Hard as it may be, it seems that in the years to come, people will struggle to look back on Torino’s 2013/14 season without their immediate thought being that crucial late kick in the last game.
Human nature, of course, to dwell on such a dramatic moment – filled with drama, tension, pressure and ultimately failure from a Torino viewpoint.
But such pain is “part of the Torino DNA” as coach Giampiero Ventura put it after that penalty miss, standing dejected in the bowels of the Artemio Franchi to undertake his obligatory media duties.
This is a club who won the league title and had it unfairly (and wrongly) taken away from them off the field, had arguably the greatest club side ever to step on to a field in the peninsula and cruelly had them ripped from their lives, lost influential captain Giorgio Ferrini to an untimely death just a year after hanging up his boots, saw a UEFA Cup final robbed from them by lady luck and ultimately lost the club itself in 2005.
Hopefully, that puts this season’s heroic attempt and ultimate failure to return to European competition for the first time in 20 years into some kind of perspective.
This team made fans dream again, gave them a team to believe in, to take pride in and that is something no amount of European football can replace.
That would have been wonderful and just rewards after a long season in which this remarkable squad of players, made up of very few household names, took Serie A by storm.
Torino could not have given any more this season: points may have been dropped in disappointing games like Sampdoria away, Cagliari away, the Milan clubs at home and being unable to end the Juventus hoodoo (although Omar El Kaddouri’s ‘non-penalty’ at Juventus Stadium still rankles) but Roma failed to tame the bull home or away as did their city rivals Lazio along with AC Milan, a sign of how and Fiorentina.
A massive positive and shows how the mentality and performances against the bigger names in the division have improved.
Daniele Padelli remains an inconsistent accident lying in wait between the posts but Kamil Glik, Emiliano Moretti and Cesare Bovo make up one of the shrewdest and most experienced defences in the league.
Matteo Darmian has quite literally taken over both the position and reputation of the departed Danilo D’Ambrosio as the most underrated wing-back in Serie A, Giuseppe Vives has been the team’s best player this season in his role as midfield general (after Alessio Cerci and Ciro Immobile) while El Kaddouri mixed wholehearted football with a flair for the game that was always a joy to behold.
And then of course, the ‘Goal Twins’. Torino scored 58 goals in the league this season. All but 10 of them were thanks to an assist or goal from one of Cerci or Immobile.
Outstanding stuff, both men excelling in the new 3-5-2 formation and both destined for Brazil this summer with the Azzurri.
It is the least they deserve.
So Torino should not (but Cerci in particular will) dwell on the devastation felt in Florence but rather take great comfort and pride in the fact that they wore the shirt with pride this season and played with commitment and class.
That is why poor Alessio’s tears will be washed away by the cheers in due course, a massive ovation they have earned.
Player of the Season
Cerci pushed him close and Vives, as previously mentioned, was the ultimate unsung hero but how can you not give it to not a man who is, no arguments, the best striker in Serie A.
Ending the season with 22 goals in 29 starts, and having three assists too, to win himself the much coveted Capocannoniere crown, how can anyone else but Ciro Immobile take this award.
All the more impressive is his prowess when you factor in some mitigating factors too.
It took him until October to fully gain the trust of Ventura and finally score his first of the season away to Sampdoria. That would open the floodgates and of all his 22 goals, not one of them came from the penalty spot.
The ill-advised and old jokes about his name ‘Immobile by name and nature…’ are well and truly things off the past.
Goal of the Season
For drama and being able to pull it out of the bag so late, Cerci against Genoa was incredible as he thundered his strike in off the bar from range as was Nicola Bellomo’s curling (fluke-ish?) free kick to claim a point against Inter.
But once again, picking up his second gong of these hypothetical online awards (prestigious nonetheless) is main man Immobile.
His volley against Roma was technically as good as there was this season from any other club in the league, majestically sending a ball over the top into the far corner with a captivating first time volley on his weaker left foot.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVjo_Jqpogc[/youtube]
Best and Worst Signings
Drumroll please… it is no shock that the best signing award simply has to go to the Player of the Year and scorer of the Granata’s greatest goal of the campaign gone by.
Arriving from Genoa on a co-ownership deal with Juventus last summer for a mere €2.75 million, that price looks an absolute snip given what he went on to achieve.
He was coming off the back of a disappointing season at the Marassi and with this being talked about as his last opportunity to live up to his potential, he certainly grabbed the bull by the horns (no pun intended).
The worst signing goes to the bungling Padelli in goal. He never fills you with confidence, the last thing you want in a goalkeeper, and is often guilty of at least one handling, distribution or positioning error per game. Seriously.
Having never proved himself good enough at this level before it is baffling that he was chosen as the goalkeeper to replace Jean Francois Gillet following his ban.
Games against AC Milan, Inter and Cagliari among others all featured costly mistakes from last summer’s Udinese arrival.
Going forward, things look promising for Torino but it is impossible to give any kind of indication or prediction of how the squad will fare going into the future with uncertainty surrounding the ‘Goal Twins’.
Keep them, and Europe may not be beyond the club in 2015.
