Atalanta: the person before the player

Soccer is the most universal sport in the world. It is popular on all five continents and in many countries it is, in fact, the first choice of many children when signing up for extracurricular physical activity. It’s not a secret that football is a magnet for many young people. Some of them turn out to have talent to try out for a federated team and even enter the youth team of a big club. Not everyone makes a living from football. In fact, a small percentage of them achieve itbut at least they have the opportunity to live the experience of belonging to the youth team of a professional team.

One of the most prestigious academies on the old continent is Atalanta. The Bergamo team has a great tradition in youth football and its youth academy has produced footballers such as: Alessandro Bastoni, fundamental in Spalletti’s Italy and big sale for La Dea (€31.10 million); the legendary Gaetano Scireaone of the best central defenders in history or Giorgio Scalvinione of the last to leave the Bergamo factory and which is important in the system of Gian Piero Gasperini. Precisely, Gasperini, combining big signings like Lookman or Scamacca with youth players like Scalvini or Zappacosta, has found the formula for Atalanta to become champions of the Europa League this year.

The coordinator of the Dea quarry is Roberto Samaden, an expert in grassroots football who spent 33 years at Inter Milan and, since July 3, 2023, has belonged to the Bergamasco club. Part of Atalanta’s success this year is his, and has attended to ACE to reveal why the Nerazzurri academy is so successful. For Samaden, winning the Europa League title is a “dream”. “It is the first European title in the history of Atalanta”he says. However, he believes that it is not a coincidence: “It all started in 2010, when Mr. Percassi took the reins of the entity.. There were no titles won, but in the last five or six years there have been finals in Italy.”

Obviously, the Dea academy has been, in part, to blame for this success: “There were six youth players in the final against Bayer Leverkusen: Scalvini, Ruggeri, Carnesecchi, Rossi, Zappacosta and Bonfanti”. Bonfanti, says Samaden, is the latest product to come up from the U-23 team, which for him shows that “we have a very intelligent owner and this victory comes from a long-term project and hard work.” And that is because Atalanta has been creating players in its academy for 40 years that complement the high level of the first team players. Samaden is clear about the meaning of belonging to the Dea academy: “Our strength is that our owner and his son Luca are former Atalanta youth players and know the path to follow well.. Values ​​are the most important thing for them. You have to be a good player, but above all, a good person.. It is the message that must be given to young people.”

The operation of the Atalanta academy is a pyramidas Samaden calls it, similar to the education system here in Spain: “We have the base with children between eight and fourteen years old; then, the national league with children between 15 and 18 years oldAt 15 we already start thinking about football, before we focused more on entertainment and fun, which are essential for growing up. At the end of the pyramid are the U-19, the U-23 and the first team. The key is to have a strong base so that there is a very tall pyramid.” As for the top of the pyramid, Samaden confirms that the three teams, Under-19, Under-23 and first team play the same way. “It is important because every week they can go up with the older ones. And From 18 onwards there must be two basic characteristics: values ​​and technical skills. For those two things we want to be recognized.” Even so, he assures that they do not have the secret to training players, but rather the best environment for the player. “Our secret is probably being normal.”

Many people have been on a football team when they were young, and one thing that many coaches insisted on at the beginning of the school year was that class grades had to be passed and that they would review them. Afterwards, they didn’t do it – most of them, anyway. At Atalanta, Samaden says, they do keep track of school grades. “But if a player is good, our job is to train players, but we do try to make children and their families aware of the importance of school.”he clarifies.

To this end, Atalanta together with Brembo, the main sponsor of its youth team, have created the ‘Youth Sector Player’ award. It is awarded to one member of each academy team. This award does not take into account performance on the playing field, but rather the values. Values ​​shown at school, on the grass and in respect for adults. “The message is that you receive an award not for winning the league, not for being the best player, but for be the best off the field”Samaden says. “Therefore, school is important in training. Our job is to train players in 360º: 180º inside the field and 180º outside it,” he concludes. Giorgio Scalvini, born in 2003 and mentioned above as one of the youth players who have won the Europa League this year with Dea, a few years ago he was awarded this important award for the Bergamo club. “It is possible to be a ‘top’ player and a ‘top’ person,” is the message that, for Samaden, Atalanta transmits to its young people.

Specifically, The U-16 men’s team has been the top team in the Italian league of this category and has won the title by beating Milan 3-2 in the final a few days ago. Which shows the great youth level of Atalanta.

Enlarge

Because, in the end, the most important thing is the team. And the transalpine team is very clear that what is outside influences everything that happens inside the stadium. However, Belonging to such an important football entity requires learning to handle pressureWell, a professional footballer is constantly under pressure from his environment, from his fans, from the press, even, and not all players manage all of this in the same way.

Roberto Samaden tells ACE your secret: “Having the right person around the players”The goal for the coordinator of the Bergamo youth team is to create a suitable environment, and, of course, he sees how difficult it is to belong to a club like the Dea.We tell them to enjoy, that it is not necessary to win all the games.. They want it, but it is important that they enjoy it too,” she says. Although, in addition, Samaden confesses that she does not believe that “managing pressure does not need to be taught in a room. The way for them to learn to manage it is in an appropriate environment.”

Of course, at Atalanta they know how almost impossible it is to become a first-team player: “Only 3% of players in Italy become professionals. Therefore, defeat is not losing, but not knowing how to learn to lose. Arriving at training with a smile is very important. You can win every day if you give your 100% and have the right values”.

Ego is also something that is difficult to manage in young people. Atalanta has a team of psychologists in case the children need them, however, for Samaden, just like handling pressure, ego is managed with a good environment: “All adults can be role models for children every day, not only on the field, but off it. They must be. “This way, children will receive the right message every day.”.

Many of the youngsters and children in the Bergamo academy are Italian and from places close to Bergamo. However, there are others who come from other regions of Italy and even from other countries, as was the case with Franck Kessié. “A few days ago I was with a potential new player and his family, from another European country. I told them ‘If you sign, you’ll be here for three years, at least,’” Samaden says. “’The first year, at 16, I’m not going to evaluate your son. First he must adapt to the language, to the food, to the culture, to the fact that you are not with him,’ I told them,” he continues. “If the kid is a forward and only scores one goal in the first year, it doesn’t matter.. You should not give up immediately. We are here to help you, and it is important that you know that. What happens off the field is what makes the difference“, says Samaden, insisting on how vital the person is for the Dea, much more than the footballer, whether you come from Bergamo, Rome or anywhere else on the globe.

Enlarge

However, Samaden is clear that, for him, a youth player is not someone who arrives at 18 and debuts with the first team at 21: “A ‘home’ youth player is one who starts from the roots. Like Scalvini, who has been here for 10 years; Ruggeri for nine years; Dimarco arrived at Inter with eight… and he does not want to say that it is not okay to sign young people between 16 and 18 years old, but, For me, the house itself is made up of those who have been here for at least five or six years.”.

Regarding Italian youth football, Roberto Samaden’s opinion is pessimistic: “We have many problems in Italy with youth football. Our sports culture is not useful for children and young people. We must change it“We have to change the mentality and culture off the pitch,” he says bluntly. “I think the main problem is that results are the most important thing. We have great coaches in the first teams, but there are many problems in the academies,” says Samaden. “We need to change the mentality and culture off the pitch. We don’t have the right environment for players to grow, nor is there enough investment. We need to develop this much more to give youngsters more opportunities to reach the top,” he concludes.

And this is the Atalanta youth academy: the person before the player. This has been reflected in ACE Roberto Samaden as a representative of this family football structure, which is successful due to its values ​​of camaraderie, solidarity and thinking about making good people rather than good footballers, go hand in hand. Because, being a good person, you may not be an elite footballer, you may not even make a living from football, but, as Roberto Samaden says, You can win every day by giving your 100% with the right values.