A Fiorentina blog for Viola fans
Fiorentina’s season has been woeful at a level we couldn’t have imagined back in September. There’s enough blame to go around that everyone in the club can have second or third helpings but for now, I want to focus on the strikers. At the start of the year, I was confident that the Viola were […]
Fresh off the heels of an utterly disgusting draw at Lecce, your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots are back to chop up that one, along with a little Crystal Palace talk. That’s right, it’s McMike and Tito back just like the old days (Producer Mike is too busy looking up USL League 2 prospects to sprinkle […]
A truism: at a club having an abject season like Fiorentina’s, the players all look terrible. There’s the Goalkeeper Corollary (the man with the gloves impresses through sheer volume) and the occasional At Least He’s Trying midfielder (e.g. Valon Behrami circa 2011) but this fact I hold to be self-evident. Established star Moise Kean’s been […]
An 8-point head start from relegation with 5 games is a bit too slim to start popping the prosecco but nevertheless, everyone’s thoughts are turning to the summer. New DS Fabio Paratici mentioned a couple days ago that the roster will be “thinned out,” which makes sense. Fiorentina won’t be competing on the continent next […]
There was no one person responsible for Fiorentina’s pathetic performance at Crystal Palace except maybe Daniele Pradè. Still, there was a moment that felt illustrative of a large portion of the problem. It was just before the 10 minute mark. Nicolò Fagioli came away with the ball on the right side of the pitch and, […]
Pre-match It was a little disappointing that both teams were missing so many players: Kialonda Gaspar, Sadik Fofana, Medon Berisha, Riccardo Sottil, and Francesco Camarda for Lecce; and Niccolò Fortini, Tariq Lamptey, Fabiano Parisi, and Moise Kean for Fiorentina. The Viola did come out wearing their 3rd? 4th? 5th? Whatever number it was, some sort […]
Late news Both teams have everything to play for here: Fiorentina will pretty much guarantee survival with a win and Lecce could take a massive step towards the same, leapfrogging Cremonese to leave the final relegation spot. Both teams are also defined by personnel absences: Eusebio di Francesco is missing Kialonda Gaspar, Sadik Fofana, Medon […]
After bowing out of Europe with far more dignity than anyone expected, Fiorentina’s season is effectively finished. With that unlikely outcome—a 3rd Conference League final in 4 years—evaporating and relegation diminishing in the rearview mirror, it’s time to look ahead to the summer. It’s completely unfair but the biggest question facing DS Fabio Paratici is […]
Pre-match Paolo Vanoli went with a 4-2-3-1 to fit both Albert Guðmundsson and Manor Solomon into the side. Marin Pongračić filled in at rightback instead of Pietro Comuzzo, who stepped into the center. Moise Kean, Dodô, and Fabiano Parisi were all injured. Oliver Glasner, on the other hand, picked his strongest XI. Perhaps to make […]
Late news Paolo Vanoli’s dealing with some key absences—Moise Kean, Dodô, Fabiano Parisi—and has responded by dropping a midfielder and switching to what sure looks like a 4-2-3-1. It’s an interesting solution to get Albert Guðmundsson and Manor Solomon into the XI without sticking either out on the right wing. That said, keep an eye […]
Having quite possibly secured salvation with a surprising 1-0 win over Lazio on Monday, Fiorentina goes from nervous celebration to grudging acceptance of an ignominious fate with the second leg of the Conference League quarterfinal. Crystal Palace absolutely smacked the Viola around last week en route to a 3-0 win that demonstrated an unbridgeable divide […]
Pre-match Both sides had a lot of absences but Fiorentina (Moise Kean, Nicolò Fagioli, Fabiano Parisi, Marco Brescianini, Albert Guðmundsson, and Niccolò Fortini) had more than Lazio (Ivan Provedel, Mario Gila, Samuel Gigot, Adam Marušić, Nicolò Rovella, Daniel Maldini). Paolo Vanoli made the wacky choice to start Daniele Rugani at the back over Marin Pongračić […]
Late news Paolo Vanoli’s roster is ravaged: Moise Kean, Manor Solomon, Fabiano Parisi, Marco Brescianini, and Niccolò Fortini are injured, while Nicolò Fagioli and Albert Guðmundsson are suspended. Even with so few options, the mister’s still managed to make a head-scratching decision, picking Daniele Rugani to partner Luca Ranieri at the back and leaving Marin […]
Pre-match Oliver Glasner trotted out his expected top XI. Paolo Vanoli, on the other hand, was without Moise Kean, Manor Solomon, Fabiano Parisi, and Niccolò Fortini but did get Dodô and Rolando Mandragora back from injury. Despite the absences, though, the visiting fans were in fine form, showing up over 1000 strong to help fill […]
Late news Oliver Glassner’s trotted out the exact XI we expected and it looks pretty strong; only Jørgen Strand Larsen (suspended) misses out among the regular starters. Paolo Vanoli, on the other hand, is scrambling. Moise Kean’s injury has flared up again and he hasn’t even made the trip. Manor Solomon, Fabiano Parisi, and Niccolò […]
The refurbishment of the Stadio Artemio Franchi continues apace. As you’d expect for any construction project of this scale, there are delays, many resulting from decades of neglect. This morning, Letizia Perini (the local official in charge of sports and one of the city’s closet liaisons with the team) reported on the latest issue. After […]
A suddenly almost vaguely competent Fiorentina hits the road, or rather the sky, for another midweek Conference League game, heading to south London to take on Crystal Palace. At the start of the season, these were probably the two favorites to win the whole thing. Both have rather slumped domestically, ranking 14th and 15th in […]
We don’t want to jinx it. Let’s make that very clear. But with the Viola 5 points clear of the drop after scraping together the necessary results over the past month, it’s looking like next year’s centennial will indeed be in the top flight, and your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots are coming to grips with […]
Late news Paolo Vanoli was forced to use a very weird setup due to injuries to all his fullbacks except for Robin Gosens, who started on the left. Pietro Comuzzo awkwardly did the job at rightback with Jack Harrison dropping in to help sometimes from the wing. Giovanni Fabbian was the surprise pick in midfield. […]
Late news Paolo Sammarco makes a three changes from the XI that lost to Atalanta last week with Daniel Oyegoke, Antoine Bernède, and Kieron Bowie given a chance. Paolo Vanoli, on the other hand, has been dealt a miserable hand, with numerous players—Dodô, Niccolò Fortini, Fabiano Parisi, Rolando Mandragora—failing late fitness tests. Everyone’s reporting the […]
The season’s final international break is finished (sorry, Moise Kean) and Fiorentina settles in for the final stretch of the season. Despite some surprisingly good vibes of late, this team is still squarely in the danger zone and desperately needs a win. Fortunately, the next opponent is one of very few teams in Serie A […]
The international break is always a good time to check in on Fiorentina’s loanees, especially since it’s been nearly 2 months from the previous look. These are the games that most determine a player’s fate for the following season because everyone’s had time to find their feet and, as the season winds down, the stakes […]
Italy’s failure to qualify for the World Cup is astonishing. It’s an indictment on the current players, the staff, the FIGC, and calcio as a whole that FIFA’s 12th-place nation can’t make a 48-team tournament. The accusatory eulogies are pouring in and will probably continue for a couple months as the Azzurri apparatus releases stale […]
Paolo Vanoli has Serie A’s most thankless job. If Fiorentina avoids relegation, it’s because the team has too much talent to go down. If the Viola don’t survive, he’ll shoulder most of the blame, having been the boss for the majority of the season. Despite spending a couple years in Florence as a player, the […]
Moise Kean was Serie A’s best striker last year. He finished second to Mateo Retegui for capocannoniere but he was more important to his team’s success and warped opposing defenses due to his supercharged threat in behind in a way Retegui doesn’t. Expectations were sky-high for the man crowned Italy’s number 9 heading into the […]