Novara 0-3 Fior; The Kids Are Alright
By: slakas | January 8th, 2012
Stevan Jovetic celebrates his second goal, Nastasic came over later to join him.
Facing a new year, with a new coach, a new formation, with no strikers as Alberto Gilardino was sent to Genoa and Babacar and Silva were not available, on the road, where they had been win-less since April, with the relegation zone in sight, Stevan Jovetic and his Fiorentina boys went out and dominated play, winning 3-0 against lowly Novara Calcio at the Stadio Silvio Piola.
Recap
Fiorentina played with 3 men in front of Goalie Artur Boruc, Allesio Gamberini, Cesere Natali and Matija Nastasic and a 5 man midfield, Mattia Cassani back from injury played out right, with Valon Behrami next to him, Riccardo Montolivo in the middle with Amidu Salifu and Juan Manuel Vargas out right. Stevan Jovetic and newly inserted Adem Ljajic played forward.
The opening 20 minutes was a bit rusty for both sides, but a nice pass from Ljajic, sprung Jovetic free and the Novara defender had to drag him down in the box. Jovetic finished the PK for his 8th goal of the season.
Shortly before half, Juan Manuel Vargas let go a long pass that released Riccardo Montolivo who collected the ball and took it into the box, cut back and lost the defender and looped it over the top of the goalie who had charged him and it just brushed the inside of the pole and dropped in.
Shortly after halftime, Ljajic struck a laser to Jovetic who volleyed it in for the 3rd goal and the rout was on. In a, perhaps, not so subtle jibe at previous coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, Jovetic celebrated by pretending to play video games. Mihajlovic had been quoted as saying some young players, Adem Ljajic for one, “Like to eat too much choccolate and play too many video games.”
The win, combined with other results put La Viola into 9th place with 21 points while Novara stayed at 18th.
If you subscribe to the theory that 40 points is, more or less, the accepted “target for safety,” (ie: Teams with 40 points are not likely to be relegated,) then Fiorentina have reached the halfway mark to that target with two league matches left until the official halfway mark.
Highlights
Report Cards
Boruc-(6) nice easy afternoon for Artur, no shots on, no real shaky moments and another clean sheet
Gamberini-(6) played well in his new role, had to give up a few too many corner kicks for my taste, but i think that will get better.
Natali-(6) looked fresh off the holiday, played his role well.
Nastasic-(7) very nice intervention to save a one on one situation, got a yellow, but is looking to be a fixture for quite some time
Cassani-(7) owned the right side for large stretches of the match, collapsed back when Fior were countered on, this squad missed him. subbed for LDS late,
Behrami-(6) I think this new system might free up Valon a bit too, i get the impression he’s not 100% fit
Montolivo-(7) first half the midfield was a bit crowded, but vargas held back a bit and let rikita move forward and it made the difference. pretty goal, some nice passes.
Salifu-(6) Tried a bit too hard at times, but the effort was great. got cramps in the second half, Kharja subbed on
Vargas-(6) pressed forward early, played back more often later to let montolivo come forward, got the assist on montolivo’s goal.
Ljajic-(7) like the rest of the team, he took a while to warm up, but his service set up the Penalty for Jovetic and he had a very nice cross on Jovetic’s second, some nice give and go action, too. subbed for Lazzari, i think for resting purposes.
Jovetic-(8) jojo is looking more dangerous every time he touches the ball.
Rossi-(7) The new system worked, this time, against a bottom table team, but it remains to be seen how it will hold up against the stronger teams and the mid table teams that have individual studs, but all that being said, it was on the road, and getting that road win early is huge for morale.
Coach’s Quotes
Delio Rossi is “very happy” with Fiorentina’s victory and their adoption of the new 3-5-2 tactical system.
“We knew this was a delicate encounter for us and wanted to start 2012 on the right foot,”
“We stepped on to the field with this new 3-5-2, which we worked very hard on during the winter break, and I am very happy with how it went.”
“It was a delicate game with a new tactical system. We were rewarded for our hard work and the lads deserved this result.”
“We do not need static centre-forwards. We need players who are good at movement on and off the ball,” continued Rossi.
“Of course it’s always difficult to find good players in the January transfer market, but the club know what we are looking for.”
Looking Ahead
At Roma for the Coppa Italia Wednesday afternoon.
Remains to be seen how seriously either squad take this. One would think it means more to Fior. as it could be the only road to Europe.
Roma are 7th in Serie A and have an away trip to 8th place Catania 3 days later, while Fior host relegation threatened Lecce.
Some Related Fiorentina Posts:
- Fior 0-0 AC Milan; And It’s Gonna Get Better
- Siena 0-0 Fior; All I Want For Christmas Is A New Midfield
- Fior 1-0 Genoa; Not One Of Us
- Cesena 0-0 Fior; Bad
- Fior 2-2 Atalanta; Winter Wonderland
Category: Team News
Comments | Add your comment
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If it’s true that we tried to contact Luis Enrique, I wonder whether that was a good or bad decision. Sure, in hindsight it’s easy to see how Mihajlovic was a mistake, but at the time we were replacing a seasoned tactician in Prandelli, and Mihaj must have seemed like a compromise between Prandelli’s experience and Enrique’s youth: He’s young but he did a marvelous job with Catania. And it’s not like Enrique is proven even now.
The easy answer is of course, we should have signed Rossi sooner, but I guess that’s not an option then.
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(By “that was a good or bad decision” I meant the decision to recruit Mihaj instead.)
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Great to see Silva leave, I hope nothing will hinder this. He might be a nice fella, but also say Nolan is probably a nice guy, but wouldn’t like to see him as a Fiorentina sub or starter. Silva always pissed me off, running around like a headless chicken and missing good opportunities, plus he’s old, with a 19 year old it might have been a different story. It’s frustrating that all that playing time could’ve went to Babacar, who has shown real qualities at a very early age.
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Amauri is older than Silva.
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Oooop same formation today, ljajic jovetic duo is probably playing, looking forward to that
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sorry, caught a 36 hr bug.
wow, the kitchen has heated up a bit.
contrary to my opinions, it looks more and more like amuari.of course in fat ninja style, it looks like juve will foot most of the bill, at least for the rest of this season (maybe they then sell him in summer?)
I;m not really sure where he fits, switch back to 4-3-3?
cerci and pasqual would love thatjust for the record,
headlines read, coppa is Fior’s “key to europe,”if Fior win today, then likely up next is juve with no schedule pile up, after that would likely be the winner of milan v lazio. If Fior could get past roma and juve, both milan and lazio will have European matches as well.
only 8 points out of 5th place in Serie A tho…
in other news,
Fulham has made an official offer for Maxi Lopez (reportedly), 1 mil euros loan fee for the rest of the season, with a 9 mill euro buyout at the end of the year.Fulham are also interested in Lorenzo Di Silvestri and would offer 4 mill. (reportedly)
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Amauri is out of contract at the end of this season, I think, so Juve’s plan is apparently just to get us to pay a part of his (huge) salary until then.
I don’t think it would be necessary to change from 3-5-2 if Amauri arrives, he’ll probably just push Ljajic back on the bench (temporarily?).
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actually, Fior are offering him a two year deal, for 1.5 mill each year, and want juve to pay the “rest” of his salary, or a severance, if you will, to cover the loss.
Amauri speaks:
“My future? I know that companies are speaking. There are two entries, Fiorentina and roma. I would prefer Fiorentina more. The Engagement? the problem is not the contract. The companies are discussing it.in other news,
Fior have reportedly removed Camporese from the market at Delio Rossi’s request.
also, reportedly Fior are very near getting Sebastian Prödl, a central defender as well.that would see the end of christmas in purple
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Flattered, but I wouldn’t exactly call us Italian GIANTS….http://www.givemefootball.com/premier-league/italian-giants-still-chasing-gunners-striker
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lol – of course I got that quote wrong.
Amauri: “Fiorentina are the team that want me more.”
I should’ve known…“There are these two voices about Roma and Fiorentina,” the former Chievo and Palermo man told TMW.
“Fiorentina are the side who want me more. I know that the clubs are talking in an effort to resolve the situation.
“We’ll just have to wait and see what happens over the next two days, even if I hope everything is sorted out before then.
“The problem is not my contract, it is the clubs who have to agree terms.”
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Haha, Crispin, back then they used the more damning faint praise “Tuscan giants”. Anyway, I don’t see the Chamakh deal happening, especially since he’s secured his place to the closest Int’l cup, making playing time a non-issue. He’s paid five mill a year, for pity’s sake.
The problem with Amauri though is not so much that he’s supposedly a spent force—he’s got Gilardinoed (that is, rather unfairly became a shorthand for suckery) even more than Gilardino himself—but because the reason he’s going would be to gain playing time, and I imagine he must share it here with younger players.
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Anderlecht raise price on biglia to 15 mill.
scratch him off the list. -
Uh-oh, the Amauri story seems to be the real deal. One thing about him though—if he doesn’t show signs of revitalising like he did in his quite impressive Parma loan deal, sell or freeze him immediately. We’re taking a risk here, and if it’s clearly not working better remove him from the system quick.
Although I trust Rossi will do just that anyway if it’s heading in that direction. He’s surprisingly stern for a meek-looking fellow; kind of Mihaj’s mirror image.
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He’s not worth that much. Anyway, we’ve got that poor man’s Biglia mentioned earlier. Jacob? Yacob?
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roster for today:
BEHRAMI, BORUC, CAMPORESE, CASSANI, CERCI, DE SILVESTRI, GAMBERINI, JOVETIC, LAZZARI, LJAJIC, MONTOLIVO, MUNARI, NASTASIC, NATALI, NETO, PASQUAL, PAZZAGLI, ROMULO,ROZZIO, SALIFU, VARGAS.provisional lineup on violachannel.tv is the same as last match, except a change in goal.
neto
Gamberini-Natali-Nastasic
Cassani-Behrami-Montolivo-Salifu-Vargas
Ljajic-Jovetic -
Earlier Rossi said, “We have no use for a static central striker,” which I took a little as a slam on Gila. Do we think Amauri is still mobile? He’s a pretty big dude.
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the other concern is dood hasn’t played in 1 match this year, not even the coppa. I guess he’s rested…
chievo up on udi in the coppa -
I doubt Amauri has any speed left but he’s better on the ball than Gila, I guess that’s what they mean.
Sucks about Biglia, wonder how much Yacob would be.
I love in that google translated Prodl story how it would mean “the end of christmas”
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Speaking of Christmas, Tony Christmas’s team is trailing by one goal in the coppa.
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prodl says he wants to go to lazio
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Inter can take Cercito. Someone we could trade him with?
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put up a game day post
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Amauri is older than Silva, true, but he already has proven himself in Italy. Not so excited about the Amauri prospecr either, but we’ll see, isn’t that what the blind man also said, right?
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This was a great result for Fiorentina but the Coppa Italia loss against Roma will put the team’s moral down.
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