Vincenzo Italiano sees the draw with Genoa as a ‘positive’ result for Fiorentina, albeit with the usual regrets, and explains what he wants to see against Viktoria Plzen.
The Viola have only three Serie A victories in 2024 and that negative streak extended with today’s 1-1 stalemate at the Stadio Franchi.
Albert Gudmundsson had opened the scoring for Genoa by converting a penalty, before Jonathan Ikone’s header on a Jack Bonaventura cross.
“I told the lads that my first year here, we’d have lost this game,” Italiano said on DAZN.
“We lost so many matches like this because of our excessive desire to win. The positives we take away are the fact Ikone scored with a header, I think perhaps the second header of his career, and he turned it into a goal.
“It is also positive that we achieved a point while having to rotate quite a few players, seeing as we have a game coming up on Thursday.
“At the end of the day, we have a point that with a little bit of quality upfront we could’ve turned into a victory. But that is fine.”
There was controversy too, as Genoa were awarded a spot-kick that was then revoked following a VAR On-Field Review for the mutual wrestling between Mateo Retegui and Michael Kayode, then late on Fiorentina had appeals for a Ridgeciano Haps arm.
Ikone becomes the first striker to score a goal since Lucas Beltran in February, as the usual problems remain upfront.
“I talked to both Ikone and Sottil about the fact they can be more dangerous when attacking. Ikone did well to throw himself in there, but my wingers need to have something more when taking men on. We need those with a bit more quality to show it.”
Fiorentina’s focus now goes to the Europa League quarter-final against Viktoria Plzen, having drawn the first leg 0-0 in Czechia.
“It was a positive result in the first leg, but we need to speed up the movement of the ball from what we are doing lately. The idea is to always have players who can work with intensity, that was behind my thinking on the squad rotation today, as Thursday’s match is too important.
“This is a moment when we need the fans around us, for the whole stadium to push us on in those moments when we are struggling.”