Welcome back to “Shades of Deep Purple”. My reign as Fiorentina manager is about to get underway in earnest. Today’s post includes a round-up of our pre-season campaign, plus the opening two matches of the Serie A season – at home to AC Milan, and then away to Sassuolo.
If you missed out on my squad report and my initial tactical plans, you can go back to Part 1 here.
OFF THE PITCH
Before I take you through our friendlies, there’s some off-field business I want to quickly touch on. I probably could have mentioned it in Part 1, but that was running so long that I was threatening to give Leo Tolstoy a run for his money.
Firstly, our financial situation is quite secure. We started with over €20million in the bank, and that has increased steadily over recent weeks due to season-ticket sales and whatnot (we sold just over 20,000 in the end). When January comes around, I should have a decent transfer budget to play with.
Our backroom was adequate for a club of our stature. Our defensive and tactical coaches in particular are amongst the best in Serie A. Giacomo Murelli is a useful assistant manager for his man-management and discipline, even if he keeps insisting that we should play defensively (Italians, eh?).
I did, though, bring in a few new staff members. I poached a fitness coach – Marco Petrucci – from Palermo, which required me to let go of Francesco Perondi.
Our scouting department was rather thin, so I beefed that up by recruiting former Manchester United talent-spotter Toninho Cruz – arguably the best scout you can sign for free at the start of the game. I also brought in former Northampton and Oxford manager Ian Atkins, because… well, I didn’t want to be the only Englishman at Fiorentina.
PRE-SEASON FRIENDLIES
We had six pre-season fixtures lined up, which gave me ample time to get all our first-teamers match-sharp ahead of the new campaign. The only seniors who wouldn’t feature at all were Kevin Mirallas and Cyril Théréau, due to injury. There were also opportunities for several Primavera starlets to catch my eye… and one of them would make an instant impact.
To tell you the truth, I wasn’t expecting to face a heavy metal band in my first match on FM19! We didn’t exactly ‘Kill ‘Em All’ against Metallica, but we eventually shredded the non-leaguers to the tune of five goals to One.
Our ‘Hero of the Day’ was Gérson, who bagged a first-half brace from the right wing, though teenage holding midfielder Abdou Diakhaté made a name for himself with two assists. Maximiliano Olivera was less impressive in giving away a penalty, which reduced our lead to 2-1. Marco Benassi quickly restored our cushion before Valentin Eysseric completed a winning start to my Viola career. “YEAAAAAAH!”
Verona represented a significant step up in class, and it showed. The Serie B side held firm throughout the first half, but another magical moment from Gérson broke their resistance seven minutes into the first half. His low centre across the penalty box was stabbed in at the back post by Simone Minelli.
However, repeated failure to take our chances and put the game to bed would soon be punished. Giampaolo Pazzini – a former Viola forward, no less – spearheaded a late counter-attack that earned the Gialloblu a deserved point. Former Celtic midfielder Liam Henderson was their man of the match, which I found… interesting.
Normal service quickly resumed when we pitted ourselves against Vis Pesaro from Serie C. Within five minutes, we had stormed into a 2-0 lead through Jordan Veretout‘s piledriver and Gérson‘s third goal of pre-season. There was some brave goalkeeping from Marisa Tomei, but her defenders clearly needed ‘Anger Management’, as they conceded a couple of penalties. Eysseric scored them both, and the game was already over.
At 4-0 up, it won’t surprise you that we pretty much switched off in the second half. Giovanni Simeone‘s wasteful start to pre-season continued, and we eventually ‘lost’ the half after conceding a consolation goal at almost the last opportunity. That rather annoyed me, as I was looking forward to seeing us keep a clean sheet.
In those first three friendlies, I used the more positive 4-3-3 ‘Fullerball’ formation I talked about last time. It certainly produced attractive football, though it wasn’t the most defensively stable of systems. For our subsequent pre-season tour of the United States, I tested out the counter-attacking alternative to see if we could hold firm at the back a bit better.
At last, a clean sheet! Unfortunately, that was the only high point from a very mediocre game of football. Our purple shirts horribly clashed with Colorado’s maroon numbers, so it was perhaps no surprise that we failed to keep possession as well as we had done in the past. Even so, that was no excuse for some of the shoddy shooting on display.
If the kit clash in Colorado was bad, it was arguably even worse in San Jose – black and blue vs purple! Kevin Diks was certainly feeling very blue in the fourth minute. Having had his pre-season interrupted by injury, the Dutch right-back committed a clumsy foul in our box. The Earthquakes scored their penalty, and we were rocked to the core.
Redemption came just before half-time, when we won a penalty of our own. Simeone scored it to break his duck and draw us level, but that was as good as the Argentine’s afternoon got. He and our other attackers fluffed their lines time and time again, and we were held to a third draw in five games.
On first impressions, the Counter tactic perhaps needed some more tweaking. It was certainly more defensively solid than ‘Fullerball’, but creating genuine scoring opportunities on the counter proved to be a problem. Though it might be something we use away from home against the best teams, I still have some reservations.
With the 4-3-3 Wide, there appeared to be a slight disconnect between the midfield and the attack. That was something I wanted to address when trialling a third tactic:
The 4-2-3-1 Wide – now that’s what I’m talking about. The idea is to complement the front three with a more advanced playmaker, albeit at the expense of some midfield solidity. There’s a part of me that’s screaming in horror over a ball-winner being my most defensive-minded midfielder, but let’s see how that works in practice.
Although I now have three systems with three different tactical styles, there are still some basic similarities. We’re always looking to pass short and look for the underlap when in possession, press with more urgency when out of possession, and counter when in transition.
Anyway, how well would this new tactic work when we hosted Partizan Belgrade in our only home friendly of pre-season?
Very well. Having been moved into an attacking midfield role, Edimilson Fernandes hit the ground running with two quickfire goals. Utility man Bryan Dabo also got a brace, with his second goal being a stunning volley from a headed clearance by a Partizan defender.
As impressive as those statistics look, though, they don’t tell the whole story. While we registered 12 shots on target, a lot of them were hopeful efforts from distance. We also gifted Partizan plenty of chances to add some respectability to the scoreline, which they just couldn’t take.
Another negative concerned Veretout, who suffered our most serious injury of pre-season 12 minutes in. The versatile French midfielder tackled Partizan’s star striker out of the game, only to twist his own ankle in the process.
That looks pretty bad, but remember that Veretout already has to serve a two-match suspension against Milan and Sassuolo. This injury simply means he will also miss a third game – at home to Udinese before the international break.
PRE-SEASON REVIEW
At first glance, three wins and three draws aren’t that impressive when you consider the calibre of teams we played. I’m inclined to agree, but I did see plenty of reason for encouragement.
Right now, my only serious tactical issue concerns what I do with the lone striker. Simeone failed to score from open play all pre-season, and though some of the Argentine’s missed chances were inexcusable, he was often left out on his own. Giving him a ‘Support’ duty rather than an ‘Attack’ one might be the route I go down to try and rectify that.
Even so, this is clearly a team that is best at home playing positive vertical football. We also love to counter-press our opponents and won’t be too afraid of taking on the big teams.
The dressing room atmosphere is pretty good; the players are enjoying their football and getting more accustomed to me. Match cohesion is a concern, though that could well be because there are several new faces in the squad. That will surely improve as the season develops.
All in all, I’m confident that we’ll have a strong season. The board? Not so much.
The president is perhaps more patient and realistic than some of his kind in Italian football. A top-half finish is most certainly doable, and though I’m obviously aiming for Europa League qualification, this gives me a bit more leeway in case things go wrong.
We only need to win one match to meet our Coppa Italia expectations, having been given a bye to the First Round proper. We will face either Crotone or Ascoli – both of whom are in Serie B – in January.
FIORENTINA vs AC MILAN (Serie A, Match 1)
This opening match at the Stadio Artemio Franchi was always going to be intriguing, and not just because it pitted Alban Lafont against Gianluigi Donnarumma in the battle of the wonderkid keepers.
Milan were initially excluded from this season’s Europa League for breaching Financial Fair Play, which temporarily saw us invited to that competition instead. However, the Rossoneri won their appeal against their expulsion, and we were left feeling hard done by.
Our sense of injustice eased after just five minutes. Marko Pjaca marked his Viola debut by stabbing in an excellent low centre from fellow inside-forward Federico Chiesa, thus already putting us in the ascendancy.
We continued to put Milan under duress early in the match, and Gérson hit the woodwork with a great chance to put us 2-0 up. Meanwhile, Suso missed a couple of early opportunities for the Rossoneri.
Then came a torrential downpour at the Franchi, which started to affect our short passing game. A wayward pass from Fernandes midway through the half allowed Milan to counter to great effect. Giacomo Bonaventura dribbled majestically towards goal before weighting a through-ball to Gonzalo Higuaín, whose fierce shot never looked like going anywhere but into the net.
The rest of the first period was cagey for both teams, and a thigh injury saw Pjaca’s game end at the interval. His replacement Eysseric would play a significant role in the goal that eventually decided the match.
On 71 minutes, Chiesa caused Milan more problems by cutting the ball across their six-yard box and finding Eysseric. Our French forward was tackled by Davide Calabria, but the ball went loose before Simeone tapped a simple finish into Donnarumma’s ill-guarded goal.
Milan’s late advances quickly fizzled out as we held firm for a 2-1 victory. The new-look Viola and its new leadership had passed its first major test.
Elsewhere on the opening day, Napoli were surprising beaten 3-2 at home by Chievo, and Lazio went joint-top with a 3-0 win over Empoli. They joined Juventus at the summit following La Vecchia Signora’s three-goal beating of SPAL. Cristiano Ronaldo did not score.
Beating Milan on the opening day sent out a clear message about our intentions, but one septuagenarian didn’t seem to get it. A few days after the match, Giampiero Ventura – the head coach of Chievo – suggested that we would struggle against relegation this season. When I replied that Ventura should look closer to home to find a team that’s expected to battle against the drop, this was how he reacted:
Oh, bless him. Personally, I wouldn’t bother listening to the ramblings of someone who oversaw Italy’s first failure to qualify for a World Cup since 1958.
SASSUOLO vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 2)
Sassuolo were beginning their sixth season in Serie A, having recently established themselves as a lower-mid-table side. They deserved the utmost respect, but I was still confident enough in getting a result to test out the 4-2-3-1 in competitive action for the first time.
At first, Sassuolo proved a difficult team to break down. However, the loss of on-loan Milan midfielder Manuel Locatelli to a back strain after half an hour was a devastating blow. The youngster came off worst in a collision with Fernandes, who would himself be substituted at half-time.
About six minutes later, Simeone confidently tackled the ball off Neroverdi playmaker Stefano Sensi before kicking off a fast-paced Viola counter-attack. The ball was moved on to Chiesa, whose cross to the far post was centred by Pjaca and then thundered home by Benassi. That really was a true sight to behold!
Chiesa was also involved in our second goal just before half-time. His corner delivery was cushioned down by Nikola Milenkovic for Dabo to send us into the break in a comfortable position. Dabo wouldn’t return for the second half, as the ball-winning midfielder was on a booking, but he’d certainly done his duty.
Sassuolo came out fighting in the second half, though their attacks lacked any real quality. One-time Portsmouth midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng didn’t look like the best fit for a target man role, and our defence did a fine job of keeping him quiet.
It was a comfortable win in the end, then, though I couldn’t help feeling that Simeone should have made it 3-0. Gio screwed wide a promising weighted pass from Gérson in the 79th minute and was immediately substituted. Czech teenager Martin Graiciar got a short run-out in his place.
I was also very disappointed to see Chiesa pull his calf muscle in injury time. Our homegrown hero was ruled out of at least the next Serie A match as a result.
That win moved us up to 5th place, and put us amongst six teams who still had 100% records. We have the same goal difference as Inter, Torino and Roma (who edged a 4-3 thriller with Napoli). Lazio stayed 2nd by triumphing 2-0 in Sampdoria, but Juventus’ imperious start continued with a 4-0 thrashing of Frosinone. Cristiano Ronaldo did not score.
Unfortunately, August ended with another injury – to backup full-back David Hancko. The young Slovakian will be out until at least mid-October with a lower back stress fracture, which has further hampered his settling into Italian football.
So far, so good. Fiorentina have kicked off with back-to-back wins, and I’m still unbeaten on FM19. Come back soon to find out if we can defy Giampiero Ventura’s expectations and carry on our impressive start into September.
“Forza viola!”
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