Gasperini: “I can only thank Gosens: he was a pivot of the team”

The emergency is (almost) over, Atalanta no longer restless goes towards the fraction of the championship where it usually begins to press on the accelerator, for the take-off that in the last three years has brought it to the finish line of the Champions League League. The Cagliari exam will not say everything, but certainly already something about the prospects. Also because it is the first of four consecutive home appointments that will not determine, but will guide, the season: as long as you change gear at Gewiss. But it is also one of those traps that you have to know how to dodge, to (re) think big. “The next seven games will be the basis for the next seven or ten. They are starting to be influential, also because they are matches with neighboring teams in the standings and the Italian Cup and the Europa League are single elimination: the weight of the matches is different “.

zapata towards the summons

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Even the fact of arriving from a very long stop (“In a lifetime we didn’t all get together to train”) has its importance, at least as much as having recovered practically everyone except Miranchuk and Ilicic: “The Covid emergency has penalized us, we hope to to have come out of it: now there are no positives and in any case they have been almost all asymptomatic, and in any case they have now worked a full week “. Zapata too, albeit alternating group work with individual work: “I think tomorrow there will be: yesterday for the first time he removed all doubts about the risk of a relapse on the home straight, which always causes some fear. Now there is also a strong conviction on the part of the player, if today he confirms yesterday’s indications he will be among the squads “.

ilicic and gosens

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Ilicic will not be there: “Josip now has to think only of being well and taking care of himself: with him you can sail on sight”. Instead, there will also be the two new purchases of a market “from which we are more balanced. Even without Gosens, and I can only thank him: he was a pivot for our team, for the performances and the incredible number of goals, 70-80% decisive, that he scored. Luckily, this year we don’t meet Inter Milan anymore … Now I see a good motivation in the team: we have what it takes to fight in the midst of many squads, Atalanta cannot afford it with financial resources. But we have to look into our home, be satisfied with what we have done and take a run on ourselves. It will be an elimination match, there is a chance for everyone. And for everyone, surely, it will be a more balanced and difficult second round ”.

boga and mihaila

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The new ones, therefore. “I am very happy with Boga’s arrival: he has been standing still for a while but he has already shown immediately that his characteristics will be very useful to us. Even immediately, with his speed and his dribbling. We see that he is not at the top of his condition, but we also see that he too will only be able to improve it with game clips. Mihaila is an interesting young man, his best weapon is speed: he has a good opportunity to be useful, he too has characteristics that we need and is already in good athletic condition. And he too, like Boga, can also play on the right: in Parma he has already done so “. With the two of them it could be even more a tactical Atalanta: “Boga and Mihaila will depend on their performance. But we will not change much, tactically we will take care of small details and small differences: even the details can be important. And we will continue to rotate those two-three solutions, having a few more alternatives if they fit in quickly. The important thing is not to go back to having numerical difficulties “.

eye to Cagliari

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So the question mark, now, “is just what is always there when you leave after a break: do you find the rhythm immediately? Cagliari have recovered some points, despite having wasted a great chance with Fiorentina: they are not a team from that ranking. Mazzarri said they will come here to win: I believe that we still have a few more chances and we must have this awareness, but also know that there is no easy game “. For this Gasperini will think about the possibility of saving Demiral and De Roon, who are warned: “We are in a position to make choices, since almost everyone is there. But if anything, I will do it for all the close matches that we will have in three weeks, all challenging, and not just thinking of Juve on Sunday: that will be an important but not decisive match and the three points tomorrow are worth as much as those we will play against Juve “.

0-0? no thank you

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Certainly it will not be an Atalanta who will be satisfied with the 0-0: “We didn’t do it even against Inter and Lazio, even if we received a lot of compliments for those two 0-0: in Italy there is a hard core that keep reading behind that result an idea of ​​solidity. I think that between playing to win and playing so as not to lose there is an abyss: in the conditions in which we were, those two draws were good results, but to make top level championships you have to win, so you have to score goals. And in fact we tried to win those matches too: it is an indispensable prerogative for me ”.

percassi vice president

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Closing with the appointment of vice president of the League by Luca Percassi, the CEO. of Atalanta. “I am happy because even though he was young he showed great balance and ability: he must not be an important contribution for Atalanta, but for all of Italian football and the problems it faces.”