If you told me that Cagliari would be missing Joao Pedro, Nahitan Nandez, Keita Balde, and Leonardo Pavoletti for Sunday’s clash, the response to this information would not be ‘is Atalanta going to win?’ but rather ‘how many goals will La Dea win by?’ This couldn’t have been further from the truth! Again the lunchtime kickoff was unforgiving to Atalanta, who couldn’t muster the energy to earn any points against a depleted Cagliari side – losing 2-1. Juan Musso’s red card early in the second half didn’t help proceedings, but Atalanta seemed to have lost the match far before the 50th minute.
Even with a nearly full lineup at his disposal for the first time in weeks, Gian Piero Gasperini interestingly tried to switch things up before the match even started. Yes, Atalanta’ skipper broke rank and set up in a back four defensive formation, but unfortunately his daring tactical switch didn’t pay off like he would have hoped. A beefed up attack, on paper at least, with three attacking midfielders supplanting Luis Muriel was hardly able to bother Alessio Cragno, eventually giving Cagliari the impetus to move forward and take its chances.
And that’s what Cagliari did. Once Juan Musso was sent off, Atalanta still was flying high trying to equalize – and they even did briefly. But as a result, Atalanta was even further exposed at the back. Down one man and playing with two centerbacks, speed and space killed Atalanta who was not able to catch up to former Atalantino Raoul Bellanova, who neatly picked out Gaston Pereiro for the decisive goal.
The same ugly story surfaces again for Atalanta. Space at the back leads to far too many good chances for the opposition. When its happening against the likes of Cagliari, it becomes even more worrisome. Regardless of the opponent, its rash to draw too many conclusions from one game. But when a tactical tweak that is normally not employed by Atalanta leads to such lackluster results, it is probably enough confirmation that La Dea should avoid the back four – save for dire situations. From the start nothing went well for Atalanta today, from both staff and squad alike. A short memory may benefit Atalanta more than anything – but La Dea is getting close to the deadline for dropping unforgivable points truly hurting table position. Sunday’s result stings, but fortunately the boys have two matches in seven days to quickly work out of their funk.
Three Small Keys to Three Big Points – A Review
Get Cagliari Chasing Early- Honestly Atalanta looked lively in the first twenty minutes. The midfield was finding mouthwatering openings in the middle of the pitch, and Atalanta looked due to eventually score. Unfortunately, Walter Mazzari’s men then clamped down in the middle of the pitch, and barely gave Luis Muriel, Mario Pasalic, and Matteo Pessina a sniff in the middle. Proceedings continued to spiral downward, and it forced Atalanta to rush and get sloppy. Not scoring early wasn’t the only problem for Atalanta, but it failing to find the net in that first twenty minutes certainly did not help.
Pick On Cagliari’s Back Three- Atalanta did little to try to expose the rawness of Cagliari’s defense. There were a few chances that Luis Muriel nearly got the better of Matteo Lovato on long balls, but action in the box was quite minimal. Muriel was frequently absent and didn’t have many opportunities to try to cut in the from the left. Similarly both Pasalic and Pessina’s lack of flair made the Islander’s defensive job a bit easier. Additionally the lack of runs coming from Atalanta’s normal back three made La Dea’s tactic easier to read with far less guessing on where the next run or through ball may come from.
Make Someone Not Named Joao Pedro Beat You- Bad research on my part, given that hardly any of Cagliari attackers were available! I guess Atalanta did force Cagliari’s less skilled players to beat them. But gifting them wide open opportunities is way too much of a handicap.
Atalanta Passione’s Match Ratings
Goalkeepers: 5 – A shout out to Francesco Rossi who was thrust into a difficult situation of having to fill in for Juan Musso – but the dud of the match definitely was the Argentinian. Frailties in the buildup were outdone by his egregious red card. Maybe questionable was a bit harsh (he did make contact with the ball before contact with Pereiro!) but still an unforgivable move for a goalkeeper.
Centerbacks: 5.5 – Palomino’s back post magic finally comes through, scoring Atalanta’s first goal in three matches. But Berat Djimsiti’s clumsy handling initiated the breakaway that led to Musso’s red card. It was surprising to see Gasperini opt for the Albanian over Rafael Toloi and Merih Demiral in the back two, a decision the skipper would probably like to have back in retrospect.
Fullbacks: 5 – Davide Zappacosta got beat down all match aerially, and Joakim Maehle’s poor positioning and lack of pace ultimately led to Pereiro’s brace. No fault, I guess, getting burned by Bellanova, but the defensive awareness needs to be higher when he’s playing fullback rather than wingback.
Midfield: 6 – Both Remo Freuler and Teun Koopmeiners were often engaged in trying to spark offense, but everything petered out too quickly. Freuler was interestingly playing further up the pitch – making everything every crowded in the final third. Perhaps four attackers and two static midfielders duking it out for space was a self inflicted wound for Atalanta, who ultimately clogged the pitch for themselves?
Attack: 5 – Muriel was quiet after minute twenty, and an attack that consists of both Pessina and Pasalic now looks problematic. Both players are too similar in their offensive characteristics, with neither possessing enough flair to unlock a clogged midfield.
Attacking Substitutes: 6.5 – Jeremie Boga and Valentin Mihaila both made immediate debuts for Atalanta, and looked lively in their brief minutes. Mihaila’s directness and fearlessness is a fresh take on the match, and I don’t foresee either player having much difficulty getting meaningful minutes over the next few months.
Atalanta Passione’s Man of the Match – Jose Luis Palomino
There’s not a lot of positivity to highlight from Sunday, but Palomino gets the nod purely for his goal. His defense was fine, not spectacular, but acceptable; and his insistence of living by the back post on corner kicks has finally paid off. Numero Seis has been the first choice whenever Gasperini plays four at the back, and he didn’t do anything against Cagliari to hurt this sentiment.
Its crazy that when Atalanta finally gets back to nearly full health, the squad lays an egg. Perhaps everyone is still getting back to fitness, but it feels like Atalanta is creating more questions now than there were prior to the international break. With formation questions, personnel uncertainties, and now maybe another injury to Duvan Zapata – Gasperini has a lot to figure out prior to Thursday. And with Juventus looming on Atalanta’s calendar, there isn’t a lot of time to figure everything out. Hopefully this is just a blip on the radar, and the squad is still trying to recover from the dire situation of missing nearly a full starting XI worth of players. We’ll find out soon enough. But for now, let’s just try to get this game out of our memory and hope for a quick recovery prior to the Coppa Italia. As always, Forza Dea!!!
