THERE was something very jarring about seeing Fiorentina at the foot of the Serie A table this week. After huge changes over the summer, it seemed yet another renaissance was set to take place in the Tuscan capital, one led by Rocco Commisso after the Italian-American billionaire took control of the club back in June.
He had played the situation perfectly, quickly grasping what supporters in the city wanted from their team and making drastic improvements to the squad. Signings like Franck Ribery and Kevin-Prince Boateng brought global attention back to a team that was once a regular title challenger, but which had found itself mired in mid-table mediocrity for far too long.
That Fiorentina only avoided relegation to Serie B on the final day of last season was shocking too but, even after heavy investment from Mr. Commisso, there has been no instant change in fortune. They entered Wednesday night’s clash with Sampdoria winless in their last 18 league games, a club-record streak which stretched all the way back to February, one which had already cost former boss Stefano Pioli his job.
23 & 188 – #Fiorentina starting XI tonight has an average of 23 years and 188 days, the youngest for the Viola in Serie A since Opta collected this kind of data (1994/95). Freshness. #FiorentinaNapoli
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) August 24, 2019
Current coach Vincenzo Montella had seen speculation begin about his own future, but at a press conference on Tuesday the former striker seemed completely unfazed. “The lack of victories isn’t weighing on me, even if – looking at our fixture list – we could’ve picked up more points, he told reporters. “We must remain calm because we’re on the right path, we’re laying important foundations. I want to win, but I don’t feel the anxiety of winning. I don’t feel pressured by the club. I’m not looking at the table and we’re in trouble because of results, not because of our performances.”
On the surface, those comments could easily be written off as misplaced bravado, but anyone who has watched Fiorentina regularly over the difficult months they have endured could see that this season’s team was vastly different to the 2018/19 version. In the opening four matches of the new campaign they had held both Atalanta and Juventus to highly credible draws and lost only narrowly Napoli, meaning they had already faced each of last season’s top three and taken points from them.
Yes, they had been utterly abject in a loss to Genoa, but Montella was right to say he and his players were “laying important foundations” that they could build upon. The defence had begun to look far more solid, particularly after the addition of full-backs Pol Lirola from Sassuolo and Inter’s Dalbert Henrique.
But much of the improvement has come in the middle of the pitch. Last term, this was a team without a functioning midfield unit, former Aston Villa man Jordan Veretout the only player who looked anything near the required standard. Selling him to AS Roma in the summer could have been a disaster, but new Sporting Director Daniele Prade and Montella already had a plan in place that would ensure he was not missed.
Milan Badelj – who played for the coach during his first spell with the club – was brought back from Lazio to be a calming veteran presence who could anchor the midfield. Playing within his limits and happy to pass the ball quickly to more gifted team-mates, he is the perfect foil for the two exciting prospects he now finds flanking him.
Franck Ribéry and Federico Chiesa with a goal and an assist each in Fiorentina’s last 2 matches, playing up front together in a 4-4-2.
So good to see an experienced former world class superstar in tandem with an elite young talent pic.twitter.com/dNEjocpSiA
— Premier League Panel (@PremLeaguePanel) September 25, 2019
Proving himself during a spell with Bologna, Erick Pulgar is a prototypical Chilean midfielder; relentlessly energetic, quick across the ground, technically gifted and full of dogged determination. That he is also deadly from set pieces certainly doesn’t hurt, already bagging two penalties and adding an assist with a perfect corner delivered to Nikola Milenkovic’s head during the 4-3 loss to Napoli.
Completing the trio is Gaetano Castrovilli, a 22-year-old product of the Fiorentina academy who spent the past two seasons on loan at Serie B outfit Cremonese. “He has fantastic potential, I really like him,” Montella told Sky Italia last month. “After one training during pre season I decided we had to take him off the market, he is one of the best Italian midfielders in terms of dribbling and the ability to make a change of pace.”
The rapidly improving midfield has allowed the attack to thrive, and by now Federico Chiesa needs no introduction. Commisso refused to sell the talented young star amid relentless speculation this summer, and it seems the player himself was fully on board with that decision, his commitment to the Fiorentina cause as clear as ever. Still young and with much to learn when it comes to decision making, he has begun the new season the way he finished the previous one, charging forward at every available opportunity.
He now has far better support however, and cannot fail to learn from playing alongside a player as talented as Ribery. After a decade at Bayern Munich, seeing the Frenchman in Fiorentina’s striking purple shirt is almost as confusing as seeing the club bottom of Serie A, but he has clearly settled quickly, helped by the fact he spoke Italian long before arriving on the peninsula.
Montella told Sky Italia that Ribery “has the mentality of a champion” and that has been evident in every appearance he has made thus far. Whether putting an arm around a team-mate to encourage them on the field or explaining different facets of play on the bench, the 36-year-old is constantly helping, teaching and pushing his inexperienced colleagues to do better, setting an incredible example for them with his own performances.
Not tweeted on purpose till the end
BUT….Fiorentina have won a game for the first time since February!!!
THIS IS NOT A DRILL
— Chloe Beresford (@ChloeJBeresford) September 25, 2019
Nothing encapsulated that better than when he gave the ball away against Juventus, chasing, catching and tackling Cristiano Ronaldo in order to win back possession. “He could not accept a misplaced pass to put his team in danger,” explained Montella after the final whistle, “so even though he was exhausted, he ran back and fixed it himself!”
The galvanising effect of such a highly decorated player giving his all for the club has been palpable. Supporters on the Curva Fiesole, after years of feeling disillusioned by the previous owners, are reinvigorated and full of belief, buying more season tickets this year than they have in two decades.
On the field, Ribery’s team-mates have followed suit, where seeing him pressing opposition defenders tirelessly has pushed Chiesa, Castrovilli and others to do the same, a young, hungry team eager to impress their veteran leader. Even Montella seems happier, grabbing the Frenchman as he left the field against Sampdoria and hugging him tightly, knowing exactly what impact his star player was having on those around him.
Fiorentina won 2-1 on Wednesday night, their first victory in almost eight months finally putting a stop to the worst winless run in the club’s history. But rather than the end of something, it felt like a new beginning, the start of an exciting new era for a club that is far more used to life at the top of the table rather than the bottom.
It is a chapter that could not be written without the headline grabbing stories from the summer; Rocco Commisso’s money, Federico Chiesa’s future and the arrival of proven stars like Franck Ribery and Kevin-Prince Boateng.
But if those are the reasons for tuning in to a Fiorentina match, it is the young core of players who will ultimately decide their fate and who are quickly proving that they are the real story here. It is the steely determination of Erick Pulgar, the emerging talent of Gaetano Castrovilli and the rapidly improving defensive ability of Dalbert, Nikola Milenkovic and Pol Lirola that makes the difference tangible.
They are the ones who lifted La Viola from the bottom of the table, and now they have their first win they’ll be hungry for the next one. Stay tuned!
