Venezia defender Bartol Franjić finds himself at the centre of a crisis that is deepening by the week. Four Serie A matches into the 2026-27 season, Giovanni Stroppa's side sit bottom of the table with no points, four goals scored and eleven conceded — a defensive record that implicates every player in the back line, Franjić included.
The scale of the problem matters. Eleven goals against in four matches is not a run of bad luck; it is a structural failure. Franjić, 26, has featured in two of those matches, posting an average rating of 6.95 — a number that suggests individual competence amid collective collapse. The gap between his personal output and the team's results is the central tension of his season so far.
The most recent defeat, a 2-4 home loss against Fiorentina, illustrated the problem in sharp relief. Franco Mastantuono, Fiorentina's teenage Argentine forward, scored a hat-trick to hand new Fiorentina coach Paolo Vanoli a winning start. Venezia managed two goals of their own, which at least signals some attacking intent, but the defensive exposure was severe. Stroppa's position is now openly questioned, with reports noting that the club invested heavily in the summer transfer window — in the region of seventy million euros — and has nothing in the table to show for it.
For Franjić, the situation carries a particular weight. An AI overall of 79 out of 100 marks him as a player of genuine quality at this level, and his rating across his two appearances has not been the problem. But defenders are judged by results as much as by individual metrics, and a team conceding at nearly three goals per match provides no platform for any individual to build a reputation. If Stroppa goes, the uncertainty of a managerial change adds another variable to an already unstable environment.
The Coppa Italia elimination compounds the picture. Venezia have no parallel competition in which to rebuild confidence or rotate fringe players back into form. Every match from here is a league match, every result carries maximum consequence, and the margin for further slippage is already gone.
Franjić is young enough and rated highly enough to survive a difficult season without lasting damage to his standing — but only if Venezia find a way to stabilise. A defence that concedes eleven in four cannot protect any player's numbers indefinitely, and the 6.95 average rating, solid as it is in context, will erode if the goals keep coming. The next few weeks will determine whether Stroppa gets the time to correct the pattern, or whether Franjić must adapt to yet another coaching voice in what is already a turbulent campaign.