Sooner or later this seesaw mentality is gonna come back to bite the team right? Three points is all fine and dandy – and there were enough moments of quality for a deserved win. But at the end of the day the momentarily lapses of fluidity and responsibility make situations much worse than they need to be. Teetering on the brink of a bouncing ball being the difference between three points versus one point is a dangerous perch to live on – and on Sunday Atalanta somehow found a piece of fortified floorboard that prevented the ground from falling out beneath them.
It wasn’t pretty, but it should’ve been easy. Besides some heroics from Dragowski, Atalanta could’ve had at least five goals, but that’s why you play the match and don’t base the standings on xGoals – way too many things can happen to decide a match. From Duvan forgetting how to round a keeper, to Pasalic either being brilliant or a dud in finishing, to Vlahovic relentlessly pressing on to score – there was just enough class demonstrated by Atalanta to stave off an absolutely surging Serbian who is the only player seemingly keeping Fiorentina relevant.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom, as both Zapata and Malinovskyi tied up their laces to ball today. If Gasperini hadn’t already given the Ukrainian the keys to the car, he has to after today. The man is on fire, and every corner, dink, and pass looks threatening. He loses the ball much less frequently now, and even though he’s still itching to uncork a shot, he smartly knows when to dish off to a better option. The man’s tied for 3rd in the league in assists, and he barely played in the first half of the season. I cannot find odds for Serie A’s top assist earner, but if you can – putting money on Ruslan has to be a good bet as he trails the top spot by one assist.
His partner in crime today came through when he was needed most, and demonstrated that muscle and power is a good way to score goals. In fact it worked for him twice. In an alternate universe, one where Zapata is more in touch with his inner chakras, I think he scores 4 this game. Not every shot needs to be blasted low and hard – as he’s now found out twice against Dragowski, once against Courtois, and once against Allisson. Muriel’s gotta give Duvan a nice little lesson on finesse. Not every shot has to be like Randy Johnson trying to strike out every hitter imaginable. Even Jamie Moyer got his K’s, and sometime a nicely placed shot or a dink is equally effective. Still, I’m not gonna take away from the man, who beyond his scoring ran circles around Fiorentina’s back three not just with his shots, but his runs and nearly connected crosses.
On the flip side – today brought a lot to light for Atalanta’s back line:
One: Vlahovic is a top five striker in the league. If you look at Lukaku, Ibrahimovic, Zapata, Muriel, Immobile, Lautaro, Osimhen, and Vlahovic, the Serbian absolutely falls somewhere in this list, and in my estimation the argument could be made that he’s top five already, and if he continues his torrid pace to end the year is top 3. Holding him off well in the first half was a good victory for Romero and the defense.
Two: Without Romero, we really struggle to defend ferocious strikers. And Vlahovic, in my estimation, is the most ferocious and difficult to guard in Serie A. He’s equally as quick as Lukaku, strong as both Lukaku and Ibra, and is higher energy than both of them. When Romero came off in the 2nd half, it was the Dusan coming out party, and he was able to get into much more dangerous areas than the first half. Palomino played him fairly well, but La Dea don’t have a defenseman beyond Romero who can match that ferocity. Fortunately, the upcoming Juventus match will be the Ronaldo stepover show; and Romero should not be nearly as missed given the less aggressive nature of the defensive battle that will ensue.
Three: Gosens looks a little lost in a back four setting. I don’t think he was nearly as effective until Atalanta decided to make 2nd half substitutions and bring on Maehle, shifting Toloi into the back three. He probably still has to adjust to his new situation, but both the German and his counterpart Maehle have had the most difficult time adjusting to the new tactic. In a way that’s not a surprise, as their role in a back three is difficult to learn to begin with – so it only makes sense that it would be challenging for them to learn a new playing style on the fly. It’s still to be determined how Atalanta and Gasperini handle the fullback, wingback situation – because both of them should be featuring.
Eight games left, four points separate places two through five. It’s too dang close to call, and current form is a poor indicator of how the standing will wind up. Knowing this, Atalanta just needs to win, and sort out their absentmindedness. With Malinovskyi at the helm dictating tempo, the final piece of the puzzle to secure Europe is to play strong for 90 minutes. Fiorentina had their way for a good 20-30 minutes of this match, and it threw Atalanta off what they do best, attack. Minimize mistakes, no dumb backpasses, and getting back to fundamentals like covering opposition in the defending third will hopefully be enough for Atalanta to see themselves through to the top 4. At least there’s no glaring holes on the club to address, and with the team near full fitness, minor hiccups and blips on the radar can hopefully be ironed in training now that matches are being played once a week. It was nervy, but fortunately Sunday’s points belong to Atalanta. With a brutal stretch coming up in the next two weeks, points today were huge, and however ugly it may have been, it was vital to earn them! As always, Forza Dea!!
