Cesena Spam
(Look, he's back!)
Ok, so that was neither spectacular or particularly exciting, and I've certainly not seen every Viola match this season, but of the ones I've seen, that was easily the best. For once, all four defenders didn't suck AT THE SAME TIME (!), Donadel and Santana were nails in front of the backs, Gila was looking like last year's Gila and, after Mutu went off with an injury, they didn't collapse! Well done, ragazzi, and well done Sini for not murdering them all 103 times in the past month.
Fiorentina 1-0 Cesena [highlights|postgame Santana + Comotto| pagelle: Gazzetta + CF|ratings table]
Marcatori: 14' st Gilardino
Fiorentina: Boruc; Comotto, Kroldrup, Gamberini, Pasqual; Donadel, Santana (15' st D'Agostino); Cerci, Mutu (41' Ljaijc), Vargas (39' st Marchionni); Gilardino 7.
Cesena: Antonioli; Lauro (29' st Fatic), Von Bergen, Benalouane, Nagatomo; Schelotto (29' st Ceccarelli), Parolo, Colucci (41' st Ighalo); Jimenez, Giaccherini; Bogdani.
During the pitch inspection, Sinisa has a private, scarf-free moment to contemplate his fate.
(Ditto for ADV.)
Most of the tifosi chose to take their private moments at home yesterday -- only like 20,000 turned up at the ground -- but the ones who were there had a sweet Antognoni banner.
And were supporting Gabi Sandri, as they did at midweek as well.
Viola tifosi = awesome, if that was ever unclear.
Ok. Scarf on, time to do battle.
Ah, shit. Forgot the lip gloss.
And, just to make things worse, that photo guy who lies on the ground is in his way again. Poor Sini.
Up in the tribuna, meanwhile, ADV was being hassled by the mayor.
And trying his hardest to look positive, and delighted to be there.
(He failed.)
Artur, on the other hand, didn't fail yesterday, not even once. \o/
Neither did Comotto.
Unfortunately, all the pictures of him are of this one play, but he defended in his usual way, and very nearly scored off a corner, except he hit it with his shoulder, not his head. So close!
(Sinisa is so unaccustomed to his defense not being terrible that he spent a lot of time instinctively shouting at them.)
Gambero did well, too!
Believe it or not, he actually looks confident right now -- how long has it been since we've seen him like that?
He, too, had a good chance off a corner. One of these days, there will be an explosion of defender goals. Or, at least, Krol will score.
For some reason I've only got one picture of Krol, but he was his usual, panic-free self.
Over on the left, Pasqual played his best game IN AGES -- musta been offended by how mean Corriere Fiorentino were about him on Thursday, and decided to show them his true skillz.
Moar insulting, plz, if this is the result. The man was untroubled even by Little Luis' Horror Hair, which means he was well and truly in the zone.
Donadel: Ass-kicking. As ever.
I thought he got better as the game went on -- he won some important balls late in the game, and figured out how to deal with Cesena's many little attackers.
Yeah, that's right. He's back.
Not that he'd been anywhere recently, but still.
He was absolutely worn out after the Roma match, but he still ran his legs off in the center of the pitch, and danced with Little Luis when he could find the energy.
And showed off his non-waxed legs for the photo guys, who have really been slacking on their Take Pictures of Santana in Compromising Positions duty this year.
He went off after about an hour to take a well-deserved nap.
D'Agostino replaced him and, though he gave the ball away too much, somehow you can still see how much quality he has.
Even when he's not in this pose, there's something about him that says "You think you can beat me? Why don't you bring it then, punk?"
When was the last time Fiorentina had that sort of attitude anywhere on the pitch? Apart from maybe in Natali, who is like that even when he's not playing well? NGL, it's awfully nice to see.
JMV was out on the left.
He's had another haircut, hasn't he? That bastard.
Despite the determined face and crotch, he really didn't do anything at all.
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CUT YOUR HAIR, JMV.
Well, ok, when I say he didn't do anything, that's not entirely true.
He did have a little wrestle with Nagatomo, during which JMV displayed an unexpected desire to keep his junk inside his shorts. Who would have guessed?
After watching the loss to his former team at midweek, Broody McHair got the start out on the right.
He's a funny player, because all the fan sites and papers comment on his selfishness, and how often he loses the ball trying to dribble people.
(Passive-aggressively suggesting to the Cesena guy that he shave his legs.)
But at the same time, they all kind of love him, because he's got so much potential, and can do so many good things when his brain is working and he's running past people.
Yesterday he offered a bit of both, but it was definitely a positive performance overall, if you ignore the state of his hair.
The state of his thighs, on the other hand, was impressive. Where did that bulk come from?
Despite losing the ball more than one would prefer, he always tried to create and sometimes succeeded, even when it was half by accident, like with his deflected assist for Gila's goal.
Or with his half chance early in the game, when he played a one-two with Mutu and somehow chased down the ball in the box only to lash it wide.
Mutu played for all of 40 minutes, and not very well while he was at it.
And yet there are several dozen pictures of him.
I know his hair is really sweet and all, but come on, photo guys! For god's sake, move on!
Even before he got hurt, things weren't going well.
He tried to be useful but, apart from one early shot, it was rough going.
First, he got a watermark in his ear.
Then this dude bit him.
Then Mutu summoned all the strength in his 98-pound frame and tried to shove the guy, but that just made Adi looks sort of pitiful.
In good news, he got to spend most of the 40 minutes on the pitch in close proximity to this outrageously hot bald.
Or, wait. Is that sort of thing only good for me?
Surely Mutu appreciated him, though.
If only because he graciously enabled all the falling down and howling in agony Adi loves so much.
Sadly, their budding relationship was cut short by a (presumably unrelated) groin problem on Adi's part.
At first, it seemed like he was just handling himself a lot, but it turned out he was actually hurt and had to go off so someone else could handle him professionally.
Early reports are that he'll be out for another month, but there's nothing official yet.
Adem replaced him, but only after a moment of random, Serbian bonding with the referee. The actual Serbs in the picture were totally confused.
Adem replaced Mutu both on the pitch and in the sights of the bald, and was a definite improvement.
He was all eager and full of ideas, but he also worked his ass off to defend, especially in the last 15 minutes or so.
Did he get a haircut? (Did he and JMV go together?) Sinisa must be so pleased.
He's definitely cuter than usual. It has to be the hair, right? What else could it be?
ANYWAY. Haircut or not, he was involved in Fiorentina's best moves, including Gila's goal, and a great counter with Gila that totally cut Cesena open at the back.
Like a cow, Sinisa has learned to sleep standing up.
So has the fourth official. Both of them dozed off during the long period of endless fouling and diving, and missed most of the match.
(The Commie coach has learned to wake him up periodically, because that one time LDS tipped him was just embarrassing for everyone.)
Sinisa: "RIGHT, I'M AWAKE. GOAL NOW, PLZ."
Gila: *bounds to the rescue*
He did awesome, ok?
He worked like he do, even though he had basically no chances until his goal, and looked like the Gila of last season in the last 30 minutes of the match.
After he scored, he was all over the pitch, helping his team get out of the back, winning balls, and generally just kicking all kinds of ass.
You could tell he was feeling good, because he was ordering everyone around, including both teammates and linesmen.
And, as an added bonus, got mounted by the bald. He is a lucky man, that miserable Gila.
Gila: *plots a spectacular goal to impress the bald the ladies Sinisa*
And what a goal it was.
Gila took Cerci's deflected pass on his right thigh, turned his back on goal, and volleyed it home with his left foot. Holy crap.
There was, as you'd expect, a little joyous prancing.
You're not going to believe this, but Gila actually smiled.
Swear to god.
At first, he did hold his grimness together, despite the cuddles of the hair brigade.
After he shook them off, he made an expected beeline for Vlada -- apparently Fiorentina players just love reserve goalkeepers, no matter who they are (apart from Artur).
Oh, oh, look -- hints of a smile, much to the horror of the fourth official.
You know who always gets him though -- it's his old bff Donadel. Awwwwwwwww!
(JMV was peeved, because he's been usurped as Gila Whisperer.)
Ok, that's it -- no more joy.
STOP SMILING, EVERYONE. There's still work to be done.
After the match, he allowed himself a triumphant grimace.
And a black power salute.
While Sinisa dropped a small, grim fist-pump of his own.
And got a handshake from the commie, whether he wanted it or not.
Then his scarf tried to eat D'Agostino, which was a bit of a shock for everyone.
Artur just might have the same idea as Sini's scarf. That's both interesting and horrifying.
... Awkward.
Donadel's starting to like this captain thing.
He's wondering why Monty used to complain about it all the time -- it's not so bad!
Aw, Little Luis! He found someone old enough to have been at Fiorentina when he was there. The man wants to know what he's done with his hair.
Up next is a trip to Milan next weekend.