Fiorentina are in crisis mode after too much change in too short of a timeframe
It’s never usually a good sign when a club has to take ‘extra security measures’ to ensure the safety of their players. Fiorentina fans are not threatening to shake hands and pour them a glass of wine after training.
By Alex Roberts
Rock bottom of the Serie A with zero wins from their 14 games, and all six of their points coming from draws. The streets of Florence hum with a nervous anticipation, like a hooded assassin haunts the alleyways as one word plagues the minds of the people, Retrocessione – relegation.
The feeling was entirely different before the season started Fiorentina were meant to kick on following a successful 2024/25 that saw them finish sixth and qualify for their third consecutive Europa Conference League.
Ex-AC Milan manager Stefano Pioli, one of Italy’s more progressive coaches, was brought in to replace Raffaele Palladino, who left to take over from Gian Piero Gasperini at Atalanta, and the club splashed €90 million on new players.
That’s a lot of money for any Italian side nowadays, never mind one that hasn’t won a trophy since 2000/01. Sporting director Daniele Prade had a lot of faith placed in him to take the Viola forward in an era where the big boys aren’t as invincible as they once were.
On paper, it was a fantastic transfer window for Fiorentina. Albert Gudmundsson, Robin Gosens, and Nicolo Fagioli were all signed after solid loan spells during 2024/25, while Jacopo Fazzini, Simon Sohm, Roberto Piccoli, and Tariq Lamptey all joined for substantial fees.
So, while they gained some fantastic players, they lost some that were a real driving force behind everything that was good last season, particularly in the midfield. In the first half of the season, Edoardo Bove was their catalyst.
Bove is out indefinitely with heart problems after he collapsed on the pitch during their game with Inter Milan nearly a year ago, so no one at Fiorentina can be blamed for losing him, but they can for not replacing him properly.
Then we have Danilo Cataldi, on loan from Lazio, and Yacine Adli, on loan from AC Milan. Both of these players were absolutely pivotal for Fiorentina, with Cataldi acting as a midfield enforcer, allowing Adli so flex his creative muscles.
It shouldn’t be forgotten that Fiorentina went on an eight-game winning streak between the end of September and the start of December last season, beating the likes of AC Milan and Roma in the process.
Nine games into this Serie A campaign, Fiorentina had picked up just four points, and Prade said their game against Lecce was “question of life or death.” Fiorentina lost that game 1-0, and thankfully Prade wasn’t taken out back and shot, but rather given a secret third option, he walked away.
As is so often the case, the manager chopped and changed to try and find the right solution when in crisis. Tactically, Pioli didn’t change much, he stuck with some variation of the 3-4-2-1 that brought Palladino so much success.
In Prade’s defence, he took responsibility for the situation at the club, even if it was to shield Pioli, saying: “The club put €90m at my disposal to build the team. If anyone is responsible for the current situation, it’s me,” around a month before his resignation.
Ultimately, Prade falling on his sword wasn’t enough to sate the fan’s anger. Pioli looked around to see banners saying: “team, manager, club: you are the shame of this city”, and he knew his time was up.
Pioli was sacked after the defeat to Lecce, and under-19s manager Daniele Galloppa was put in charge on an interim basis. There was no ‘new manager bounce’, and Galloppa lost two and drew two of his four games in charge before Paolo Vanoli was finally hired as their permanent boss.
A disciple of Antonio Conte, Vanoli was part of the now Napoli manager’s coaching staff at Chelsea and Inter before taking his first frontline job at Spartak Moscow back in 2021, leading them to a Russian Cup.
Again, Vanoli hasn’t changed too much. Fiorentina still play with three at the back, but he has at least attempted to shore up the midfield, playing three in the middle and having Dodo and Fabiano Parisi playing as wing-backs/wide midfielders.
A 2-2 away draw with Genoa in his first game was a decent result, honestly at this point, points on the board should be considered a bonus. It was their next game that gave fans some (ultimately false) hope.
Fiorentina made the trip to Juventus and gave it their best. Last season’s best player, Moise Kean, hit the woodwork after Juve and Dušan Vlahović had a penalty chalked off by VAR. Filip Kostić opened the scoring just before the break, though, beating David de Gea from long range.
For the first time in a while, Fiorentina’s heads didn’t drop, and Rolando Mandragora bagged the equaliser, ending the game 1-1. Since then though, Viola’s side have lost three consecutive games across all competitions.
Speaking after their 3-1 defeat to Sassuolo, Viola said the words that will define their season: “In these situations, we need real men at this moment, not just players.”
It’s not all entirely doom and gloom though. Fiorentina have managed to bag a couple of wins in the Europa Conference League; a tournament they’ve had relative success in over the past couple of years.
They beat Sigma Olomouc and Rapid Wien comfortably, scoring five goals and conceding zero across the two games. Defeat to Mainz and AEK Athens have seen them tumble down to 17th in the league phase, however.
It’s going to take a lot to salvage Fiorentina’s season, but they’re only seven points from safety in Serie A and have a genuine shot of winning a semi-major European trophy if they get their act together.
It’s a big IF. Too much change in too short of a time frame has set Fiorentina back considerably. Viola’s true mission is to fix their ongoing crisis of confidence. Perhaps the Conference League could be how they do that, a win over Dynamo Kyiv tonight would go a long way.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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