Vanoli: ‘Fiorentina needed shift to new objective, Piccoli diamond in the rough’
Paolo Vanoli recognises Fiorentina took some time to ‘focus around what is a new objective’ of Serie A safety and calls Roberto Piccoli ‘a diamond in the rough’ after the 4-1 win over Cremonese.
This was a huge test for the Viola, as they were only one point ahead of Cremonese and the relegation zone going into the Stadio Giovanni Zini.
Although there were a few wobbles, including a David De Gea save in the opening 120 seconds, they ran out 4-1 winners with goals from Fabiano Parisi, Piccoli, a Dodo run from his own half, and Albert Gudmundsson finishing off a move with two back-heel flicks.
Cremonese managed to pull one back with David Okereke, but this result takes Fiorentina up to 16th place, leapfrogging Lecce and moving four clear of the drop zone.
Vanoli sees Fiorentina progress
“These are three very important points against a direct rival for position,” Vanoli told DAZN Italia.
“I do believe we should’ve done much, much better when we had gone in front, as we were too frenetic and eager to push forward, when we should’ve been calm and able to control the tempo.”
Since the midway stage of the season, Fiorentina have picked up 15 points, the same as Roma and Lazio, which has seen them surge up the standings.
“It took some time, we did improve and I feel we still have real margin for further improvement. The toughest thing was recreating that unity of intent and focus around what is a new objective for Fiorentina,” explained Vanoli.
“We know that Florence deserves a lot more, but this is where we are this season, so we need to see it through and achieve a fundamental target for the club. Now we have to go to Poland and have only two days to prepare, so we need to recharge the batteries and be ready for another very difficult match.”
There had been concerns that Fiorentina would not be able to shift their mentality back to a Serie A relegation battle, especially as it was played between two legs of the Conference League Round of 16 against Rakow.
They won 2-1 last week and visit Poland on Thursday for the second leg of that UEFA tie.
“I don’t want to hear talk of a definitive turning point. This was a head-to-head and therefore a very important match, we are facing these fixtures with a different mentality to earlier in the season.
“The Conference League saps us of energy, so we’ve got to keep trying to balance the two competitions and keep our feet on the ground.”
Top scorer Moise Kean was also only fit for the bench, with Niccolò Fortini, Manor Solomon, Luca Lezzerini and Tariq Lamptey injured, but for the first time in his entire career, Piccoli contributed both a goal and an assist in the same Serie A match.
“Moise worked really hard just to be on the bench, I was going to give him 7-8 minutes tonight, but Ranieri had cramp and I had to change my plans,” added Vanoli.
“Piccoli is a diamond in the rough who has great potential and is gradually improving. His goal today was that of a great striker, but sometimes he lets his head drop, so he needs to keep believing in himself every day.”