Not a 10 in any one aspect, yet a 9 in all of them
(23 November 2025)
I once heard someone say of Alfredo Di Stéfano that he wasn’t a 10 in any one aspect, but he was a 9 in all of them. I was reminded of that yesterday while watching the first half of Fiorentina versus Juventus — but in reverse.
I thought about how I’d seen teams that were more boring, more disorganised, more exasperating, more ridiculous, clumsier, more sluggish, more frantic, worse in defence, worse in attack, and so on. Fiorentina’s play wasn’t a 10 in any of its shortcomings, but it was a 9 in all of them.
It was something like the epitome of mediocrity, a disaster without identity, charisma or grace, a team you dislike when they lose, that lacks even the appeal of the underdog and the Man of Sorrows (vir dolorum). They give the impression of making you suffer without suffering themselves. But either way, their suffering — yet again, 9 out of 10? — would be fair: no scandal. Not even unsettling points. Nothing to write home about.
Yesterday, they scraped a 1-1 draw against another lamentable team. A draw: another 9 out of 10. A draw, moreover, not goalless but 1–1: another 9. And, to cap it all, with this draw, they went from bottom of the table to second-to-last in Serie A — they went from being a perfect 10 in that respect to another 9.
Meanwhile, sirens began to wail at the Artemio Franchi stadium, sirens like those of ambulances, police cars, or fire engines. I had never witnessed anything like it at a football match. It was as if the 9 for annoyance — compared to the 10 that the guy with the megaphone definitely would score — had spread to the stands as well.