Josip Ilicic thanks Paulo Sousa for revitalising his career and is confident Fiorentina can win the Scudetto.

The Slovenia international has found a consistency that eluded him throughout his career up to this point.

“When I chose Fiorentina, I thought that I’d get to play regularly all the time, but when that didn’t happen I was upset. In fact, I was angry,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Josip Ilicic thanks Paulo Sousa for revitalising his career and is confident Fiorentina can win the Scudetto.

The Slovenia international has found a consistency that eluded him throughout his career up to this point.

“When I chose Fiorentina, I thought that I’d get to play regularly all the time, but when that didn’t happen I was upset. In fact, I was angry,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“A player with bad thoughts in his head cannot give his best. The most difficult moment was being jeered by many fans in my own stadium. I didn’t give up, though, and then Sousa arrived.

“From the first day the Coach made me feel important. His greatest strength has been winning over the respect of the locker room. Just look at the statistics, you’ll see every player has started at least one game this season.

“We can win the title and we’ve proved that on the pitch, but it will be tough. The decisive issue will be how we react to a moment of crisis, which will arrive sooner or later.

“Paulo Sousa has won three League titles in his career, but every time had to overcome a difficult period.”

Fiorentina are currently joint top of the table with Inter, but Ilicic doubts that situation will last.

Roma are the favourites for the Scudetto, because they play good football, have quality and alternatives. Over the next few games they won’t have Mohamed Salah and Gervinho, but Juan Manuel Iturbe and Alessandro Florenzi are just as good.

“Inter are very strong in defence, but they have also been extremely lucky. Inter don’t look like Scudetto material to me, even with great players like Ivan Perisic, Stevan Jovetic and Adem Ljajic.

Napoli have an explosive attack force, but the defence is not worthy of the Scudetto. You could tell Juventus would struggle to replace Andrea Pirlo and Carlos Tevez. As for Milan, I didn’t think they could challenge for the title even in August.”

Fiorentina face their local rivals Empoli tomorrow in the Derby di Toscana.

“I scored a fantastic brace against Empoli last season and not even Superman could’ve stopped those going into the net. I like Empoli, as they play football despite not being a big club. I can’t stand sides who put 10 men behind the ball.”

Slovenia international Ilicic has an intriguing plan for his post-football career.

“I am passionate about cars, cooking and watches. I am also crazy about fashion. When I hang up my boots, I could accept a proposal to work with the Della Valle family in fashion, as I’ve got some good ideas.”

The Della Valle family own Fiorentina and Tod’s Group, which specialises in shoes and leather goods.

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