After all the excitement that came Fiorentina’s way in October, I’m hoping November will be a rather less stressful month. That doesn’t seem awfully likely, though, with fellow high-flyers Roma awaiting us at the Olimpico.
In case you missed it last time round, you can read Part 4 here and pretend that we’re still in October. (Yes, I know we’re still in October in real life… unless you’re reading this after Halloween, in which case… argh, THAT’S NOT THE POINT!)
INJURY UPDATE
I wish I could open this part with something more positive following the defeat to Inter. However, in the build-up to our home game against Bologna, this happened:
Oh dear. Losing our most talented and in-form attacker for close to two months could seriously damage our top-four chances. Gérson was having injury problems as well, so that effectively left us with only Valentin Eysseric, Kevin Mirallas and Marko Pjaca as senior inside-forward options. There’s Simone Minelli as well, but he hasn’t kicked on yet and might never be good enough.
Chiesa’s injury was actually the first serious one we’d sustained for a while. We’ve been lucky on that front of late, largely because our players are generally well-conditioned and I don’t tend to gamble on playing anyone with at least a ‘High’ injury risk. That could also explain why we’re usually in the bottom half of Serie A’s injury table, and in the top three of the one that matters most.
FIORENTINA vs BOLOGNA (Serie A, Match 11)
After our collapse at the San Siro, I decided to bench our underperforming captain Germán Pezzella for the visit of Bologna. With Chiesa unable to deputise, that meant midfielder Marco Benassi would lead us out instead. Benassi most certainly led by example in the 13th minute, when he smashed Cristiano Biraghi‘s corner delivery into the net to get us off the mark.
Bologna’s 1-0 win at Roma the previous weekend summed up their mid-table inconsistency. On a good day, their defence could be nigh on impenetrable. On a bad day, they would typically concede at least three goals, as they had already done on four occasions. There were occasions when a repeat here looked very likely.
Anyone who’d predicted a Fiorentina rout would surely have grown more confident in the 40th minute. A couple of clumsy challenges on Edimilson Fernandes resulted in Rossoblu midfielder Erick Pulgar being issued with his marching orders.
Within two minutes of Pulgar’s dismissal, we had pulled ourselves further clear. Another Biraghi corner proved to be Bologna’s undoing, as Mitchell Dijks could only nod it as far as Eysseric. The Frenchman struck the ball so ferociously into the top corner that I felt that he had – to quote Alan Partridge – “a foot like a traction engine”!
Even at half-time, I was confident that the win was ours. The second half was largely about protecting our two-goal cushion and securing the points, which we did somewhat comfortably. Our only major scare came in the 71st minute, when Bologna frontman Federico Santander screwed a shot wide after being allowed to burst behind the defence.
By the end of that round, the Serie A lead had changed hands once again. Lazio’s two-point lead disappeared after a goalless draw at home to Genoa, and they were overtaken on ‘goals scored’ by Inter, who beat Parma 2-0 with a brace from Mauro Icardi. We now trailed both Lazio and Inter on goal difference.
Meanwhile, Juventus slipped up once again with a 1-1 draw at Atalanta. Their recent plight was nothing compared to Roma’s, who slumped to a third straight defeat at Sassuolo. The former leaders just so happened to be our next opponents.
Even though he was on loan from Roma, Gérson was still eligible to play at the Olimpico… if he had been fit. Sadly, the young Brazilian midfielder gashed his leg in an Under-20s match in the build-up, which meant his full return to senior duty would have to wait a while longer.
ROMA vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 12)
Roma hadn’t won Serie A since 2001, and until recently, Eusebio Di Francesco’s men looked in good shape to end their drought. Their confidence had taken a significant hit of late, though, and so I felt that we could take the game to them. While I might’ve adopted a cautious counter-attacking approach not that long ago, I decided that we would try ‘Fullerball’ away from home against another big team.
Christian Nørgaard had yet to score for Fiorentina, though the Danish regista’s wait almost ended in the 18th minute, when Roma keeper Robin Olsen was required to push his fierce drive away. Eysseric and Jordan Veretout also had chances for us in a tight first half.
Roma’s attackers didn’t have much fortune at the other end either. Cengiz Ünder hurt his foot early on and was substituted at half-time. Stephan El Shaarawy had come closest to putting the Giallorossi midway through the first half, but Alban Lafont again showed great composure in the Viola goal to deny him.
Five minutes into the second period came a very significant moment. Our leading scorer Giovanni Simeone complained that he had been pushed in the area by Roma’s Kostas Manolas, and after consulting VAR, the referee agreed. Gio confidently stroked the resulting penalty to Olsen’s right-hand corner, and we were leading at the Olimpico!
Olsen prevented Pjaca from doubling our lead later on, but my thoughts would soon turn towards consolidation. Wary of what had happened at Inter, I told my players to ease off a bit more in the closing stages.
My more cautious approach almost backfired in the final minute. Substitute Mirallas passed to what he thought was a purple shirt, only to realise that it was the referee! That allowed Bryan Cristante to intercept the pass and stroke it ahead of Patrick Schick, whose first-time pass into the box was horrifically blazed over by Justin Kluivert! Justin’s old man would certainly not have been proud!
Despite Kevin momentarily losing his mind, we just about scraped home with a win. Our unlikely title challenge was still going strong, while Roma’s crisis continued with a fourth defeat on the bounce.
That win moved us up to 27 points alongside Lazio, whose 2-1 win at Juventus left the defending champions six points adrift. Inter’s goalless draw with Atalanta saw the leaders suddenly drop from 1st place to 5th, with Milan and Torino overtaking them after narrow wins at SPAL and Frosinone respectively! That sums up just how tight Serie A was at the top!
Another international break then came and went, with two Fiorentina players reaching career milestones. Nørgaard was capped by Denmark for the first time, while Fernandes scored his maiden international goal for Switzerland. Italy left Benassi at home this time, which perhaps explains why they were relegated to Division B of the Nations League.
PARMA vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 13)
Parma’s golden era of the 1990s may have been a distant memory, but the good times had recently been brought back to the Ennio Tardini. Having been declared bankrupt in 2015, the Crociati had spent the past three years climbing their way back up to Serie A. They now faced a battle to retain their top-flight status, having won just two of their 12 matches thus far.
Parma’s hopes of a third victory were raised very early on. Ex-Arsenal forward Gervinho was adjudged to have been pulled back in the box by Veretout, prompting the referee to award a hosts a penalty. Italy Under-21s left-back Federico Dimarco calmly stroked the spot-kick into the net, and we were behind after just six minutes.
I had expected us to get back to our best quickly, but we couldn’t. Indeed, Parma would strike again in the 23rd minute. Midfielder Alberto Grassi drove Antonio Di Gaudio’s pass through a crowded Viola box and beat Lafont for 2-0.
We had a sizeable mountain to climb, but we didn’t even get past base camp. Eysseric and Simeone each picked up knocks, with the former having to be substituted as a precaution at half-time. Eysseric’s replacement Pjaca looked out of sorts in the second half and was showing signs of possible jadedness.
That second period had begun with Alessandro Deiola rattling our crossbar. A few minutes later, Gérson had an attempt on goal blocked, which turned out to be our only shot of the entire match. This was not the Viola team I had grown used to watching over the past four months, and I couldn’t fathom what was going on.
Parma strolled to a 2-0 win, but they really should have been even further ahead. An appalling slide tackle by Nikola Milenkovic on the explosive Gervinho perhaps should have given the Crociati another penalty after 59 minutes, but VAR ruled otherwise. I wouldn’t have complained had the decision gone against us.
We had scored in 12 consecutive matches, but this was no unlucky 13th game. The fact that Benassi was our best-performing player with a 6.8 rating said it all. Benassi collected his fifth yellow card of the season, as did right-back Vincent Laurini, which meant both men would miss our next game against Atalanta.
Having started the weekend level on points with Lazio and Inter, we now found ourselves three adrift of the summit. A top-of-the-table clash at the Olimpico had ended with Lazio inflicting just Inter’s second defeat of the season and retaking the initiative.
A 1-1 home draw against lowly Frosinone was surprisingly enough to see Milan move into 2nd place – just above us and Torino, who had salvaged a point against Torino. Napoli won at Sampdoria after scoring twice in the first seven minutes, which meant Inter fell all the way down to 6th!
FEDERICO’S FED-UP
Don’t worry; Chiesa hasn’t requested a transfer (yet). Rather, it’s 26-year-old central defender Federico Ceccherini who has grown impatient, over a lack of first-team opportunities.
Ceccherini has a point, as he’s played just twice for us since his summer transfer from Crotone. That’s not to say he’s a bad central defender. He can certainly do a decent job at this level, but Pezzella, Milenkovic and Vítor Hugo have all been generally consistent and reliable this season (*cough* Inter *cough*). Displacing two of those three would be no mean feat.
I told Ceccherini honestly that he would need to be more patient, but he wasn’t buying it. Having stopped just short of requesting a transfer, he sulked off and started complaining to his team-mates. The next day, Chiesa and Veretout were outside my door demanding answers.
Our conversation was short and sweet. I told the pair, “How would you feel if I dropped you from the team just to appease one player?” Chiesa and Veretout both nodded, “Fair enough,” and dropped their opposition.
So, where does Ceccherini stand now? He’s still a bit grumpy and bringing the dressing room atmosphere down, so he could leave in January if his mood doesn’t improve. While I’m not dead set on selling Ceccherini, I won’t rule out moving him on and bringing a younger lad in as defensive cover.
Everyone else at Fiorentina will have to put up with me for a while longer. Having signed an initial 12-month contract in July, the board have already offered me a new and improved deal that runs until the end of the 2020/2021 season. Of course, being in Italy, I could be gone by Christmas if we lose our next four games… but let’s try to forget about that, shall we?
I hope you enjoyed that trek through November, even if the month went out with more of a whimper than a bang. Part 6 will be a bumper one, with six games on our schedule in December before the mid-season break. Can we keep ourselves in the top four at the halfway point?
“Forza viola!”
Fuller FM 
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