A Fiorentina blog for Viola fans
Late news Lausanne boss Peter Ziegler trots out a slightly confusing lineup; my guess is that it’s a diamond midfield with Enzo Kana-Biyik at the top behind Theo Bair and Nathan Butler-Oyedeji, but it could wind up looking more like a 4-3-2-1 with Bair leading the line alone. Paolo Vanoli has gotten very weird. Starts […]
To quote the Drive-by Truckers, the Viola have been falling for so long it’s like gravity is gone and they’re just floating. That won’t stop your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots from getting on the mic and trying to figure out where it’s all gone wrong, other than everywhere. It’s just Hines and Tito this week […]
Fiorentina heads into the final match of the Conference League league phase (has to be a better way to phrase that) sitting in 11th with 9 points but could attain the coveted top 8 finish with a win, skipping a playoff round to advance directly to the knockout stage. Standing between the crumbling Tuscans and […]
I asked for people to give me some ideas for articles that weren’t just game coverage yesterday and the overwhelming tenor of responses has fallen into a bucket I’ve titled “fun/uplifting” and I’ll get to those stories. Promise. Really quick, though, I want to look at the historical precedents of teams that have opened the […]
Player grades David de Gea—4: His recent penchant for giving up his near post is concerning to say the least; if Gift Orban has figured out that weakness, you’d better believe everyone else has too. Made just 1 save and was particularly passive on crosses. Marin Pongračić—5.5: He wasn’t as bad as his colleagues but […]
Pre-match Neither Paolo did anything too crazy. Vanoli had injury doubts Nicolò Fagioli and Dodô from the word go, while Zanetti didn’t get Suat Serdar back from a knock and turned to Al-Musrati instead. The aesthetics were awful: Fiorentina came out wearing the new orange strip that looks like a goalkeeper kit, while Verona opted […]
Late news Paolo Vanoli starts injury concerns Nicolò Fagioli and Dodô but the big news is that Pietro Comuzzo seems to have leapfrogged Pablo Marí in the hierarchy. Paolo Zanetti picks Al-Musrati in midfield as club captain Suat Serdar hasn’t quite reached full fitness but otherwise trots out his expected XI. Despite the dire positions […]
Fresh off their first win since October, Fiorentina heads into a relegation 6-pointer with 19th-place Hellas Verona, which leapfrogged them after ambushing Atalanta last week for their first victory on the season. The Viola, of course, are still riding an ignominious 14-game winless streak in Serie A. This matchup, followed by games against Udinese and […]
Player grades David de Gea—6: Had very little to do in this one, making just 1 save (pretty routine) and not doing much sweeping up. Can’t fault him for conceding a screamer, even if it was from far away; the distance is mitigated by Viti blocking his line of sight. Mattia Viti—7: Very steady game […]
Pre-match Paolo Vanoli brought Pietro Comuzzo, Mattia Viti, Niccolò Fortini, Hans Nicolussi Caviglia, Cher Ndour, Amir Richardson, and Edin Džeko into the lineup. Dynamo Kyiv boss Igor Kostyuk’s big change was benching star rightback Oleksandr Karavaev in favor of Oleksandr Tymchyk. Only about 7000 fans were on hand for this one, too: the early slot […]
Late news Paolo Vanoli shuffles the deck yet again, giving Mattia Viti, Pietro Comuzzo, Cher Ndour, Hans Nicolussi Caviglia, Amir Richardson, and Edin Džeko a chance to impress. Spare a thought for Tommaso Martinelli, who remains glued to the bench despite the club’s assurances that he’d be the cup goalkeeper this season, but at least […]
By now, you’ve probably seen the reporting on Fiorentina’s pre-Dynamo Kyiv press conference. It was the same old song and dance from Paolo Vanoli. The mister ran through his usual set list: “We’re all aware of the situation,” “the result is what matters,” , “we have to show growth on the field,” “we have to […]
Just in case you thought that Fiorentina’s men’s team was the only bunch of blundering doofuses at the club, the brass reminded you that there’s incompetence spilling out of the team and into the surroundings now. Is this about the Stadio Artemio Franchi? Hahaha yeah of course it is. Do you know exactly what’s coming […]
I have terrible news, everyone. It’s Conference League time, so you have to watch Fiorentina twice this week. I apologize. Up this time is Dynamo Kyiv. This will be the 7th meeting between these two, with the good guys holding a W3 D3 record. Last time we saw them was the 2014-2015 Europa League quarterfinals, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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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 […]