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If Pierluigi Gollini was watching Atalanta play today, he undoubtedly thought to himself, “yep, that why Atalanta bought an upgrade over me.” Yes, Juan Musso was that good for Atalanta against Villarreal! Stopping three shots from point blank range, he single-handedly won Atalanta a vital point against the Yellow Submarine from Valencia. Especially right at the end, 30 seconds left in the game, when focus can fade – he made his best stop of the night denying Gerard Moreno from slotting a header off a Parejo corner and saving Atalanta for a 2-2 draw (and perhaps more importantly saving all the Atalanta faithful from agonizing heartbreak).
Musso’s heroics aside, its frustrating that the Argentine’s outfield players called on him to clean up so many errors. Atalanta had good spells of play. But its mistakes often outweighed the positive football – with two errors leading to both of Villarreal’s goals.
Atalanta was severely Jekyll and Hyde today. The boys came out of the tunnel and dominated the first 25 minutes of the match, capped off by Remo Freuler’s nice early goal. But that was it until halftime. At many points, Gasperini and company looked to sit back, allow Villarreal to have more possession, and ultimately passivity and errors under pressure led to Villarreal’s equalizer. It’s unfair to be too harsh on Marten de Roon, as it was his first match of the year (and his pivot mate’s error led to the second goal!), but his errant pass that led to Villarreal’s attack is not made by a match fit Dutchman. While it’s great to have him back in the double pivot, Atalanta needs him to get up to speed. That goes for the rest of the squad responsible for build-up too. Atalanta has often looked bereft of ideas when being pressured, and either it leads to a hoof upfield or an unfortunate error. Freuler and de Roon have not yet gotten their press suppression down pat, but hopefully its coming. And the wildcard in press suppression may just be in the wings – Teun Koopmeiners….
Errors aside, it was not all doom and gloom for the Bergamaschi. They did dominate for spells of the match, and were unfortunate to not have a few juicy chances trouble Villarreal’s defense more. In fact, it is tough to find many complaints with the offense. Malinovskyi and Pessina were lively up front. Zapata assisted Freuler on his goal, and was inches away from a shoulder/neck goal of his own. Even Ilicic and Miranchuk teamed up to unleash Gosens for the equalizer.
It just feels like there is one piece missing for the offense to be running like a well oiled machine. Atalanta was closer tonight – but it looks like it’ll take a few more minutes to get the diesel engine churning. Positively, everyone seems to be contributing offensively – with perhaps the biggest surprise being Davide Zappacosta. In only his second match in his second stint with La Dea, its evident that he is already better form than Joakim Maehle and understands the set-up well. He understands his space and territory on the right, and while also being a better defender than Maehle, he looks very comfortable when charging down the right hand side. His crossing could use some work – but if he starts dialing in his crosses (he loves to strike them with power on the ground) – he may just be the man to unlock the offense. Now that Gosens is on the scoresheet, and looking for blood, its looking time for the wingback connection to revive itself.
Man of the Match – Juan Musso
There’s no question or debate today. Juan Musso demonstrated why Atalanta was willing to spend 20 million euros on a goalkeeper. None of his saves showed sublime acrobatics, but rather they were stops that came from elite reflex and anticipation. Like a hitter who feasts on 100 MPH fastballs just because he can react so quickly, Musso did the football equivalent of scorching a high 90s heater into the gap – multiple times. His reflexes are unteachable. While he’s not elite at everything (passing and distribution aside), his shot stopping ability overshadows everything else – and Atalanta finally has a goalkeeper worthy of a Champion’s League side.
As mentioned above, Atalanta is close – you can feel it. A draw is probably a fair result considering how both teams played, and it a was a vital point on a day that saw Manchester United lose to BSC Young Boys on a gut wrenching last minute play. It’s still to be determined what will get Atalanta firing on all cylinders – but it’s still important to remember how early in the season it is. Four matches doesn’t dictate how a season will turn out, but it can offer insight into positive or worrisome trends.
For example, its evident to most that Ilicic and Malinovskyi cannot be on the pitch at the same time. Gasperini proved it today, taking out the Ukrainian before bringing on the Slovenian. Secondly, Teun Koopmeiners already looks ready for the big time and should be able to comfortably slot into the double pivot. His Charles Barkley like box out to win a bouncing ball today was divine. Finally, Atalanta is inching closer to finding its best attacking lineup – Duvan up front with Malinovskyi and Pessina in support – with Zappacosta and Gosens flying through to link up.
There was some tinkering out of necessity to begin the year, but this lineup looks the most dangerous out of anything Atalanta has used in attack so far. Today was the most attacking positive match seen this year, following up nicely on the last thirty or so minutes from the Fiorentina match that employed a very similar attack. Don’t sleep on La Dea yet, be glad to take an all important point from a good Villarreal team, and get ready for lift off, it’s coming! As always, Forza Dea!
