One of Atalanta’s worst fears may be realized this week with the Colombian duo of Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel questionable for this weekend’s match against Fiorentina. Muriel is all but ruled out due to what is being called a serious muscular injury. Duvan’s status, on the other hand, is more up in the air after missing the first two matches of the season due to a knee issue. Regardless an area that was a strength for the club at the beginning of the season now has looming question marks with no easy answers. The departure of Sam Lammers to Eintracht Frankfurt on loan adds even more confusion to the equation, now leaving Atalanta with just one striker option to line up against La Viola, Roberto Piccoli.
Even Piccoli is not 100% probable after suffering an ankle injury on international duty with the U21s. Everything points to Piccoli being able to suit up for the weekend, but it will be something worth monitoring.
Piccoli already came up huge for Atalanta this year, slotting home a Mario Pasalic pass in the waning minutes of the first match of the season against Torino. It was a legendary first goal for his hometown Atalanta, but he’s already being thrust back into the trenches to come up with the goods again.
Overcoming Piccoli’s Deficiencies
Piccoli is still only 20 years old, so it is slightly unfair for him to be playing meaningful minutes for a squad with European intentions. He was able to slot away five goals in limited minutes last year with Spezia, but leading the line for an Atalanta squad is a completely different story. In minimal opportunities watching Piccoli play several things are evident:
- He is very good at moving in space, and has a knack for being in the right place at the right time – always making himself a good target to find in the box
- His finishing is solid – he’s scored six goals in twenty shots in his career (quite a return!)
- He can easily go missing, and can be a liability in build-up and link-up play
The eye test would tell a casual observer that Piccoli often blends in with the scenery during an attacking build-up. Even given his large frame, Piccoli doesn’t play big – and has much more of a poacher’s mentality at this point in his young career. There’s nothing suggesting that he won’t be able to grow this part of his game, but right now he’s not there – and it may be a lot of Gasperini and Atalanta to pick up the slack in areas where he lacks.
Case in point, check out some his statistics from 2020/2021 that are good proxies for good and proper linkup play:
Given Spezia and Atalanta had completely different possession profiles, these are not the most apt comparisons but can still provide valuable insights. In a general sense, Piccoli just isn’t around the ball a whole lot. Thirty-three touches per 90 minutes doesn’t bode well for a single striker setup. This figure could be expected to go up in a side that sees more possession that Spezia, nonetheless Piccoli needs to make himself more present and available to receive passes. Speaking of receiving passes:
Piccoli really suffers under pressure when presented with an opportunity to participate in the offense. His reception rate is in the bottom 10 among strikers, oddly in the same ballpark as a lot of quality Serie A strikers such as: Victor Osimhen, Fabio Quagliarella, and Dusan Vlahovic, but is still a far cry from the Colombians’s efficiency. Again this could be attributed to Spezia being smothered immediately when in attack (more so than a club that prefers to apply pressure rather than receive it), but Piccoli needs to demonstrate that he can be a clean recipient of the ball and dish it off to Malinovskyi, or a flying winger.
Any story can be told or debunked through statistics, so the numbers above need to be taken with a grain of salt – especially in Piccoli’s case given he only played about 700 minutes last year. Nevertheless it still highlights what Atalanta needs from Piccoli to permit the team to function effectively. With de Roon suspended, Gosens most likely injured, and the Colombians out, there are a lot of rocky waters that must be overcome. Some consistent center-forward play would go a long way to bringing some semblance of normalcy to the setup. It’s not now or never for Piccoli, but if he’s healthy positive play from the Bergamo boy can go a long way in determining if he’s going to be a fixture in the Atalanta rotation for the coming years. A goal or two would help to ease some fears, but even better would be some signs that Piccoli can be more than just a poacher. Time to cheer on the Bergamo boy louder than ever, Forza Dea!!!
