This week in the Torino Club Focus, the past meets the present as the club’s all time top scorer Paolo Pulici has spoken about his playing days and how impressed he is with the current side.
Pulici played with the Granata from 1967 to 1982 and managed 172 goals in his time there making him the club’s all time top goalscorer.
At present, he is coaching children in the game at Trezzo sull’Adda.
We can say that Torino are playing well this season can’t we?
Yes and it is finally time. At this time, the results are going well and the team is doing what the Toro fans had hoped but it is nothing very special and we must be careful because if we get too excited or too caught up in euphoria we run the risk of slipping up and it could be very costly.
I think the team is aware that we are doing something great and important and we hope to keep it going.
Comparisons continue to be made between Alessio Cerci and Ciro Immobile’s partnership and yours with ‘Ciccio’ Graziani.
Cerci and Immobile have been excellent but I have always been somewhat suspicious about comparisons between different players as it is sometimes easy to evaluate this based only on results.
We would like Cerci and Immobile to be like me and Graziani of course because it would mean Toro would be chasing the Scudetto!
Why is it that the team are playing so well this season?
Right now we are seeing a team that is responding well to all of the problems that they are facing on the field and as a result, they are getting good results. The team must persevere with this and continue it for the rest of the season because it only takes one slip to fall into a crisis.
Then when there is a crisis, it can be hard to react and pull yourself out of it. So I do hope that the team are aware of this as they move forward.
Many fans are starting to talk about the Europa League. What does Paolo Pulici say to this?
We must move forward one step at a time because trying to take too many steps at once does not benefit anyone and in fact probably favours others around us in the table.
Keep your feet on the ground and continue along this current path and think of nothing else. What will be will be in the end and we can discuss it then but for now creating illusions such as this only wastes time.
The transfer market has now reopened. Does the team need to be reinforced or are you happy with the players who are there?
If you talk to the club then everything is fine and everything is perfect however you always look for more alternatives to strengthen the squad that is currently there and give yourself better options and new players can cause teams other problems that they would not prepare for that Toro could cause them.
Surely Giampiero Ventura knows what players he needs and can make requests to the club as such if he deems them appropriate.
If there are small problems in the squad, it is better to resolve them with the immediate arrival of new players.
What are your wishes for the new year now that 2014 has begun?
I think it is the same as that for all of the fans: to stay as high as possible in the league standings.
And perhaps see the reconstructed Filadelfia?
This is a subject that has been going on for too long. I am not pessimistic but until I see the cranes at the ground then I will not believe it.
