Fiorentina handled Carrarese 0-2 at the Stadio de Marmi, with Moise Kean scoring both and seeing another one annulled for offside, as did Jacopo Fazzini. The Viola were in control the whole way, as you’d expect from a Serie A team playing a Serie B team, and never even tried to put the pedal down.
It’s hard to draw too many conclusions from what was essentially a training exercise, especially with Albert Guðmundsson and Rolando Mandragora absent. As I did for yesterday’s friendly with Grosseto, though,
I’ll dig deep and try to find some stuff that’s worth discussing, although all the usual caveats about the mirage of preseason apply.
1. FAGIOLI IS THE REGISTA
Stefano Pioli said in his press conferences that he envisions Nicolò Fagioli as a regista rather than a mezzala and he backed it up here, stationing Nicky Beans at the base of midfield. It worked really well, with Fagioli often afforded time and space to pick out the vertical passes to start attacks. He didn’t exclusively sit in front of the defense, though, and jetted all over the pitch, looking to link up with his teammates, playing a succession of neat 1-2s to make space for himself.
It’s preseason, of course, and Carrarese isn’t going to put Fagioli under a lot of pressure in any phase of the game. I’m still not convinced he’s got the defensive ability to screen the defense adequately against Serie A opposition, and he won’t get as much room to work in real games as he got here. I also think that his position isn’t as secure as you might think, as Fiorentina’s continued to consider other registe in the transfer market. For now, though, Fagioli is the guy.
2. THE CURVA IS READY TO GO
It was pretty clear during the Grosseto game that the hosts had the crowd’s affection, especially when Riccardo Sottil lost his mind. For this one, though, the Fiorentina fans were present and in fine form. Maybe it’s easier to travel on a Friday night? Regardless, the tifosi were up for it, appearing in numbers and making themselves seen.
#Fiorentina, la #CurvaFiesole celebra il ritorno a #Firenze di Stefano #Pioli. Poi cori anche per #Astori e #Pin https://t.co/YTDjtFrjsV
— LaViola.it (@laviola_it) July 25, 2025
They were also very audible on the broadcast, busting out all the greatest hits and even trying out a couple new songs, including one to the tune of Auld Lang Syne. They also hilariously busted out the flares several times; smoke ringing the pitch for a July friendly against a Serie B team is just funny.
3. SOME PATTERNS MIGHT BE EMERGING
It’s early and Fiorentina’s missing Guðmundsson and Mandragora, who will both start a lot of games, and the team will change quite a bit when they return. That said, there were a couple of patterns I noticed Fiorentina repeating that are worth mentioning, since they seem like they could be part of the tactical backdrop all year.
The first was how the midfielders operated. On the left, Fazzini often pulled wide, looking to combine with Gosens. Ndour played more centrally, often crashing the box as another big body to aim for with crosses. Richardson wasn’t as noticeable, probably because he’s only been with the team for the past couple days and is still finding his feet. What did stand out, though, was that everyone left Dodô a fair amount of space. My guess is that Pioli wants to pack numbers into the middle and the left, leaving the right open for Dodô to operate 1-v-1 up and down the flank.
The second was Pablo Marí’s passing. Last year, he kept his distribution about as basic as he possibly could, launching every ball that came near him. Today, though, he fired a few nice passes through the lines, including to set up a goal. If he can offer that progressive passing, Fiorentina has the option to vary its buildup. The defenders last year were all too often forced to play short, lateral passes to midfielders, which meant there were fewer bodies forward. Perhaps Pioli wants the defenders to be more ambitious on the ball, which is a higher-risk, higher-reward strategy that could mesh well with some of the quick, one-touch passing on display in the middle.
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