We are two-thirds into the Serie A season, and after a very strong start, reality has finally hit home. Can I still get Fiorentina into the Champions League at the first attempt, or have I left it too late? The Europa League isn’t the worst consolation prize, but that’s like getting a Bullseye ‘Bendy Bully’ when I could have won a speedboat.
If you missed it last time out, you can go back to Part 8 here. I guarantee that there are no references to 1980s TV shows presented by Jim Bowen in that chapter, though I can’t promise that you won’t read of any violent acts from Serbian hardmen.
A HAPPY CAMP
To start this chapter, a quick word on the atmosphere at Fiorentina. To misquote Russ Abbot, oh what an atmosphere! I love a football team with a happy atmosphere! (Apologies to all my non-British readers who might not know who Russ Abbot is either. Thankfully, I’ve almost run out of British entertainers from the 70s/80s who haven’t done naughty things, so there’ll be no more of those references today. Promise.)
Despite our recent inconsistent form, our match cohesion has been creeping up, which should improve our positioning in upcoming games. I’ve also kept the dressing room atmosphere high with regular teamwork and team bonding sessions in training. Who knew that community outreach programmes would be great new additions to Football Manager?
Another new feature in FM19 that I really like is that you can ask a player about a potential issue, and they can say it’s nothing to immediately worry about. Take, for example, my chat with left-back Cristiano Biraghi, who had been thinking of asking for a pay rise:
I’ll probably offer Biraghi a new contract in the summer anyway, as he’s been one of our more consistent performers this season. That, and also because he’s a jolly good fella.
Everybody seems happy to be here, even Federico Ceccherini. As Paolo Nutini would probably sing, “Nothing’s gonna bring us down…”
NAPOLI vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 26)
Despite their recent blip, Napoli went into March still sitting 2nd in Serie A and chasing their first scudetto since 1990. We expected a stern challenge from Carlo Ancelotti’s men at the San Paolo, and that was just what we got.
Our troubles began after 18 minutes, when VAR ruled that Jordan Veretout had shoved Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly in our area. Up stepped home icon Marek Hamsik, who surprisingly pulled his penalty against Alban Lafont‘s left-hand post. When Lafont got a glove to the rebound, though, Hamsik realised he could cut home the rebound. The Slovakian attacking midfielder sprinted forward and did just that.
Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens missed chances to strengthen Napoli’s position later on. However, the latter would be gifted a golden opportunity in injury time, when Lafont suddenly started to think that he was Alisson!
After a quick exchange of passes with Vítor Hugo, Alban dribbled out of his penalty area, only to be suddenly caught out by Mertens! The Belgian duly tapped the ball into an empty net, leaving Viola fans furious. That was very harshly counted in-game as an error against Vítor Hugo, though I placed the blame squarely on our usually dependable goalkeeper.
We looked to score early in the second half, when Cyril Théréau had a speculative effort easily caught by Alex Meret. Then, in the 51st minute, captain Germán Pezzella put the ball into the net. Unfortunately, it was his own net, as an attempted interception of José Callejón’s right-wing cross went horribly wrong! 3-0 to Napoli.
We were lucky that the Partenopei couldn’t score again, and a brief lapse of concentration let us back into the game nine minutes from time. Federico Chiesa‘s first-time delivery cleared the Napoli defence and enabled the pacey Marko Pjaca to nick a goal back.
Alas, we’d left the comeback too late. Théréau and Bryan Dabo each wasted opportunities to pull it back to 3-2 before the final whistle blew on our third straight away defeat.
Napoli were now amongst three teams who were level on points at the top – seven clear of us. Lazio had squandered the overall lead with a 0-0 draw at rock-bottom SPAL, while Juventus had taken another huge step towards winning another scudetto by beating Inter 3-0. Inter slipped to 4th but remained five points ahead of us.
Milan pulled off another incredible against Sampdoria, with two injury-time goals from Suso and Franck Kessié salvaging a 2-2 draw. Roma were even more resilient when they went 2-0 behind at home to Torino, ultimately emerging as 4-2 winners.
YOUTH INTAKE
I had my first youth intake at Fiorentina shortly after the Napoli game. Bearing in mind that three gold stars is about average for a first-teamer, this new generation wasn’t the worst I could’ve expected. It wasn’t the most exciting, either.
Our best prospect looks set to be 15-year-old Stefano Rega, who could make a decent right-sided inside-forward IF he cuts out the attitude. At the moment, Stefano appears to be Outspoken, Volatile and Confrontational, so… he’s much like any other 15-year-old boy, then!
I’m a little more optimistic about Filippo Turci. He already has good handling and reflexes for a young goalkeeper, so here’s hoping he one day goes on to challenge Lafont for the number 1 jersey.
FIORENTINA vs GENOA (Serie A, Match 27)
While our recent away form had been shocking, the Artemio Franchi was proving to be a happier hunting ground for us. Victory against fourth-from-bottom Genoa – who were coachless after sacking Ivan Juric in the wake of a horrendous losing streak – would be our fifth in a row at home.
Pjaca carried on from where he’d left off against Napoli, sending us ahead with a cool finish from a 13th-minute counter-attack. Giovanni Simeone – now back from his knee injury – sprayed the ball out right to Chiesa, who dribbled into space before his hanging cross was converted by our Croatian loanee.
Things got even better for us after 27 minutes. Edimilson Fernandes won a penalty after being pushed by Genoa defender Davide Biraschi, and Simeone confidently stepped up to despatch the spot-kick.
A 2-0 half-time lead could have been strengthened further had visiting keeper Federico Marchetti not kept out a free-kick from namesake Chiesa five minutes before the break. Five minutes after the restart, Rossoblu forward Iuri Medeiros squared his own free-kick to veteran wing-back Domenico Criscito, whose unstoppable drive gave the away team fresh hope.
Criscito’s fifth goal of the Serie A season made this his most prolific campaign. He could have scored number six on 63 minutes, when Nikola Milenkovic carelessly brought Genoa’s young sub Michael Kouamé to ground. Fortunately, Lafont managed to parry Criscito’s spot-kick and prevent us from chucking away another two-goal advantage.
When Criscito came off with a knock 20 minutes from time, Genoa’s hopes of a comeback effectively went with him. Though we missed several opportunities to restore a comfortable lead, that didn’t really matter. The Viola tifosi had another reason to celebrate at our Franchi fortress.
Lazio’s 3-1 win over Frosinone aside, it was not a good weekend for the top four. Juventus were surprisingly held at Bologna, Napoli were beaten 2-1 at Parma, and Inter suffered a 1-0 home loss to Roma. The latter result meant we moved back to within two points of the top four.
JUVENTUS vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 28)
Next up for us was a daunting trek into the cauldron that was the Allianz Stadium. Juventus had put their early-season blips behind them and were now in hot pursuit of yet another championship under the guidance of Massimiliano Allegri.
We wanted nothing more than to bloody the noses of our most-hated foes, like we did in almost beating them at the Franchi in October. Veretout hoped to draw first blood in the second minute, but his savage shot was met by a more comfortable save from Wojciech Szczesny than Arsenal fans like me were used to seeing at the Emirates.
Juve’s early struggles continued when midfielder Blaise Matuidi pulled a calf muscle in the 14th minute. Just eight minutes later, though, La Vecchia Signora was back to her best. Douglas Costa’s free-kick from the right was nodded home by captain Giorgio Chiellini, who now had fonder memories of playing Fiorentina after his red card last time out.
Within about 20 seconds of the restart, Juve were at it again. Costa intercepted a telegraphed pass from Veretout and dribbled upfield before his cut-back was finished by Mario Mandzukic. In the middle of all that, Paulo Dybala had pulled up with an ankle problem, forcing Allegri into another early substitution – not that he was particularly devastated.
At 2-0 down, I demanded more passion from my players. Alas, Cristiano Biraghi showed a little too much in the 41st minute, hacking down Portugal wing-back João Cancelo with a two-footed, studs-in challenge. Biraghi was shown the red card, and the contest was effectively over by half-time.
We appeared resigned to our fate in the second half, though some valiant goalkeeping from Lafont kept the scoreline down. The 20-year-old custodian was at least doing himself justice… unlike right-back Kevin Diks, who was having a nightmare game, even with Cristiano Ronaldo putting in one of his more modest shifts.
This match was very much the Douglas Costa show. The Brazilian winger completed his hat-trick of assists (and in doing so notched up his 13th of the Serie A campaign) when his corner was nodded in at the back post by Leonardo Bonucci. 3-0 to the Bianconeri. Goodnight, Turin.
It had been a very bad night all round for the Viola, though Maximiliano Olivera almost gave us a crumb of comfort in the closing moments. The Uruguayan wing-back’s deep cross into Juve’s box found the head of Simeone, but Szczesny was equal to it.
Juventus got themselves back level on points with Lazio, who would’ve retained a two-point lead were it not for Riccardo Meggiorini’s 96th-minute equaliser for Chievo. Napoli’s 4-0 win over Atalanta left them just a single point off the summit, and Inter weren’t too far behind either following a narrow victory against Bologna.
The gap between us and that top four had widened, and Roma were breathing down our necks in 6th after seeing off Milan 2-1. I was not feeling at all comfortable, even if we still looked almost certain to finish in the top seven and qualify for the Europa League.
Our next match at home to Inter was in a fortnight’s time, but before then, there was another international break. Chiesa and Marco Benassi were restored to the Italy squad for their opening European Championship qualifiers, while Bryan Dabo scored his first two goals for Burkina Faso. Okay, they were against Botswana, but still… well done, Bryan.
Meanwhile, back home in Fiorentina, it was all kicking off… thanks to a certain Argentine and his very greedy agent.
THE SIMEONE SITUATION
I am an idiot. Or maybe our director of football Carlos Freitas is. Either way, somebody at this club has shown a level of intelligence that would make Trent Alexander-Arnold look like Neil deGrasse Tyson.
It all started… I think, just before we played Juventus. Captain Pezzella took me to one side after training and said that something was Simeone wasn’t quite feeling right. After my suggestion that the skipper give Gio a pep talk failed to resolve the issue, I went straight to the horse’s mouth.
Surprise, surprise – turns out Simeone wanted a new contract. I told him to follow Biraghi’s example and put his concerns aside for the time being, but that didn’t work. I had to promise him that contract talks would start soon to keep him sweet.
Rather than handle negotiations myself, I asked Freitas to take the lead. Upon seeing what he had offered, I was horrified. Simeone was apparently being offered €73,000 per week, and – amongst other things – a €33.5million release clause for Champions League clubs. We rejected €45million from Leicester two months ago, for crying out loud!
I tried to change the offer myself, lowering Simeone’s basic wage, upping the release clause, and giving him huge potential bonuses. Gio’s agent was having none of it, so I pulled out of the deal. The Argentine striker was very upset, so I promised him that talks would resume within a week.
Following the Juve game, I let Freitas oversee the second round of negotiations, only to find that he’d relented to the agent’s increased demands. He was now offering Simeone €84,000 per week! I don’t know if you realised, Carlos, but we’re not in a position to throw that much money at one player!
Once again, I intervened, and once again, the negotiations collapsed. This time, it was the agent who withdrew, and he was now adamant that Simeone wouldn’t be interested in resuming talks.
A week went by, and then Simeone stormed into my office, all but ready to demand a transfer. Here’s how the discussion went:
Crisis averted? Not exactly. Before our next match against Inter, a journalist asked me about the Simeone situation. I basically said that, even after all that had gone before, I still hoped to offer the player a new contract “soon”.
That means Simeone is now expecting me to offer him a new contract within a month, otherwise he will ask to leave. Considering that his Mr 5% doesn’t even want to open discussions anymore, you can see why that’s a problem.
To put it another way… barring a sudden about-turn from the player or his agent, we will surely lose Giovanni Simeone this summer. That was not in the script.
FIORENTINA vs INTERNAZIONALE (Serie A, Match 29)
I hoped Simeone would put his personal problems aside when we concluded March with a huge match in our quest for Champions League qualification. Victory at home to Inter – and revenge for our 4-1 thrashing at the San Siro in October – would move us within two points of the 4th-placed Nerazzurri.
Inter had sold Mauro Icardi to Manchester United for a whopping €110million in January, while our old nemesis Keita Baldé was out with a twisted ankle. Despite that, we still had to be wary of a troublesome three-pronged attack, and we would need to defend much narrower to avoid a defeat of that pre-Halloween horror show.
The likes of Lautaro Martínez and Gabriel Barbosa were indeed frustrated early on, though Ivan Perisic did get a shot on target from the latter’s cross in the 22nd minute. Lafont caught it well to settle our nerves after Fernandes had limped off with a pulled groin.
Then, on 25 minutes, we struck a huge blow on the visitors. Chiesa superbly dispossessed their left wing-back Kwadwo Asamoah and then centred the ball from the byline. Valentin Eysseric knocked a header down, and compatriot Veretout did the rest with a powerful close-range strike. “La joie de vivre!”
Eysseric was twice prevented from enhancing our lead by Samir Handanovic before the break, but one could sense that the tide was starting to turn. Lafont was called into action either side of half-time to keep out dangerous efforts from Perisic and Barbosa.
The temperature then rose as tackles flew in (mostly from Inter players) and yellow cards were handed out with regularity (again, mostly to Inter players). Meanwhile, we tried to keep our cool and put the game to bed. Simeone glanced a header into Handanovic’s hands on 72 minutes, while Chiesa messed up another chance three minutes later.
Lafont continued to deny Luciano Spalletti’s team at every opportunity as full-time drew near, saving no fewer than three attempts from Nerazzurri playmaker Marcelo Brozovic. However, the 26-year-old Croat still had one ace up his sleeve.
In the third minute of injury time, Matías Vecino’s strike from the edge of our box was blocked by Benassi. The ball then fell to Brozovic, whose first-time rocket caught Lafont totally unawares as a priceless victory turned into an agonising 1-1 draw. Our run of five successive home wins in Serie A was over.
Thanks to Brozovic’s heartbreaker, we remained five points behind Inter, and Roma had bumped us down to 6th with a dominant 4-1 win over Bologna. Milan pulled us a little closer to themselves in 7th by defeating Sassuolo 2-0.
And for the first time since very early in the season, Juventus are top of Serie A. Allegri’s all-stars kept a fifth consecutive clean sheet upon beating Parma 2-0, and they replaced Lazio in 1st position following the Biancocelesti’s 1-1 home draw with fellow challengers Napoli. Had Callejón not scored an injury-time equaliser for Napoli, Lazio would’ve remained top on head-to-head.
These are nervy times. If we don’t pull ourselves together over these final nine games, we might be spending the summer travelling to bloomin’ Azerbaijan or the Faroe Islands to play some Europa League qualifiers – and none of us want that!
Be sure to come back soon for the next part of ‘Shades of Deep Purple’ – or, as I’ll probably rename this story soon, ‘How To Lose A Champions League Place In Four Months’.
“Forza viola!”
Fuller FM 
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