Gian Piero Gasperini admits Atalanta are not ‘well-oiled’ yet with so many new players after a 3-2 win over Fiorentina, but warns Arsenal’s characteristics ‘could be a problem for us.’
It was not a good start for La Dea in their first home game of the season, as the Gewiss Stadium has finally completed restructuring work, when Fiorentina had twice taken the lead through Lucas Martinez Quarta and Moise Kean.
However, Ademola Lookman was inspirational with an assist for Mateo Retegui and goal to put them 3-2 up at half-time, just 60 seconds after the Charles De Ketelaere equaliser.
“We were coming off two very different defeats, a clear one to Inter where we compromised the match in the opening 10 minutes, whereas against Torino we created a lot, made lots of mistakes and wasted a penalty. Sometimes these losses happen, but the performance was not bad,” Gasperini told DAZN.
“Today was difficult, as like us, Fiorentina changed a lot of players and are trying to find the best way to adapt. There are mechanisms that aren’t quite well-oiled, as we saw with the goals that we conceded, but we improved over time and played with confidence despite going behind twice.
“We always had the strength to know we could score goals and that is fundamental for my team, because when you have that belief, you can always get a game back on track. The result was in the balance, though we had numerous chances to add a fourth goal.”
David De Gea kept the scoreline down in the second half, much to Gasperini’s chagrin, as Atalanta threatened several more goals in this very entertaining encounter.
Race against time for Gasperini
Gasperini was not quiet about his frustration that so many new players arrived late in the transfer window, so how long will it take to get this team into shape?
“Having the break for international duty was not helpful, as so many of them left again straight away. Cuadrado had a slight ankle sprain, or I would’ve liked to try him today. I think first of all this team needs to find solidity, get those mechanisms running smoothly.
“The positive is that all the strikers have scored goals, but the worrying thing in defence is that we continually concede goals from set plays and we need to work on that.
“Brescianini and Samardzic seem more like midfielders than forwards, so we need to get Zaniolo back to full fitness, or we risk being short upfront.”
Atalanta have always considered attack to be the best form of defence under Gasperini, but even then leaving two Fiorentina players unmarked on the second goal was surprisingly poor.
“Undoubtedly, we can and must get better on these crosses and set plays, we’ve conceded several goals like that already this season. I say they are quite easy to resolve, because it’s just about concentration, but we keep falling into the same trap.”
That is particularly worrying when Arsenal are extremely strong on dead ball situations and today beat Tottenham Hotspur with a goal from a set play.
“It’s not just their aerial power, the way they run, move the ball and have fantastic dynamism. Arsenal are a great reference point in England, they dominated the Premier League last season along with Manchester City and Liverpool,” noted Gasperini.
“We have never played against them and I think they will be a big test for us because of their intensity, quality and pace. We’re not used to teams with those characteristics, this could be a problem for us. We too are going to be a test for them, we are playing at home and every point against these teams is precious for qualification, because I expect the table will be very tight.”