Torino are renowned for a masochistic attitude and for often being the cause of their own troubles and the current season is testament to that. In fact, the decision of hiring Marco Giampaolo as the new coach immediately set the campaign on the wrong track.
Adopting a 4-3-1-2 formation, Giampaolo found himself dealing with a squad only suited for a 3-5-2. He insisted on his favourite system of play for just 7 weeks with the meagre outcome of 1 win, away at Genoa, and 2 draws convinced him for the definitive adoption of a back 3.
However, results only slightly improved, also because Torino had to face the first of 2 big Covid outbreaks in the squad. Between weeks 8 and 18, they only won once more, away at Parma, and Giampaolo was sacked despite losing only 1 out of his last 6 in charge. Davide Nicola was thus hired instead and he managed to give the players a more fighting attitude.
While they would need 5 games before winning the first match under the new coach, away at Cagliari, Torino did not lose any and even avoided a defeat against Atalanta after conceding 3 early on. The arrivals of Mandragora and Sarabia in January certainly strengthened the Bulls to Nicola’s full benefit.
Between weeks 26 and 35, Torino lost 4 more but obtained precious wins over Udinese, Roma, Parma and Sassuolo, thus reaching the peak of their season (14th place). Back-to-back disasters against Milan, 0-7, and Spezia, 1-4, dragged them close the bottom 3 again but a draw away at Lazio secured their survival.
Belotti was once again the top scorer of the team, with 13 goals and 7 assists, but only managed to score 4 in 2021 and his experience with the Bulls might have come to an end. Sarabia did well once he arrived while Ansaldi and Verdi were the leaders in terms of assists with 6 and 5 respectively. Bremer and Izzo were solid at the back.
A quiet survival could be easily achieved next season with Nicola confirmed in charge and some wise investing.
