It Is Way Too Early To Panic

Hey you, yes I am talking to you. Please step down from that ledge. I know the first game of the season was not what you were hoping for but, it is too early to panic. One game does not define a season no matter how bad the team looked. Now that you are down from the ledge let’s talk about why we need to be patient this season in Florence.

The Roster

If you look at the Fiorentina roster going into the first game against Inter Milan, it looks a lot different than what we are used to. The days of having our fan favorites, like Borja Valero, Federico Bernardeschi and Gonzalo Rodriguez are over. There is a new roster with a lot of turnover. In fact, most of the new players have arrived in the past three weeks. Just hypothetically speaking, let’s say you and bunch of friends decided to start playing soccer together three weeks ago, would you be able to defeat your local peewee soccer team that has been playing together for a few months? No chance! We can look at the Fiorentina Roster like that.

There is every right to be angry with the fact that most of these players have just arrived recently and not received an opportunity to learn the new system. This is a problem because the team really looked lost without direction against Inter. We can be angry with this, but we also have to be realistic about this team and where it is headed. Patience is key to developing this roster. Unfortunately, this is a rebuilding year in Florence, but the team is building towards the future.

The Coach

Stefano Pioli is brand new in Florence. As any brand new manager, there are going to be bumps in the road. The first game with all the pieces will not necessarily be the easiest. Pioli has to institute his formation with the new talent. It will take time for everyone to gel together and create the team football that will win games. Pioli is a master tactician that will put his new pieces into the right positions to succeed. It just may take time. Inter Milan has more talent and runs like a well oiled machine.

At the end of the day one game is only one game. There are 37 more games in the Serie A season and one loss to Inter Milan is not going to end the world. Ideally, Fiorentina would have started stronger than they did, but it is not the time to panic. If they still look like this in 10 games, it may be time to be concerned. This year is probably not going to be the year the fans are hoping for, but the team is young with a lot of potential. The first step to building a dynasty is acquiring young talent to build around. Fiorentina has done that this summer and they will have some growing pains along the way. Things will get better but it may be a little rough before they get there.