In the wake of the weekend draw at home to Palermo, there is a section of Torino supporters in a worried frenzy after Alessio Cerci picked up a booking that will keep him out of the Parma game next week.
He has become so crucial to the cause that in the eyes of some, his being unavailable for a game is cause for great alarm in a time that the team are looking to keep picking up the points that will edge them closer to that hallowed 40-point objective.
The summer signing from Fiorentina has been sensational this season, is clearly playing the best football of his career, enjoying the plaudits as a result of it and is close to being selected for the latest Azzurri squad, such is his influence.
This club has always had a tradition of producing maverick, standout players whose legendary status is made doubly impressive by the fact that they played in great sides and Cerci is taking on that mantle for this side.
In the past captain Valentino Mazzola was the man who stood above all others in the iconic Grande Torino team, the side of the 1960s was completed by superstar winger Gigi Meroni, 1976’s Scudetto winning side would likely not have did so without Paolo Pulici and his goals while Junior was the idol to the Curva Maratona during his spell here in the ’80s.
This is another good, albeit not on the same level, Toro side and it is fitting to acknowledge that just like in the sides of the past, there are other players performing very well this season for Giampiero Ventura.
Yes, Cerci is the main man but his suspension for next weekend will give someone like Valter Birsa or Alen Stevanovic to show what they can do as the Genoa loanee in particular has really impressed this season when called upon and Torino are not simply a one man team, a label too easily thrown at certain sides.
The return to the side of Matteo Brighi against the Rosanero was wonderful to witness once more and he turned in an excellent performance and is one of the many unsung heroes of this Granata side.
His experience has been key this season and the 32-year-old was greatly missed in the month of his injury-induced absence with his reading of the game and ball distribution having been vital for Torino this year while his partnership with Alessandro Gazzi in the middle of the park fills you with confidence every time they step on to the field.
Neither man can pass it like Riccardo Montolivo, nor do they possess the pace and energy of an Arturo Vidal or chip in with enough goals from this area like a Marek Hamsik, but you know that every time they step out there they will give everything they have and more.
They leave it all on the field, as do many of this side, and never shirk a tackle or hide from the ball when they are needed to take the game to the opposition. Both men can always be relied on and if you lack the technical abilities that others may have, then this is a necessary quality.
Although neither man are in the goals at the moment, one thing is becoming increasingly clear in recent weeks and that is that Paulo Barreto and Rolando Bianchi have struck up a great understanding in attack.
Whenever one of them has the ball, the other has already moved into space and knows that the pass will be reaching him, such is the vision and execution each has in selflessly trying to tee up their strike partner.
They were unlucky too at the weekend with the captain having struck the upright and all that is required with these men is patience because the performances are there and in time the goals should naturally follow.
Torino are blessed to at the back with strong players in each position and there is no weak link in this side’s defence, something evidenced in the 32 goals they have conceded this campaign, the same amount as third and fourth-placed AC Milan and Lazio, respectively.
Matteo Darmian has put in many strong defensive displays while playing behind the marauding Cerci and Salvatore Masiello does an equally fantastic job on the opposite flank.
Danilo D’Ambrosio has only half-jokingly been linked with an Italy call-up around Turin and he too aims to show that he is picking up more than just hair-styling tips from Cerci in training, his quick feet, sublime skills and delivery have troubled more than one Serie A defence while he is as competent as any at the back.
Much has already been discussed during this Club Focus about the central defenders but isolated games against Juventus, AC Milan and Cagliari aside, the trio of Guillermo Rodriguez, Kamil Glik and Angelo Ogbonna have consistently delivered top class defensive performances, safe in the knowledge that even if they are beaten, Jean Francois Gillet behind them has shown that he is capable of keeping the league’s best at bay.
This is a team filled with unity and quality and not one basking in the reflected glow of Cerci’s displays that have earned him much acclaim and while he is the star who shines brightest, he is one of many illuminating the Olimpico this season.
