Viola Nation - Help us choose Fiorentina’s greatest-ever XIA Fiorentina blog for Viola fanshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/50059/viola-fav.png2019-02-06T11:30:00+01:00http://www.violanation.com/rss/stream/176371352019-02-06T11:30:00+01:002019-02-06T11:30:00+01:00This is Fiorentina’s greatest-ever XI, as voted by you, the people
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<img alt="Rui Costa, Gabriel Batistuta" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Tw_L37S8j8XgUvy07F671rZ01dY=/0x424:2438x2049/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63004451/1558977.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Spoiler: they both pop up in this XI.</figcaption>
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<p>It’s been quite a process, but we’ve got the best lineup drawn from across Viola history.</p> <p id="FTGDUl">It’s taken months of discussion. Months of point and counterpoint. Months of wanting to tear my damn hair out over some really tough choices. After all that, though, you’ve all helped us settle this. Without further comment, here it is: <a href="https://www.violanation.com/">Fiorentina</a>’s greatest-ever XI.</p>
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<cite><a class="ql-link" href="http://www.sharemytactics.com/" target="_blank">Share My Tactics</a></cite>
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<p id="ggVdXg"><strong>Manager</strong>: Prandelli</p>
<p id="tbXZZi"><strong>Subs</strong>: Frey, Passarella, Cervato, Chiappella, Valero, Vargas, Toni</p>
<p id="7fG1FP">“That is an absurdly top-heavy lineup,” you might be thinking, “That would never find the balance necessary to compete in a real match.” First of all, if that’s something you actually thought, I hate you. Second, this team would work really well. Tomas Ujfaluši and Angelo di Livio are the keys: without the former’s ability to play centerback and the latter’s ability to work as a wingback, this would fail miserably. But with Ujfa tucking in and Dunga dropping in to cover for de Livio and <span>Manuel Pasqual</span>, this would actually maintain a pretty balanced defense, especially since Giancarlo Antognoni was a smart and disciplined enough player to drop deep when necessary. Finally, it wouldn’t matter even if the defense was a bit shaky (which I don’t think it would be) because Francesco Toldo, that’s why.</p>
<p id="E2Itan">Further forward, Kurt Hamrin’s darts inside would open space for Pasqual’s overlapping. The lack of width on the right only really pops up on the diagram, as de Livio’s energy up and down that flank would easily have covered both attack and defense. And oh my goodness, just imagine the interplay between Roberto Baggio and Rui Costa, with both of them finding space, combining, and then setting up Gabriel Batistuta. This attack would be simply irresistible and I would give a couple of toes to see it in real life, and you know that a forward-thinking manager like Cesare Prandelli would get the best out of them.</p>
https://www.violanation.com/special-features/2019/2/6/18213099/fiorentina-greatest-best-ever-players-xi-eleven-lineup-vote-pollsThe Tito2019-01-25T11:00:00+01:002019-01-25T11:00:00+01:00Friday Poll: Let’s finish up this greatest XI
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<figcaption>Photo by Cole Bennetts/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>We’re about to finish this lengthy project, but we need you to bring it in here one more time.</p> <p id="ukV5EW">We’re so, so close to wrapping this whole thing up. You’ve voted for the top players in every position for <a href="https://www.violanation.com/">Fiorentina</a>, as well as the coach. But the most eagle-eyed readers here may have noticed that the numbers don’t quite add up: we’ve got 10 players selected, which, unless you started Edimilson Fernandes, means that we need one more.</p>
<p id="4gVAg8">To figure out who that should be, I’ve gone back and tallied up the second-place vote-getters in each poll except for goalkeeper (please don’t make me figure out a way to use two goalkeepers in this) and striker (since we already settled on Gabriel Batistuta and Roberto Baggio). Since a few players won in a landslide (looking at you, Tomáš Ujfaluši and <span>Borja Valero</span>), I chose to ignore the second-place vote getters. I also added <span>Davide Astori</span>, who came third in the centerback poll by just 2 votes. As always, please add anyone who’s not on the list here down in the comments to make sure they get fully tabulated.</p>
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https://www.violanation.com/2019/1/25/18193657/friday-poll-lets-finish-up-this-greatest-xi-fiorentina-best-ever-lineup-vote-weekend-threadThe Tito2018-12-08T03:06:04+01:002018-12-08T03:06:04+01:00Poll: Vote for Fiorentina’s greatest-ever manager
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<img alt="ACF Fiorentina v FC Internazionale Milano - Serie A" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/U5iD6dSXEzfP2yD8H16zE505dHA=/114x0:3000x1924/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62646904/98376142.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>What a lovely bunch of dudes.</p> <p id="6CmFAV">We’ve tabulated the votes for the men on the pitch, so now it’s time to turn our attention to the technical area and figure out who’s the greatest mister in <a href="https://www.violanation.com/">Fiorentina</a> history. Some of them have had tremendous success elsewhere, while the tenure for the Viola was a career zenith for others. Regardless, they’ve all done some rad stuff in Florence. Without further ado, here are your five candidates.</p>
<aside id="CyO6LM"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Help us choose Fiorentina’s greatest-ever XI","url":"https://www.violanation.com/special-features/2018/9/18/17873094/help-us-choose-fiorentinas-greatest-ever-xi-vote-best-players-side-team"}]}'></div></aside><h2 id="aPyIgm">Fulvio Bernardini</h2>
<p id="lvOonz">Following a brilliant career as an attacking midfielder, most famously for <a href="https://www.chiesaditotti.com/">AS Roma</a>, Bernardini became the coach there a few years working his way up through the ranks. He didn’t take the reins at Fiorentina until 1953, inheriting a team with some excellent players—Leonardo Costagliola, Sergio Cervato, Ardico Magnini, Giuseppe Chiappella, and Renzo Magli were all studs—but it was a team with a lot more at the back than going forward and wound up finishing 7th in his first year. The next four years, though, saw his charges finish 4th, 5th, 1st, 2nd, and 2nd. A brilliant tactician associated with the “WM elastico,” he anticipated the defensive innovations of Nereo Rocco and Helenio Herrera’s catenaccio by insisting that one winger drop deep into midfield while one midfielder dropped into the backline. When coupled with attackers like Giuseppe Virgili and Julinho Botelho, it was a potent system that brought the Scudetto to Florence for the first time and probably should have followed that up with the European Cup. Bernardini wound up winning the Coppa Italia and another Scudetto with <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/serie-a/teams/lazio">Lazio</a> and <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/serie-a/teams/bologna">Bologna</a>, respectively, but he coached more games for Fiorentina than any other team and is already in the team’s Hall of Fame.</p>
<h2 id="1YpCss">Giancarlo de Sisti</h2>
<p id="bIgImz">A Fiorentina legend as a player from 1965 to 1974, de Sisti returned as the manager in 1981 in relief of Paolo Carosi, who’d led the side into the relegation zone. By getting the best out of Giancarlo Antognoni and company, de Sisti turned things around to the tune of a 5th-place finish that year. The following season, the Viola were all set to win the Scudetto until a 0-0 draw at <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/serie-a/teams/cagliari">Cagliari</a>, coupled with a deeply questionable penalty for <a href="https://www.blackwhitereadallover.com/">Juventus</a> against Catanzaro, left them in a furious and unjust 2nd. Finishes of 5th and 3rd in the subsequent seasons clearly indicated that this was a team to watch out for, but de Sisti’s Viola career ended in 1984, when he was diagnosed with a sub-dental granuloma (not a brain abscess). Team owner Ranieri Pontello insisted he return after 45 days rather than giving him the six months that doctors suggested, and that was that. A brilliant defensive coach whose sides were always tough to break down, he’s perhaps the most perfect personification of the Fiorentina sides who’ve come so close to glory only to see something bizarre go wrong at just the last moment.</p>
<h2 id="nomZU8"><span>Vincenzo Montella</span></h2>
<p id="MXMOWj">No, he never won anything, but Montella revitalized Fiorentina at a time when it seemed like the club was doomed to mid-table obscurity for the foreseeable future. When he took over following the <span>Delio Rossi</span> debacle in 2012, he was rather unproven, having retired from a stellar career just 3 years prior and with just a failed stint with Roma and a decent year at <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/serie-a/teams/catania">Catania</a> to his name. In Florence, though, he introduced some truly mesmerizing football based around packing the center of the pitch with passing quality, personified by <span>Borja Valero</span>, David Pizarro, and Alberto Aquilani. The Three Tenors each had the strongest seasons of their careers under Montella, inspiring fans across the world to tune into Viola matches and see the free-flowing, positive football being played in Tuscany. The three consecutive 4th-place finishes he attained were the best 3-year stretch for the club since the early 1980s. If Giuseppe Rossi hadn’t blown his knee, if Mario Gómez hadn’t Mario Gómezed, we might be talking about a Scudetto-winning Fiorentina from those years; as is, it was a series of near misses and gloriously watchable and likable squads. It all came crashing down when Cousin Vinnie quite fairly insisted that the Della Valle brothers spend more to take the next step—this was back when Italy had lost its 4th <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/champions-league">Champions League</a> spot due to years-long malfeasance in the Europa/UEFA League—as he was working miracles to keep the team so high in the standings despite a comparatively minuscule budget. Not long afterwards, he was out of a job. His career has tanked since then with poor showings at <a href="https://acmilan.theoffside.com/">AC Milan</a> and <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/la-liga/teams/sevilla">Sevilla</a> leaving him without work, but he was brilliant in Florence.</p>
<h2 id="cJO3Eb">Cesare Prandelli</h2>
<p id="Xwq09P">The longest-serving manager in Fiorentina history (and just hired by <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/serie-a/teams/genoa">Genoa</a>), San Cesare created the sides that made a lot of us here fall in love with Fiorentina. Following successful stretches with <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/serie-a/teams/hellas-verona">Hellas Verona</a> and <a href="https://www.crusaderschorus.com/">Parma</a>, he’d been appointed manager of AS Roma when his wife was diagnosed with cancer, which kept him out of work to care for her for two years. He returned with Fiorentina, tasked with bringing the club back to the top spots of Serie A by the Della Valle brothers. San Cesare did just that, qualifying for the Champions League in 2008; it was the first time the Viola had taken part since 1999 and just the fourth time in club history. Only various deductions for Calciopoli-related idiocies kept the club from finishing higher than fourth under his watch, but it was more than that. It was the way his teams played, with a flair and a joyous attack, that really made him such a beloved figure. As winner of Serie A coach of the year in 2008 and the Panchina d’Oro in 2006 and 2007, he’s got personal accolades as impressive as any Viola manager’s. When you add to it what a generally excellent person he is—he wrote the preface to <em>Il Campione Innamorato</em>, a book about homosexuality in sport, as a rigorous defense of accepting everyone into athletics—he’s tough not to love.</p>
<h2 id="kaapsR">Claudio Ranieri</h2>
<p id="AxBSII">Although his place in footballing lore is secure after leading <a href="https://fosseposse.sbnation.com/">Leicester City</a> to the Premier League title, Tuscans already knew that Ranieri was brilliant. He masterminded the return to the top tier in 1993 by winning Serie B and then built on that success by winning the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa in 1996. In the 1995-1996 season, he led the Viola as high as second, including a 15-match unbeaten run, and looked like he’d get his unfancied charges to keep the pressure on eventual winners Milan, but a late season crumble saw them end in fourth. He also had an impressive UEFA League run the next year that ended with a loss in the semifinals to eventual winners <a href="https://www.barcablaugranes.com/">Barcelona</a> (although the 1-1 at the Artemio Franchi was pretty cool). When you think of Gabriel Batistuta and Rui Costa in purple, you think of Ranieri on the touchline. He was just inducted into the Fiorentina Hall of Fame, and he’s always going to have a place of honor in any Viola fan’s heart.</p>
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https://www.violanation.com/2018/12/8/18131374/poll-vote-for-fiorentinas-greatest-ever-manager-bernardini-de-sisti-montella-prandelli-ranieriThe Tito2018-11-28T22:25:33+01:002018-11-28T22:25:33+01:00Vote: Who is Fiorentina’s greatest-ever striker?
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<img alt="ACF Fiorentina v AS Roma - Serie A" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3vj3NLbLP3RhN7tYbWQxutYIA2A=/0x0:2996x1997/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62428040/1056926794.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Well hello there. | Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Yikes.</p> <p id="5MCZfB">We’re nearly done polling you, oh faithful readers, for the greatest <a href="https://www.violanation.com/">Fiorentina</a> XI of all time. The only position left is, of course, up top. Given current circumstances, it’s easy to forget that Fiorentina has seen some of the best strikers in the world pass through. To honor that trend, we’re going to select the top two vote getters here, because it’s simply unfair to choose just one.</p>
<h2 id="PDHUKU">Roberto Baggio</h2>
<p id="4QUvdh">The man from Caldogno, just outside of Vicenza, is one of the best in Italy’s history. There’s no debating it. No other player has touched off a riot when he was sold to a rival, and his refusal to take a penalty against the Viola the following year solidified his spot among the club’s deities. Initially signed for a paltry €1.25 million euros in 1985, he was sold to <a href="https://www.blackwhitereadallover.com/">Juventus</a> for €8 million in 1990 as part of Flavio Pontello’s futile attempts to keep the club afloat, but we’re not here to talk about that. We’re here to talk about il Divino Codino, who played 135 matches in the purple uniform, scoring 55 goals. He was so much more than a goal scorer, though: he was the definition of fantasista, the sort of player whom some sort of divine force seems to guide. Whether it was turning a defender inside out, chipping the keeper, firing home a free kick from obscene distance, or threading the needle to one of his striking partners, Bobby Baggio did it with the sort of grace and elegance that you can’t really describe in a lifetime, much less a stupid blog post. He’s on the record as saying that deep in his heart, he is purple. And c’mon. He’s Roberto effing Baggio.</p>
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<h2 id="wlumcB">Gabriel Batistuta</h2>
<p id="vRuihL">I don’t need to write this introduction for him, but I will because I want to. Batigol. Il Re Leone. Fiorentina’s all-time leading scorer. 331 appearances. 203 goals. The best pure number nine of his generation. Argentina’s leading scorer until Lionel Messi took the crown (although Bati took about half as many appearances to get his). We named the weekly link dump after him, for crying out loud. He’s the best.</p>
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<h2 id="ygNmqr"><span>Alberto Gilardino</span></h2>
<p id="ZywQxh">There’s nobody who doesn’t have a soft spot for the Gila Monster. Bought from <a href="https://acmilan.theoffside.com/">AC Milan</a> for €14 million in 2008, he wound up making 157 appearances for the Viola, scoring 63 goals and adding 21 assists. Part of the reason we all loved him (besides that hair, oh that hair) was that he never really looked like a footballer. With a rather stocky build and a clear inability to shoot from distance or dribble past his man, at times he seemed like a reasonably athletic fan who wandered onto the pitch. But in the box, he was simply lethal, maybe the best pure finisher in Italy for a brief time. His giggle-inducing talent for popping up exactly in the right place at the right time to put the ball in the back of the net (often in the most comical manner possible) was undeniable. More than that, though, he was excellent at holding up play for his strike partner and excelled at clever little layoffs. His off-ball movement was perhaps his most underrated feature, as he frequently went on lung busting sprints to draw defenders away from his teammates. Having recently finished his coaching certification, he’s currently technical director at Rezzato in Serie D. But with his knowledge of how to score and his love for Florence—he’s part-owner of the restaurant/museum Fashion Footballer with <span>Dario Dainelli</span> and Luciano Spalletti—he’s a strong candidate to make his third return to the city, this time as a coach. He’s the 6th-leading scorer in club history and certainly its preeminent violinist. And he was just fun.</p>
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<h2 id="QjuOEu">Alberto Galassi</h2>
<p id="oCHrbw">Perhaps the dark horse of this group, Galassi certainly deserves your attention nonetheless. The speedster joined Fiorentina in 1947 and stayed for 5 years. Across his 137 appearances, he scored an impressive haul of 61 goals. While he was best known for his searing pace, he was also a lethal finisher with either foot, good in the air, and willing and able to move wide and turn supplier in a pinch. He’s the club’s 7th-leading scorer all time; that it only took him 5 years to reach that rarified air should tell you all you need to know about his quality. He was somehow never capped for Italy, and there’s no footage of him online as he played before the age of regular television coverage of calcio, but you can see it in the numbers as well as hear it in the conversations of the old timers: he was class. And no, he’s not he Alberto Galassi who’s CEO of a yacht company and sits on the Manchester City board.</p>
<h2 id="2eQbB7"><span>Adrian Mutu</span></h2>
<p id="MmWUP7">Oh, what could have been for Adi. Cocaine, prostitutes, nightclubs, and fistfights are probably what he’s best remembered for outside of Florence. But in Florence, he’s remembered for his 69 (of course) goals and 26 assists in 143 appearances. He was the perfect and complete striker with every single tool: pace, technique, strength, aerial ability, a poacher’s instinct, two-footed shooting from anywhere, free kicks, penalties, vision, passing, positional flexibility, you name it. He was the sort of player who could conjure a goal from nothing, who could carry his team to a result that the other 10 guys on the pitch hadn’t earned. At the height of his powers, he was probably the best overall striker in Italy for a couple of years. While his legacy may be one of squandered, world-class, GOAT-level natural talent, for us it will always be the embodiment of those glorious Prandelli teams, and that’s a legacy that anyone would be proud of.</p>
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<h2 id="FIUCod"><span>Luca Toni</span></h2>
<p id="FMdnvx">57 goals in 99 appearances. Only two Viola players with more than a handful of appearances can equal that ratio, and they’re Batistuta and Pedro Petrone. Uncle Luca only spent 3 years in Florence, but I’m waiving the usual 4 year minimum requirement for inclusion in this feature because that sort of goal-scoring record needs to be highlighted. More than that, though, he brought joy and belief back to the fans after the club’s return from Serie C, leading the Viola to an astonishing 4th-place finish and <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/champions-league">Champions League</a> qualification on the strength of his 31 goals; he was the first player in Serie A to score more than 30 since the 1958-1959 season, and good enough for Europe’s Golden Boot. After some peregrinations, he returned to Fiorentina in 2012 and spent the year as a genial substitute, tooling around in his Smart Car (at 6’4/193 cm, that was funny), before the club offered him a role as a director; while Toni chose to continue his playing career at <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/serie-a/teams/hellas-verona">Hellas Verona</a>, we hope the offer is still open. Heck, he could probably keep playing if he wanted to, as it’s not like he ever had any pace to lose. And can you imagine seeing that celebration with the hand twisting by the right ear again? Simply magnificent.</p>
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<h2 id="lYaK3z">Giuseppe Virgili</h2>
<p id="Z2KuLE">Born in Udine, the 7-time Italy international joined Fiorentina from his hometown club in 1954 before moving on to <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/serie-a/teams/torino">Torino</a> in 1958. In between, he played 105 matches and scored 55 goals. Operating as the battering ram ahead of the incisive brilliance of Julinho and Miguel Montuori, he was a ruthless finisher who always knew where he needed to be and made no mistakes when he arrived. It was his clinical scoring that pushed Fiorentina to its first scudetto in 1956 and to within inches of the European Cup that the Viola lost (in questionable fashion) to Real Madrid. He’s not perhaps as fondly remembered as his attacking teammates because he was replaced by the legendary Kurt Hamrin, who’s a Serie A all-timer, but let’s not forget that it was Virgili who scored 21 of his team’s 59 goals in that first scudetto season. Much like Galassi, he played in the era before matches were regularly taped, so there’s no evidence of his exploits beyond his statistics and the echoes of his genius.</p>
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https://www.violanation.com/2018/11/28/18116466/vote-who-is-fiorentinas-greatest-ever-striker-baggio-batistuta-galassi-gilardino-mutu-toni-virgiliThe Tito2018-11-24T06:00:07+01:002018-11-24T06:00:07+01:00Poll: Who is Fiorentina’s greatest-ever left winger?
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<img alt="ACF Fiorentina v Cagliari Calcio - Serie A" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FC5sLT_cphwPamK-hzrzoAWZOvo=/0x204:1998x1536/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62388881/90705003.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Not sure if you can say el Loco was from a gentler time, but it was definitely a time. | Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>So much class. So much quality. And only one vote.</p> <p id="lGLZcf">We’re closing in on the greatest-ever <a href="https://www.violanation.com/">Fiorentina</a> XI, but we’re not quite there yet. First, we’ve got to sort out who’s the best-ever left winger. As ever, the idea of “greatest” means different things to different people, but for our purposes here, let’s assume that it requires a certain length of time at the club as well as world-beating quality. Feel free to click through <a href="https://www.violanation.com/special-features/2018/9/18/17873094/help-us-choose-fiorentinas-greatest-ever-xi-vote-best-players-side-team">the previous polls</a>, and make sure to help us sort this one out as well.</p>
<aside id="vuOgBf"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Who is Fiorentina’s all-time greatest goalkeeper?","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/9/17/17867088/whos-in-fiorentinas-all-time-greatest-goalkeeper-frey-galli-sarti-superchi-toldo"},{"title":"Vote for Fiorentina’s greatest centerback","url":"https://www.violanation.com/special-features/2018/9/18/17871664/vote-for-fiorentinas-greatest-centerback-astori-dainelli-ferrante-gamberini-passarella-gonzalo"},{"title":"Vote for Fiorentina’s greatest rightback","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/9/20/17876746/vote-for-fiorentinas-greatest-rightback-carobbi-galdiolo-robotti-ujfalusi"},{"title":"Help us choose Fiorentina’s greatest leftback","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/9/26/17906630/fiorentina-choose-vote-greatest-best-xi-lineup-left-back-castelletti-cervato-di-chiara-pasqual-poll"},{"title":"Help us choose Fiorentina’s greatest defensive midfielder","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/10/11/17962110/help-us-choose-fiorentinas-greatest-defensive-midfielder-chiappella-de-sisti-dunga"},{"title":"Help us choose Fiorentina’s greatest central midfielder","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/10/16/17984156/fiorentina-greatest-best-central-midfielder-vote-poll-amoroso-jorgensen-montolivo-valero"},{"title":"Help us choose Fiorentina’s best ever attacking midfielder","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/10/26/18025238/fiorentina-best-greatest-ever-attacking-midfielder-number-10-antognoni-rui-costa-montuori-pandolfini"},{"title":"Help us choose Fiorentina’s best-ever right midfielder","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/11/11/18080854/help-us-choose-fiorentinas-best-ever-right-midfielder-cuadrado-di-livio-julinho"}]}'></div></aside><h1 id="jHqdH6">Luciano Chiarugi</h1>
<p id="rsZ55B">A Fiorentina youth product, the kid from Ponsacco became one of Italy’s most feared wingers throughout the 1970s. After joining the senior side in 1965 as an 18-year-old, his searing pace, brilliant dribbling, and creativity earned him the nickname il Pazzo Cavallo (the Crazy Horse), which is surely one of the club’s greatest nicknames. In 168 appearances, he scored an impressive 48 goals, prompting <a href="https://acmilan.theoffside.com/">AC Milan</a> to buy him in 1972. While he only earned 3 Italy caps, his silverware haul with the Viola isn’t shabby: the Coppa Italia and the Mitropa Cup in 1966 are nice, but it’s the Scudetto in 1969 which really secured his place in the hearts and minds of fans. He’s perhaps not remembered as fondly by opponents—his habit of diving resulted in the term chiarugismo (meaning to win fouls by skulduggery)—but he was the sort of mercurial talent you love to see on the wing, capable of conjuring a moment of genius from nothing. He also served as the caretaker manager of Fiorentina on three separate occasions and even led Poggibonsi for a year. Now retired, it’s easy to forget that, for more than a decade, he was one of Serie A’s most feared attackers.</p>
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<h1 id="yUn0D4">Kurt Hamrin</h1>
<p id="8I2fpZ">If not for the presence of a certain Gabriel Batistuta, Hamrin would probably be considered Fiorentina’s best-ever player. Capable of operating anywhere across the forward line (it’s harder to fix modern positions to dudes who worked in a 2-3-5), we’ll call him a left winger for the purposes of this exercise. The Swede signed on with the Viola in 1958 from Padova (although he did spend a fruitless year at <a href="https://www.blackwhitereadallover.com/">Juventus</a> before that), and, 11 years later, left for Milan. In between, he stacked up 302 appearances—10th most in club history—and racked up a truly obscene 160 goals—2nd behind Batigol. Blessed with marvelous close control, an ability to use either foot with equal precision, and the sort of predatory instincts that defy description, he was simply unstoppable. He’s generally considered one of Sweden’s finest too, with 32 appearances and 16 goals helping them reach the <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/fifa-world-cup">World Cup</a> final on home soil in 1958. He won the Coppa Italia (1961 and 1966), the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup (1961), and the Mitropa Cup (1966) in Florence and returned to the city after he retired; he still lives there, which surely earns him some extra points. He is, in every possible sense, a legend, and deserves all the love you can bestow upon him.</p>
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<h1 id="9ZQPQD">Anselmo Robbiati</h1>
<p id="Y7g2Vu">The Lecco-born winger known as Spadino (after Raymond “Spike” Fonzarelli from Happy Days, which is sort of endearingly bizarre) had two spells in Florence. The first began in 1993, when the Viola bought him from Monza, and ended in 1999 when <a href="https://www.thesirenssong.com/">Napoli</a> bought him. He returned on loan from <a href="https://www.serpentsofmadonnina.com/">Inter Milan</a> in 2001. Across those 7 seasons, he stacked up 197 Viola appearances and scored 36 goals. While he was never the star of his sides, there’s no shame in that when Rui Costa and Gabriel Batistuta are your teammates. However, his displays were a big part of that immortal pair’s success, as Spadino’s drifts inside to become an extra forward through the middle left defenses befuddled and opened holes both for himself and his more heralded mates. To give you an idea of his quality, it wasn’t il Re Leone or the Maestro who took free kicks for the Viola back then. It was Robbiati. In keeping with his idiosyncratic nickname, he’s settled in as manager of Figline, a semi-pro team about 20 km southeast of Florence, and seems happy as a clam in what’ll be his 9th year with them. His biggest claim to fame, though, will always be as a beloved part of those enchanting teams from the 1990s.</p>
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<h1 id="chKK0k">Juan Manuel Vargas</h1>
<p id="TugVqR">When Fiorentina bought the 25-year-old Peruvian for €12 million from <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/serie-a/teams/catania">Catania</a> in 2008, we had no idea what we were in for. Advertised as a leftback, he was simply disastrous in defense and looked like he was going to be one of Corvino’s biggest busts. Then Cesare Prandelli moved him forward, and all of a sudden Vargas was so good that the likes of <a href="https://www.managingmadrid.com/">Real Madrid</a> wanted his signature. Unlike a lot of wingers, JMV wasn’t exactly a pace merchant; he didn’t dribble past defenders so much as over and through them, operating like a bulldozer down the flank. His fantastic crossing was a godsend for the likes of <span>Alberto Gilardino</span>, but the Peruvian loved nothing more than a shot from distance; I still don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone who could strike a ball that hard. He eventually fizzled out and was loaned to <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/serie-a/teams/genoa">Genoa</a> before a minor revival saw him spend another couple of years as a squad player for Montella, but by then he’d lived up to his nickname of el Loco (the Crazy One), and the non-stop partying had taken its toll. But for fans of a certain age, his 186 appearances, 25 goals, and 26 assists are the stuff of legend, as is the hat. With 61 appearances and 4 goals for Peru isn’t too impressive, he was one of the best of his generation for the Blanquirroja and is an undeniably beloved cult figure in Florence.</p>
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https://www.violanation.com/2018/11/24/18109448/poll-who-is-fiorentinas-greatest-ever-left-winger-chiarugi-hamrin-robbiati-vargasThe Tito2018-11-11T23:25:06+01:002018-11-11T23:25:06+01:00Help us choose Fiorentina’s best-ever right midfielder
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<img alt="UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour 2012/13" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4moVMKFwkjMWeXz9S5R3AAKg6Eo=/0x158:1998x1490/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62271485/153445318.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images for UEFA</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yeah, there’s nothing but class in this group.</p> <p id="IzZAta">There are really just three players who deserve a spot on this list, although there’s been no shortage of quality in this position for <a href="https://www.violanation.com/">Fiorentina</a> over the years. Guys like Ricardo Daniel Bertoli, Francesco Baiano, <span>Mario Santana</span>, and Franco Semioli all had good runs for a couple of years in Florence and consistently improved the team, but none of them were ever really stars. Similarly, legends like Amarildo or Andrei Kanchelskis certainly had the quality to join this group, but didn’t stick around long enough to earn that right. So instead, it’s down to these three. Catch up on the previous editions of this feature <a href="https://www.violanation.com/special-features/2018/9/18/17873094/help-us-choose-fiorentinas-greatest-ever-xi-vote-best-players-side-team">here</a>.</p>
<aside id="UgVzwx"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Who is Fiorentina’s all-time greatest goalkeeper?","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/9/17/17867088/whos-in-fiorentinas-all-time-greatest-goalkeeper-frey-galli-sarti-superchi-toldo"},{"title":"Vote for Fiorentina’s greatest centerback","url":"https://www.violanation.com/special-features/2018/9/18/17871664/vote-for-fiorentinas-greatest-centerback-astori-dainelli-ferrante-gamberini-passarella-gonzalo"},{"title":"Vote for Fiorentina’s greatest rightback","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/9/20/17876746/vote-for-fiorentinas-greatest-rightback-carobbi-galdiolo-robotti-ujfalusi"},{"title":"Help us choose Fiorentina’s greatest leftback","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/9/26/17906630/fiorentina-choose-vote-greatest-best-xi-lineup-left-back-castelletti-cervato-di-chiara-pasqual-poll"},{"title":"Help us choose Fiorentina’s greatest defensive midfielder","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/10/11/17962110/help-us-choose-fiorentinas-greatest-defensive-midfielder-chiappella-de-sisti-dunga"},{"title":"Help us choose Fiorentina’s greatest central midfielder","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/10/16/17984156/fiorentina-greatest-best-central-midfielder-vote-poll-amoroso-jorgensen-montolivo-valero"},{"title":"Help us choose Fiorentina’s best ever attacking midfielder","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/10/26/18025238/fiorentina-best-greatest-ever-attacking-midfielder-number-10-antognoni-rui-costa-montuori-pandolfini"}]}'></div></aside><h2 id="0rfI0G">1. <span>Juan Cuadrado</span>
</h2>
<p id="2c9cMP">The Colombian wasn’t supposed to be on this list. When Fiorentina got him on loan from Udeinse in 2012, he was seen as a pacy young rightback who could be trained to defend better in the Italian finishing school. However, his dribbling and verticality immediately made him an integral part of those delightful <span>Vincenzo Montella</span> squads, and Cuadrado never looked back. After paying a total of €25 million for him—remember how much co-ownership sucked?—he became increasingly influential for the Viola, eventually becoming the centerpiece of the team in 2013 and 2014. Although his final season was a bit of a disappointment, he was still a big enough deal to earn a €30 million move to <a href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/">Chelsea</a>, with <span>Mohamed Salah</span> moving the other way on loan. With 26 goals and 21 assists in 106 appearances, it’s hard not to recall la Vespa with a smile, as much for his infectious joy and dancing as for his undeniable effectiveness on the pitch. That he ended up with <a href="https://www.blackwhitereadallover.com/">Juventus</a> after Jose Mourinho cast him out of Chelsea certainly isn’t his fault, so let’s focus on that wonderful 2-year stretch in which he was, hands down, the funnest winger in Serie A. This is just the goals, rather than a full glimpse at the entire package of skills he brought, but he scores in every way you could ever ask of a wide forward.</p>
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<h2 id="pkXDGi">2. Angelo di Livio</h2>
<p id="xc6sHN">Il Soldatino (the Toy Soldier) would be a Viola legend no matter what, as he’s the only player to stick with the club when the Cecchi Gori era blew up and saw Fiorentina busted down to Serie C2. That would be admirable if he were just some scrub who saw a chance to be a hero; di Livio was anything but. He earned 40 caps for Italy and was an integral part of the Juventus sides that won Scudetti in the early 1990s before seeing the error of his ways and signing for the Viola. Perhaps his most memorable quality was his incredible motor; he only had one speed, and it was a dead sprint up and down the pitch at all times. In 189 appearances with Fiorentina, he only netted 8 goals, but a lot of that was due to his selfless acceptance of midfield workhorse role towards the end of his career. He captained the side to the 2001 Coppa Italia—the club’s most recent major trophy—and never needs to buy his own beers in Florence because he is, again, a goddamn legend. Since he spent so much of his time with the Viola toiling in the lower leagues or doing grunt work, there’s not really a fitting YouTube compilation for him, but just believe us when we say that he deserves it.</p>
<h2 id="wcCWhb">3. Julinho</h2>
<p id="SHfilC">While he may not have the name recognition amongst the young fans, the man born Júlio Botelho is safely one of the best players to ever don the purple shirt. He was a key member of the team that won Fiorentina’s first Scudetto and finished second (due to some refereeing skulduggery) to Real Madrid in the European Cup the following year. With 45 Brazil caps and 15 goals to his name, you know that he was class. He only made 89 appearances for Fiorentina, but scored 22 goals. Admired for his incredible dribbling skill and rocket shot, he was considered one of the best in the world at the height of his powers in Tuscany, being named to the World XI by World Soccer Magazine in 1960. In 1996, he one of the nominees for best player in Fiorentina’s history. Although his stint in purple was brief, he deserves your vote at least as much as either of these other two, and he surely gets extra points for embodying the audaciousness, the elegance, and the sprezzatura that we want to see from a man wearing a purple shirt with number seven on his back.</p>
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https://www.violanation.com/2018/11/11/18080854/help-us-choose-fiorentinas-best-ever-right-midfielder-cuadrado-di-livio-julinhoThe Tito2018-10-26T22:26:42+02:002018-10-26T22:26:42+02:00Help us choose Fiorentina’s best ever attacking midfielder
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<img alt="Bari v Fiorentina" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lr6K04vUyVT80MqxHUEuPLamPNU=/0x74:1152x842/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/61925599/1099506.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Rui Costa can’t believe he has to choose just one either.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hands down the most difficult decision in this series.</p> <p id="ENlCme">It’s time to start pinning down the attacking personnel <a href="https://www.violanation.com/">Fiorentina</a>’s greatest XI, and that has to start, of course with the trequartiste, the enganches, the number tens. Out of all the entires in this series, this one will probably be the most difficult, as there’s no shortage of quality even when you don’t count guys like Socrates, who were all-time greats but only passed through Florence. As a point of interest, I’m including Roberto Baggio with the strikers, because adding him to this murderers’ row of talent would make it too dang hard to pick just one.</p>
<aside id="QR0D74"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Who is Fiorentina’s all-time greatest goalkeeper?","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/9/17/17867088/whos-in-fiorentinas-all-time-greatest-goalkeeper-frey-galli-sarti-superchi-toldo"},{"title":"Vote for Fiorentina’s greatest centerback","url":"https://www.violanation.com/special-features/2018/9/18/17871664/vote-for-fiorentinas-greatest-centerback-astori-dainelli-ferrante-gamberini-passarella-gonzalo"},{"title":"Vote for Fiorentina’s greatest rightback","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/9/20/17876746/vote-for-fiorentinas-greatest-rightback-carobbi-galdiolo-robotti-ujfalusi"},{"title":"Help us choose Fiorentina’s greatest leftback","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/9/26/17906630/fiorentina-choose-vote-greatest-best-xi-lineup-left-back-castelletti-cervato-di-chiara-pasqual-poll"},{"title":"Help us choose Fiorentina’s greatest defensive midfielder","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/10/11/17962110/help-us-choose-fiorentinas-greatest-defensive-midfielder-chiappella-de-sisti-dunga"},{"title":"Help us choose Fiorentina’s greatest central midfielder","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/10/16/17984156/fiorentina-greatest-best-central-midfielder-vote-poll-amoroso-jorgensen-montolivo-valero"}]}'></div></aside><h1 id="6cPJH7">1. Giancarlo Antognoni</h1>
<p id="grNW08">The fact that he’s still known as il unico dieci (the only ten) by Fiorentina fans should tell you all you need to know about Antognoni. He spent 15 years wearing the shirt and racked up 406 appearances, which is the most in club history. He scored 71 goals in his time in Florence, but that doesn’t even get close to capturing his majesty. His passing, balance, dribbling, and shooting from distance were all top-notch, but it was his knack for swerving passes through the tiniest gaps in a defense that really set him apart. His silverware haul is awfully small—just the Coppa Italian and the Anglo-Italian Cup, both in 1975—but again, sometimes the numbers simply don’t capture the essence of the brilliance. He was similarly impressive for Italy, earning a mammoth 73 caps and scoring 7 goals. While injuries slowed him a bit, there’s no doubt that he’s one of the best midfielders in Italian history, reflected by the fact that he was the Viola captain for an astonishing 11 years. That he returned to the club to serve as club director only underscores his status as one of the few bandiere worth the name.</p>
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<h1 id="0oU7n2">2. Rui Costa</h1>
<p id="Lkmsag">If you’re too young to remember Antognoni, the Viola 10 shirt means Rui Costa for you, even if you didn’t really see him play much; such is the gravity exerted by the Portuguese maestro that it still kind of feels like his number. Bought from Benfica for just €5.5 million in 1994, he left 7 years later for the princely sum of €42 million to <a href="https://acmilan.theoffside.com/">AC Milan</a>, and that was clearly well below his market worth. In between those two events, he stacked up 279 appearances for the Viola, adding 50 goals and 14 assists. That doesn’t really speak to his majesty, though, as he pulled the strings for those glorious 1990s teams with his incisive passing, slithery dribbling, and incredible anticipation of space. Without him, Batigol would have still scored goals, but not nearly as many. He won the Coppa Italia twice (1996 and 2001) and the Supercoppa (1996) and wore the armband in his final season. He piled up 94 caps and 26 goals for Portugal, but that’s not important. What’s important is how wonderful he was in Florence. Even today, if you see someone rocking the purple 10 with Rui Costa on the back, you know that person is probably pretty damn cool.</p>
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<h1 id="yPuipy">3. Miguel Montuori</h1>
<p id="firstHeading">One of the first of the oriundi, Montuori was born in Rosario, Argentina to a Neapolitan father. After getting his start with Chilean outfit Universidad Católica, he moved to Fiorentina in 1955 and spent 6 years in Tuscany, wearing the armband for the last one. 170 appearances and 72 goals later saw him retire aged just 28 after he took a clearance to the face that detached his retina, leaving his vision blurred and his career finished. While he’s often regarded as one of the great tragic figures of football who never got a chance to fulfill his potential, we’d rather remember the incredible efforts he produced than anything else. Part of his legend, too, is that he was the first non-native born player to captain Italy, which was no small accomplishment in that era. While his goalscoring prowess puts pretty much any midfielder in the world to shame, he was a complete player who could facilitate for others by moving wide or even play up top. His dribbling was probably his greatest attribute; he was one of those guys who seems to have the ball glued onto his foot, despite the rugged treatment he regularly received from opposing defenders. He was perhaps the biggest star of the teams that won a Scudetto (1956), a Coppa Italia (1961), and a Cup Winner’s Cup (1961), as well as some other, lesser-known silverware. He was inducted into the Fiorentina Hall of Fame in 2016 and deserves your vote as much as anyone.</p>
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<h1 id="M9lhu2">4. Egisto Pandolfini</h1>
<p id="R1wl1V">Born in Florence and raised in the Fiorentina academy, Pandolfini broke through with neighbors <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/serie-a/teams/empoli">Empoli</a>—after the management at the time decided he was too small to ever make it in the top flight—before returning to the Viola in 1948. He was sold on to <a href="https://www.chiesaditotti.com/">AS Roma</a> in 1956 to make room for the likes of Montuori, but don’t let that distract you from the 142 appearances he made for the Gigliati or from his 35 goals. While his pugnacious midfield partner Giuseppe Chiappella may have been the beating heart of those teams, Pandolfini was the soul, pulling the strings in the middle and laying on a succession of chances for the likes of Alberto Galassi to finish. Those editions of the Viola were rather defensive—Sergio Cervato, Renzo Magli, and Chiappella have all showed up in this feature previously—so Pandolfini frequently shouldered the entire creative burden alone. He never got enough help to win any silverware (the team’s best finish with him was 4th), but he was a startlingly good player, a busy and accurate playmaker with an eye for the long pass. His quality was enough to earn him 20 caps and 9 goals for Italy, including 2 trips to the <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/fifa-world-cup">World Cup</a>. There aren’t any readily available highlight videos of him, but he’s certainly one of the best 10s this club has had.</p>
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https://www.violanation.com/2018/10/26/18025238/fiorentina-best-greatest-ever-attacking-midfielder-number-10-antognoni-rui-costa-montuori-pandolfiniThe Tito2018-10-16T21:01:18+02:002018-10-16T21:01:18+02:00Help us choose Fiorentina’s greatest central midfielder
<figure>
<img alt="ACF Fiorentina v FC Internazionale - Serie A" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Tmk-UkUK_EoqCDTdloK5MZf3ZN4=/0x0:2997x1998/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/61793275/901905986.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Presented without comment. | Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A lot of recent names here that still sting a bit.</p> <p id="5oXpFT">Having addressed the defensive midfield last time out, we’re moving on to the pure central midfielders. There are some names on this list that may cause some consternation, but bear with me; all will be explained.</p>
<aside id="s17F3B"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Who is Fiorentina’s all-time greatest goalkeeper?","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/9/17/17867088/whos-in-fiorentinas-all-time-greatest-goalkeeper-frey-galli-sarti-superchi-toldo"},{"title":"Vote for Fiorentina’s greatest centerback","url":"https://www.violanation.com/special-features/2018/9/18/17871664/vote-for-fiorentinas-greatest-centerback-astori-dainelli-ferrante-gamberini-passarella-gonzalo"},{"title":"Vote for Fiorentina’s greatest rightback","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/9/20/17876746/vote-for-fiorentinas-greatest-rightback-carobbi-galdiolo-robotti-ujfalusi"},{"title":"Help us choose Fiorentina’s greatest leftback","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/9/26/17906630/fiorentina-choose-vote-greatest-best-xi-lineup-left-back-castelletti-cervato-di-chiara-pasqual-poll"},{"title":"Help us choose Fiorentina’s greatest defensive midfielder","url":"https://www.violanation.com/2018/10/11/17962110/help-us-choose-fiorentinas-greatest-defensive-midfielder-chiappella-de-sisti-dunga"}]}'></div></aside><h2 id="ITcDoS">Christian Amoroso</h2>
<p id="fnbJwC">Born in the suburbs of Pisa, Amoroso spent his whole career in Tuscany. While <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/serie-a/teams/bologna">Bologna</a> is where he ended up with the most appearances, he’s a <a href="https://www.violanation.com/">Fiorentina</a> academy product and played 155 matches in the Viola shirt, so we’re comfortable claiming him as one of ours. Never a prolific goalscorer, he was more of an all-action figure in the middle, getting through a lot of running. His defensive positioning was unimpeachable, and he had the range to make every pass; basically, he was the sort of unheralded player who glues everything together for the sort of team that wins trophies, such as the 2001 Coppa Italia to which he contributed. There aren’t any nifty YouTube compilations of his work, but he was a key member of those Batistuta-Rui Costa-Chiesa teams in the late 90s and early 2000s, and was one of several dozen casualties of the Cecchi Gori mismanagement who was offloaded in an attempt to get the club’s finances back in order.</p>
<h2 id="Sp9NyO">Martin Jørgensen</h2>
<p id="TN60hg">Yeah, I know he wasn’t really a central midfielder. But Jorgy played every position on the pitch during his 6 years in Florence except for goalkeeper, centerback, and striker. While he may have spent more time at fullback or winger, he’s listed as primarily a central midfielder on Transfermarkt, so there. Anyways, the 102-capped Danish international made 181 appearances in a Viola shirt, piling up 17 goals, 12 assists, and just 7 bookings. He was never the most naturally-talented player on the pitch, his intelligence, hard work, and knack for popping up with a key contribution endeared him to the Franchi faithful more than you’d expect. More than anything, he was clutch: a 90th minute strike against <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/serie-a/teams/lecce">Lecce</a> in 2009 qualified Fiorentina for the <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/champions-league">Champions League</a>, and he scored the opener against Liverpool at Anfield the following season. In some ways, he symbolizes those golden Cesare Prandelli years more than any other player to me. Currently on the coaching staff of boyhood club Aarhus, he is, as far as we know, the only Viola player ever honored as the namesake of a hedgehog.</p>
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<h2 id="gEKPQp"><span>Riccardo Montolivo</span></h2>
<p id="zpTPMc">Obviously this is not a popular name around these parts, but it belongs on the list. In his 7-year stint as the next great Italian midfielder in Florence, he amassed 19 goals and 23 assists in his 259 appearances (16th-most in club history), and even wore the armband for a couple of years. While he never reached the “next Andrea Pirlo” level everyone expected of him, he was the club’s best midfielder for nearly half a decade and earned 66 caps for Italy. The circumstances of his exit—he basically mailed in his final year at the club so he could join <a href="https://acmilan.theoffside.com/">AC Milan</a> on a free transfer—left a bad taste that still remains, but he did summon some moments of magic to unleash the likes of <span>Adrian Mutu</span>, <span>Alberto Gilardino</span>, Stevan Jovetić, and Giampaolo Pazzini. Whether his contributions are enough to outweigh his treachery, though, is up to you.</p>
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<h2 id="sVYoF8"><span>Borja Valero</span></h2>
<p id="3KJqOA">This one still hurts. The “West Brom failure” piled up 212 appearances in the Viola colors, contributing 17 goals and 44 assists. That doesn’t nearly conjure up just how elegant and how important he was in Florence, though. Whether drifting out to the left wing to encourage <span>Manuel Pasqual</span> and Marcos Alonso on the overlap or threading passes through the defense for <span>Giuseppe Rossi</span> or simply dinking the ball around the middle of the pitch, Borja was a delight for his ability to control a match with his passing. Never the most athletic (my wife, when she saw a picture of him, described him as “a fit, nerdy IT guy”), his glorious vision, touch, and passing saw him become one of Serie A’s most influential players. He also loved Florence, diving headfirst into life on the Arno with his family and even getting the coordinates of the Ponte Vecchio tattooed on his arm. When Pantaleo Corvino sold him to <a href="https://www.serpentsofmadonnina.com/">Inter Milan</a> at a discount price, much to Borja’s dismay, it broke all our hearts. But let’s not think about that. Let’s think about his magisterial performances under <span>Vincenzo Montella</span> and even <span>Paulo Sousa</span>.</p>
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https://www.violanation.com/2018/10/16/17984156/fiorentina-greatest-best-central-midfielder-vote-poll-amoroso-jorgensen-montolivo-valeroThe Tito