Tazskool

1.1 General Information
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Club: Torino
Full Name: FC Torino (formerly Torino Calcio)
Nickname; Granata
Ground: Delle Alpi, Turin (moving to Stadio Communale in 2006)
Capacity: 69,041 (all seater, undersoil heating)
Training Ground: Good facilities
Chairman: Urbano Cairo
Managing Director: none listed

1.1 Starting Finances
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Transfer Budget: €450K
Wage Budget: €130K/week
Current Wage: €148K/week
Wage Differential: -€18K/wee

2.1 General Impression
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Apart from being my favorite club, Torino should interest players who are interested in a storied club who have fallen upon hard times. Torino were a force to be reckoned with in the past, but went bankrupt this past summer, forcing them to be relegated back to Serie B despite achieving promotion. A new, wealthy media mogul, Urbano Cairo, took over the club and has started to rebuild it, which is where you the manager come in. Torino have a decent sized squad, but because of the 40+ games you will play in the Serie B and Italian Cup, it might be a good idea to expand the squad. Finances are fine, as Cairo has saved the club, but selling a lot of the reserves, the one who are older and won’t really do anything, could reduce the wage bill.

The board expect promotion while the fans expect a respectable league position. Promotion is definitely a possibility, and I would say not unreasonable, and you shouldn’t sacrifice the league for the generally meaningless Italian Cup, though it could provide some extra cash and giant-killing opportunities, as the big clubs do not take it very seriously.

2.2 Playing Staff
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Torino has some good talent in attack, with ex-Lazio man Roberto Muzzi and the talented Roberto Stellone being your best bets. Enrico Fantini, on loan from Fiorentina is also pretty good, and young striker Claudio De Sousa definitely has potential.

The midfield is good, but could use a little buffing out. Andrea Gentile is attacking mid, on loan from Messina, but the bet I probably the young and talented Italy U21 international Alessandro Rosina, co-owned with Parma until 2007. Ronaldo Vanin and Carlos Marinelli are decent wingers that will probably suffice for a season or two. There are some good defensive mids, with Andrea Ardito the best bet, but Mark Edusei not bad at all. Raffaele Longo is also decent.

There are a lot of defenders, but they are not all great, and those that are great are old. The best pair for starting center backs would probably be Luca Ungari and Oscar Arnaldo Brevi, both of whom are getting old. There is also Davide Nicola, but he is old as well and I would say you definitely need some young new central defenders. Your best right back is Davide Nicola or Massimo Mastro (who is good to start and at 19 will only get better), and left back is Jacopo Balestri. Beyond that, there isn’t much talent.

You have two solid keepers in Angelo Pagotto and Massimo Taibi. I would recommend Pagotto, though if you want, giving both a run-out, or using them in rotation would work.

The reserves aren’t that great, but there is some great young talent in the U20 side, including attacking mid Paolo Bellucci, winger Tommaso Vailatti, and strikers Alberto Cavazzi and Liborio Bongiovanni. All of these players can develop solidly if given the right training.


2.3 Backroom Staff
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2.3.1 Coaching Staff
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There are only three coaches on the staff, and while they are fine, there are simply not enough of them. Simple enough find some good coaches in each area, especially for the youth. You want to maximize stars in training, and with the coaches spread out over all sorts of schedules, it will be hard to do that without bringing a few more coaches in

2.3.2 Scouting Staff
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Three scouts in the scouting staff. I would bring in one or two more scouts, preferably with high judging player ability, since the potential seems to be covered all right.

2.3.3 Physios
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You need better physios, look for Physiotherapy, Level of Discipline, and Working with Youngsters.

3.1 Tactics
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A 4-4-2 diamond seems to work best for me, with the AMC (usually Rosina) making runs back intro central midfield. I find between him making those runs back and my DMC (Ardito or Edusei) that I have plenty of midfield possession. Of course, remember that you should fiddle around with the tactic often, preferably every game, depending on the team you are playing, and whether you are home or away. For example, there would be changes playing Bologna, a promotion contender as opposed Albinoleffe

4.1 Recommended Buys/Sells
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The position you most need to improve would be defense. Karl Svensson is a great buy at center back, as he is approaching the end of his contract at IFK Göteborg and willing to sign. Ozcar Wendt is at the same club, and is a great left back, and is out of contract, but unfortunately you will face tough competition. I bought Sergey Kislyak from Dinamo Minsk who does well on the left wing and cam play in the center as well, as well as Jukka Sauso to add some youth to my central defense. Enzo Giovanni Scorza is a good young Uruguayan (Italian second nationality though) striker you could get, and the American Danny Szetela is a very promising player, and can play well at wingback and also in the midfield (and he has a Polish dual nationality, so you don’t have to worry about EU restrictions). I got most of these players, and they have seemed to work out pretty well for me so far.

I would probably sell some of the older defenders you don’t use, and a lot of the older reserves (the keepers are decent though for Serie B only). Although Torino starts out in the black, it seems to hemorrhage money like none other, and it is slightly above wage budget, so selling players is a good idea

5.1 Conclusion
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Torino are definitely promotion contenders, and getting them up there is not the most challenging task in the world, though surviving in Serie A can be tough. They are a fun team to play and have potential.