Atalanta’s season and fortunes on the pitch mirrored the personnel with in the squad, from young hungry and fearless to drained, tired, dull and dreary.
At the beginning of the campaign the Orobici looked young fresh and ready for the challenge ahead. Armed with talented young individuals like Andrea Consigli, Federico Peluso, Ezequiel Schelotto and Giuseppe De Luca playing along aide the experience wise heads of Thomas Manfredini and German Denis.
The Nerazzurri looked sharp and explosive, at times as they played without fear as they claimed the scalps of some of Serie A’s top clubs with victories over AC Milan Internazionale and Napoli to name but a few.
In the early stages of the season Colantuono’s side showed signs of possibly pulling of a surprise charge for a Europa League finish and before the beginning of December claims that La Dea would be in a relegation dog fight come the end of the season would have been taken with a pinch of salt.
After a poor run of form in December, followed by what can only be described as an extremely unproductive and turbulent January transfer window a relegation battle was exactly what the Bergamo side had to contend with for the remainder of the season.
The Orobici secured Serie A survival with only a handful of games left to play. Ironically enough Atalanta didn’t even secure their own destiny they had to rely on misfortunes of Palermo and Siena as their relegation rivals sealed their own fate. Despite putting in some impressive performances during the course of the season including two victories over local rivals Inter, where they displayed a never say die attitude. It was always clear that Atalanta didn’t have what it took to put a game to bed.
All too often the Bergamo faithful would have to endure their side throw away leads or squander chance after chance in front of goal. La Dea failed to score in 13 of their 38 league games during this campaign, had it not been for the 15 goals from Denis Atalanta would have surely failed to secure Serie A safety. A lack of consistency was also clear throughout the year, but after the season resumed from the winter break Atalanta were nothing but a shadow of the side that competed in the early part of the season.
Aside from wins over all three of the relegated clubs the Orobici only managed one other victory for the reminder of the season.
Not only was the lack of goals heavily responsible for Atalanta’s dismal season, squad discipline, or lack of it, also played a major part in what turned out to be a difficult season. Player suspensions along with injuries combined, with what tuned out to be a depleted squad after the January transfer window closed, left Colantuono with very little cards to play with when it came to picking his starting line up.
Atalanta picked up more disciplinary points than any other team in Serie A this season as they finished on 137 points a full 10 points ahead of Cagliari. La Dea also picked of more yellow and red cards than their rivals too with a staggering 111 yellow cards and 13 red cards; Cagliari again followed along with Pescara who both picked up nine red cards.
Player of the Season
There was only two stand out candidates for Atalanta player of the season and without doubt those two men have to be German Denis and Giacomo Bonaventura.
Sadly it seems to be the man that puts the ball in the back of the net that takes all the glory but in this case it is these men that need to stand up and take a bow. Scoring goals in a team that had one of the worst goals per game ratios in the league has to be an achievement in its own right. Denis’s 15 goals put him as Serie A’s fifth top marksman.
Meanwhile, 23-year-old Bonaventura bagged seven goals from midfield. Not only has the young Italian been noticed for his goal-scoring prowess, his ability to provide an assist has also been vital for the Nerazzurri this season. His hard work looks to have been rewarded after he was named in Italy’s provisional squad for the up coming Confederations Cup.
The talented attacking midfielder has become hot property and did have some of the peninsulas top clubs fighting for his signature but luckily for Atalanta he put pen to paper on a new contract last week with the Bergamo side securing his services for a further four years.
It just wouldn’t be fair to call a winner between two of Bergamo’s biggest heroes as both have been vital throughout the campaign in their own way.
Goal of the Season
The goal of the season came from the most unlikely of sources but that didn’t make it anything less than a well drilled training ground set piece executed with perfect poise, positioning and technique. When 30-year-old left back Cristiano Del Grosso’s name went up on the scoreboard at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris many Calcio fans rubbed their eyes in disbelief, especially as it was only his fourth goal in nearly ten years.
But their disbelief quickly turned into dumbstruck amazement when they saw the technique used to curl home his shot from the edge of the box using the outside of his boot. Without doubt, it was a goal that top class strikers for generations would have been proud to call their own, only this goal was solely for the defenders union it could only be described as Roberto Carlos-esque.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9QCByWkNH4
Best and Worst Signings
Unfortunately this should more about the players that have been sold or loaned out, such as the likes of Peluso who has impressed at Juventus, or the talented young Italy international Manolo Gabbiadini who has had a great season at Bologna.
But there are no shortages of candidates for worst signing. Big lumpy Croatian forward Igor Budan was welcomed back to the Bergamo club with open arms after arriving on loan from Palermo but he failed to break into the first team just like so many other of La Dea’s January signings.
Among those influx of January failures was 35-year-old Argentinian full back Lionel Scaloni. The former Lazio man looked past it about five seasons ago when he became the laughing stock of the English Premier League after signing for West Ham Untied, but still, the powers that be at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia gave the over the hill defender, what many football fans hope, was one final pay day. His tiring legs failed to get him around the pitch at the best of times while his work rate and composure looked to have left him a long time ago.
On a plus note the arrival of young Croatian striker Marko Livaja from Inter was a breath of fresh air. The cultured frontman gelled well with Denis from the moment they first took the pitch together and his willingness to tirelessly do his strike partner’s running was just what Denis needed as the season slowly drew to a close.
Not only was Livaja’s presence a joy to behold, his arrival also paved the way for the troublesome Schelotto to leave for Inter. The entire population of Bergamo couldn’t wait to see the back of him. Although the it was not the last time Schelotto’s name would be on the lips of the people of Bergamo that season thanks to the Cristian Raimondi combination of highly rated elbow and short temper.
