Losing at home to Udinese in the last game before the Christmas break was an appropriate end to a topsy-turvy first half of the season for Torino. The Granata had started well, but tailed off, then settled into a pattern of both unpredictable results and performances.
The overhaul of the squad in summer, moving from experience to youth, has seen some players shine, while others have looked decidedly less polished. With the winter break now upon them, Giampiero Ventura’s side will look back on opportunities missed and hope to put them right in the New Year.
Best Player
While Daniele Padelli has been given international recognition, and Daniele Baselli has hit the ground running, captain Kamil Glik has been a constant steadying influence on the side. The Pole has attracted interest from some of Europe’s bigger fish, but so long as he turns out in the claret shirt Torino supporters know there will be somebody who will give their all for the cause – even if he has had to do so rather more than he might have liked so far.
Highlight so far
Cesare Bovo’s strike against Juventus warmed Granata cockles but ultimately brought only disappointment – there is nothing more cruel than hope. Meanwhile, the victory against Bologna again demonstrated that there was a steeliness to Ventura’s side that could rear its head when it needed to. However, the best moments of Torino’s season came undoubtedly came early on.
Having gone 1-0 down to Fiorentina in the first home match of the season, Ventura’s side fought back with vigour. Two goals in a minute gave Toro the lead before Baselli skipped away from two defenders and unleashed a thunderbolt into the top left corner to open his account in front of his new fans and, more importantly, seal the points. For a moment, it felt as though Torino could do anything.
Disappointment
There have been a few defeats that stand out in this bracket – becoming Carpi’s first victims in Serie A for one, and a 3-0 capitulation against a misfiring Lazio side for another. Even the derby mauling in the Coppa Italia was as galling as it was crushing.
Meanwhile, a lot of the defensive slack might well have been picked up by Nikola Maksimovic. He was being touted by Napoli in the summer but Torino resolutely held on to the giant Serb only to see his metatarsal break and rule him out for all but two games so far. His return will be important.
However, with the chance to make a statement before Christmas, losing to Udinese – and to such a softly conceded goal as Stipe Perica’s was – casts something of a shadow over what came before. Perhaps, after that 4-0 loss to Juventus, the reminder of black and white shirts was just too much.
Transfer Hit/Flop
Daniele Baselli settled into life at Torino like a duck to water. By the third game of the season, at Verona, he had surpassed his goal tally for last season and his performances have looked every bit the promising youngster that persuaded Toro to shell out just shy of €5 million for his services.
While Andrea Belotti took a little while to get going, he has shown flashes of what to expect – and his first goal for the Granata brought a nice moment with Ventura (who clearly still believes in his young charge) – the jury is still out on the former Palermo man.
However, though he cost far less than Belotti, Joel Obi has barely made a ripple on the first team yet. The Nigerian looks set to be more peripheral a figure at the Stadio Olimpico than he was during his spell with Inter and it is unclear what role he plays for his new club.
What next?
While Maksimovic’s return will be a welcome boon for Torino’s defence, the forward line is showing signs of aging that suggest a dip into the transfer market for a striker might not be the worst course of action for January.
Fabio Quagliarella and Maxi Lopez continue to rage against the dying of the light, though look increasingly to be losing that battle, showing only occasional glimpses of the players they once were while Amauri’s light seems to be entirely snuffed out.
Suddenly, surrounded by younger players, they look old – like the teaching assistants at a school Christmas party, they wear the same uniforms but don’t have much fun themselves.
Almost equally distant from the European spots as the relegation zone, the second half of the season might prove unusually undramatic for Torino; aim for forty points and see what happens from there. Security will be welcomed – as always – but there is already a sense of wondering what might have been.
