In 1971, “the King of football”, Pele, came to the US and stayed there for 6 years, becoming the pioneer for Football in a land under the gripping rule of Grid Iron, Basketball and Baseball. In 2007, David Beckham went to Los Angeles Galaxy, and with his fame, turned the MLS into a world renowned championship. 2015 saw the arrival of Andrea Pirlo to New York City.
Unforgettable career
Andrea Pirlo is not as big a name as Pele, and does not show up on the media as much as Beckham. What he brought to the MLS was new, and different: strategies. He took to the US a football strategy bearing his name. At the position above the defender line, a brain manipulating the whole field. A defensive midfielder…only not so defensive. A classical number 10, pulled low to avoid the might of the “Makeleles”. In Ancelotti’s words, Andrea Pirlo is “the smartest play I’ve ever coached. And you think you can give order to Pirlo when he’s on the field?”.
Until now, the tifosis (followers) of AC Milan still bear a grudge against Allgeri for losing Pirlo to Juventus. The fans lost an icon, and Milan never again saw the light of a championship victory, since the day Pirlo left San Siro.
But there is a deception the Milanistas have been imbuing themselves with: that Pirlo’s departure that day was unavoidable. Why? Because Massimiliano Allegri was a genius strategist, truly gifted, unlike Leonardo before him. While Leonardo only took after Ancelotti, Allegri could develop strategies and tactics according to his own philosophies in Milan. This caused a divergency between him and Pirlo, Milan’s “strategy gateway” in the early 21st century. To change the strategies of the team was to remove Pirlo. To use him was to revolve the team’s strategies around his. Allegri knew that, and chose to let Pirlo go. However, had Allegri known that Milan’s board of management wouldn’t provide him with the materials needed to develop his philosophies, and if he knew that Antonio Conte from Juventus would be able to see the potential sleeping within of Pirlo, he certainly would not chosen this direction. The rest, as we know, is history.
In 2005, the football magazine World Soccer voted Pirlo as one of the 21 faces that changed the world of football. This distinguished Pirlo from the likes of Kaka, Steven Gerard, Frank Lampard or David Villa who came to the MLS earlier, since with Pirlo came a whole strategy system, which would show the Americans the power of football thinking and human revolution. Long ago, when the classical number tens were being destroyed in Europe, Pirlo with his deeply defensive positioning helped AC Milan and Italy win the world’s most prestige victories, including the Champion’s League championship and a final victory at the 2006 World Cup, all of which was achieved in the world football’s transitional period, before the formation of tiqui-taca in Spain, which would rule the scene in the following years.
A void will remain in Europe
With the departure of the grand icons of skills and awe, whose victories made up the world football scene in the last decade, the likes of Gerrard, Xavi, Pirlo. Gerrard and Xavi at least have both had successors, while Italy could find no worthy successor for Pirlo. Long ago, when Roberto Baggio left the scene, the boot-shaped country still found comfort in Paolo Maldini, Del Piero, Totti, Inzaghi. Pirlo filled the Italians’ hearts when Del Piero and Inzaghi left them behind. Now it’s Pirlo’s turn to leave, and what’s left is a void in the heart of the fans, whose love for football was devoted almost wholly to him.
In contrast to the scene in Europe, a complete fulfilment will be the case in the land of the free. After being made known by the renowned football-priests of the world, whose fame imbued the MLS with the experience and personal skills of top-tier players of the world, now the championship will see something new: strategies.
The Americans had Jurgen Klinnsmann as a couch; now they have Pirlo. How will the football scene in Uncle Sam’s yard develop? That, nobody knows. We do know one thing, though, that is a country is like a man, it’s all about the skills. Talking about skills, well, it’s hard to find any country better than the US. It’s the same with football, nobody plays football with a way of thinking quite like Pirlo’s.
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