FIORENTINA DIRECTOR ROBERTO GORETTI: "FANS ARE RIGHT: WE CAN'T GET RELEGATED."
Fiorentina's crisis deepens with 25 fewer points than last season. Goretti backed angry fans, saying the team "went backwards" and must fix their lack of confidence immediately.
After Fiorentina's 3-1 loss to Sassuolo, director of sport Roberto Goretti said the fans were right to call out the players for not showing up. He insisted, We can't give up or let ourselves get relegated.
Fiorentina started strong at Mapei Stadium, with Rolando Mandragora scoring a penalty after a bit of a disagreement with Moise Kean about who should take it.
But the team fell apart before halftime, thanks to a deflected shot from Cristian Volpato and a header from Tarik Muharemovic on a corner. Ismael Koné then sealed the deal for Sassuolo after the break, making it 3-1.
Instead of coach Paolo Vanoli, Goretti spoke at the press conference after the game.
We started well, but games are long now, and we just didn't play together as a team for the whole time, Goretti said.
After losing to Atalanta, we asked our fans to support us, and they really came through. We asked them to be there, and they were, but maybe we weren't.
We just have to keep working and admit that we have what it takes to fix the problems the team is clearly having.
The fans did listen to Edin Dzeko's plea to keep supporting the team, as about 4,000 of them came to Reggio Emilia and kept singing until the end.
After the game, they made their feelings known, chanting that the team was laughable while the players stood there and took it.
"We had seen some good signs in recent games, but today we went backwards," Goretti said.
Every time we just sent easy crosses into the box, it showed that the players aren't connecting well, and you can see they lack confidence.
Now we have to deal with a really tough situation, but we can't give up. We can't lose any more ground, and we can't let ourselves get relegated.
It's hard to believe, but Fiorentina has 25 fewer points than they did at this point last season.
Plus, no team that has failed to win any of its first 14 games has ever avoided relegation.
Vanoli is the third coach this season, after Stefano Pioli was fired. Daniele Galloppa coached one Conference League match as an interim manager.
We need to look at everything critically, which sometimes means making tough calls. We have to understand the situation, be realistic, and know what to do.
The coach is staying in his job, though.
The tension within the team was clear when Kean and Mandragora argued about who should take the penalty until Captain Luca Ranieri stepped in to take Kean away.
"I didn't like that, and it's not the first time it's happened, so I liked it even less," Goretti said.
RADJA NAINGGOLAN SLAMS NAPOLI’S SCOTT MCTOMINAY AS "JUST AVERAGE" IN TV RANT
Radja Nainggolan has sparked controversy by calling Napoli's Scudetto winner Scott McTominay "average" in a scathing TV interview.
Scott McTominay’s journey from Manchester United to Napoli has been wild. He’s helped the club win a Scudetto, snagged a Ballon d’Or nomination, and his goal tally is impressive. But not everyone’s sold on him. Even with all those honours, one Serie A legend isn’t convinced. Radja Nainggolan slammed him as just “an average player".
After McTominay’s £26 million jump from Old Trafford in 2024, he took off. He won the Serie A MVP, clinched Napoli’s fourth Scudetto with a spectacular overhead goal against Cagliari, and made a big mark in Italy. Still, Nainggolan, never shy with an opinion, tore into him during a TV interview. Despite McTominay racking up 26 goals in 76 games and getting a Ballon d’Or nod, Nainggolan didn’t hold back. “I don’t like him,” he said on Sky Calcio Unplugged. “He gets his goals, 12, 13, 14 a season, but his general play? He doesn’t have the technique to move between the lines. He’s just average.”
And he wasn’t content to leave it at that. Nainggolan compared himself to today’s names, arguing he was better than both McTominay and Inter’s Hakan Calhanoglu at his best, though he admitted Nicolo Barella sits above him. “At my peak, I was better than McTominay and Calhanoglu, but Barella is on another level,” Nainggolan said. “He doesn’t always score a lot, but when he does, it matters, and you always feel his presence on the pitch. I like De Bruyne, too; he sees things nobody else does. He’s above me, and Modric...he’s always been world-class.”
Of course, Nainggolan’s take doesn’t really jibe with life in Naples. McTominay has become something of a hero there; his face is on murals around the city, the fans have dubbed him ‘McFratm’ (McBrother), and he helped Napoli win the Supercoppa Italiana in December 2025. Even if Inter seems ready to grab the Serie A crown back, McTominay’s reputation hasn’t dipped. His knack for scoring from midfield has been crucial for Conte’s side.
Nainggolan also touched on Belgium’s so-called “Golden Generation” and why they didn’t deliver a major trophy, despite stars like Lukaku, Hazard, and De Bruyne. He knows the team well, having made 30 appearances before retiring after he got left out of the 2018 World Cup squad. “We had Lukaku, Hazard, De Bruyne, and Courtois. Too many superstars, too many egos,” Nainggolan said. “Everyone wanted to be the star, to be the most important guy, and that just doesn’t work.” His take pretty much confirms what fans suspected: there was plenty of talent, but not enough unity.
MANCHESTER UNITED AND CHELSEA ENTER RACE FOR DISCOUNTED €50M-RATED RAFAEL LEãO
Discover why Rafael Leão’s value has plummeted at AC Milan and which Premier League clubs are leading the race to sign him.
Just a year ago, everyone was buzzing about Rafael Leao and his rumoured €120 million move to Chelsea. Fast forward to this summer’s transfer window, and it looks like AC Milan’s ready to let him go for nowhere near that amount. Manchester United, along with a few others, are circling, hoping to get him for much less.
Last week, Gazzetta dello Sport broke the news: Milan now values Leao at just €50 million. That’s a wild drop, especially since six months ago they slapped a €100 million price tag on him.
So what happened? Why did his value tank so quickly?
Perception plays a big part. Leao’s estimated transfer value hasn’t actually changed that much. FootballTransfers’ algorithm had him pegged at €72.5 million last July, and now he’s at €70.7 million. But Milan’s own estimate? That’s fallen off a cliff.
Last summer, Milan wanted €50 million above the algorithm’s number. Now, they’re ready to accept an offer that’s €20 million below it.
Leao once had everything going for him in Milan. In the 2021/22 season, he carried them to the Scudetto, racking up 11 goals and 10 assists. Clubs were fighting over him, and in 2023, Milan rewarded him with a hefty €7 million salary and a massive €175 million release clause. That’s when top European clubs started sniffing around for a record-breaking deal.
But the new contract didn’t spark another big season for Leao. In his next campaign, he scored 15 goals and managed 14 assists, but fans started to turn, especially after two weak outings against Roma in the Europa League.
Things haven’t improved since. Early in the 2024/25 season, Milan benched him for disciplinary reasons, and he seemed pretty unfazed, something that sparked more criticism. He’s had some public clashes with head coach Max Allegri, too. Despite still being Milan’s top scorer, he hasn’t scored in two months. And the fans? They’ve booed him at home games, most recently against Juventus and earlier against Udinese.
Now, Milan looks ready to move on. Leao’s raw talent is still obvious, but at San Siro, the excitement has faded. SciSports, the data analytics folks, show his performance is in “significant decline” based on their SciSkill rating. Still, they think he can bounce back.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Milan plans to hold off until the World Cup, hoping Leao puts on a big show for Portugal and builds hype again.
He’s still got admirers. Arsenal’s been keeping tabs on him, FootballTransfers said back in February. Chelsea, Liverpool, and United are all in the market for a left-sided attacker and would jump at the chance to grab a rejuvenated Leao.
Sure, the €120 million rumours are a thing of the past. But the old Leão, the top-class player, is still in there somewhere. He just needs the right club, coach, and a fresh start.
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