Fiorentina look to bounce back to the big time

This summer the Della Valle brothers have  bankrolled the arrivals of several big names – Alberto Aquilani, Matías Fernández, Emiliano Viviano and Borja Valero. Now that the club is finally rebuilding its squad following several seasons of neglect, one summer arrival, incoming manager Vincenzo Montella, must shake off three seasons-to-be-forgotten and find a way to make it all work.

Montella is best remembered as the diminutive striker of Roma with the characteristic, arms outstretched, post-goal celebrations. Now L’Aeroplanino is faced with the daunting task of getting Fiorentina off the ground and flying again.

The club has gone through a massive shakeup in the three months since Delio Rossi and Adem Ljajic made unwanted headlines around the globe with their mid-match fisticuffs. Rossi was fired almost immediately and sporting director Pantaleo Corvino had already been told by the club that his services were no longer necessary. Corvino’s replacement was Daniele Prade. A Romanista. As is Montella.

Many fans of the club are understandably dubious about bringing in another inexperienced manager – and another inexperienced manager who comes over from Catania – after the Siniša Mihajlovic debacle. Slumping attendance the past three seasons, and increasing protests by the tifosi, have left an air of negativity over Firenze. A strong start to the season would seem to be crucial to getting Montella’s Fiorentina adventure a bit of momentum, but the Viola play four of their first six matches against clubs who finished last season in the top five.

Montella is known to prefer the 4-3-3 formation but that would leave Fiorentina’s most gifted player, Stevan Jovetic, playing out of position as either a left winger or a lone forward. This tactical problem, along with the varying attributes of the many new faces that the club has signed, has led to Montella working more and more with the 3-5-2 formation in training sessions and during the 1-0 friendly loss to Galatasaray in Istanbul.

The new signings continue to roll in but the two players they need most, a centre forward and a dependable defensive midfielder, are conspicuously absent. Montella will have it all to do if he is to manage this side into a European spot with either of Rubén Olivera or Francesco Della Rocca anchoring the midfield.

As if managing a club whose public has largely turned against it, and still pines for Cesare Prandelli’s glory days, is not tough enough, building a cohesive unit out of so many new pieces is a sometimes-insurmountable challenge… For even veteran managers. Fiorentina has brought in eleven new senior side players already this summer. Its two previous captains, Riccardo Montolivo (AC Milan) and Alessandro Gamberini (Napoli) have moved on. Arguably the club’s best player last season, Valon Behrami, is joining Gamberini in Napoli.

Only two players, Manuel Pasqual and Juan Manuel Vargas, remain from the team that entered the 2009-2010 season and Vargas is likely on his way out, despite being born to play in a 3-5-2 formation.

A sense of cautious optimism is beginning to creep into Fiorentina supporters lately and it will be up to Vincenzo Montella to guide the club to new heights.

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