Using positional rotation is by no means a new concept, with Argentine coach Ricardo La Volpe’s Salida Lavolpiana being used to great effect with the Mexican national team in the early-to-mid 2000’s whilst Juego de Posicion has been popularized by the likes of Paco Jémez, Marcelo Bielsa, and Pep Guardiola in more recent years.
It is as simple as players, generally off the ball rather than ball-carriers themselves, swapping with one another in order to move the opposition defenders around, whilst creating space for their team to play the ball forward.
Rather than break it down totally, this tactical analysis and scout report will look at how rotations are used by Atalanta to create overloads and/or attacking chances specifically in wide areas, in order to aid forward play.
With wide areas traditionally only inhabiting two opposition players (a winger, and a full-back), it is, therefore, easier to create overloads in these spaces where it is less crowded, then the centre of the pitch wherein a vertical line we could potentially see seven players at once (one forward, three central-midfielders, two centre-backs, and a goalkeeper, for example). Bringing more players towards the flanks also leaves more space centrally, which is the area where the greatest chance of scoring comes from.
Atalanta
Under Gian Piero Gasperini, Atalanta have been playing some truly electric football, and at the time of the postponement of the Serie A season were sat in fourth-place in the league with a game-in-hand, whilst they had also booked their place in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals courtesy of an 8-4 drubbing of Valencia over two legs.
At its best, Atalanta’s positional play is the rarest of things; having the appearance of their players improvising with their movements, truly in tune with where their teammates, moving so freely amongst one another, rotating at will. However, the reality is that they have most likely been incredibly well-drilled in this particular phase of the game. Their tactics are based around fielding a 3-4-1-2 formation, with two prolific forwards in Duvan Zapata and Josip Iličić with Papu Gómez sitting in between the forwards and the midfield.
The diamond
One of the key facets of Atalanta’s positional play comes from them positioning four players in a diamond formation, and preferably with the ball-carrier being at the anchor of the diamond, meaning they should have three forward passing options in close proximity.
In the image below we can see Gómez in position at the anchor of the diamond on the left side. Gasperini allows his players to be pretty fluid positionally within the diamond, however, if they do rotate you will most often see Zapata or Iličić rotate with one of the two players closest to them rather than the anchor.
The point of these movements is to free an extra man with speed and fluidity of rotation necessary for success.
Generally, the success comes from the ball-carrier engaging a defender before passing, whilst players not seeking to receive the ball within the diamond will either make decoy runs or work as blockers and help create a crowded area, making it easier for the intended target to lose his marker.
This structure breaks the game down into four v fours. It also means that the ball-carrier should always have three passing options. The opposition defenders,who are marking the three in the diamond who are not in possession, can be moved around through off the ball movement, and this is where spaces can be created to play forward.
The diamond’s make it easy for Atalanta to create space through rotational play. The players are close to one another, and know that their rotations are based on the shape of the diamond. Therefore it gives structure to their rotations.
