Gasperini: ‘I always said attack is the best form of defence’ | OneFootball

Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini has said for many years that ‘attack is the best form of defence’ and now his ideas are spreading throughout Europe, but cannot say if he’d follow Roberto Mancini in Saudi Arabia.

The Italian tactician has long been an outlier for his philosophy of football, which saw him sacked just a few weeks into the role at Inter.

However, as time wore on and he created a whole style of his own with Atalanta, these ideas spread and culminated in winning the Europa League trophy last season.

“I believed years ago in certain ideas that are more common now, especially that attack is the best form of defence,” said Gasperini at a book launch event.

“However, there is no copyright in football, you all take and adapt other people’s ideas. I get told a lot about how my football is man for man, but not enough about the fact my teams always score a lot of goals.”

He was also one of the most consistent adopters of a three-man defence when it was very much out of fashion, though it is now so common that even Luciano Spalletti adopted it for Italy.

Gasperini focus on entertainment above results

Gian Piero Gasperini Atalanta Europa League (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP) (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

The most important thing for Gasperini has always been entertainment, especially in Italian football where there is an eternal battle between those who focus on quality and others who are interested only in the result.

“Football is still a game, so in order to get a full stadium, you need to offer the paying public something to keep them entertained. There are many philosophies, for a while it seemed that the only important thing was to win, but I never had doubts that when a team plays good football, it has a better chance of winning.”

Gasperini has regularly shrugged off suggestions Atalanta could challenge for the Scudetto, though he now has his first taste of silverware.

“Everyone has their own records and targets to achieve. I think when you surpass your own limitations, that is a great victory. Football also teaches you how to lose and get back on your feet, creating new objectives every time.”

The coach was asked whether he would follow in the footsteps of Roberto Mancini by accepting huge sums of money to be a coach in Saudi Arabia.

“I don’t know, it’s perhaps too early to tell what I’d do,” added the 66-year-old.