Roberto D’Aversa has admitted Parma were “no match” for Atalanta and said the 5-0 defeat will help them “understand their own dimension”.
After a run of four games unbeaten, D’Aversa revealed his players were pulled back to reality as the Dea ran riot with the Crociati on Monday.
“We knew about the difficulties we faced against Atalanta,” he told DAZN. “Today there was no game from the first minute until the end.
Roberto D’Aversa has admitted Parma were “no match” for Atalanta and said the 5-0 defeat will help them “understand their own dimension”.
After a run of four games unbeaten, D’Aversa revealed his players were pulled back to reality as the Dea ran riot with the Crociati on Monday.
“We knew about the difficulties we faced against Atalanta,” he told DAZN. “Today there was no game from the first minute until the end.
“This match must make us understand our own dimension and we have to return with our feet on the ground and think about the match against Lecce.”
D’Aversa claimed the energy Atalanta were showing during the full 90 minutes can’t be stopped only by the correct formation.
“From a technical or tactical point of view, it’s not the formation that will help you stop a team like Atalanta,” he said. “It’s the interpretation that goes into the game, regardless of the system.
“We started with three strikers and a trident in the middle. Today, there were difficulties both with the skill and the strength of the opponent. They have great physique and quality. Both [Duvan] Zapata and [Ruslan] Malinovskiy entered.
“We were all were below par, including myself and then we are met by games like the one today.”
“The regret is to concede goals in situations when we were building up our play and we played against an opponent that were everywhere on the pitch.”
He admitted that he was disappointed by some of his players but didn’t single out anyone and prefer to focus on bouncing back against Lecce next Monday.
“I expect more from some of them, we have to return with our feet on the ground and think about the objective we want to achieve.
“We have conquered this league in the past and the weapons that allowed us to do so must be put on the pitch next Monday.
He stressed that Parma will be a different team when everyone is fit and may have hinted about the need of reinforcement at the Ennio Tardini this winter.
“We need to recover some of the players who are out, because the difficulties we had last year came from the absence of players like [Roberto] Inglese and Gervinho.
“We must try to expand our squad. When there are fewer players due to injury, there must be other players who are up to the task. Unfortunately, this is the level and the others are getting stronger. We can’t make the same mistakes as we did last year.”