Fiorentina 3-3 Parma: player ratings and 3 things we learned

Bartlomiej Drągowski: 6 — Not really at fault for any of the goals and made a pretty good save on Gervinho right after the penalty, but wasn’t as convincing as he could have been on third. It’s certainly more on Malcuit’s atrocious marking, but a slight drop in form early in the season (when he was unmistakably Fiorentinabest player of) deserves to be watched. It’s probably just a few unlucky evenings; it’s not like Bart is a bad keeper or anything.
Nikola Milenković: 7 — Keeps showing his talent for acrobatic volley goals, which is fun, even though Luigi Sepe was more at it than anything else. Was otherwise perfectly fine. Was a bit slow to step up for this chance Gervinho (although a bad LMQ gift carries more blame) and completely absent for Valentin Mihăilă, but was otherwise perfectly fine, keeping Yann Karamoh and Gervinho in check.
Germain pezzella: 6.5 — His most dramatic contribution was to sparkle in the ball which Simone Iacoponi turned into her own net to death, but Viola’s captain was pretty solid otherwise. Was badly beaten by Gervinho, forcing Pulgar to step in and concede the penalty. I’m not going to blame him for Malcuit’s bad rating, because it seems more on Kevin than on Pezze not to communicate.
Lucas Martínez Quarta: 7 — Delighted to have scored the goal he clearly insisted on last month and thought he had made a brace but was refused by the woodwork. It was his usual self, flying all over the place, but he made a few possession errors trying to push the team forward and sometimes gave Parma the ball a little too easily. Especially with Biraghi in front of him, he has to develop a little more discipline, both with the ball and with his positioning, otherwise this side of the pitch will become scary.
Kevin Malcuit: 2-As Mike said in the Slack chat, “I would give it a 2 as the SAT gives you 200 points just for signing your name.” Twice lost a runner at the far post to give up a goal, which is uh very bad. Didn’t offer him anything either, losing the ball more often than he made it progress. It wasn’t a bad bet to take a semi-annual loan, but it’s just too dire to be trusted at this critical time. Martín Cáceres has to put down that cup of mate and let go again.
Sophie amrabat: 5 — Seemed a bit offbeat, misplacing a few relatively straightforward passes and never getting into the game. Although this was probably due in large part to the lack of creativity around him, he hesitated between doing too much and not doing enough. Nor did not mark his authority over the Ducali with his typical physique, as Rosario Abisso whistled him for a succession of minor faults. On the bright side, it looks like his injury isn’t serious and he’ll be ready to face Benevento.
Eric Pulgar: 6 — Really a weird Chilean game. On the one hand, he created the first two goals with excellent set piece deliveries, which Fiorentina lacked while on the bench. He was also exemplary in sweeping past the defense, leading the game with 19 ball recoveries and effectively winning possession. On the other hand, he was as clumsy as ever when under pressure and handed out a really stupid penalty. I share the difference with the rating, but I totally understand if you want to turn it lower or boost it higher.
Borja Valero: 5 — Had a few smooth moments with the ball at his feet and showed he still has his trademark cunning, but doesn’t really shop for anyone else and remains a turnstile defensively. His role was to connect the attackers with the rest of the squad and the attackers remained quite isolated so it can be said that he did not succeed, although he was hardly put in a position to do so. either with such a static and fantasia. – less heaps around him.
Cristiano Biraghi: 4.5 — Probably sadder about Igor’s injury than anyone else, because he clearly needs a break. Painfully slow when forced to turn and run and lack of lateral agility to slow down fast dribblers, putting a lot of stress on the defender behind him. Although he spent a lot of time in the field, he didn’t create anything either. Useful part certainly, but its lack of mobility and the lack of aerial targets in the box make it almost useless, even if it still drives so cheerfully.
Valentin Eysseric: 4.5 — Makes his best impression of Franck Ribéry and I’m not necessarily saying that in a good way. Abandoned even with defense at times to get the ball back, leaving Vlahović as lonely as ever up front. I had a few tidy moments but never seemed to unlock Parma’s defense at all. He’s fine as a peripheral option but really doesn’t offer much when he’s a focal point, although Cesare Prandelli really doesn’t have a lot of other options.
Dušan Vlahović: 6 — He fought like crazy, delayed the game, and tried to make something out of nothing, but he was so unsupported that he was practically stuck trying to do it all himself. . He’s had a few really good moves (including one where he slipped out of Laurini, got chopped up, got back up and continued to drive wisely), but it’s clear he needs someone. with him whether it’s someone on the list right now or not.
1. It’s difficult to play at the highest level with so many players missing. Fiorentina was missing Gaetano Castrovilli, Franck Ribéry, Christian Kouamé and Aleksandr Kokorin during the attack. The only bench options were Tófol Montiel (who I’ll write to later this week, but I’ll just briefly say he deserves more minutes) and Primavera striker Louis Munteanu, who had played 90 minutes the day before. Even against Parma’s injury-decimated defense, it’s hard for the guys to string together good shots when they haven’t practiced a lot together; yes, they are all on the same team, but the starters are the ones who train with each other. While this is an extremely frustrating result and one that Prandelli deserves criticism for his initial shyness and reluctance to react, it is also very difficult to expect him to pull a consistent product from the backups.
2. Prandelli’s replacements kill this team. Yeah, about that reluctance to react. San Cesare have only used two of their five substitutions. One was because Amrabat had been forced to move away suddenly and the other was because Valero was an old man. The bench was mightily bare, as previously mentioned, but either Lorenzo Venuti or Cáceres were obvious substitutes for the calamitous Malcuit. Montiel was also available (again, I will be doing a deeper dive on him in a few days). Also remember that Vlahović, Amrabat, Pulgar and the whole defense were coming out of a game midweek. While absences were responsible for Viola’s lack of action on the bench this time around, Prandelli’s failure to turn things around with his substitutes was a continuation of his predecessors’ refusal to adapt on the fly. With Castrovilli and Kouamé likely available against the Stregoni, it will be fascinating and infuriating if he continues to let bad situations continue.
3. Fiorentina are still not the worst team. Let this sink for a minute. Despite the repulsive football displayed in recent weeks, the Viola are not in last place. Hell, they’re not even in the relegation zone. Crotone’s big win over Torino was the real news, as the Squali go down no matter what and Torino, still stuck in the last relegation place, remain 6 points behind and have some pretty tough weeks ahead. Even with suddenly competent Cagliari, it would take something unexpected for Fiorentina to lose their cushion above the hatch. That’s not to say we should breathe a collective sigh of relief. That doesn’t even mean relegation is impossible, I’m just pointing out that as bad as it has been, it has been worse for the other teams. And if that doesn’t restore your faith that the universe is cold, vicious, and doesn’t care about humans, I don’t know what will.