Chapter 11: The First Battle of the New Season
The turmoil caused by the fight incident was quickly quelled, and Effenberg and others did follow Zhuang Mingge's advice and passed on these words to other players, as for the effect can not be seen in a short time, but according to Ranieri, the Fiorentina players are the least molested female fans he has ever seen.
But what saddened Zhuang Mingge was that these players were not grateful to him as a boss, but spontaneously set up Karin's support group, according to the grapevine that Zhuang Mingge got, the head of the support group is Effenberg, and the deputy heads are Vieri and Di Biagio, and their task is to report to Karin the daily activities of Zhuang Mingge that they see every day.
Zhuang Mingge, who was "betrayed" by the players, burst into tears, how could Karin speak more effectively than herself, is it really the size of her chest that determines her combat effectiveness?
Let's get down to business, but the more than a month of training camp passed quickly, during which Fiorentina sat at the Stadio Frankie and invited a number of teams to come and play a few warm-up matches:
On July 31, Fiorentina beat Empoli 3-0, Batistuta scored twice, and Inzaghi came off the bench to add the icing on the cake in the 86th minute;
On August 7, against Livorno, Ranieri discharged the forward combination of Vieri and Inzaghi, and as a result, Vieri scored twice, Inzaghi scored a hat-trick, and the purple lily beat the opponent 5:0;
On the 14th, Fiorentina hosted the Serie A team Cagliari, yes, former Cagliari player Filicano performed very well at both ends of the attack and defense against his old club, he scored a header in the 30th minute with a corner kick opportunity, and finally Fiorentina defeated Cagliari 1:0 with Filicano's goal;
On the 21st, the Fiorentina team went north to Milan and played a warm-up match with Inter Milan, as a result, Fiorentina, which had not yet been completely polished, was completely suppressed by Inter Milan, thanks to the excellent performance of goalkeeper Toldo, the team finally lost 1:2.
Judging from the performance of the warm-up game, the team as a whole still has a lot of problems in terms of running-in, the offensive side relies more on the individual ability of the players to score goals, and the defense relies on Toldo's high and low blocks and Filicano's delayed command, although we can see the team's progress, but this team that has not been completely polished into the type of team can play how much combat effectiveness in actual combat is still unknown.
Historically, Fiorentina was able to quickly return to Serie A after relegation because the team left most of the players, who may not be as good as the current team built by Zhuang Mingge in terms of personal potential, but they are more tacit in team cooperation, and the team already has the strength of Serie A, so it can easily return to the top league.
Although the current Fiorentina young players have a lot of potential, the rustiness and lack of experience still make them make many unnecessary mistakes in the game.
Therefore, in Zhuang Mingge's view, the key to Fiorentina's successful promotion this season lies in how long Ranieri can make the players familiar with each other's style of play and polish the team into shape.
On 29 August, Fiorentina will host their first opponent of the season and the favourites for promotion this season, Bari, in a game that will be crucial for Fiorentina this season, with the local Fiorentina fans showing their support for the team, with nearly 50,000 people filling up the stadium.
In a VIP box reserved for senior officials at the Frankie Stadium, Zhuang Mingge was sitting in the box watching the game, accompanied only Karin, and Antonioni was very frustrated that he could not come to cheer for Fiorentina's first game of the season because he had to deal with some temporary emergencies in the construction of the training base.
"Whew...... It's a good thing that Barry's chairman didn't come, otherwise there really wouldn't be a way to watch the game so relaxed. Zhuang Mingge sat on the soft sofa and stretched comfortably, "By the way, Karin, do you think Florence will win today?" ”
"Tony, I think if Fiorentina can quickly take advantage of the score after the start, then the team's hopes of winning will be more than ninety percent; Otherwise, then the team is likely to be defeated. ”
"Weishenme thinks so?"
"The players in our club are really full of potential, and there are some experienced players in all three lines, but the lack of experience of most of the young players is really an irreparable flaw, which makes them very good at playing the tailwind, but once they get stuck on the pitch, they become very impatient, and the more impatient they are, the less points they get, and thus enter a vicious circle." Karin calmly analyzed on the sidelines.
"That makes sense...... Zhuang Mingge originally wanted to talk to Karin a few more words, but at this time, the players from both sides had already begun to enter, and Zhuang Mingge hurriedly cast his eyes back on the court.
Fiorentina's starting line-up today is: up front, Batistuta and Inzaghi form a partnership; Effenberg dragged behind the duo as the midfielders, with the German at the heart of the playmaker; Kripa and Collini started as a central midfield partner, Kripa is good at interception, Collini is good at passing, and the combination of the two is both rigid and soft; Di Biagio is the last of the four midfielders and will play as a central midfielder in the starting line-up.
In the backline, from left to right: Pexoto, Firicano, Iuliano and Billindeli; In terms of goalkeepers, Toldo secured the starting position with his excellent performance in the warm-up game.
As you can see from the starting line-up, Claudio Ranieri is very serious about this game and it seems that he will also want to get off to a good start in his first game in charge of Fiorentina.
Barry's lineup is very average, and Zhuang Mingge can't even find a player he knows.
The captains of both sides guessed the coin, Fiorentina took the lead in possession, and then with the referee's whistle, the game officially began.
Fiorentina were not in a hurry to attack after kick-off, the ball kept falling between the players in central midfield, mobilizing the Bari defence and looking for a way to attack.
In the 6th minute of the game, the Barry team launched a counterattack, but the pass was intercepted by Kripa halfway, Collini received the ball grabbed by Kripa, turned and buckled a Barry player who grabbed it, did not make any unnecessary movements, and passed the ball directly to Effenberg, who had just returned to the center circle.
Effenberg received the ball and went straight forward, and after attracting the attention of two opposing players, a 30-metre-long long-pitched pass penetrated the Bari defence, and Inzaghi, who had performed well in the warm-up game, appeared like a ghost behind the Bari defence and received the ball, and burst in, and the Bari goalkeeper rushed forward.
At this moment, Inzaghi looked extremely calm, and he even glanced at the position of the Bari goalkeeper, and with a volley, the ball flew lightly past the terrified opponent's goalkeeper and into the goal.
Seeing the ball into the net, Inzaghi opened his arms and ran frantically to the fans of Fiorentina, and Barty, Effenberg and others, who were closer to Inzaghi, also rushed over to celebrate Inzaghi's goal.
“1:0! It was Filip Inzaghi who scored the goal, and it was a brilliant goal, and he showed composure that was not appropriate for his age in the face of the opposition goalkeeper's attack! At the same time, the voice of Fiorentina's home commentator was also present at the Frankie Stadium, "Let's shout this lad's name, Filip-"
"Inzaghi !!" The 47,000 fans shouted along with the commentators, and the shouts soared into the sky.
After kicking off again, the Bari players, who were obviously going to play defensive counter-attacking tactics after the opening, obviously began to be impatient, and the overall formation gradually moved forward with the intention of competing with Fiorentina for the ball, but did not want to expose more holes in their rear......
In the 18th minute, the left-back Pessoto, who stepped forward to assist, and Collini, who pulled to the side, completed a series of crosses after two and one, and Batistuta followed up with a header in the middle, and the ball smashed on the crossbar and bounced into the goal, 2:0.
In the 27th minute, Effenberg received a through ball from Di Biagio outside the penalty area, and then turned and volleyed, the ball was slightly wide, startling the Barry goalkeeper in a cold sweat.
Fiorentina's players are getting better and better, while Bari's players are eager to recover the score after conceding the goal, and one by one they start to break through with the ball frantically, and the outcome of the game is already sealed, unless these Bari players can really score in a row like Maradona.
By the end of the first half, the score had already become 3-0, and Inzaghi added another goal in stoppage time with a clever follow-up shot from inside the box.