Scudetto Hopes: views from the VN team

After such a brilliant (if a little unexpected) start to the season, Fiorentina have been sitting at the top of Serie A since before the international break. With this in mind, the Viola Nation team got together to give brief thoughts on whether winning the scudetto this year was a realistic proposition for Sousa's men.

Nolan: As far as scudetto hopes go..I look at this teams depth and it is possible, and this is the first time I believe that. I am trying not to get any hopes up..but depending on how the next two matches go, I just may believe.

Lorenzo: I think Fiorentina can compete for the Scudetto, as there is no other clear favorite at the moment. There is a sense that Paulo Sousa's team is only now beginning to play to its potential; looking back at those scrappy wins against Genoa and Carpi, one can think that not only is the best yet to come, but also that the team already understands how to grind out results.

We shouldn't be blinded by our recent good form, sure, and Roma and Juventus will improve, sure, and maybe our winning at the San Siro said more about how bad Inter were than how good we are. Sure sure sure. But Napoli are also "just going through a period of good form" and their lethal attack should not obscure that they are very fragile at the back.
My main worry is that winning anything always requires a sprinkling of good fortune regarding things like injuries and referees, something that no Fiorentina team has ever been able to count on. But it's hard not to see the Viola atop the table in mid October without a single league goal from Giuseppe Rossi, and not get dreamy.

Tito: We're not far enough into the season for me to be thinking about the scudetto. If we hit January and the team's still hanging around the top of the standings, then I'll begin considering it. Gun to my head, though, I'd say Fiorentina has about a fifty-fifty chance to finish in the Champions League places, and maybe a twenty percent chance of winning it all. There are still lots of very good and maybe good teams in the league who could start clicking. Sousa's system could get figured out for the second time, and he won't have an answer. Injuries could stack up (good thing there's no history of that happening). Competing on three fronts could sap the team's energy. Other squads could load up in the winter. I hope none of these things happen, but I also don't want to be blindsided by catastrophe. So yeah, ask me again in a few months. I'm just trying to, like, live in the moment here, dude.

Chloe: I think that if Fiorentina are going to win Serie A, this year could be their best chance for a while; as some notable teams have made slow starts to the campaign. It will be very tough and we could be getting way ahead of ourselves, after all it is only October. Fiorentina are working towards cutting costs, so could well be heavily outspent in the January transfer window. That said, positive results in the next two league games away to Napoli and at home to Roma would make everybody really sit up and take notice. Paulo Sousa has managed to continue the team spirit in the camp that was evident under Montella but has added a ruthless winning attitude that wasn't there before. Where we have fallen short at the final hurdle in recent years (Coppa Italia final, Europa League SF etc), it seems like Sousa could be the man to get the team over the line in first place. After the negativity of preseason, even being close enough to be able to dream of winning the league would be fantastic for the fans, and if this meant eventually ending up in one of the Champions League spots, the financial gains would mean that the club could build on the success in the future. Why not dream about it while we can?