Vanoli confident : ‘Fiorentina deserved more from’ 2-1 defeat to Napoli

NAPLES, ITALY – JANUARY 31: Paolo Vanoli ACF Fiorentina head coach during the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and ACF Fiorentina at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on January 31, 2026 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

Paolo Vanoli feels Fiorentina ‘deserved something more’ from their 2-1 defeat to Napoli and is open to a new heavy strike partnership in future.

The Viola had been revitalised in 2026, but have now lost three on the bounce in all competition after defeats to Cagliari, then Como in the Coppa Italia, and this evening Napoli.

Antonio Vergara and Miguel Gutierrez had put the Partenopei 2-0 up, but Manor Solomon got one back and set up a tense finale at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

Vanoli saw Fiorentina progress against Napoli

“We need to stay in the game more, because I said that the first half would mean suffering under pressure, we shouldn’t have conceded that goal,” Vanoli told DAZN Italia.

“Individual errors are becoming very damaging at the moment. We did better after the restart and in my view deserved something more.”

Moise Kean was only fit for the bench, but when he came on as a substitute, formed a new partnership with Roberto Piccoli.

When both are fit, is it possible for Fiorentina to start them together upfront?

“At times, Roberto struggled with the step up to a club like Fiorentina, but he works hard and I liked the pairing this evening,” replied Vanoli.

“Now we’ve got to get Moise back to full fitness. We are a decent team now, but need to whittle down those little errors that saw us drop points against Lazio and Milan.

“We always struggled against the smaller sides because we didn’t have enough balance, so in those fixtures we’ll understand if we have really improved.”

Vanoli is no stranger to Antonio Conte’s tactics, as he was part of the Napoli coach’s staff at Chelsea and Inter before going it alone.

With this in mind, he had a warm hug with ex-Inter striker Romelu Lukaku after the final whistle.

“Those were good memories, I was Conte’s assistant at Inter and Romelu was an important part of that squad. When a player comes over to hug you, it means you gave them something special in their career.”