Know Your Opponent: Fiorentina, Part II Electric Boogaloo

Last week, I sat down with Chloe Beresford of SB Nation's Fiorentina blog Viola Nation and attempted to banter with her. It turned out that impervious to banter and was much more interested in giving reasonable and well-thought out answers to all my questions. Obviously, I couldn't let that slide.

So, I sat down with Chloe again. This time, I tried to play it a little straighter. I wasn't going to force the banter, I was going to let the banter come to me. It's what Tim Sherwood would have wanted. I also took some time to answer some questions from Chloe, which you'll be able to read on Viola Nation later today. I'd say go read them, but she makes some very rude comments about lasagna.

Cartilage Free Captain: Fiorentina started the game in a 3-5-2, which was pretty disastrous. The second half saw Montella switch his team to four at the back and la Viola improved drastically. Any chance you guys play 3-5-2 again on Thursday?

CB: He's surely not going to do that again. He had the foresight to change things round at half time last week and packing the midfield like he did definitely stifled you guys. Montella is usually pretty tactically astute so I'm sure he's got a plan up his sleeve. *she hopes*

CFC: You got the all important away goal last week. You're just going to sit back and park the bus, aren't you?

CB: To be honest, I'd rather we didn't. I think going too defensive and inviting pressure could lead to a potential problem. The trouble with being at home second is that you can't add to your away goal tally but the other team can, one slip up can totally change the game. Having said that, we conceded on Sunday by committing too many players forward so what do I know? We need a balance between the two.

CFC: Related to my previous question, why is catennacio the worst thing to ever happen to football?

CB: You don't see much catennacio in Serie A these days, nor do you see the role of regista with the rise of the 'sweeper keeper' of which Hugo Lloris is such a good example. I personally hate that kind of defensive display, after all, football is a spectator sport. The catennacio of the 60's, though, was part of the evolution of football and taught the world how to defend properly, so no, not the worst thing ever but glad that it is a largely outdated style of play.

CFC: Fiorentina have been very good at home this season, losing only thrice. A Harry Kane hat trick aside, What's the most likely scenario for you la Viola screwing this up?

As you saw last week, we tend to start games slowly, so we need 100% focus from the first minute. Conceding early would really swing the psychological advantage in Spurs favour, I feel, and give you the best chance of winning.

CFC: This question is dumb, but one of our other writers (I think we all know who) was insistent that I ask it. I don't expect much of an answer to this, so my apologies in advance. *Clears throat* How come you guys signed Wario Gomez by mistake?

CB: You're right, it is dumb. Is this other writer 6 years old or something? If he's trying to say that our Gomez is more like Wario, who is much more badass than his brother Mario, then yeah, he's right. And he's coming for you so you had better watch out... (Ed. Note: The fact that no one made a joke about both wearing purple is disgraceful.)

CFC: Speaking of signings, in the last match Spurs rotated their squad pretty heavily, playing the likes of Paulinho and Andros Townsend. Any chance Fiorentina would like to pay actual money for those players? Especially Paulinho. We're just going to sell him to Juve if you don't buy him. How much actual money? We'd probably take Lira if you have any lying around.

CB: I think we have enough average squad players of our own, without adding yours too. We could maybe do a swap deal and you could have Josip Ilicic? If Paulinho is on £70K a week, you can keep him. Or even better, sell him to Juve for an inflated price. (Ed. Note: Paulinho for Ilicic? Done. Suckers.)

CFC: Spurs have a cup final on Sunday, so when we lose this match, that's going to my excuse. Tell me why the Europa League is stupid and doesn't matter.

CB: If you're in saving face and making excuses mode, you could say that it will be a relief to be free from the 'Europa League curse' of playing Thursday and Sunday and that you will now be able to focus on the league and the Mickey Mouse *ahem* I mean League Cup final. But really, the Europa league is important for teams like Fiorentina and Spurs who are perpetually loitering around the CL places. At least if you lose you will be able to cheer yourself up by listening to a bit of Ledley and the Kings!

CFC: Finally, let's have a prediction on this match.

CB: I'm getting my brave on and going all out for a 2-0 win for la viola.

Thanks again to Chloe and the folks over at Viola Nation for doing this. You can follow her on Twitter @ChloeJBeresford, which you should totally do. Ask her about the Stockport Hat Museum and any Dewey decimal system related questions you may have. You can also follow @Viola_Nation for all things Fiorentina, but let's face it, once we're done with the match tomorrow, none of you are going to care.