Torino

Alessio Cerci is having a career-best season with Torino this year, thriving in Giampiero Ventura's ambitious 4-2-4 formation on the right wing.

Cerci, predominantly left-footed, has little defensive responsibilities and a similar style to Arjen Robben.

Therefore, Cerci predictably cuts inside more often than not, but, just like Robben, it is tough to stop the 25-year-old.

Cerci is in line to break all records for goals and assists in his career, having scored five goals and added a massive haul of 10 assists while inspiring the Granata to comfortably avoid relegation this season.

His reward: a call-up to the Italian National Team and the opportunity to win himself a place at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

It is a remarkable rise to prominence after Cerci fell out of favour at Fiorentina, and Ventura has massaged his ego brilliantly to get the best ouf of the Roman.

I feel that Cesare Prandelli will utilise the player much more than many expect, simply due to how perfectly he will fit into Prandelli's ideal formation.

The former Viola coach has a great tactical repertoire, so moving away from the currently preferred 4-3-1-2 should not be a problem. I feel that Prandelli will be heavily influenced by the blossoming relationship between Stephan El Shaarawy and Mario Balotelli at Milan and that a switch to a 4-3-3 in the near future is a distinct possibility.

With a 4-3-3 formation, that third place in the attacking trident is well up for grabs, and when you consider the candidates available, nobody is a better natural fit than Cerci, which would give the Azzurri a dual threat from the wings with two inverted wingers.

Of course, this would be rather adventurous against the better sides in the world, leaving the Azzurri's full-backs a little bit exposed, but against weaker opposition on paper, Italy could certainly overwhelm sides with Cerci involved.

With such a wonderful left foot, Cerci can often provide some of the most dangerous deliveries from the right wing, in-swinging and always so inviting for strikers to attack.

Cerci is also deceptively quick, too, and can often scamper around the outside of his opponent, getting in behind the opposition if he is pressed by the left-back and prevented from delivering such dangerous crosses.

Prandelli will also be conscious of the fact that if the Azzurri play with width, they have a greater chance of exhausting the opposition in such humid conditions in Brazil, even if the tournament does occur in the country's winter, some of the host cities will offer conditions not ideally suited to pressing tactics that can quickly drain energy resources.

With a real dearth of natural wide men in the modern game, Cerci will naturally stand out when afforded the opportunity, and with his unique style, the 2014 world cup could be just the stage for the player to peak in his career.

As reported by Barry Glendenning with The Guardian last week, Italy and Torino centre-back Angelo Ogbonna is being monitored by Manchester United, and may also be subject to a summer bid from Arsenal.

As an aficionado of West African football, I am disappointed that Angelo Ogbonna wasn’t involved in the Africa Cup of Nations as part of the Super Eagles’ defence. But I am always heartened to see players of Nigerian origin prospering in Europe’s major leagues.

In truth, Ogbonna’s decision to represent Italy didn’t come as a surprise. Born in Cassino in May 1988, the defender featured 10 times for the Azzuri U21 side before stepping up to the senior squad in June 2011.

Earmarked by Cesare Prandelli as a long-term feature of the national side’s defence, the centre-back became the first Torino player to be enlisted for Italy in four years. Despite making his debut in October of that year, profiting from a squad ravaged by injuries, chances have been limited since then.

He was a non-playing squad member of the team that strode to the Euro 2012 final, and while Italy aren’t short of options of defence, Ogbonna will surely add to his five caps in the future.

Born in Cassino in the Frosinone province of Italy to Nigerian parents, Ogbonna was recruited to the Torino academy after impressing scouts. Making his debut in 2007, he emerged as a crucial part of the side that earned promotion last season, finishing second in Serie B, but with the best defensive record in the division.

The side are currently holding their own in Serie A, with Ogbonna forging a solid partnership with the complimentary Kamil Glik. While this season may be purely about consolidation, the pair, with experienced Belgian Jean Francois Gillet behind them and the indomitable Alessandro Gazzi protecting them, are only growing in confidence and stature.

While the rest of this season will be spent developing his trade with Toro, Ogbonna has already declared his desire to test his mettle abroad, although Juventus have also been identified as having some interest in him. It has been suggested that the youngster may be a future Italy captain. His composure, sporting nature and maturity would certainly not be out of place at the heart of the Champions’ defence.

The famous anecdote that accompanies him is of an automobile accident in December 2008. Few weather conditions have shaped the history of a club more that that infamous Turin fog and the city’s second side. It nearly had another devastating impact when, with vision impaired, Ogbonna drove his Smart car off a bridge in to the river. The defender was lucky to have survived with his life.

With Manchester United’s ageing back line and Arsenal’s incompetent "stars" soon to be in dire need of a renovation, Ogbonna—quoted as being available for somewhere in the region of €14 million to €20 million—could be a valuable asset to either side.

Nearly ten days ago, Zenit St. Petersburg began negotiations with Italian side Torino about the transfer of their captain, midfielder Alessandro Rosina. With Torino's relegation from Serie A, it was unlikely Rosina would remain for another season.

Now, the diminutive playmaker has agreed to a four-year contract with Zenit, worth €8 million in total.

Ever since Andrei Arshavin departed for the Emirates, Zenit has badly needed an attacking winger that shares the same flair and creativity that Arshavin brought to the pitch. Portuguese midfielder Danny tried his best, but honestly he has never been the same player as Arshavin.

With Danny now out until 2010, the need for an adept midfielder with a scoring touch has been amplified even further.

Hopefully Rosina, or Rosinaldo, can bring back a similar element.

"Competing for European honors is very important to me and I am looking forward to living in such a beautiful city. Despite interest from a number of other clubs, Zenit expressed a great deal of faith in me and that gives me great confidence ahead of the move. I am a happy man," said Rosina.

The staff obviously listened to manager Dick Advocaat's words after the draw against Rubin Kazan on Saturday. Advocaat was asked if he felt the team needed new players.

"We play excellent defense, more than excellent in the midfield, while we have problems in attack. Four months ago, I said we need a new forward. I hope somebody at the board will hear these words. We need two or three players, better three."

So far, two players have came to St. Petersburg. First was Belarusian striker Sergei Kornilenko, and now Rosina. Will these two be enough to solve the offensive woes? Only time will tell.

Alessandro Rosina Information

• Age: 25 years old
• Height: 1.68m (5'6")
• Position: Attacking midfielder/winger
• Nationality: Italy
• Former Clubs: Parma, Verona, Torino
• Scored 31 goals in 120 appearances for Torino since 2005.

The left-footed playmaker will arrive in St. Petersburg in one day.

Rosina was a driving force for Torino during his duration with the club, and will look to bring the same style of play to the Russian giants.

Rosinaldo and Kornilenko will both join Zenit in practice. Kornilenko has looked effective in training over the past week, and will most likely be ready if needed to play on Sunday against Saturn Moscow. Rosina however, has not played in some time and may need one to two weeks of preparation before taking the pitch. 

Zenit forward Pavel Pogrebnyak was also scouted in person by Blackburn Rovers' boss Sam Allardyce over the weekend, but today he was offered a new contract by Zenit that would make him one of the highest payed players in the Russian Premier League.

With the injuries to Turkish striker Fatih Tekke and his interest in moving back to Turkey, signing Pogrebnyak is a major priority.

Accusations and counter-accusations have been flying almost as rapidly as the fists were, after Torino and Genoa came to blows at full-time on Sunday at the Stadio Olimpico.

The pitch battle came about after Diego Milito handed the Rossoblu a dramatic 3-2 win at the death, a result that pushes Torino deep into the relegation mire.

Giancarlo Camolese’s bulls now face doomed Lecce next Sunday knowing Bologna have the edge over them in the final round of the season. Even if Torino win, their survival is now out of their own hands.

Many have predicted that Genoa, who had already qualified for the Europa League, would simply roll over against Torino and allow their opponents to pick up three vital points in their battle against the drop. But, in very un-Italian fashion, Genoa fought until the final whistle, much to the hosts’ disappointment.

When quizzed on whose fault the brawl was, Torino coach Giancarlo Camolese pointed his finger at “an important Genoa player, Thiago Motta, who at the end went in front of our bench and told us to be quiet. My men reacted to provocation from the Genoa squad. These are situations we would not like to see, as even if a team does have 30 points more than their opponents, they cannot afford gestures like that. It is difficult to keep calm after all the tension of the week built up.”

But Genoa manager Gian Piero Gasperini refused to accept such blame, countering with his own charge that Torino were simply bitter that Genoa did not roll over.

Gasperini : “I ask myself why people are amazed that we tried to win a match. Evidently we have all become accustomed to these soft performances in the final weeks of the season, but it doesn’t have to be like that. We still had an objective, as we could’ve stayed in the race for fourth if Fiorentina hadn’t equalised at Lecce in stoppages. On the one hand we can understand Torino’s disappointment and anger, but on the other they cannot blame my players for their situation. This isn’t the game where they lost their place in Serie A. Relegation is part of the sport. If they’re going to react like this then maybe we should remove relegations and just keep the same old teams, see how everyone likes that!”

The brawl between Torino and Genoa can be seen here.

Bologna 5 - 2 Torino (Serie A, December 13, 2008) (Longer highlights here.)

Ignazio Abate put Torino ahead after seven minutes, a lead they held until Sergio Volpi pulled Bologna level early in the second half. Simone Barone gave Torino the lead again in the 53rd minute, but Marco Di Vaio responded with two goals in eight minutes to put Bologna in front.

Marco Bernacci and Di Vaio then converted penalties to ultimately give Bologna a convincing win. Torino have now lost four of their last five league matches, drawing the other one.

Napoli 3 - 0 Lecce (Serie A, December 13, 2008)

Marek Hamsik opened the scoring for the hosts in the 11th minute when he converted a penalty after Lavezzi had been fouled in the area. Michele Pazienza scored his first goal in Serie A to make it 2-0 on the stroke of halftime, while German Denis scored his seventh of the season in the 65th minute for the third goal.

Bari 1 - Piacenza 0 (Serie B, December 13, 2008)

Kamata scored the winner on the hour mark.

Mantova 2 - Modena 2 (Serie B, December 13, 2008)

Locatelli set up Tarana, and Rizzi doubled the advantage five minutes later, but it all fell apart. Bruno was the star of the show, converting a penalty and finding the equaliser.

Triestina 1 - Livorno 1 (Serie B, December 13, 2008)

Diamanti had put the visitors ahead with a trademark left-foot curler but Triestina rode that storm and equalised as Milani’s shot came off the post and into the path of Minelli.

Pisa 2 - Parma 1 (Serie B, December 13, 2008)

Cristiano Lucarelli gave Parma the lead from the penalty spot for a dubious foul. Braiati, who should have seen a red card for a shocking challenge on Morrone, then went on to nod in the equaliser for the hosts, and three minutes later Pisa took control as Joelson pounced on a loose ball for the winner.

In the lead up to this match you would have been very optimistic if you were expecting a Torino victory. After all the hosts had not won this fixture since way back in february 1994.

The game started well for the home side though as they traded blows with their more illustrious rivals. Patrick Viera and Alberto Canbiasso were strong early for the visitors and it was Viera who almost turned an interception into a goal after he broke forward when he made a sharp intervention.

The hosts turned around quickly after this though and were actually unlucky not to open the scoring after some fairly relaxed defending by the Milan side. Bianchi headed over after a decent cross from Samuel. Soon after this Rosina had a very good chance from a reasonable range that was turning in the air but ended up finishing well wide of Cesar's left hand upright.

Adriano started to come into the game for the visitors now and he broke free in the middle of the field only to be obstructed from behing by Paolo Zanetti who recieved a yellow card for his troubles.

Not long after this incident the games first goal was scored in a rather unfortunate twist for the home side.

With good lead up play from Inter the ball came to Adriano who put a nice pass wide to the unmarked Mancini who ran to the byline before hammering the ball at the goal. Unfortunately for Torino, Pisanu got a foot to it only to send it into the empty net, 1-0 Inter Milan.

Only two minutes later came the goal of the match from Inter's Brazilian defender Maicon, who hit a stunning strike from about 23 yards across the keeper in off the bar to the left hand upright. The commentators remarked on how it was reminiscent of another great goal by the Brazilian Josimar in the 1986 World Cup against Northern Ireland, 2-0 Inter Milan.

The hosts seemed absolutely flabbergasted by this turn of events after a promising opening and resembled a school of stunned mullet in the lead up to the break.

After the half Torino made a real go of trying to get into the match and did test the visitors defence a couple of times including a cross that deflected off Cambiasso's head and almost ended up in the back of the net had it not been for the vigilance of Julio Caesar in the Inter goal.

From the resulting corner a goal was scored but it was at the other end as the ball was cleared well by the Inter defence, it fell for Maicon who played it to Mancini who then looked up and played a beautiful ball across and forward to the sprinting Ibrahimovich who calmly controlled, took it into the box and put a good finish in with the outside of his right foot to the left hand side of the advancing keeper, 3-0 Inter Milan.

Inter Milan had the game firmly in control by now and were moving the ball about with ease. Viera, Javier Zanetti and Cambiasso were in total control in the middle of the park as the Milan side seemed to be strolling to victory.

Mourinho decided to bring off Mancini and Adriano and they were replaced by Quaresma and Barotelli.

The visitors were definitely guilty of taking the foot off of the oppositions throat after this as they slowly let the home side back into the match.

This was to come back and sting them as they lost their clean sheet to an Elvis Abbruscato goal who was assisted by a great ball from Austrian midfielder Jurgen Saumel in the 76th minute. 3-1 Inter Milan.

This goal actually sparked the closing stages of the match to life as Torino piled forward trying to get another goal to really bring themselves back into the match.

Julio Cesar was called into action in the 80th to save a fine effort from Bianchi as Torino strived for their second goal.

In the 86th minute Torino's earlier goalscorer, Abbruscato had a fine header pushed onto the post by the athletic Cesar.

The goalkeeper was in good form as he jumped up from this save and saved the follow up from Bianchi.

Interestingly though after this activity the game settled back into the pace it had developed earlier with Inter easily playing out the last few minutes with the ball firmly in their control.

The final score of 3-1 was very fair in terms of the match as Inter had thoroughly dominated the tie and were deserving winners. On another day the home side might have been a little more lucky and gotten the ball in the net another time but realistically they did not have much to match the powerful Milan side.

Mourinho will be happy with the three points but will also know that he has to work with his defence in order to make sure they do not go to sleep like they did late on in this match in more important fixtures in the coming weeks.

With the Milan derby next weekend and the Champions league coming up as well they will need to be on top of their game in all facets of play.

In truth they look very strong in terms of Europe as the team is playing well together across the field.

Adriano looks to be in excellent shape and his mind is functioning very well as he demonstrated in the match today with an assist for the first goal and some fine touches throughout. He also went close to scoring and his partnership with Ibrahimovich looks as though it will yield goals for both players.

Add Mancini and Quaresma to the mix up front and they look a very capable unit.

They are of course backed up by the excellent skills of Viera, Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti in the midfield who are very difficult players to try and win a midfield tussle with, as Torino found out today.

Viera was at his imperious best controlling the centre of the pitch and exacting revenge on those who tried to out muscle him.

The only real questions are in defence and these should be answered soon with Ivan Cordoba and Maxwell soon back from injury.

Mourinho will look forward to the coming weeks as he waits for an opponent who can truly test this very capable side. After his comments leading up to the weekend about him being the best coach there is, there will be many teams and managers after his scalp in the near future.