Fiorentina have had a decent start to the Serie A season with four wins and four draws to their name. This helped the club rise up to the ninth position on the league table and revived their hope of returning to European football after a disastrous 2018/19 season which saw them finished 16th. The squad that Vincenzo Montella has built for this season is a combination of young prospects with experienced names that have enjoyed the beautiful game for seasons.
The combination of Franck Ribéry and Federico Chiesa up front has played a very important part in the team’s attacking play as they contributed in a total of eight goals and that takes up 44.4% of the team’s overall record. At the same time, Nikola Milenković and Germán Pezzella brought solidity at the heart of Fiorentina’s defence and the former even managed to get himself three goals. But running the midfield for Montella’s side this season is Gaetano Castrovilli, who has been impressing in the recent matches and received the call-up to the Italian national team.
This tactical analysis scout report will provide an analysis of Castrovilli’s style of play and find out why he has been so impressive this season. Meanwhile, using statistics and footages, we will point out his influence on the team’s tactics and forecast his future with Fiorentina.
Overview and style of play
Castrovilli eventually joined Fiorentina from Bari in the 2017/18 season after being impressive in his loan spell a season earlier. After two seasons going on loan at Cremonese in Serie B, he is now ready to challenge for a key player spot at the club.
After a few inconsistent matches at the start of the season, Fiorentina are now getting on track and one of the factors that will become crucial later on is the player’s familiarity with the formation and system. In Montella’s 3-5-2 formation, Castrovilli is used as a left-sided central midfielder more often this season but his versatility doesn’t stop there.
Throughout his career, he has been used in various positions and is able to play in almost every role in midfield. Furthermore, he has had 27 matches playing as a winger on both wings and three matches in the role of a second striker. This will give Montella the flexibility in how he lines his team up for the upcoming matches and allow Castrovilli to fill in different spots on the field when the manager required.
Looking at the spot that he is currently occupying, it seems like he is taking up a more dynamic role in Fiorentina’s midfield three since he is being paired up with Erick Pulgar, who carries more defensive duties in the role that the Chilean is fulfilling. At the same time, Marco Benassi and Milan Badelj are doing the dirty and unfuzzy work at the centre of the midfield, allowing Castrovilli to drive forward more often.
Attacking contributions
As mentioned earlier, Castrovilli is currently occupying the role of a dynamic, left-sided midfielder in Fiorentina’s midfield-three. But dynamic seems like a very general term to point out the role that he is currently responsible for and it is worth taking a closer look at his responsibilities and duties on the pitch.
When the team is in possession, the players usually put an emphasis on playing out from the back and progress the ball up the field through the midfielders. While three centre-backs have the tendency of staying quite close to each other, two of the central midfielders will drop deep to screen the space in front of them and offer to pick the ball up. Castrovilli isn’t an exception, either, as he also involves in several similar situations where he receives the ball from Milenković or Martín Cáceres and then drives forward.
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