Player grades David de Gea—4: Made 2 routine saves but let Cristian Volpato’s slightly deflected effort squirm under him and got hung up on a blocker for Tarik Muharemović‘s header. Could’ve maybe done a bit more on Ismaël Koné‘s goal as well but I won’t hold that against him. Disappointing performance but he’s allowed an […]
1 day ago | 0 reads
Pre-match Despite rumors that he’d switch to a back 4, Paolo Vanoli kept the usual 3-5-2. Pietro Comuzzo replaced the suspended Marin Pongračić, Fabiano Parisi filled in for the injured Robin Gosens, and Albert Guðmundsson got the nod over Roberto Piccoli. Fabio Grosso went with Cristian Volpato in place of Domenico Berardi, who’s out until […]
3 days ago | 0 reads
We haven’t checked in with the Fiorentina loanees this year, which is on me. I’ll try to get one of these up every month or so. To make it more consumable, I’ve decided to stop breaking it up by Serie A, Serie B, and foreign leagues, instead combining all the guys who I think could […]
4 days ago | 0 reads
Fiorentina will try to get this season off the ground for the 14th time in a row with a trip to take on 1oth-place Sassuolo. Last year’s Serie B winners have impressed, sticking to their identity and developing young talent as they always do; perhaps that’s a template for our listless, beloved idiots to follow […]
5 days ago | 0 reads
The wholly predictable yet still disheartening defeat at Atalanta on Sunday was, apparently the final straw. Paolo Vanoli has decided to make a change, according to various outlets: out goes the 3-5-2 and in comes a 4-3-2-1. And just like that, Fiorentina will go onto win its remaining 25 league games, securing a spot in […]
5 days ago | 0 reads
Due to some technical difficulties, this episode is up a couple days late, but fear not: your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots are at their best, as ever, as they break down the Juventus game, looking for the tiniest pellets of hope to feed on like wide-eyed goldfish with 6-second memories and largely failing. We also […]
8 days ago | 0 reads
Player grades David de Gea—7.5: Not at fault for either goal and I counted 4 very good stops he made among his 7 total. The first was a freak that looped into the top corner by mistake and the second was the rebound from a strong save he’d already made. Was even better on the […]
8 days ago | 0 reads
Pre-match We all hopped in a time machine back to a happier moment when Raffaele Palladino reappeared on the touchline of the Stadio Artemio Franchi, but the scenery fell away to reveal that we remain in hell as he walked over to the Atalanta dugout. Neither he nor Paolo Vanoli did any weird stuff with […]
9 days ago | 0 reads
Late news Old friend Raffaele Palladino doesn’t change up much from his predecessor. Paolo Vanoli follows suit. Lineups Atalanta (3-4-1-2): Carnesecchi; Djimsiti, Hien, Kossounou; Zappacosta, Éderson, de Roon, Bellanova; de Ketelaere; Lookman, Scamacca Fiorentina (3-5-2): de Gea; Ranieri, Marí, Pongračić; Parisi, Sohm, Fagioli, Mandragora, Dodô; Kean, Piccoli How to watch Check the safe, reliable, and […]
9 days ago | 0 reads
When you post on SB Nation, we don’t want you to miss all the conversations and responses that follow. So starting today, whenever a user replies to your comment or to your post on the Feed, you’ll see a notification at the top right corner of the page. And of course, this means that when […]
20 days ago | 0 reads
Player grades David de Gea—7.5: Saved Lorenzo Colombo’s penalty and made a couple good saves in the second half. His inexplicable ramble around the penalty box during the second goal wasn’t great but Fiorentina doesn’t get a point from this game without him. Luca Ranieri—3: Yikes, man. Giving up a penalty like that, just purely […]
28 days ago | 0 reads
Pre-match In a battle of debuting managers, both had some key absences. Genoa’s Daniele de Rossi watched from the press box due to a suspension, leaving Guillermo Giacomuzzi to lead the team. He had to make do without Ruslan Malinovskyi, while Fiorentina’s Paolo Vanoli was missing Robin Gosens and Moise Kean. First half The game […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
Late news Daniele de Rossi opts for Alessandro Marcandelli in defense and Morten Thørsby in midfield; Ruslan Malinovskyi is suspended. Paolo Vanoli has a more complex task because Moise Kean and Robin Gosens are both injured. He leaves the defense and midfield intact from the Daniele Galloppa era that began and ended in midweek but […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
After a chaotic several days with neither coach nor sporting director, Fiorentina’s now plugged those holes. Technical director Roberto Goretti has been promoted to fill the former position until the end of the season (and likely has the inside track if he performs well, although it’s anyone’s guess how ownership will judge “well”), and now […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
It happened. It finally happened. A historically slumping Fiorentina finally took some accountability and started firing those responsible. Your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots recorded this in the smoldering rubble of the Lecce game, before Stefano Pioli had been officially relieved of duty, but the writing was already on the wall, so we discussed his and […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
Pre-match Spare a thought for Mainz, which is 2nd-last in the Bundesliga and missing so many defenders that manager Bo Henriksen had to pick Kacper Potulski in his first senior team action to start. The home fans, despite their team’s dire form, were very impressive: loud, coordinated, and producing a brilliant tifo ahead of kickoff. […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
Late news Mainz (2nd-last in the Bundesliga but 2/2 in the Conference League) has a spectacular injury crisis at the back (4 senior players unavailable), leading manager Bo Henriksen to call 18-year-old youth player Kacper Potulski up from the youth side for his first-ever start. Fiorentina is somehow even more chaotic, sitting at the bottom […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
Fiorentina announced this morning that the club has relieved head coach Stefano Pioli of his duties and thanking him for his 115 days in charge of the team. The mister’s fate was sealed following his display at the end of Sunday’s loss to Lecce: while his players faced the fans’ displeasure, Pioli hustled off the […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
Pre-match In his first match without Daniele Pradè as his supervisor, Pioli leaned into a young team: Pietro Comuzzo, Niccolò Fortini, and Simon Sohm all came into the side, as did Old Man Edin Džeko. Eusebio di Francesco left Riccardo Sottil and Youssef Maleh on the bench. First half Fiorentina started brightly, pinning Lecce back […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
Late news Stefano Pioli leans young, picking Pietro Comuzzo, Jacopo Fortini, and Cher Ndour in the XI. Edin Džeko partners Moise Kean up front. Lecce boss Eusebio di Francesco has Viola loanee Riccardo Sottil on the bench; Ricky’s just recovering from injury but would love nothing more than to add to the ongoing crisis at […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
Fiorentina fans haven’t had much to cheer for this year but, 2 days after a defeat to Inter Milan that confirmed the worst start in team history—winless through 9 Serie A games—the club announced that it’s “mutually parted ways” with sporting director Daniele Pradè, much to the delight of some supporters. Pradè, 58, served his […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
Player grades David de Gea—9: None of the goals were his fault and he made 5 saves ranging from very good to utterly incredible. What a waste of a vintage, spectacular performance. Mattia Viti—3: Got put in a bad situation on his red card by Fazzini’s failure to deal with a bouncing ball but he […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
Pre-match Stefano Pioli set out a very odd XI with Pietro Comuzzo and Mattia Viti as the outside centerbacks (maybe he read my hit piece on Marin Pongračić) and Rolando “Please don’t use me in a deep midfield role” Mandragora as the regista behind Simon Sohm and Cher Ndour. On the plus side, at least […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
Late news Both managers rotate their sides after midweek matchups. Christian Chivu’s moves—Yann Bisseck, Petar Sučić, Francesco Pio Esposito—all make perfect sense. Stefano Pioli’s however, do not. Critical fans will highlight Rolando Mandragora at regista as a mistake if it doesn’t work. At least Pietro Comuzzo and Mattia Viti get rare opportunities in defense, albeit […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
Now that we’re 2 months into the season and Fiorentina has yet to win a Serie A game, it’s probably time to figure out what’s going wrong. While there’s no single reason for the team to be quite so ass, my diagnosis is that a lot of the ass starts at the back. I’m specifically […]
about 1 month ago | 1 read