Not Yet Silver….Perhaps A Pewter Lining?

By: chris | March 24th, 2008

No, not you, Alvaro.

So Torino has that whole “can’t score goals” thing going on for them right now, despite having guys with some decent talent. Maybe they decided to quit while they were ahead after the Parma game. Or maybe the only way this team is going to score goals these days is by having four strikers on the pitch. A novelty of sorts which I’m fully in the camp of….once they assure safety. Until then it’s going to have to be some good old straight-forward striking.

Next year, however, is another matter. Chances are pretty decent they’ll stay in Serie A, as they’ve proven that they can even hang with some of the big fellas (wins over Sampdoria & Palermo, draws with Palermo, Roma & Milan), so there may be some surprise happenings in the final weeks. The schedule isn’t wonderful, but they should be able to outlast Cagliari, Empoli and Reggina at the least.

There’s a mighty good possibility Alvaro Recoba will be gone next year (yes, now you) - and I have nothing to back that up beside the fact that he hasn’t scored since September coupled with pure logic - and one or two of Ventola, Di Michele or Bjelanovic may be sold (the latter two almost going to Roma in January at the deadline - why Bjelanovic nobody knows, his strike rate is abysmal). Stellone seems entrenched, and I hope he stays - he’s got some deceptive qualities despite looking like a wrecking ball in boots - and Dominique Malonga may be ready a lot sooner than anticipated. Or maybe that’s wishful hoping. Or thinking. Oh yeah, and then there’s Masashi Oguro, whose Torino highlight has been his wikipedia page:

Oguro owns a chihuahua named Rao. He is a fan of the manga Fist of the North Star. He loves the card game Uno, and has been appointed a “Uno Ambassador”. When he is excited and wants to get attention on the field, he yells “UNO!” He is a fan of the Hanshin Tigers.

If that doesn’t make your day, I don’t know what will. No word on whether or not he owns a Ms. Kitty purse too, but from here on out, Oguro will be known as Uno! in this realm of the universe. Hooray for obsessive Japanese reporting.

Anywho, in January Toro had nearly lined up this German guy from Denis playing in Argentina. Or a guy named German Denis from Argentina. One of the two. Deal fell through due to “minor details”, and now he’s saying he’d love love LOVE to come play for Torino next year and do all sorts of fanciful Argentinian things. Namely score goals. Word has it he’s a very physical forward (as you can see from his google images pic) playing currently for Independiente in Argentina, led the Apertura is gols last (half)season and made his national team debut for the Argies just last fall. Oh, and he wants to be “Torino’s Batistuta”. Well shit, bring him on.

Here’s what his highlights say: predatory instincts. And quite frankly, that’s all the Granata really need. They don’t need fancy - they just need someone to put some freakin’ goals into the back of the net consistently. Even though there’s no rumored price tag associated, given that he’s both the goal leader and an Argie international, it’s hard to believe he’ll come cheap. Hey, no price is too high to pay for a year of unquestioned safety. Worry about the rest afterwards.

His highlights, set to a very questionable sountrack: