Pirlo was one Italy's heroes back in the 2006 World Cup victory and he did OK at the Euro but in the last matches, he has been mediocre. He was out injured a while back but form-wise, he hasn't been making the same impact he usually does. Now with Ancelotti juggling numerous midfielders at Milan now, playing time won't be as great as it used to be. Should Lippi have called him up for the Brazil game? Should he be dropped for the next international? Am I reading too much into his error that resulted in Robinho's goal? Maybe it's all about his fitness and he just needs to be at peak fitness to be the Pirlo we all know.
Should always (well, for the foreseeable future) have a place in the squad, at the very least. He's just way too talented. Tactically, if Lippi can't make the De Rossi - Pirlo combination work and has to drop one of them for the sake of the team...I think Pirlo has to be the one relegated to the bench, and I don't think that's my Roma bias showing.
De Rossi is a more complete player than Pirlo so if I had to keep one of the two on the pitch, I'd pick De Rossi too.
are you kidding me? I'd rather drop PEPE and PEROTTA before PIRLO. Yeah, he made a dumb error in the back, but he was still one of the bright spots on the team. His passing is precise (look at Grosso's disallowed goal) Pirlo is a main component of this team and will be for the remaining qualifying games and WC2010
this is the camp I'm in personally. not that that surprises anyone, i think it's well-known I'm a huge pirlo admirer.
u guys are funny.....one bad game and he should be dropped?? if that was the case, Iran would have no national team now Pirlo is solid and no other Italian can replace him yet. He just needs to be more focused for the national team and so should the rest. I feel like these players are more focused in their own team but for the national team they get too emotional and tend to make mistakes.
pirlo did not play well at all at the eurocup, but that could be due to donadoni's offensive strategy. but he does not look like the pirlo of old even with milan. perhaps he needs more rest.
how so? he put in a motm worthy performance against france and was one of the only outfield players against holland to make a good showing in an abysmal defensive effort (very unlucky not to score as well). his disqualification was felt against spain no doubt as well. not as good as world cup 06, olympics 04 but about even with euro 04, another tourney where he showed well in a disappointing showing he did fine in the euros and was italy's most important player most matches throughout qualifying and in friendlies versus portugal and belgium...it's only post-euro 2008 he has dropped some, but that encompasses 2 friendly matches, one in ferragosto where italy always looks like crap and the other versus brazil, and 2 qualifiers also in early september when italy is always behind the 8-ball and the georgia match he did ok and that was (sadly) italy's best match post euros. the other two qualifiers and the friendly with greece he was hurt and italy has played just as bad or even worse without him. So on that reasoning alone, you'd about have to drop the whole squad almost... there is a genuine pdr problem, but to be fair, even without pirlo, de rossi rarely has transferred his immense roma form over to the azzurri barring the first scotland qualifier where he played terrific without pirlo. his other good matches in an azzurri shirt like georgia qualifier and the france match came with pirlo and matches like spain (one of the worst de rossi showings in an azzurri shirt and next to his club teammate no less) and the bulgaria qualifier he has been decent at best, so there are other problems than just lack of balance with pirlo next to him. I love both players, and if it gets worse, and they just cannot find a way to play together, then yes, pirlo would be the one to be dropped out of the two...BUT I want to see an actual healthy cb line behind them, and a decent forward line in front including rossi before i make that judgment. IMHO of course
There are numerous old-timers that I feel Lippi should definitely stop calling up. Pirlo though, would be one of my FEW exceptions. Yes, he has lost a step or two over the past couple of years, but he is still an absolute genius whenever he has the ball at his feet. When he is on his game, he can single-handedly dictate the tempo of a match.
IMHO in all humbleness, Pirlo does need a foil in midfield or a halfway decent line behind him. He is an extremely creative and sublime passer of the ball but needs that partner who can cover his ass, break up the oppositions play, bring the ball up from the back and get rough when need be. Kinda like a "Good cop/Bad Cop" routine; Pirlo is the cop who offers the cigarettes and empathy; he needs to partner with that other cop who is not afraid to jam his knuckles down an opponents throat at the first opportunity to remind them who they are dealing with.
The man you speak of goes by the name of Gennaro Gattuso. There is a reason why he and Pirlo have been partnered together for so many years with both Milan and the NT. Pirlo brings the grace, creativity, and raw skill that you'd want from a deep lying midfielder, meanwhile Gattuso balances it out by providing the hard working defensive coverage that allows Pirlo to focus on doing what he does best. In my opinion though, De Rossi is quickly developing into a player that is somewhat of a hybrid of the two. He has the work ethic, determination, and never say die attitude that Gattuso has, meanwhile he also has an incredible amount of creativity and a rocket of a shot just like Pirlo.
That exactly who I was thinking about...Without Gattuso, Pirlo is lost. Until De Rossi develops into Pirlo's foil, Pirlo wont be that effective. Also until De Rossi fully develops into both Gattuso and Pirlo they both will be lost. I think its because Pirlo has grown so used to working with Gattuso for so long that their partnership has almost de-evolved from a two whole players into two halves; and remember when you pull 2 halves apart they are not a whole anymore, they are a quarter of what they were,...
The thing is that De Rossi is NOT Gattuso. Those who don't know him that well are quick to label De Rossi off as a defensive midfielder. He certainly is not. He is a complete midfielder - one with abilities to break up the opposition's attack, make great passes, and take cracking shots from the outside, etc. De Rossi will not develop into the player Gattuso is. And, to play De Rossi as the Gattuso-type player would be a waste of half of De Rossi's abiliities. I mentioned this earlier on... having players like Pirlo and De Rossi available for our national team is a blessing. They are players who could play on nearly every national team. However, if you place them in the midfield, this raises two problems: (1) adding De Rossi to the midfield does not add a DM to the midfield; and (2) Pirlo is not a fully-sufficient source of creativity. He orchestrates plays from just above the line of defense but often needs a creative counterpart just above the attacks. In EURO 2004, it was Cassano. It WC 06, it was Totti. At Milan, it has been Kaka and now also Ronaldhino. Thus, with both De Rossi and Pirlo in the midfield, they have effectively taken up 50% (if playing with four) or 66% (if playing with three) of the midfield. On top of that, we have still not even filled the DM role and the trequartista role, not to mention the possibility of wingers. To me, I find it ironic that our blessing can also be our burden...
Agreed. He hasn't looked great recently and maybe a rest is what he needs. At the moment, he doesn't look like the Pirlo we know but hopefully the Pirlo we know comes back sooner rather than later. As for De Rossi, he has to try and be better than a Matthaeus, Gerrard or Tardelli.
I never compared DDR to Gattuso, nor did I ever suggest having him fill Gattuso's role either. Anyone with half a brain would know that that would be an absolute waste of De Rossi's incredible abilities. All I said is that DDR is the type of player that effectively combines the best attributes of two players like Pirlo and Gattuso. What I'm saying is that for Pirlo to truly be effective he needs someone like Gattuso partnering him in the midfield in order to carry the bulk of the defensive responsibilities so Pirlo can concentrate on the attacking aspects of his game. My point with someone like DDR is that he's not the kind of player that is dependent on having a defensive-minded partner like Gattuso in order for him to fluorish. He's the kind of player that can help out significantly offensively, while not having to sacrifice the defensive focus of his game. He's just a excellent all-round deep lying mid.
Montolivo has been absolute ass every time he's made an appearance for the senior side. He seems to be having trouble adapting to the international game at the senior level.
In my opinion De Rossi already is at the same calibre as the guys you mentioned. Unfortunately he doesn't get even half the recognition he should because Roma isn't as widely recognized a club as Juve or Chelsea is.
Forza, my post wasn't referring to you. It was just making an observation. I whole-heartedly agree with all your points buddy.
Gerrard? Gerrard's a trequartista and before that was a right winger. He cant play deep in midfield because he's tactically indiscplined and a totally erratic passer. You might as well say De Rossi has to reach Kaka's level or any other attacking midfielder/2nd striker. Pirlo is passe'. The game now is speed and pace and power, everyone's figured out how to play him the last 18 months, in serie a and in europe and with nazionale. Press immediately, give no room, never let him breathe. still got vision but his lack of mobility in pressured moments has left him a long-ball merchant, sad to see. Yes, he should be dropped because he's not good enough anymore to have a top side, internationally or otherwise, built around him.
Ability wise, he can be better than those guys but he hasn't made an impact at the World Cup like Tardelli and Matthaeus did and he hasn't had a great CL season in the manner Gerrard had back in 04/05. Maybe if Roma makes this year's CL Final and if Italy do well with him at SA 2010, that may change.
Well in all fairness the guy has played in only 1 World Cup this far and he was barely 23 years of age at the time. This season though with Totti constantly on and off with injuries, he has easily been our inspiration right alongside Vucinic.