Date: August 7, 2021
Time: 16:00 CET
While Atalanta has already had a slew of preseason matches, Saturday’s encounter with London’s West Ham United feels like the first true friendly of the year. Preseason Cups are the norm these days, and West Ham has hit the bandwagon too, creating the Betway Cup back in 2015. West Ham have never secured its own cup, and Atalanta (while it is certainly not Saturday’s priority) will aim to keep that dubious streak alive for the Hammers.
The first ever meeting between the two clubs, both possess European ambitions alongside strong performances in their respective leagues – so this should be a good test for La Dea as the club prepares for it’s Serie A campaign beginning in two weeks. A victory is hardly anything to write home about in a preseason friendly, but there are certainly some things to look for that may signal Atalanta’s momentum going into the match against Torino.
Given most of Atalanta’s addition and subtraction has come in defense, I’m most curious about is how the back 3 and the keeper fare. This will be the first time seeing Juan Musso in Atalanta’s colors, and the first opportunity to gauge more closely is ball playing ability. Yes, not a whole lot can be garnered from one outing, but at least it will set at least a minor expectation. More than anything, it’ll be thrilling to see Atalanta’s most expensive non-striker signing of all-time donning the gloves and providing the shot stopping shots we need between the posts.
Second it will be a good opportunity to see how our new defensive signings get on, in Matteo Lovato and Giuseppe Pezzella. I’d be shocked to see Demiral in black and blue on Saturday, but you never know?!? However, I do anticipate both Italians to play, but perhaps not start, after only weeks acclimating into the Gasperini system. Saturday will be a good indicator of how they’re meshing with the club and perhaps provide some sort of timeline on in-season contribution. Especially for Pezzella. Given the struggles Atalanta had in finding a capable backup to Robin Gosens last year, seeing if Pezzella understands the system and his role as a wingback can be an early indicator if he’s worthy of getting a spot start here and there to spell the German.
Beyond the defense, I don’t really know what else to look for. We know Duvan, Lucho, and Rusland will eventually be firing on all cylinders again. Plus there’s a really good chance that Piccoli and Colley won’t even be with the club this season, so I’m not too keen on monitoring their success against a top side in England (although it would still be good to see them play well). Ultimately, we get Atalanta football again, which is what I’m more excited about than anything else! It’s a friendly, but there will be overreactions galore being thrown around, and what can be better than that? I hope everyone enjoys the match before the serious business starts, and as always Forza Dea!
