Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini admits that he considered leaving the club this summer when Napoli wanted him, but ultimately chose to remain. Speaking in an interview with Il Corriere Dello Sport, Gasperini talked about La Dea’s historic 2023-24 season, his menthods, and why he wants to sign Nicolo Zaniolo this summer:
Today you are particularly cheerful, almost at peace.
“It’s true, I’m calm. A downpour just came down that refreshed us, only yesterday it was unbearably hot.”
So it’s an occasional thing: weather-sensitive, as well as irritable.
“Legend. Irritable, well, not always. As I’ve already clarified, I’m a jerk with jerks and good with the good. I can’t stand abuses, injustices. I’m not very diplomatic.”
The referees have noticed.
“After all I’ve had to swallow… Things have improved, though, I’ve become vaccinated. From a certain point of view, they have also learned to know me, they relate differently. A few years ago, there were too many things, but I must admit that their job has become impossible, due to the regulations that are often unclear.”
Deliberately?
“I don’t know about that, but regarding contacts and handballs, nothing is clear anymore. Too many different interpretations and significant differences between national and international fields. In Serie A and in the cups, two different sports are played. Take the European Championship, the VAR intervened very few times, while here it often referees. VAR decisions need to be regulated once and for all. Wait, another thing that drives me crazy is simulation.”
Chiesa and Immobile remember it well.
“The blatant simulation, the player who dives without even being touched drives me mad. This is cheating, the simulator cheats. My protests were not against the person.”
Vialli once emphasized that professional football is not a sport, but a game, and the game also includes bluffing.
“If a player induces the opponent to foul, it’s called skill. Very different if he falls for a breath. I find it very serious. And if a field referee can’t assess the extent of a contact, he should change jobs. Football without contact becomes ugly. Ugly like systematic passes to the goalkeeper. The IFAB should do something to avoid this idiocy, a perversion. Do you realize that today the player who touches the ball the most with his feet is the goalkeeper? I find speculative play horrible. Football is not backward, but forward, towards the opponent’s goal. And it involves tackles. A well-executed tackle is a beautiful technical gesture. A late intervention is another thing and should be punished severely.”
You are the prophet of man-marking all over the field. Of one-on-one as a method.
“What nonsense. I make it simple: defend on the man, anticipate him and then, in the offensive phase, target the opponent to create superiority. But there are many variations, updates, corrections.”
The last European Championship for us was even depressing. What do you think?
“I think like many others. The team was missing, Spalletti couldn’t convey certain principles, only he can know the reasons. Italy was drained, empty. The main disappointment was this because our national teams have always stood out for solidity, a sense of group. We have never had Pelé, Maradona, Cruijff, Messi, but we haven’t lacked excellent players. Our Ballon d’Or winners are called Rivera, Rossi, Baggio, in 2006 they gave it to a defender, Cannavaro, in that team there were Iaquinta, Camoranesi, Gilardino, Oddo, Grosso, Perrotta. We Italians are like this, after a disappointment, we would throw everything away. Instead, we should start again from the lesson learned. And from the youth sectors, of course. Eighty percent of young Italians play football, and if we can’t make them grow and bring them to the first team, it’s the system that’s wrong.”
Why does a player perform half as well after leaving Atalanta? Do they spit blood with you?
“Another urban legend. Mancini and Cristante at Roma, Kessie, Romero, Hojlund at United…”
Few compared to the many failures.
“We often train. Here in the retreat, I’ve reached three sessions a day.”
Did you take Zaniolo because you want to win this bet too?
“He bet on us. I like his profile. Do you want to know how it went?”
I’m all ears.
“One day Borriello calls me and says: ‘Mister, I have a player who wants to come to you, a strong one, a beast.’ And I: Marco, who is it? ‘Zaniolo.’ Good, I like him. I talked to D’Amico, then to Percassi, this guy interests me, and he arrived.”
He has chosen you as therapy. He must have noticed the growth of Scamacca and De Ketelaere.
“Atalanta can’t afford million-dollar purchases. So it seizes opportunities. Scamacca and De Ketelaere grown? Partially (laughs). But they were only in their first year.”
Gian Piero, is it true that Atalanta recognizes you a percentage on sales?
“Um… At the end of the first year, the boom year, Caldara, Kessie, Conti, Bastoni, Gagliardini were sold. I had a low salary (another laugh), Percassi rewarded merit, integrated. This happy tradition continues every year.”
You are one of the standard-bearers of the over-60s: Sarri, Mourinho, Spalletti, Ranieri who just quit. Watch out for the young ones.
“But I am among the forty-year-olds.”
Many are your children: Motta, Palladino, Gilardino, Juric, Bocchetti, Biava, Paro, Modesto. Thiago is the trendiest.
“In Bologna, he did exceptional things, proposing new solutions, especially in the disengagement from the goalkeeper.”
He is the best student.
“But he came behind…”
How much freedom do you give your players on the field?
“All they want, respecting the team’s organization.” Another laugh.
What kind of coach are you?
“One who copies. I observe, take notes, then maybe I don’t repeat, but I’m attentive to everything and everyone.”
How much did you think about Napoli’s offer?
“I thought about it, yes. There were some moments during the season when I believed it was time to leave Atalanta. But I wanted to leave well, without controversies, without disappointment. We won, and in the end, Bergamo, its people, and everything that comes with it prevailed. Now Conte is in Naples, the fans can’t be unhappy.”
