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Just as it was after the Basel match, looks like Paulo Sousa and Fiorentina have to go back to the drawing board after a shocking defeat at home. Let's help him out and figure out what went wrong, as much as we can tell by the numbers from the game (as usual, from WhoScored.com).
Team statistics
| Possession | Passes (short/long) | Passing success | Crosses/attempted | Dribbles/attempted | Shots (on target) | Shots inside/outside area | Tackles/attempted | Interceptions | Aerial duels won attempted | Fouls | Yellow/red cards | Corners | Offsides | |
| Fiorentina | 69% | 762 (677/40) | 90% | 6/42 | 7/15 | 20 (4) | 10/10 | 17/24 | 16 | 10/24 | 13 | 0/1 | 13 | 2 |
| Lech Poznan | 31% | 346 (263/70) | 76% | 2/13 | 7/16 | 5 (2) | 3/2 | 9/16 | 22 | 14/24 | 14 | 2/0 | 2 | 1 |
Player Statistics
| Short passes/attempted | Long passes/attempted | Crosses/attempted | Dribbles/attempted | Shots (on target) | Shots inside/outside area | Touches | Possession lost | Tackles/attempted | Interceptions | Successful aerial battles | Fouls committed/suffered | Yellow/red cards | Offsides | Saves | Goals | Assists | Minutes | |
| Sepe | 19/19 | 4/4 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 (0) | 0/0 | 34 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 |
| Astori | 85/88 | 4/7 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1 (0) | 1/0 | 105 | 0 | 0/1 | 4 | 1 | 3/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 |
| Tomovic | 113/116 | 3/5 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 (0) | 0/0 | 131 | 0 | 1/1 | 3 | 1 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 |
| Roncaglia | 94/98 | 3/5 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0 (0) | 0/0 | 109 | 0 | 3/3 | 1 | 1 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 |
| Pasqual | 44/46 | 2/3 | 1/7 | 0/0 | 1 (0) | 0/0 | 62 | 2 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66 |
| Fernandez | 56/60 | 0/1 | 2/10 | 1/3 | 4 (0) | 2/2 | 81 | 0 | 1/4 | 1 | 1 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 90 |
| Suárez | 54/57 | 5/5 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 (0) | 0/0 | 69 | 2 | 2/2 | 1 | 1 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 73 |
| Verdú | 42/48 | 5/5 | 0/2 | 1/1 | 2 (0) | 0/2 | 65 | 2 | 1/1 | 2 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 |
| Rebic | 27/35 | 0/1 | 0/8 | 3/6 | 2 (0) | 1/1 | 63 | 2 | 7/8 | 2 | 2 | 3/0 | 0/1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 |
| Rossi | 27/40 | 0/1 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 2 (1) | 2/0 | 54 | 6 | 0/1 | 1 | 0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 90 |
| Babacar | 7/11 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 1/1 | 5 (1) | 3/2 | 23 | 2 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 |
| Vecino | 22/26 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 (1) | 0/1 | 30 | 0 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| Bernardeschi | 16/17 | 0/0 | 2/8 | 1/2 | 2 (1) | 2/0 | 35 | 3 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Ilicic | 13/15 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 (0) | 0/0 | 19 | 0 | 1/1 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
Conclusions
Paulo Sousa clearly wanted to rest his starters ahead of a big game against second-place Roma on Sunday, but Fiorentina don't quite have the depth to manage that. The problem area was the midfield, which may seem strange for a team that had 69% possession. However, Sousa said in his post-match presser that the team moved the ball too slowly. This can be attributed to two personnel issues. The first is that Mario Suárez isn't the passer than Milan Badelj is, and Joan Verdú had a very poor game in possession. That left Mati Fernandez to do the bulk of the heavy lifting in possession, when he's better suited to drive forward with the ball rather than distribute it. The second problem was that neither Khouma Babacar nor Giuseppe Rossi was willing to drop deep and help flood the midfield, as Josip Iličić does when he starts up top. The midfield kept possession, but it was slow and rarely penetrative, allowing Lech Poznan to easily set a deep, narrow defensive block.
Quick thoughts: That's two starts and two losses at the Franchi for Luigi Sepe. Facundo Roncaglia played one of his best games in purple, shutting down his entire side of the field and not committing a single foul. Verdú is too slow, both physically and mentally, to be anything more than a late sub to kill off games by keeping possession; he rarely played the ball forward, and his shooting was woeful. Prior to his well-deserved red card, Ante Rebić had been brilliant, both in attack and defense. Rebić, Fernandez, and Babacar all played like guys who are desperate to make an impression and end up trying to do too much: too many shots, too much dribbling, not enough passing or patience.
Let's hope that Sousa can get the squad regrouped and ready for Roma on Sunday, and that he'll be ready for some revenge in Poland in two weeks. As always, forza Viola.