Delighted to see Pirlo receiving the acclaim he deserves. The first time I saw him was when he’d just moved to Inter as an 18 or 19 year old. It was a pre-season friendly against Parma who fielded a full strength team with Crespo, Veron, Chiesa, Cannavaro etc, where as Inter played a team of U21’s. At that time Pirlo played in a much more advanced role behind the striker, but he was the best player on the pitch that night by a mile, just floating past defenders as if they didn’t exist and cutting the defence open with quick dribbles and clever passes. He’s been my favourite player in world football ever since and I could quite happily sit and watch him knock a ball about all day long. I had to laugh at the pundits complaing that we didn’t shut down his space or ‘get a man on him’...as if nobody’s ever thought of trying that before! It’s easy to say, very hard to do.
Can’t really fault England’s spirit but our ball retention is dreadful, which again doesn’t really come as a surprise. Wilshere will be key when he comes back, but whether we can find more like him is the question.Statistics: Posted by Shands — Mon Jun 25, 2012 9:52 am
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