The point he was making is that their extreme man marking all over the pitch makes for absurdly physically and mentally demanding games that can turn on every play. Win a duel in defence, you have a chance to score. Lose a duel in attack, you're conceding a chance.
Europa League Final | Atalanta vs Leverkusen | Match thread
- Thread starter SilentWitness
- Start date
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
Gasperini had Inter.. for about 5 games.
I'd like to see Gasperini take over at West Ham, bring in his system and do better than Moyes.
I'd like to see Moyes win the Europa league or qualify his team to the CL via the league
Only watched last 20 minutes or so but feels like that was a Porto-Monaco 2004 kind of final and same result as well.
Leverkusen had all those late goals and winners so this had to happened at some point. Just painful for them it's in the final and with 1 game to go. They'll probably punish Kaiserslautern in final and get over this.
Leverkusen had all those late goals and winners so this had to happened at some point. Just painful for them it's in the final and with 1 game to go. They'll probably punish Kaiserslautern in final and get over this.
Different final Sevilla v Inter
Moyes had Everton qualifying for the CL playoffs by league position in a much tougher league at a time when less teams directly qualified. They were 1 horrendous refereeing decision away from making the group stages. Collina quit not long after, although I think that was due to him accepting a sponsorship deal from the AC Milan sponsor at the time and being told he was no longer allowed referee in Serie A, due to a conflict of interest.
Enjoyed Joe Cole's "for those of you who haven't heard of "Atlanta"", ignoring their games are literally shown on the channel he works for
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
Well said. Fantastic achievement for Atalanta, well done to them. He reminds me of Richard Gere a bit.
Happy for Gasperini. Always rated him, think it’s time he takes a step up though.
Outgrown these. Take the Napoli job.
Outgrown these. Take the Napoli job.
Just out of the stadium. Great match to watch in the flesh and two great fanbases. Atalanta are fantastic to watch, just didn't give Leverkusen an inch.
Don't see why not. He was at Inter years back and it didn't really work out. Atalanta is fantastic environment and they're in Europe most seasons and challenging for top 4 so he'd struggle to do better than that at his age really.
Conference League should definitely be first. I miss the Wednesday night finals but Saturday might be better for people travelling?
Now that would be something!
I had a instant fondness for Atalanta when I heard this a couple of years back.
It’s very simple. President Percassi is pleased to give all the newborns born in the hospitals in Bergamo and its province the Atalanta black and blue shirt.
Link
It’s very simple. President Percassi is pleased to give all the newborns born in the hospitals in Bergamo and its province the Atalanta black and blue shirt.
Link
And Atalanta were also very close to making the CL semi final. I just know one thing, Europa league > ECL. Look at the quality of opponents they faced in comparison to West Ham
Yeah this year you've had 1st in Germany, 2nd in Italy, 3rd in England, 1st in Portuguese League in it, lots of strong teams.
As a Nigerian, either team winning was fine by me.
Boniface and Tella or Lookman. Either way, my countrymen are picking up gold medals.
Lookman does deserve something, however, for his display at AFCON.
He played out of his skin tonight. 3 shots, 3 on target, 3 goals. Top performance from him.
Boniface and Tella or Lookman. Either way, my countrymen are picking up gold medals.
Lookman does deserve something, however, for his display at AFCON.
He played out of his skin tonight. 3 shots, 3 on target, 3 goals. Top performance from him.
Didn't watch the game but how did Kovar play?
People thought it might be the Leverkusen team which could get cherry picked, however would certainly take Scalvini and Ederson from Atalanta.
Haha, what a legend.
Lookman played an awesome game. Not alone did he score a stunning hat-trick he sparkled in his outfield play. Good with either foot; motivated, smart. Apparently he’s been developing late but spectacularly in Bergamo under their Inspirational manager
Get agent Rasmus on the case
In the end, an impressive run for Atalanta and a fantastic hattrick from Lookman. Vanquished the two favorites on the way to the trophy and earn a ticket to the super cup.
Don’t tell me 6th place in Italy goes into the CL
Only if Atalanta finish outside of the top four. They are currently fifth, but have a game in hand. A win would make them third. Roma in 6th will now pray that Atalanta will on celebrating their achievement.
Who did they buy to replace Rasmus and how much?
Great game plan from Gasperini and execution from the whole side. They seemed have Leverkusen pegged from the start and always knew what spaces to close and when to move. They seemed one step of Leverkusen the whole time. Lookman played fantastic but this was a great example of a team win.
Oh sorry thought the season was done when I glanced at the table.
Atalanta are a classy club. I watched a YouTube video recently which showed how the chairman had saved the club by focusing on their youth system and developing players, while playing a certain brand of football.
Unbelievable performance, but for those on here who follow the Italian game. This is no surprise. Gasperini has been performing minor miracles since he arrived at Atalanta. His ability to find players who are at a cross roads career wise and turn them into players is incredible. His attacking football been the best in the league to watch for ages. He has hit the 90 plus goal mark twice I think. Which in a league like Serie A is impressive. They will be building him a statue outside the stadium. Lookman also might get one for that performance. Ederson and Scamacca also impressed.
Scamacca, for 20M or so... A bit over 20M.
Gasp is a ridiculously good coach. I'm seeing comparisons to Moyes? Good grief... He is absolutely LOATHED in Italy because he is a Grade A jerk.. Some former players hate him for the intensity of his training and demands on the pitch.
But Atalanta is his. His home. His dojo. He's always had low cost teams put together and absolutely put on shows with them. Deserved this trophy, big time.
And "flopped at Inter" makes me laugh... If being canned after 5 games makes you a flop, then sure. Or it just makes ownership a doorknob.
Those would be my thoughts regarding Potter at Chelsea.
Let's make Atalanta our official Italian Feeder Club.
Torina are playing for Europe, while Atalanta will be playing drunk, so good chances they lose that one. If Juve and Bologna take care of business, Roma are in. Final game against Fiorentina will hopefully be a mutual celebration of european trophies, could be a basically 90 minutes of players and fans congratulating each other
especially given the circumstances that lead to the postponement 
Inter never really gave him a chance. He wasn't even hired because they thought he was good and would do a good job, they just lost their manager unexpectedly and had no ideas on how to replace him, so just went for the cheapest option on the market. Players got that message too and promptly decided he wasn't gonna work out before he even walked through the door. Ownership was then all too happy to sack him after 5 games
Scamacca for somewhere around 30M euros iirc, and Toure for similar fee as well - he's been injured most of the season unfortunately
True, while at the same time he's generally acknowledged as one of the best italian managers...ever, really. After tonight.
Historically the best academy in Italy...too much competition for that
Well Gasperini "overthought" too, as he fielded a very unusual formation, I don't think Atalanta ever started a game this season with De Ketelaere-Scamacca-Lookman upfront and Koopmeiners+Ederson paired in the middle.
So we could say that Alonso underthought his response to Gasperini changes.
You're all over thinking this.
Are we linked to one of their CB's?
I'm sure it's been mentioned... but beating Amorim's Sporting, Klopp's Liverpool (at home, and while they were on top of the EPL) and then absolutely clapping the most hyped team of the past decade, unbeaten, in Bayer....
I honestly still find it somewhat hard to believe. They steamrolled teams.
I honestly still find it somewhat hard to believe. They steamrolled teams.
My take on the game:
I think the overthinking stuff is blown a bit out of proportion. I would have preferred Boniface over Adli as well and think his presence upfront improved us but Alonso's plan made sense as well. As @giorno said, they pin you back but when you win a duel or free yourself from the stranglehold by other means, you immediately have the chance to score. Usually, we are very good at finding solutions in tight areas but yesterday, few players reached the level they displayed in the 51 previous games. Xhaka was inexplicably bad. Had a 2/10 performance when his worst all season was a 6/10. But also Palacios, Adli, Wirtz (in the first half), Frimpong, ...
In the end, I think the match was decided by individual form and not tactical mistakes. Many of our players seemed incredibly nervous while Atalanta was fully focused, Lookman especially. Tough luck but it doesn't spoil an incredible season for me Atalanta really deserved it and at least we lost to a very good team
I think the overthinking stuff is blown a bit out of proportion. I would have preferred Boniface over Adli as well and think his presence upfront improved us but Alonso's plan made sense as well. As @giorno said, they pin you back but when you win a duel or free yourself from the stranglehold by other means, you immediately have the chance to score. Usually, we are very good at finding solutions in tight areas but yesterday, few players reached the level they displayed in the 51 previous games. Xhaka was inexplicably bad. Had a 2/10 performance when his worst all season was a 6/10. But also Palacios, Adli, Wirtz (in the first half), Frimpong, ...
In the end, I think the match was decided by individual form and not tactical mistakes. Many of our players seemed incredibly nervous while Atalanta was fully focused, Lookman especially. Tough luck but it doesn't spoil an incredible season for me
Atalanta really deserved it and at least we lost to a very good team