FM21 Fiorentina tactic and team guide. Club culture and board requirements, tactics, key players, youth prospects and potential transfers.
Football Manager 2021 Fiorentina tactic and team guide. Club culture and
board requirements, tactics, key players, youth prospects and potential
transfers in FM21.
Here is a brief analysis of the Fiorentina squad, their club structure, relationship any potential managers will have with the board, expectations and possible tactics any FM21 manager can use.
About the club
Fiorentina are a professional football club that ply their trade in Serie A . ACF Fiorentina, have played at the top level of Italian football for the majority of their existence; only four clubs have played in more Serie A seasons.
Fiorentina has won two Italian Championships, in 1955–56 and again in 1968–69, as well as six Coppa Italia trophies and one Supercoppa Italiana. On the European stage, Fiorentina won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1960–61. They finished runners-up in the 1956–57 European Cup, losing against Real Madrid, and also came close to winning the 1989–90 UEFA Cup, finishing as runners-up against Juventus.
Fiorentina is one of the fifteen European teams that played the finals in all three major continental competitions: the Champions League (1956–1957, the first Italian team to reach the final in the top continental competition), the UEFA Cup Winners and the UEFA Cup.
They fell into serious financial issues in the late ’90s and effectively fell into administration in 2001. They failed to get admittance into the Serie B for the 2002-2003 season and failed to exist as a club, only before new owners reformed the club again. They immediately came back into the Serie A in the 2004-2005 season and have played there ever since.
Board Requirements
Fiorentina finished 10th in the 2019-2020 league season. The board requirements once you take over will be,
1. Make the top half of the Serie A league table.
2. Make the QF of the Italian Cup/Coppa Italia.
You will additionally be asked to play entertaining football, have an emphasis on signing high reputation younger players and use the club’s youth system to develop players. The club, however, has decent training facilities and a good youth academy; you’ll definitely need to improve this if you want to lean on this for support.
RELATED: Football Manager 2021 Starting Transfer Budgets
Squad, Formation and Tactical Style
Fiorentina are a team that generally like to play on the counter. They like playing a fast tempo game and release their wing-backs to create chances for their front men. So a Fluid counter-attacking style of football is best suited to go with their strengths. Alternatively, you can choose to go with Wing-play if you see fit.
A 4-3-3 is probably the best-suited formation to the available squad of players. This is incidentally how they line up in real life as well.
A rough example of what your line-up would look like in a 4-3-3 formation is as follows,
Bartlomiej Dragowski as a regular keeper.
German Pezzella & Nikola Milenkovic as the 2 centre backs. Pezzella can be played as a Ball Playing Defender.
Pol Lirola & Cristiano Biraghi as a full back and wing back respectively.
Sofyan Amrabat, Eric Pulgar & Giocomo Bonaventura as the 3 midfielders, with Amrabat playing as a ball winning midfielder, Pulgar as a box to box midfielder and Bonaventura as the deep playmaker.
Frank Ribery & Jose Callejon as the 2 wide players with the former as an inside forward and the latter as a wide playmaker.
Dusan Vlahovic as the lone striker in a pressing forward role.
Alternatively, you can deploy a 3-5-2 and play Ribery up front as a support striker. Be sure to always play for set pieces as Fiorentina are a team that rely heavily on set pieces to score goals.
RELATED: Football Manager 2021 Tactics
Key Players
1. Frank Ribery
Ribery may be 37 but he is still hungry to perform and is a crucial player for Fiorentina. He can be played out wide or centrally and he exudes quality combined with experience.
2. Erick Pulgar
Pulgar is an impactful midfielder who has the ability to contribute with crucial goals. At just 26 he has a lot of years ahead of him and is already an established player. He is another major threat from set pieces.
3. German Pezzella
Pezzella is the club captain and a solid defender. The Argentinian international is very good at marshalling his resources and is an integral part of the Fiorentina defence.
4. Jose Callejon
Callejon is a veteran in Serie A. His versatility and quality will always be an important asset to Fiorentina and his performances will shape the team’s season.
RELATED: Football Manager 2021 Best Players Shortlist
Weaknesses
1. The quality of backups in the squad may not be up to quality and could prove fatal if your squad is affected by injuries.
2. You run the risk of some talents being poached by other clubs especially in search of higher wages.
3. The core of the squad is old and ageing, replacements of the same quality may be very hard to find.
Potential Transfers (in)
Fiorentina are not the best squad in the league with respect to squad depth, these players could be welcome additions to the side.
· Pietro Pellegri
· Emanuel Vignato
Potential Transfers (Out)
These players may be surplus to requirements at the club or may not be of the expected quality.
· Martin Caceres
· Lorenzo Venuti
Youth Prospects
There are a few exciting young prospects in the ranks who have the potential to be some of the best players in the league. A few examples are,
1. Ricardo Sottil
At 21, Sottil is already very versatile and can be an able backup to the Fiorentina side. He can take over from Ribery and be an excellent player for the team in the future years.
2. Alban Lafont
Currently, on loan at Nantes, Lafont is a very underrated goalkeeper in the game. He can be a beast between the sticks and will definitely be amongst the best in the league in the future.
3. Tofol Montiel
Montiel is already a part of the Fiorentina squad and is used as a backup. He has the ability to be as good as the departed Chiesa and can lead the club to their goals in the future.
RELATED: Best Football Manager 2021 Wonderkids
