And how will he manage the dualism with Biraghi?
Fiorentina’s decisive thrust up Fabiano Parisi he amazed many, even if the most attentive will remember how the defender from Campania was already one of the hot names on the short Empoli-Florence stretch last summer. He was amazed by the relatively low cost of the card – 10 million plus bonuses – for what is one of the best Italian prospects for the role; but above all he was amazed by the lack of intervention by the big teams, probably due to the particular situation between formations with roles already covered, reduced liquidity to invest in a short time and complicated phases of corporate transition to manage. And in this the breaking of the hesitation by the Viola can leave us astonished, who in the role of left full-back have a player who has been the cornerstone of the last two years in many respects, namely captain Cristiano Biraghi.
Aside from more “balloon diplomacy” aspects such as, for example, the fact that Parisi and Biraghi have the same agent and that significantly, the presentation of the former was combined with the usual photos for the renewal of the latter up to 2026, the question arose spontaneously coexistence impossible between two. Two structurally different players for the exact same role on the pitch, one with 4000 minutes played in the last season spread over 52 appearances, which make him the most used player by Vincenzo Italiano, and the other not yet 23 years old but with already four seasons as a starter among the professionals (of which the last two, very positive, in Serie A) ready to rise further in level in Florence and certainly not to fill the role of simple reserve.
The idea of the long term
Meanwhile, the most obvious consideration: for Fiorentina Fabiano Parisi is an investment in perspective, a player with still room for technical growth and with the potential possibility of further economic development. In this, the physiological alternation that he will have to face with Biraghi will be a “sweet problem” for Vincenzo Italiano. The coach has already shown in the past a strong tendency to massive shifts, and the Viola will in all likelihood have to face a long and complex season like the one just ended, given the probable repechage in the Conference League.
Therefore, there will be plenty of opportunities for both to accumulate minutes on the pitch. In this, Biraghi will need the willingness to accept a different continuity of use compared to last year, also and above all by virtue of his leadership position in the locker room. While Parisi will need tests of technical and mental maturity, necessary to gain the confidence of the coach with respect to such a cumbersome team-mate and already fully immersed in the Italian’s game mechanisms.
The Parisi-Biraghi dualism, however, offers Biraghi greater flexibility in a very important role for Fiorentina’s balance in possession and development. If last year the Italian had serious problems with the interchangeability of his players in the squad, the differences in interpreting the role of this left-handed couple can really be an extra resource, and not a problem, for the coach.
Tactical differences and technical differences
The inclusion of Parisi in the technical-tactical context of Fiorentina could give rise to doubts, given his apparently modest offensive statistics, especially when compared with the massive production of finishing plays by Biraghi. In this regard, some fundamental aspects of the game systems in which the two full-backs acted should be noted, and above all the substantial difference in tasks that were required of them. And, note well, different tasks does not mean, especially for the Avellino, qualitative limits.
In Italiano Biraghi’s Fiorentina he mainly had the task of giving the maximum width to the left, often right from the low construction phase, guaranteeing systematic overlaps and the certainty that developments on the “strong side” would always find an outlet in a cross or, more rarely, in a cutback. In terms of numbers, Biraghi is one of the most creative full-backs in Europe. In Serie A he is the full-back who creates the most shooting chances in Serie A and the one who offers the most key passes and the most crosses per game, proving to be particularly effective in set-piece play. For attempted and successful crosses (including those from corners) he is first in absolute numbers. At the same time, Biraghi has a series of possession management duties that are fundamental to the Italian system, who uses his left foot both to advance the ball and for changes of field with which he can manipulate the opposition defences.
Among full-backs, Biraghi is one of the best passers in the league (Data: Opt via Fbref)
Biraghi’s difficulties in the non-possession phase, specifically in individual duels and interceptions but also in terms of attention, as shown by the moments of blackout in the Conference League final, are however the main counterweights to his quality in possession. The purchase of Parisi seems to go in the direction of complementing Biraghi’s qualities and defects, bringing Italiano a much more solid player in the non-possession phase but with a more minimal style in possession and less inclined to take risks.
In fact, in Empoli, Parisi acted in the context of a much more conservative team in non-possession. The Azzurri, who were the team with the lowest defensive line in Serie A in the possession phase, relied heavily on his man-jumping qualities to quickly move up the pitch, looking for verticality rather than breadth. As we have said, Biraghi insists more on the passing game – he tries ten more passes from open play per game – and is more creative thanks to these, while Parisi is more anchored to his dimension as a ball carrier – he tries eight times the dribbling of Biraghi per game and almost twice those of Dodô – in a team that gave him a lot of responsibility.
At the same time, however, Parisi has in his baggage the experience made with Avellino in Serie C, where he had greater freedom in terms of possession, becoming decidedly more impactful in terms of opportunities created despite his very young age.
In Serie A, few full-backs have Parisi’s defensive impact and very few have his dribbling ability. (Data: Opt via Fbref)
Vincenzo Italiano’s style of play means that Fiorentina are much shorter on the pitch, limiting the areas where his full-backs can dribble to those more advanced on the pitch; for this reason, Parisi’s dribbling qualities could become more useful in creating superiority in forward areas rather than in making the ball progress. At the same time, similarly to what Dodô did on the right side, Parisi can take more of the internal areas of the field and get to attack the half space with his runs, increasing the solutions in the possession phase and giving greater tactical unpredictability.
The greater tactical versatility therefore becomes a central theme once again: the Italian is a coach who, even in his rigidities, often tries to experiment on a tactical level and the inclusion of alternative options can offer him further margins to make his Fiorentina dangerous in different ways. also avoiding situations of stagnation in the construction phase and overcoming of the pressure lines, sometimes problematic for violas.
Ultimately, the arrival of Fabiano Parisi at Fiorentina can be read both as a long-term option, with which the Viola have taken precautions also in view of a future decline of Biraghi, and as an operation to enrich the depth and the variety of rose available to Italiano. Parisi, today, is not a real improvement of the starting eleven but it is a precious extra solution as an alternative; a player who, on a technical and tactical level, offers a much wider spectrum of possibilities than Biraghi’s effective but very monothematic script, and who can already give an important variable to the Viola’s game in the short term.
2023-07-19 07:50:17
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