It’s June 2016.
The football world is just gearing up for a UEFA Euro 2016 championship in France, where Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal would eventually defeat the hosts in the final despite their star player’s absence on the pitch through injury.
Real Madrid have just won their 11th UEFA Champions League title and first under the leadership of manager Zinedine Zidane.
Leicester City have remarkably defied the odds to win the Premier League title under Claudio Ranieri and his quick transitions, direct play, creative wingers and legendary strike partnership of Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki.
Despite the unique nature of their story, Leicester City’s league-winning setup was vintage Premier League — the type of tactics and style of play we’ve seen dominate the league for the majority of its history — certainly in the early years through to the beginning of the 2010s.
Over in Serie A, Juventus had just claimed their fifth straight league title — a second under Massimiliano Allegri, who also preferred a direct, transitional style of play reliant on wide creators (wing-backs, in this case, with three centre-backs holding down the fort at the back).
Atalanta BC finished that campaign in 13th place.
This was not an unusual finishing position for the Bergamo-based side; it was pretty much par for the course, with Atalanta having been, at best, a mid-table Serie A side throughout most of their history.
That summer marked a turning point for the club who, up to that point, only had one third-tier title, five Serie B titles and one Coppa Italia to their name, the latter of which they won all the way back in 1963.
That summer, Atalanta appointed Gian Piero Gasperini as their manager, sparking a revolution that culminated in their UEFA Europa League victory of 2023/24.
Gasperini’s near-decade in charge of Atalanta is characterised by the club’s transformation from an unexceptional mid-table dweller/relegation battler to a consistent competitor for European competition.
Atalanta have finished in the top half of the table every season since Gasperini’s arrival.
So far, under his leadership, they’ve finished fourth twice and third three times.
Last season might’ve been Gasperini’s most significant achievement with Atalanta, guiding them to European silverware.
However, at the time of writing, in the midst of the 66-year-old tactician’s ninth season in charge of the club, they sit top of the table in what is a very tight title race in Italy’s top-flight, with the most goals scored (38) and highest xG (34.69) of any side in the league after 15 games.
Gasperini’s transformative impact on Atalanta has been highly impressive, not just due to the club’s achievements during this time but also the style of play with which they’ve become synonymous.
Atalanta are known for a high-octane, fast-paced attacking philosophy, fearlessly committing men forward with the aim of overwhelming the opposition with their offensive might.
In addition to their distinctive, admirable style, Atalanta’s commitment to nurturing talent via the youth system draws some comparisons between Gasperini and past greats of the game, namely Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United.
Funnily enough, it was reported that Ferguson had eyed Gasperini as a potential assistant and eventual successor while the Italian was managing Genoa from 2006 to 2010, though needless to say, that move—however much reality the reports are based in—never came to fruition.
Despite Gasperini never linking up with Ferguson at Manchester United, the 66-year-old appears to view the legendary Scot as a reference.
Gasperini is quoted as saying he “can see [himself] staying [at Atalanta] for a long time, like Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United” earlier this year in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Club President Antonio Percassi also expressed his desire to keep Gasperini at Gewiss Stadium for the long term, citing Ferguson’s legendary tenure at Old Trafford as inspiration.
There are evidently aspects of Ferguson’s style of management both on and off the pitch which Gasperini admires, and there are likely to be aspects of Gasperini’s work which Ferguson currently holds in high regard as well.
This tactical analysis piece will focus solely on Atalanta’s high-octane attacking tactics, aspects of these tactics which resemble some of the iconic football played by Ferguson’s greatest teams and how the Atalanta boss has put his own unique touch on these philosophies to make them his own, too.
Gasperini’s Atalanta Formation & Structure
The club has primarily played with three centre-backs throughout Gasperinis time as Atalanta boss.
That’s been no different this season, with I Nerazzurri rotating between either a 3-4-2-1 or 3-4-1-2 shape.
In this particular game, Ademola Lookman partnered Mateo Retegui up front, with Mario Pašalić filling in just behind as the number ‘10’.
In this particular passage of play, we can see the centre-forward pairing split wide, occupying the full-backs, while the ‘10’ drops into some space near the ball carrier to offer a central passing option.
At
