The Statistical Anomaly In Firenze

In watching the UEFA Cup semi-final game between a Fiorentina and an U-6 team masquerading as Rangers, I realized a few things:

1. If shit doesn’t work, don’t keep doing it. (Like playing crosses into the middle.)

2. Cesare Prandelli is a fantastic dresser, but the man needs more variety. (The pic to the left is not a good example of his skillz, but was impossible to pass up.)

3. Fiorentina is in danger of finishing fourth while not contributing a single player to the Azzurri for this summer’s tournament.

That last one is a real eye opener, because Fiorentina has been pretty good for much of the year. Though not as good as Milan has been bad, and even with that Milan still has a solid chance at Champions League football.

This is not a case of Fiorentina’s stable being devoid of Azzurri-worthy talent. It’s just that the eligible guys are either too young or fringe-contenders who need an injury or seven in front of them to have a chance at this summer’s tournament. Guys like Riccardo Montolivo and Giampaolo Pazzini have Azzurri-stalwart written all over them (Montolivo more so than GP, but Pazz is going to explode one of these days), but they’re still not quite ready. Names more suited for discussion with an eye towards World Cup 2010. Arturo Lupoli and Pablo Osvaldo look like potential material, but their consideration is a ways down the line. I’m sure there’s a name or two in the Primavera who will make a run eventually, and that really says enough in itself.

Really the only person under consideration is Alessandro Gamberini, who looks like a maybe kinda sorta bubble player at CB, and will probably need an injury or two for a ticket on the official Team Plane of Awesomeness heading to Swissaustria. With Canna, Andrea Barzagli, Marco Materazzi, Giorgio Chiellini and Daniele Bonera – enjoying a resurgence this year – Gamberini looks like he’ll be the odd man out. Plus Christian Panucci, a constant presence recently, is able to more than capably slot in at CB, giving Roberto Donadoni more options for another spot elsewhere on the squad. It looks as though he’s out, unless the Azzurri plane gets slammed with the Bubonic plague on the way to camp in Swissaustria. (And if I had my way, Gamberini wouldn’t be considered until he got a haircut. It can look good, just not on him.)

Couple this with the fact that Inter will only be donating one player to the Azzurri in Materazzi – which isn’t necessarily a good thing – and you have two teams who might finish in the Champions League spots in Serie A contributing in total one whole player to the Azzurri roster. Given the immense wealth of Azzurri talent, that’s quite

Of course, the cases of Inter and Fiorentina are vastly different, in that Massimo Moratti is an Italophobe and the suits at Fiorentina (specifically Pantaleo Corvino) are building through youth. Other factors being the tough selling point post-Calciopoli and the very low, by comparison, salary cap at 1.5m per, which essentially eliminates most Azzurri-worthy in-their-primes talent. Of course, Fiorentina still has a strong Italian base, but Inter is South American at heart.

It’s short of alarming, but still a very strange number. One would think a team the caliber of Fiorentina would surely contribute at least one man to the cause.