Fiorentina President Rocco Commisso said Serie A ‘needs equal financial rules for everyone’ and praised Vincenzo Italiano. ‘He’s an excellent coach’.
The Viola patron returns to America after the match against leaders Napoli this weekend and spoke to the club’s official channel about Italiano’s work since joining the club from Spezia.
“He’s an excellent coach, he has done a great job,” Commisso said. “I told him to look at the squad and tell me what he needed.
“He has accepted many players that other coaches wouldn’t have. In the last days of the transfer market, we signed excellent players like [Lucas] Torreira and [Alvaro] Odriozola, but we have also signed [Matija] Nastasic and Nico Gonzalez.
“Without forgetting that we have recovered [Riccardo] Sottil and [Riccardo] Saponara. It’s not true that nine out of 11 players had to be kicked out and Italiano proved it.
“He has put players who didn’t play back in the squad, like [Jose] Callejon. I joked the coach scored 39 points with half the salary, so here he has to score twice as many points.”
Commisso spoke about the targets at Fiorentina this term and he wants a top half finish in Serie A.
“From the first day, I said our target is to stay on the left side of the table, then let’s see,” he added. “If we continue like this, our fans will be very happy.”
But the financial situation has been tough in the Italian league since the coronavirus pandemic and the Viola patron wants equal rules for all teams.
Commisso previously said Juventus and Inter don’t respect the rules and reiterated his stance ahead of his return to America.
“The pandemic has hit everyone,” Commisso said. “Fiorentina have never risked bankruptcy, when money is needed, we put it in, but everyone hasn’t.
“Many teams weren’t budgeted and that’s not fair. It’s OK to check that everything is in compliance with the VAR, but then we also need financial controls withing the clubs.
“There have not been the right penalties for these teams, justice is the same for everyone.”
Ahead of the match against Napoli, the President has asked the fans at the Artemio Franchi to behave well.
“I ask the Florentines to behave well, because we must respect to be respected,” he said. “I want a nice climate, even if we lose.
“We don’t have to encourage the lads, but I don’t want to see scenes like those in Bergamo.”
Man everything was so nice while Rocco kept the silence. Does he really need to stir the controversy re Vlahovic contract before Napoli game? And all these dubious compliments to Italiano …
When Inter is taken over by the Saudis who will give huge $$$$ this guy will be saying that is unfair also.
All these American owners come to Serie A and expect the league is run like baeseball with a salary cap. Hard to talk about money when TV rights deal are under a billion while EPL gets 5 billion spread throughout the league. Put out a better product with better players and at least broadcast in high definition. Watching Serie A is like watching it on a TV with antennae.