by our correspondent Luca Bianchin
January 3, 2025 (changed at 00:17) – RIAD
Gian Piero Gasperini and the strangest lineup of the year. De Ketelaere out, Lookman out. Ederson is also out, Atalanta's best player at the moment… and even broaden the concept. Here is the great theme of Inter-Atalanta. Immediately the ending of the film: it didn't work.
THE EXPLANATIONS
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-Gasperini explained his choices in the press conference like this, first calmly, then a little piqued. “I didn't put the Primavera, I put the important players. Samardzic, Scalvini, Zaniolo and Brescianini, they are four national teams. Every time in interviews they ask me why they don't play, it was an opportunity for them to demonstrate.” And again: “The three big names came in anyway. You always consider the players who play from the start as starters, but with me there are always five changes and those are also starters. They come in to change the games.” Previously he had said, even more decisively: “We didn't snub anything, we tried to win the match but we met a very strong team. It's not like De Ketelaere and Lookman can play 56 games for 90 minutes each time. I put the Atalanta squad”. A positive thought on the match: “We still managed to create several situations, especially with Scalvini heading in the first half.”
TWO CONCLUSIONS
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After hearing these words, two impressions remain. The first is a suspicion that the formation is a message for the market: Gasperini's first desire is a new striker, then a central midfielder. The second is almost a certainty: Gasp had – let's say – limited attraction for this Super Cup. In the conference he made it clear that he was calm despite the defeat and that he was also evaluating the energy saved for the championship. “And then it's a semi-final, not a final…”. Here you are. Atalanta has one goal in Italy this year and it's called the scudetto.
