BatiGol Weekly 88: Whatever

Hey look, Fiorentina have won 3 straight and are undefeated in 6 matches, having conceded 2 goals in that time. Huh. That’s cool, I guess. Federico Chiesa is becoming a legitimate star before our eyes, threatening to eclipse even Federico Bernardeschi, who is already a legitimate star. Riccardo Saponara is starting to look like the creative successor to Borja Valero. Carlos Sánchez is evolving into his final form as a top-class centerback. I hear that they’re showing a rerun of Lethal Weapon 3. Let’s put that on instead.

Seriously, what’s to get excited about right now? The Viola are now 7 points back of Atalanta for the final Europa League spot; AC Milan and Inter Milan look better poised to pip la Dea to Europe than the Gigliati. Paulo Sousa is almost certainly done, recent reports notwithstanding, and the team is playing a deeply flat, boring style of football whose only tension lies in who’ll score the one goal to win a soporific match. We’re not quite at Siniša Mihajlović-style weapons-grade monotony, but it’s not far off.

All we have left now is to watch these men whom we love and whom we’ve never met play out the remaining 8 games of the season for, well, nothing, really. I guess guys like Sebastian Cristoforo and Maxi Olivera are playing to convince Corvino to pick up their loan options, while the cynic might propose that guys like Nikola Kalinić are playing for big-money moves to big-money clubs, but that doesn’t do anything for the fans. All we’re left with at this point is the club we love, and the desperate hope that we can make ourselves believe it’s enough.

Whatever. It’s almost that part of the movie where Mel Gibson shoots some people. Turn it up, will ya?

Latest news

In what’s a bit of a PR embarrassment, Corvino has let slip who’s likely to be coaching the team next year, and we like it.

It’s not huge news, but the momentum for the new stadium continues to build.

Young Atalanta striker Andrea Petagna has been excellent for Atalanta, so it’s no surprise to hear him linked to a move away from the Bergamo outfit.

Word on the street is that el Titan won’t have his option picked up and will seek pastures new at season’s end.

Josip Iličić is the subject of a new set of transfer rumors, this time linking him to Sevilla.

The international break wasn’t particularly kind to the Viola, and the worst casualty was Matías Vecino, who may miss several weeks with a thigh injury.

Oh, did you think we were done with injury news? Nope. Federico Bernardeschi is also dinged up.

Not even those absences could dampen the Viola in their very impressive 1-0 win over Bologna, though. Catch up on our full coverage of the match here.

What with the win and the suddenly impressive defensive record, you could be forgiven for freaking out over the news that Sousa may renew his contract. Then you’d check the date and go breath into a bag for a bit.

Must read

In light of some recent comments by Viola players, we’re taking another long, hard look at where exactly Fiorentina fits in the hierarchy of clubs worldwide.

Join us for our semi-regular dive into the Lega Pro and Serie D to check out the youngsters on loan.

Comment of the week

Capo811 has clearly figured out the real impetus behind the Eusebio di Francesco interest.

That’s it for this week, folks. Find a cat and pat if for a little bit. It’s good for you.