After the heavy defeat in Serie A against Inter, Gian Piero Gasperini blamed the transfer market for the stumbling start to the season of his Atalanta: “Our championship will start after the break. I don’t know if this squad is stronger than last year’s.”
Heavy blow at San Siro for Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta, beaten 4-0 by the Italian champions Inter at the end of a match that saw the Goddess put in great difficulty by the Milanese team which, without new signings from the start, revived those perfect mechanisms that led Simone Inzaghi’s men to a Champions League final and win the second star scudetto in the last two years. A heavy defeat that, however, according to the coach of the Goddess, is mainly the result of the turbulent summer experienced by his team due to injuries and the transfer market:
“I must say that the first ten minutes determined the mood and morale of this team, which after the break will be able to count on all available players. Today we were numerically disadvantaged in defense; our championship will start after the break. Despite the strongly negative result, I saw boys who tried to hold the field until the end. In the first half, we could have created something more; I must cling to the best things they did, to restart with a more complete roster” was indeed the analysis of the match given by the Atalanta coach after the game to DAZN’s microphones.
And the thorny cases (Koopmeiners and Lookman) that somehow delayed the incoming market of the Goddess had a significant impact according to Gian Piero Gasperini: “There were difficulties right from the start, the summer had also started well, the club had sold well immediately, making excellent capital gains. There was a willingness to invest, but clearly most players arrived now so the team is to be built entirely,” the 66-year-old from Grugliasco continued.
But when asked if the Atalanta he will have available from the next match is stronger than the one that finished last season (winning the Europa League), the Piedmontese coach did not hide his doubts: “I don’t know if we are stronger than last year. Because it is true that much has been invested, but it is also true that we lost players who were worth a lot. I don’t keep accounts for my club, but players we currently do not have like Scamacca, Scalvini, Lookman who has never played, or Koopmeiners who has left, are perhaps worth many millions more (than what has been spent, ed). We have 10-11 new players and we need to study them and perhaps experiment with other solutions. Unfortunately, we will have to experiment in the league since we couldn’t do it in the past 50 days,” Gian Piero Gasperini concluded, sounding very hesitant to express his views on the potential of the team with which he will face a long season filled with commitments in Italy and Europe, given that the Goddess will be one of the Italian teams starring in the new Champions League.