Today I’d like to just bring a few articles and others bits to your attention as we all continue to enjoy the Viola’s presence in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup….
First, here is Goal.com’s player ratings for the match. I always think player ratings are interesting and kind of fun, but it’s also easy to disagree: I think Dainelli’s rating is low and a few others are a bit harsh. I’m not arguing, however, that Fiorentina as a whole played particularly well.
Next, we have the Great Man sharing his thoughts on the match. While he acknowledges that it was a tough game and his club did not play particularly well, he also feels that the pressure-cooker type situation will help the team to grow. I’m sure he’s not wrong.
This article (sorry about the rough translation) argues that Fiorentina showed real grit by fighting on even when they knew it wasn’t their night. This is an interesting perspective, a bit different from all those who are claiming the Viola got lucky. Even when it is clumsily translated into English, it is still eloquent, and makes an important point: that winning is still the point of all of this.
On a different track, here’s an early report that says Fiorentina are close to signing Felipe Melo, a midfielder from Spanish club Almeria. There are a lot of rumors going around right now (I will report ‘em as I find ‘em) but this one seems a bit more credible than some of the others. It’s still March, of course, so we have a long way to go.
Finally, here are the highlights and the penalty shoot-out from yesterday’s match: Enjoy!
I’ll be back soon with the news of the UEFA cup draw and a preview of this weekend’s game.