4–4–2 system. When defending off the ball, his teams are also known for the use of heavy pressing, but also apply elements of fluid man-marking across the entire pitch and often switch to a 5–4–1 formation defensively. Gasperini favours using hard-working and highly physical two-way players in midfield rather than a deep-lying playmaker, but also quick, elusive, even smaller but creative players upfront, in order to implement his system effectively; he has also been known to use a larger and more physical centre-forward upfront on occasion, who is good in the air. Despite the acclaim he has garnered due to his offensive playing style, which has led him to obtain successful results with smaller teams, he has also drawn criticism for his unbalanced approach, and for his team's tendency to concede goals as well as scoring them. As such, certain pundits have questioned whether his system would be equally effective with larger teams. Managerial statistics Honours Club Atalanta Coppa Italia runner-up: 2018–19, 2020–21 Individual Serie A Coach of the Year: 2019, 2020 Gazzetta Sports Awards Coach of the Year: 2017 Panchina d'Oro: 2019, 2020 Serie A Coach of the Month: November 2021 References External links Profile at the Atalanta B.C. website 1958 births Living people People from Grugliasco Footballers from Turin Italian footballers Association football midfielders Juventus F.C. players A.C. Reggiana 1919 players Palermo F.C. players Cavese 1919 players U.S. Pistoiese 1921 players Delfino Pescara 1936 players U.S. Salernitana 1919 players Vis Pesaro dal 1898 players Serie A players Serie B players Italian football managers Juventus F.C. non-playing staff F.C. Crotone managers Genoa C.F.C. managers Inter Milan managers Palermo F.C. managers Atalanta B.C. managers Serie C managers Serie B managers Serie A managers