Gasperini to Retegui and Zaniolo: “Learn the Goddess”

Be a team. Indeed: be more of a team. Gian Piero Gasperini knows no other way to become the Atalanta that everyone is imagining: a very serious candidate for the scudetto. He has always been a little less so, faithful like his leaders to the prudence of those who fear too easy illusions and excessive pressure; but also to the realism of those who know the material they train better than anyone else. And since the Goddess’ path is already quite paved with celebrations, on Saturday he preferred to look at the half-empty glass of Cagliari’s victory; do not underestimate the impression that at this moment only “a good portion of the team” is ready for certain objectives, but not all of them.

Clear messages

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So his message at the end of the match was loud and clear: a telegram for everyone, because when in doubt it is always better to keep the entire team on edge, given that anyone who didn’t make a mistake in Cagliari can do it again; particular recipients, however, a couple. The coach did not mention names – he almost never does – but the exegesis of his statements leads with little margin of error to understanding who he was referring to. In particular to Mateo Retegui and Nicolò Zaniolo: one for each half, two different sides of the same coin of dissatisfaction with the manager. Those non-pessimistic concepts are reserved above all for them, if anything a little disappointed and still a little angry, like his gestures and his looks in the last minutes of the match, tarantulato in front of the bench. Certainly not resigned thoughts, on the contrary. Phrases like “we are not ready with everyone for important goals”; “the others must be led by those who are already ready”; “to get to the end we need maturity on everyone’s part”, Gasperini had chosen, and spent, to obtain another leap in quality over time.

the attitude

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The coach also expects purely footballing progress, and in this – for example – Brescianini’s performance was lower than expected: but we are talking about someone adapted to the role of attacking midfielder, when not external attacker, and therefore we may not find the position and times of insertion into the offensive maneuver. But it’s in his attitude that he doesn’t compromise: this is why he didn’t like some of Retegui’s behaviors, almost all of them, and it was no coincidence that he was replaced after 45′; and some shortcomings, just some, of Zaniolo.

mateo’s hunger

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The center forward came from two consecutive benches: already a sign of some doubts on the part of Gasp. No failures: just that in Atalanta there are no untouchables, we are left out and this applies to everyone. But precisely because those exclusions had been in some way a message, the coach expected one to return from Retegui. And instead, beyond a tiring and penalizing team offensive phase for him in particular, he saw him without hunger. Almost anonymous, detached. Unwilling to the ferocious will with which he quickly conquered everyone. Not even the enthusiasm that, for example, led him to miss the 3-1 against Milan and, worse, the 3-3 against Real, once he took over. Almost as if the 14 goals already scored are an opening for unlimited credit, regardless. With Gasperini there are none: he has always had the team’s centre-forward, and even Scamacca has become even more so than he already was “naturally”, also having different technical characteristics from Retegui.

Nicolò’s sacrifice

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As for Zaniolo, beyond the goal – beautiful, punctual, as a player who “feels” the door – I was also encouraged by his arrival on the pitch precisely because of his proactive attitude, not only for the signals sent in terms of his condition, certainly growing. He was liking the boy: it was the “after” that Gasp didn’t like. And we’re not just talking about the celebration, which he chose to criticize more to avoid “environmental” problems in the future than because he found it so serious. That selfishness in a sprint towards the goal two against one that would have closed the match: badly wasted, instead of favoring the very lonely Lookman, due to the excessive desire to end the afternoon in glory with a brace. That indolence in bringing the first pressure or in any case returning to the defensive phase, when Cagliari was attempting their final attacks. Gasperini had taken a risk, to put Zaniolo (and Samardzic) in early: in the 65th minute – almost half an hour with the risk of being left with ten men – he had already exhausted the substitutions, but with the tacit request to have, when necessary, a sacrificial contribution from of everyone. Above all, he didn’t see it in Zaniolo, which is why he said at the end: “The victory is ok, but I would have been more satisfied if we had defended with everyone. Even the end of a match we have to do as a team.” And you have to know how to get into it, in a team like Atalanta.