As mentioned in our earlier Serie A Midfielder Club Review for Atalanta, La Dea haven’t really had the most prolific season in front of goal. Their impressive fourth placed finish was largely built on solid foundation at the back with competent – rather than aggressive – attacking play.
That said, nothing should be taken away from what they have achieved this season. Finishing directly above Lazio, the two Milan clubs and Fiorentina shows just how well they have done. Their presence and potentially has been increasingly impressive with every passing point.
What’s more, they have managed that while usually deploying a single striker in their matches. Consequently, the vast majority of their goals have been sourced from midfielders advancing forward. Indeed, only two Atalanta strikers were featured this season in EuroFantasyLeague, and the top scorer from that incredibly exclusive club scored just five goals.
Andrea Petagna is that man in question. The former AC Milan youngster started 31 of the club’s matches this season, making three additional appearances as a substitute. He capped the campaign off with a decent 32 point tally, and did see a slight increase in managers taking him up and including him in their fantasy squads. That increase may have only amounted to 0.13% over the last few months, but it still represents an upward trend nonetheless.
The 21-year-old was only booked twice all year, which ensured his final score wasn’t held back on too grand a scale. As well as that, he was actually valued lower than his colleague who we will get to in a moment. At just 2.00m, and with a score of 32 points, he has a Price / Performance (P/P) score of 17.0. That certainly reflects that more managers could have done worse than sticking him into their fantasy squads.
A large share of his points came from the fact that he provided seven assists. When considering this, we can start to see something of a role reversal in Atalanta’s team this season, with the front men supplying their teammates advancing from the middle of the park.
Petagna has been key to that approach despite his relatively low goal haul, and he certainly enjoyed a better campaign than Alberto Paloschi. With more experience under his belt given the fact that he is six years Petagna’s senior, Paloschi has endured a campaign to forget really.
He ended up on -2 points from 13 appearances. His disciplinary record was spot on – he didn’t go into the referee’s book once – and he has featured in four clean sheets from those 13 games. So how come -2?
The answer to that question is that he missed a penalty during the 3-0 loss at Cagliari back in September. That action is punishable to the tune of minus two points – and that seemed to be the only thing he could muster all season to register anything on the points table.
He was also valued higher than Petagna, but only just. His 2.50m price tag means he ends up with a P/P score of -1.6.
The former Swansea and AC Milan striker certainly has the potential to do better than that. Much, much better. Unfortunately, though, the 2016-17 season is one that he will be keen to forget and move on from.
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