Fiorentina v Empoli: All Hail the Viola!

That’s it, I’m officially falling in love with Fiorentina. I may have mentioned it a time or two before, but this team is good. They attack with incredible poise and confidence, allow their opponents no space whatsoever in their own end, and pretty much played Empoli — who, mind you, are fourth in the table — off the park, despite squandering three or four easy chances.

Really, today’s game was magnificent stuff. What was most impressive to me was Fiorentina’s commitment to winning the ball back: Every time they lost it and Empoli didn’t instantly launch a counter-attack, Mutu and the Viola midfielders were all over the Empoli defense, often forcing them to give the ball up. Even when they successfully cleared the ball, the pressure in the midfield was equally constant; Empoli never had any time on the ball, and it completely took the game out of their hands. Additionally, apart from that weepy Toni, Fiorentina are tough as hell. They opened the game with a few clean, hard fouls tackles, just to let Empoli know they had a long day ahead of them. And yeah, Liverani and Montolivo are magicians with the ball — but they’re also very good defenders who give as well as they get.

Fiorentina are one of the few teams I’ve seen this year (maybe the only one) in whom you can see what they do in training. They clearly do a lot of situational work — no one plays as many perfect through balls as the Viola, or closes down opposing backs so well — with an eye to precision, not just understanding. And they’re obviously completely committed to the way Prandelli has them playing. Did I mention it’s awesome?

Category: Fiorentina, Results, Serie A

Tags: Empoli, Fiorentina, Liverani, Montolivo, Results, Serie A, Viola

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