TMW Radio
During today’s appointment with L’Editoriale Paolo De Paola spoke on TMW Radio. These are his words:
What kind of Olympics were they?
“Personally, the worst Olympics I have ever seen, they were the Olympics of narcissism with social media showing off the egos of the protagonists. From the terrible opening ceremony, to having a battle of genders against a religion, I had never seen it. I also fell for the protests of the seven-man team, the verdicts are accepted. There was certainly a refereeing error, but it could have been recovered. The protests for fencing, there can be the opposite of everything. The protests for the boxing matches, the Olympic champion was said not to be very strong. Instead, she won, for me, before inclusion comes sportsmanship and there is a written law of sport where a woman cannot face an intersex. If nature has given you certain things, an excess of testosterone in the normality of sport is called doping. The controversies over the Seine, a poor Olympic village. Then we won 40 medals like in Tokyo, but winning more gold and more silver. It is a negative balance all in all, we Italians absorbed by the emphasis of social media follow the fans based on the positions taken, forgetting the Italian pride. They were not enthralling Olympics, we had to push forward the theses on Sinner, on Khalif and we lost sight of the main thing, that is, sport”.
And how do you judge the many controversies also on Tamberi?
“That is the exaltation of selfies and of oneself. The criticism of this boy, who has won everything, has been exaggerated. However, in sports it can happen that you lose, he had an illness and it can happen. So what should athletes who never manage to win say? He has an enormous career behind him and he will make up for it as soon as possible, but the exaltation of the character that comes before everything else is enough. Enough with all this protagonism. On social media, every argument is stretched to the extreme and so you tear it up, you exaggerate in one direction or another. For Sinner the criticism, for Tamberi the opposite. There are moments in sports to comment on, but not the theses about Sinner who thinks of personal interests and therefore is not Italian or Tamberi who does it on purpose”.
Is Thiago Motta accepting everything while waiting for the transfer market moves?
“You can make the Conte-Motta comparison. Conte made a great protest, while Motta doesn’t speak. There is something to review in defense, Cabal seems like a fish out of water. I like a Juve with good feet, for me Nico Gonzalez is an exciting player who gives an important push, as is Koopmeiners but Motta must work a lot on the defensive line. I want to understand if other reinforcements will arrive in defense, there are no alternatives in the center and something will have to be done. I have revised my ideas on Rugani, I thought he was a fearful player but without offense. He lacked personality, first he was criticized because he made few fouls, then a lot of penalties but now he has found a clean settlement, not just the homework. A player like that could be useful, not in battles but he can be a help. I am afraid that Juve has the opposite mentality to that of Motta, that is, a defense afraid to move up and if the line doesn’t stay high the team will be frayed. Compactness is needed, the midfield will certainly provide it but the line must move up. There are no slow players like Bonucci, why this fear of moving up?”.
A thought also on Vlahovic.
“I hope Motta can shake up this boy by taking away this excessive adrenaline that he had last year. He needs to find his confidence and his tranquility again but he needs to do it in an acceptable context. He doesn’t have to do everything alone, now he has a coach who doesn’t ask this of him. He needs to find the right timing to communicate with the rest of the team. Excluding the first year, he has entered a loop of insecurity that has affected the boy’s dynamism and mind. For me it’s not just Vlahovic’s fault”.
Conte has rung the alarm bell.
“He pulled the club’s ears. Conte didn’t know this when he arrived? Evidently the agreements with the club on the market are not confirmed, do we want to talk about the Osimhen-Lukaku issue? Do we want to talk about the Kvara issue? Do we want to talk about Zielinski’s replacement? There are definitely players missing, then we also have to wait for Buongiorno to be included. Conte talks about objective things, but what hasn’t he said and what hasn’t he clarified? To Napoli fans I say that Conte should be taken like this. He argued with Juve and with Marotta saying that he couldn’t enter a 100 euro restaurant with ten euros, then with Marotta he won at Inter. He also has his outbursts with De Laurentiis, what he said is heavy. It’s also true that for better or for worse Conte has some forgetfulness, he said he is a manager and must take responsibility for managing these difficult situations too”.
It wasn’t an exciting Inter, but are they still the favourites?
“He starts two lanes ahead of everyone else, he has further strengthened the midfield and perhaps even risks having too many players. Who will give up the starting spot with the arrival of Zielinski? The attack is not bad with Taremi, will he take Thuram’s place? Let’s see. Then there will be the intelligent choice of Martinez in goal. He has a consolidated structure and has strengthened like a mosaic, you remove a piece and insert an even stronger one”.
Can Milan stay in the fight for the title?
“Of course he can fight. I don’t mind Pavlovic, he’s an excellent player like Emerson Royal. We’re not discovering Morata today, but it’s clear that we’ll have to see how he reacts to the family issue. We wish him well regardless. So far, Milan has strengthened a squad that has great quality but hasn’t been able to guarantee the defensive coverage it needed. For the Scudetto, the gap to fill with Inter is huge, they need to recover about thirty goals and we’ll see if they can do it. They’re a team that’s being liked, some signs of change are being seen”.
How are the two Romans working?
“Roma has a young, quality project and with the arrivals of Le Fee, Soule and Dovbyk they have added quality. They are a team that has a certain defensive solidity with Ndicka and Mancini and has many new players up front to think about. Does Dybala not feel secure in his place? Let’s see why there is talk of preserving the champion for a physical issue around Dybala. He must understand that even though he believes in him, he has this character limit linked to the trust he must feel. I don’t think De Rossi doesn’t care about Dybala, but he must preserve his legs. Lazio are going hand in hand, they have made a quiet transfer market but between those who have arrived and those who will arrive like Dia who is forgotten because he scored 16 goals two years ago, he can do well. The problem is linked to the disaffection that the ownership creates, this is the difference between the two Roman teams. The Friedkins have opened up to a leap in quality to go beyond sixth place, Lazio on the other hand seems to me to be stuck in this condition also looking for low-resource signings. He has hired a very good coach, this has always been Lazio’s strength, as have Inzaghi and Sarri, with the latter seeing the limits that exist to make this leap in quality”.
Is Atalanta-Real Madrid an impossible feat on paper?
“Retegui will make up for Scamacca’s absence, I always look at Gasperini with great interest. The victory also arrived, he is a coach who just needs to be praised. It is difficult after so many years to always keep motivation high, the players change and you manage to adapt. Gasperini is a phenomenon, maybe he won’t be suited to a big team but he found his dimension in Bergamo and I also expect some surprises in this Super Cup”.