Week 13: Fiorentina vs Milan 20/11/2021 20:45 CET

[VooDooDoll]

fiorentina is 7th (same amount of points as 7uve) with 6W-0D-6L, goals 16-14
currently coached by vincenzo italiano - ex spazia coach

last 5 fio games:
7uve 1:0 fio
fio 3:0 spezia
lazio 1:0 fio
fio 3:0 cagliari
venezia 1:0 fio

fiorentina use 433, able to counter with fast players but also have some quality on the pitch to play possession football - danger team to play against (usually they look weak in the last 20 minutes).
players like vlahovic, bona, saponara, torreira, castrovilli, callejon, duncan, biraghi with support of other youngsters ... maybe not top but with qualities.

from players they have not available: milenkovic and martinez (both starting cbs suspended because of cards), dragowski (gk - injured), possible pulgar.

this round we have lazio-7uve and inter-napoli so winning will create the distance to the rest.

 

[Clubber Lang]

Bring them on
Hope our boys return safe and healthy after wc qualifiers

 

[Mr. Milanista]

Lets get back to winning shall we?!!

 

[Swagotelli]

Italiano was a pain in the ass for Pioli last season. Hope padre has learned well and ready to smash this time

 

[brk]

They have an unconventional pairing at CB that never played together and are both left footed, and they won't practice together since Nastasic is on international duty. They also probably don't have a viable sub at CB, but i'm not sure.

From what i've seen, Fiorentina really like to press all over the pitch. I think that's why they tend to fall off at the end of games. They look really dangerous when they can pin teams back, but I think if we can push them upfield they won't be any danger. Vlahovic can easily be shut down by Fik and Kjaer, i'm not worried about him. Maybe Castrovilli running at us from midfield is a more dangerous threat. I think if we hold the midfield and make sure they don't press us into making dangerous turnovers, then we'll be fine. Not having Maignan for this game especially might be a big detriment as he can really help us bypass their press.

Our subs are going to be key to winning this. After an hour their first 11 will be exhausted and we can bring on 5 players that are better than anyone in their squad.

 

[VillaiN]

I watched them few times. As pointed they press first half and maybe 20 min.of second. If they score at the start they usually win. It their plan doesnt work they crumble.
Some of their important players re on older side and cant keep up with high tempo. With their cbs missing im certain in win. We have much better bench let alone first team.
1-3

 

[Il Barone]

Fiorentina away is one of the games this season I fear the most. They played great against all big teams, however, they tend to fall out during the second half. Their coach is great - especially against us last season.

Hopefully, we are ready, especially defensively. Leao and Ibra will win this one for us.

 

[Thenebra]

Cant wait for this game!

 

[brk]

Cant wait for this game!

Me neither. Would be great to see the current Milan manager (long may he reign) and the future Milan manager against each other.

 

[Goodfella]

Italiano was a pain in the ass for Pioli last season. Hope padre has learned well and ready to smash this time

One game..
We beat them 3-0 at home with Colombo from start.
Lost 2-0 away with the least fit XI Pioli has ever fielded. Half-injured Bennacer, COVIDoglu, Ibra in the middle of a recovery from yet another injury, Kjaer being rushed back, Leao slacking.
Spezia blocked passing angles and pressed well. They weren't the first team to do that, but normally the team is able to deal with it through progressive fullbacks, a long ball to Ibra, deadly counters lead by Rebic, passing triangles etc.
However we couldn't do any of those things that night. Dalot couldn't evade pressure like Calabria. Bennacer and COVIDoglu were way too rusty and unfit for such a high intensity game. Ibra and Leao were passengers - the latter was never on the same wavelength as the rest of the team. We didn't have Rebic to lead our counters and press. It was a disjointed mess full of unfit and low workrate players.

We're in a much better state now, provided this int break doesn't turn into another disaster(which it probably will).
Ibra and Bennacer have shaken off the rustiness it seems. Rebic and Diaz are back. We've been cured of COVIDoglu. Our starting fullbacks are available.
The bench is finally looking full again.

 

[Hitchens]

Cant wait for this game!

I'm ready for a convincing mauling.

 

[Rossonero81]

Fiorentina has a good team, but they are not strong enough to beat us. We will maintain our unbeaten status. We have a good record against them.

 

[VillaiN]

Fiorentina has a good team, but they are not strong enough to beat us. We will maintain our unbeaten status. We have a good record against them.

Also they re much better away than at home, for some reason.

 

[brk]

Nastasic got a calf injury and might be out. Only Igor left.

 

[VillaiN]

Nastasic got a calf injury and might be out. Only Igor left.

Damn, our attack ll have easy job.

 

[Az.]

Who do we still have injured for this one?

 

[Swagotelli]

Who do we still have injured for this one?

As of now only Magic Mike and Roma… but I suspect someone or the other will be out after international duty

 

[brk]

Who do we still have injured for this one?

We might have lots of players back but they won't be back in top form. It's going to definitely be Giroud up front for this one I think, Pioli always favors the players that have been at Milanello during the international breaks. So probably Giroud with Rebic. Not sure if he's going to go for Messias on the right from the start, but if he's training well why not? We need to take advantage of Fiorentina's weakness at the back and Messias is a lot more threatening. It should be back to business with Brahim in AM though, we don't need Krunic for this.

Really can't wait to see a full squad though, it feels like it's been more than a year that we haven't had any injury problems. Won't be the same until Maignan is back and we're building out from him, but we're getting there.

 

[kevin_dk]

Probable starting line-up anyone?

 

[Qaas]

I think its too early

 

[fray]

Probable starting line-up anyone?

If everything goes smoothly over the international break, I'd reckon:

Tatarusanu; Calabria, Tomori, Romagnoli, Theo; Kessie, Tonali; Saelemaekers, Brahim, Leao; Giroud

Kjaer, Ibra and Bennacer rested for Atletico.

 

[VooDooDoll]

rebic is training with the team ...

 

[brk]

rebic is training with the team ...

I'd be shocked if Rebic doesn't start. I think the big questions are RW (Saelemaekers, Florenzi or Messias?) and CM (which 2?). The rest picks itself. Idea is we need to rest Saelemaekers and Leao.

Tata, Calabria, Kjaer, Tomori, Theo, CM, CM, RW, Brahim, Rebic, Giroud.

 

[Swagotelli]

Looks like Calabria is out now. He only played 10 mins the other day. Something seriously wrong with our fitness programs

 

[KujaIX]

He got injured with Italy...

I'm all for slagging off the medical staff but is it their fault if one of our players gets injured anywhere?

 

[Swagotelli]

He got injured with Italy...

I'm all for slagging off the medical staff but is it their fault if one of our players gets injured anywhere?

Sometimes yes… fitness doesn’t just depend on last 2 days. Long term conditioning is shaped at clubs where players spend most of their time playing.

 

[brk]

Biraghi out of Italy too. Will he miss the game? I was assuming he'd fill in as CB if Nastasic can't play. They're really fucked if Biraghi is also out.

 

[Thenebra]

Sometimes yes… fitness doesn’t just depend on last 2 days. Long term conditioning is shaped at clubs where players spend most of their time playing.

This.

 

[joyrider]

Biraghi out of Italy too. Will he miss the game? I was assuming he'd fill in as CB if Nastasic can't play. They're really fucked if Biraghi is also out.

Keep the good news coming.
How is Vlagovic? I hope nothing happened to him during the international break.

 

[brk]

Keep the good news coming.
How is Vlagovic? I hope nothing happened to him during the international break.

Turns out he wasn't injured, just went home for personal reasons. Looks like Nastasic is definitely out though, so it will be Igor and probably Venuti with him, who's a backup RB. Not very tall (179) so Giroud should feast.