http://www.goal.com/en-india/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=578892 this is something I have been thinking about lately. I was reading on the gazzetta message board and they had a thread called E' il piu' forte calciatore italiano? I know this year milan as a team in italy has been disappointing (though outside italy as usual has been pretty well), yet i believe that pirlo has just completed his best 12-month period in his career, and has been probably the best outfield player in italy this season, imho, given ibrahimovic has struggled quite a bit the last 5-6 games and if not for a massive amount of penalties (i believe 7 of his 18 goals are pens), would be having a very, very good year but not as good as pirlo's. the newspaper ratings (for what little they are worth) pretty much bear that out as it is not even close right now, there is a huge gap for pirlo. he has not only being doing it for club, though, for country as well, in competitive qualifiers as well as friendlies (he was great this wednesday versus portugal). he has even had some games where he was just magisterial, like the first benfica game and the uefa super cup where the spanish press dubbed him the da vinci of football. Now, i am asking you guys what you think. Has pirlo taken over the mantle as the best italian player (don't get hung up on keepers too much, they are hard to compare)? I am not just talking about the national team role, as he is obviously the most important outfield player there, but i mean as a whole, all italians. also, predictions on how he will be remembered when it is all said and done. will he be remembered as the best italian post-baggio/maldini/baresi's prime years? I think he will eclipse all but probably nesta, as he will be remembered 20 years from now as greater than totti and del piero. In fact, i will go ahead and put it on record, I think yes, he is the best italian right now, but feel free to disagree. Oh, and roma, juve, inter (well, they only have materazzi, lol ), napoli, or just any other fan/passer-by of other teams or leagues can comment on this as well (in fact, i would like for that to happen), and feel free to disagree, of course, just please give reasons why (not, "well clearly totti is better, NFT" type responses.) I thought about putting this in the general italy thread, but i think it might get more views here, so i will put it here, but if we need to move it, then so be it. cheers and look forward to hearing your responses
i believe pirlo might be in 20 years by many to be regarded to most underrate player in italian history...the guy does so much to add to a team is not even funny...his stats r not top notch n he doesnt have his name on the scoresheet often...BUT the things he does thruout the game r indescribable...by no means is he flashy...he doesnt get the fanbase he deserves..for instance i love the guy n respect him but is he my fav italian? i think gattuso is my fav....but i love pirlo to death...that guy is amazing...i think that totti is an amazing player...toni is awesome by scoring goals...inzaghi has a nack for puttin them in also..kaka is just a phenom...BUT pirlo is like the glue that sticks it all together...i feel like u can replace totti/kaka wit another playmaker that might not be as good but close...i can name 20 players that can play that role of what they do...20 players that poach the goal n score like toni...20 players that poke it in like inzaghi..but name me 5 players who can come into the milan/italian team n replace pirlo n we wont miss a beat...i think that should be the question...can sum1 replace pirlo at his best n not have milan/italy miss a beat...to me he is the best italian player n main reason why we won world cup...granted it was a big team effort which everyone contributed...tho Pirlo is the man... to me he will always be remembered but to all i think he will go down as a player wit a lot of respect, but prob the most underrated player of italy if not all time
Totti is the best Italian post-Baggio/Maldini. But Pirlo is right behind him in history, and on current form eclipses Totti.
He truly is a legend, best Italian player by far (he already was at the world cup, imo), maybe underrated by media and casual fans, but highly regarded by players, coaches and true football fans. He'll go down as an absolute legend, probably the best pure midfielder Italy has ever had.
Sorry, Totti is in a different class than Pirlo. Maybe years from now by virtue of Pirlo winning almost everything there is to win people will regard him as the better player. But history has a tendency to be corrupted by people who didn't watch it when it happened.
As Sardus said, Totti, Pirlo, and Buffon are the best Italian players in the world right now. Totti is the best talent since Baggio, however with Totti's career winding down Pirlo will eventually take over as the best Italian. So talented, such brilliant technique, skill, and vision.
As objective as I can possibly be I can't think of a more accomplished midfielder since Zidane. As far as Italian lineage is concerned he's already better than Tardelli ever was at 28 years and quite possibly on the same level or better than Rivera.
pirlo is the best footballer of all time not just italy. it is very hard to lose a tournament, be that champions, world cup, or euro with him in the squad.
so, i'm guessing from a historical perspective, most are willing to now put him ahead of antognoni and albertini and most other italian registe, or not quite yet antognoni? @ canzano, I don't think I'm ready to start talking about "il bimbo d'oro" levels yet personally . he was a golden ball winner as well (no SAs allowed, but still quite an honor). interesting seeing the different opinions, i wish some more posters would have contributed/voted.
i haven't seen antognoni play, but i have seen albertini. and the difference between him and pirlo is huge. as i said in my opinion he is the best footballer ever, and it's going to be very hard to top him.
I'd place him as the best in his position that I've seen, but I don't really know that much about pre-1994 Italian players. Also why don't you ask Cassano to move this thread to the Italy forum, as it's probably the best place for it.
pirlo doesn't get nearly the respect he deserves. why do you all think that is? my guess is that he's a quiet guy, perhaps not media friendly.
It's simple, he doesn't score a goal a game & isn't a cocky, loud mouth who starts trouble. It seems that's the only thing that gets attention anymore. Pirlo, IMHO, is the smartest player on the field every game he plays. Great vision, amazing touch, and is really a quarterback for the offensive attack. Not to mention, probably one of the best set-piece kickers in the game. He may very well be the best Italian overall right now. Maybe one of the best payers in the WORLD overall.
He doesn't get the respect that others get because his style of play isn't flashy. If you compare Pirlo to someone like Totti, who is still one of the best players in the world so this is a good comparison, it is easy to see why Totti generally received more attention before the World Cup. Totti is flashy, fast, friendly with the media, and he has all the tricks to capture people's attention along with an absolute cannon. Then you come to Pirlo, there isn't this one single thing that he does that just JUMPS out at you. He's a free kick artist, but his free kicks are not all that flashy so people generally don't pay much attention to his abilities from set pieces. The difference between Pirlo and Totti is that Totti can control and dominate a game in attack while Pirlo can control an ENTIRE match. Pirlo is very good at everything he does. Think about that... I think you can get down on Pirlo for being a liability defensively, but I don't see it that way. Pirlo's job isn't and has never been to make amazing tackles or physically dominate a Christiano Ronaldo the way Gattuso will... Pirlo is a simple link between his defense, the midfield, and his forwards... How many players can you guys think of in history that have been able to control a ball 20 meters from his own goal as calmly and in control as Pirlo? Pirlo is better than anyone in the world at linking the defense and attack. Then you come to Pirlo's passing, long or short, is there anyone better than him? Certainly there is no one in Italy that is better, and I can't think of anyone in the world that I would even put in Pirlo's class as far as passing is concerned. These are what I think Pirlo's most important talents are: 1. Linking the defense and attack 2. Passing 3. His talents from Set pieces Having said all of this, do I believe Pirlo is the best Italian player? It's difficult for me to choose between Pirlo and Buffon. I think it is pretty much a tie. I could say that Pirlo controls the entire match, but how can you argue with Buffon who has the ability to make simply amazing saves... I'm constantly in awe of Buffon's talent and to think that he is not even in his prime at this time is a scary fact. Buffon's performance in the WC 06 was simply amazing, in my opinion and he was the MVP of the tournament, imo. As far as Totti vs. Pirlo. I think Pirlo has performed much better for the National Team even though I thought Totti performed very well for the NT. The fact that Pirlo plays harder and with more passion while wearing the Azzurri shirt makes him better than Totti though he doesn't have Totti's exceptional talent. At the end of the day, I'd call up Pirlo before Totti. I think Pirlo and Buffon are the two best Italian players and I think they both have much more to give in the coming years. I also think Buffon and Pirlo are two of the top 5 or so players in the world, maybe not as far as sheer talent, but in terms of value to a team, they are near the top of the list.
I would certainly put Totti in Pirlo's class as far as passing is concerned. It's arguable who is better...but I do think they're both in the same class in that respect.
yes, I do. Albertini was not even close to Pirlo's level. Antognoni had a slightly different role than Pirlo, Pirlo anyway is better than him too
What you said really is what I'm thinking there. He is such like a glue, which he connects the defence and offence. He comes back to defend and get the ball from the defender and he delivers it up front and compose the offence. He is just like a composer in an orchestra. He is now the tempo of the game. But, I still couldn't compare him like with Totti, Cannavaro, Baggio, Buffon and some other great names. But, all I could say that until now I never seen a player like Pirlo to play so tender but actually he is so hardcore. All I could say that he is so underrrated. He could have had the cheers like Totti and Baggio, which he didn't. Maybe he is not the best of the best of Italian footballers but he is definitely one of the best.
I think no matter what team you put him in Pirlo would be the most influential, and therefore most important player, in that team. While Kaka takes the plaudits, Pirlo is the main man. Italy didn't have Kaka at the world cup but take Pirlo out of the team and they wouldn't have won it. As a Celtic fan I think Nakamura and Pirlo are incredibly similar players (obviously Pirlo is better) so I can relate to your frustration with the lack of appreciation by the media and many fans. Nakamura will always be our most influential and important player as much as McGeady, and Maloney before him, get the headlines. The most important attribute in a football is intelligence. Pirlo is the most intelligent and tactically aware footballer in the world. Gordon Strachan on Naka: "In terms of vision, touch and passing Naka’s the best I’ve ever worked with - and I include Bryan Robson and Kenny Dalglish."
Exactly. It's one thing to have natural talent, it's another to have the vision. Pirlo is one of maybe a handful of players who seems to always be 3 steps ahead of everyone else on the pitch. His style isn't flashy, and unfortunately, he can almost go unnoticed. But true fans of the sports know this player RARELY makes a mistake and almost always was a key part of the teams victory. Whether is was helping the play that created a goal or making a great defensive effort. If I had to choose between Pirlo or C. Ronaldo or Ronaldihno for my team, I wouldn't even second guess picking Pirlo. He'll be captain of the Azzurri once Cannavaro hangs up his boots.
Pirlo is great, on and off the field. I would like to throw in Toni's name on the list of our best players in recent times. It's really hard to measure our current list of players because they're all very good, and they function at their best as a unit. I would say Pirlo is irreplaceable more so than the "best Italian". Totti is the best in the league, but for the Azzurri I disagree.