We’re halfway through the 2018/2019 Serie A season. Fiorentina have defied expectations so far, but that’ll only make the bigger teams even more determined to knock us back down.
In today’s chapter, I will talk you through the first few weeks of 2019, which includes the start of our Coppa Italia pursuit, plus our mid-season transfer business. Prepare to say goodbye to one of the unsung heroes of this Fiorentina team…
P.S. If you missed it last time, you can catch up on Part 6 here.
MID-SEASON BREAK
Oh, look! Sports Interactive have made the dark skin a bit darker in the latest beta hotfix! How novel.
Also, another Fiorentina player has committed his long-term future to the club. I don’t actually see Nikola Milenkovic as a key player just yet, but his agent basically backed me into a corner regarding the Serbian’s squad status. At the rate he’s developing, though, he’ll surely become indispensable before too long.
With the January transfer window about to open, it was vital that we got players such as Milenkovic, Marco Benassi and Jordan Veretout tied down to fresh deals. Major clubs across Europe had taken notice of our over-achievement and would no doubt try their hardest to strip us of our best assets. I would try even harder to stop them.
Federico Ceccherini was also set to stay put for the time being. The backup central defender had withdrawn his complaints over a lack of first-team football, having seen action more regularly of late. Ceccherini was a fine squad player, so I was happy to still have him.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian right-back Gilberto (aged 25) rejoined our squad following a year-long loan at Fluminense. He was one of approximately 286 Fiorentina players who’d been loaned elsewhere this season, because Italian football is mad.
Gilberto was roughly on a par with Kevin Diks and just below Vincent Laurini on current ability. He was far from amazing, and I certainly didn’t plan to keep him hanging around for long. If we could’ve made a few million Euro off him, that would’ve been a nice little boost to my transfer and wage budgets.
Speaking of my budgets, this message popped up just before the fortnight-long transfer frenzy (yes, the January window really is that short in Italy now). I had to adjust my league expectations to eke out a little more money, but after the start we’d enjoyed, a top-six finish in Serie A was now the absolute minimum.
We were in training for the best part of a fortnight before we travelled to Germany for a mid-season friendly. Duisburg – who were in the bottom half of the 2. Bundesliga – had invited us to the country for an opportunity to keep our sharpness up.
I wish I hadn’t mentioned that now. So many shots on target, but no goals IN the target. What can I say other than that the Germans were stereotypically well-organised at the back?
One could also say that we were a bit too arrogant for our own good. I certainly wouldn’t tolerate any complacency a few days later, when we returned to competitive action. Another performance like that, and we’d be out of the Coppa Italia sharpish.
FIORENTINA vs ASCOLI (Coppa Italia, Round 1)
Though the Coppa Italia draw had been kind to us in giving us a home tie, there could be no room for complacency. Ascoli might’ve been at the wrong end of the Serie B table, but they’d shown real spirit to twice come back from behind and beat Crotone in the final qualifying round.
The resilience of the Picchio was evident again during the first half of this match. They withstood a series of Viola attacks, with left-back Daniele Mignanelli proving to be particularly tough.
Mind you, most of our shots failed to get anywhere the target. Apart from stopping a 31st-minute free-kick from Federico Chiesa and an injury-time half-volley from Benassi, Ascoli goalkeeper Ivan Lanni had little work to do in the first period.
I reminded my players of the supporters’ expectations during the interval, and they returned to the pitch with renewed determination. A minute into the second half, Chiesa won a free-kick, which he lifted into the box for Giovanni Simeone to flick home.
Though Diks was hampered by a knock shortly afterwards, we soon put ourselves in full control of the tie. Marko Pjaca chested a right-wing cross from left-back Cristiano Biraghi past his marker and then struck from close range to effectively finish Ascoli off.
Before our Quarter Final place was secured, I had enough time to give a debut to 18-year-old youth-team right-winger Marco Meli. By my reckoning, Meli was the first player born in the 2000s to make a senior appearance for Fiorentina. I’m only a decade older than him, but boy does that still make me feel old…
Our reward for that win was a last-eight trip to Atalanta at the end of the month. La Dea had beaten Chievo 3-1 at home, halting a run of 10 consecutive domestic matches without victory.
That was my 20th game in charge of the Viola. To mark that milestone, the local paper put out this article:
Of course, after such a strong start, other teams will be taking us more seriously and perhaps defending with more purpose in the latter part of the season. I’ve fallen victim to this second-half slump several times in recent FMs, but I’m determined not to make the same mistakes this time.
TRANSFER WINDOW
Before we resume our Serie A campaign, let’s look at our incomings and outgoings from the January window. With only €10million in the transfer kitty, I couldn’t make any major new signings. For me, this window was all about consolidation and long-term planning… but there would also be plenty of frustration.
My number one target was the German attacking midfielder Hany Mukhtar. After I agreed a fee of around €9million with his club Brøndby, I baulked at his wage demands. €75,000 per week for someone who wouldn’t yet be a guaranteed starter? Get real, Hany, for goodness sake.
I then made a move for Basel’s highly-rated forward Albian Ajeti, but the Swiss club demanded too high a fee for my liking. Tottenham were rather more reasonable when I went in for Vincent Janssen (yes, honestly), and the Dutchman was happy to be a backup option on relatively low wages. Sadly, that move collapsed at the 11th hour.
I did, though, get a couple of deals done. The first one was for an experienced backup goalkeeper who could help mentor Alban Lafont and our other young custodians.
33-year-old Daniele Padelli had spent most of his career as a bench-warmer, save for a few years as Torino’s first-choice in the mid-2010s. I signed him on the cheap from Inter mainly for his ‘Perfectionist’ personality (which, incidentally, he shares with Simeone). Though Padelli might not play much, I’m hoping that his professionalism can rub off on Lafont.
As for our other signing… well, I reckon we’ve got the right-back situation sorted out for the long-term.
Attacking wing-back Almamy Touré was a Ligue 1 winner with Monaco in 2017, when he was just 21. Touré had since fallen out of favour in the principality, and with his contract set to expire, I wasted little time in getting him to sign a pre-contract agreement with us. Touré officially becomes a Viola player next season.
Despite his recent struggles, I’m confident that the newly-capped Mali international (who also holds a French passport) can fulfil his substantial potential with us. His arrival obviously meant that Laurini would have to be moved on sooner or later.
Meanwhile, five young players went out on loan, with Simone Minelli being the most high-profile. Minelli made a couple of league appearances for us but hadn’t developed as well as I’d hoped, so the forward’s latest loan move to Renate in Serie C is pretty much his last chance. If he doesn’t impress, he might leave for good in the summer.
The Italian window was now closed, but that that didn’t necessarily mean clubs from other European leagues couldn’t sign or loan our players. More on that later…
AC MILAN vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 20)
You could say things hadn’t gone well for us on our last visit to the San Siro. I hoped for better luck when we began the second half of the Serie A season by taking on Inter’s city rivals. The Rossoneri were 6th-placed and would be out to prove a point after their opening-day defeat to us in August.
We initially took Milan on, but after a couple of wayward headers from Veretout, we were pushed back into our half. I always expected Hakan Çalhanoglu’s set-pieces to cause us problems, and that was certainly the case in the 17th minute. The Turkish playmaker’s corner was nodded goalwards by Alessio Romagnoli, but Lafont made an assured catch.
Our team then threatened to fall apart over the next few minutes. First, Vítor Hugo collided with Suso and hurt his ankle, forcing him out. Chiesa then pulled up with an apparent calf strain. While that didn’t require an instant substitution, I was concerned enough to make another early change.
Chiesa was replaced by Kevin Mirallas, who tested Gianluigi Donnarumma’s goalkeeping abilities with a cross late in the first half. The Belgian would have a more direct effort in the 71st minute, but his header from Biraghi’s cross was caught by the teen sensation.
If the first half had been tough for us on the injury front, the second was rough on our opponents. Milan right-back Andrea Conti hurt his heel midway through the half, and his replacement – ex-Liverpool and Sunderland striker Fabio Borini – lasted just seven minutes before pulling a calf muscle.
With both teams having been noticeably weakened, the quality dipped and a 0-0 draw soon looked inevitable. This was my first competitive game as Fiorentina boss that finished goalless.
Failure to take more than a single point saw us fall further adrift of the top two, with both Lazio and Napoli winning on the road (at Empoli and Chievo respectively). Juventus also got an away victory (at SPAL) and bumped us off 3rd place. Inter could have even sent us down to 5th, but they failed to break the deadlock at Udinese.
There was more bad news when the club physio informed me about our two fallen soldiers. Vítor Hugo would be out for a few weeks with an ankle ligament injury, but Chiesa’s injury was rather more concerning.
We managed to get by when Chiesa broke his toe in November, and now we needed to cope without our vice-captain for another month. Still… at least that means he won’t be signing for Arsenal just yet!
You might have noticed that Laurini was our ‘Player of the Match’ at the San Siro. That proved to be the French wing-back’s final appearance for the Viola.
Mark Hughes’ Southampton came calling for Vincent shortly after the Milan game. We eventually agreed an initial fee of €6.5million, with €5million being paid up front. All being well, we could make a couple more million in the future. I’d say that was fine business for a decent Serie A defender who was already at his peak.
With Touré arriving in the summer, Laurini’s Fiorentina days had been numbered, but I didn’t mind selling him now. Diks deserved an extended run in the starting line-up after maturing over recent months, while Gilberto would now stick around to provide cover for our flying Dutchman. Everything’s going to be just fine.
FIORENTINA vs SASSUOLO (Serie A, Match 21)
With the top seven pulling clear of everyone else, Sassuolo were now vying it out to be the ‘best of the rest’. Their recent form had been rather poor, though, with only a smattering of victories in a lengthy list of often heavy defeats.
We were aiming to do the double over Sassuolo, and Benassi got us off to a fine start after a little over four minutes. His vicious shot past a helpless Andrea Consigli proved to be the only highlight of an otherwise tame first period.
Having barely given the Neroverdi a sniff at goal, we renewed our attacking efforts in the second half. Mirallas skimmed the top of the bar in the 58th minute – seven minutes before Sassuolo fatefully shot themselves in the foot.
Danny Baker doesn’t do football blooper DVDs anymore, but if he did, Giangiacomo Magnani surely would’ve been on the next one. The central defender played a senseless back-pass into his area, unaware that Simeone was lurking there, ready to score his 10th goal of the season. That wasn’t a bad haul for Gio, who’d now found his calling as a pressing forward.
In the 76th minute, though, Lafont gave Sassuolo a lifeline with a mistake of his own. Our young goalie came out of his area to try and punch Rogério’s left-wing cross away… but on-loan PSG forward Maxim Choupo-Moting rose above him to head home.
You’ll remember that we’d chucked a couple of 2-0 leads into the fire before… but we didn’t throw this game away. Veretout eased our fans’ anxieties in injury time, driving in Simeone’s back-heeled through-ball to secure a 3-1 win.
It was just as well that we won that match, because all the teams around us in the top five did likewise. Lazio stayed top by beating Sampdoria 2-0, while Napoli recovered from conceding the opener to thrash Roma 5-1, and Juventus also feasted on five goals against Frosinone. There were a couple of 2-0 victories for Inter (vs bottom club SPAL) and Milan (vs Parma).
ATALANTA vs FIORENTINA (Coppa Italia, Quarter Final)
We arrived in Bergamo for our next Coppa Italia match with some trepidation. While our recent form had been patchy, Atalanta had won back-to-back Serie A matches after eliminating Chievo in Round 1 of this competition. With home support on their side, La Dea would surely fancy their chances of causing an upset and reaching the Semi Finals.
Following his goal-costing error against Sassuolo, I dropped Lafont for the first time this season and instead gave Bartlomiej Dragowski a start in goal. The young Pole was one of several additions to a heavily-rotated line-up.
Mirallas and his fellow veteran forward Cyril Théréau returned to the starting XI. Both men drew early saves out of Atalanta keeper Etrit Berisha, who also kept out a fierce shot from Gérson midway through the first half. Gérson was one of only players who made successive starts, along with Germán Pezzella and Edimilson Fernandes.
After a frustrating and goalless first half, things really started to go against us in the second. Théréau bruised his ankle in the 50th minute and was soon replaced with Simeone.
Meanwhile, Atalanta grew in confidence, breaking the deadlock after 56 minutes. Shortly after Valentin Eysseric hooked a wayward clearance from Emiliano Rigoni’s corner, the ball was curled back into our area. It was at this second attempt that the big Colombian forward Duván Zapata climbed above Pezzella to head Rigoni’s cross past Dragowski.
We spent much of the second half pushing for an equaliser, often coming up short against a determined home defence. Eventually, though, we got ourselves back level. With less than two minutes remaining, the excellent Christian Nørgaard crossed to Benassi, whose blistering volley took the game into extra-time!
However, we would have to go into the additional half-hour a man light. Left-back Maximiliano Olivera was already on a yellow card when he shoved Rigoni in injury time. Olivera was sent off, and I was forced into a tactical rejig.
We effectively adopted a 3-4-2 formation for extra-time, with right-back Gilberto moving into the middle of our defence. I now had debutant wing-back David Hancko on the left flank, and Mirallas as a makeshift defensive winger on the right.
Despite our best efforts to keep things tight and try to hit Atalanta on the counter, our Coppa Italia dream was dashed early in the second extra half. A deep cross from Arkadiusz Reca was nodded home by centre-half Gianluca Mancini – a former Viola youth player, no less – and we had no way back into the tie.
While we rued a missed opportunity in the cup, Atalanta advanced to a two-legged Semi Final with Roma. The other Semi would be contested between Serie A’s top two – Napoli and Lazio.
Olivera received a formal warning for his red card and was sent to the naughty step. Our other backup left-back went somewhere rather more exotic following his first Viola appearance:
Hancko is only our third-choice in his position, so I always intended to loan the young Slovakian out in this window. I suppose I could’ve found worse destinations for him than a mid-table club in the Primeira Liga.
So Laurini has gone, as has our dream of winning the Coppa Italia this year. You could say that this hasn’t been the happiest of chapters in this story, but keep the faith. Fiorentina are still on course for an impressive league finish… at the moment.
“Forza viola!”
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