Erratic Fiorentina losing their way

Fiorentina did extremely well last term. They finished fourth in the final Serie A standings and ousted Milan in the race for a Champions League berth. They also made it all the way to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. Over the summer, the club did well to hold on to prized assets, coach Cesare Prandelli and Romanian forward Adrian Mutu.

But, barely half-way through the campaign, and Fiorentina are slipping down fast at home and are out of the Champions League.

Indeed, this team is misfiring badly at the moment.

Fiorentina are joint-fifth in the Serie A with Lazio, 10 points behind leaders Inter. The team from Florence were quite erratic so far. Anyone can notice the huge difference between their performances at home and the results on their travels.

Whereas Prandelli's side had five wins and two draws from seven home matches so far, away from their Artemio Franchi stadium Fiorentina have only managed two wins and suffered five defeats (scored six and conceded nine goals). This opaque away record is hindering Fiorentina in no small way in their bid to improve on their fourth-place finish of last term.

In Europe, they only collected three draws from five outings and if they lose to Steaua Bucharest, in Romania next week, they are out of the UEFA Cup as well.

That would be a huge disappointment for a club that has invested heavily over the summer to bolster the squad to cope with the double challenge of the Serie A and Europe.

Fiorentina's next two fixtures, against Torino and Steaua Bucharest, are very delicate and of fundamental importance.

Given their position and the huge gulf that exists between the three front-runners (Inter, Milan and Juventus) and the rest, Fiorentina are now likely to battle it out with Napoli, Lazio, Roma and Udinese for another slot in next year's Champions League. It will not be easy though to make a top-four finish for a second year running because the competition is stiff.

Fiorentina have been quite outstanding in midfield and attack but rather poor at the back. Much more was expected from players like Juan Vargas (formerly of Catania), Per Kroldrup, Gianluca Comotto (ex-Torino), Luciano Zauri (ex-Lazio) and Manuel Pasqual.

It seems, Prandelli badly needs a sturdy midfielder, good enough to offer adequate protection in defence. Perhaps, this is one of the main reasons why Fiorentina keep conceding soft goals.

Another problem hitting the team badly is a lack of options up front as the team relies mostly on Alberto Gilardino to score goals. Up to now, the former Milan hitman has scored nine times, half the team's tally.

Many reckoned Fiorentina could have finished in the top two positions in the Champions League Group F but they were never up to their best in Europe. The fans are now expecting Prandelli to, at least, steer the team into the UEFA Cup.

Fiorentina have all cards in place to repeat the feats of 2007/08 but first they have to rediscover the winning mentality of the past year.

Serie A statistics

1 player, Udinese's Antonio Di Natale, was red-carded last weekend. Juve captain and talisman Alessandro Del Piero ably transformed a late penalty to wrap up a comprehensive home win for his side against Reggina. This was Del Piero's 250th goal for Juve. Elsewhere, Ronaldinho saw his effort from the spot ably stopped by Marco Amelia. In the second half, with Milan already trailing Palermo 0-3, the Brazilian stepped up to take another penalty. This time hitting the target.

1st defeat for Reggina after back-to-back wins over Udinese (1-0) and Atalanta (3-1) as the southerners were soundly beaten by Juventus 4-0. Claudio Ranieri's side scored two goals in each half to beat Reggina at home for the seventh time on the trot. Lazio continued to show signs of strain as they went down 2-0 away to Atalanta. Lazio have only collected one point out of the last available nine. Atalanta won 16 out of their current 20 points from their first seven home games.

2nd successive home win for Palermo against Milan as the Sicilians scored three goals inside 30 second-half minutes to halt the Rossoneri's progression at the top end of the table. All Milan have to show from their last three away outings are two draws (vs Lecce and Torino). Sampdoria's away shyness was extended by Cagliari as the latter handed Samp their fourth straight away defeat. Cagliari are undefeated in their last three games.

5th straight away defeat for struggling Torino (vs Udinese 0-2, Juventus 0-1, Sampdoria 0-1, Catania 2-3 and Siena 0-1) as they were floored by a Massimo Maccarone first-half goal on Sunday. For Marco Giampaolo's Siena this was their third positive result on the run (two back-to-back wins and a draw). After six straight defeats, Chievo surprisingly beat Udinese up north to condemn Pasquale Marino's side to their fourth consecutive defeat. This was Chievo's second ever win - the first since Sept. 30, 2001 (2-1) - in Udine.

6 teams, Inter, Napoli, Genoa, Sampdoria, Siena and Fiorentina, are still unbeaten at home as Catania, Genoa, Torino, Sampdoria and Lecce are without an away win this season. Milan still have to figure in a home draw. Inter and Lazio possess the most prolific attacks with 22 goals each.

6th successive home win for Inter that came at the expense of Napoli as the champions edged Edy Reja's side 2-1. All Napoli have to show from their last three outings is a 2-2 home draw with Cagliari. Also, Napoli's most recent win at the San Siro dates back to December 11, 1994 (2-0). Revitalised Roma overcame Fiorentina by a solitary Francesco Totti goal to record their third successive win (vs Lazio 1-0, Lecce 3-0 and Fiorentina 1-0). This was Fiorentina's third consecutive away setback (with the previous two coming vs Siena 0-1 and Cagliari 0-1).

21 goals were scored on the 14th day: 16 coming from the hosts and the remaining five from the visitors, who managed only one win. Foreigners contributed with 10 goals while there were six first-half goals. Total number of goals scored so far is 328. Udinese's Felipe committed the only own goal of the day. Last weekend, Lecce's Jose Castillo was the only player who came on as a substitute and scored. Genoa hit-man Diego Milito still leads the scorers' list with 11 goals. The Argentine striker is followed by Fiorentina's Alberto Gilardino on the nine-goal mark.