Fiorentina, Pioli:”We want to move forward with the values Astori taught us”

There’s a clear “before” and “after” moment during this Fiorentina season, the day that Davide Astori passed away before the match against Udinese left a profound mark on the club. The viola’s manager Stefano Pioli described the first practice session without the team’s captain in an interview with Corriere Fiorentino:”At the beginning I was concerned for my players. On Tuesday, when we got back to practice it was hard. Many of our young players maybe hadn’t realized what had happened. Change, work, practice without Davide that afternoon created a void in all of us. I started talking, then asked if anyone else wanted to speak: they all said we wanted to move forward the values that Davide transmitted to us, that they wanted to do it for him, out of gratitude and affection. Personally I still struggle without him. There was symbiosis with Astori, I miss not hearing his voice on the pitch”