I always enjoy going to yoga after watching an Atalanta game. Normally I’d want it to be a nice detox to keep the good vibes going after a well deserved three points. Nowadays its just plain ol’ therapy. Its the perfect way to sweat out all the agitation and angst that comes from watching Atalanta continuously play without balance. Balance – that ideal tenet of a good yoga practice. It doesn’t matter if one side of the body is more flexible than the other – if you stay strong internally, and breathe, then the yoga flows through regardless.
Oddly enough Atalanta has put together a pretty good antithesis of a good yoga practice. The squad, on paper, is putting together seemingly winnable defensive and offensive performances. But the performances lack conviction, heart, an air for the unpredictable, and there seems to be an apparent fear of failure. Just like a yoga practice in which you go through the motions, Atalanta just feels like its missing a purpose, or an intention for what it wants from each game and how it wants to play.
Monday against Salernitana was no different from the humdrum performances Atalanta has recently put forth. The squad was able to sneak out a one-one draw, earning a point in a match in which it was thoroughly outclassed. Fair play to Salernitana, who was clearly the better team and played with fire in its belly, but Atalanta should be able to comfortably handle sides on the brink of relegation. But again, the balance isn’t there. Atalanta goes out and looks like its running through the offensive and defensive motions without any real goal in mind. Its too late for Atalanta to find its purpose on the season now, but the squad will at least have plenty of time to do some soul searching in a few weeks.
Atalanta Passione Match Ratings
Goalkeeper: 7.5 – Juan Musso did his best to ensure that Salernitana couldn’t put multiple balls into his net.
Defense: 6 – Milan Djuric was able to handle all the muscle Merit Demiral, Jose Palomino, and Giorgio Scalvini could throw at him. Simone Verdi was also able to run rampant in the channels.
Midfield: 6 – Remo Freuler was a sparkplug moving forward, but neither he nor Marten de Roon had a third gear to hang with Salernitana’s midfield.
Attack: 5 – The Colombians were absent, and Jeremie Boga still cannot figure out what to do once he gets inside the 18 yard box.
Substitutes: 7 – Ruslan Malinovskyi and Mario Pasalic saved Atalanta’s day, when force once they decided to do something different offensively. Amazingly, it resulted in a goal.
Atalanta Passione Man of the Match – Juan Musso
Juan Musso was busy, including stopping eight shots. He looks to be getting better and better in his control of his box, and deftly handled several errant crosses into the box, without waiting for permission from his defense to defend his zone. His biggest highlight was stopping a Lassana Coulibaly header which had an 80% chance of finding the back of the net.
Other Match Odds and Ends
Atalanta xG: 1.97 – Salernitana xG 1.17: This certainly doesn’t feel like how the run of play went. Atalanta xG tally was helped by two 0.4 chances that neither Duvan Zapata nor Joakim Maehle really had a chance of converting. Zapata’s headed chance wouldn’t have been touched if he was an inch shorter, and the ball Joakim Maehle tried to get on the end of was far too high for him to realistically get a good foot to.
Mario Pasalic has the finishing chops of an elite poacher. He has now scored in three straight games, and his goal this match, converted from a tight angle, increased from an 18% chance to 91% chance of finding the net thanks to his pristine finishing.
With three matches left to go, Atalanta is level on points with Fiorentina and three points behind both Roman sides. As dirty as Monday’s match felt, a vital point was still earned today, and could eventually make a difference in European places – if Atalanta is able to get in touch with its chakras and find its purpose for playing.
As mentioned above, there isn’t a whole lot of time to figure everything out. If the squad does figure it out, it’ll definitely not be because of the same old tactic Gasperini has thrown out for the past several months. Let’s hope there’s a change of plans over the next few weeks – and as always, Forza Dea!!!
