Serie A 2020/21: Spezia vs Fiorentina – tactical analysis

The Serie A was back in action with Spezia hosting Fiorentina at the Dino Manuzzi. Spezia and Fiorentina had never played an official Serie A before this, and the home side were keen to put on their best game against the Serie A regulars. Both teams had had an inconsistent start to their campaigns  both had won just one game out of their opening five fixtures. It was therefore imperative for both the teams to get their seasons back on track after the international break. However, the game wouldnt add much to their matches won, as the game finished a 2-2 draw.

For Spezia, after the 3-0 defeat against Milan before the break, the draw would count as a good result given they came back from two down. For Fiorentina, they must only wonder how far they can get if they are to keep dropping points like this. This tactical analysis brings to light the tactics and plays that both the teams applied in the game. The analysis aims to highlight some of the events that unfolded in the game, which led to the scoreline.

Lineups

Vincenzo Italiano set his newly promoted Spezia side up in 4-3-3 tactics. Ivan Provedel started in goal with a back four of Jacopo Sala, Claudio Terzi, Julian Chabot and Simone Bastoni. Alessandro Deiola, Matteo Ricci and Gennaro Acampora took their place in the midfield. The frontline consisted of Daniele Verde, Roberto Piccoli and Emanuel Gyasi.

Giuseppe Iachini set up his Fiorentina side in 3-5-2 tactics, to visit Spezia. Bartłomiej Drągowski started in goal, with a back three of Nikola Milenković, Germán Pezzella and ex Juventus man Martín Cáceres. The midfield had a trio of Giacomo Bonaventura, Darryl Amrabat and Gaetano Castrovilli; with Pol Lirola and Cristiano Biraghi playing as the wing-backs. Franck Ribéry and Dušan Vlahović played up front in the attack.

Fiorentinas wide play from the get go

Fiorentina, by playing in 3-5-2 tactics, had an obvious number advantage in the midfield. Their midfield of five was up against Spezias midfield of three (since Spezia played in 4-3-3 tactics). This also obviously translates into greater width for Fiorentina to play with, as opposed to Spezias narrow setup. This section of the tactical analysis looks at how it was this very shape which led to the opening goal inside just three minutes of play.

Given Fiorentinas shape advantage over Spezia, Iachini sent his team in with the objective of making use of the wide advantage. Even before Spezia could adjust their positions to counter the Fiorentina formations, Fiorentina forced their way into the Spezia defence. Apart from the wide positions taken up Fiorentina as part of their tactics, what they also managed to beautifully execute was that they boxed in a total of six Spezia players inside their formation. Below are the images to support this analysis.

The first image is of Fiorentina