Gigi Simoni believes Paulo Sousa’s Fiorentina plays the best football “since Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona” and advises “muscular” Inter.
The former Inter Coach made the claim in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.
“It was since Guardiola’s Barcelona that I hadn’t seen anything like it,” declared Simoni.
“Possession, high pressing, synchronised movements. When every player enters into the move, he has three options for the pass.
Gigi Simoni believes Paulo Sousa’s Fiorentina plays the best football “since Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona” and advises “muscular” Inter.
The former Inter Coach made the claim in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.
“It was since Guardiola’s Barcelona that I hadn’t seen anything like it,” declared Simoni.
“Possession, high pressing, synchronised movements. When every player enters into the move, he has three options for the pass.
“Fiorentina look like a radio-controlled machine, as if the Portuguese Coach were inside the minds of his players and piloting them to his liking.”
The Viola are currently joint top of the Serie A table with Inter and stand a good chance of qualifying in the Europa League.
Simoni knows Sousa well, as the Portuguese star was his midfielder at Inter.
“Sousa was always a player with a great brain and sound tactical sense. He was basically a Coach even at the time. That Inter side was built around Ronaldo and he needed spaces to run into, so the right tactic was to wait and hit our opponents on the counter.
“Sousa was formidable when it came to controlling the ball. Diego Simeone, however, was perfect for sparking the counter, so I was forced to pick the Argentine. Of course, he too had a strong brain and turned into an excellent Coach.
“Clearly Sousa wasn’t happy with my decision, but he behaved like the perfect professional.”
Fiorentina and Inter are joint leaders, so can either of them go on to win the Scudetto?
“Watching Fiorentina play is a joy for anyone who loves football,” continued Simoni. “Nikola Kalinic is fearsome and does the work of three strikers. Borja Valero is poetry in motion and watch out for Federico Bernardeschi, this boy is special. He’s a potential phenomenon and could be better than Lorenzo Insigne.
“If Giuseppe Rossi recovers even 70 or 80 per cent of his potential in January, then Fiorentina will have the biggest reinforcement of all. The real Rossi can make the difference in the title race and complete this squad, which reminds me of Lionel Messi’s Barcelona.
“On paper Roma and Napoli have something more, but only on paper. Inter are playing badly and yet are top of the table. Roberto Mancini’s side can only get better, so of course they could win the title.
“Mauro Icardi said the right thing in the wrong way. He’s absolutely right to say he gets no decent service, but Inter can only win the Scudetto if Icardi returns to being the hitman of last season.
“Fiorentina are beautiful to watch and thanks to Sousa have become the second choice team for a lot of football fans.
“Inter’s midfield has a lot of muscle and little else. In a way, the Winter months could favour the Nerazzurri, as bad pitches work for the likes of Gary Medel, Felipe Melo and Geoffrey Kondogbia.
“The problems for Inter are in attack, as Stevan Jovetic, Adem Ljajic and Ivan Perisic are not world class and nobody in midfield knows how to give them service. There’s no plan in place. I think it was a mistake to sell Mateo Kovacic.”