Football Season Guide

The last season was a bit of an agony for Torino. Having started the campaign with the usual great expectations, and with coach Mazzarri at the helm, they found themselves only a few inches away from the European spots in early January, but then they ran out of steam and simply started losing. Mazzarri was eventually shown the door and replaced by Longo, who did not do much better, but obtained those 3 wins - out of the 13 played after the end of the Covid-19 break – that steered them out of trouble. Longo was not confirmed at the helm, and hyper-ambitious President Cairo decided to hire Marco Giampaolo in his stead. The latter is well-known for the attractive play displayed by his teams, but he is also famous for the way his sides fall downhill in the second halves of the campaigns. Since Giampaolo usually adopts a very rigid 4-3-1-2 formation, Torino had to invest some money in order to reshape the team that was used to playing in a 3-4-1-2 system lately. So, two full-backs arrived in Rodriguez and Vojvoda, and they are both likely to make the starting eleven, also considering that De Silvestri was let go, with some regrets, and Aina is about to quit for pastures new as well. Besides turning Verdi’s loan into a permanent deal, and he is going to act as the attacking midfielder at the top of the diamond, the Bulls also lured Linetty away from Sampdoria, and he will be given a key role in the midfield. Torino are still looking for a couple of midfielders, a central midfielder in particular, especially if Rincon goes away, and some offensive alternative to the two strikers, Zaza and Belotti, who managed to score 22 goals and served 5 assists altogether despite a disastrous campaign.