Fixing Fiorentina

I've been complaining for months that the current Fiorentina squad has way too much talent to be underachieving in the manner they have been under Beppe Iachini. He should not have been in charge at the beginning of the 20/21 season because of how poorly the prior season went. After another poor start to a season, Cesare Prandelli is now in charge for his second spell. In this article I will be discussing the club's recent history, why it's underachieving, and how I'd fix it.

To get a proper feel of what's been going on at the club, I figure it would be a good idea to include some history. Since the new manager, Cesare Prandelli, is now in his second stint at the club, we'll go over how his first escapade went. He was in charge from August 2005 until May 2010. That seems like a long time, at least in modern football. The club finished 9th, 5th, 4th, 5th and 11th during his tenure. I won't pretend to have watched the club, or the league for that matter, at the time, so I have no idea if it was "good football" or the relative strength of the league. Prandelli went on to coach the Azzurri for a few years, went abroad to Galatasaray for a season, had a debacle of stint at Valencia where the club was 17th in the 8 games he coached, took over a Saudi team for a season, and most recently was at Genoa, a joke of a club that finished one place off relegation when he was there. Iachini, to put it bluntly, is a Serie B coach. The stats back it up. He actually wasn't that horrible at Fiorentina, in terms of league position and PPG, but I think it was more of the lack of direction and dull football that made me and other calcio followers dislike the team in his term. What's also weird, looking back, is that Iachini played a back four at Sassuolo (who have gone on to thrive with de Zerbi at the helm), yet strictly played a back three at Fiorentina. Getting back to recent history... between Prandelli leaving and returning, Vincenzo Montella had two stints, the first of which saw the club finish 4th three consecutive seasons. That's the best finish the club has had this century, and it's gone downhill since (5th, 8th, 8th, 16th, 12th). The ownership has changed as well, with Rocco Commisso taking over during Summer 2019.

Apart from having iconic kits in the 90s and some star players, the club hasn't actually won anything of note (i.e. the league title or something in Europe) since 1969. To be precise, Fiorentina last won the Coppa Italia in 2001, beating Parma. The question, I suppose, is what is a reasonable expectation for a club like Fiorentina? It's a one club city, but it's nowhere near the size of Rome, Milan, Naples, or Turin. Those cities host the clubs that play Champions League football (not counting Atalanta this year and last). At the same time, they aren't even competing with a "small club" like Sassuolo. They finished below newly promoted Verona last season... A side note that I should mention is their captain, Davide Astori, died on a trip to an away game during the 2018 season. That's something that can take a toll long term on a club. He was the captain, and especially now the club has an abundance of younger players, the lack of leadership is apparent.

The next aspect of the club I want to discuss is the squad. I mentioned the youth, so I'll highlight some of the talents at the club. First and foremost is Gaetano Castrovilli. He burst onto the scene last season after a loan in Serie B, and now he's the talisman in midfield, wearing the iconic #10 shirt and getting Azzurri call-ups. For those who haven't watched him, he's an all around baller in the midfield. Excels at dribbling, creating shots, as well as contributing defensively (pressures and tackles). Next is Nikola Milenkovic. He just turned 23 and has all the traits of a modern defender. He's agile, can pick a pass, tackles well, and is a beast in the air. If needed, he can play as a right back, but that's a waste of his gifts as a CB. There are two young goalkeepers, one of which is out on loan. They are Dragowski and Lafont, Polish and French, respectively. Lafont came from Toulouse and is now on loan at Nantes, having lost confidence and form in his early days at Fiorentina. Last season was not great for Dragowski, having excelled at Empoli the last time they were relegated. I think it's down to the lack of cohesion in the team that the keeper is left stranded more often than he should. The next trio I'll mention are all strikers (Cutrone, Kouame, Vlahovic). Now, I don't think it's a coincidence that most of the squad is underperforming. It's down to bad coaching. This extends, obviously, to the forwards, and all three guys I just mentioned are 22 or under. Iachini, at least to my eye, wanted to play defensive football with a direct counterattacking focus. If your strikers aren't suited for that, or if they have confidence issues in front of goal, that's a recipe for disaster. A few others I'll mention are Amrabat, Igor, Lirola, and Martinez Quarta. All of these are full of hope for the future. Also, of the players I mentioned, you could nearly have a full team of 25 and under players. Lastly, I should probably talk a little about Chiesa, seeing as he was the "star" of the squad. Personally, I like some of his game, but he's a diva. Part of that is the spoiled rich kid upbringing, as well as some "big fish, small pond" syndrome. Juventus probably isn't the best fit for him, but who knows, he could make it work.

I will now explain who I'd have starting, how they'd be set up, and the style of play I'd like to see. Just a disclaimer, but it'll largely depend on if players are fit. I mean, that's obvious, but I won't be relying on old/injury prone guys.

This is one lineup I think has potential: Dragowski; Biraghi, Igor, Quarta, Milenkovic; Ribery, Castrovilli, Pulgar, Callejon; Kouame, Vlahovic.

One of the "new trends" as it were is play a big of a lopsided 4-4-2/back 5, depending on how you look at it. In this case, I'd have Callejon pretty much acting as a wing back along with Biraghi, with Igor as the left footer of the CBs and Milenkovic much more reserved, tucking in. Castrovilli (or Amrabat) would be the creator in midfield, with Pulgar doing the dirty work, and Ribery cutting in to support the strikers.

Another option has most of the same players, but more numbers in midfield.

It could also easily shift to a 4-3-3 with Callejon taking one of the CF's places and Ribery playing his usual left wing position.

Same keeper and left side of defense, with Pezzella taking over for Igor when healthy. Milenkovic as his CB partner, with Lirola now at RB. Pulgar sitting with Castrovilli and Amrabat (could be inserted for a box-to-box presence) ahead of him. Ribery in the #10 position with a free role, often drifting out to the left as Biraghi is the more reserved fullback, with the same strikers (or Cutrone, if you trust him). The difference here is the midfield is a little more solid with the extra man. Bonaventura and Saponara are also options in the 10 role.

In terms of style of play, the obvious thing is having a concerted effort towards possessing the ball and creating chances from open play. This squad has the personnel to play good football, it's just a matter of having a coach that can implement a decent style. Especially that midfield. Castrovilli is the obvious one that could play at the Champions League level, and both Amrabat and Pulgar aren't far off. Ribery is old now and you can't expect him to stay fit, but when he is you want the magic he can produce as often as possible. I just think it's crazy to have three clearly decent young strikers, all with different skill sets, and NONE of them are scoring goals.

On a related note, concerning the strikers, I found that so far this season, as well as the past two seasons, the club has underperformed according to xG. Now, I've explained numerous times that xG is flawed. However, it does help people who don't necessarily watch every single game get a read on what's happened over the course of a season. The style issue I'll now address is common in Serie A. It's certainly not a "defensive" league, far from it. However, outside the top 8 or so teams, the others pretty much all play catenaccio type football, AKA preventing the opposition from attacking. To make it relevant to Fiorentina, the club hasn't played good football for a while, since Montella the first time I'd say. Energy is something non-negotiable to me in modern football, and with a young team that should be a squad strength.

Notice that I haven't once mentioned transfers, up until now. Most of the issues at the club are internal, but they could use some new blood. One of the players relegated last season that's somehow playing in the second division of his country is Raul de Tomas. Fiorentina need a forward that actually scores goals, and that's what R.D.T. does. Next, and I'd say more necessary, is a winger. With Chiesa gone and past-it Callejon and Ribery, there really aren't any other wingers at the club. There are a number of promising young wingers out there, so I'll list a couple. Cody Gakpo from PSV is a lanky right footed LW, gets goals and assists. He's started to fill out and is becoming a beast, prime for a move to a "bigger" league. Viktor Tsygankov is next; the Ukrainian winger at Dynamo Kyiv. Tete from Shakhtar is another left footer that plays wide right. Both have been playing Champions League this season, which shows a good level, and Fiorentina simply doesn't have a player with that profile. I don't know the financial situation at the club, so it's more difficult to gauge a budget and specific players to target. However, the last position to figure out depends on the system. With a back three, they need another CB. If it's a back four, they're fine at CB but could use at least one fullback. I mentioned Senesi in the Alaba article I recently posted, and I think he'd be more at his level at Fiorentina, rather than Bayern. Bornauw from Cologne is one of my favorite young CB's, and if they were to go back down to the 2. Bundesliga he'd be in demand. In terms of fullbacks, I look at Wijndal and Mykolenko, both left-sided players. I'm going off the assumption that Lirola is the attacking fullback, Milenkovic is a CB who can play RB in a pinch, so I'll recommend two RB's. First is Tomas Tavares, on loan at Deportivo Alaves from Benfica. He's tall, but I won't pretend to have watched much of him. Tomas Esteves is the other Portuguese RB out on loan, from Porto to Reading. I've seen more of him, being a Porto guy, and he's another victim of Portuguese coaches not trusting young players... Three South Americans I certainly have never watched, but play RB, are Marcelo Herrera (San Lorenzo), Guga (Atletico Mineiro), and Khellven (Athletico in Brazil). Final one is Tomiyasu from Bologna. He's in the Milenkovic mold; a lanky defender who can play CB and RB. Not sure, however, if he'd make the sideways step.

That last paragraph was all over the place. I'm not part of their recruitment team, and I'm not in tune with what goes on in training.