My second season with Fiorentina is done and dusted. It was a campaign that started with so much promise, but we were ultimately left disappointed and with bitter tastes in our mouths. Even so, there were a few green shoots of optimism that suggests things might be looking up for the Viola in 2020/2021.
This post will round up our domestic and European campaigns in 2019/2020. There’ll also be some awards and statistics before I detail my plans for the future.
Put it this way: I am going to have a very busy summer. With Harry Redknapp currently enjoying the company of Noel Edmonds and Charlotte from ‘The Inbetweeners’ in the Australian jungle, I’m taking up his mantle as football’s top wheeling-dealing Londoner.
SERIE A
And it all started so well. We opened the Serie A season at the Olimpico and came from behind to stun Lazio – new signing Domenico Berardi securing the points with what would be his only goal from open play. Another late fightback saw us pinch a point against Inter, though we weren’t quite able to repeat the feat at Napoli.
Then things got a bit hairy. The next three months would see us win just two matches, squeaking past Bologna 1-0 at home before dismantling Parma away. A lot of disappointing draws against weaker opponents saw us quickly lose ground on the Champions League places, as did a 4-3 home loss to champions Juventus. Federico Chiesa‘s excellent first-half hat-trick could not save me from a first defeat at the Artemio Franchi.
Our season hit a new low in November. After letting a lead slip at Roma, Milan inflicted a second home loss on us. Then came Bergamo, where captain Germán Pezzella was sent off within seven minutes before Atalanta’s Duván Zapata helped himself to a hat-trick. We slipped all the way down to 13th, and I was seriously considering my future at Fiorentina.
A slight change of approach revived our season in December, when we won five of our six matches. The highlight was undoubtedly a 4-0 away win over Verona, where Chiesa and teenage loanee Pietro Pellegri helped themselves to a brace apiece. That was soon followed by a draw with Torino, though we still reached the halfway point of the season in a respectable 7th place.
We showed some rustiness after the break, suffering back-to-back late defeats against Lazio and Inter – the latter after we had battled back from 3-0 behind. Just three days after our San Siro heartbreak, though, a second-half goal from Pellegri – and a brilliant rearguard display – earned us a 1-0 win against Napoli.
Our form then picked up, with some strong attacking performances putting us into the top six. A three-goal humbling against Juventus in Turin knocked our confidence a bit, though, and we failed to beat Cagliari – who were ultimately relegated – in our next home match.
Narrow wins against Genoa and Roma followed before we imploded late on in another defeat at the San Siro. Though we incredibly won our next game 6-2 against a capable Atalanta side, we suffered an even more astonishing reverse against another soon-to-be-relegated team in Salernitana. With that result, any realistic hope we had of qualifying for the Champions League was effectively gone.
Our late-season form was bemusing, to say the least. Virtually the same Verona team who’d caved in against us before Christmas came to the Franchi and grabbed a win. Mid-table Udinese went one better a fortnight later, which meant we weren’t assured of 6th place until Pellegri’s early brace helped us beat Sampdoria 3-2. We completed the season on 62 points – eight fewer than we’d mustered in the previous campaign.
EUROPA LEAGUE
Initially, we didn’t look convincing on our return to the Europa League. We were drawn in the same group as former striker Giovanni Simeone’s new club Everton, who shut us out twice and won the pool. We only just beat Belgian side Charleroi at home, though a couple of similarly gritty encounters with Galatasaray sealed our presence in the knockout rounds.
CSKA Moscow’s fragile defence was no match for our firepower in the Round of 32. Celtic were also swatted aside in the Round of 16, though they grabbed a late second-leg winner when the tie was long out of their reach.
The Quarter Final against Inter proved to be a bridge too far. Matteo Politano scored in the very first minute at the San Siro, and Pezzella’s unfortunate own goal compounded our misery. We could not overturn our 2-0 deficit on home soil, going out of Europe with a whimper.
COPPA ITALIA
Serie B side Sassuolo came very close to knocking us out in Round 1. Bryan Dabo‘s red card just before extra-time could’ve been fateful for us, but Pellegri saved our skins and put us into the Quarters. We left it late again to beat Atalanta, scoring twice in the final 10 minutes to avenge our loss to La Dea at that stage last year.
Pescara drew first blood in the Semi Final, though we turned on the style to win the first leg 3-1. Then came a feast of goals in the return fixture. Pescara started strongly – leading the tie on the away goals rule for a while – and ended strongly too, but we held on to keep the final deficit at 4-2. That put us through to the Final on away goals.
We looked for our first major trophy since 2001 when facing Napoli at the Olimpico. The opening half of the Final was fairly even, though Pellegri missed a great chance to put us ahead from the penalty spot. His saved spot-kick would prove telling, as the Partenopei outclassed us after the restart. Marek Hamsik and Dries Mertens each got on the scoresheet to break our hearts and take the Coppa Italia back home to Naples.
AWARDS & STATISTICS
There was absolutely no doubt about who our Fans’ Player of the Season was. Chiesa took nearly half of the votes, having produced 16 goals and 15 assists in 48 appearances. The scary thing was that – at 22 years old – our vice-captain and wing wizard could become better still over the coming seasons!
Chiesa was also unsurprisingly named Young Player of the Season, and I think it’s fair to say he’s now one of world football’s best players under the age of 23. The list of potential suitors is growing by the month, so we might face a real battle to keep hold of Federico in the summer. I’m hoping a price tag of €100million will deter any bids.
Chiesa was one of three Fiorentina players to reach double figures in terms of goals this season, alongside top scorer Pellegri (17) and Valentin Eysseric (15). It was Eysseric who came a distant 2nd in our fans’ vote, with the 28-year-old Frenchman enjoyed unquestionably the most productive season of his career. He also won our Goal of the Season award for a sublime solo effort at home to Atalanta, which was the first of SIX we scored that night.
Captain Pezzella took 3rd place in that Player of the Season vote. Apart from a fateful lapse of concentration in the Coppa Italia Final, the Argentinian centre-back had another strong and consistent campaign. Indeed, he too has attracted significant interest, so his long-term future might not necessarily lie at the Franchi.
Attacking midfielder Nicolás Benedetti – who joined us from Deportivo Cali for €600,000 last summer – was our signing of the season. I found that a little surprising, as although Benedetti showed glimpses of his talent, he went missing more often than not. Right-back Almamy Touré arguably had a better first season following his Bosman move from Monaco, even if he too was found wanting on occasion.
The efforts of Chiesa, Pellegri and Eysseric meant we shared the goals around a bit more this season compared to last, when we were rather reliant on Simeone. Eysseric was our top Serie A scorer with 12 (which was still 10 fewer than a certain Cristiano Ronaldo managed), while only six players in the league bettered Chiesa’s 10 assists.
However, I had hoped other attackers would contribute more. Five of Berardi’s six goals were penalties, for instance, while Santi Mina only found the net twice following his January transfer. An even greater disappointment was on-loan Atlético Madrid winger Luciano Vietto, who will move to Villarreal on a free transfer this summer.
We slightly improved when it came to our shooting, with a shots on target ratio of 43% and a decent conversion rate of 9%. Chiesa and Pellegri were particularly accurate, with over 60% of their strikes hitting the target. Pellegri ranked 5th in Serie A on that statistic and will be sorely missed when he returns to Monaco, who now want to blood the wonderkid into their first-team.
We again had the best pass completion ratio in the league, though that stat dropped from 84% to 79%. Jordan Veretout and Marco Benassi – both core components of our midfield – were unsurprisingly our most accurate passers. It was a little alarming to see many of Chiesa’s passes go awry, though sacrificing that aspect of his game to become a greater attacking threat might not be a bad thing.
When it came to discipline, a record of 57 yellow and two red cards saw us win Serie A’s Fair Play award. I found that we were a little too aggressive last season, so to see us clean up our act so drastically was a little encouraging. Far too often, though, we seemed like soft touches against weaker sides, so we perhaps still need to strike a good balance.
‘Softening up’ had a negative impact on our defence. We conceded eight more league goals this season than last, and our record was by some margin the worst amongst the seven teams who qualified for Europe. Alban Lafont still kept 13 clean sheets, but he and Nikola Milenkovic each made a couple of mistakes that directly led to goals.
Seven first-team regulars had average match ratings above 7.00, compared to just four last time out. Two of them even made it into Serie A’s top 20: Chiesa (5th, on 7.19) and Eysseric (13th, on 7.12). An honourable mention goes to Kevin Diks, whose often-impressive shifts kept our first-choice right-back Touré firmly on his toes.
TRANSFER PLANS
We’ve still got a fair bit of money left over from when we sold Simeone. Expect to see me use most of my €35million transfer budget as I go all-out for Champions League qualification.
Our only confirmed signing so far is the teenage Belgian goalkeeper Elias Heylen. He’ll be my third-choice custodian this season, as I want to bring in someone with rather more experience to act as Lafont’s backup this season. Daniele Padelli is past-it and will be released when his contract expires.
There could be significant changes in the centre of our defence. Vítor Hugo is definitely staying, but any of our other senior centre-backs could conceivably move if the right offer comes in. Milenkovic is perhaps most likely to be sold, as he fills a ‘non-EU’ spot in the squad and has been very error-prone of late. A stronger, quicker and more reliable replacement will be near the top of my shopping list.
I think we’re fine for full-backs. Maximiliano Olivera is likely to leave, but I don’t see the need to sign a replacement understudy to our top left-back Cristiano Biraghi. Youngsters David Hancko and Luca Ranieri will instead battle it out over pre-season for a squad place.
A new midfield enforcer is an absolute must. You can see this season that we’ve badly lacked a physical and hard-working ball-winner who can scare the living daylights out of the opposition. I reckon my Ligue 1 scout has found just the right man for the job, and I’m optimistic we can bring him in for a somewhat high but still reasonable price.
Further up the midfield, there’s a chance we might lose Benassi, who still wants to play Champions League football. €45million or thereabouts might be enough to convince me to sell him. As attacking midfielders seem to be largely ineffective in the current match engine, Riccardo Saponara looks likely to leave too, while Benedetti will probably be retrained as a box-to-box central midfielder.
We could do with more quality besides Chiesa, Eysseric and Berardi in the wide attacking areas, so that’s an area I’ll look to bolster as well. A second left-footer to rival Berardi wouldn’t hurt.
With Pellegri heading back to Monaco, I’ll spend a second consecutive summer scouring for a replacement striker. Deep-lying forwards tend to work most effectively with my tactics. I would ideally like to buy someone this time instead of merely loaning them in, as I really don’t want to go through this all over again in 12 months.
NEXT SEASON’S TARGETS
In my initial three-year plan for Fiorentina, I had the third season down as the one where would start challenging for the scudetto and making waves in the Champions League. After our failures this year, though, I’ve had to revise my plans for 2020/2021.
I’m about to enter the final year of my current contract, so it’s very much “ora o mai più” – now or never. We must finish in Serie A’s top four, otherwise it’s all over. This story was never intended to run for any longer than five seasons, so if I can’t guide the Viola into the Champions League after three attempts, I’ll have little choice but to write the project off.
Having reached the Europa League Quarters this season, I’m expecting at least the same again next time around. I’d also like us to be rather more convincing in the Group Stage following our double defeats against Everton.
The Coppa Italia again offers us our most realistic chance of ending a trophy drought that will celebrate its 20th birthday next year if we don’t buck our ideas up. After fading away in the second half at the Olimpico, we’ve got unfinished business in that competition. If Napoli get in our way again, you can be sure we’ll be out for revenge.
ELSEWHERE…
The old Champions League curse came back to bite Pep Guardiola when his Manchester City side defended their title against Barcelona in Istanbul. A 12th-minute goal from Ousmane Dembélé decided the Final, in which the Citizens had midfield maestro Kevin De Bruyne sent off. Barça then held their nerve to win a sixth European Cup – their first since 2015.
Back at home, City secured a third straight Premier League title, though – like last year – not without the odd wobble. A late run of victories saw them finish three points clear of Manchester United, who signed Harry Kane for €167million… and then failed the league’s Financial Fair Play rules. That prompted José Mourinho to go on a 20-minute rant about the collapse of Toys R Us.
Tottenham didn’t miss Kane too much, as they bought Raphaël Varane and Christian Pulisic before finishing 3rd. Just behind them were Liverpool, who leapfrogged Chelsea into 4th on the final day. After a lean second season at Anfield, Mohamed Salah regained the Premier League’s Golden Boot, albeit with an unremarkable haul of 17 goals.
Winning the FA Cup was not enough to save Maurizio Sarri’s job at Chelsea, who are the only (ahem) ‘Big Six’ team who won’t be in next season’s Champions League. 6th-placed Arsenal secured a return to the European elite by beating Real Betis 3-0 in the Europa League Final. As if watching my beloved Gunners win a continental title was ridiculous enough, Sokratis scored twice! Only in Football Manager, eh?
While Stoke kept themselves up at the first attempt, QPR and Sheffield United were quickly sent back to the Championship. Joining them there were West Ham, who were relegated after drawing their last five matches. It was a rather better season for Leicester, who won the EFL Cup 3-1 against manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s old club Manchester United. The baby-faced assassin strikes again…
Barcelona might have won the biggest prize of all, but La Liga still belonged to Atlético Madrid. Los Colchoneros defended their championship by conceding 24 goals (that’s Diego Simeone for you) and scoring 84 (that’s Dieg… hang on a minute). Real Madrid again finished 3rd behind their two biggest rivals, and manager Julen Lopetegui was sacked after secretly holding talks to become Spain’s next Prime Minister.
After spending nearly €300million on new players over the summer, Bayern München stormed to yet another Bundesliga triumph. Their eighth straight title was won by a 17-point margin from Bayer Leverkusen, with 3rd and 4th place going to Borussias Dortmund and Mön… Mone… Munch… A German Team.
Paris Saint-Germain claimed another domestic double, staving off a late push from Monaco to defend Ligue 1 before overwhelming Saint-Étienne in the Coupe de France Final. PSG’s deadly trio of Kylian Mbappé, Edinson Cavani and Neymar netted 67 league goals between them, outscoring every other team except Monaco and Marseille. That’s just not fair, is it?
Lastly, the European Championship’s grand continental tour ended in disaster for Gareth Southgate’s England, who lost all three group games – against Portugal, Georgia and Croatia! The latter had another fine tournament, knocking out the Netherlands and Spain en route to the Final at Wembley, where they took on a rejuvenated Italy.
It all started so well for Croatia, who took the lead through Andrej Kramaric after 15 minutes. However, Roma duo Alessandro Florenzi and Nicolò Barella turned the match around before the Vatreni had defender Dejan Lovren sent off. An injury-time Leonardo Bonucci header secured a 3-1 win for Roberto Mancini’s Azzurri, who brought the Henri Delaunay Trophy to Italy for just the second time.
So there you have it for Season 2 of “Shades of Deep Purple”. I will return early next week for the start of my third – and hopefully not final – season in Florence. It’s time to put our recent heartaches behind us and really push on to the next level.
“Forza viola!”
Fuller FM 
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