The Italian’s team has collected 25 points in 23 races, while last year at this point in the championship they had 36
Football is not cold numbers. If those were enough, Fiorentina would see themselves in a better position in the standings, while current events instead tell of a worrying crisis. In fact, the difference between the Viola’s performance and what is obtained by crossing a series of statistics is truly impressive. Vincenzo Italiano’s team has so far collected 25 points in 23 games, while last year at this point in the championship they had 36. Only Verona have had a worse involution, with a decrease of 16. In the 2021-22 season they suffered more (34 goals against the current 30) but above all he scored much more (41 against the current 24). It is reductive and simplistic to reduce everything to the sale of Dusan Vlahovic, which took place in the winter session a year ago. The Serbian had a driving rhythm, with 17 goals in 21 appearances. Fiorentina had reinvested part of the treasure from his departure to reinforce the forward department, with the arrivals of Ikoné, Cabral and Piatek. Although the team had lost a finisher capable of centralizing the scoring phase in a single figure, they had still been able to express themselves at high levels, hitting seventh place which earned them the Conference League.
Well in Europe
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This year, therefore, there was another midweek match to face but considering Fiorentina’s run in the cups it doesn’t seem to be affected: they practically mortgaged their qualification for the round of 16 in Europe by destroying Braga in Portugal and are in the semifinals of the Italian Cup . The real problem is represented by the championship, where the paradox of numbers helps to understand which are the major criticalities. The fourteenth place and the average of one goal scored per game immediately make one think of a group that is not healthy, that is struggling to create play. In reality, the most evident deficit is related to the conversion of what has been created into networks. The Viola are second in both ball possession (30’58” per game) and shots attempted (371), in both cases behind leaders Napoli. They are fifth for shots on goal (4.9 per game) and dribbling (6.8 on average), while they are even first for corners (157). But the ranking places them closer to the relegation zone than to a useful placement for an international competition. Why?
Few goals
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The greatest weakness is in attack, because the summer bet is certainly not paying the desired dividends: so far Jovic has not been able to score the goals Fiorentina need. Only three have arrived in the league in 20 appearances, then one in the Coppa Italia and six in the Conference League, including the brace that directed the match against Braga. But he needs more, especially in Serie A, where there is no consistency in any of the components. The management intervened with the purchase of Brekalo, which for the moment has not yet had the opportunity to affect. Of course, the coach also has responsibilities, who is unable to stem the descent. One difficulty that the Viola have been carrying around for some time is in terms of approaching matches. The Italian reached his 78th bench with Fiorentina, who fell behind 31 times under his management; 20 of the 27 defeats remedied accrued from this situation. And it’s really too much, because the goal isn’t that of a peaceful salvation but to go back to undermining the big names in our league and become a presence worthy of consideration outside Italy. Just like it used to be, not so far away.
February 20 – 3.40pm
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