Metamorphosis Alfred Duncan: from a bright light to protagonist

Every football reality has a list of good players to represent examples of unforgivable waste of resources, names to come up with when you want to make clear the concept of rash or bankruptcy investment. In Florence, Alfred Duncan was among these, adding to the list of scapegoats: the 15 million spent by Fiorentina to get him from Sassuolo, in the 2019/20 winter session, in some ways represented the ideal prerequisite for generating expectations, complex ideas to be translated into reality especially in a context so stingy with enthusiasm and trust as the purple one was, fresh from the Montella-Iachini alternation on the bench.

It all seemed written

The first part of the viola story tells of a space found in any case with a certain continuity under the orders of Iachini, a coach who initially seemed to appreciate Ducan’s skills so much that he also saw him in front of the defense in 3-5-2 and not just as a midfielder, as it seemed to be on paper.

The games played as a starter in the second part of the 2019/20 season, which ended with a good positive streak that led to the confirmation of Iachini on the bench, were 10 while on 3 other occasions Duncan took over from the game in progress. The purple coach, creator of a salvation that was ultimately less sweaty than it seemed to be, already appeared on paper the ideal mentor for a midfielder who has always made muscles, physique and intensity of evident strengths, going somehow to resume peculiar and recognizable features of the player Iachini.

The idyll, however, lasted the space of mid-season, with a goal on the last day against SPAL as a premature swan song: the 2020/21 season took away any space from Duncan, both with Iachini and subsequently with Prandelli. Just 2 appearances as a starter and the same number as a substitute, for a total of 161 minutes from September to January: in fact the representation in numbers of the concept of redundancy, with the loan in Cagliari to regain confidence with the field in what, in the eyes of many , it already seemed like a goodbye in all respects, towards a new reality, to return the appreciated footballer to Sassuolo and to forget the disappointing Tuscan parenthesis.

The role of Italiano: no supporting actor

To address this story in a totally different way from the most predictable one, that is, the one that would have seen the purple world questioning itself about the next destination of an unwanted guest, a new protagonist was needed, a crazy variable ready to shuffle the cards and give a value to those who no one thought they could play it anymore. Vincenzo Italiano’s declaration of intent, that of exploiting all the resources of the squad before asking for revolutions on the market, could have an aftertaste of rhetoric (not yet knowing the technician well) but in fact the former Spezia has shown that he believes in the everything in this regard: even the characters “in search of an author” could rediscover themselves at the center of the project, without prejudice to the need to train themselves to the maximum and to respond to the needs of the technician.

Callejon succeeded, Saponara succeeded and, in fact, Alfred Duncan succeeded even more: the start of the season proposed the Ghanaian as a revelation of the viola world, starting in 4 games out of 6 total and taking over in an excellent way against Torino, with half an hour which in fact paved the way for subsequent appearances on the field. Already with the grenade, eradicating a ball from Verdi’s feet and then starting the doubling action, he told about his new role and a piece of his new story: Italian predicts that one of the two mezzalas immediately close the opponents in phase of possession, getting up without any shyness, and Duncan also against Atalanta and in the other purple outings has shown that he has all the credentials to fill that role, to quickly regain possession and to manage the restart of the team.

The last step

To better complete the redemption process that now seems to have started, it will obviously be necessary to consider the impact on the entire season, while underlining the excellent signs up to now. Making your way into a strong midfield of Pulgar, Torreira, Amrabat, Castrovilli, Bonaventura, Maleh and Benassi is a tough game, by those who do not let themselves be frightened by the first obstacle, but Duncan more than anyone else has made it clear that he is not afraid of fight for a place when you feel involved in a project. Right here lies at the moment the secret of the Italian cure, of a healing without revolutions: to remove space from the hierarchies drawn a priori and to re-evaluate everything game after game, training after training, restoring confidence even to those who for too long seemed just the umpteenth meteor, another scapegoat to add to the list.