I knew there was an ominous omen looming over this game. I missed the opening kickoff, and sure enough when I go to turn the television on around the 55th second mark, Lecce head already earned a relatively dangerous free kick in Atalanta’s area. While that free kick did not amount to a goal scoring chance, it encapsulated the tone that Lecce brought to the match. The game was played within Lecce’s boundaries and Atalanta was just on for the ride.
And of course the score followed suit. Suffering a 2-1 defeat for the second time this season against the Giallorossi, it is tough to pinpoint exactly where everything went wrong – rather we just succumb to the fact that it did. 522 completed passes, 70% possession, 10 shots on goal, and winning the expected goal output by over 1 goal could suggest that Atalanta got “Football Managered” in this one – but it certainly doesn’t feel like it played out that way. Ademola Lookman’s scratched goal for offsides was the only real moment it felt like Atalanta was prepared to take over the match. Everything else was just had a “throw it against the all and see what sticks” vibe.
Ultimately the credit has to go to Lecce and the visitor’s excellent performance. Albeit a bit of a lucky goal, yet still wonderful strike by Ceesay, made it far easier for Lecce to set up its effective press and retreat tactic. Lecce picked the most opportune moments to pounce at Atalanta’s build-up, and it resulted in La Dea players doing so much of what they did last year in the attack third: standing around. Even with 10 shots on goal, only Wladimiro Falcone’s excellent last minute save against Luis Muriel, felt like the only save that could have put the keeper in a spot of bother. Everything else from Atalanta was tepid, and now the squad is back to the drawing board after failing to ride the momentum of last week’s strong performance.
Victories from Lazio and Milan (at a minimum) have ensured Atalanta is out of the Champion’s League spots for at least one week. And now failure to secure a victory sets up a must win game for Atalanta against its Lombardian and UCL rivals next week. Not the most envious position to be in.
Three Key Takeaways
One- Lunchtime matches are not the most fun for American Atalanta supporters. Waking up at 6:30, or even earlier for folks further west, is obviously a challenge on the weekends. Being greeted with sluggish performances makes those rise before dawn moments even worse. But I don’t think us American supporters are the only ones struggling with the early kickoffs. Atalanta has played three lunch time kickoffs this season, dropping points in both home clashes (having it be against newly promoted sides just adds insult to injury).
Guess what happened last year in Atalanta’s four lunch time kickoffs? One away victory, one away loss, one home loss (to relegated Cagliari), and one home draw. Four out of twelve points. Obviously the sample is small, but I don’t think its crazy to think that Atalanta’s home woes get further amplified by the early start time.
Hear me out quick. Routine is always the name of the game, but when you’re traveling on the road – the mind understands the changes that come with a road trip, and it adjusts accordingly. Atalanta probably has such a strong road record thanks to its ability to be resilient. But something weird just happens when the routine at home is slightly altered. Even for me waking up at 6:30 and writing an article before noon feels strange. Just imagine the players who are so used to arriving at Zingonia or the Gewiss at a specific time each day and then suddenly have to move their clocks forward to adjust to such a funky kickoff time. Plus playing in high noon sun (Atalanta hasn’t had a Serie A afternoon match since January 4th) just adds to the delusion. All of a sudden, you’re playing at home, but it doesn’t feel like you’re actually at home, and it becomes much more challenging to get off firing.
I’m not excusing the players, because this is something that professionals should be able to overcome, but the early kickoff sluggishness feels more present given the woes Atalanta has at home every year. Atalanta doesn’t have any more lunch time kickoffs on the docket through April 8th, but I imagine it will have at least one more. Hopefully that time out the club won’t be its own worst enemy and show up fresh from the first minute.
Because this match was lost by Atalanta in the first five minutes.
Two- I wish statistics were kept on second balls won, as this may have been the only metric (besides the final score) that Lecce would have won. And it all came down to the perfect midfield play of Morten Hjulmand. Marten de Roon’s absence was sorely missed in this one, as he would normally be the aggressor to cancel out a player like Hjulmand. Neither Ederson nor Teun Koopmeiners played poorly per say, but the Dane was always one step ahead of both his midfield opponents.
Hjulmand has severely bothered me in both of these matches, meaning he is just the type of hard nosed midfielder that Gian Piero Gasperini should want. I hope Atalanta does everything possible to secure Hjulmand next year, because I think he has the makings of becoming an excellent vice-de Roon. Skill wise he may already be better, but a year or two of tutelage under the Dutchman could do wonders.
Three- As everyone hoped, the trident did start together. Unfortunately on Sunday it was as if Gian Piero Gasperini went back to the forgery, messed with a nearly flawless shape, and added in his own zigs and zags just because he could. This alignment wound up with Jeremie Boga playing some strange trequartista role, Ademola Lookman awkwardly trying to generate offense on the left, and Rasmus Hojlund quarantined off into the right flank.
This isn’t the first time that offense has failed to get moving when the trident is on the pitch together – and normally it has to do with Lookman not occupying the right wing. None of the attacking three were in-sync, and the whole offense suffered as a result. There were far too many missed passes in final third, and it was the first match in awhile in which everyone was running into each other. I doubt the trident plays against Milan, but next time it suits up together, I think we should all hope for a vanilla, but effective: Boga LW, Lookman RW, Hojlund CF.
Nick’s Match Ratings
Juan Musso: 5 – Ceesay’s shot was almost perfectly placed, but when a guy not name Ruslan Malinovskyi is shooting from 25+ yards, those shots should still be stopped.
Rafael Toloi: 6.5
Merih Demiral: 5.5 – The Turk immediately came off after Lecce scored off a corner – leading me to believe that he was somehow most responsible for the second goal. Fair? Maybe. But as the center of the back three, it should be his area to clear out. There were miles of open space in the box for Alexis Blin to waltz right in unmarked.
Berat Djimsiti: 6.5
Davide Zappacosta: 6
Joakim Maehle: 6.5 – Maehle was one of Atalanta’s busiest players, and for a while one of the only offensive funnels in the first half. He strangely moved into the central midfield late in the match, but for an offense that didn’t have many positives, he was a small one.
Ederson: 6.5 – Some nearly disastrous blunders, coupled with tidy passing, cancels out into an average match. I still think he benefits from a little more cover with a third midfielder.
Teun Koopmeiners: 6
Jeremie Boga: 6
Ademola Lookman: 6
Rasmus Hojlund: 6.5 – His insane work rate pays off again with one of the more freakish goals we’ve recently seen. I only wished he saved it for a match in which the goal would have been more valuable!
Brandon Soppy: 6 – Its been awhile since we’ve seen the young Frenchman, and his performance on the pitch embodied that. It became his duty to play as a quasi-right winger, and while the intent was there – he just wasn’t able to get anything off.
Luis Muriel: 6
Jose Luis Palomino: 6.5
Lukas Vorlicky: 6.5 – After being on the squad sheet numerous times, it is finally a debut for the Czech! He definitely has a mentality to get forward and attack, and he was ultimately one of the brighter spots for the final twenty minutes of the match. It would be great to see him a few more times this season, as he looks to offer direct running that could come in handy.
Nick’s Man of the Match- Rafael Toloi
Toloi wins by default more than anything else here. Although the captain did lead the squad in shot attempts (five). While impressive, it should be concerning to Gasperini that his center back had more shots than Boga, Hojlund, and Lookman combined!
In what should have been a match to build momentum before Atalanta’s clash against Milan next week, Atalanta finds itself playing would’ve, could’ve, should’ve. On a different day, maybe Falcone doesn’t make a few saves, and Atalanta’s high quantity, yet low quality, ten shots on target looks more impressive than the box score would actually dictate. Instead we’re left wondering how Atalanta loses twice to a newly promoted side for the first time in a season since who knows when. And there’s no one out there to blame besides the players performing in the personnel coming up with the match plan. Fortunately, there are only a few opponents left on the schedule who will resort to shelling up and forcing Atalanta to beat the low block.
But still, matches against Cremonese, Empoli, Spezia, and Salernitana are opponents that could conceivably setup insanely defensive against Atalanta and just say “give us your best shot.” It was Atalanta’s demise last year, and hopefully the boys can rectify the situation so it isn’t La Dea’s demise again this year. Back to the drawing board, so let’s go get it against Milan! As always, Forza Dea!
