After Atalanta sold their best striker, Mateo Retegui, to a Saudi Arabian club, I began to doubt Atalanta performance this season. Furthermore, they are no longer coached by Gasperini, so I'm not surprised that Atalanta started the season poorly. They haven't fully formed with their current players, even though they have recruited a new striker, but he doesn't have the same abilities as Mateo Retegui.
I'm also not sure Atalanta will deliver better results than last season, as they are more concerned with profit than retaining players who have make a big contribution to their team.
Losing an important person on the team can indeed change the overall performance of the team, and we saw it in Atalanta. However they conduct their business, they must accept the impact. What is more challenging for them is not just the Serie A matches throughout the season, but they also have to compete in the Champions League, which would certainly be a disadvantage if their performance declines. Many teams are restructuring to face an increasingly tough season, but there will be teams that actually experience a decline in performance.
Selling their striker Mateo Retegui is not the problem but I think losing out on Gasperini might be the reason why they begin this Season with struggle. For sure last season Retegui was a very important player for Atalanta scoring 25 league goals in 36 appearance, he even secured the golden boot in the league season but i think Gasperini was the brain behind their last season performance.
Scamacca have been doing a pretty good job since joining Atalanta, last season with Retegui stealing the show still manage to score 12 league goals. I think he might be able to fill that spot for Atalanta this season, he has even scored already this season. I think lookman will be back in action after the international break so their performance might be better.