Torino v Palermo: Grinding Out a Point

God was that game depressing, at least from the perspective of a Palermo fan. I mean, they’re working hard and seem committed, which is good, but there’s just … nothing there. At all.

After a very threatening first few minutes, it was all stop-and-start, and effort with no flow or connection. It’s really grim. Bresciano ran his legs off, but the result was mostly exhaustion, and a lot of really hard, eminently cardable tackles. (How he ended up un-cautioned instead of sent off I have no idea.) Caracciolo got the start for reasons known only to Guidolini and, typically, did very little. He was lively in the first few minutes (along with the rest of the team) and had a nice touch or two — including an offside goal — but, really, did nothing to justify his presence on the pitch. Di Michele was totally uninvolved, and I’m not even sure Simplico was on the pitch for the last 45 minutes. Now, I know there are injury and suspension problems and everything but, you know, shit happens. At this rate — and given the incredibly tough games ahead — they might not even end up in a UEFA Cup spot. Sigh.

On the other side of the ball, Torino were awfully impressive. Despite not forcing a lot of saves out of Fontana, they were lively and aggressive and really deserved the three points. They’re playing awfully well together and have a ton of belief — totally unrecognizable from the team that were struggling for form just a few weeks ago. Plus, Rosina is an outright menace — how is someone that short and squat so freaking quick? If Donandoni stops doing weird things with the Azzurri, there’s got to be a call-up in Rosina’s near future. And, just so you know, Nikola Lazetic is my favorite player of the day: Eastern European, lovely touch, toughness, and no shin guards? Hells yeah.

Also: If someone could either kill FSC “commentator” Gary Richards or render him unable to speak before next weekend, I’d appreciate it. He simply must be stopped.

Category: Palermo, Results, Serie A

Tags: Alessandro Rosina, Nikola Lazetic, Palermo, Results, Serie A, Torino

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