With January now drawing to a close, Connall Shaw believes Fiorentina have finally discovered their long awaited back up plan.
After months of tireless waiting, frustrating performances and a furious backlash from fans, it finally seems that Fiorentina are beginning to put a plan B together.
The main worry, even before the turn of the year, was that the team had become too predictable. Paulo Sousa’s men were able to dominate games, but not always finish them off, especially so against the bigger teams. Worries of fatigue also began to creep in and everyone’s suspicions were confirmed just two weeks into 2016, when Fiorentina fell to two successive defeats against Lazio and AC Milan.
Fans hit out, not only had they seen their team dramatically kicked out of the Coppa Italia in a 1-0 loss to Carpi back in December, but they also just witnessed yet another trophy, the Scudetto, slip further away.
It’s naturally accepted that if you fail to beat the majority of the league’s best teams, racking up over five losses in the process, then you probably don’t have the credentials to pick up the title.
Such a reaction has forced the club’s owners Andrea and Diego Della Valle into top gear. No more waiting and no more endless discussions on what mysterious player the club might sign. In came three signings all at once, Alberto Costa, Mauro Zarate and Barcelona winger Cristian Tello.
All of a sudden, fans are able to breathe a sigh of relief.
The three quick-fire additions have already added a much needed to depth to the team, both in attack and midfield (now all that remains on the check-list is the defence.)
Alberto Costa, who has been brought in as a replacement for the injured Milan Badelj, adds a certain dynamic which has been lacking so far, in his ability to pick out long ranged passes and provide a threat at goal from distance.
Meanwhile, Mauro Zarate and Cristian Tello open up a whole range of attacking options. With Giuseppe Rossi now out on loan, it is likely Zarate will play second fiddle to either one of Nikola Kalinic or Khouma Babacar depending on who is starting, whilst the introduction of Tello could potentially allow Federico Bernardeschi to move further forward from his newly found wing-back role.
Essentially, the new squad members allow for some form of variety in Sousa’s line ups, meaning he can swap players around at a moments notice.
Another noteworthy change is that of Babacar’s starting role alongside Kalinic at the weekend, in a comfortable 2-0 victory against Torino.
The pair have played with each-other before, but never to the same effect as they did against the Granata. Their partenership had a devistating effect, as they rendered a usually in-form back three of Kamil Glik, Emiliano Moretti and Nikola Maksimovic completely null.
Babacar proved himself to be a worthy second striker, displaying fantastic work on and off the ball, using his strength to hold up play before feeding the Croatian.
Both were unable to etch their names on the scoreline, but their performances are certainly a welcoming sign of things to come and provides the Portuguese tactician with a new option should he wish to side with a more attacking line up.
It will of course take time for Sousa to fully implement a second strategy, but at the end of a disappointing month, the Viola faithful can finally find themselves with a smile on their face hoping for yet another strong run of form. This time, with the security of a backup plan.
