Viola Nation
A Fiorentina blog for Viola fans
Total reads
988
This week
1
Rank
#170 of 467
Published
298 posts
Last 12 weeks
Most read posts
Featured on Sportsblogs
Run this blog? Add the badge to your site to show readers you're featured — it links back to this page.
Latest Entries
Inter Milan vs Fiorentina: Preview
Inter Milan host Fiorentina on Sunday, 25 October 2026 at 11:30 GMT in Milan’s San Siro. The Nerazzurri, fresh from a mid‑week Ukraine tie, remain in top form and are expected to dominate a struggling Viola side that has slumped after the international break. The preview spotlights three key factors: Fiorentina’s chance for a moral victory by showing defensive resilience, the importance of tracking Inter’s deep midfield runs, and the need for the Viola to finally convert their scarce chances. With cloudy but dry conditions forecast, the match promises a classic top‑team showdown and a test of Fiorentina’s growth.
Loanee reports: Serie A
With Fiorentina out of European competition, Viola Nation shifts focus to the club's loanees across Serie A. The piece reviews five young prospects: Torino defender Pietro Comuzzo (21) has 8 starts, 1 goal but defensive lapses; Parma midfielder Giovanni Fabbian struggles in a struggling side with 6 appearances; Cagliari’s Jacopo Fazzini drops to the bench after tactical changes, logging 7 starts and an assist; Torino’s Niccolò Fortini shines with a goal‑line clearance but faces a hip injury; and others are noted. Grades range from C+ to D, highlighting their mixed impacts and future potential.
Okay, fine, let’s talk about switching to a back 3
Viola Nation’s Paolo Vanoli weighs the pros and cons of switching Fiorentina to a back‑three. He argues modern tactics render rigid formations obsolete, but examines how a 3‑5‑2 would sacrifice key attackers like Mastantuono and Alieu Njie, while a 3‑4‑2‑1 or 3‑4‑3 could preserve talent such as Fagioli, Ndour and Cristo Inao Oulaï. Vanoli doubts the defensive trio’s ball‑play ability—questioning Marin Pongračić, Radu Drăgușin and Viery—and warns that without proper rotation the buildup becomes static. He stresses mental resilience over formation tweaks, noting his own past success turning a broken back three into a back four. The article dissects whether a tactical reshuffle can revive Fiorentina’s faltering season.
On benching Luca Ranieri
Fiorentina extended defender Luca Ranieri’s contract on October 8, but his first game afterwards saw a costly error against Genoa and a quick substitution. Coach Paolo Vanoli then benched him for the Como match, where substitute Marin Pongračić scored the lone goal. The author argues that benching Ranieri after one mistake is unfair, pointing out tactical mismatches with Radu Drǎgușin, the inconsistent performances of both defenders, and the potential of younger centre‑back Viery. He stresses the importance of backing players to maintain confidence and squad stability, rather than reacting harshly to isolated errors.
Fiorentina vs Como: Preview
Fresh off an embarrassing showing against Genoa, Fiorentina tries to get its act together back at home against Como, which has descended to earth after a bright start, including a deflating defeat at Feyenoord on Wednesday, but still hovers in 7th place. If you’re keeping track at home, that’s a lot better than 19th, which […]
Where are they now: Fiorentina 2001-2002
The 2001 season was full of promise for Fiorentina. Roberto Mancini had taken over an outfit that finished 9th the previous season but won the Coppa Italia. Getting thumped 3-0 by Roma in the Supercoppa stung but 7 losses in the first 10 Serie A outings heralded doom, a doom which was soon confirmed by […]
Is Fiorentina always bad after an international break?
Following a miserable performance at Genoa on Saturday, a lot of the talk about Fiorentina has been along the lines of, “Why is this club always so bad coming out of the international break?” The Viola precarity over the past year and a half certainly colors my perception of that but I’m as prone to […]
Genoa 2-1 Fiorentina: Match report
Pre-match It looked like Daniele de Rossi (reportedly coaching for his job after Genoa had taken a single point from its first 5 games and scored just 3 goals) had trotted out a 3-4-2-1 featuring Hamed Junior Traoré in midfield. Paolo Vanoli shuffled things, bringing Christ Inao Oulaï into the midfield alongside Nicolò Fagioli in […]
Genoa vs Fiorentina: Lineups and how to watch
Late news Daniele de Rossi picks Hamed Junior Traoré (Fiorentina beffata) in central midfield and the creaky duo of Stephan El Shaarawy and Junior Messias in attack. Paolo Vanoli springs several surprises. Víctor Valdepeñas returns at leftback but the real news is farther forward. For the first time this season, Nicolò Fagioli and Christ Inao […]
Genoa vs Fiorentina: Preview
This unprecedented 3-week international break is winding down and that means Fiorentina is ramping back up for its trip north and west to take on Genoa. Even though this pits the 19th-placed team in Serie A against the 17th, the respective trajectories of these sides couldn’t be more different: the Viola are undefeated since sacking […]
OFFICIAL: Luca Ranieri extends his contract until 2029
Even though the transfer window is shut, Fabio Paratici and his team are hard at work. The latest fruit of their labor is a contract extension for Luca Ranieri. His deal was set to expire in 2028 but he’s now added an additional year with a club option to take it all the way to […]
Fiorentina, Serie A, and long range shooting this season
After 5 games of this season, one of the more interesting trends I’ve noticed across Serie A is the increase in long shots. This year, teams are averaging 5.02 shots from 0utside the box. Last year, that number was 4.4. In a lot of ways, that’s a good thing. The number of things that are […]
What Fiorentina can take from Fagioli’s showing against France
Italy battled to a 1-1 draw with France a couple days ago in one of the international break’s marquee matchups. There was plenty of Fiorentina-adjacent intrigue as Moise Kean missed an open net after a great ball from Michael Kayode but it was Nicolò Fagioli’s performance that raised some eyebrows. Wearing number 10—the first time […]
Viola Station 106: The international break pause
We’re mired in this international break with no end in sight so why not talk about Fiorentina? Good thing there isn’t much to discuss over these first five games. Beyond, you know, how an entirely new squad comes together under a coach who was hired just 3 games into the season after his predecessor led […]
Fiorentina’s trophy-winning 2023-2024 Primavera team is completely gone
I spend a lot of time worrying about the pathway from youth level to first team for Fiorentina and for Italy in general. This summer, the Viola have obliged me with an example of the player churn that curtails development and puts everyone involved into a bad situation. I’m ignoring the team that won the […]
Ranking Fiorentina’s second-time-around players
As we await the end of this interminable international break, finding Fiorentina stuff to write about has gotten tricky. Fortunately, drew t suggested this last month: Who left the team and subsequently returned to the greatest success? For the purposes of the exercise, I’m not counting anyone who was on the books and got loaned […]
Fiorentina 3-0 Pisa: Match report
Pre-match Paolo Vanoli chopped and changed, bringing Marin Pongračić, Víctor Valdepeñas, Christ Inao Oulaï, Marco Brescianini, Wilfried Gnonto, and Mateo Pellegrino. Paolo Bianco made a bunch of changes to his XI as well. The bigger news was that the newly-built roof covering the Curva Fiesole had its floodlights switched on for the first time. It […]
Fiorentina vs Pisa: Lineups and how to watch
Late news Paolo Vanoli shuffles the deck a bit, giving Arthur Atta and Nicolò Fagioli the day off. Christ Inao Oulaï and Marco Brescianini replace them. Marin Pongračić gets a rare chance at the back and Mateo Pellegrino returns up front, supported by Wilfried Gnonto making his first Viola start. David de Gea continues ahead […]
Fiorentina vs Pisa: Preview
Fresh off its first Serie A win of the season, Fiorentina returns to the Coppa Italia. Having brushed aside Benevento, the round of 32, the Viola earned a Tuscan derby against the vile Pisa (boo hiss). It’s the second derby running for the Torri; they dispatched Empoli on penalties in the previous round. The match […]
Venezia 2-4 Fiorentina: Match report
Pre-match Giovanni Stroppa had a defensive crisis on his hands but figured out something. Matías Moreno and Simon Sohm both started. Paolo Vanoli made a bunch of changes, including Viery at leftback and Alex Jimenez at rightback. Alieu Njie started on the left wing and Beto got the nod up front. Also, full credit to […]
Venezia vs Fiorentina: Lineups and how to watch
Late news Giovanni Stroppa copes with his defensive crisis by shifting Matías Moreno into the center of defense with fullback Ridgeciano Haps pushed back to his left. Fiorentina loanee Simon Sohm continues in midfield. Paolo Vanoli, making his (second) debut as Viola coach at a stadium he knows well, has shaken things up quite a […]
Firing Grosso only raises questions about Fiorentina’s capability
It’s been a few days since Fiorentina sacked Fabio Grosso after 3 straight Serie A defeats. The World Cup Winner was the first manager fired this season, setting up the 10th permanent coaching change of the 7-year Commisso regime. It’s an embarrassingly public misstep for sporting director Fabio Paratici, who was brought on board in […]
Venezia vs Fiorentina: Preview
Fiorentina takes the road still searching for its first point of the season, taking the long and winding road to the lagoon of Venice, where Venezia awaits. The Leoni Alati have also suffered three straight defeats and don’t even have a Coppa Italia win to fall back on but have looked sporadically feisty. They might […]
A very smart list of Vanoli’s top five priorities
The Fabio Grosso era is over after 3 games, 3 losses, 9 goals conceded, and 1 scored. Paolo Vanoli is back in the saddle and trying to herd the Viola back into shape. Much like last year, he’s got a lot to do. Fortunately, he doesn’t have to worry about European games taking up his […]
Paolo Vanoli is Fiorentina’s new coach again
Fresh off announcing Fabio Grosso’s dismissal, Fiorentina has hired his replacement. For the second time in less than a year, the ex-Viola leftback has been brought in to replace a catastrophic coach who was supposed to oversee a new project. The club hasn’t announced the terms of his contract but Nicolò Schira reports that he’s […]
Displaying items 1-25 of 298 in total