Read on Twitter
Starts-ups worship the young but you can still be an innovator with grey hair.
I’ve been threatening to write this thread for a few weeks having seen out & out ageist abuse aimed at Roy Hodgson. 1 of Europe’s most exciting teams is led by a silver fox: Gian Piero Gasperini.
I’ve been threatening to write this thread for a few weeks having seen out & out ageist abuse aimed at Roy Hodgson. 1 of Europe’s most exciting teams is led by a silver fox: Gian Piero Gasperini.
Is there a more exciting team to watch than Atalanta? The stats would suggest not. In a highly technical league, with a budget far inferior to Juve & their peers, the team from Bergamo continue to out score & punch well above their weight. Pulling the strings is Gasperini.
For those that follow Serie A know this isn’t a 1 season wonder. Last season Gasperini guided Atalanta to a 3rd place finish, the first time they had qualified for the Champions League, they also finished top goal scorers with 77 goals, that’s 2 per game.
This season, Atalanta have taken their attacking play to another level. To date, they have scored 95 goals, 2.7 per game & with Iličić, Muriel, and Zapata all scoring over 15 league goals, they became the 1st club to achieve this in close on 70 years.
In Europe, the attacking philosophy hasn’t changed. 16 goals in 8 games have taken the Nerazzurri into the quarter-finals & a date with PSG in Lisbon next month. Iličić‘s 5 goals in 7 games is impressive against Europe’s elite.
Tactically, Atalanta use a fluid 3-4-3 system but key is the fact that Gasperini is brave. He encourages his team to keep the ball & attack, attack, attack. Like Wolves, the defence plays a high line & wing backs create the width & get forward.
Gasperini is brave in his selections & with his tactics. The business model means that season after season Atalanta sell their best players despite that, as a team they improve. He's been brave enough to blood young players rather than seek the safest path to 40 points.
As a Roma fan, it hurts to say this but Atalanta are an exhilarating team to watch. It hurts even more when every season the giallorossi send €20m+ to Bergamo for Gasperini’s best player only to find the gap between the 2 clubs gets bigger!
Gasperini, like Bielsa at Leeds have proved that their age isn’t a limiting factor in anyway to being an innovative manager playing attacking football. At Palace, I’ve heard the cry that we need a young manager, personally I’d prefer one with the skills & mentality of Gasperini.
