Using his hand to comb away his thick white hair as he joyfully commented on the “very entertaining Atalanta v Juventus” game last week, Gian Piero Gasperini couldn’t help but chortle when Sky Italia asked him about being four points adrift of first-placed Napoli and whether Atalanta would find themselves at a crossroads in the upcoming match against the two sides.
“It’s not a crossroads!”
It’s a remarkable turn of events when journalists are pondering the disappointment Atalanta must feel after three draws in a row.
La Dea have since lost to Napoli over the weekend to slip to third in the table (oh the horror), but the coach is still thrilled to be in the mix, fighting and challenging when the club’s ambitions were, once upon a time, centred around top-flight survival.
In the five years prior to Gasperini’s arrival in 2016, Atalanta had never managed to finish in the top half of the Serie A table. Finishing 11th in 2014 was the best they had fared.
But since 2016 Atalanta have never finished below eighth place, regularly managing top-four positions and so earning a place in the Champions League.
Gasperini is criminally underrated but one must wonder, is he one of the greatest Italian coaches of our time? He’s up against some hefty competition, after all – Carlo Ancelotti has won everything there is to win in club football while the likes of Antonio Conte, Max Allegri and Simone Inzaghi have repeatedly created winning teams that have secured their place in history.
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