When Andrea Pirlo committed to NYC FC in the beginning of July, there was nothing but excitement for this expansion team as they were on track towards making a postseason run. Now just a month and a half later since joining the team, NYCFC have gone 2-1-4 in the last seven games and have potentially ruined their chances of making the postseason all together.
Could the signing of Pirlo be part of the problem?
Nobody is questioning the fact that Pirlo doesn’t have the capability to play in the MLS. Even still at the ripe age of 36, he is still the same old magician on the ball that has helped him win six Serie A titles, two UEFA Champions League titles, and a World Cup. However, it’s rough to watch one of the all-time greats make plays like this in the MLS…
Pirlo vs #RBNY in 7 clips. #NYCFC pic.twitter.com/SWkcMs1JfD
— Ben Jata (@Ben_Jata) August 10, 2015
So the real question is, why is Pirlo struggling to create a niche for himself in the MLS after consistently being the best player on the pitch night in and night out in Serie A for so many years?
For starters, Pirlo’s defensive responsibilities here in the MLS are vastly different then they were during his his time with Juventes. Pirlo thrived offensively in the CDM role out in Italy due to the fact that he has the ability to see the whole field and the skills to place the ball wherever he wants to put it. At the same time, he was never asked to be much of a defensive player during his final years in Serie A due to the fact that he was always playing with a solid CDM pairing that was more responsible for the defensive aspect of the game.
In the MLS however, Kries has put Pirlo in a position where he is more responsible for how his team does defensively than ever before. By playing the lone CDM role for his club, he now has more of a responsibility to track back into defense than he has had in a long time. Something which at the age of 36 is difficult for him to do.
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Another factor in all of this is that Pirlo spends most of his games playing on a smaller field in Yankee Stadium. For somebody who thrives in being able to hit the ball into the open space for his teammates, it’s more difficult to find that open space when the field is drastically smaller than it may be at other parks.
Coinciding with that fact, when the field is smaller, the players on the pitch are more congested than Pirlo is used to. While playing for Juventes, when he had larger fields to work with and other star players for the other team to worry about, it was easier to find pockets of space. However, since making the transition over to the MLS, he is consistently finding himself man marked due to the fact that other teams are fully aware of his talent and are trying to prevent him from making the miraculous play.
Lastly, one must consider the fact that fatigue may be affecting Pirlo’s play as well. For a man who is 36 to be coming directly from a Serie A and Champions League campaign to an MLS campaign must be tough and you can see that it has effected some of his fundamentals while playing. For a man who is usually a free kick specialist, any fan who has been watching can see that he has been overhitting his free kicks. Also, there have been plenty of occasions where instead of getting rid of the ball, he has gotten tracked down from behind and has lost possession of the ball.
While Pirlo may still be making the transition towards figuring out how to play in the MLS, it’s up to his coaching staff to right the ship and figure out just how to play their team effectively with the amount of talent they have. For a team whom have made their investments on veteran players who are on the back-burners of their careers, the organization has to be able to creatively scheme up different approaches as to how they are going to turn things around to try and make a postseason run.