The 2018/2019 Serie A season is underway, and my reign as Fiorentina manager has started brightly, to say the least. If you missed out on all the fun last time out, you can quickly revisit Part 2 here.
In today’s chapter, we will progress through all five of our fixtures in September and start to develop an idea of whether we’re capable of European qualification. Before all that, though, there’s something I just want to get off my (rather sizeable) chest…
A SKIN RANT
No, this has nothing to do with the Skunk Anansie singer (she’s great). I do, though, have a problem with the skins used in Football Manager 2019 – specifically the light skin.
I have used FM’s default light skin for years, but on FM19, it’s nothing short of shambolic. There is far too much lightly-coloured text on white backgrounds.
I’ve reported my findings to Sport Interactive and tried to put up with these issues for the first two chapters of this story. However, the final straw was when I tried to read a review of a previous match, only to be greeted by a match report that consisted of a white background – with white text. (Still makes more sense than Paul Merson.)
So I’ve now scrapped the light skin and plumped for one of the alternatives. I won’t use the default skin while I’m managing Fiorentina, else there’d be more purple on display than Purple Ronnie performing “Purple Rain” at a UKIP conference. I will instead use the dark skin, as you can see from the screenshot below:
On a brighter note, Federico Chiesa‘s early performances earned him Serie A’s Under-19s Player of the Month award for August. Chiesa is 20 years old, and has been since last October. Okay, then…
FIORENTINA vs UDINESE (Serie A, Match 3)
Not that long ago, Udinese were a Serie A team to be genuinely feared. These days, they’re very much a bottom-half side that any outfit with continental aspirations should be beating. The Zebrette started this season with an away defeat to Inter before requiring a last-minute Lukasz Teodorczyk winner at home to Bologna.
We certainly weren’t expecting Udinese to start off quicker, but that was exactly what they did. Teodorczyk headed an early opportunity wide before the evergreen Valon Behrami thundered a shot just wide. The visitors then forced Alban Lafont into a couple of saves midway through the first half.
In the 30th minute, we turned the tide by doing what we do best. Fiorentina left-back Cristiano Biraghi intercepted a cross in our box, kicking off a quick counterstrike. Udinese’s defenders left Bryan Dabo in acres of space, so when the Burkinabe midfielder collected the ball from Giovanni Simeone, he was free to round the keeper and tap into an empty net!
Dabo’s goal separated the teams at the interval, and Marco Benassi could have widened the gap early in the second half. Alas, his header was caught by Nicolas in the Udinese goal. That was one of the few decent attempts either team had in a low-quality period.
We managed to grind out a 1-0 win in the end, despite suffering a couple more injury blows. Regista Christian Nørgaard twisted his ankle, which put him on the sidelines for three weeks and forced him out of the Denmark squad. Marko Pjaca bruised his knee later on, which meant we finished the match with only 10 men.
While we remained infallible heading into the first international break, so did four teams above us. Also recording their third victories of the season were Roma, Inter, Lazio… and Juventus, who saw off Chievo 3-0. Cristiano Ronaldo did not score, though Paulo Dybala helped himself to a hat-trick.
There were no further injuries in the fortnight leading up to our next match. Training in FM19 is about finding the right mix between keeping your players sharp and not overworking them. I’d like to think I’m getting the hang of that now… but maybe I still need to figure out when it’s right to praise my hardest-working players. Here’s an interesting conversation I had with Benassi:
Now there’s one Benassi who doesn’t want to get my satisfaction.
SPAL vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 4)
Next up for us after the September internationals was a trip to Ferrara. SPAL narrowly survived their first year back in the top flight, but they now appeared to have been struck down by ‘second-season syndrome’. The Biancazzurri had lost four competitive matches on the trot without scoring. Maybe they needed Dorian Hysa…
SPAL almost broke their duck after nine minutes, but Andrea Petagna headed a corner just over the crossbar. That momentary fright proved to be just what we needed to get ourselves up and running.
We broke the deadlock in the 14th minute with a flowing passing move that culminated in a brilliant exchange of passes between Biraghi and Edimilson Fernandes. Edi moved the ball out wide to our left wing-back, whose return cross he then drilled in from the edge of the six-yard box.
The rest of our first-half attacks were rather less impressive. While we did get the ball into the penalty area with a bit more regularity, hitting the target was proving to be a problem. Even Dabo had a disappointing day at the office before being replaced with the fit-again Jordan Veretout at half-time.
Also coming off the bench – midway through the second period – was on-loan Everton forward Kevin Mirallas. The Belgian could have marked his Fiorentina debut with a goal on 75 minutes, but an impressive dribble into the box ended with him finding the side netting.
A team of greater quality than SPAL’s would surely have punished us, but another poor miss from Petagna proved costly. The killer blow was dealt in injury time, when Fernandes was upended in the box. The referee consulted VAR before pointing to the spot, where Simeone secured our fourth consecutive win.
While we were keeping our heads (and our perfect record), other teams around us had lost theirs. Inter were held to a goalless draw by Chievo, Lazio succumbed to a 3-1 loss in Milan, and Juventus were stunned 2-0 by a resurgent Napoli. Cristiano Ronaldo did not score, obviously.
In contrast, Roma were still going strong. Bryan Cristante’s goal decided a tense meeting with Genoa and earned the Giallorossi their fourth straight win. They now found themselves heading the pack, with us just behind them on goal difference.
Next up for us, three matches in the space of seven days. That was sure to provide a serious examination of our squad depth, especially with Gérson having sprained his knee ligaments in training to add to our injury concerns.
FIORENTINA vs FROSINONE (Serie A, Match 5)
SPAL might have started the season poorly, but they weren’t the only side still looking for a maiden goal. Frosinone had been shut out in their first four matches back up since winning the Serie B play-offs last season. The previous round of matches had seen them pick up their first point in a drab goalless draw with Bologna.
A fifth win in a row was surely in the bag for Fiorentina, right? Yeah, about that…
The first 20 minutes passed by with neither team getting a shot on goal. We did start to test our opponents later in the opening half, but a couple of impressive saves by Marco Sportiello kept us at bay. At the other end, Lafont had to tip behind an injury-time free-kick from Frosinone’s former Arsenal… ’employee’ Joel Campbell.
A couple of Frenchmen entered the fray for us after the interval, quickly giving us opportunities to break the deadlock. Veretout sent a ferocious left-footer over the bar before Valentin Eysseric‘s header was stopped by Sportiello.
The breakthrough eventually came just after the hour. Eysseric’s volley was blocked by one yellow shirt and rebounded off another before falling to Biraghi. The left-back swerved it first-time through the defence and past Sportiello to give us a 1-0 lead!
Then disaster struck. Just after I had made my final substitution, Federico Ceccherini – our fourth-choice centre-back who was making his debut – twisted his ankle. That left us having to see out the match with a man light, and with Dabo partnering captain Germán Pezzella in defence.
I tried to see the match out by playing more cautiously, but that allowed Frosinone to get themselves back into the game. In the final minute of normal time, Marco Capuano knocked down a Campbell corner to teenage striker Andrea Pinamonti, whose near-post finish stole a point for the Canarini.
We might have failed to continue our 100% record, but Roma had kept theirs alive. Stephan El Shaarawy earned the leaders three more points at Sampdoria before getting himself sent off. At the other end of the table, Parma suffered a fifth consecutive defeat after throwing away a 2-0 home lead against SPAL, whose season got up and running.
You might also be interested to know that Juventus returned to their rampant best, annihilating Genoa 7-1. Cristiano Ronaldo did score… THREE TIMES!
Despite our first hiccup of the season, our entertaining (if surprisingly low-scoring) football earned rave reviews from punters and pundits alike. Even a certain Argentine demi-God declared his approval:
If it’s good enough for Batigol, then it’s good enough for me.
CHIEVO vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 6)
You’ll remember from last time that Chievo boss Giampiero Ventura had a dig at us in the press, saying that we would struggle to stay up this season. He had some cheek to say that, considering his Gialloblu were predicted to finish 16th.
Ventura’s comments made me particularly determined to force the 70-year-old’s words back down his throat when we travelled to the Marcantonio Bentegodi in midweek. Our last visit to Verona in pre-season had neither been a love story nor a tragedy, but I was hopeful at kick-off that we could continue our fairytale start.
My optimism didn’t take long to diminish. Lafont was forced into a couple of early saves before injury struck another Fiorentina player down. Advanced playmaker Fernandes fractured his wrist after a rough challenge from Joel Obi in just the ninth minute, which meant Dabo came on much earlier than he’d expected to.
One of Dabo’s first acts was to help set up a promising move in the 13th minute. His pass to Maximiliano Olivera (Biraghi’s left-back deputy) was crossed into the box towards our 35-year-old frontman Cyril Théréau (making his first appearance for me after injury). It was punched away by Stefano Sorrentino, and we wouldn’t get any closer to breaking the deadlock before half-time.
With the scores still level, both managers used the interval to make potential tide-turning changes. Ventura brought on an experienced winger in the Slovenian Valter Birsa. I made a more subtle change, giving right wing-back Vincent Laurini a more attacking role and instructing my midfielders to find him on the overlap.
Barely half a minute after the restart, my change paid dividends. Veretout sprayed the ball out to Laurini, who took on the opposing left-back before supplying a cross that Pjaca buried at the far post! We were 1-0 up, and Ventura responded by substituting Birsa, who hadn’t even touched the ball during a very brief cameo!
One Frenchman had set up our first goal, and a couple more combined to put us further ahead just two minutes later. Veretout squared the ball to Théréau, who outmuscled his marker and lashed in a shot that Sorrentino could only help into his own net. Not bad for an old codger!
Cyril’s night almost got better still in the 53rd minute. Birsa’s replacement Federico Barba was adjudged by VAR to have fouled Milenkovic in the box, giving Théréau the opportunity to notch up a brace. Sadly, his penalty was far too close to Sorrentino, who parried it away before also stopping the follow-up.
Had it not been for Sorrentino, we could easily have run riot. Nevertheless, our early second-half surge proved enough to get us back to winning ways. Laurini was named ‘man of the match’, though he left Verona with a tight thigh as well as a shiny new award.
So much for ‘Ace Ventura: Relegation Detective’, eh?
That victory kept us in 2nd position behind Roma, whose Turkish attacker Cengiz Ünder bagged a hat-trick against Juventus to continue the Giallorossi’s winning streak. Juve now found themselves out of the European places for the first time this season! Their bitter rivals Torino defeated Sampdoria 3-0 to climb up to 4th, just behind Lazio.
The good news regarding Fernandes was that he would not have to miss any games, despite his wrist injury. The Swiss star was given protective equipment and would be on the bench for our next match. However, I was very unlikely to risk him, even though said match was a biggie.
FIORENTINA vs NAPOLI (Serie A, Match 7)
It was vital we’d racked up as many points as possible in those early matches, because a difficult run now awaited us. Juventus and Inter would soon lie in wait, but before then, we welcomed Napoli to the Artemio Franchi. Carlo Ancelotti’s side were on a five-match winning run in all competitions, having started the season slowly.
While Napoli’s attacking threat could certainly not be underestimated, we continued with the high-intensity approach that had served us well thus far. It didn’t take long to take its toll on Partenopei midfielder Amadou Diawara, who sustained a knee injury just two minutes after kick-off.
Diawara’s injury was inflicted by Mirallas, who would cause the visitors even more pain in the 33rd minute. A delicate header from Pjaca’s left-wing cross was enough to put us in the ascendancy and get everybody talking about Kevin.
We carried a 1-0 lead into the second period, though only just. A header from Marek Hamsik just before half-time was blocked by Pezzella and then turned behind by Lafont, who continued to keep Napoli at bay… until the 61st minute.
Napoli played with renewed vigour in the second half, and it showed. Chiesa ran into a dead end on the halfway line, and the Partenopei quickly countered before Hamsik drove the ball goalwards. His shot was blocked by Vítor Hugo, but Lorenzo Insigne’s follow-up was too much for Lafont. 1-1.
Chiesa put that behind him to get us back in front on 73 minutes. A fine floated delivery from substitute Valentin Eysseric was nodded home by the youngster, who outjumped Elseid Hysaj for his first goal of the season.
Within three minutes, though, our lead had been wiped out. Napoli’s quick passing had our defenders chasing shadows in the box before supersub Marko Rog converted a square ball from Allan.
Both teams had chances to win late on, but a fierce battle ended with the scores locked at 2-2. We were clear 6-2 victors on the yellow card count, which perhaps showed just how much passion we were playing with.
What a match! I quite enjoyed that, even if I couldn’t help feeling we’d dropped two points. Nevertheless, the draw extended our unbeaten run to a magnificent seven:
Roma also stayed undefeated, even if Torino did become the first team to take a point off them this season. The leaders’ city rivals Lazio knocked us down to 3rd with a comfortable 4-0 win over SPAL, while Inter and Juventus shared four goals in another titanic clash.
That left the Serie A table looking like this after seven games apiece:
(NOTE: Chievo started the season with a 3-point deduction for false accounting.)
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting us to start so strongly. We surely can’t keep the momentum going when we play the likes of Juve, Inter AND Roma over the next couple of months, can we?! Find out next time…
“Forza viola!”
Fuller FM 
You must be logged in to post a comment.