Hold the line, Sebastian, is more like it. The headlines are starting in Firenze already:
FREY MOSTRUOSO.
Monstrous, and how. Genoa had 19 shots, NINE of them on goal. There is no doubt about who the Florentine Talisman is, and his last name is Frey.
It was a match with some familiar faces getting up against each other, Dainelli v Vargas with some pushing and shoving and Toni v Gamberini were draped all over each other most of the match.
Fiorentina came out and scored early. Gila, the garbage collector, jumped on a deflected cross from Vargas and buried it.
Unfortunately, Genoa came right back and equalized within 6 minutes, a simple pass play cut our defense wide open and Frey had no chance. He had a chance on the next 8 shots on goal, however.
The rest of the first half consisted of Genoa peppering crosses and shots at the Fiorentina box, and somehow, the goal remained empty. There was a series of three miracle saves by Frey, on Criscito, Toni and Palacio, respectively.
The second half started pretty much the same as the first half went, with Genoa owning most of the possession. The one bright spot came when Criscito anticipated Eduardo coming off his line and he accidentally collided with the Genoa goalkeeper. The ball fell to Cerci, but the best he could do was hit the pole, a follow of the rebound was neatly parried by the goalie.
The trend started to shift with the insertion of Bolatti for Zanetti at the 65th minute.
Donadel and Montolivio seemed to be able to hook up with Bolatti with short passes to keep the ball out of danger and also release some pressure. There still wasn't much continuity between the midfield and the forwards , however.
The second substitution was Marchionni for Cerci and really signaled the end of any chance at La Viola scoring. Marchionni was invisible at best and the third sub of Felipe for Pasqual was clearly to get a rested player in to hold onto the point.
The back and forth has already started about whether 1 pt is acceptable. hell yah it is. Fiorentina equaled their entire season output today, on the road, against a team that played better.
report card - i wasn't able to keep notes on this match due to work getting in the way, so i'll just have to go with my feelings
Frey - man of the Match for reasons already documented 8.5
pasqual - not as horrible, really concentrated on defense, didn't get caught upfield as much 5
pasqual revised:
Someone help him. Always in trouble, scared when the ball between his feet and trembling in front of Palacio. mesto's goal allowed on his side.
lds - not as horrible, really concentrated on defense, didn't get caught upfield as much 5
Gamberini - better, not as quick yet, but showed some strength - 6
kroldrup - kind've clumsy, played scared, kicked a lot of balls straight out of bound - 6
zanetti - blah, i think his role needs to shift to being a sub. too old to run 90 min - 5
monto - 1st half sucked, played much better in the second 5.5
donadel - worked hard, made some mistakes, wasnt really enough to make up for zanetti, but gelled well with bloatti in the second half 5.5
vargas - lots of hard work, both foward and playing back, got the cross on the goal - 6.5
cerci - worked hard, but not too many rewards. hit the pole on a wide open shot 5
gila - he is what he is, a poacher. he poached the early goal and pretty much didn't do squat after. in his defense, the ball rarely got into the genoa final third after the goal. 6.5
subs
bolatti - made a big difference in the holding midfield, seemed to have a feel with monto and even a bit with donadel - 7
marchionni - waste of change. invisible, made no differnece at all 4
felipe - came on and fouled immediately, was involved in a controversial play near the end of the game that Genoa fans will tell you should've been a free kick, at least. i think the ref got it right. 6
mihaj - had the lads ready to play, they seemed to regroup at the half, his first sub was great, made a differnece, the second sub, not so much, marchionni never got into the flow. felipe nearly caused a free kick at the end, but overall wasn't horrible. i think, for this squad, 1 point on the road is a victory. 6
moving forward
i think maybe a change of attitude is in order for the whole organization. Seems to me the era of pretty purple princes prancing down the pitch is long over and it may be that this team need to turn into purple people pounders and punish and grind away at teams. This team needs scores of 0-0, 1-0, 1-1 to succeed, IMHO.
So, back to the Franchi for Two, Parma and Palermo. a win against Parma is a must.