Last night Pirlo didnt have the best of games. For a player of such great footballing intelligence, creativity and sublime technique to match he looked clueless at times, quite ordinary by his high standards. I know you're thinking this is going to be yet another knee-jerk reaction thread but rest assured it isnt, let me continue....
Fabregas on the other hand played a monster of a game. He was all over the pitch, tackling and creating, being in the position to shoot on goal. Pirlo wasnt, and usually isnt. That's fine to a certain extent because as a regista in a deep role he's an essential part of our side that makes the team tick.
Now I've said before on these forums that I like the Pirlo of the Azzurri, who's a bit of a different species to the one we usually see for Milan. For Italy he's more vertical, he moves around the field more. That's due to tactics, as for Italy he can do this whereas for Milan it isnt required of him. It's been asked before, but the question is: is Pirlo being wasted as a regista?
It's not that Pirlo is bad in this position. In my opinion he is the best deep lying playmaker in the world, no question. However after last night's game some of the Arsenal fans were saying how it's easy to stop Pirlo (or something along those lines). Did Wenger see this too? Looking at it from one angle, you have this wonderfully creative and technically gifted player just sat in front of our back 4 and his easiest forward passes are to 2 defensive midfield players with limited creativity and technique. In 2002 Ancelotti's decision to use Pirlo as a regista was a stroke of genius. Nowadays Milan are often criticised as predictable and Pirlo sometimes seems shackled in his role. Has the regista role and our system become stale and predictable too? There's occasions this season when we've seen Andrea playing more of a left-sided position. On those occasions he looked deadly, using his ability to play decent crosses into the box (which suits players like Pippo and Gila). Unfortunately such occasions are rare.
I think it's time for Pirlo to be given more freedom, for Milan to use a different system. People are talking of an end of an era, time for change. Besides different players (who could also influence our tactics/formation next season) we could be seeing a different coach (I wonder how Mourinho would us Pirlo...).
This summer in Euro 2008 we'll see Luka Modric playing for Croatia. Every time I've seen him play he reminds me so much of Pirlo, apart from the fact that Modric influences the play all over the pitch with elegance and intelligence. Hopefully in June we'll see the same from Pirlo for Italy, but more so I would like to see it next season for Milan.
Fabregas on the other hand played a monster of a game. He was all over the pitch, tackling and creating, being in the position to shoot on goal. Pirlo wasnt, and usually isnt. That's fine to a certain extent because as a regista in a deep role he's an essential part of our side that makes the team tick.
Now I've said before on these forums that I like the Pirlo of the Azzurri, who's a bit of a different species to the one we usually see for Milan. For Italy he's more vertical, he moves around the field more. That's due to tactics, as for Italy he can do this whereas for Milan it isnt required of him. It's been asked before, but the question is: is Pirlo being wasted as a regista?
It's not that Pirlo is bad in this position. In my opinion he is the best deep lying playmaker in the world, no question. However after last night's game some of the Arsenal fans were saying how it's easy to stop Pirlo (or something along those lines). Did Wenger see this too? Looking at it from one angle, you have this wonderfully creative and technically gifted player just sat in front of our back 4 and his easiest forward passes are to 2 defensive midfield players with limited creativity and technique. In 2002 Ancelotti's decision to use Pirlo as a regista was a stroke of genius. Nowadays Milan are often criticised as predictable and Pirlo sometimes seems shackled in his role. Has the regista role and our system become stale and predictable too? There's occasions this season when we've seen Andrea playing more of a left-sided position. On those occasions he looked deadly, using his ability to play decent crosses into the box (which suits players like Pippo and Gila). Unfortunately such occasions are rare.
I think it's time for Pirlo to be given more freedom, for Milan to use a different system. People are talking of an end of an era, time for change. Besides different players (who could also influence our tactics/formation next season) we could be seeing a different coach (I wonder how Mourinho would us Pirlo...).
This summer in Euro 2008 we'll see Luka Modric playing for Croatia. Every time I've seen him play he reminds me so much of Pirlo, apart from the fact that Modric influences the play all over the pitch with elegance and intelligence. Hopefully in June we'll see the same from Pirlo for Italy, but more so I would like to see it next season for Milan.
