Among the Italian giants who are struggling to return to the top of Serie A in the long term, I ask for Torino. Seven times Italian champions, winners of five Coppas and unfortunate finalist of the UEFA Cup, the Turin club has struggled to qualify for a European competition since its administrative reconstruction (team having gone bankrupt due to financial instability in 2005) then his return to the Italian elite. A team renowned for training and developing young players, Torino experienced an eventful summer with the loss of several executives such as Alessandro Buongiorno, Raoul Bellanova and Ricardo Rodriguez but also and above all a change of coach with the departure of Ivan Jurić and the arrival of Paolo Vanoli. The latter’s mission is to build on the good foundations of the project installed by the Croatian in order to refine and improve it. Especially since the popular outcry was fierce at the start of the season, calling for the sale of the club by president-owner Urbano Cairo, highly contested and criticized for being too close to his money.
Despite losing some essential players from last season, the Granata made solid moves in the summer transfer window with the reinforcements of Che Adams, Guillermo Maripán, Saúl Coco, Borna Sosa, Marcus Pedersen and Sebastian Walukiewicz. And the integration of these new elements was very rapid and effective in the 3-5-2 collective: “A journey has begun, a new process. Sometimes there is little time. I never had any illusions about the performances against Milan and Atalanta, in the same way I’m not discouraged by the performance against Lecce, it’s part of the process. I’m happy to hear one of my players, like Vanja, taking responsibility to say that the goal is Europe, so we have to demonstrate it on the pitch. But as a coach, I will look forward and work to achieve it“, declared Paolo Vanoli. A former student of Antonio Conte on the benches of Italy, Inter Milan and Chelsea, the 52-year-old tactician is now standing on his own two feet after a good spell at Venezia.
Unheard of in over 40 years!
After five days of Serie A, Torino is alone at the top of the championship with 11 points taken out of 15 possible, three wins and two draws. The Granata are still undefeated and even managed to overpower Atalanta (2-1) and resist AC Milan (2-2). Moreover against the Rossoneri, the Piedmontese even almost came away with victory, but that was without counting on the two late Milan goals from Alvaro Morata (89th) and Noah Okafor (90th +5) to frustrate the Toro: “I said that I was waiting for the end of the transfer market to understand the characteristics of the players who were going to arrive, now these players must be inserted into the context of the game. I always said that I dreamed big, but after the words , we have to go on the ground. I don’t like talking about objectives, I prefer to achieve them on the ground. I dream of achieving something important with this city and this team. Today, however, I am neither pessimistic nor optimistic. I want to grow this team», declared the Italian tactician who perfectly knew how to reshape the system, going from a 3-4-2-1 to a more compact 3-5-2. In form, the Torino series is simply historic.
Indeed, the Granata had not been alone in first place in the Serie A standings since the 17th day of the 1976/77 financial year. They then finished the season in 2nd place with rival Juventus in the lead. Facing Lazio, Torino, which is aiming for a place in the Europa League, will cross swords with an Italian European leader. A way to gauge the potential of the Turin troops who will soon find Nikola Vlašić and Per Schurrs, back from injuries: “The team must always be ready. We know that we are facing a team that is doing well and has great offensive potential. An important team to face. I don’t look at the rankings, I let the fans look at it. We are a humble team, we know we have a lot to work on and the team has a long way to go from this game. Then there will be other strong teams to face. In general, I’m happy when the fans are happy. But the championship does not end tomorrow», Specified the coach. Taurus is ready to charge the competition!
