"Inter were too ugly to be true," said a contrite Stramaccioni when
recalling the match.
Anyone who watched of the second half of Sunday's encounter between
Inter and Fiorentina would have agreed with Stramaccioni. But the second half
was actually the better half of the match for Inter.
Fiorentina had led 2-0 by halftime on Sunday, but it could have
been 5-0. The Viola's fluid, flexible shape left Inter's midfield and defense in
a haze. Fiorentina's Eastern European attacking duo of Stevan Jovetic and Adam
Ljajic swapped flanks often and menacingly, getting behind Inter's backline with
stunning ease. The pair ended the night with a brace each.
"I don't know if it was our best performance," was the modest
reaction of Vincenzo Montella, the Fiorentina coach.
"Our opponents were notable and we were consistent throughout the
game. The only regret is conceding that goal, but it was a step forward compared
to our last match".
That "last match" was a defeat to Juventus the previous week, a
comprehensive 0-2 loss that had led to worries over the competitiveness of this
young, emerging team against teams of championship calibre. Sunday's performance
will allay some of those concerns. After victory over Inter, Fiorentina sit
sixth in the Italian Serie A, one point off Europa League qualification and two
points off Champions League qualification.
Fiorentina are an exciting mixture of the young and the
experienced, one of the many minor powers that have threatened Serie A's
traditional power base this season. With Milan and Inter in a transitional phase
and Roma at sixes and sevens once again after firing their coach Zdenek Zeman,
the time was right for other teams to step into the void.
Napoli are at the vanguard of this new development, emerging as the
only meaningful challenger to Juventus for the Scudetto this season. They are
followed by a resurgent Lazio, led by Bosnian-born Vladimir Petkovic, and tiny
Catania, a Sicilian club coached by Rolando Maran, in his first spell as a
manager in Serie A.
Catania hired Maran after Montella left them to join Fiorentina.
When Montella, a former Italian international striker known for his prolific
left foot, joined the Viola last summer, the club needed a significant infusion
of funds to challenge for European qualification. The club was bought in the
early years of this century by the Della Valle brothers, Italian billionaires
who specialize in leather goods, and Fiorentina had achieved Champions League
qualification in 2009, during Cesare Prandelli's reign as coach. After
Prandelli's departure to manage the Italian national team, however, the team had
struggled to find consistency.
With Montella in charge, the Della Valle brothers reached into the
depths of the transfer market and brought in a gaggle playmakers -- Borja Valero
(Spanish), Matias Fernandez and David Pizarro (both Chilean) and Alberto
Aquilani (Italian). Even with no European fixtures to contend with, Montella has
managed to distribute the workload of his playmakers without provoking much
bellyache, often starting three of them in a flexible 4-3-3 formation.
Montella has also been able to count on a dependable Eastern
European axis in his team -- led by Montenegrin attacking sensation Stevan
Jovetic and followed by compatriot Stefan Savic (defender) and Serbians Adam
Ljajic (attacking midfielder) and Nenad Tomovic (defender).
Together, these seven players have made Fiorentina one of the most
attacking sides in Italy, and the Viola's scoring record (45 goals) is second
only to Juventus and Napoli in the league. They also have an extraordinary
scoring record at home, averaging more than three goals per game in their nine
Serie A games played at the Stadio Artemio Franchi so far.
However, they have won only three of their 12 away games so far,
and Montella acknowledged that his side need to improve that record if they are
to keep up their challenge for a place in Europe next season. "There is a big
difference between our home record and away, more in terms of results than
performances, so we have to improve on that," he said.
As for Inter, defeat cranked up the pressure on Stramaccioni, who
sought to blame his side's Europa League fixtures -- and Fiorentina's lack of
the same -- as a possible reason for the fatigue of his players. However,
cramped fixtures are part and parcel of being a big club, and Stramaccioni, a
former youth team coach at Inter who was promoted to the top job last season
after Claudio Ranieri was sacked, will have the chance to make amends when his
side meet cross-town rivals AC Milan next week in the Derby Della Madonnina.
Despite sharing the same stadium, Inter will be the 'home' side
this weekend and their players will be wearing their traditional black and blue
jerseys against Milan. Stramaccioni will hope the black and blue stops with the
jerseys.
