Fiorentina had to settle for a hard-earned point after a 2-2 draw at home to Atalanta in a Serie A match they were desperate to win to distance themselves from the relegation zone.
The visitors had cancelled out Fiorentina’s lead with two quick goals in the second half but Stevan Jovetic came to the Viola’s rescue two minutes from time.
Now, Delio Rossi’s Fiorentina only have 17 points to show from 15 matches, just five clear of third-bottom Cesena.
The outcome of Saturday’s game didn’t go down well with the home crowd who showed their anger with chants against the Della Valle family for not signing quality players and failing to assemble a team capable of challenging for the main honours.
At this time two years ago, Fiorentina had just qualified for the knock-out stages of the Champions League at the expense of Liverpool in a group that also comprised Lyon and Debrecen.
However, since their exit from Europe’s top competition at the hands of German side Bayern Munich in controversial fashion, Fiorentina suffered a notable decline.
They did not play in Europe in their last two seasons and this campaign does not promise anything better either.
In June 2010, Cesare Prandelli, the mastermind behind Fiorentina’s ascendancy between 2005 and 2010, left the club to replace Marcello Lippi at the helm of the national team.
Fiorentina chose Sinisa Mihajlovic as Prandelli’s replacement but the ex-Bologna and Catania mentor was never a favourite with the crowd. Fiorentina only finished ninth last season.
This term, the Viola endured a terrible start – three defeats and three draws in their opening six matches. So, it came as no surprise that they decided to change coach after the 10th day.
But, their fortunes haven’t improved much under Rossi so far as Fiorentina gained five points from five games, recording a single victory (3-0 against Roma) in the process.
Mihajlovic and Rossi are undoubtedly valid coaches. Both have a proven track record in the Serie A. Fiorentina’s problems are unlikely to be solved by simply changing the coach. That is just a short-term or stop-gap solution.
The real issue lies with the plans and ambitions the Della Valle family have for the club.
If they maintain their current stance of not investing in new players and sell the club’s best performers to balance the books, Fiorentina will continue to find the going tough and, maybe, become embroiled in the relegation fight as was the case before Prandelli took charge in 2005.
Given the present situation, Riccardo Montolivo has good reason to be sceptical about renewing his contract and there is a big possibility that he could be off-loaded in next month’s transfer window.
Fiorentina could also lose Jovetic to the highest bidder with Arsene Wenger, of Arsenal, believed to be a big admirer of the Montenegro forward.
Fiorentina are at a crossroads – unless the owners start investing again, the team could fall into oblivion. The fans are hoping that the Della Valle family sell their stake in the club to someone who has the interest of Fiorentina at heart.
Serie A statistics
0 wins for Cagliari in seven visits to Chievo – four draws and three defeats. On Saturday, the Verona-based outfit scored a goal in each half to condemn Cagliari to their first defeat after a three-match positive run. This coincided with Chievo’s first success after a three-match winless run.
Andrea Ranocchia (right) scored Inter’s winner against Cesena.3 wins in a row (vs Fiorentina 2-0, Genoa 1-0 and Cesena 1-0) have lifted Inter into the top positions in the table. Andrea Ranocchia’s second-half goal gave the Nerazzurri three valuable points as they conquered Cesena’s Dino Manuzzi stadium for the second year running. Palermo extended their winless run to three games (one draw and two consecutive defeats) as they were floored 2-0 by Catania in a hard-fought derby.
3 penalties were awarded by referees last weekend. Zlatan Ibrahimovic made no mistake from the spot to wrap up Milan’s 2-0 win over Siena at the San Siro. Maxi Lopez also converted a second-half penalty to seal Catania’s win over rivals Palermo. Elsewhere, Sergio Floccari opened the scoring for Parma in a 3-3 draw with Lecce. So far 49 penalties were taken... 10 were missed.
4th straight home win for Milan against Siena as the Rossoneri scored twice after the break to hand the Tuscany outfit their fourth defeat on the trot. Siena, along with Fiorentina, Palermo and Novara, are still without an away win this season.
5th successive draw for Atalanta who were minutes away from beating Fiorentina away for the first time. Saturday’s 2-2 draw was the first between these two sides since September 2007 (2-2). For the second year running, Genoa edged Bologna at the Luigi Ferraris stadium. These two sides have last shared the spoils in 2008.
30 goals scored on the 16th day: 18 coming from the hosts and the remaining 12 from the visitors. Total number of goals scored so far is 358. Napoli’s Morgan de Sanctis committed the only own goal of the day and Lecce’s David di Michele grabbed the only brace of the weekend. Graziano Pelle (Parma) and Gennaro Sardo (Chievo) came on as substitutes and scored. Atalanta’s German Denis is the leading marksman with 11 goals.