Vanoli: ‘Fiorentina must make mental adjustment’ to relegation battle

Paolo Vanoli insists Fiorentina have to ‘think positive’ after their 2-0 defeat to Atalanta, but also recognise they are now in a relegation battle this season.

The Viola have now completed 13 rounds of Serie A football without a single victory and remain rooted to the relegation zone.

Luck wasn’t on their side in Bergamo, because Odilon Kossounou probably intended to cross rather than go for the far top corner on the opening goal, then David De Gea parried a Charles De Ketelaere header into the path of Ademola Lookman for 2-0.

Moise Kean had the best chance to get one back, but his header bounced off the upright.

“Since I arrived here, I have always told the honest truth to the players,” Vanoli told Sky Sport Italia.

This is another negative experience after Thursday’s 1-0 Conference League defeat to AEK Athens, as Vanoli had managed to briefly steady the Serie A ship with draws against Genoa and Juventus.

It was after that midweek match that Edin Dzeko lashed out at the fans, who he asked to help the team rather than jeer at their every mistake.

“There was a confrontation yesterday between Dzeko and the fans, we thank them for the support that they always give us,” continued the coach.

“We need to look at the positives today, as we could’ve taken the lead, then conceded a goal on a cross. The first 20 minutes were a little timid and De Gea made a few important saves.

“As the game wore on, we started to come out of our shell, despite the fact that we played only three days ago.”

Fiorentina are now 13 rounds into the Serie A season without a single victory, and there are very few in this situation who managed to avoid relegation.

“The real games begin in December and we have to remain positive,” insisted Vanoli.

“I have experienced situations like this before, when the expectations were very different and the players are suddenly forced to change their objectives mid-season. It becomes difficult to make that mental adjustment.

“The mental aspect is decisive, you can see there is fear in this team at the moment. We had two goals disallowed for very tight offsides in the Conference League, today we hit the woodwork, so we are not lucky either.

“I must try to take some of the weight off the minds of these players, who are working so hard to emerge from this situation. I am convinced the fruits of our labour will arrive,” continued Vanoli.

“We create chances, we just need to be more clinical. We’ll face Sassuolo next week with the determination and attitude of a team that is at the bottom of the table.”