Media gossips about Pirlo!
Numerous media talk about Andrea Pirlo who ranks among the game’s all-time greats, lately full matches have been harder to come for the Italian maestro.
Pirlo, has only played the entire 90 minutes twice this season and he has been substituted in each of the last four matches. In Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Orlando City SC, Pirlo left the field in the 56th minute, the earliest the 37-year-old has been replaced since joining New York City FC in July 2015.
Following Wednesday’s training session, Pirlo told to media, he has no issues with the decisions NYCFC coach Patrick Vieira has made. “I am here to play, but I don’t decide,” Pirlo said. “There is a coach who decides and its no problem for me. When he decides I play, I play, or decides I don’t play, I go out, but I am one of the 18 players and I am the same as the others.”
Pirlo’s early-season form is a subject of great debate, with ESPN FC calling him a “luxury player,” because of his defensive shortcomings. A year ago, Pirlo was among the league leaders with 11 assists, but he has no points through seven matches in 2017.
“I am playing normal, some games good, some games normal,” Pirlo said. “It is important I feel good. The rest of the season will be much better.”
Vieira has defended his Designated Playerat every asking. The same was true on Wednesday, when Vieira suggested the assessment of Pirlo by some in the media hasn’t been fair.
He’s been a fixture in the New York City FC lineup since signing as a Designated Player on July 6, 2015.
But Andrea Pirlo was an unused substitute Saturday night for the first time since May, 2016 and New York City FC coach Patrick Vieira saw 19-year-old Manchester City loanee Yangel Herreraplay an influential role in a 3-2 win over the Columbus Crew SC.
What does this mean to NYCFC’s midfield trio going forward though?
After the match, Vieira said the decision was about “looking for different characteristics,” and was pleased with what the trio of Herrera, Alex Ring andMaxi Moralez produced.
“I know what I can get from Yangel and I know what I can get from Andrea regarding the game, and that’s the reason why I made the change,” he said. “The next game we’ll have to look at it again and make a decision. This time it’s Andrea, maybe in another game it will be someone else.”
For Vieira, the more mobile 19-year-old presented a better option against a Crew SC attack that featured Federico Higuain,Ola Kamara, Justin Meram and Ethan Finlay than the 37-year-old Pirlo, who has started all but three matches since joining the club.
“When you want to be a little more solid defensively, that’s why I chose Yangel,” he said. “When we have a time when we’re going to have more possession, where we want players to create and build from the back, I would go with Andrea. I would want maybe to go with Maxi, Yangel andTommy [McNamara].”
Vieira was non-committal about his plans, but made it clear that Saturday’s look is an option he now feels comfortable with.
“I don’t want to make any decisions now; we just finished the game,” he said. “When you analyze all the games we’ve played so far, Andrea playing with Maxi and Ring, has been really good – fantastic – and I think Yangel did really well today.”
Ultimately, Vieira sees success without Pirlo as a good sign.
He said he wants his team “to make it really difficult for me to choose the starting XI” each week, and said NYCFC earned the three points on the road because of the intensity and work he’s seen in training.
“That’s why, since the first day, I’ve believed that we have a better squad than last year,” he said. “I see them working every day in training, and because of the quality of players we had last year and the new ones we’ve (brought), we are much better as a team and a squad. This is really good for me.
