FM10: Torino F.C - Crushed and in need of revival

A Brief History

Foot-Ball Club Torino was founded on 3 December 1906 after a meeting at the Voigt brewery in Via Pietro Micca near the center of Turin. Its foundation involved some Juventus dissidents led by Alfredo Dick, who had left the bianconeri after some at the club wanted to move Juventus out of Turin. As well as Alfredo Dick, other prominent founders included the Swiss businessman Hans Schoenbrod (first chairman), and Vittorio Pozzo (later manager of Italy).

The first ground for FBC Torino would be Velodromo Umberto I in the La Crocetta neighbourhood, for which Dick owned the lease. Torino lured some players from other clubs, including FBC Torinese who became defunct as a result.The fact that Torino's split from Juve was not amicable, saw the rise of a heated local known as the Derby della Mole.

The Goal

Torino are most famous for their Grande Torino (The Great Torino) side during the 1940's which saw the club capture 5 consecutive Serie A crowns, go 4 seasons undefeated at home, that's 93 games. Surely nowadays this would be unthinkable?

Grande Torino implemented tactics that helped design the foundations of Dutch Total Football that went on to revolutionize the game in the 1970s. They introduced a number based system, the 4-4-2, using four defenders, four midfielders and two attackers, this was adopted largely by the Brazil 1958 World Cup Winning side who are credited with the introduction of the Numbers System, in particular the 4-2-4.

The all-star starting lineup of Grande Torino that died at Superga is one of the most famous in Italian football history: Valerio Bacigalupo, Aldo Ballarin, Virgilio Maroso, Pino Grezar, Mario Rigamonti, Eusebio Castigliano, Romeo Menti, Ezio Loik, Guglielmo Gabetto, Valentino Mazzola, and Franco Ossola; the son of Ossola is now the major biographer of the Club's history.

The Italy national football team starting lineup in the second half of the forties consisted almost entirely of Grande Torino players, which regularly contributed with 8-9 starters. On May 11, 1947, for the friendly match between Italy and Hungary 3-2, the Azzurri starting lineup was made of 10 Grande Torino players plus the Juventus goalkeeper Sentimenti IV. Italian manager Vittorio Pozzo reserved the Azzurri starting keeper Valerio Bacigalupo; otherwise it would have been the whole Grande Torino team playing for Italy.

Legendary captain Valentino Mazzola was also the captain of the Italy national football team as well as the father of Sandro Mazzola, who was also a great champion playing for Internazionale Milano and Italy in the 1960s-70s. Valentino was an all-around playmaker midfielder who could direct the team, pass, score, tackle, defend, inspire and lead his teammates.

Superga air disaster

The Superga air disaster took place on Wednesday, 4 May 1949, when a plane carrying almost the entire Torino A.C. football squad, popularly known as Il Grande Torino, crashed into the hill of Superga near Turin killing all 31 aboard including 18 players, club officials, journalists accompanying the team, and the plane's crew. The team was returning from a farewell match for Xico Ferreira against Benfica in Lisbon.

The club never recovered, and after a decade of mediocre seasons, they were relegated to Serie B in 1958/59, although they returned to Serie A the following season.

Real Life Starting XI

GK - Matteo Sereni (1) Although he has played in Italy for the majority of his career, he may be better known for his stint at then Uefa Cup challengers Ipswich Town, he was the record signing for the Tractor Boys but failed to make an impect in the relegation season. A solid goalkeeper with great reflexes but may leave you frustrated by his tendancy to punch the ball rather than catch.

DR - Marco Pisano (26) Cracking full back here, the 27 year old is solid on both sides with terrific tackling ability and has the Stamina to get himself up and down the field.

DL - Matteo Rubin (3) Good and young, Rubin has pace and knows how to cross a ball, though maybe defending isnt his strongest point, think Glen Johnson with this lad.

DC - Francesco Pratali (50) Having been signed by Empoli, he is a player with expeirience in this league, coupled with his good defensive abilities, you have a good centre half at this level, though he isn't the biggest centre half in the world, and certainly not the quickest.

DC - Simone Loria (15) This lad clearly has talent, despite his age, enough so that Roma saw something in him, even if they did loan him out to Torino just a bit later, again not the biggest, but can do a job, also he can head the ball well and will score goals from time to time given the oppourunities from set plays.

MR - Aimo Stefano Diana (23) Pacey winger, but again he's getting on abit, with pace being his biggest assett, it's questionable how long he will last, can make good runs though and cause problems in an inside forward sort of role.

ML - Andrea Gassbarroni (14) One of the better players in the squad, like Quaresma he is very tricky and can play anywhere across the midfield, won't score many goals however. His trickery should crush teams at this level.

MC - Manuel Coppola (30) Another Serie A loanee, this time from Parma, the boy has great tackling ability and would make a great anchor man or ball winning midfielder very hard working and can consistantly give Torino 90 minutes.

MC - Paolo Zanetti (7) Very balanced player and can help his team in many ways, at 26 he is in his prime and playing consistantly, has alot of expeirience in Serie B however and hasn't really impacted on the top flight.

ST - David Di Michele (10) The club captain, and a consistant performer, his only issue is age and he probably only has a few seasons left in him, but he does score goals, and he is a good leader of the team.

ST - Rolando Bianchi (9) One of the best players this team has to offer and at 26 he has more to give, good in the air and in front of goal, a potent leader of the front line.

Football Manager Info

Nation - Italy

Year Founded - 1906

Status - Professional

Reputation - National

Chairman Status - Loves the club

Legends – Paolo Pulici

Icons – Renato Zaccarelli, Emiliano Mondonico, Urbano Cairo, Giancarlo Camolese

Favoured Personnel – Roberto Cravero

Fierce Rivals - Juventus, Sampdoria, Verona, Atalanta, Bologna

Other Rivals - Perugia, Brescia, Roma, Piacenza, A.C. Milan, Lecce, Napoli, Mantova, Inter

Finances - Secure

Average Ticket Price - £22.70

Average Season Ticket Price - £267

Season Ticket Holders - 19000

Estimated Value - £23.5million

Continental Competition - None

Media Prediction - 1st

Stadium - Olimpico (Turin, 27550 capacity (25370 seated))

Training Facilities - Good training facilities

Youth Facilities - Average youth facilities

Expections - Promotion or Winner

Transfer Budget - £2.6mil for Promotion, £3.2mil for Winner

Wage Budget - £230k for Promotion, £250k for Winner (£187,768 being spent)

Kits –

Squad

Bold indicates a player is natural or accomplished in a position

Italic indicates a player is capable of playing in a position

All in order of which i think are best

GK - Matteo Sereni, Alex Calderoni, Lys Gomis

DR - Marco Pisano, Aimo Diana, Claudio Rivalta, Angelo Ogbonna, Davide Zoboli, Matteo Rubin

DL - Matteo Rubin, Angelo Ogbonna, Marco Pisano, Claudio Rivalta

DC - Claudio Rivalta, Simone Loria, Francesco Pratali, Davide Zoboli, Mikael Silvestre, Marco Pisano

DMC - Manuel Coppola, Paolo Zanetti, Jurgen Saumel, Massimo Loviso Francesco Pratali

MR - Aimo Diana, Andrea Gassbarroni, Julio Cesar Leon

ML - Andrea Gassbarroni, Julio Cesar Leon, Tommaso Vailatti

MC - Manuel Coppola, Andrea Gassbarroni, Paolo Zanetti, Jurgen Saumel, Massimo Loviso, Julio Cesar Leon, Francesco Pratali, Tommaso Vailatti

AMC - Julio Cesar Leon, Luca Belingheri, David Di Michele

ST - Rolando Bianchi, David Di Michele, Daniele Vantaggiato, Andrea Gassbarroni

Reccomended XI

Italic indicates a key player in the squad

GK - Matteo Sereni - In keeper role

WBR - Diana - Adds some width as a pose to widemen but can still get back and defend, use in support configuration.

WBL - Rubin

DC] - Claudio Rivata - Ball playing, Defend

DC - Simone Loria - Limited, Defend

MC - Manuel Coppola - Box to Box, Support

MC - Paolo Zanetti - Defensive Midfielder, Defend

MC - Andrea Gassbarroni - Deep Lying Playmaker, Attack of Support against stronger teams

AMC - Julio Cesar Leon - Attacking Midfielder, Attack

ST - Davide Di Michele - Trequevista (sp?) - Will help pick up the ball from deep and feed the Target Man Bianchi

ST - Rolando Bianchi - Target Man - Will score goals given the oppourtunity

Squad Analysis

Will follow when i get more time...

Thanks to arsenal_2111 for the layout!!!

Torino .... what a poor team.... and thread of course!

I'm Torino.. January first season. have bought no one in. Looking now to bring some new players in

Merida & Armand Traoré =) any ideas?

Glad to see you decided to make the thread dude! Don't forget to post in the Serie B thread too! I'll be watching with interest!

I'm Torino.. January first season. have bought no one in. Looking now to bring some new players in

Merida & Armand Traoré =) any ideas?

I started my game in the 3rd season after they were promoted and then relegated again, so i'm not sure if these guys will sign, but i got Beckham on a free who still has awesome technical ability, and i signed Merida cheap as chips. Alex Pearce is another one that will come on the cheap, assistants rate him as my best player. I'll post a full recap after doing my coursework.

Brazil were playing 4-2-4 at the '58 world cup.

Torino 2012/13 - Season 4 Update

So i started my game with Torino at the end of the 2011/12 season with the club already relegated back down to Serie B. The squad was pretty poor though still had some key players such as Bianchi and Candreva as well as real life Inter striker Victor Obinna. Here are the transfers i made.

Beckham still has at least a season left, playing him in the centre rather than out wide as his pace has slipped to 1. Made a decent start to the season that has started to pick up, a string of victories taking my team to the top of the table.

Verona 0-0p (L) - Italian Cup Qual Round 2

Sassuolo 3-0 (W) - Serie B

Brescia 0-0

Pescara 1-1

Cesena 5-1 (W)

Ancona 2-3 (L)

Salernitana 2-0 (W)

Siena 1-0 (W)

Arezza 3-1 (W)

Mantova 2-0 (W)

As you can see my form has picked up just enough to take me to the top of the table, this after i decided to swap Obinna with Di Gennaro, i now have Obinna up front with Bianchi and Di Gennaro on the right wing. Obinna scoring 5 and Bianchi 8. Beckham is doing a great job for me in the centre of midfield, second in the assist charts with four. Fitness levels haven't allowed him to play full games though.

Im in my second season!

first season finished 1st with Torino - won with one game left! - bought no on until second season!

Second Season had cash injection of 14million players to spend on new players. Plus i sold zanetti - 1.5million

Players In:

Kameni - 5.25million (minimum release)

Kompamy - 4million (transfer list - unhappy first team)

Van Bommel - Free (contract expired)

Altitop - Free (contract expired - unhappy not seen as first team)

Diaby - 2.8million (transfer list - not needed)

briand - 3million (transfer list - bigger club)

kuranyi - Free (contract expired)

I am currenly 7th in the league - January 2011

I play a 4-2-2-2 - both wingers are attacking just behind the strikers. Seems to be working.

Have adapted Diaby into a AML.

I now have £14million in the bank but have £18million to spend how is that possible?

Going to give Torino a whirl!

10 games left, comfortably second with a 3 points gap between myself and Siena at the top, pretty sure ill seal promotion but i want that top spot. Will report back with a season review tomorrow.

Congrats dude!

So here's how things finished in my first full season at Torino.

Things went very well after Christmas, and though i shipped a lot of goals, i averaged about 3 goals a match which was enough to sneak the title.

The star men were Rolando Bianchi whose goal record was...

And January signing Lauri Dalla Valle

Bianchi took the golden boot, but as he was ageing and i signed an incredible regen called Antonio Malafronte, i decided to ship him to Palermo for 10 million which i thought was a fair price. These were my dealings for our first season back in Serie A.

Starting a Torino save, and I feel this could be my long term save on FM10 wish me luck.

Yes! I’ve been waiting for Torino to have a proper thread for ages, my very most favourite Italian club! Loading it as we speak, I’m going back to the Grande Torino days of old. I’ll keep you all updated! Hello Haza as well!

hows jimmy briand playing for ya???

Just started a Torino save with new patch. 16 games played, won 10, drew 3, lost 3. Playing 4-4-2. Team is gk-sereni, rb-antonini(from Milan), lb-rubin, cb-zoboli, cb-rivalta, mr-vailetti, ml-gasbaroni, mc-barrusso, mc-coppalo, fc-pia, fc-bianchi. Have done ok, dominate games but only win by odd goal. Any ideas for additions to starting eleven? Have bought lemmello from fiorentina as bright prospect for future. Hopeful of current squad able to win league.

I'm starting a save with Torino, I want to bring back the glory of Il Grande Torino.

I'm starting a save with Torino, I want to bring back the glory of Il Grande Torino.

will you be playing your slightly obscure 3-5-2 formation? will be looking forward to read about your progress

will you be playing your slightly obscure 3-5-2 formation? will be looking forward to read about your progress

I will be yeah, starting the save properly tomorrow.