Batigol Weekly #7: La Viola abides

Everybody, it's less than two weeks until the start of the Serie A season. WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!

With that out of the way, back to the humdrum life of summer. At least we have that win over Chelsea that really tied the offseason together, led by a typically scrappy goal from Bomber Gonzalo and some encouraging toughness, if not intelligence, against those bullies from Stamford Bridge who treat objects like they're football players, man.

With four preseason friendlies against four domestic champions out of the way, and with some (but not all) transfer business accomplished, some patterns are becoming apparent in Paulo Sousa's plans. Fiorentina's willingness to get physical with Chelsea, exemplified by Mario Suarez shouldering a would-be tackler into the ground and Ricardo Bagadur fearlessly--and stupidly--smacking Kurt Zouma in retaliation for the latter's unsavory tackling seems a positive change from Montella's somewhat wimpy sides. It's about drawing a line in the sand, and across this line, YOU. DO. NOT. Also, dude, wimpy is not the preferred nomenclature. Ethereal, please.

Anyways, the change in mindset is matched by a change in tactics. It doesn't take a brother Seamus to see that Sousa is ready and able to switch between formations at the drop of a hat, tailoring the approach to the opponent and inviting them to enter a world of pain. The defensive organization the team has shown is equally impressive, keeping clean sheets against Sporting and Chelsea, and conceding once against (an admittedly weakened) Barcelona shows that the aggression of opposing attacks will not stand, man.

The latest

Fiorentina have rolled the dice with another world-class striker. This time, though, "the Scorpion" means a lot more to the Della Valles revolutionary plans. Here's where you can read about the excellently-named Patrizia Panico's signing.

Mati and Joaquin--or rather, their respective agents--are in negotiations to extend their stays in Florence. Here are the details we've gleaned thus far.

The Borini affair continues, now with rumors that offers have been made.

Oh, and Fiorentina's streak of beating domestic champions continued with a well-deserved win over Chelsea. Don't miss the outstanding comments from the match, the recap, or the pictures that our folks who were actually at the game got.

Don't Miss

We like having our community involved, and one of our outstanding members gave us some excellent analysis on Fiorentina's transfer finances over the past few years.

Through intrepid and completely lazy reporting, we've finally figured out Prade's transfer plans for this summer.

Alberto Aquilani has signed with Sporting CP of Portugal. We wish him nothing but the best.

Not normally up our alley, but Roma signed some guy from Chelsea. Meh.

Comment of the Week

Take a bow, Bill4, for your pragmatic approach to aquatic macrofauna.

Keep the comments, jokes, and investigations coming, folks. Also, it's not time to get your game faces out of the closets, but maybe start thinking of running them by the dry cleaner. It's nearly time to start whipping ourselves into our weekly intelligent and compassionate and overall rational purple frenzy. Not even two weeks. Get ready. Forza Viola.