Baroni is the latest in a long series of failed experiments because the underlying conditions do not exist to aspire to anything other than mediocre survival
Yet another humiliation suffered at home – this time by a Cagliari side weighed down by heavy absences – has made it clear once and for all that the club, the coach and the squad are not up to the level of the history and values of Toro and the expectations of its fans. In front of 23,000 fans – who don’t give up despite twenty years of nothing mixed with nothing – Baroni and his ragtag army gave life to the usual bland scene at the beginning and bitter and indigestible at the end. The usual blunders of the defense led to a deserved defeat against a team that put much more desire and quality on the pitch than the pseudo-granade players who continue to concede goals from the corners (thanks to Baroni’s trademark castle of horrors) and to play the slalom posts for opponents who are grateful for the easy run and throw it in (unlike ours). Baroni complains that when there is a step forward the team fails miserably. It’s a shame that the coach doesn’t direct the criticism towards himself, taking on the responsibilities he shares with the club for the ineffective assembly and mismanagement of the lopsided army put together badly and late by the Cairo-Vagnati duo (with the guilty complicity of the coach himself).
Beyond the trite excuses made by the coach – the only one to see positive aspects in this chaos, lucky him – it is clear that the squad and whoever leads it do not show they have the quality necessary to make even just a leap in the standings, let alone the leap in quality long awaited by the fans. Quality and its obvious absence are actually the underlying theme of the last twenty years of Torino FC and it is a lack that can be found at all levels, starting from a skeletal and inadequate corporate structure, through asphyxiated financial resources (managed very badly in recent years by an inadequate director), up to the devastating ‘normalisation’ of Torino, reduced to a shadow of itself and forgetful of its own tradition, its own values and its own symbols. In this Tartar desert that has become Torino FC, dozens of coaches have come and gone, all with the same burdens and all with mediocrely similar results. Baroni is the latest in a long series of failed experiments because the underlying conditions do not exist to aspire to anything other than mediocre survival. Having said that the real responsibilities are upstream, it must also be admitted that the new coach has not brought any added value for the moment, and indeed his defects are many more than his strengths. The coach lacks that combativeness and determination which, not surprisingly, the players and team on the pitch also lack. There is a lack of a game plan, a basic tactical scheme that allows players to assimilate a reference system and put it into practice. Instead, we are witnessing disjointed, fragmented matches, in which moments of choral play alternate with phases of loss of identity, clarity and patterns. These are the moments in which the limits of individuals cruelly emerge and the crazy mayonnaise turns into an omelette, leading to clusters of goals conceded in a few minutes, to lapses in concentration of entire departments and to throwing away that little good that has been laboriously built.
Baroni seems ensnared in a series of existential misunderstandings: his football should be devoted to aggression and game construction (it is no coincidence that his mantra has always been 4-2-4), but he has trapped himself in a formation that is neither fish nor fowl. His 5-3-2 without adequate interpreters and without the necessary knowledge inhibits the attacking phase, loses consistency in midfield and opens up chasms in defense. Even the endings of the game marked by illogical and counterproductive changes are a sign of the confusion that reigns on the bench and among the players. The match against Cagliari – which certifies yet another failed season which ended already in the winter – is ultimately a summary of the many defects that afflict the coach and the team and which no repair market will be able to erase. Despite the usual reassurances, more than one doubt weighs on Baroni’s future at Torino, and questioning his limited impact is certainly legitimate. Just as the assessments of Vagnati’s failures led to a necessary change of direction, it is understandable that Baroni’s struggling season gives rise to reflections on the possibility of a change to the bench, even if only to maintain the path of salvation without worries. However, a question arises: would another coach be able to bring out something more from a squad so poorly assembled and devoid of real leaders and players with above-average technical means? Unfortunately for the fans, in the context of a club without quality and ambition the answer to the previous question is almost irrelevant. The real dilemma is in fact another: after twenty years of cyclical and repeated disappointments, in an environment in which little or nothing remains of grenade, faced with yet another season of bankruptcy and the evidence of a project that never really started, is it really worth continuing to ask yourself these questions?
Il Toro, journalism and Europe always in my heart. Of the last two I have made my main profession; the first remains my great passion. Envoy, correspondent, then spokesperson and communications manager for the Commission and the EU Parliament, I mainly deal with European politics and affairs. Always passionate about sport, I also gave myself some interesting professional experience in the world of football as head of communications for Casa Azzurri. I observe the world with curiosity from Brussels, with Taurus in my heart. I express myself in an exclusively personal and totally free capacity.
Disclaimer: the commentators hosted by Toro News express their thoughts independently of the editorial line followed by the editorial team of the online newspaper, which has always made pluralism and the free sharing of opinions its distinctive feature.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
