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Fabio Grosso kicked off his competitive Fiorentina tenure with a convincing 4-1 Coppa Italia victory over Benevento, and the boss was quick to praise his players for translating what they’ve worked on in training straight on to the pitch. “When a new chapter begins, you always hope that things click right away,” Grosso said. “The goals we scored came straight off the training ground: the opener came from a high press, we’d rehearsed that corner routine many times and the third came from the exact one-on-one wide delivery we’ve been practicing. I’m really pleased, not just because of the win, but from seeing those patterns emerge after barely a month together.” Fiorentina seized control early, doubled their advantage right after the restart and raced into a 4-0 lead before easing off. Grosso was clear that maintaining focus for the full 90 minutes is a priority. “One area we definitely need to sharpen up is our concentration,” he explained. “We can’t afford to switch off because we’re a young squad that is still coming together. When you’re building a team from the ground up, you have to make use of every single minute. There were plenty of positives tonight, not least getting through to the next round, which was our primary objective, but we know there’s still a lot of hard work ahead.” Kean’s crucial return The coach reserved special praise for Moise Kean, who found the net on his first official appearance since returning from injury. “For me, Moise is an exceptionally strong striker,” Grosso noted. “When you have players of that caliber in your squad, you demand a huge amount of responsibility from them. They have to lead by example and pull the rest of the group along. We’re a new group trying to forge an identity and that takes time. I expect a lot from him, and he delivered tonight, not just with his goal and his chances, but with the defensive shift he put in. We need everyone pulling their weight without the ball.” Midfield balance Asked whether he would ever deploy a midfield built entirely on technical quality rather than defensive grit, echoing Vincenzo Montella’s famous 2012 gamble with David Pizarro, Grosso stressed that defensive stability is a collective responsibility. “I love technically gifted players, as I’ve made clear,” he said. “Matches have to be balanced and everyone has to contribute. Defensive solidity doesn’t come down to just one defensive midfielder. It’s about 11 players working as a unit when we defend and when we attack. We want to play expansive football, but we also need to be resilient enough to handle tough moments against strong opponents.”