With just three wins to their name this year, Fiorentina’s struggle was predicted by few, and their coach could pay the price for the club’s slow start.
Fiorentina supporters studying the Serie A table – where they languish in the lower reaches – will no doubt feel that the term ‘what a difference a year makes’ has greater significance than ever, given exploits over the past few years.
Although this time 12 months ago La Viola fans had suffered back-to-back defeats to Napoli and Roma, they led the standings with 18 points, almost double their current tally, and were dreaming of silverware.
Whether there were realistic aspirations of a Scudetto challenge or not in Florence, the very least they were expecting was to challenge for Champions League qualification, but dropped off the pace significantly as the campaign reached its conclusion.
Coach Paulo Sousa was given much of the credit for their stellar start last term, however, that drop in form – just 3 wins from their final 11 Serie A matches – makes you wonder if the former Juventus midfielder was simply riding on the coattails of predecessor Vincenzo Montella.
Now climbing the table with AC Milan – excusing the collapse against Genoa on Tuesday night – the 42-year-old oversaw three consecutive fourth-place finishes with Fiorentina and implemented a playing style that brought admirers across the peninsula.
Admittedly, La Viola have also lost quality and experience since the Italian’s departure – the most recent of those Manuel Pasqual and Marcos Alonso – but it has hardly been a widespread exodus.
With clear tweaks to the formation, Sousa clearly brought his own ideas last summer, but as Montella was one of few Serie A coaches afforded time to build a team, you could argue that there was already enough cohesion amongst the group to maintain their momentum.
Therefore, the struggles we are now – and the end of last term – witnessing in Florence are a better indication of what the side may ultimately achieve with the Portuguese on the bench.
Particularly after another full pre-season under his belt, the Fiorentina hierarchy are surely looking for signs that performances had improved under the ex-Basel boss’ tutelage, but high-scoring victories over Slovan Liberec, Qarabag and Cagliari are hardly enough to suggest the good times are returning.
With four clean sheets in their eight Serie A matches, it was at the business end of the pitch that Fiorentina had struggled to impress this season in Italy, therefore, it is somewhat ironic that last weekend’s eight-goal thriller in Sardinia was seen as the catalyst for their revival.
Bar bottom side Crotone, Cagliari have shipped the most goals in Serie A this term, so the Viola frontline would have fancied their chances recording a victory – if not netting five times.
However, suddenly losing their defensive resilience to a side expected to battle relegation, highlights Sousa’s inability to find a balance between defence and attack, and then came Wednesday night’s encounter with the Pitagorici.
Even allowing for the horrendous weather conditions that delayed kick-off, the side failed to restore their defensive solidity or find shooting boots from four days previously. Against a team that could not get much lower with just a solitary point.
With fingers being pointed at Sousa, facing a Bologna side known for giving opponents a tough time at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, will not be an easy 90 minutes for the coach to endure another failure may be the final realisation that a change is needed.
