For many reasons, Andrea Pirlo is unusual. A player who could play for Italy’s big three (Juventus, Inter and AC Milan) and still garner respect among all the fans; a player who could renege on his decision to retire from the national team and be greeted with welcome rather than derision; a player who treasures […]
9 years ago
For many reasons, Andrea Pirlo is unusual. A player who could play for Italy’s big three (Juventus, Inter and AC Milan) and still garner respect among all the fans; a player who could renege on his decision to retire from the national team and be greeted with welcome rather than derision; a player who treasures assists in this era of hyper-goal scorers. Pirlo is an artist; a philosopher; a consummate professional. Since the turn of the century, he has graced our fields with his passing, vision and spatial awareness, accumulating accolades along the way while helping to redefine the role of a midfielder. That he has revolutionized the game so quietly, so subtly, is emblematic of the contrasts that litter his career.
For Pirlo, it hasn’t always been easy. But while many players have to fight against the odds to succeed as professionals or overcome some sort of personal obstacle, Pirlo’s struggles have been of a more philosophical nature. They have been the struggles of the artisan against an unapologetically barbaric sport. Every victory he records is a vindication of how he plays. Every loss, a reminder that the good guys don’t always win. The 2005 Champions League Final is a prime example. Most people have fond memories of the game; it showcased what football can be at its very best – an emotionally charged roller-coaster ultimately decided by the whims of fortune, this time, in Liverpool’s favour.
For Pirlo, who was central to Milan’s fantastic first half display, it was another instance of when skill and craftsmanship lost out to baser yet more exciting elements. As he wrote in his autobiography, “I’ll never fully shake that sense of absolute impotence when destiny is at work.” Pirlo, and Milan, for a long time, did everything right. But fortune is a cruel mistress.
This struggle ultimately cost him his Milan career – prematurely, in hindsight. On the back of a title-winning season in which Pirlo’s impact had been curtailed by injury, Massimo Allegri envisaged a new role for him, on the left of a midfield three, a world away from the regista role he had made famous over the years. You can’t be Pirlo anymore. That was the message put across to him. But like all obstinate geniuses, Pirlo refused to change and instead, set up camp at Juventus, where he continued to be Pirlo and some would say, go on to play some of the best football of his career.
And this battle plays out every other game. Needless to say, Pirlo does not like being man-marked. According to him, he lives “everyone one of these experiences as a gross injustice” but he also feels pity for those detailed to man-mark him. “They’re players – more than that, they are men – who’ve been asked to go out there and act without dignity, destroying instead of creating.” As a midfielder, he seeks the space in which he can “profess his creed”, an inclination for a particular style of football that makes him a firm believer in the gospel of Pep Guardiola.
The players Allegri favoured over Pirlo in his final season at Milan, Massimo Ambrosini and Mark Van Bommel, are polar opposites of the man and represent the mentality he has had to battle for most of his career: that a big bruising ball-winner is required to play in front of the defence. That Pirlo has not only found individual success but on the way, redefined the role of a defensive midfielder, indicates his ultimate triumph – the triumph of purism over pragmatism.
Foto Daniele Badolato / LaPresse
21 01 2014 Roma (Italia)
Sport Calcio
Roma – Juventus
Tim Cup 2013 2014 – Quarti di finale
Nella foto: Andrea Pirlo
Photo Daniele Badolato / LaPresse
21 01 2014 Roma (Italy)
Sport Soccer
Roma – Juventus
Italian Tim Cup 2013 2014 – Quarter finals
In the picture: Andrea Pirlo
The story of how Pirlo was converted into a deep-lying playmaker is oft-repeated. Signed by Inter from Brescia as a number 10, he struggled for game time under his former U21s coach Marco Tardelli and was loaned back to Brescia in 2000/2001. At the time, Brescia had a certain Roberto Baggio playing as the trequartista and Carlo Mazzone, then Brescia manager, decided to deploy Pirlo at the base of the midfield in order to accommodate the two talents. The experiment was a success and would set a precedent for the successful playmaker pairings Pirlo would be involved in during his career, such as with Rui Costa and Kaka at Milan and Totti and Del Piero for Italy. According to Pirlo though, two of his youth team coaches, Gino Bolsieri at Flero and Roberto Clerici at Voluntas, were the first to identify his best position as in front of the defence.
As a nation, Italy has provided many tactical innovations, none more famous than Cantenaccio. Yet Pirlo’s reinvention as a deep-lying playmaker, and the subsequent popularity of the role across Europe, is Italy’s greatest gift to football since Arrigo Sacchi’s innovations in the early 90s.
For all his genius, his flaws were actually accentuated when he was supposed to be at his best. The truth is Pirlo has never worked as well alone. For Italy, he has had Gennaro Gattuso and Daniele De Rossi beside him. For Milan, Gattuso (again), Massimo Ambrosini and Clarence Seedorf to name a few. Most poignantly, he recently had Claudio Marchisio, Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba lining up alongside him at Juventus. Pirlo was able to forge fantastic midfield partnerships with these players for a critical reason: They helped free him from his shackles but in doing so, further accentuated his flaws. The Vidal-Pirlo-Marchisio axis is the best example. The two younger midfielders provided the energy, movement and tenacity needed to dominate teams and liberate Pirlo. After initial experimentation, Antonio Conte realized that Pirlo’s presence necessitated the presence of two other midfielders, and not just any midfielders but those that could go through the defensive and offensive work that Pirlo had grown ineffective at. The entire shape of the team was altered to compensate for Pirlo’s weakness as a holding midfielder. It is a truly bizarre situation that was only made possible by Pirlo’s genius. Yet the image of a lonely artist is ill-suited to Pirlo. He may not need his comrades but he definitely wouldn’t be Pirlo without them.
Pirlo has flitted in and out of the spotlight, often drawing attention during less deserved times. His performances in Euro 2012 are considered more defining, perhaps because of the way he dominated a naïve England team in the quarterfinals, but he was one of the stars of the 2006 World Cup – topping the assists chart and being given the bronze ball award. He scored penalties in both tournaments – an infamous panenka in the match against England in Euro 2012 and the first penalty in the 2006 World Cup Final against France, but the former is more easily remembered. He has also lost two Champions League Finals. His public tears in the most recent loss are destined for Champions League folklore yet he played a bigger role in the first loss, that legendary night in Istanbul where he actually missed a penalty in the shootout. These discrepancies are insignificant but demonstrate the paradoxes of Andrea Pirlo.
Perhaps the greatest irony of Pirlo is the cult following he acquired in the twilight of his career. Perhaps it was the hipster beard, or that penalty against England. Or perhaps it was just time bringing overdue recognition. Regardless, Pirlo has become an icon. He is part of a select band of hipster footballers that are cool to like. The media has made a connection between his playing style and outward persona and has crafted a distinctive image of him. It’s the image that inspires the #PirloIsNotImpressed adverts; the image of a man too cool to be bothered. In some ways, it betrays the true picture. Pirlo’s mischievousness (his pranks on Gattuso are infamous) and flippancy (playing PlayStation on the eve of the 2006 World Cup Final) have always been matched by his passion about many things – about the Azurri shirt, about caressing and controlling the ball, and ultimately, professing his creed as a midfielder.
