Fiorentina Reactions Around The World - Brescia Game

Not really the result we expected to be rolling this new feature out, but we’re committed to giving the global Viola fans a voice, so lets get at it.

There was so much excitement coming into this game. This had the feel of something different, something special. A win against Brescia was much more than just three points. A Viola win would be the reason for a much needed celebration for those fans in and around Firenze starved of joy. It would be a continuation of the positive momentum that seems to have been hanging around the club lately, a confirmation for the hard work and countless euros invested by Joe Barone and Rocco Commisso and a welcome distraction from the constant stadium headache. A game for the first time in 106 days against the leagues last placed team was the moment this team needed to seize. While we didn't seize it, I will argue that it wasn’t all bad.

Lets start with the bad though. Beppe! Beppe, what was the plan my man? I love you, but I am confused. You start Ceccherini and leave both Lirola and Milenkovic on the bench? After three yellow cards across your back line within the first 32 minutes, why did you not sub off those yellows? Ghezzal is the second substitute? Did you not listen to our podcast? You should have put in Sottil! Joe Barone and Daniele Prade, please do not let this happen. Protect your VERY talented young assets! Then you wait until the 92nd minute to make your final substitutes? At that point don’t even waste the time and make a substitution!

During a second half where we were firing on all cylinders. Ribery, Chiesa and Vlahovic looked lethal, even if they were not surgical. Why paralyze your city’s return to sport with multiple yellow cards still on the field when you have 5 subs available?

That said, the truth is that in my opinion there was far more good to take out of this game than bad. We put the ball in the net twice on some beautiful buildup play. Sure it was negated twice, but my goodness this was the team we hoped to see for a long time now. We had flow. We had speed, We had form. We had control. We had excitement. Had we finished the game with 11 players we would have scored multiple goals too.

Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images

Castrovilli! Gaetano Castrovilli! Wow! Rocco Commisso has chosen you to be his bandiera and it is clear to see why. Dragowski looked the part of a warrior taking the pitch and leaves it in a battle with Castrovilli for man of the match. Lafont who? AC Milan, hands off! Pezzella, attack that ball Capitano. Great job! Pulgar, you made it clear we should never think of selling you. I believe the game changed when Lirola came on for Dalbert. Minus a mistake he made on a counter-attack I thought he was back in form. And you know I can’t post without recognizing Dusan. Dusan went full blown Arnold in The Terminator. Minus an offside wiping out his assist and the ball seemingly going out of bounds wiping out his goal, Dusan was a few inches away from being Man of the Match. We will look past the first half he had.

So let’s finally hear from those Viola fans and experts from around the globe.

Maurizio Gamberucci of Viola Club Texas - “There was too much chaos and too many mistakes. An outstanding Franck Ribery wasn’t enough to defeat Brescia. We need a great and experienced bomber, like Belotti. Dragowski saved us at the very last second. We are all disappointed and worried for the next game as Chiesa will be disqualified versus Lazio.”

Fabio “Stone Crusher” Turchi, 2019 WBC International Cruiserweight Champ and 2013 Mediterranean Games Gold Medalist - “Unfortunately, the game against Brescia confirms the usual problems of the team, also adding a less athletic condition than the pre Covid. Little quality in midfield and difficulty in scoring goals despite Ribery, who at 37 shows he is still from another planet. We hope to improve playing game after game. Positive note the defeat of Lecce that allows us to gnaw at a small point.”

Sergio Dondoli, two time Gelato World Champion and Owner of the world’s best gelato at Gelateria Dondoli in San Gimignano - “As has often happened, we played poorly in the first half. We gave the Brescia players too much freedom. In the second half the team improved thanks to Castrovilli, who brought a lot more speed to the Fiorentina game. Ribery performed very well even if he was a little too selfless. He could have shot on goal on at least two occasions but he preferred the pass. The final judgement remains negative. Against Brescia you must win.”

Andrea Di Salvo - Charming host of Lady Radio - “It did not start too well and then Fiorentina draws 1-1 against the last in the standings, Brescia. We created many opportunities, but we failed to materialize. In fact in the end it also took too many risks. It could have been an opportunity to make a jump from salvation and instead we did not. Now we will face Lazio who is launched for the Scudetto and without Caceres and Chiesa it will be even more difficult. It never gives up so let’s see what happens on Saturday night.”

Matteo Bambi on behalf of Viola Club Paris - “The collective game is still missing. Iachini will have to create a miracle to convince them to renew his contract. Everyone had rusty legs, The match’s best player was Pezzella, worst Chiesa. Next turn against Lazio, today looks like the Everest ascension. But the ball is round and nothing is decided in advance. So let’s go there to fight and to sell dearly our skin. Sempre forza viola.”

Gianni Matteo Rontani, President of the Rocco Commisso Fan Club - “I saw almost the whole team well behind in preparation. Much worse than I expected. Anyway when you have 15 shots of which 9 in the post and the other keeper must intervene at least 6 times it is pretty obvious our higher technical level. However too many mistakes in the box, there is a lot of work to do there. Two points lost.”

Gianluca Caminati, President of Viola Club KK - Gli Ingestibili and host of CurvaSport - Bar Live - “A game with a lot of goodwill and little lucidity, the management by the Mister did not convince me. He could have played the Cutrone and Sottil cards much earlier even in 10 against 11, because today we had to win! Certainly there was a bit of bad luck and naivety in seeing the goals, the expulsion and the penalty against us ... losing like this certainty makes you think badly, but we must go further, we must change our wind. Tonight went bad for us ... let’s not get discouraged but go on with even more desire!”

Stefano Del Corona, Director of FiorentinaNews.com - “Unfortunately the game against Brescia, showed us the same Fiorentina that we had seen before the stop, with the same problems. Ribery is back on the pitch, and this pleases us, but the Frenchman alone is not enough to change the face of this team. We try quickly to make the points that are missing to be calm and then we hope the music will change in the future.”

Alessandro Sisto, President of Viola Club New York - “We were playing one sided, through the left with Ribery-Castrovilli-Dalbert. I didn’t understand our starting formation nor the substitutions around the 90th minute. Overall we missed a chance. Moving forward I think the number one goal for the season is to not get relegated. I loved Ribery’s performance, even with a little less pace (because of the stop), but he looked very good having not played since December,”

Lorenzo Francesconi of Viola Club Berlin - “It was not that bad, the result was shitty, yes. After three months of a stop, I did not see the squad playing that bad. We had some bad luck. We didn't score. We had two goals disallowed. It was not a bad game, more of a bad result. I hope next game will be better, even if it is against Lazio. Normally we play better against the good teams rather than the small ones.”

Jacopo Tomasina, Gabriele Calabrò, Edoardo Casarotto, Federich Romby and Massimiliano Lelli from Viola Club Bruxelles - “This was a shitty one. We wasted a lot of chances to score. Even when we were one man down we were the ones driving the game but we still couldn’t find a way to get a goal.” — “I believe we had some bad luck. We did so much and we should have been able to get another one at least.” — “Stay in the US and don’t watch Fiorentina [said jokingly]. We were not very lucky this time, but hopefully we’ll get the next one.”

Dhayan Amiey, President of Viola Club Indonesia - “The match against Brescia last night was the first since we closed because of the pandemic. Nothing has changed from the previous game. It was a monotonous game without a clear strategy. Although we are supposedly made up of players to help us compete for Europe, that is only hope right now. We hope to see coaches and players work together to provide the best on the field performance for the fans.”

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