Pisa 0-0 Fiorentina: Player grades and 3 things we learned

David de Gea—6: Only had to make 1 save and it was pretty simple. Went down after 2 minutes following a clash with Idrissa Touré and it looked for a moment like he’d have to come out but ended up being fine.

Luca Ranieri—5: Best of the defenders by a decent margin, although Pisa did target him on set pieces. Nevertheless, he was stout enough without the ball, although he was shaky when asked to pass forward and didn’t provide much going forward.

Pablo Marí—4.5: His technical limitations make it hard to build from the back because he’ll lump it long whenever there’s any pressure. If he were a lockdown defender, that’d be fine, but he made a couple of significant errors as well and struggled to contain M’Bala Nzola. M’Bala Nzola!

Marin Pongračić—4: Lucky not to get booked for his usual grabby, clumsy displays. Luckier not to concede a penalty late on. Chipped in with a couple of boneheaded passes that put his side under pressure. Starting to look like the catastrophic guy who got benched early last year.

Robin Gosens—5.5: Battled away, including a head clash with Touré that required the Goose to wear a bandage for the rest of the game which blood occasionally oozed out of. Won his aerial duels and lost his ground duels, but it’s worth mentioning that he was involved in the few decent moments Fiorentina created.

Jacopo Fazzini—4.5: Had a couple of good, surging runs forward and worked hard without the ball, but also dribbled himself into dead ends way too often and lost the ball. He’s got a bit of Gaetano Castrovilli in him, especially the part where he badly needs to develop as a passer.

Hans Nicolussi Caviglia—4: Withered under Pisa’s pressing and lost the ball egregiously a couple times. Not sure he’s ready to be the lone regista and may need someone to join him in a double pivot. Lacks the athleticism and technique to get out of trouble and didn’t want the ball in tight spaces.

Rolando Mandragora—5: Most invisible but had a couple decent moments winning free kicks or knocking passes forward. Skied one of the game’s best chances following a clever corner routine.

Dodô—3.5: A rare off day from our favorite flightless bird. Misjudged his passes, whiffed his touches, ran into trouble, and got roasted a couple times in a row by Juan Cuadrado. He’s a top player but everyone misses sometimes.

Albert Guðmundsson—4: Tracked back okay and found some space in the left half-space but didn’t do all that much with it. I’m still trying to figure out what he does really well and have only come up with a list of things he’s competent at.

Moise Kean—4: Missed a few presentable chances and was very slow getting back onside a couple times, leading to a couple of frustrating offside calls. Probably could’ve gotten a bit more protection from referee Gianluca Manganiello but didn’t help his own case at all.

Roberto Piccoli—4.5: He tried. You’ve got to give him that. Had one excellent sequence to create a chance for Kean late on, and then popped a cross-field pass to absolutely nobody moments later. Duality of man et ceterca.

Simon Sohm—4.5: Ran around for 10 minutes.

Edin Džeko—n/a: Cruel that they made him suit up right as Matlock was getting good.

1. Shorty, don’t shoot. This year, the 19 other Serie A clubs have put an average of 32% of their shots on target, ranging from Sassuolo’s 44.1% to Bologna’s 20.9%. Fiorentina? Well, Fiorentina is at 20% after today. Yes, that’s last in the league. In terms of raw volume, the Viola have put 10 shots on target through 5 games. That’s 2 per game. It’s awfully hard to win when you can’t get shoot on frame, and sure enough, the Viola have had an awfully hard time.

Some of the problem is just statistical noise. 5 games isn’t all that many, finishing numbers tend to equalize over time, et cetera, et cetera. I know that, you know that, the demons below the sea know that. The trouble is that Pioli doesn’t seem to have any solutions. He’s tried chopping and changing his forwards. He’s tried a pairing, a tridente, a back 4, and none of it’s gotten this team out of bed.

I don’t think Pioli’s the entire problem. Fiorentina’s taken the 9th-most shots in Serie A this year with 61. The best-laid plans fall apart if the people executing them are goofing off; while nobody’s accusing Pioli’s plans of being the best laid, he can’t make his guys shoot the damn ball straight. The numbers show that something is very, very wrong, but they don’t tell you exactly what. You have to suffer through 90 minutes to get a better idea.

2. From the start, it fell apart. With 2 draws and 3 losses in its first 5 games, your 2025-2026 Fiorentina has equaled the squads from 1946-1947 and 1977-1978 for the 2nd-worst start to Serie A in club history. Only the 1935-1936 group did worse, taking a single draw from its first 5 and losing the rest The 2003-2004 group in Serie B replicated that. And, of course, the club’s initial season in the top flight—the 1928-1929 Divisione Nazionale—began with an ignominious 6-game skid that saw the Viola outscored 27-3.

If I’m digging for statistics from before World War 2, you’d better believe things are dire. That 77-78 season isn’t a terrible parallel, though, at least thus far. The Viola were in the UEFA Cup after a solid outing the previous season, but manager Carlo Mazzone lost the thread and was sacked after 11 weeks. His replacement Mario Mazzoni only lasted 4, so it fell to the legendary Giuseppe Chiaparella to steady the ship and prevent relegation.

Both sides boast a talismanic attacker (Kean and Giancarlo Antognoni), a well-regarded manager (Pioli and Mazzone), and a burden of expectations after a positive run the year before. History doesn’t repeat itself so it would take a true idiot (someone like me) to draw that connection, but it’s enough to make you fear a bit more for this team; its predecessor finished the season in 15th and didn’t secure survival until the final days of the season.

3. I can tell you’re going through the motions, figured you were acting out your part. Pioli cuts an uncomfortable figure in his post-match pressers right now. He relies on the same stale formula every week: “unlucky,” “deserved more,” “work harder for the shirt.” It’s the same tired stuff that we’ve heard from every previous Viola mister when the team nosedives.

A reminder: just because Pioli (or any other coach) says this stuff doesn’t mean he believes it. Talking to the press and fans isn’t a part of the job he seems to enjoy, so he’s trying to get it over with as quickly as possible and without saying anything that’ll lead to follow-up questions. He’s worked in this field for his entire life. He knows the ropes, including how to manage a media session and say as little as possible.

I’m always surprised by the vitriol coaches receive in these situations, because what should he say? “Yeah, the whole team is trash right now and I can’t figure out why,” might satisfy fans but it won’t provide any sort of solution. Dressing down the players for lacking passion/professionalism/whatever can work but you only get to pull that lever a couple of times a year and it’s awfully early to reach for it. Instead, the mister’s just going to sit there for an uncomfortable half hour and then get back to the job he cares about: coaching the team.

Pioli isn’t telling his players what he’s telling the press, and the players know that he’s protecting them from the supporters’ fury as much as he can. He’s not going to call anyone out specifically because that would tank the morale of a team that’s already teetering on the edge of losing the season entirely. Pioli is a pro and carries a gravitas few other managers can imagine. He’s using every ounce of it behind the scenes to get his charges back on track. Just because we don’t see that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Is it a bit cynical? Yeah. Yeah it is. But so’s the entire modern game.