Fiorentina – Fans rocking the boat
By David, BettingExpert.com | Published
Many would say it has been a love – hate relationship between Mihajlovic and the Fiorentina fans. However, it has been mostly the latter. Last season the team finished ninth and did register some good results but Viola fans are very exigent and in the absence of entertaining football they will be giving a thumbs down until the manager is shown the door.
Manager: Rossi
Tactics: 4-3-3
Players In: Cassani, Kharja, Lazzari, Munari, Santiago Silva, Romulo
Players Out: Mutu, Santana, Frey, Donadel, Comotto, Avramov
Current Probable Formation: Boruc, Cassani, Natali, Gamberini, Pasqual, Behrami, Montolivo, Vargas, Cerci, Gilardino, Jovetic
What chances are there of getting Mihajlovic to teach an attractive stance to playing the game to this team? He has now had ample time with them but so far, despite all the promising players in the squad, he has nit managed to even get close to what the fans are expecting from their team.
Let’s make it straight from the beginning. Pleasing this crowd is very difficult. Mihajlovic has tried through hard work, discipline and to a certain extent results. Going further will require more experience from the Serbian manager. He stood out from the others and landed this job after a good stint at Catania. Even at the time though, despite the talent he had at his disposal he could not get the team to perform to the levels they were expected to reach on paper.
That problem has persisted with Fiorentina and the supporters, well aware of the potential of their squad, have given him more than enough time to prove himself and build the team they would like to watch on weekends. Unfortunately, Mihajlovic knows only the way of the sword. He is a fighter and the first thing he tries to pass on to his players is that fighting spirit which he matured from a tumultuous personal life that required him to be strong in order to succeed as a player.
That formula may have been a winning one in most other teams in the division but that will mostly apply to bottom half teams. Fiorentina is not amongst that list. In fact they are probably the least cut out for that kind of leadership. As admitted by Sinisa himself in the past most players were shocked, almost scared, of his strict manner of coaching. Many are young and not used to the hard hand of a manager intent on reviving the old ways in this line of work.
Montolivo has seen this coming and has insisted on not wanting to sign an extension to his contract. The Italian international has therefore clashed with the fans and been stripped of captaincy. Vargas was more vehement in his arguments with Mihajlovic and despite being one of the more talented players we will be seeing less of him while the Serbian coach is still holding the whip. Gilardino, the main attacking terminal of the team without whom goals would be even more rare for the Viola, was just one step away from sealing a move away to Genoa, joining his friend Frey who did not think twice about packing things and leaving this summer. Santana and Donadel, both valid resources for the team, were allowed to leave for Napoli.
Besides all these clashes between Mihajlovic’s strong personality and key members of the squad the manager should also be taking the blame for tactical blunders that he is yet to address. The defence is one of the more porous ones in the league despite being composed of above average players. Midfielders used in the 4-3-3 rarely do the dirty work and if this is an attempt by Mihajlovic to offer more support to the attack it would not have been a plan to throw away so quickly. However, there seems to be little advantage the attacking department is getting from all of this.
Predicted finishing position: 7th
So far the team has survived on sporadic genial feats of individual players but the inconsistency throughout the 90 minutes is so manifest that no one at the club can hide the fact that there are problems with present management. The team wants to go for a more conservative 4-4-2 that will prevent less goals being conceded. The squad does in fact look better built for that kind of game with wide solid men like Vargas and Cerci supplying a thankful Gilardino who only asks for those high well cut crosses to put the ball in the net. Complementing all of this will be the solid four-man defence which is currently pleading for midfield support and, the cherry on the cake, two football minds ready to inspire the team like Jovetic and Montolivo serving as attacking shoulder and central midfielder respectively.
Perhaps a manager like Delio Rossi will understand that and be handed over control of this team sooner rather than later before more damage is done. Only in that case can Fiorentina finish high up the table.
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