A new Toro is coming?

di Andrea Rosselli

The 3-men defence experiment continues, while Masashi Oguro and Gabriele Cioffi could play from the starting whistle against Chievo: these are the most important indications that come from the usual midweek friendly, which ended a few minutes ago.

The Granata faced local team Lascaris (6th Italian division) and won 5-0 with goals by Stellone and Cioffi in the first half, Abbruscato (2) and Lazetic in the second. Coach Alberto Zaccheroni fielded two different lineups, with only Cioffi on the pitch for the entire match, but what's more important is that the Granata played all 90 minutes with the 3-4-3 formation.

The starting eleven was formed by Taibi between the posts, Di Loreto, Cioffi and Franceschini on the defensive line, Comotto, Barone, De Ascentis and Pancaro in the middle, Fiore, Stellone and Oguro upfront. In the second half the lineup was as follows: Taibi (Fontana); Melara, Cioffi (Orfei) and Brevi; Music, Schiattarella, Ferrarese and Balestri; Lazetic, Abbruscato and Konan.

It's too early to say if the first-half eleven will be the same we'll see on Sunday against Chievo, but Zaccheroni showed once again that he's willing to change something on the tactical side, and the recourse to his beloved 3-4-3 surely represents the most likely option. Furthermore, also last week's indications about a possible use of Cioffi and Oguro found confirmation, and therefore it's likely that Zac might have spotted in the former Mantova defender and in the Japanese striker the solution to his team's defensive and offensive struggles. Tomorrow's training session, although it will be a closed-door one, will tell us something more on that side.

At the end of today's match, chairman Urbano Cairo (who watched it from the bench) announced that the team will go on retreat tomorrow evening, one day earlier than usual.