« September 9, 2007 - September 15, 2007 | Main | September 23, 2007 - September 29, 2007 »
Primavera: 1-0 over Cagliari. Mazuch makes his debut.
The return leg of the first round of the Coppa Italia saw Fiorentina Primavera earn a 1-0 victory (4-0 aggregate) over Cagliari. Alex (18-y-o defender) headed in a Lepiller corner kick for the match's lone goal. The Viola advance on the strength of this win and the 0-3 in the first leg. Of note were Lepiller's sending off and the Viola debut of 18-y-o Czech defender Ondrej Mazuch. Jan Hable, the other Czech, also played.
This summer the standard party line from the Viola society brass, in regards to the UEFA Cup, was "we're in it to win it." It's looking more and more like that will be demonstrated in Thursday's match in Groningen, Holland.
Prandelli (as he always does) plans to field what he considers to be his best available side for the first leg of this first round match-up.
Despite adding depth and versatility in several key areas over the summer, the Viola seem set on sticking with the tried and true players who achieved the goal of returning Fiorentina to European play.
Sebastien Frey looks certain to start between the posts behind a back line with only the left back position in doubt. Pasqual injured his ankle on Sunday and, though he has resumed practicing with the squad, may sit this one out in favor of Balzaretti who made his Viola debut Sunday as Pasqual's replacement. Balzaretti is considered to be a better defensive fullback than Pasqual but his crossing may not be at Pasqual's level. He looked comfortable enough in limited duty on Sunday and should be a reliable back up.
It is looking more and more as if Donadel and Liverani will be two of the stalwarts in the 3-man midfield with the third player yet to be decided. Montolivo has resumed practicing with the group following his severe ankle sprain suffered in Week 1. If he is not deemed fit enough to go then Kuzmanovic is his likely replacement ahead of Pazienza and Gobbi. If Balzaretti does, in fact, get the nod at LB then one would think that Fiorentina could afford to field a pretty creative midfield corps in front of such a defensively-oriented back line. Especially considering the absence of both of Groningen's first choice attackers.
In attack it all depends on Mutu's recovery from his own ankle sprain. If Mutu is fit enough to play then he will be at the left wing with Semioli likely on the right. If Mutu does not start then look for Semioli to take the left flank and Santana to slot into the right wing role. Up front there are some indications that Vieri could get the center forward nod over Pazzini. Other reports say that Pazzini will get the nod while Vieri's first Viola start will come Sunday away to Catania.
Below is Fiorentina.it's best guess at the formation Fiorentina will be using. Note that they have Santana on the right.
Talking Points
2007/2008 Season: 23,389 Season Ticket Packages Sold
ACF Fiorentina announces that the result of the 2007/2008 Season Ticket Campaign is 23,389 packages sold. The society thanks the fans who have re-newed their attachment with the team and have again made the Artemio Franchi one of the most imposing stadiums in Italia.
My take -- The list (thanks to Tahoma for finding this for me) of all Serie A clubs' season ticket sales is below. To keep it in perspective here is some trivia...
Groningen Official: "Tough times for us but we aim to advance."
Groningen official Henk Veldmate was interviewed on Radioblù for his thoughts on his team's upcoming UEFA Cup match; home to Fiorentina.
"We are going through a tough spell in the Eredivisie," said the Dutchman. "We have only earned 4 points from 4 matches and are suffering through the injuries of our two attackers, Berg and Nevland. Matavz (a player that Fiorentina was after) is young but, above all, is also cup-tied as he played in the preliminaries with Nova Gorica. We are hoping to recover Svejdik and Matthijs, our captain, for the Fiorentina match. Our objective is to advance. Fiorentina is very strong but we will do what we can. Our coaching staff has studied Fiorentina. We were there for their matches against Milan and Atalanta. We will try to beat them."
My take -- Milan and Atalanta? I read that and think one thing... They have no idea what Montolivo is about and they are about to find out... The hard way...
Fiorentina: How to watch the UEFA Cup match via a free stream
It doesn't have to be Conto TV (pay-per-view), or a trip to Groningen. Fiorentina's UEFA Cup match this Thursday will be viewable via streaming. CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK. The transmission will begin at 2021 (Italian time).
Well, I have finally added the Viola Discipline page on the right and I will try to keep it updated. Right now it only has our Serie A card situation as I have not found our UEFA Cup or Coppa Italia data yet. Once I do, I will add it.
I have also teamed with Subside Sports to give readers a place to buy Viola merchandise. I would get a 3% commission (your price does not go up, of course) if you were to buy something so I hope no one thinks I am trying to get rich. If you scroll down the page you will find a photo of a white jersey below the heading 'UK Viola Gear.' I think that those of you in continental Europe can use that link (I had to open two accounts; one for Subside US and another for Subside UK) to order merchandise. If you cannot then please let me know and I will add another one for Subside EU.
I just want to note that I have never bought anything from Subside. I chose Subside as it offered the widest range of any big web retailer I saw. There was even one that offered Ascoli merchandise but not Viola merchandise... Huh?
I ordered a Fiorentina ball cap on Saturday and I will let everyone know how long it takes. Shipping was pretty pricey at $12 but worth it as I doubt that there is a store that sells a Viola cap for thousands of miles in any direction. Admittedly, too, I did not look around to see if they had a less expensive shipping option as I was rushed for time. Also, they don't have banners or scarves or this season's jersey. A lot of the stuff they do have looks pretty cool, though, and I will buy more after this test run with the hat.
Still lots to do around here and since my move I have killed 3 scorpions on the back patio; 4 black widows on the outside of the house; and 3 scorpions and 2 tarantulas inside the house so my wife has bug hunting pretty high up on my priority list.
Injuries: Optimism for Mutu and Pasqual
The day after the match against Atalanta the training for the Viola side was focused on running with an eye on Thursday's match in Groningen. The condition of Mutu and Pasqual, who both left Sunday's match with slight ankle injuries, is being evaluated.
Their condition will be monitored day-by-day but the feeling is that they will both be available to start against Groningen. Also available to Prandelli will be both Montolivo and Santana.
Tuesday evening the side will again train in Firenze and expects to arrive in Groningen late Wednesday afternoon.
The exodus of supporters towards Groningen
The exodus of Viola supporters for the UEFA Cup has begun. More than a thousand will follow the club to northern Holland and will completely fill that section of the stadium allocated to Fiorentina's supporters. A number of Viola supporters are also expected to occupy general seating so the Viola contingent could be as high as 1,300.
The preferred mode of transport seems to be via plane and the ACCVC is organizing charter flights. Other tifosi are going by car, train and other means.
My take -- Behave, ragazzi...
Explanation -- The ACCVC is sorta a union of Viola fan clubs.
Fiorentina: Raffael in January
Corvino is in South America (following Brasil and Argentina he will be visiting Chile) but the South American player that Fiorentina plans to acquire in January could arrive from Switzerland.
The Viola society, in fact, has already presented an offer to FC Zurich for the arrival of the young (22-y-o) Brasilian Raffael, a fancy-footed midfielder. At the end of this past August (with the transfer window still open) the player had a face-to-face meeting with Corvino. He met with the Viola D.S. before Zurich's Champion's League Preliminary Round match with Besiktas to lay the groundwork for the January deal.
Another opportunity to watch the player and maintain the lines of communication open will come this Thursday when Raffael's Zurich squad plays a UEFA Cup match away to Empoli and there is a spot reserved for a Viola representative in the Castellani.
My take -- I know that he is considered a trequartista but I don't know much else.
Disheartening Dutch Draw
When I got home from work Thursday night I started to write my thoughts on the match and it all came out way too negative so I thought better of it and thought I would take a day off. Anyway, yeah, I'm disappointed a bit.
I know that a 1-1 away draw gives us a great chance when we come back to the Franchi. I know that these Dutch sides are pretty good. In truth, I don't even care very much about the UEFA Cup. I do, however, care about the long term success of Fiorentina. I do care about morale problems and getting all of the players on our very large squad enough playing time to avoid Bojinov-esque cancerous situations.
And even though the UEFA Cup isn't that important to me, or Italians in general, it is important to the club. It's important financially and it's important to the club's co-efficient for the later Champion's League runs that are certainly important, and lucrative, to the club.
Even though I don't consider the UEFA Cup to be all that prestigious compared to the Champion's League and, especially, the Scudetto; I do think it would be nice to use it as an opportunity to showcase the club to the world. Our Bati/Rui/Toldo glory days were long ago and I would like the Viola to re-gain its rightful place in the front of the pundits' minds. Why do we carry 4 first-team forwards, with Cacia (at least) on his way in January, if we will only ever play two? Why do we carry 3 first-team goalkeepers if we will only ever (and I do mean ever) play 1?
Francesco Toldo sometimes plays for Inter Milan. Cristian Brocchi sometimes starts in Gattuso's place. Why can't Fiorentina have some sort of squad rotation system that functions regardless of injury and disciplinary concerns? Why was a guy like Liverani starting this match with Kuzmanovic on the bench. Why would we bring in Pazzini rather than Osvaldo as Vieri's sub? Why not start Osvaldo and let Vieri be his sub?
Yeah, I know that Pazzini made a nice assist and that is great. So what, though? If we're going to crash out in the first round of the UEFA Cup I want to do it with Avramov, Mazuch, Balzaretti, Potenza, Kuzmanovic, Hable, Diakhite, Osvaldo and Lupoli... Not with Liverani and Kroldrup.
Now my hopes are all on the Coppa Italia.
Our daughters are cheerleading today so the articles will re-commence this evening, my time.
Posted at 12:20 in European Play, Viola Commentary | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: groningen, inter milan, liverani, toldo, uefa cup, vieri
Digg This | Save to del.icio.us