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OPINION: Under-fire Ventura can't bring best out of talented Torino squad
One man who had previously escaped the Toro fanbase's notorious wrath was Giampiero Ventura. No more. The Granata fanbase as a whole has unanimously passed a vote of no confidence in the man who has taken the team to Top-10 Serie A finishes, insulting him for the first time since he joined.
Ventura has, for his part, tried to take the blame for how things have gone, but his performance in front of the press isn't enough to make up for half a season's worth of poor form. This season was supposed to be the turning point. Without European engagements, this young team was going to make it to the top, or close enough anyway.
Instead, 24 matchdays in, the Granata have yet to establish a clear identity of their own, and were ignominiously knocked out of the Coppa Italia to the tune of four goals in the Derby. Without any clear objectives in mind, there is no light at the end of the tunnel, at least not now.
And to think that Urbano Cairo had actually done everything that his manager had asked of him: he went for promising, young, Italian players in the summer, bringing in Daniele Baselli, Davide Zappacosta and Andrea Belotti, to name three. This winter, the Torino president refused to sell Nikola Maksimovic to Napoli, and went big by reeling in striker Ciro Immobile. The team is there, but the results aren't.
As time has gone by, the fans have increasinly come to the realization that the manager is the problem: his obstinate attachment to the 3-5-2 hasn't helped, and the team doesn't seem to be going anywhere. In less than a year, Torino have gone from that spectacular night at the San Mames (where they beat Athletic Bilbao 3-2 in a thrilling Europea League comeback) to losing at home to Udinese and Chievo, hardly two Serie A powerhouses. With regards to today's defeat, Ventura got his subs wrong (again), and his switch to three up front at the end didn't pay off.
The Torino manager has run out of credit, and the Maratona has made that very clear. The season is still far from over, but it's probably compromised at this stage. Barring some miraculous comeback from either Carpi and Frosinone, the Toro should stay up without a major struggle, but the club's dreams of glory have definitely been postponed by a year.
Many of the players are unable to express themselves as they would like, and lack what today's goalscorer Marco Benassi defined as "a carefree approach". That comes with wins, and wins only. Ventura has said that he'll mull things over. The fans already have. And they've come to a conclusion, all right!
Emanuele Pastorella (@EPastorella), translated by @EdoDalmonte
