Prandelli led Fiorentina to a very important point, but this season there will be no Champions League, and no Europa League for the Viola. While Mihajlovic has taken over, things don’t look very different with Fiorentina for this upcoming season, only two players were bought and only two players were sold/released. Probably the biggest factor that won’t be affecting Fiorentina’s season is Jovetic, the young forward tore some knee ligaments in training some time ago and will be out for about 8 months. This means that Fiorentina will be missing the energy that Jovetic provided, something which could make the Viola suffer this upcoming season.
New signings
Fiorentina have only bought two players this transfer market, and with no Champions League money for this season, the club will be spending less. They bought D’agostino from Udinese, a smart midfielder who can play alongside Montolivo, or play further up the field in a more attacking role. The other signing which joined Fiorentina this summer was Boruc, a Polish goalkeeper from Celtic. Boruc was bought in preparation that maybe Frey could leave for a different club, probably somewhere in the EPL, but the Polish keeper is also a good alternative to when Frey can’t play.
What’s missing
With Jovetic’s injury Fiorentina will probably have to buy a new forward, especially because the forwards in the team are beginning to get old. While Gilardino’s replacement seems to be Babacar, Marchionni and Vargas have no replacements on the wings, and Jovetic’s spot needs to be filled. This could be solved either with Mutu returning to play for Fiorentina, or the Viola buying Giuseppe Rossi or maybe getting Obinna on loan. Rossi could be used behind Gilardino, or he could be played out on the left side, where Vargas currently is. As for Obinna, he’s best used on the wings, and he could be the perfect replacement for Marchionni on the right side.
Formation
Mihajlovic seems to want to stick with Prandelli’s previous 4-2-3-1, and the biggest change between the two coaches will be the attacking style. While Prandelli likes to play a very attacking style with plenty of speed, Mihajlovic might prefer a more counter-attacking style, which waits for the right moment to strike. The starting 11 seems to be very similar to Prandelli’s, Frey in goal with De Silvestri, Gamberini, Felipe, and Pasqual playing in defense, in front of the back-line Montolivo would play alongside D’Agostino, and then you’d have Marchionni on the right, Vargas on the left, with Ljajic supporting Gilardino. The only change that could occur is maybe D’Agostino moving up to play in Ljajic’s place, as a trequartista, where he was played in a friendly recently.
Mihajlovic has a big challenge ahead of him, he’ll have to please a group of fans which was used to Champions League and strong performances in the Serie A. Without Jovetic, the team will be missing an important player which got them out of some tight situations last season, hopefully Ljajic can bloom and become an important player for them, or D’Agostino will have to do his best playing as a number 10. This season the team looks very similar to the team which arrived 11th last season, and maybe the team might suffer again with a new coach and few new players.
What do you think about Fiorentina’s chances in the Serie A? Can they regain the Champions League? Share your thoughts below!
Related posts:
They miss the golden days of Mutu
Golden days of Battistuta
Yes, and I hope he returns.
Biggest blow for any Serie A club was perhaps dealt to Fiorentina with the news that Stevan Jovetic will be missing till at least March 2011.
He has shown the ability to deliver on the big stage and led the Gigliati to wins over Liverpool and Bayern Munich (despite unlucky exit to Germans after the poor refereeing in Munich game).
yes, I felt really sad when I found out about the injury, couldn’t believe it. And that refereeing against Bayern, I still get furious when I think that another Italian team could’ve moved on and knocked out a German team, that would’ve changed the whole UEFA co-efficient situation.
Jovetic’s injury is sadest news for Serie A because he is young, has talent and was showing glimpses of what he can do. Basically all that Serie A needs to recover after a couple of years of negative publicity following Calciopoli.
Yes, it’s quite unfair when any netural viewer could see how Fiorentina’s players were unjustly eliminated by Bayern Munich in Europe. The referee in the first-leg in Munich was an absolute nightmare and made grave errors which hurt Fiorentina.
I hope Jovetic will return around March and will be able to perform to his abilities after this delicate period of 2 surgeries and recovery.
Yes, I really hope that Jovetic can drag Fiorentina to Champions League success, maybe not into the final, but in a year or two, maybe even a semi-final.
Hi Niccolo,
It seems Fiorentina failed to sign Eduardo Salvio on loan (he joined Benfica for the season). He’s a young attacker with potential. Let’s see how the club will cope with Jovetic’s absence. I wrote this about Fiorentina recently:
http://serieaweekly.com/2010/08/fiorentina-suffer-jovetic-nightmare-ahead-of-serie-a-season.html
Really interesting, I didn’t know that Fiorentina were chasing Salvio, I think that Fiorentina will survive and place among the mid-table, but the fans will be very disappointed.
Yes, they failed to get him and he joined Benfica on loan. I agree with you that Fiorentina will finish mid-table unless they can cover for the absence of Mutu (suspended) and Jovetic (injured).