Toro has a problem on the flanks: apart from Bellanova, no one is able to make important contributions, and Juric underlined this
“We have many players – not just the attackers – who don’t have a good relationship with goals. Usually my wingers score at least 5/6 goals eachwhile this year adding up we’ve arrived at one. Some players could have scored a few more goals with their characteristics. I was too optimistic. It’s not always the attacker who has to do everything, we missed that.” Very clear words from Ivan Juric at the end of the match against Bologna, which tell of a coach disconsolate with the way in which the season has turned out. Once again the Granata failed to score, and the coach explained how in his opinion the reason cannot be attributed solely to the attackers. In fact, in the great Croatian Verona or in Genoa, several top-level wingers have exploded (see Dimarco), while this year everyone – except Bellanova – has struggled without making the slightest contribution.
Bellanova’s numbers
The only winger valued so far by the Croatian coach seems to have been Raoul Bellanova. The number 19, after a more than negative season at Inter and a slow start, turned out to be – for a very long period – one of the key players of the team, as well as the only wing player to have scored a goal. The numbers speak clearly for him: 1 goal and 6 assists in 34 games, for a player to be with Juric another year would have done more than good. The class of 2000 is one of the few to be decisive in multiple matches, showing continuity, and will certainly be one of the cornerstones on which the Bull of the future will be based.
Very bad Soppy, Lazaro and Vojvoda
Looking at the other external players, Bellanova’s numbers must be forgotten: just think that Soppy, Lazaro And Vojvoda they did less together than the former Inter. The Frenchman represented an unknown in the first part of the season, only playing 5 games before his loan was terminated. But if expectations were low for him given the premises, more was certainly expected from the other two. The Austrian, lined up as a starter most of the time, has always created an imbalance with respect to the other lane, having only scored 2 assists in 32 appearances, almost all negative; Vojvoda, on the other hand, disappointed more than ever: alone 3 assists for him, more skilled in the role of full-back than in that of a winger with offensive duties. Toro therefore really has a problem on the flanks, and it will be essential for the next coach to make some assessments.
