It is not often that you see il Toro sitting above the likes of Lazio, Roma, Juventus, and Milan on the Serie A table.
Since the days of il Grande Torino in the 1940s, Torino have suffered along a tumultuous path of some success, but predominantly failure. This failure culminated in the bankruptcy of the club in the mid-2000s, after which current chairman Urbano Cairo took over the club.
Since then, and mainly in recent times, Cairo and current Torino coach Giampiero Ventura have implemented a daring, yet fruitful transfer policy. The policy itself has mixed upcoming youth with seasoned veterans in order to create one of the league’s most efficient, but also most exciting outfits.
In fact, il Granata have just three players aged between 26 and 29; their captain and spiritual leader Kamil Glik (27), goalkeeper Daniele Padelli (29), and former Cagliari left-back Danilo Avelar (26).
Torino’s preferred XI and backups
The spread of players with different levels of experience in the squad is quite prevalent, and has been created through smart recruiting over the summer. Cairo and Ventura have made some bold moves, with the boldest of them all being the swoop for Atalanta’s Daniele Baselli (23). But this brave investment is already paying dividends, as Baselli has taken the next step in his footballing career in his new surroundings, and has arguably been the best player in the league so far this season along with Sampdoria’s Eder.
COMO, ITALY – JUNE 04: Davide Zappacosta of Italy U21 kicks a ball during Italy U21 training session at the club’s training ground on June 4, 2015 in Appiano Gentile Como, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Cairo also brought in right-back Davide Zappacosta (23) from Atalanta to replace the outgoing Matteo Darmian. While Zappacosta himself has been used sparingly in the shadows of Bruno Peres (25), there are very few questions about the quality of the Italian youth international.
Elsewhere, Andrea Belotti (21), Danilo Avelar (26), Afriyie Acquah (23), and Joel Obi (24) also joined, linking them to the veteran core of Glik (27), Emiliano Moretti (34), Giuseppi Vives (35), Cesare Bovo (32), Cristian Molinaro (32), Daniele Padelli (29), and Fabio Quagliarella (32).
TURIN, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 20: Andrea Belotti of Torino FC in action during the Serie A match between Torino FC and UC Sampdoria at Stadio Olimpico di Torino on September 20, 2015 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images)
The Darmian funds have been reinvested in youth that are perfectly supplementing the existing squad; a transition period on steroids. Avelar provides a perfect foil to the marauding Peres – Baselli likewise to the reserved and pensive Vives. While upfront, Quagliarella and Belotti are developing a similar dynamic to the memorable partnership of Alessio Cerci and Ciro Immobile in 2013/14.
Cairo’s focus is to prepare a team capable of outlasting its aging manager (Ventura is 67), without sacrificing immediate success. At the same time, financial stability remains at the forefront of the mind of a modern thinker like Cairo, so purchasing young talent with re-sale value will always be a priority.
Ventura however, is not done with yet. He is a forward-thinking coach, prepared to experiment tactically, and with different personnel – having already deployed 20 different players in five Serie A matches this season. As far as his favoured 3-5-2 is concerned, he is one of the great coaches of this formation. Unlike many other coaches in Serie A, including the much fancied Antonio Conte, Ventura has been able to expose the defensive vulnerabilities of the opposition. This is for the most part due to his willingness to employ destructive full-backs in the ilk of Bruno Peres, while at the same time with an assurance that his defence will be adequately shielded on the rebound by the combative Vives.
With this in mind, where is il Toro headed?
Well, they have already beaten Fiorentina this season, as well as Sampdoria, and while the big hitters falter who could say that Torino will not scrape a Europa League place. That is especially true if the UEFA coefficient system grants Serie A, a Europa League place for the seventh placed finisher.
If we do see this team in Europa League next season, do not expect them to go into the competition with low expectations. Last season, il Toro proved they could mix it with some of the Europa League’s better teams, knocking out Athletic Bilbao, and being bitterly unlucky in their round of 16 exit to Zenit St. Petersburg.
With arguably a better and more well-rounded squad this season, Torino once again somewhat resemble the Italian power they once were.
The post Torino: reaping the rewards of bold transfer strategy appeared first on IFD.
from IFD http://ift.tt/1VfJ56k
via IFTTT berita selengkapnya Follow @jadwalliga
