[Milan Are Brilli...]

All World Cup 2014 talk in here (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

[X-Offender]

Too slow? How? Besides Pirlo, you've got three hard-working MFs, plus Abate and De Sciglio that offer enough cover, as well as lots of creativity. I think it's a very balanced line-up. Don't know how Verratti will fare as AM, but I can totally see it working.

[han2503]

Too slow? How? Besides Pirlo, you've got three hard-working MFs, plus Abate and De Sciglio that offer enough cover, as well as lots of creativity. I think it's a very balanced line-up. Don't know how Verratti will fare as AM, but I can totally see it working.

Agreed.

I've been listening a lot to English pundits as of late to try to gouge what the general consensus is about the Italy game.

Obviously they're all wary of it, but their biggest pre-occupation is Pirlo. All they talk about is man-marking Pirlo to not let him get so much of the ball and run the game as he did in 2012. The flaw in that is that they have to get one of their strikers to do it (mentioning Danny Wellbeck atm). And they're also forgetting that Italy have 3 other great mids in there who can be as good or better on the ball than any of their midfielders. Don't know if Prandelli was experimenting yesterday by removing Pirlo from that position to have a plan B if somehow they manage to shackle him, that's what I'm hoping at least.

And I think Verratti can be great there, he's not slow, he's great at making those little incisive passes in tight spaces as well. I don't really get why they compare him to Pirlo, totally different kind of player. The only thing that worries me about them is they tend to like occupying the same areas on the pitch, they were both part of the midfield 3 yesterday and sort of got in each other's way on certain occasions. Having Verratti as the AM would ensure that he won't get in Pirlo's way in that regard