How Raffaele Palladino can resurrect Atalanta | OneFootball

Atalanta’s Ivan Juric experiment ended in failure. It has ended weeks after it began, with the Croatian facing his third sacking in a year. La Dea now embark on a new adventure under Raffaele Palladino, who has already proved himself at Monza and Fiorentina.

Curiously, there are similarities between Palladino and Gian Piero Gasperini. Those comparisons will naturally be made, considering the ex-Atalanta manager’s god-like reverence in Bergamo.

Both managers prefer a man-to-man approach to press. While that was also true for Juric, Atalanta’s underlying numbers were actually quite promising under him. What Palladino will offer is versatility in shape as unlike Gasperini and Juric, he is far more adaptable to different formations.

At Fiorentina, he mainly used a back three but they were often a back four in varying phases of play. At Monza, he often used a back four full time while keeping the system the same.

While both the Croatian and Italian use wing-backs to carry the ball, Palladino’s side has one inverted full-back to aid possession. This allows for an extra man in midfield but also allows the full-back on the other side to stay higher.

Whether Atalanta players quickly adjust to this remains to be seen, but they are already accustomed to some methods that Palladino uses. This will make the transition to the new manager easier.

Another thing similar to Gasperini’s style is how Palladino’s system has players operating in half-spaces. More often than not, he always has two attacking midfielders behind a striker. This allows the centre-forward to focus on in-behind running and exploiting spaces. This brought the best out of Moise Kean. With Atalanta not scoring enough and missing chances, this approach can bring more out of them.

Beyond that, Palladino has a history of overperforming. Atalanta didn’t have the greatest of windows and they need someone to take them to European qualification by making more than expected of what is on the plate. Palladino is someone who can do that.

Kaustubh Pandey I GIFN