This seasons Serie A title race proved to be very much a marathon and not a sprint with a few clubs falling victim to trying the latter. Fiorentina were one of those teams. Vincenzo Montella's departure in the summer brought about uncertainty around the club and Paulo Sosa's appointment wasn't exactly met with universal acclaim However, the Portuguese coach soon had the Viola faithful dreaming of a sustained Scudetto challenge with six wins from their opening seven Serie A matches including a 4-1 humbling of Inter Milan at the San Siro where they appeared to really announce themselves as genuine contenders. They were never going to be able to maintain that level of performance but Fiorentina were still very close to the top of the table when the winter break arrived. The club hadn't invested much in the summer but surely, with their best chance at a title push in years, the pursestrings would be open in January? It never happened as the club failed to sufficiently back Sousa in the winter transfer window and The Viola's dreams petered out badly in the second half of the campaign. They were easily eliminated from the Europa League against Tottenham Hotspur - a side they had put out of the same competition last year - and a run of just 2 wins from their last 13 games meant a disappointing 5th place finish which was a downgrade on Montella's three consecutive 4th place finishes. Nevertheless, it is still European qualification for the club which many would have accepted in Sousa's first season in charge where he had to tackle many issues. Two big name strikers in Giuseppe Rossi and Mario Gomez left the club but the manager recruited Nikola Kalinic to replace them. It didn't set pulses racing but the Croatian ended up being a hit with 12 goals. A lot of those were created by Josip Ilicic who really came to the fore this season and proved he could be a crucial player for a big club. Federico Bernardeschi and Khouma Babacar are exciting young talents but it will take time for them to fill the boots of Mohamed Salah and Juan Cuadrado who were so important to the club in the previous couple of seasons. Ultimately, Sousa needs to be given resources in the summer to put more of an imprint on this squad.
