Former Udinese executive, Pierpaolo Marino, shared his thoughts on Torino, football manager Ivan Juric, and the Super League in an interview with Tuttosport.
Marino believes Juric and Urbano Cairo, the president of Torino, will most likely renew their contract by the end of March. “Juric has stopped criticising the club for a long time now, and the atmosphere is calm. The team is performing well and I foresee even better results,” Marino told Tuttosport. He also noted that Juric has found the right formation, using Duván Zapata and Antonio Sanabria as double forwards. Marino praised the pair, saying, “Zapata is resuming his high performance and Sanabria is improving. Torino now boasts of two top-ranking forwards.”
Moving on to discuss the Super League, Marino described it as a “seismic shift” in football. “This paves the way for a possible split of clubs in Europe, which has now been legalised,” he said, hinting at the potential for an NBA-style league within the next decade. However, Marino expressed significant concerns regarding its potential repercussions on national tournaments and smaller clubs. He argued that such moves do not always prove beneficial, except for a few already powerful and wealthy clubs. Marino also criticised the Super League for potentially turning football into a plasticised show for a handful of elite clubs and their fans.
His final statement is a call for preserving the authenticity of football. “I am for the old school football, stadia full of passionate fans, and trophy qualifications earned purely on the field,” Marino said, showing his concern for the future of football in the next decade or so.