Gian Piero Gasperini effectively confirmed he doesn’t know how the Papu Gomez situation ‘will be resolved,’ but Atalanta have to ‘look to the future and keep evolving.’

La Dea got back on track in Serie A with a 3-0 victory over Fiorentina, with goals from Robin Gosens, Rafael Toloi and Ruslan Malinovskyi.

Gian Piero Gasperini effectively confirmed he doesn’t know how the Papu Gomez situation ‘will be resolved,’ but Atalanta have to ‘look to the future and keep evolving.’

La Dea got back on track in Serie A with a 3-0 victory over Fiorentina, with goals from Robin Gosens, Rafael Toloi and Ruslan Malinovskyi.

“The Champions League was every week this time, so being up against fresher opponents every weekend in Serie A was tough. Now we’ll try to make the most of the situation over the next two months and focus entirely on the league,” Gasp told Sky Sport Italia.

Papu Gomez was left on the bench throughout today’s game and there are strong reports the split between coach and captain is so bad that the Argentine will leave in January.

“We had played nine Serie A games and six in the Champions League, I think Gomez was the only one to play in all of them. We’ve been more solid recently with this new system and so we are trying other alternatives,” replied Gasperini.

“I consider it indispensable to keep changing and evolving. I have always been at clubs for quite a long time, at least usually. Around five years for a coach is a long time, so it’s indispensable to seek other alternatives.

“My first Atalanta was completely different to the current iteration, for example. We also saw some things against Ajax that we will try to adopt and learn from, because in the Champions League every week, we are learning and evolving our game when up against different football cultures.”

Gasp was asked outright, does he believe Gomez will leave Atalanta in January and it’s time for him to make strong decisions?

“That is not the case. I think the club has to make strong choices on how to set targets for the team and coach in future. That’s not necessarily results, but how to behave and approach games. We have to look to the future, because when you stop and get stuck in your ways, it ends up being like going backwards.

“If the coach is not in sync with his club, then it becomes a problem, but we always exchange ideas, there’s no issue.”

Can the Papu situation be resolved?

“I think Gomez has been our most important player over these five years, I said it many times, he was hardly ever out of the team. There are some situations…

“For example, after two years, Papu’s role was difficult in some games for the team to handle, because the opponents can change and adapt to neutralise you.

“At the basis of everything, we need trust and being open to listening. I don’t know how the situation will be resolved. It’s disappointing for Josip Ilicic, as he got dragged into this whole situation in the media and had nothing to do with it.”

Ilicic denied on social media that he was involved in the dressing room row, but it’s evident something very serious happened at half-time during the 1-1 draw with Midtjylland.

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