Carpi vs Fiorentina: Statistical review

Well, at least Paulo Sousa is consistent, if nothing else. Fiorentina continued the draw-less form thus far displayed, now giving them the pleasingly symmetrical record of WLWLW. Here are the numbers on how the game played out, courtesy, as always, of Whoscored.com.

Team statistics

Player statistics

Conclusions

This one can be best described as a grind; I haven't ever seen so many tackles and interceptions in a game. Paulo Sousa was clearly afraid of getting burned on the counter a la Torino, so he bunkered back once Fiorentina had scored. Apparently la Viola are still threatening enough that Carpi didn't want to come out and challenge them, even late in the game. Given the frantic pace of the game, an extra midfielder or two (Mati Fernandez, anyone?) would have been useful to slow the tempo and control things better after the goal, although Joan Verdú did a decent job on his debut. Overall, not much to say on this one: as a wise man once said, "Throw them three points in the back of the van and drive the hell out of town."

A few quick notes: Tomovic and Roncaglia really can't hit long passes, so opposing defenses have figured out to press Gonzalo at the back and stifle Borja, since nobody else can effectively move the ball forward from deep. Mario Suarez was more the player we thought he'd be in this one, completely dominating the area in front of the defense; hopefully, he can do it against Juventus as well as Carpi. Bernardeschi is still uneven: his dribbling lets him down, but he wins fouls like a boss. Rossi wasn't very involved and may not be quite fit yet; alternatively, he just wanted to keep away from a very physical Carpi side to preserve his health. Not sure which would be worse.

Well, that's it for the stats. Tune back in next week. Forza Viola.