Empoli missed the Serie B playoff. Those salt-hoarders from Pisa dissolved as if soaked in water and will join them in the second tier. That means Fiorentina will be the only Tuscan team in Serie A for the first time since 2020-2021. I’ll miss the intensity those games against the noisy neighbors offer but I won’t miss the Azzurri or the Torri all that much; there but for the grace of god (or at the very least, of Paolo Vanoli) go I.
Because everyone loves a themed XI, I decided to celebrate (?) the Viola
single-handedly repping the region by assembling an all-Tuscan team. There’s only one rule: a player must have been born in Tuscany to qualify. So sorry, Federico Chiesa (a Ligurian baby), and those countless others who grew up in the region. You’re out. Even so, we’ve got an actual lineup of real players here.
And hey, how about a Bonus Fun Trivia Knowledge Game? Which of these guys spent time in the Fiorentina system? Answer at the end.
GK Tommaso Martinelli (Bagno a Ripoli)
Yeah, I’m obviously biased here, but all the other options are also in Serie B so I’m picking the one with the highest ceiling. The Terminally Unimpressed Zoomer was rock solid for Sampdoria and, while he’s unlikely to displace David de Gea next year assuming the Spaniard sticks around, he’s probably got the inside track to start between the sticks in 2027-2028.
LCB Luca Marianucci (Livorno)
Marianucci is the first of numerous Empoli products in this list. The U21 international moved to Napoli for €10 million last summer but made just 2 appearances (from which the Partenopei took a single point) as Antonio Conte unsurprisingly relied on more experienced options. A January loan to Torino didn’t go great but Marianucci’s already good and his physical and technical ability tabs him as a star of the future.
CB Gianluca Mancini (Pontedera)
The whining, diving, cheap shots, and general shit attitude make him impossible to like. He might be my least favorite player in Serie A and he deserves some of the blame for Italy missing the World Cup. Roma fans seem to despise him too. Nevertheless, he’s an effective communicator who can organize the back line, offer some progression from the back, and do the actual defensive stuff well enough.
RCB Daniele Ghilardi (Lucca)
He was marvelous at Hellas Verona last year but didn’t quite catch on at Gian Piero Gasperini’s Roma. Even so, I’m convinced that he’s the real thing. He’s got good athleticism and the reading of the game’s coming along. I don’t think he’s quite as good on the ball as Rafael Tolói but I can imagine a similar trajectory in the capital. Fiorentina beffata.
LB Samuele Angori (Cortona)
Nobody had much fun in Pisa but Angori’s at least looked interesting. He’s big enough to hold up in the air, quick enough to stick with most wingers, and energetic enough to motor up and down for 90 minutes. I don’t think he’ll be in Serie B next year; 22-year-olds with his qualities don’t just fall out of the trees.
CM Samuele Ricci (Pontedera)
The easiest choice in the lineup. He’s just a very good player. The Empoli machine keeps on churning them out. And those cheekbones, my goodness.
CM Lorenzo Amatucci (Arezzo)
This is more about the lack of options but I’m on the record as being a big Amatucci believer and I’ll stand by it. He was magnificent in Serie B last year and impressed in Spain’s second tier. That’s a longer record of success than anyone else available.
RWB Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Castelnuovo de Garfagnana)
To hear Napoli fans tell it, you’d think he was the abandoned lovechild of Carlos Salcedo and Bruno Gaspar. Despite the occasional high-profile gaff, though, he’s the sort of steady veteran who’s a significant net positive over the course of a season.
AM Tommaso Baldanzi (Poggibonsi)
He was an afterthought this season as an injury casualty, limited to just 8 league starts, but nobody doubts his quality. He’s still just 23 and has a single season as a regular Serie A starter under his belt. The move to Roma was too much, too soon but he’s going to be really good at Genoa, the sort of player Daniele de Rossi can build around.
AM Federico Bernardeschi (Carrara)
Ugh. Look, I didn’t want it to be this way. Truly, I didn’t. I thought Berna was washed when he came back from MLS but he was a stalwart for Vincenzo Italiano’s Bologna and looks like he’s still got a bit left in the tank.
CF Nicolò Zaniolo (Massa)
An unpleasant character at the best of times and inconsistent as the tides on a planet with 3 moons but he’s coming off a strong season and, even worse, there weren’t a lot of other options up top. I really, really hope I’m missing someone but I think it’s Serie A’s resident floor-pisser. Allegedly!
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Bench
GK Michele Cerofolini (Arezzo): It was between the Serie B quartet of him, Alessio Cragno, Andrea Fulignati, and intriguing teenager Diego Mascardi. I picked Cerofolini because he’s played more in Serie A over the past couple years than the others but there’s not really a wrong answer.
CB Nicolò Bertola (Carrara): The Udinese man wins out over fierce competition. He’s big and strong and moves pretty well. Nobody’s going to mistake him for Franz Beckenbauer on the ball but that’s fine. This is the backup centerback for a hypothetical XI.
RWB Niccolò Pierozzi (Firenze): He was one of Serie B’s breakout stars with Palermo and his arrow’s pointing up, up, up. I seriously considered Samuele Birindelli, who’s got much more top flight experience, but went with potential.
LWB Nicolò Fortini (Camaiore): Yes, it was a miserable season for him, one that’s made him look like he’s not ready for the spotlight. Institutional instability often hits young players the hardest, though, and if nothing else, Fortini offers some tactical flexibility with his ability to play fullback or winger on either side. I almost chose Niccolò Corrado but he’s only been a part-timer with Frosinone despite some excellent performances.
CM Lorenzo Ignacchiti (Pisa): I went with him over his teammate Duccio Degli Innocenti but if you feel differently, I won’t stop you. The only other reasonable pick was Jacopo Fazzini and god bless him but this is supposed to be a fun exercise.
AM Salvatore Elia (Prato): There just aren’t a lot of attacking midfielders available so I’ve landed on a Serie B stalwart who, at 26. In this XI, he’s actually not a terrible option tactically as an old-fashioned, out-and-out winger but he’s probably lacking the raw talent to make any real impact.
CF Leonardo Pavoletti (Livorno): I was shocked to discover that he’s Tuscan; he’s been with Cagliari for so long that he’s basically a Nuragic structure. He’s old and rickety but he’s also a reasonable Plan B. The only other options
Is this team good? Well, that depends on how you define “good.” I think there’s too much raw talent here to say it’s a Serie B outfit so we can safely assume it’s a top flight team. The defense in particular looks excellent, although the quality rather decreases as you move forward. I think this is probably a 12th-place team, the sort of stubborn mid-table outfit that’s miserable to play against and never worries about relegation but probably lacks the quality to push for Europe, especially since the depth gets shallow quickly.
Bonus Fun Trivia Knowledge Game answer: Martinelli, Mancini, Ghilardi, Angori, Amatucci, Bernardeschi, Zaniolo, Cerofolini, Pierozzi, and Fortini all spent time in the Viola academy. That’s 10 of the 18 guys I picked for this silly exercise and that’s a nice, sour note to end it on.
