Vanoli: ‘Fiorentina have to go back to basics, a lot of problems to fix’

Paolo Vanoli says that he only had ‘half a training session’ to prepare his Fiorentina players for their 2-2 draw with Genoa in Serie A on Sunday, and says that he won’t look to change things tactically until the players nail down the basics. 

Vanoli had to settle for a 2-2 draw away against Genoa, also in the relegation zone, in Serie A on Sunday afternoon on what was his first match since replacing Stefano Pioli as head coach earlier this week. 

Genoa were also being led by a new head coach in Daniele De Rossi, who replaced Patrick Vieira on Thursday. 

You can see how the action from today’s Serie A matches unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.

Vanoli was only confirmed as the new head coach of Fiorentina on Friday, which did not leave him much time to prepare for Sunday’s scrap with Genoa. 

“Coming in with half a training session wasn’t easy, so congratulations to the guys,” Vanoli told DAZN after full-time. 

“You have to start from the basics in these situations: Spirit and togetherness. This has to be fundamental for us. We need to rediscover the positivity that allows you to avoid mistakes.”

Fiorentina have conceded eight goals from set-pieces already in Serie A this season. Vanoli said that there was not enough time to fix that issue before Sunday’s game. 

“We went man to man on corners, we didn’t have time to work on the defensive line. We had to make a choice on what to work on, and we went for the compactness. 

“This is the sort of performance that I was looking for. The guys who started did a good job, those who came on helped out with the right spirit.” 

And when asked if he could look to deploy a different system moving forwards, potentially one with two strikers playing together, Vanoli said: “Sometimes the hardest thing is being aware of where you are. We have a new page to write and we have taken a small step. We have a lot of problems, we have to go back to doing the basics. We’ll think about changing things when we find the right spirit and fluidity. 

“We have the break now, we have to work hard. We all have to give each other a helping hand.”