Gian Piero Gasperini gave an interview to the Guardian where the Atalanta coach discussed his controversial philosphy amid the recent successes of his team. The coach revealed some of his motivating factors and how that has lead to his team's winning results. "When you reach the maturity necessary to understand that hard work leads to results, you no longer feel tired. I posted a picture of a wolf pack in the changing room. There are wolves at the front, some in the middle, and one at the back. The ones up front can set the pace, the next wolves are the strongest who must protect if they are attacked. The last one is the boss and ensures no one is left behind. The message is that a leader doesn't just stay up front, he takes care of the whole team."
Gasperini also shared some of his tactical mentality, including his focus on scoring goals, which his team has been incredibly succesful at: "If you want to win, you must attack. But what is also important is that the identity you create in a team must always be reinforced. You must grow and improve, day by day, or you are done. During training, my players need to struggle, those who aren't used to working hard scare me. But from the struggle victories are born. If you don't run in training then you don't run during games. We had to find young players in Europe who could adapt to our style of play and were offensive minded and willing to work hard. Those who believe in that are one of us, those who are afraid leave."
