ACF Fiorentina

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[juventino_italiano]

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Frey blasted by Viola legend Friday 26 February, 2010

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Sebastien Frey has been criticised for his performance in Fiorentina’s 2-1 loss at home to Milan on Wednesday.

The Frenchman is considered as one of the top goalkeepers in Serie A, but a former Viola player was left less than impressed with his display in midweek.

“Frey didn’t convince me,â€

[Messinterista]

Time to perform, says Prandelli

Cesare Prandelli has called on his Fiorentina players to 'to make history' tomorrow evening by knocking out Bayern Munich of the Champions League.

With Milan and Inter facing tough trips to England, the Viola are perhaps the most likely of the Italian teams to reach the quarter-final as they host the German giants with a 2-1 deficit to overturn.

And despite Louis van Gaal's side's wonderful form of late being in stark contrast to that of Fiorentina, Prandelli still believes his team can make it through to the last eight.

“Tomorrow night we will try to make history,” said the Orzinuovi born tactician.

“At this moment, we've detached ourselves completely. We see it as an extraordinary opportunity.

“There are no problems with either fatigue or in the mind, we just have to get into the game immediately.

“They have been on a run of 17 good results, but it is time that the run stops.

“We know how strong they are. We will have to read the game well.”

The former Parma boss even announced his starting line-up for tomorrow's encounter as he attempts to build up his players' confidence ahead of the season-defining clash.

“We'll play Frey, De Silvestri, Natali, Felipe, Zanetti, Montolivo, Marchionni, Vargas, Jovetic and Gilardino,” said the 52-year-old.

“In the championship we have gone through an inevitable decline given our progress in the Champions League and the Coppa Italia.

“It's clear that Mutu's suspension has put us in difficulty. But certain emergency situations help the group to grow.

“And if tomorrow night we get the right performance it would be a further demonstration of our strength.”

Source: http://www.football-italia.net/mar8q.html

[Carlo Romano]

MI, I too saw Prandelli's war cry on Rai earlier and I'd so much like to see that piece of history being made. But it's one hell of a big "ask!"

[juventino_italiano]

[RomaShield27]

lol, I wouldn't go that far, JI. Lets hope Fiorentina get the rub of the green tonight, if not outright one-sided refereing mistakes like Bayern did in the first-leg.

I see Vargas with an ankle injury but is being asked to grit his teeth and play though the pain barrier, so lets hope he is good to go and can give 100%.

There is also heavy snowfall in Florence but the game is expected to go ahead: http://www.football-italia.net/mar9q.html?

Lets hope Il Viola can do it for all of Italian football.

[RomaShield27]

Vargas and Ribery start:

FIORENTINA: Frey, De Silvestri, Natali, Kroldrup, Felipe, Montolivo, Zanetti, Marchionni, Jovetic, Vargas, Gilardino.
A disp: Avramov, Comotto, Pasqual, Donadel, Bolatti, Santana, Keirrison. All: Prandelli.

BAYERN: Butt, Lahm, Van Buyten, Badstuber, Alaba, Robben, Schweinsteiger, Van Bommel, Ribery, Muller, Gomez.
A disp: Rensing, Altintop, Gorlitz, Pranjic, Tymoshchuk, Olic, Klose. All: Van Gaal.

[Messinterista]

[Lombardiamia]

Poor Fiore, this is really not their year. How many times have they played better than their rivals and ended up losing? Yesterday fortune didnt favour them due to the strong wind which helped Bayern score both their goals. It's also their fault they didnt try to shoot much in the first half when they had the wind in their favour. All in all, it all comes down to that ridiculously conceded offside goal in the first match. Without that, Fiore would be in the quarters.....

[Messinterista]

Yep its unfortunate. They did much better than we all anticipated. Looks like they will have to wait another until 2 seasons time before they taste the champions league as next season is out of reach.

[Carlo Romano]

My father would be inconsolable over this if he was still alive to see it.

I'm making a late post off the back of watching Sky Sports Italia on Wednesday devote much too much time in pointing out the different aspects of the downright mugging la Viola took in Germany. Yes it was inexcusable but would it not be a more prudent act if some of the finer minds in our so-called "fair play" age of football figured a way to bring serious pressure to bear on FIFA/Uefa rather than bitching about it for an hour on tv?

In any other big business these "mistakes" by officials whether honest or otherwise would result in a very costly lawsuit being brought against those responsible. Perhaps if something like this could be successfully done and set a precedent for other likewise lawsuits, it would force an act from those tin gods in their FIFA/Uefa offices to finally do something constructive about preventing "errors!"

However sorry I feel for Fiore, I can't overlook one other very important factor. In the CL there will always be someone like Robben who will show his individual class. Fiorentina know this so they must look to themselves for not tightening up and therefore conceding a goal within a minute of Jo-Jo getting his second! All that good work for nothing...

On Gila's two good assists...I for one would be prepared to forgive him for not scoring in Sth Africa provided he keeps making them!

[RomaShield27]

[juventino_italiano]

[Carlo Romano]

[Carlo Romano]

As this is a late post I won't bother with anything other than a few very valid observations...

One of the many benefits of viewing il bel calcio on Sky Italia is in getting the replays of specific incidents from different angles and if anyone doubts that Napoli should have had a penalty, I don't. Felipe never touched the ball and clearly took Lavezzi down. To coin a much used phrase, that was the undoubted turning point in the match, the point where la Viola began to believe the game could be saved and even won.

Gilardino was voted migliore in campo and for his two goals he deserved his praise, but it was by no means all about him, and Jo-Jo wasn't so far behind Gila with his contributions. I had never seen Babacar until last night. He made a couple of early mistakes, perhaps through nervousness as a packed San Paolo is an intimidating atmosphere. But twice he showed the kind of quality that makes me hope he is no flash in the pan youngster and will become a valued regular contributor as he matures. It was his sheer determination to fight for the ball and get it to Jo-Jo who made the assist for Gila to equalise.

From then on Fiore looked the most likely to win and showed the kind of fire that was missing beforehand. If Gilardino's first goal was scored in near silence, his second stunned the Portoghese of Napule, to quote both their local dialect and the none too flattering Toscani description of the napoletani which I don't for a second doubt will have been well rubbed into them by the travelling Viola support! Not that they could be heard in that cauldron!

I don't in the least blame De Sanctis for leaving his goal unattended and joining Napoli's last attack, hoping to make the extra body count...if you are going to be beaten you may as well hang for the proverbial sheep as for a lamb and the risk was worth the taking even if as in this case it didn't work. Goal difference as we know does not count in Italia, teams tied on points being required to enter a play-off, top or bottom of the league.

Again full marks to young Babacar for showing maturity beyond his years. He did not go for glory as many others might have and risk wasting his opportunity with a shot from within his own half which may well have missed the empty Napoli goal. Instead he sent a long low ball forward with just enough pace for Jo-Jo to chase, beat the Napoli defenders trying to get back, and score la Viola's third goal.

This was the best way for Fiore to bounce back from the disappointment of the CL, even if they had the helping hand of fate in terms of yet another serious refereeing mistake. Granted, they were owed one after Germany but two wrongs don't add up to one right...

[RomaShield27]

[juventino_italiano]

[juventino_italiano]

Juve plan Gila and Vargas raid Wednesday 24 March, 2010

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As part of their plan to lure Cesare Prandelli to Turin in the summer, Juventus also hope to sign Fiorentina duo Alberto Gilardino and Juan Vargas.

The Bianconeri are planning on completely overhauling the current structure of the club this summer after one of the worst seasons on record.

Juventus were expected to not just challenge but win major honours after significant investment in the transfer market at the end of last season.

However, the project was effectively ripped up in January when the club sacked Ciro Ferrara after a dismal run in Serie A and elimination from both the Champions League and Coppa Italia.

Alberto Zaccheroni was brought in as a caretaker boss, but things haven't improved dramatically with Juventus still in sixth place in Serie A.

Tuttosport understands that Juventus will not offer him the job on a permanent basis in the summer and that the favourite for the post is Prandelli.

There were claims earlier this month that the Fiorentina Coach had already accepted an offer to move to Turin, although they were later denied.

However, the speculation refuses to go away and the Turin media believe Juventus are shaping their rebuilding process around Prandelli.

That means keeping Felipe Melo, the Brazilian midfielder who has flopped this season, but was effectively signed off the back of a very good year under Prandelli at Fiorentina.

It also implies that Juventus will sign players Prandelli trusts like Gilardino and Vargas, although the club's directors are also said to be certain of making an approach for Sampdoria striker Giampaolo Pazzini this summer.

[juventino_italiano]

[Lupa]

It looks like Della Valle may be leaving the team. Not sure what that will mean for Prandelli.

I wonder if this will distract the team, or if they don't care who their owner is. Roma fans can only dream of news of the owner selling.