How’s it going on guys and welcome back to the ABTFM blog. Today, we are back with another chapter of the Fiorentina Journey. In the last chapter, we did a half season review on the player performance, as well as our tactics. Right now, the winter transfer window has just begun, which is a very good opportunity for us to strengthen our team. We are currently sitting at the 2nd position in the league, but with the opening of the transfer window, we might have the chance to challenge for the title. Without further ado, let’s jump straight in to the Fiorentina Journey.
First Signing
Let’s start immediately with our first signing – the Dutch wonderkid Ryan Gravenberch. We actually signed him even before the transfer window with a fee of £29.5M. We have offered him a 4 years contract with a wage of £110K per week. It might be a little bit expensive, but for a 19 years old wonderkid, I am happy with that. Our main attacking midfielder Riccardo Saponara is turning 30 years old very soon. Don’t get me wrong, Saponara is having a wonderful season with us. However, it is always good to have a nice and young backup player, especially someone who has a high potential.
Now, let’s have a look at Ryan Gravenberch’s ability. He can play as a centre midfielder, centre attacking midfielder, even defensive midfielder or left winger if needed. First of all, he has great dribbling and first touch, both attributes are 16 rated. Incredible flair as well, which I personally think it is an important attribute for an attacking player. He has good passing, good technique and good composure. His physical is very good, other than his strength. Some of the areas that I wanted to improve is his off the ball, anticipation, and also his bravery. I am not too worry because he is only 19 years of age, and he will definitely improve in the future. For now, he is going to be the backup Mezzela.
New Tactics
Moving on, we are going to talk a little bit about our tactics. I did make a few small changes in terms of the player roles and playing instructions. First of all, the left back role has been changed from a Fullback on Attack to Wingback on Defend. In my system here, fullbacks are one of the attacking threats in game. However, my left side has been overloaded by wide players. Nicola Tagliaferri is already playing as a Winger on Attack. Previously, Fullback on Attack will also join the winger up top. Our left centre midfielder is playing as a Mezzala, which is also an attacking role. As a result, it leaves a big gap at left side and Mario Hermoso, the Ball Playing Defender will have to cover a big area. By changing the role to Wingback on Defend, the left back will be playing in a more defensive mentality, as well as sitting deeper on the pitch, allowing the Mezzala and the Winger to have more space at the left flank.
Another tweak that I have made was adding Hit Early Crosses. Previously, we allowed my fullbacks to have creative freedom in the final third. The left back was playing as Fullback on Attack, while the right back was playing as Fullback on Support. Now, I have added the instruction of Hit Early Crosses, which means I want them to sit deeper and fully utilize their crossing ability. I also added Defend Wider, mostly because I conceded a lot of goals from crosses. So, I kind of want my players to keep the defensive width wider and limit the opponent’s movement on both flanks.
Great Form
Let’s now talk about the matches we have played in January. The first game was against Bologna. Unfortunately, we picked up another draw in the league. The game finished 2-2. All the goals came after 70 minutes. Our attacking players weren’t having a good game against Bologna. Matteo Politano and Gaetano Castrovilli played poorly. The substitution Riccardo Sottil scored the opener, also his first goal of the season, for us at the 72nd minute. However, our defensive midfielder Rolando Mandragora put the ball into our own net 4 minutes after the lead. Dusan Vlahovic, our main striker scored another goal at the 80th minute. He was giving us hope, but Bologna’s left back scored an amazing long-range goal at the 88th minute. On the bright side, our backup keeper Alban Lafont was actually having a sensational game between the post.
The next game against Parma was a 1-0 win. Parma has been absolutely good in this season. They were sitting at the 3rd position in the league when we played against them. However, we dominated the game. Nicola Tagliaferri scored the only goal at the 41st minute – a close range volley after receiving Thilo Kehrer’s cross. It was a very good and important win for us at this stage.
Next game was a cup match against Sampdoria. We have picked a slightly rotated squad. Our front three were Pedro, Christian Koffi and Riccardo Sottil. Surprisingly, our home-grown youngster Christian Koffi scored the opener in his debut at the 4th minute. He made a wonderful run in the final third, kept his nerve and he was composed enough to score the one-on-one against Sampdoria goalkeeper. Sampdoria scored the equaliser in the 60th minute, and that where I decided to sub on Nicola Tagliaferri and Marco Benassi. Undoubtedly, Nicola Tagliaferri saved us by scoring the winner in the 77th minute. It was a great win and we will be playing our rival, Napoli in the Italian Cup Quarter Final.
The next league game was against Crotone. We played well in this game although the score line told another story. Rolando Mandragora scored his first ever goal in Fiorentina shirt in the 38th minute with a long-range effort. What a hit! I would say it was definitely the goal of the season.
However, the main highlight wasn’t us winning the game, but Napoli actually lost against Inter. Napoli wasn’t having their best in the last 3 games. They had a draw before playing against Inter, and now they have dropped to the 2nd position in the league.
Guess who we are facing next – Napoli. It was a very good chance for us to prove that we deserve the top spot in the league. I have picked the best 11 to play against Napoli. I wanted my players to know this game is very important for us. And… we have done it! We managed to win the game 2-1 and we doubled up our lead to 6 points. Nicola Tagliaferri was once again unstoppable. He scored 2 goals in this game and received a 9.0 match rating after the match. Although he wasn’t the Player of The Match, but his goals meant a lot for us.
After this game, we were back to the top of the league with 46 points. Napoli dropped to the 4th position, while AC Milan and Inter Milan stepped up to the 2nd and the 3rd position. Juventus and Atalanta were at the Europa League qualification spot, while Parma actually dropped to 9th position.
The next game was against Napoli again in the Italian Cup Quarter Final. However, this time I did not pick the rotation squad. I was relieved after seeing Napoli’s starting 11 because they did pick their strongest 11 again. It was only 3 days after the league game, and we faced them again at their home turf. Nicola Tagliaferri had a quiet game this time, but Dusan Vlahovic stepped up and scored the only goal at the 77th minute. Napoli failed to score this time, and we walked away with a 1-0 win.
Upcoming Italian Cup Semi Final
After defeating Napoli in the Italian Cup Quarter Final, we are going to face FC Internazionale Milano. There are 2 legs in Italian Cup Semi Final. We are going to play our first leg at Inter’s home turf. In the first half of the season, we had a great game against Inter, winning 3-0 at our home ground. I am expecting a very tough game away from home, also this is a Semi Final of the Italian Cup. I think Inter is going to send out their best 11 against us, so we have to be well prepared. The winner will meet either Juventus or Lazio in the Final.
Second Signing
We signed another player at the transfer deadline day! Amadou Haidara, a 24 years old midfielder from RB Leipzig, with a fee of £5.25M. He requested to leave the German club and I thought he would be a good addition into our team. He only asked for £50K per week, which was very, very reasonable. The agreed playing time was just a squad player, so we don’t really have to start him in most of our competition.
Looking at his attributes, I have to say I love this type of player. On paper, he is like a Box to Box Midfielder. His natural position is central midfielder, but he can also play as a defensive midfielder. Alternatively, he could play at the right side or even a central attacking midfielder. His mental ability is incredible, but the only concern is his poor positioning. For me, he is now a backup player for us. However, I was going to transform him to a right winger, playing as an Inverted Winger. He already has the dribbling skill, decent passing, good technique, great off the ball. His pace might be a concern, but he does have good anticipation. We have to improve his crossing ability as well because this attribute is fairly important for a wide player. His player traits might be a very good midfielder, but I am going to try my best to transform him into a winger.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we signed two players in this transfer window. No major transfer out for us this time. We are actually the biggest spender in the Italian transfer window with £34.5M spent on 2 players. I am looking forward to playing them in the team, and hopefully we can prove to everyone that we have done a great business.
In terms of the form we are having right now, I am extremely happy. We beat Cittadella 4-1 in the transfer deadline day. Nicola Tagliaferri completed a hattrick in the game. Matteo Politano also got himself on the score sheet. Unfortunately, no clean sheet for our keeper. We are now at the top of the league again. Hopefully, we can continue this great form and perform well in the second half of the season.
I hope you guys enjoy reading the Fiorentina Journey and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @abt_fm to join the discussion of football. Also, do check out my other series in my blog like the Tactics Recreation and the Lyon Journey. Once again, thank you for your support and I will see you guys in the next chapter. Take care!
ABT Football Manager 