Introduction
Part 1 – Velocity
Part 2 – Pressing
Part 3 – The Libero
The first three parts of the series delved into a more theoretical approach that hopefully laid a solid foundation as to why Atalanta should set up in the manner illustrated throughout these articles. Next, we’ll dive into the meat and potatoes of the tactic. Specifically, we’ll look into roles for each of the units on the field, fluidity between positions, and how speed; pressing; and defensive safety can be wrapped in a comprehensive package, and create offense.
The Formation
Nothing here should look to crazy to the casual Atalanta supporter. The barebones of the setup is still a 3-4-2-1. Moving off a back three would be a non-starter in a Gasperini system, and even more problematic with the central defender required to take on more unique responsibilities than his counterparts. Otherwise, every other position on the pitch is more or less the same. The double pivot still will act as the pulse in the middle of the pitch, but with a slight twist – there will be more fluidity between the defense and the midfielders to alternate positions depending on what the flow of the match dictates (more to come on this later).
The wingbacks will still be required to fly up the field to assist in pinning teams deep in their own areas, as well as offering essential support in the offensive buildup. Up front the attack is the same, one striker and two attacking oriented midfielders. While the personnel may be the same, the responsibilities will vary with attackers required to be the foundation of the systematic press.
The Attack
There’s no better place to begin than the first layer of the pyramid that will ideally be front and center of the action. As mentioned above, beyond goal scoring duties and playmaking, the frontline will need to be on point with its positioning to guarantee that opposition struggles to make real headway onto the opposite side of the pitch. Let’s always keep in mind that so many possessions fizzle out devoid of any real attacking promise. An active and lively front line can continually be making contributions with positioning and aggressiveness in trying to win balls off the defense. Frankly, Atalanta’s current set up is not too different. Ruslan Malinovskyi, Matteo Pessina, Mario Pasalic, and Luis Muriel all rate well when it comes to pressuring defenses; Duvan Zapata and Josip Ilicic, however, offer less. All three forwards will have to be on point to ensure the press is working.
The photo above hopefully gives a visual description of how the attackers fit into pressing scenarios. The example assumes a ball is being worked onto the left flank, but the attack eventually peters out without working the ball into the box. The visualization shows how everyone starts to fade over to the left, shortening the pitch for the defense. The left attacking midfielder is already part of the action and pressuring the ball with assistance from the left wing and the closest midfielder. However, the other two attackers’ roles are the most important on the pitch right now. Let’s assume the opponent is trying to work the ball out of the circle. The attacking midfielder, central midfielder, and wingback have all the immediate forward areas covered, but the lone striker and opposite flank attacking midfielder can truly put the press into a death grip. Even without too much pressing!
It’s all about positioning. Most likely there will be an outlet for the opposition to pass backwards to relieve stress off the flank, or to pass sideways into the middle of the pitch. The sideways pass is risky for the opposition, and either the opposite central midfielder or center forward can be covering that area to scoop up the ball and punish the mistake. But even getting up and putting pressure on the last lines of defense can reduce the passing options available for an opponent; done rightly, leading to a pass back to the keeper, a hoof, or ideally a turnover.
A close example of this unfolded last year when Atalanta took on Hellas Verona – setting up Teun Koopmeiners’s for an unopposed long shot that was deflected past the keeper. While the shot from Koopmeiners was fine, everything was set up by pristine positioning forcing a defensive mistake. In the still frame below, the roles are reversed a bit, but everything is set up perfectly to force Verona into a mistake.
I’d watch the goal on Youtube to see how it unfolds, and try to keep these points in mind. The offensive play ends for Atalanta when Zapata is displaced after trying to dribble past a Verona defender. However, he doesn’t stop his progress, and he quickly tries to win the ball back. His position alone takes out three Verona passing outlets. On top of this Aleksei Miranchuk is close enough to his marker to prevent a side field cross, and Hans Hateboer puts the icing on the cake by taking out two defenders as passing options, as well as the keeper. Realistically the man on the ball has one passing option, in green, who in the heat of the moment is difficult to spot. Given that the ballplayer has insufficient time to make a sound decision, he rashly tries to hoof it out of the area, where it eventually falls to an exquisitely placed Teun Koopmeiners. The rest is history, but this goal came more from pressing and positioning than anything else. The only adjustment I would make: I’d like to see Josip Ilicic looking to track back and cover on the flank immediately when he saw the ball was lost – but we can’t have everything!
Now tying this back to the formation at the top; Zapata is exactly where he needs to be applying pressure on the ball, as is Miranchuk. This situation veers a bit from the template, as Hans Hateboer’s position has him acting as the center forward. But a lot of the beauty lies here.
Hateboer’s aggression to move forward and participate in the attack immediately prepares him to be in a good pressing position. The ball cannot be played backwards to safety for a keeper hoof, and the ballplayer is out of options. The synergy here is beautiful and abundant, so let’s recap! First, the attack doesn’t relent after giving up possession; second, other attacking players aggression puts them in good positions; and third, a low percentage chance turned the subsequent possession into a high one all because of how the press was set up. And it only took four Atalanta players to isolate nine Verona players!
That’s why the press is so important for the attack. Goals will come eventually thanks to skill, but when combining skill with favorable positions, and trying to play one or two possessions into the future, rewards will be more fruitful and frequent.
The Wingbacks
Atalanta is probably the wingback capital of Europe, having flipped the likes of Leonardo Spinazzolla, Andrea Conti, Timothy Castagne, and Robin Gosens for big money moves at one point or another. Beyond the smart business around its wingbacks, La Dea’s wide men area also synonymous with flying runs forward and oftentimes being further forward than the attack. The wingback-to-wingback goal may not be as frequent now that Robin Gosens has moved on, but it doesn’t mean that the wingbacks will be any less important to the buildup. As we saw above, their wingback’s pure energy can get them in good positions to cut off passing lanes. And essentially that’s their role in the system – to ensure that the opposition cannot complete the initial pass up the field that can deflate the press.
The famous Malinovskyi versus Inter goal that I have mentioned time after time perfectly illustrates the wingback’s role in the press. In the still frame, Robin Gosens’s position on Matteo Darmian is perfect so that he cannot progress the ball forward to the dangerous Nicolo Barella – who already has good separation from Marten de Roon. Instead Darmian chooses, probably incorrectly, to bypass Gosens and de Roon and go directly to his frontline.
Unfortunately for Inter, Jose Luis Palomino is already there waiting to pounce and set up the goal scoring counterattack. In retrospect, Darmian probably should have played the ball back to his defense who had a lot of space to reset the attack, but Gosens’s pressure and Inter’s probable gameplan forced the incorrect decision. As long as he can ensure the ball isn’t progressed up the pitch, he has done a satisfactory job. But of course, to be in a position to contribute, the wings have to get forward themselves. That’s why it’s essential they’re always involved in the offense, not just to score and assist, but also be correctly positioned to pin the defense.
As I sat to write this article, it continually surprised me how much mind my kept going back to the press and positioning. So much danger can be set up from a good press that offense is a byproduct of it. Not just these two goals, but even more illustrations that are coming up in the next article. It’s a fool’s errand to tell Josip Ilicic to dribble better, or Duvan Zapata to hit more accurate headers – but giving tangible instructions about press and positioning can make a world of difference, and most likely make attacker’s seemingly primary task easier – scoring goals and creating chances. I hope seeing how the attack contributes in the system has you amped for the next part of the series that works further back on the pitch, and the overlapping duties that defenders and midfielders undertake. Until then, Forza Dea!
