Vincenzo Montella will make changes on his Fiorentina debut against Bologna, but can “sense the discontent” among fans after Stefano Pioli’s exit.
It kicks off on Sunday at 14.00 UK time (13.00 GMT), click here for a match preview.
He was appointed this week after the resignation of Coach Pioli, who was upset at the way club patrons Diego and Andrea Della Valle had criticised his professionalism in public.
Vincenzo Montella will make changes on his Fiorentina debut against Bologna, but can “sense the discontent” among fans after Stefano Pioli’s exit.
It kicks off on Sunday at 14.00 UK time (13.00 GMT), click here for a match preview.
He was appointed this week after the resignation of Coach Pioli, who was upset at the way club patrons Diego and Andrea Della Valle had criticised his professionalism in public.
“I’ve found a group of players with a good work ethic. They are physically fine, but a little disheartened by the lack of home wins,” said Montella in his Press conference.
“The lads want to react, we had some intensive training sessions and showed they were eager to work. We’ve got to get into the heads of these players and help them.
“Every Coach has his way of seeing things and I won’t transform the tactics, but I will change a few things, because the recent trend was not positive. We’ll play with three midfielders and three pure defenders.
“Luis Muriel and Giovanni Simeone work for the team, so they can play together, but we have other options too. Federico Chiesa is the complete modern player, he can do everything, play wide or closer to the goal. He is decisive during a match.”
Fiorentina fans were very fond of Pioli and blame the club hierarchy for their current form, so there will be a protest at the match.
“It’s a delicate situation. We need points and we’ll get them. I’ve been here for three days and I can sense the discontent,” confessed Montella.
“In Florence, we need synergy between the fans, media and the team. I ask the people to trust in my enthusiasm and to only protest if we deserve it. I really hope they won’t ignore us.
“There is always a sense of disappointment after a change of Coach, especially for players who were all so fond of Pioli. However, in football you need to turn over a new leaf quickly and the lads want to turn around this negative trend.
“The only way to get the fans back on side is with performances, not words.”
Sinisa Mihajlovic has done that with Bologna, dragging them out of the bottom three since replacing sacked Pippo Inzaghi.
“They are having a very positive run with Sinisa, are an attacking side who score a lot of goals and are brimming with enthusiasm. We’ve got to match them in terms of intensity.”