Gian Piero Gasperini saw the best Charles De Ketelaere performance in an Atalanta jersey to beat Udinese and hopes Gianluca Scamacca can have ‘the same process’ of improvement.
It was a relatively easy match for La Dea, who secured their fifth consecutive Serie A home victory and put the pressure on Fiorentina for fourth place.
De Ketelaere made his mark with two assists for Aleksei Miranchuk and Scamacca, sealing the 2-0 scoreline by half-time.
“I really liked the performance from De Ketelaere, in every area. He did well technically, was a reference point for the team to look to and I think it was his best game since coming to Atalanta,” Gasperini told DAZN.
“Undoubtedly, the whole team is improving at the moment. Despite missing Teun Koopmeiners, the first half was excellent against an Udinese side who make life complicated.
“We had the sensation today that we were solid and then in the second half we took our foot off the gas, while Udinese didn’t really create many problems anyway. We are satisfied.”
Atalanta have truly rediscovered their home form this season at the Gewiss Stadium.
“The midfield helps to filter the attacking moves and Sead Kolasinac has been a strong addition to the defence too. All the individuals have improved and learned how to work as a unit, which made us improve.
“We misplaced a few too many passes, that was the only negative of the day, so that is where I think we can still do better.”
Gasperini celebrated his 66th birthday yesterday and Scamacca joked the squad want him to buy them dinner to celebrate.
“I hope there is time! The team absolutely deserves it! The way we have seen De Ketelaere evolve, we can see the same process for Scamacca.”