(upbeat music) - What's up everyone? Welcome back to across the Roman verse, episode 178. This one's gonna be mostly a listener question generated episode, but before we get into that, Jim, got a couple quick updates about what's been going on since the last time we recorded last Monday, including a big signing becoming official. - Yeah, I mean, it's been really great to see. I mean, as we started our episode yesterday, last week talking all about how there'd been no news in the Roman universe for seemingly a month and a half, and then everything was coming kind of fast and furious over the course of seven days. Now, it's definitely not been as fast of a seven days as we had leading up to our last podcast. However, there has been some pretty big news. I would say that the most major of it was the signing officially of our 10 Dovik. He was given the number 11 kit that Andrea Balotti relinquished when he went on loan, and that eventually moved to Como. So that's obviously huge. Dovik was one of the biggest signings on record for Roma as a club, and it's the first time that Roma has actually bought a reigning league, like top flight leagues, top score. I mean, that was kind of just raising my eyebrows moment there for me, Steve. I don't know if that was for you, 'cause I was thinking about some of the incredible strikers that Roma has had over the past several decades, including Badis Duta, who were not Kebokanoneeeraing or top, I guess they just weren't, it wasn't that year. So the fact that Roma was able to bring in a guy, like that's pretty cool. Beyond that, I mean, there's been continued rumors about various players coming and going. With Sulei signed, it seems like Roma's still looking for a left winger, who might fill in that role in like a four, two, three, one. Interestingly, Federico Chiesa seems to be an option again for Roma, we thought that trail was pretty dead. In fact, that was really the only rumors that we were seeing for what felt like the first month of silly season for Roma. I was like, oh, Roma might buy Chiesa, and nothing seemed to come of it. Roma went for Sulei instead. But now we're seeing, you know, there might just not be too many buyers at all. So Chiesa might be coming back around to the idea of playing non-Champions League football. - Not only at the price tag now, Jim is rumored to be about 15 million, right, from about 25, I think. - Yeah, I mean, I've got personally wonder if, you know, as much as I like having the Italians around on the squad, I do think that there's a bit of a decline going on in terms of valuation of Italian players outside of our former academy grad, Calofiori, 'cause I remember when we were in the middle of the Euros, everyone was saying, oh, Bela Nova, in Torino, he's gonna be like a 30 million, 35 million Euro player. And then, you know, Italy really underperformed at the Euros, and I think that's had a kind of a chilling factor on valuations for Italian players, which could be for the best for Roma, because honestly, you know, international tournaments are just such a brief moment in time. That's very hard to actually get a good sense of who the best players in a league are, just off of how well their national team is playing. But beyond that, there do seem to be a couple other into moves going on towards, you know, signing players. I'm gonna mess up his last name because he's Belgian, and I don't know if it's how to pronounce it, it's German or French, but our third hit, that would be my assumption of how to pronounce that. He plays for, he plays in France right now, and he plays, yeah, so he was in Bologna in 21, 22, and now he is at Renton. His valuation had reported later on 20 million, he would be brought in as a bit of a center-back, a center-back depth, could be an interesting move there. There's definitely a need for more depth there. I mean, I personally think that Mancini and then Dick are a great duo, but beyond that, there's a lot of question works for Unswalling and Cumbola, you know, seems permanently on the way out here or somewhere or other. So that looks like one potential move, and then the departure of TMA Birmingham has been, you know, a pretty big story in the news over the past week or so. There's nothing confirmed yet, and this has been a story for quite some time. Honestly, I wrote about it in CVT, what feels like two or three times now, the idea of him leaving. Roma has been in conversation with Milan reportedly about Milan signing him with the ACL tear of Gianluca Scamaca in a friendly, I mean, get while soon Gianluca, but that means that they're also looking for another striker. So it seems like there might actually be a bit of a market for him now. Roma's looking for a price tag there of around 25 million euros, at least, to make sure that this balances out on the financial fair play side of things, or if there's no, you know, I guess, minus Valenza going on there. And if that happens, there are some rumors about players that Roma could bring in. You know, Kiis is obviously one of them, but there's a player from Club Rouge in Belgium called Antonio Anusa, the youngest Norwegian to ever score in the Champions League. He's got a fee of around 18 million euros reportedly. So that seems like in line with what Roma could pay for that type of player right now. And the idea would be that he might be a deputy to El Charrawi for his first season or so, kind of similar to a role that we might expect to see, you know, Matias Sule, or Tomaso Baldonzi also be playing in the tag, getting a lot of minutes, but not necessarily being started. So that's along in the short of what we've been seeing over the past week. There have been some other transfer rumor updates as well. You know, Steve, you wrote the summary article last Friday about Testament in a place for the Americans. You could speak a little bit more about Testament and Kubil as options for Roma moving forward. - Yeah, I just thought Testament brought up last week toward the end of the week, not much since then that I've seen. He would be one of those, you know, kind of fit in with the project. So would Kubil in the sense that it's younger player, feel like there's some high upside, early 20s, in terms of Testament, I think he'd be a depth midfielder to start out and then can they be grown to a bigger role if, you know, the move works out. Kubil, the latest reports are still saying he is the preferred player for the right back role, you know, with Belanova also being suggested. This is the young player he's playing in the Olympics right now with Spain's under 23 side. Every report you see says, "Derocy wants him, Derocy wants him." How much of that is true? We don't know, but the name keeps circling around. So maybe it's just one of those things that needs to wait for him to get back from the Olympics. And I think if Zechi fell like sticks around, you can go with a younger player like that, right? And having kind of grown into that role as well, like you mentioned, you know, a doll looks like that type of player, right? And some others. So maybe that's the route that goes to Kubil, you know, looking at probably 18 to 20 million euros there. So probably about the same price tag as you're gonna pay for a Belanova at this point. You know, Belanova's apparently, you know, Torino's looking for about 25, which I don't think Rome's gonna go to 25. Talked about potentially using a make-weight in a deal for him. Could be a Zaleski, could be a Bovet. We'll see if that happens. I know Bovet keeps getting linked to Fioretina. According to reports, Roma has set their price tag. How much of that is true? I don't know if Rome would really advertise their price tag as 15 million euros or whatever it is for Bovet. I still hope Bovet sticks around. I know you're kind of in the same boat there. Young, you know, Roman, born and bred. And he's already in the first team. And, you know, I know he wants a more playing time. I think the opportunity will be there under Dorosi this season, you know, as Dorosi feels out his whole squad. But we'll see, you know, you mentioned Kiesa. I know that apparently there's some interest from Turin from Ube for El Shurari. I don't know if that would be true that they do an exchange deal for Kiesa. I wouldn't want to see El Shurari go. I love El Shurari on this side. Gives you a great spark, I think. But in the longer term, if Kiesa turns out to be all right, it might be more beneficial in the long term. We'll see. We'll see if any of that comes to play. But yeah, a lot of still going on in the Mercato, which is where a lot of our listener questions have come from. We're gonna build this mostly around listener questions, Jim. We got some on Twitter, few on the message boards. What do you think about Kiesa? Let's start there because don't buy Bluff on the message. Actually, Twitter, he sent us this one. He said, "Thoughts on Kiesa, prights with slash half, "seemingly, few taker, similar to DiBala. "However, he doesn't sound like he wanted us initially. "Would you still take him despite that? "Does him spurning us initially give you any hesitation there?" - I've got a couple opinions there. I think they can be sewn together to form something coherent. But I don't necessarily think that this is true, but there is a part of me when it comes to players like Kiesa who I don't think anyone will deny that he's a fantastic player. But he has not necessarily played up to standard in part due to injury over the last couple of years. - I don't necessarily want to be like in a situation where Roma is the club for the Juventus rejects. And I love DiBala, don't get me wrong. I think that he's probably the most talented player Roma has had since Francesco Toti. I don't think it's particularly close even. I guess you could make on an argument from Osala. That's probably the other guy, but their talents are different. It's just, I think in terms of replicating what Toti brings to the pitch, I think that DiBala stands alone. I don't necessarily know if I won another injury prone player in the stuff like that, who would be so critical. I like DiBala a lot, but he is injury prone and having two of your best players, and Kiesa would be one of our best players if he came here. DiB so injury prone really sets you up for trouble once the spring comes around and you're trying to grind out results to get top four. That being said, I don't really hold anything against him for not signing with us immediately. Start at the beginning of the Mercado. Roma does not have Champions League football. Just period. - Yeah, I don't have to do with it, I think, yeah. - Yeah, I think that Roma's clearly an attractive project despite only having your real elite football. Like, I don't think we would have signed Dovbik, Sule and Leveg. If this was an unattractive project, those three players were either very hot commodities or had been hot commodities in the recent past. So it's not like we're slumming it when it comes to who we're signing. I think that just Kiesa at the point of his career where he wants to be able to consistently start for a Champions League side, and I kind of get why he would give us a bit of a eye roll at first and hope to go to the Premier League at the very least. Given that, you know, I'm kind of neutral on the whole. When it comes to Kiesa, I can see the positives there as a transfer, especially if it is a cheaper transfer than what people were floating as a valuation at the beginning of the summer. However, I do think that there's risk there. And I think that something that I've really liked about the signings that we've made so far in the summer is that as opposed to previous years where it's often felt like we've signed players who are fantastic, but there's like a butt attached to it. Like, I don't really feel that way about Dovik, Sule or Leveg. Like, they all have different levels of potential. They all have different levels of ability. But I feel like we're getting a lot closer to the finished article with fewer asterisks attached. We're getting a guy with a little bit of that asterisk, right? Exactly. And so like, I'd like to avoid signing more players like that in all honesty. But at the same time, I wouldn't be opposed to him being signed. I think that he could be a great move. I think he's a great player. I just have enough hesitation that it's not like a slam dunk transfer for me. I don't know how you feel, but that's kind of where I'm. Like, I would give it a thumbs up if it happened, but I wouldn't necessarily be like, "Oh man, this is the best move ever." I'd probably still be more excited about the Dovik and Sule moves in a long-term sense than I would be about the key to move personally. Yeah, I think that's a pretty good way to put it because the injuries have certainly taken away some of his explosiveness. He's not the same player that he was. When he was on Fiorentina and first got to Ube where, you know, his first season at Ube before the Euros, before the injury, eight goals, eight assists in his first season in 2,200 minutes, right? You know, Fiorentina before he made the move is a 21-year-old, 10 goals, six assists. He had some big seasons. This year though, Jim, you're bound back pretty nicely. 2,200 minutes, nine goals to assist. He meant the second best goals scoring season he's had as a professional. So I don't know if, you know, it's one of those things with Ube here where it's like, we know we're not going to keep him around in the long term, so we got to get something for him because maybe Moza has other priorities. But 2,200 minutes is a pretty solid number. If he's rotating with El Shurari or someone else at the left wing position, I agree it would come with risk, which is why I feel a lot more comfortable at the 15 million-year-old price tag that we're talking about now than they were at 25 or so early on. When I felt that was kind of like highway robbery given his injury history and the fact he's on an expiring contract. So I would agree, I would thumbs up it. I wouldn't be as excited as like when he was leaving for Argentina, if I'm then kind of thing. But I do think there's some potential there. And I think it'll be a very motivated player. - I agree. - He comes in because he's gonna be like Ube really like, apparently I saw in our message boards today, someone commented that his jersey is no longer even available on the Ube site anymore, which pretty much means the writing from the law, he'll be gone, right? They didn't take him anywhere. - Yeah, as a side note, I think at any role Manisti would be lying, the role Manisti would be lying if they were like, oh, I wouldn't swap. You've been since the last decade of success with Romus. - Right. - Let's do like, of course. - Yeah. - But at the same time, especially in the last several years, it really feels like they've been grasping around trying to figure out what to do. Like I, this is the necessarily related to the question. It's more like, they have consistently signed some of the most exciting names in European football. And it hasn't really, they haven't been able to, you know, break the duck of getting champion, that champion's league win. And some of you have been even gotten to see it all. So like-- - Four seasons since they last won the Spudetto, I think, yeah. - Yeah. So it's just wild to me because like if you, if you just lifted out all these different players that they've signed over the past five years, I would not expect them to be kind of in that rebuilding phase, which I genuinely feel that they've earned. - Yeah. And I'm of the same vein until to wrap up the question. I would not hold against him the fact that he wasn't ready to sign during the Euros. I think he had to explore his options and he's never right to, right? So I wouldn't hold that against him if Roman has the opportunity to get him at a cut rate. And that's how I feel about it. So, Angela Zara, listener on Twitter asked, "Do you think Roman's been putting too much emphasis "on attacking players this transfer window "and not enough in the back line?" 'Cause my first reaction is to say, "Should they dovick even a little phase, "more of an attack minded midfielder "from what we've read about them, right? "Some of them can help facilitate the attack." What do you think about that? - Well, I mean, we've got who was thing already, right? For said, "Oh, I'm just kidding. "I'm more seriously." I think that despite the question where it's around the backup center backs, Roma's defenses in general. And like the full backs are a separate issue. I will concede that. I think that there should be more movement on the whole back front. Roma's center back in goalkeeper situations seems pretty darn set. And people have critiques of Roma's midfield, but I don't think we needed an overall of the midfield. - Yeah. - By contrast, Roma's basically slopping out pretty much every boat, like striker that they had. This summer, most likely. Because Abraham looks like he's on the way out. Lukaku went back to Chelsea after being on loan here. As Moon's gone, Belothi's gone. There was a need to sign, and not only signed strikers, but signed at least one state and striker. And Roma did that. My guess is that once Abraham is sold, it will, regardless of what happens with Gies, I'm sure that they'll use some of that money to bring in like a reliable backup. Because you need to have two strikers. - Yeah. - With significant senior team experience, if you're trying to do half decently in the league and in Europe. I think it was the right move to be going for more of these attacking players. Part of me does wonder, I'm excited about the Sula transfer for sure. Part of me does wonder where Tumasa Baldonzi fits into all of this, simply because, especially if he is a sign, quite frankly, because at that point, you ironically then start having a problem where it's like, hmm, where does this pull it? How does this player that we know is one of the most exciting Italian prospects out there right now, breakthrough. Because he needs to break through because he's not Kiazaa yet, but he could be a Kiazaa, effectively, is what I think the Sulaa marks should be. - One of those things where 4-2-3-1, if you bring in Kiazaa, you've already brought in Sula, you have the Baldonzi, and then you might sell Velsherari on the books. And it almost feels like a 4-2-3-1 fits better than a 4-3-3 because you could play Baldonzi, and he follows the central attacking players, then you play Sulaa out wide-right, Kiazaa out wide-left, or Sulaaari wide-left, or whoever it may be. - And then you have to wonder what happened with the double pivot, because I think Parades and Christante are generally thought of as the two that fit well and that doesn't fit. - Where does the Greenie fit that? - And you see Lefe as the rotational player in that mix. Like I see him as kind of like the Supersub for either of them. And then I just wonder where Pellegrini goes. - Yeah. - And I've seen some people flaunting him on the left wing and to a certain extent, that makes sense. It's similar to how he played Saswolo more than anything. But bringing in Kiazaa does complicate things for Pellegrini, and I know there's a portion of the fan base, it's like good. We don't want Pellegrini on the pitch. I'm sorry, taking a moment away from work question here just to say, people who have been crafting on Pellegrini and Christante for the past several months need to take a massive chill pill. They are both excellent players. I feel like I've said this many times. The problem with Roma's lack of depth is that excellent players are running to the ground and then people look at the poor form that results from being tired and equate that with lack of ability. And in both Pellegrini and Christante's case, they've been consistently the most available players that we have, as well as some of the most talented players that we have. But the problem is that that results in vital late spring, neither of them really having any juice anymore. And then people complaining, oh man, they were so terrible at the end of the season when in reality it's like, well yeah, they were terrible, they were playing three nashes a week, 90 minutes, running to the ground. They were absolutely run to the ground. So I mean, that is one argument for the idea that even with the double pivot Roma, I feel to succeed, you know. Some days maybe have Pellegrini play more in a deep line role. I think he could probably do that. Have it be more of a Christante Pellegrini double pivot instead of a parade ace one. And you know, on some level, it seems like Roma's gonna have to be planning for a future without parade ace moving forward 'cause I would assume you've seen these rumors as well, Steve, that this is probably gonna be his last season in Europe. So as much as seems a great to have and a very talented player. Sounds like he wants to be in his like 30s in Argentina and I don't blame him, it's where he's from. And he's got a family now and all those different complicating factors. He's made plenty of money playing for all the different clubs that he's played for. But yeah, I don't know. I think that attack was the right place to invest in. The only thing that has me mildly confused is where Tomaso Baldonzi fits into all of this, especially if the key is a signing goes through. But even then, it's like, we needed the sign. There was the Romelu Lukaku-shaped hole in Roma's frontline and it needed to be filled and it became quite clear towards the end of the season and through the summer that Tammy Abraham was not going to be that guy. I mean, if you look at what AC Milan probably plans on doing with him, they probably see him as more of a rotational player as well. And if you look at what Adelanta would want, they want a guy who can fill in the gaps whilst Kamaka's gone for the season effectively. I don't think they see him as like, this is the future of our project. And so I don't think Roma should be viewing him in that way either. - Yeah, I agree. I think we had to strengthen the attack first, right? 'Cause Romelu really had the deficiency putting the ball in the back of that at times. And I think with Dharosi, they're gonna want a more fluid attack. Guys who can interchange, do all those things. I think the attack is much more needed. You know, our defense has been good the past few seasons. I know part of that is Mourinho's tactics. But Roma can defend. Manchinia and Indica are locked in as starters. Angeleno was officially, you know, made permanent at the beginning of this Mercado. He's gonna be locked in as a left-back starter. And you know, you can get by with Cilique if they end up bringing in Hubeil or a younger player like that at right back. It ends up being Bell Nove. I think Bell Nove is a starter. Interesting. Someone asked if we think he can fit as our right back in a back four because trying to see if I can quickly find the question. But, you know, he didn't really fit with the Italy set up very much. He never saw the field during the Euros. And Mercado Cuz he plays it back three in Torino as the right wing back. So does he fit? It was the question. I just can't find it off the top. I remember seeing it earlier. Oh, here it is from Flemfsis. Why is Bell Nove just another Bruno Pérez for our foreman defense? And he put a smile at this at the end, kind of throwing a dig back at, you know, the Bruno Pérez signing because he's an ex Torino player, played a similar role. I mean, I have higher hopes for Bell Nove than that. But, you know, I think we had pretty high hopes for Bruno Pérez doing his signs. So those blistering runs he made. I remember that one against Juventus when he was wearing the good enough to shirt, but that I digress there. But I do agree. I think the defense had to be, you know, kind of take second fiddle to the attack, especially because if we're looking to sign a center back, it's our third choice center back, most likely. And if we're looking, we're obviously looking for a right back, I think that's important. But I do think the attack needs to be rejigged first. I really do. And that brings us to a question from Demuda from the message boards on CDT. And this is the top one, Jim. If Roman could only make one more signing this transfer window, which position player would you like Roman to sign the distracts inside? - One more signing, huh? I think it has to be right back. I think it's-- - It's gotta be right back. Yeah, I think I would go with right back quite simply because call me crazy. And I think the rest of you guys in the CDT writer's room feel this way at this point. And I don't blame you. I do think that out of our full backs that are still left standing, Nicolas Alewski is the one that inspires the most hope out of all of them. Like, if we went into the season with him being like a starting left back for Roman, would I be thrilled? No, but I'd be a whole lot less annoyed by that than I would be with Rick Carastor, Przecki Chelek, being the starting right back for Roman heading into the season. - Still getting paid. We gotta get rid of him still. - Yeah, exactly. So I mean, I will admit that I understand why people are skeptical of like Raul Belanova. I think it's a different situation than Bruno Paris, see Frank, but at the same time, like yeah, right back from Torino, who has a high price tag where I've heard that before. But like, I think some of the long lines of Belanova, Pubil, someone who has top flight experience, but maybe isn't, you know, at the peak of their powers just yet is a type of player that I'd be looking for in the right back frame. Because we already have other players. Like, I think the fact that our center backs are effectively, if not at their peaks, they are playing at a high, high level. And, you know, we might, like, especially with menching, it's not like I expect menching you to grow much simply because he's already really great. And I feel a similar way with Indica, like I don't see Indica like finding another gear. I just think that he's a great defender. So if you bring in a guy who might not be at their level just yet, but could be at it very soon, I think that's kind of the move that you make to combine with likes Vilar and stuff. I think that's the move right back for me, is the answer. - Yeah, I agree. I think it's right back. I'd love to see Bill Nova, but this poor Bill seems to be getting build up as the guy they want. So if that happens to be the case, and I just hope he, you know, pans out in that cell, he can provide some veteran presence on the right side because I don't think he's a kind of kid you're gonna throw into matches against, I think, from a place you bet, like the third match day, or even second match day. And I know it's early on, it's like, Labor Day weekend here in the US at least the third match day. So, you know, Zeki's gonna have to be, I think, starting to open the season, if that's the case. If it's Bel Nova, then I think you go Bel Nova. All right, Balon de Tote, as Jim, is our best 11, getting our 11 best players in the field, or our best 11 is the most balanced 11. More to the point, is Sule DiBala and Pellegrini all starting really the best choice tactically, trying to shape the formation, suit them. That's an interesting one. - I think we still haven't really seen the royalties preferred formation yet. I think that we're seeing a lot, like, could you rephrase, we state that question, I just wanna make sure that I'm understanding your problem. 'Cause, like, my biggest-- - I think basically getting our 11 best players on the pitch at the same time, the best way to line up, or is finding the best 11 that are, like, to balance the formation the best way to go. Like, should see that. Like, should Sule, Pellegrini, and DiBala, are they really all being on the field at the same time, beneficial, I guess, to the overall balance formation is the best formation that way. - I think to a certain extent, I see the point of wanting to put all of your best players out there, but I think you've gotten back what we were saying before about the need for rotation. So I would say that, in fact, honestly, considering that Rommel will be playing in multiple competitions moving forward, I would rather see us be in a situation where, you know, sometimes a Sule is not playing, or, you know, both Anzi is not playing, but you know that over the course of two weeks, if there's five matches in two weeks, they play in three matches each. - Because you need to impact subs, too, in some of these matches, right? - Yeah, and, you know, it's complicated. I mean, the reason why you see these, Rommel's in a weird place, honestly, in the constellation of European football clubs. I would say that a big issue there for the, like, it's even an issue for the man's cities of the world, and the PSGs of the world, though, 'cause think about it, they drop like 50 million euros for a guy, and then he sits on the bench, he gets annoyed, and then they have to sell, right? Like, that happens, not an infrequent amount of a time. So I think that Rommel is trying to, in some ways, get to the point where they can have those rich people problems. They're not there in terms of just in depth right now. But to be successful in multiple competitions, you need the depth so that you can actually get, like, a really good player who's unhappy with being on the bench all this time. I won't, like, you need to, like, set up a system where, yeah, sometimes a great player is gonna be on the bench. And so, by that logic, I would say that I actually do want, I wanna make sure that the tactics are smart first, instead of just having the best 11, 'cause I would agree that actually, at this point, you know, you know, if I could make a tactic that didn't involve fullbacks whatsoever. We just had two centerbacks out there, like four midfielders and four attackers, like, sure, that'd be great. But at the same time, I, you know, I think there needs to be some tactical cohesion, especially in Saria, which is a league that, you know, as we know, I think it's a lot more tactical than the prem. You need to have that type of cohesion. So I would say that I understand the appeal of trying to get your best players out there when possible. I just don't necessarily know if it's feasible, and I'm actually kind of okay with it not being feasible. - Yeah, and I think it depends on the opponent too. If it's an opponent, you know, you could just overload with numbers, and they're not gonna be able to hit you that hard on the counter attack, like some of those mid to lower table sides. Maybe breaking down their, their probably compact backline is the way to go with all those guys, right? If you're playing an inter where you need to be a little more defensively sound, maybe one of those guys sits, and Sule or somebody is an impact sub off the bench as inter-types, right, in a tight game, something like that. So I think it depends on the situation. I think Deros is gonna have at least now the luxury of making those choices and having talented players. And if he has to find his way here, you throw him in the mix with Baldonzi and these other guys. And I think he's got a pretty good group of players that he can toy around with and, you know, really try out different tactics and ideas. And I think it's gonna be fun to watch this season. - Yeah, I agree with that too. I think the point that I was trying to make in the beginning of this question was, I do think that we're still in like the gestational phase for De Ralty as a manager. And I think he's probably still trying to work on, figure out how we should define his own tactics. And so I wouldn't be surprised if over time or if he has a reputation towards being able to career as more of a tinkerman than not, because simply he needs to figure out like he's still, this is still like what? He's within a year of starting as a top-light manager. - Yeah, yeah. - There's a lot that, there's a lot to figure out. - You're not a little girl too, right? - Yeah, exactly. So I think that over time, we'll see things work and fits and starts. And I hope that, you know, my personal hope, I mean, we've brought this up already, but man, I really don't want to see Eduardo Bovego. Like that to me would be like one of those really dumb moves if it happened. And I'm hopeful that maybe with a training camp under his belt, he'll figure out a better way to use Bovego with it forward. - Yeah, that's my hope as well. All right, let's take a quick commercial break here and then we'll be back with a couple more questions. - This episode is brought to you by our good friends at NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. I'm sure by now you've all gotten back into your Sunday routines, but they could be even better. With NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV, you get the most live NFL games all in one place, every game, every Sunday. And you can even watch up to four different games at once with Multi-View, one of my favorite inventions of this decade. It's exactly what you need to catch all the action. Make your Sundays more magical. And also, YouTube TV is great. I got it this year. It's awesome. Sign up now at youtube.com/BS, device and content restrictions apply. Local and national games on YouTube TV, NFL Sunday Ticket for Out of Market Games, excludes digital-only games. - All right, so, interesting one, Jim. You talked about the Tammy situation. There's talk that we might need a make-wait or two involved in order for it to happen financially for Milan and maybe Roma would have to take players. Players have been linked a bit like Noah Okebor, Salamakers, Calabria, YoVich I think was mentioned at one point as well. And Jovine, 22, 88, as if make-weights are needed to push the Tammy deal over the line with Milan, would you rather a player from the senior team like Simone's mentioned or, you know, also include Pobaga or a few players from the other 23 that he listed. I don't really know many of these players. I know Camarda, but Camarda obviously is not realistic and someone called him out. He said that's really just in his dreams. - Yeah, Camarda would be lovely. - Yeah, Camarda's not happening, right? But let's just mention of those senior team players. If a make-weight is needed, do any of those players interest you at all. I'll say Okebor would be the one that interests me 'cause he can play left wing and he can play center forward. Younger player just 24. Camard from Red Bull, Salzberg and scored sick goals and set he up, provided a couple of assists in just under 900 minutes. So I think there's potential there with him. I don't want Davide Calabria at right back. I'd rather just go out with a pool bill or someone. Salamakers, I'm not crazy about him. I know he had some flashes last year for Malta at Bologna on loan, but not really a player I'd rather get cash for than him, honestly. Pabaga's been quiet lately. Yovitch never has really lived up to the billing of I think what he was supposed to be. I think he's a Real Madrid youth product if I have. - Do you think Rafael Layall's available? - Layall, yeah, Layall for Tammy, straight swap. - I'll do a straight swap. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Honestly, if I will never cut it at that. - None of those players excite me and I understand why it seems like none of the players, those players that have excited Roma management, if we were going to do this in that particular fashion, I would want it structured like the Raja Nangolin deal. To be honest with you, one exciting young prospect and maybe one guy who like I'm not super thrilled about, but whatever throw him in there like Davide sent on. - Yeah, like it's serviceable. - Someone who's a serviceable, like a serviceable backup right back wouldn't kill me, but at the same time it's not, that's not worth it to me. I mean, like, I have tried to snoop a little bit around the prima vera players for all the major clubs, just because I know that in the same way that a lot of clubs snoop around Roma's prima vera, I want to be vaguely aware of some of the better talents. I think it'd be interesting to bring in a player like Diego Sia, who is an Italian under 19 player who has been with the Milan prima vera and like their version of next gen. He's a left winger. He's not really like, he hasn't broken onto the scene or anything yet, but I think he's got kind of the hype that would be similar to like Niccolo's on your little pre-Roman transfer. And the best way, the only way you could really convince me to get interested in a player's walk is if the deal is like that. Basically, kind of like the equivalent of what happens in baseball sometimes, where they trade like prospect. You trade a star player away, but with that, you get a prospect back. It was exciting and maybe a couple of years could be something big. That would be how I would do it. That's how you trade away. If you're swapping some, anyone pretend you bring in a guy who maybe can be an option at striker or left winger or what have you in the next couple of years. - Yeah. - Yeah, I agree. And we'll see what happens with Tammy. But I think now that Adelanta needs a striker too, I think there's a little more leverage for Roma maybe to get to cash. Or heck, maybe the deal happens with Adelanta. Adelanta throws in an exciting end player. We know they produce talents there. So we'll see what happens. But Tammy will be gone. It's just a matter of who they can get to get that 25 million euro valuation, I think at this point. Another one here. - Some links about Cristante having interest. I don't think he goes anywhere. Flex is asking him to get if he's sold. Pick one young left winger. - I think the answer is you sell Cristante, you probably keep Beauvane just make Beauvane. - You keep Beauvane. - You used to have La Fabien the starter. - And I don't think he's going to be sold. I think that much to the amusement of many Roman Easty, Cristante has stuck around, I think he might be one of the longest tenure, he's definitely one of the longest tenure players in the side at this point. - He's got to be out there with Manchinie. Now he's been here quite some time. - The big three are Manchinie, Cristante and Pellegrini at this point. I think that more than Manchinie and Pellegrini, I think the real reason behind that is that Cristante has always been willing and able to adjust his play to the needs of the club. And I think that both the national team and the senior team at Roma appreciate that. - A whole lot. He's kind of, and like the grief he gets, it's like man, some of the players who are like cult legends now, like from the 2000s and the early 2010s, I feel like given the fan group that people applied to Brian Cristante, they would tear up those players to shreds. Like Cémon Carota was not like an absolute world beat. I just want to make that clear to you all. Like Cémon Carota was not a world beater. Today was not like an absolute world beater. These were guys who lasted a long time in Roma in part because they did what Cristante did. They got here, they showed their ability, but then they said, okay, play me how you need to be played so that we win. They weren't asserting the need to be the superstar, but they come in and they play well and they play a role that's expected of them by the manager. And that makes them beloved by Manchin because who wouldn't want a player like that? I would slot Cristante into that kind of that mold. In fact, I'd say he's probably better in terms of actual ability than either of those players. But in terms of working with managers and being beloved by them, I think that's kind of who he is as a player. - Yeah, yeah, and his name came up again. Let me go back to the question here. - I'm not surprised. - Yeah, it was a new tactics, new manager. How do we see him fit again? - I just want to give a shout out to the listener who posted. I will find it here. Armanc asked, you know, predictions by Cristante. Would he be the constant starter? Would he be granted to be replaced by Lafe? Would the coach see him that we failed to? I think you kind of answered that. - Yeah. - I think he's going to be a pretty consistent starter. I think if they will get his starts, again, we mentioned, there's going to be need for rotation. We can't play the same three midfielders over and over and over again. And I think that's why Bowl Bay, if he sticks around, we'll stick around too. Because five midfielders for three spots is not that many over a long time. - No, it's not at all, especially. I mean, like not to knock on every piece of wood you got, but that Gianluca Scumaca ACL tear that has him out for the season now, and it makes Tammy Abraham a much more valuable player. It's not impossible that that happens to a Roman midfielder, not at all. And so just saying like, oh, we can ride with Pellegrini Paredes and Lafe and maybe Bobby. It's like, can you? I don't think he can't. And Rolle's been able to spend more money for a bunch of reasons this summer, but I don't think that they're in the market to spend a Christante-level replacement at the moment. I don't think that that's a possibility. Unless they, you know, of course, if they sell him, but like I'm saying that injury will make that impossible as well. - Yeah. And I wouldn't want them to go and make a deal like that. So close to the season, sorry, two now, where we're under two weeks away. I don't think we're gonna rejig the whole midfield like that. Christante's not asking to leave. I find it very unlikely, unless they are in desperate need of cash, because they can't move anybody else to fill holes, because then you have a hole in the midfield. So I don't think it happens. Let's see what else we got here. So no tote no party. He asked about the attack, the crowded attack, which we kind of answered, asking if they go in the pitch together. And he asked what positions will still be added to the transfer window. He's guessing right back, left wing, the center back and second striker of Tammy leaves. We've talked kind of about those positions. I think that is accurate. I think they're going to need a right back. We said that number one priority. I think a center back does come in, because I don't think they trust kombula and smalling at this point in terms of form and fitness, left wing being liquid kias. I think it's pretty clear. And you said it, we need a second striker after Tammy leaves because she can't go with just dub bick. They're actually playing false nine. Dub bick has a muscle strain. It keeps mouth formatches or something. I don't think that's a viable option. Um, a lot of conversation about solid makers here. Uh, back and forth. I'm not going to read them out, but go to the boards. If you're listening, if you have an opinion on solid makers, because definitely divided the opinion there. Um, and then, uh, I guess we'll wrap on this one. We're going to, we're going to do our season preview next week, but we did have one asking about what does kind of the first match have to offer us. What has Cali done in the off season? Uh, this is from Grazia Roma. I was just on a trans market to see what they've done. I know Clario Ranieri retired. David Enicola, who is like, uh, known for being able to keep teams up, is now their manager after Ranieri was able to keep them up last season and then retire. Um, players brought in as a dear, uh, Zortia from Adalanta, 25 year old, um, right midfielders, Sebastiano Luperto, uh, long time, uh, center back in Sedia. He was the last with the empathy, um, Roberto Piccoli on loan from Adalanta, center forward, you know, so these aren't very big names. Um, you know, some names are familiar from, from around the, um, you know, league, but nothing that jumps out at you. A couple of players that are no longer with them. Uh, Nanda's who left on a free transfer to Saudi Arabia, probably their, their biggest loss. He used with them for quite some time. Um, the midfielder, wing back player. Um, you know, and then a couple of others, Sulemana went to Adalanta. Um, you know, El Doris Shimordo, back with Roma. Yeah. Yeah. Loans, uh, loan, um, so, you know, not a club that scares you. They're a club that struggles to stay up last season for the most part. They did get managed to do it. Um, you know, kind of a nice way for Ranieri to go out. One last little like, uh, featherness cap. You know, they, they do give us problems at times. Um, but I think what a first week gives us this year is a chance to see a squad that has had a full off season with DeRoci, uh, a chance to get at least the newcomers' feet wet. If, you know, uh, dub thick, I think we'll start because there's no, there, there's no other center forward. We'll see if Sule gets a start too. How, how DeRoci feels like he can set this squad up, uh, against the inferior side. Let's be honest. Um, in terms of talent, in terms of expectations. I think it'll be a nice little measuring stick game to see how much we can create, how much we can finish, um, all those kinds of things. It would certainly be nice, um, to go and, you know, get, say, two, three goals against CaliD. Um, you know, it, it is in CaliD, which is not an easy place to go. Um, especially in the middle of summer, I'm sure it's a beautiful time to be in CaliD, but, uh, maybe that's the best time to be working out outside. Yeah, we're not going to be on the beach on the coast of Smiraldo over there. So, um, yeah, I'm just looking, I'm excited for the first match. I wanted to see how everybody fits together at this point, right? I think that's kind of what I'm looking at. Yeah, I 100% agree with that. I think that, you know, there's still a lot of moving parts before that first match takes place and we'll be discussing them in the upcoming weeks of the on the pod. But I've got some optimism for the season heading into it. Um, Sulej, it seems like, I don't know if you've been seeing any of the footage coming out of practices, Steve, but the Sulej footage looks great already. Yeah, he's a talent. He's a very talented player. Um, don't be unexcited by, I think that, you know, the fact that he's been able to be impressive in La Liga, you know, should not, you know, he was, I think, if you look at a list of top goalscores over the past 20 years in, um, La Liga, the fact that his name is not Cristiano Ronaldo, or Lionel Messi, or that he didn't play for like Real Madrid or Barcelona, or Seville, or Atlético Madrid, is pretty unheard of. Um, so that kind of gives me a lot more respect too for his game. Um, just in general, I mean, I think there's a lot to be excited about heading into this season. Uh, the first full season of DVR, uh, some very exciting new transfers. And, you know, a transfer strategy that I think on the whole will do a transfer wrap up window and the window wraps up, but so far, Steve, I'd give, I'd give this transfer window like a V plus a minus in terms of, uh, that was the last question I had. Yeah, so on Twitter, there you go. That's really cool. That's, that's really convenient. It's from a fan six has this transfer window met exceeded or failed at your expectations so far. It has exceeded my expectations in terms of who we've been able to sign in all honesty. Um, I would not have expected Roma to have the financial juice that it's had so far. I put it firmly in the A minus range in terms of who we signed. If Roma signs a very interesting left winger and a very interesting right back, I think it goes firmly in the A range for me. Yeah, I think, um, so far, I have to give this a very solid grade. Obviously, there's still time. There's still moves to be made. So depending on who we finish the window out with, in terms of a right back, back up, you know, third center back, uh, back up forward and left winger, you know, my, my grade to drop some. Um, but right now I'm giving an, an A to this point. I think, um, you're a teacher, man. You've got high barf in it. Um, you know, I, I think some, some may say I'm probably overreacting a little bit, but I think with the attacking talent they've signed, uh, with the buffet in the midfield and, and the rave reviews, he's gotten, um, you know, backup people who should be reliable, having, um, doll as a speckets of by a left back and, um, um, uh, some got a right back, his back and started the prima vera, showing some flashes of things. I think they're going in the right direction. They do have to dump cars door up in a couple other bad contracts. If, if possible, um, we'll see how the Tammy deal shakes out things like that. But so far I'm, I'm pretty high in this window. Um, you know, maybe if they don't sign certain players or get rid of certain plays becomes like a B plus type window. But I think, yeah, signing a capital of La Liga, signing Sule with his potential and his talent and what he's done in steady out already. I'm excited about it. He's one of the top under 21 prospects in Europe. I think that's not a controversial statement to make about Sule. Like last season he was very, very impressive. Yeah. So they can continue that in a situation where, you know, he might, normally when I see a player like him make the jump from a small float to a big club, I actually get worried because I'm like, well, you're not used to team's planning for you. Yeah. Team's planned for him. Team's planned for him throughout that season. They knew that he would come less here because of the ball. Exactly. And that's the thing that I was going to say that it might actually come to his advantage that he's now going to be at a place with how will the ball or go big and more. It's like, you can't just plan to try to control Matias Sule and know that you're getting at least one point like that. That's not an option anymore. And so I'm hopeful that that can lead to some positive, you know, room for growth there for him that he can keep on looking as good as he's low for frozen owner. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. I think that's a great point on him. And exciting Mercato. Looking at these first two matches against Callity Away, employee home, six points hopefully. Some exciting tackle football where they could work the kinks out. Because then like I said, Labor Day weekend, it's U of A on the road. And it'll be it'll be the big time for the first time this season. So next week, probably be doing our season previously. It'll be a week out from the opener. And, you know, keep up with the site for our under 21 or under 23 countdown. Brand dropped the first one today. And all the transfer updates will have them there on the site. So stick with us. Thank you for listening. We'll catch you guys next week.
