seven sisters are long gone.

[Richard, Nottingham]

Gab/Guillem, interesting piece about serie 'A', Inter, and Udinese. It's about time we had another Euro-Game podcast to discuss *all* of the continental leagues. Please.

And to answer Guillem's question the EPL is suffering from a dearth of quality defenders. Everybody wants to score and nobody can be arsed to track back anymore.

[sam]

Tell the bearded one (not Rafa) it's not just the Spanish who care about attractive football.

And Matt Dickinson re KK that all football manager's careers (like politician's careers and life itself) end in tears. It's the journey to this inevitable end that's important.

Did guillem or anyone else read that interview with torres in publico (I'd post a link but don't think they allow it)? I've never seen an interviewer be so harsh (or harsh at all) with a footballer here. Is that critical style more common abroad? Certainly made a change from the groupie with a mic approach we get in England.

[Giles]

i know the pod always has its weekly tribute to liverpool, but why does guillem always find the excuse for benitez about how much money benitez has had. If you take into account benitez's ins and out since hes been here his spending dwarfs wenger's and hes been here half the time. Maybe its benitez buys rather than how much money hes had which is the problem.