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All eyes are on Serie A, scrutinising, speculating and celebrating the premier division’s newfound competitive identity. Gone are the days, or so it seems, when Juventus galloped to the title without breaking into a sweat. The defending champions placed seventh on the table, are nine points off the top.
After 12 rounds of football, a mere two points separate the top four teams in Italy. This difference is the smallest across Europe’s five best leagues, with the exception of England. The difference between first and fourth in Germany is a whopping 14 points and an equally astonishing 13 points in France. Spain has offered greater competitiveness with Celta Vigo merely six points off leaders Barcelona.
While giants sit atop their respective divisions in Europe, a proud yet un-extravagant side is ruling the roost in Italy. Della Valle-owned Fiorentina are currently dominating Serie A along with their illustrious rivals, Internazionale Milano. Did anybody think or even imagine, that this Florence-based club would be the best team in the country with nearly a third of the season underway?
Milan and Juventus have faltered
Both Milanese clubs saw extensive investments over the summer with the men in power keen on seeing the two clubs return to the pinnacle of Italian football. AC Milan endured a rocky start but appear to have found some identity in the last few weeks, while Internazionale are grunting through each game, scraping 1-0 wins in the process.
Defending champions Juventus are looking lost without Carlos Tevez, Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo, as their latest recruits struggle to make an impression. The tottering form of the big boys has provided other clubs a window of opportunity to rise up the table and establish dominion.
AS Roma and Napoli have capitalised on the circumstances, cementing their superiority by notching wins at a canter. But, surprisingly, Fiorentina emerged as an unlikely candidate, as they contest for the championship.
Paulo Sousa – the mastermind in the suit
The Dalla Valle family sacked Vincenzo Montella in June after finding his behaviour ‘disrespectful’ towards the club and its fans. Fiorentina had established themselves as a suave, attack-minded team with a degree of flair under Montella. Under a different coach, the players may have embraced an entirely different system of play, culminating in an entirely different destiny. Fortunately for them, and for the fans, the man picked for the job was Paulo Sousa.
Two weeks after Montella was relieved of his duties, the club’s senior management formally announced the signing of Sousa as head coach. The 44-year old joined the Italians from Swiss team, FC Basel. Having managed the likes of Queens Park Rangers, Swansea and Leicester City, Sousa gained European pedigree with the Swiss side.
The man he replaced had finished fourth in Serie A the previous season and had led the club to the semi-finals of the Europa League. Sousa’s work was cut out and he braced the challenge with a brave attitude.
Ever since, Sousa transformed the team into an attacking juggernaut, while retaining the team’s defensive solidity. At around the same time last year, this team was placed 11th in the table, having scored 10 goals and conceding 10 in exchange. This season, the team has scored 24 goals (3 shy of AS Roma’s 27), making them the second most potent team in Italian top-flight football.
Sousa’s team also enjoys the highest goal difference in the league. This is no fluke. La Viola proved their credentials very early in the season, as they brushed aside AC Milan in the opening round. The team comfortably dispatched Internazionale a few weeks later by beating Roberto Mancini’s men 4-1 at San Siro.
Key members
Borja Valero, unquestionably, is the best player in the team. The Spaniard might not be a prolific goal scorer nor does he keep the assist ticker ticking. Nevertheless, he is the very heartbeat of the side. A playmaker with over 90% pass accuracy, Valero is integral to the team’s 61% average possession and 88% average pass success rate. Milan Badelj and Matias Vecino provide the steely foundation upon which Borja functions.
He is ably supported by Josip Ilicic, who has four goals and three assists to his name, having made nine appearances thus far. The Slovenian is playing some of the best football of his career and has shouldered much of the team’s creative responsibility.
Croatian forward Nikola Kalinic is doing his bit to frighten opposition defenses. The 27-year-old was signed in the summer to replace Mario Gomez and has been a revelation since. His seven league goals puts him just two short of joint-leading goal-scorers, Gonzalo Higuain and Eder. Kalinic struck thrice against Inter on 28th September and has found the back of the net on a consistent basis.
Marcos Alonso and Khouma Babacar have also played crucial roles in the team’s progression from being mid-table stalwarts to reigning rulers of the league.
Winter champions?
The club, in recent years, has promised much and delivered little. Perennially on the periphery of UEFA Champions League qualification, the teams of the past never truly fulfilled their potential. They would choke and implode when called upon to perform.
Under Sousa, Fiorentina are rather hard to beat. They are one of only three teams that are yet to register a draw in Serie A this season. The effectiveness of the attack ensured that no other team can claim a higher win percentage. Sousa has a well-drilled unit that relentlessly beats oppositions without mercy, succumbing chiefly to teams of relative strength such as Torino, Napoli and Roma.
Under Sousa, La Gigliati learned to defeat teams they should be defeating, which in turn puts valuable points on the table. Five matches remain to be played prior to the winter break, which include knotty away trips to Sassuolo and Juventus. These are offset with home games against beatable oppositions such as Empoli, Chievo and Udinese.
None of the upcoming fixtures are insurmountable. At the turn of year, Fiorentina quite possibly could be crowned winter champions.
Can Fiorentina win the Serie A title?
Can the purple Tuscan team become the new champions in May? The heart is compelled to say yes. The brain, however, disagrees.
Fiorentina are enjoying a purple patch (pun intended). Their present success is aided by factors outside of their control, factors that are unlikely to remain in the club’s favour. Internazionale have won ugly and are yet to get into their groove. With the talent in their ranks and some form in their sails, Mancini’s men could race ahead off every other club in the league. Similarly, Juventus’ quality will prevent them from flirting with mid-table for an extended period of time.
La Viola are overachieving and will, most likely, regress to the mean. The pressures of Europa League might begin to cause fatigue soon, as the players are called into action three times a week. Injuries to key individuals would further deter the club’s title prospects.
The squad is not particularly deep and the depth will be called into question as the season progresses. Sousa claims to believe in his side’s title-winning capabilities. But, does he possess the resources to match his optimism? Maybe not.
