Fiorentina enter the international break on top of the Serie A table after an impressive start to the 2015-16 season. Will the 47-year drought finally be broken?
What has gone right?
Most facets of 2015 have gone right for La Viola, starting with a midfield that is firing on all cylinders. Vice captain Borja Valero has played all but 23 minutes of the 12 matches and has lead his midfield by example. A relatively even spread of goalscorers has also been a luxury for Paulo Sousa, enabling him to rotate his strikers with the demands of midweek fixtures and Europa League commitments, having the trust in each to get the job done. Perhaps most importantly, Fiorentina have only lost one match at home this season and together with four wins from six away from home including a convincing victory over fellow Scudetto favourites Inter Milan, has been the most impressive part to their start.
What has gone wrong?
There are very few bad occurrences to Fiorentina’s season, although there was a small period where their season could have been derailed. During matchdays eight and nine, they faced Napoli and Roma respectively, who have been very much in-form and have cemented themselves as contenders. Fiorentina lost both matches 2-1 and did not showing any promising football. Key figures including Jakub Blaszczykowski, Josip Ilicic, Valero and Milan Badelj all underperformed and with no one else willing to step up in their absence, the team went through a patch which exposed vulnerabilities.
Another disappointing factor from a players point of view is the return from injury of Giuseppe Rossi. Although able to get through the majority of the preseason, the 28-year-old has been unable to get a spot in the starting XI and even when given the opportunity, he has not been able to influence the match or complete 90 minutes.
Best player so far – Borja Valero
It is difficult to suggest only one player as Fiorentina’s best, but Valero can easily be placed into this category. Much like Andrea Pirlo did for Juventus, Valero has been the orchestrator for La Viola with an incredible passing accuracy of 91% from 12 matches, even managing a goal in the process. The vice captain has turned the clock back to his time at Villareal.
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Another is the Croatian Nikola Kalinic. The 27-year-old currently sits third on the goalscoring chart with seven goals for the season and has a better scoring percentage than the current leader, Gonzalo Higuain. As mentioned previously, the amount of match time being shared between the strikers at the club makes Kalinic’s efforts all the more impressive.
What’s next?
Fiorentina must continue their fantastic home form and create a fortress-like environment if they are to take out this season’s Serie A title. The run to Christmas could either set up a strong position for the second half of the season or make that same second half a very difficult prospect, being that most of the fixtures ahead should be considered winnable matches.
La Viola also face an important match next week in Basel for the Europa League where a result will hold the team in good stead to qualify for the knockout round. The club sits in second position, three points behind the Swiss club but only two in front of third place. Once again, the squad’s depth will be tested with matches four days either side of the clash.
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