10 Serie A games on Wednesday, only 1 cleansheet. How many guesses would it take for you to arrive at Atalanta? But yes, Atalanta put in a totally dominate performance offensively and defensively to not only land the cleansheet but claim a vital 3 points to hold pace with Juventus, Sassuolo, and inch closer to Napoli. Now granted Parma isn’t the greatest opponent right now, but 3 points is 3 points and they won in a particularly dominate fashion. Parma had one shot on goal – which was more of a botched cross – and the consistent press of the midfield and the defense didn’t allow Parma to connect 4 passes together in Atalanta’s half. I love the mental fortitude continually being displayed in the 2nd half of matches so far in 2021. Squandering the Bologna lead was a pretty big wake up call for the men in black and blue, and with matches coming up against Benevento and Genoa, there’s a great opportunity to pick up 6 more points as long as the mentality stays high.
There’s so many good things to talk about, I’ll try to limit my talking points to 6: 2 for the defense, 2 for the midfield, and 2 for the attack.
Defense 1: Without Romero – who was sidelined due to a yellow-card suspension – Palomino was an excellent replacement in the middle, and can really stifle an attack as long as he doesn’t have to worry about a speed merchant. Fortunately, there was no Gervinho so the now 31 year old got to do his man marking thing, and did it to near perfection.
Defense 2: Caldara finally got matchtime after coming back from a long injury, but how does he crack the rotation? Romero, Toloi, Djimsiti, and Palomino all have to be ahead of him on the depth chart, and given their strong play and working relationship I don’t see him getting starts anytime soon – which is more of a testament to the aforementioned 4 than him.
Midfield 1: Pessina was all over the place. He covered the double pivot after Freuler exited, and roamed all over the midfield at the start of the match. He kind of had a quasi free role, dissimilar to Papu in that he was allowed to go wherever he pleased, but instead of leading the attack, he just showed up where needed to assist either in the attack or the defense. While he didn’t score or assist, I love his versatility and continues to be blossoming into an integral part of the midfield who can go multiple things.
Midfield 2: The left side was fire, again. Gosens has now scored in 4 (yes 4) straight games, and always puts his defensive work in. And perhaps to everyone’s surprise the new kid on the block Joakim Mæhle got significant minutes, and showed some flashes of brilliance. He moves with ease, nearly scored on his debut, and put a cracking cross into the box with his left foot. The ability for Mæhle on both sides ala Castagne will be vital for the club going forward. While Gosens and Hateboer could probably run a marathon each game, barely tiring, I don’t want them to. Joakim looks like he’s been with the club for months, and its extremely encouraging that he fit in so quickly in his role.
Attack 1: The Colombians are back and at it, especially Duvan. If anyone remembers the dastardly international break Colombia experienced in November, it couldn’t have done anything but shake the confidence of the Muriel-Duvan duo who were thoroughly embarrassed against Uruguay and Ecuador. It was a long climb back up, but both men have turned the corner and are on fantastic goal scoring form. Its even more encouraging to get Duvan scoring, considering everything else he provides to the front of the attack; from assists, winning fouls, winning aerial duels, and his good link-up play. With Duvan scoring, its hard to find a more complete center forward in Serie A. He’s a faster version of Dzeko, and perhaps only Ibra can do similar things – he’s just 10 years older than il Toro.
Attack 2: Josip Ilicic has gone 4 games in a row pulling the offensive strings for Atalanta. I think it’s safe to say he’s back in the saddle. Only two things bother me about the Slovenian king, I’d still wish he wouldn’t go for errant shots, and he’s playing so well Miranchuk can hardly get a sniff of the field – a good problem to have I admit. With both on the top of their game, Josip and Duvan leading the line is a unique thunder and lighting attack that is very difficult to stop, especially with everyone else bombing forward to get a sniff of goal.
Ultimately, a fantastic win and it’s great to get Gollini a cleansheet, which was thoroughly deserved. While Parma are at best a 15th placed team in the league right now, Atalanta still took care of business and won the 3 points they should’ve won them. No dropping points as they did against Spezia and Bologna, and the team looks like their rounding into post Christmas form as they like to do. Onto Calabria to keep the train rolling, Forza La Dea!
