Coincidentally, I’m writing this article now as I sit in my aunt and uncle’s safari themed TV room, starting at a giraffe statue and now very ugly looking Zebra pillows. Quite fittingly – in the wrong way – that zebra themes are now haunting my day-dreams and impacting my writing! I thought if you’re a zebra you’d be out prancing around, running like Kevin Lasagna, but I guess if you’re Udinese loafing around like a hippopotamus is more fitting and a change in nickname may be in order!
In an incredibly frustrating match that saw Atalanta draw for the second straight match against a team barely holding off relegation, Udinese put together a stingy defensive effort to hold off an Atalanta attack that really didn’t come close to scoring a difference making 2nd goal. In fact Udinese was so comfortable flailing around on the floor, only 47% of the match minutes was the ball in play! That may make sense if 6 or 7 goals were scored and celebrations are taken into account, but there were only 2 goals, and still such a low percentage. Frustrating may not be strong enough of a word. Unfortunately, it marks a repeated trend for Atalanta really struggling against teams that sit back and invite their offensive pressure. Now against Sampdoria, Genoa, and Udinese the parked bus has worked quite exquisitely against the fiery Atalanta attack, and is something that Atalanta needs to look to solve for the 2nd half of the year.
I’m not entirely sure what the solution is to dissect a bus, but there has to be one. You see Juventus and Inter consistently apply what seems like brutal pressure at the end of games to draw equal or go ahead, and considering Atalanta has at least an equivalent attack to Italy’s giants, one may expect La Dea should be having defenses quivering in their boots as they try to hold on for 90 minutes. But oppositely opposing defenses look quite intent on holding strong – and in all honesty – watching the games you never get a warm and fuzzy feeling that Atalanta are going to find an equalizing goal.
Two things come to mind: First, is the offensive style of Ilicic. While Ilicic is other worldly more often than not, a lot of his offensive magic comes from finesse and juking out opponents – and its tough to do a lot when you immediately have 3 defenders breathing down your neck. The lack of directness from Ilicic, while frequently beneficial, may allow a defense to shore up its positioning, denying Ilicic a chance at creating, and marking his dangerous passing options (Zapata, Muriel, a flying Gosens, or a running Toloi). A more direct style from Miranchuk may work better, but at the same time Lesha still hasn’t shown comfort or assertiveness to take on a defense the same way Ilicic has or Papu had done before.
Second, is Atalanta’s propensity to try and walk the ball into the net. For a team that has guys that can finish with their noggins like Gosens and Zapata, why not try a few more crosses into the box at height rather than trying to dribble through the 18 yard box every time? Maehle was close with a cross that Musso adeptly snagged; but if it was just a foot higher, Gosens could have been right on the end of a sitting duck finish. I’d just like to see them switch it up a bit. While crosses aren’t high percentage chances, it at least gives the defense something different to look at and try to defend against. A few more crosses to keep a defense honest may open up the passing lanes in the middle more, and allow for runs and eventually goals through the middle of the box. Just don’t be predictable, and don’t try to be too cute and precise with everything (Malinovskyi had a perfect chance for a shot on goal 10 yards away, but went for a joke of a back heel instead, doh!)
Overall 2 out of 6 points against Genoa and Udinese stings, especially with Milan coming up this weekend. Chances should hopefully be there given Milan will not sit back, so hopefully we are able to capitalize when the opportunity presents itself. I don’t mean for this to be a doom and gloom article; it just has become quite evident what Atalanta’s issues are at the moments, and I imagine people a lot smarter than me are working to address them. I do imagine Gasp’s staff and myself are on the same page with Pessina needing to be paired with Ilicic, given the different looks he gives defenses and his overall work rate. We’ll see if I’m on queue and Pessina starts up front, hopefully bringing 3 points against the Serie A leaders. With that, everything would feel like its back on target. As always, Forza La Dea!
