Ferrari: ‘Fiorentina hunger and awareness of situation’ from new coach Vanoli

Fiorentina director general Alessandro Ferrari assures new coach Paolo Vanoli has brought ‘hunger and awareness of the situation we are in’ to the team as they host Juventus.

It kicks off at the Stadio Artemio Franchi at 17.00 GMT.

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from today’s four Serie A games on the Liveblog.

New coach Vanoli made his debut in the 2-2 draw away to Genoa, so this is his first match at the Stadio Franchi.

“The last two weeks have been intense in training, the lads reacted well, and we really liked Vanoli’s hunger and awareness of the situation we were in, but also the enthusiasm and desire to drag us out of it,” Ferrari told DAZN Italia.

Part of the reason why Vanoli was chosen is that he is accustomed to relegation battles, which Fiorentina now unexpectedly find themselves in.

This is no ordinary fixture for the Viola supporters, as Fiorentina have a long and bitter rivalry with Juventus, fuelled even more by the return to the Stadio Franchi of Dusan Vlahovic as an opponent.

It would therefore be particularly special for them to get their first Serie A win of the season in this match.

“The players were tired, as they had a lot of intense physical training work, and aware of the reality we are now in. It would be great to start again from here, but we definitely need to get going with a different attitude and performance to what we’ve seen so far.”

There has been criticism of Luca Ranieri as the Fiorentina captain with a few too many errors, but Vanoli and now Ferrari back the defender.

“Ranieri is an exceptional lad who worked so hard, he gives his all every time and when he was on loan used to play such fiery games against us. Perhaps might be a bit rugged, but it’s because of that incredible hunger that he has.”