Fiorentina Club Focus: Time to open the wallets

Date: 16th December 2015 at 10:00am
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After Fiorentina’s 3-1 defeat away to Juventus, it has become apparent that club owners Diego and Andrea Della Valle need to start splashing the cash.

The hierarchy were allowed the slip in a poor summer transfer market despite numerous protests from fans, simply down to the unexpected start that the team has enjoyed, however, after failing to beat yet another of the league’s ‘top’ clubs, it is obvious that the Viola will need to start spending big if they want to continue running with the big boys.

Almost every other squad in Serie A’s elite group has a huge amount of depth, Fiorentina on the other hand, do not.

It’s worrying just taking a glance at the defence, beside Gonzalo Rodriguez and Davide Astori, Fiorentina have no competent centre backs. If one of the aforementioned two or even, perish the thought, both of the defenders suffer a knock then there is literally zero cover at the back. You could argue that Facundo Roncaglia, Nenad Tomovic and Marcos Alonso could all stand in as replacements, but none of them are natural centre backs and that just wouldn’t be acceptable for a side with Champions League and dare I mention it, Scudetto hopes.

There have been vague links to Benfica’s Lisandro Lopez and this is the exact type of defender the club needs to make an immediate move for, he’s not yet proven himself to be a world beater and has spent his fair share on the Portuguese side’s bench, but he’s a fully capable and reliable centre back.

Lisandro Lopez Benfica

Having three starting defenders that could break into any teams starting XI would serve as a real confidence boost, in addition to actually providing a lot more security at the back.

Then there’s the midfield. The middle of the park has been Paulo Sousa forte this season, without exaggeration it has been near untouchable due to the valiant efforts of Borja Valero, Milan Badelj and Matias Vecino, all of which have been working like non stop engines.

Unfortunately, that’s now beginning to show. These ‘three tenors’ haven’t been given the opportunity to rest at all and it’s beginning to build fears that the likes of Valero (who has played almost every minute this campagin) could become burnt out, before the second half of the season even swings into motion.

To stop this, the club needs to bring in one or two young midfielders, similar to what they did with Vecino a few years ago. By bringing in younger players, it ensures that the current midfield wont be kicked off their throne any-time soon, but will at least be given a chance to catch their breath, and it seems to be a better option at the moment the fielding Joan Verdu and Mario Suarez, both of whom have been downright disappointments (with the exception of Verdu’s wonder-goal against Atalanta.)

Mario Suarez Fiorentina

The final position that needs reinforcement is that of the attacking midfielder. It’s a role that Josip Ilicic currently occupies and on paper he doesn’t seem to be doing a bad job. Six goals and three assists in just twelve appearances looks astonishing, but less so when you realise that each and everyone of those goals have come from penalties. Whilst the Slovenian is a mean spot kick taker and has been rather impressive this season, he somewhat tends to fade away during certain matches. Looking back at the defeat away to Juventus, Ilicic provided little in terms of going forward despite racking up quite a few passes and rather hindered the Viola’s attack after converting his penalty in the second minute.

It’s true that there are a plethora of options to rotate him with, Matias Fernandez and Giuseppe Rossi are just two of those candidates. However, even they have struggled to show their true form this season and with a huge question mark hovering over Rossi’s future in Florence, that attacking role could be about to become even weaker.

And finally, that “plan B” we talked about last week, about that. It might not be fully functional, or exist at all. In fact, it looks like we’ll have to be a lot more patient and wait until the new year to see if Sousa really does have a back up plan whatsoever.

Hopefully that’ll come with a few extra players too.

 

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