The season just ended for Torino has been one with a constant theme throughout it – proving the doubters wrong and silencing the critics.
At every turn and corner, they have been met with questions about their ability, their character and their quality and it is safe to say that those were all answered in abundance throughout the season.
The scepticism about the Granata and what they could achieve started early as last summer while the club prepared for an assault on the Europa League – handed a spot in the competition due to Parma’s financial mismanagement.
Torino were not a squad built to challenge on multiple fronts, run on a fairly meagre budget where the recent modus operandi has been to buy cheap and sell high – which has brought varying degrees for the purchasing clubs.
Having lost over two-thirds of their goals from the previous campaign after the departures of Alessio Cerci and Ciro Immobile to Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund respectively, this was a side tipped to struggle for goals and therefore results.
It was hard to argue with the logic but Torino duly did so with their displays – distributing the goals around the side more evenly than they had in previous years – to help them overcome that particular hurdle.
But given they were not expected to even be in the competition, there were concerns over the Granata’s ability to compete on the European stage and those were quickly put to bed with a convincing 7-0 aggregate win over Swedish side Brommapojkarna.
Of the 14 games that they played in the Europa League this season, Giampero Ventura’s side were beaten just twice – written off ahead of their round of 32 tie against Athletic Club of Spain but producing one of their performances of the season to battle to a 2-2 draw at home and then making history with an incredible 3-2 victory at San Mames – against the team who had earlier dumped Napoli out of the Champions League.
Another game few expected Torino to get a result from was their home game against Juventus in late April. After all it had been over two decades since they had won in the fixture and 13 years since they had even managed to hit the net in the fixture before last season started (Bruno Peres wonder goal putting paid to that record with his glorious goal in the earlier fixture which the Granata were unfortunate to lose after a bout of naivety late in the game).
But the odds were upset once more in one of the greatest afternoons the club has enjoyed since being saved after the dark days of summer 2005 and in some style with a gutsy, determined and explosive display – with a little bit of luck along the way but for a club often starved of it, that was perhaps none too soon – thanks to goals from Matteo Darmian and Fabio Quagliarella after Andrea Pirlo had opened the scoring.
These snapshots perhaps give the best indicator of what a fantastic season this has been for the club. The sales of the ‘goal twins’ followed by a euphoric night in the rain in Bilbao, Kamil Glik’s continued rise and finally, that incredible Derby della Mole.
Player of the Season
“Glik, Glik, Glik, Glik, Glik, Glik, Gliiiiiik!” Who are we to argue with the battle cry of the Curva Maratona in homage to the centre defender? There is no more fitting recipient of the honour than Torino’s captain.
The Polish star has been the key figure in the team’s success and consistency both domestically and in continental competition this season – forming a tight unit at the back with Nikola Maksimovic and Emiliano Moretti whose performances have also risen a great deal in the past 12 to 18 months – a case of iron sharpening iron.
Former Palermo man Glik appeared in 39 matches across three tournaments with Toro and surprisingly, given his penchant for courageous defending and putting his body on the line for the cause, was booked just seven times in the league and sent off only once.
He also had a big impact at the other end of the park too with eight goals in all competitions – helping him lead the way as the league’s top scoring defender.
Goal of the Season
Quagliarella and Darmian’s winning goals against Juventus and Athletic Club may rank higher up in terms of their importance and the joy they brought to supporters.
But for technical quality and execution with the magnitude of the fixture being taken into account you have to with Peres’ coast to coast goal against Juventus in a 2-1 loss earlier in the season.
It deserved to be the goal which won them a well-earned point but had to settle for being the one which broke a 13-year drought in this fixture and the one which claims our Goal of the Season honour.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IFyzjMkVB0[/youtube]
Best and Worst Signings
Quagliarella’s capture from their cross city rivals was a magnificent bit of business, the striker finishing up with 13 goals in his second spell, while the recruitment of Maksimovic (for less than €7 million in total) on a permanent basis early last summer proved to be a masterstroke after his successful loan spell.
They also unearthed a gem by bringing in Peres from Santos while Maxi Lopez was arguably the signing of the season for them after joining on a short term deal from Chievo in January, he went on to score eight goals and claim two further assists in the run in.
There is disappointment that the capture of Antonio Nocerino did not work out as intended, he ended up spending the latter half of the campaign at Parma, while Juan Sanchez Mino was a disastrous acquisition having joined for under €4m from Boca Juniors but his insistence on taking a penalty against Sassuolo that he went on to miss in a crucial drawn game made Ventura’s mind up on him.
Despite limited chances, Pontus Jansson, Amauri and Josef Martinez may be feeling like they could have contributed more.
The Coach
Ventura exceeded all expectations after the loss of some key personnel – staying true to the 3-5-2 system which had served the side so well the previous season.
As he outlined above though, despite the incredible achievements of the past two seasons, he now faces up to arguably his biggest challenge yet at the club to try and manage expectations which will have risen as a result of this campaign.
But the bullish tactician, and his team, have made a habit recently of upsetting the form book.
The only problem now is standards have been raised a little again. Not that it intimidates the man on the bench.
“We have created something unique this season,” reflected Ventura. “We won in Bilbao and also in the derby so we know that this season is one that will be hard to repeat. However, that does not mean I will not be trying to attempt it!”
