In the aftermath of Hellas Verona’s 2-1 victory against Fiorentina at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, Richard Hough, author of Verona Campione, the Miracle of 85, asks “what has happened to Fiorentina?”
Even amidst the euphoria of Gift Orban’s 93rd minute winner for Hellas Verona, it was hard not to feel a degree of sympathy for the plight of Fiorentina, a team in a crisis so deep that they have somehow reached the third Sunday of Advent without registering a single win in Serie A this season.
Against a pristine blue Tuscan sky, a skeleton of a stadium in the midst of a major refurbishment provided the somewhat soulless backdrop as a few hundred travelling Hellas fans (just released from their punitive travel ban following violent skirmishes in Pisa) sought to make up for in noise what they lacked in numbers.
One of the pleasing aspects of this fixture is that, despite the love-in between opposing sets of fans, who enjoy a long-standing “gemellaggio“, on the pitch the game is always fiercely contested.
While Verona’s second victory in two games sees them nudge up to 12 points from 15 games, Fiorentina, with just six points on the board, remain rooted to the very foot of table.
It’s a dramatic fall from grace for a side that finished in sixth place last season to secure a place in the Europa Conference League. In fact, La Viola have been Europa Conference League runners-up in two of the past three seasons and were beaten semi-finalists last year, losing 4-3 to Real Betis.
No Serie A team has ever started the season with a 14-game winless run and avoided relegation and, even at this midway point in the season, it would take a monumental turnaround for Fiorentina to avoid relegation at the end of season.
The last time la Viola were relegated was at the end of the 2001–02 season, when they suffered the double indignity of going into judicially-controlled administration. While there is no suggestion that the club is in any kind of financial difficulty, relegation would be catastrophic for an ambitious club in the throes of a major stadium redevelopment.
Forty points is generally considered the target for clubs seeking to avoid a relegation dog fight, with anything between 31 and 37 enough to secure salvation in recent seasons. With Fiorentina currently averaging just 0.4 points a game, at the moment that 40 point target seems quite simply unattainable.
Stefano Pioli, who readers of Verona Campione will remember as the sprawling Juventus defender whose desperate lunge caused Preben Elkjær Larsen to lose his boot in one of the most iconic goals ever scored at the Bentegodi, in his second stint as Viola head coach lasted just 14 matches, winning just four (all of them in Europe), and was dismissed in early November.
His replacement, Paolo Vanoli, who played over 200 games for Parma during their golden era, led Spartak Moscow to the Russian Cup and Venezia to promotion from Serie B, hasn’t fared much better with just one victory (against Dynamo Kyiv in the Europa Conference League) from seven games. Speaking ahead of Fiorentina’s clash with Lausanne-Sport in the Conference League, Vanoli reflected on the defeat against Hellas:
Against Hellas, we created five chances, and that’s where we need to start again: improve our finishing and be more focused to avoid conceding goals.
So, what’s happened to Fiorentina this season?
In the summer, Fiorentina lost Michael Kayode to Brentford, Nicolas Gonzalez to Juventus and Sofyan Amrabat (an ex-Verona player) to Fenerbache. But, they also spent heavily and, crucially, retained their top goalscorer, Moise Keane (another ex-Verona player) who, after a startlingly nomadic career seemed to have settled well in Tuscany. The 25-year-old striker, who since breaking through with Hellas back in 2017 has had spells at Juventus, Everton, and PSG before returning for a second bite of the cherry at Juventus, has found the net just twice this season.
Since Fiorentina’s problems this season seem to be converting chances, rather than creating them, Kean must take some of the responsibility for his team’s poor standing this season.
At the other end, David de Gea also cut a dejected figure in the wake of Verona’s late winner, with a degree of criticism coming his way for failing to command his own box. The ex Atletico Madrid and Manchester United stopper has conceded 26 goals this season, more than any other keeper in Serie A. Such is the crisis in confidence at the moment, Vanelli is reported to be considering deploying de Gea’s 19-year-old understudy, Tommaso Martinelli, for Sunday’s game against Udinese.
One player who escaped any criticism following Sunday’s defeat against Hellas was 24-year-old midfielder Nicolo Fagioli. At 15, Fagioli was an exciting young prospect at Juventus, earning a fortune and with the world at his feet. In 2018, he was included in the Guardian’s best 60 world talents. Within just a few years, he had accumulated over $3million in debt on illegal gambling sites and faced a lengthy ban from the game, alongside Newcastle striker Sandro Tonali.
In October 2023, Fagioli was handed a 12 month ban for violating betting rules and was required to attend counselling and speak out about the risks of betting. He made his Juve comeback against Bologna on 21 May 2024, but was subsequently dispatched on loan to Fiorentina, where he has made 18 appearances this season.
On Sunday against Hellas, he offered a glimpse of that classy young regista that had shown such promise as a youngster. His eye-catching performance wasn’t enough to prevent another shock defeat for Fiorentina, as a gutsy Hellas battled to secure three-points and their second victory in two matches.
For Fiorentina, the questions remains. What has happened to one of last season’s outstanding teams, and do they have enough quality to turn things around?
Richard Hough is the author of Verona Campione, the Miracle of 85.
