I feel that this discussion whether Pirlo is a word-class midfielder or not, is endless. You can either like him or not. But I think we [milan fans] should appreciate what he's done for this club. Is there a need to post youtube videos or to upload a movie made by milan channel, just so some dudes to actually see what he's done and what he's capable of ?

Even Shevchenko in his last season with Milan [the one that was loaned] made crappy appearances, but the guy is still a Milan legend. Same goes for a lot other Milan legends and for Andrea too, whom I consider to be a Milan legend !

+1

I don't think he's a Milan legend. He's a Milan great yeah but no legend in my view.


no one admitted Pirlo has been garbage the past three seasons. just that he has not been near as good as he was. but considering where he was, that's pretty far from garbage.

considering Pilro was magnificent at the 06 World Cup, when Italy were managed by Lippi I'd say that Ancelotti thing is not valid either... I suggest you watch some of those games if you can, you'll be begin to understand why he was given that nickname.

It doesn't matter. When a player's effectiveness is to be measured purely in assists/goals...then a lot of great players are to be left at the wayside.

Agree with you..he's a Milan hero. Probably not a legend. You require to retire here to be a legend.

Neither Sheva or Kaka retired in Milan, and still they both are Milan legends. At least that's how acmilan.com rates them.

I don't consider either a legend.

Well...say Baresi, Maldini, Marco Van Basten.

And then say Sheva, Kaka, Pirlo. Do you think they should be in the same group?? I mean, granted with time, you look back fondly on the old heroes...and perhaps as football progresses, people like Sheva, Pirlo etc will become legends.

Granted I'm partial to Sheva very much, because he is one of our club record holders. Kaka...not so much.

Pirlo I adore....but he has always been his own man, living his own little artist's universe. A legend would be an out-and-out club man.

We said he wasn't a maestro in his last 2-3 seasons. where the heck did you bring garbage from?

Oh wait, you put words in our mouth

Indeed, Baresi, Costacurta, Maldini, etc. form one group, while Sheva, Kaka or Pirlo another.

Does it really matter if he is a legend or hero? Honestly now.

Well, if you reduce all discussion to that question, very few things matter.

Ok, but something like this on 'MF' would drag on for 2 pages (as it just did) ... And does it bear anything fruitful ?

Two pages? I see 4 posts related to that topic. Whether it is fruitful or not is hard to tell, but again, this reduction could easily lead us to the conclusion that 80% of the talk is not fruitful.

look guys I'm not here to hate. The truth is there is as much reason to love Pirlo as there is to hate him. His fans choose to see mainly the former his detractors mainly the latter. When I think of world class CM's he doesn't spring to mind at all. Without our red and black tinted glasses he was a VERY limited player whose skillset only deteriorated with time.


To compare him to Steven Gerrard, Scholes, Lamps, Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas etc is ludicrous! His languid style and nonchalant approach grew more and more upsetting as his productive and creative output diminished. Also he was NEVER one to assert his authority on a match or help us up when we were down. Hell he never even seemed to care when his plethora of silly backpasses put us under threat. I actuallý was a fan of hi before the Arsenal game in 2008. But he was SO awful then and wasted sooooo many freekicks for a supposed Maestro that I could never see him as deserving of wearing our shirt

Gerrard, Scholes, Lampard, Fabregas? REALLY? Those guys would kill to achieve what Pirlo has in his long illustrious carreer. Sure, his performances these last 2 seasons have wained, mainly due to the bulk of the workload being thrown on his shoulders since Rino and Ambro are barely even players anymore. But you can't really compare.

At his peak, Pirlo was, along with Xavi, one of the best mids in Europe, simple. Don't try to twist it around.

And still even now, he's still one of the classiest midfielders out there.

You don't like his languid style of play? Fine fair enough. But just say that and be done with it, don't try to make him out to be cr@p when he's so far from that it's ridiculous that people, including myself, are bothering to reply to such nonsense. Some people don't like Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas' tiki taka style, they still admit to them being great players.

Can't wait to see him playing for Juventus. And I'd like him to score a nice free-kick against us. But of course with us winning by 2-1

He'll be fine at Juve. He'll get to play where he feels comfortable as well as having support due to the midfield runners Juve have.

And if we cannot find adequate replacement for him, then we'll be the ones who'll take the hit since atm we have zero creativity in the team

As much as I agree and always have regarding your opinion on Pirlo, it's unfair saying what you've said - especially to Ambrosini. Last season was a very bad one, but prior to that Ambrosini simply did not look like a footballer who's "barely a player". It's getting a bit out of hand, this Gattuso and Ambrosini bashing. Sure, they're old and shabby, probably have also only a few tricks to show and give to Milan (if even that), but too much is too much.

Ambro played half a good season under Leo. It's really not that unfair of a statement. While Rino has been barely hanging on for years now.

Just look at how they supported Pirlo previously (Rino especially) and how they supported Pirlo these past 2 seasons. It really says it all. You can't have a player like Pirlo who is all about ball movement not being supported by strong midfielders. That was always the case before, hence our success in the CL and Serie A under Carlo and Italy's success at the WC.

Well, they are all aged, but I don't tend to criticize them so hard or harsh. All three, including Pirlo, regressed and deteriorated. The answer isn't as simple as: "Gattuso and Ambro are finished, therefore Pirlo wasn't that good".

But that's normal. Pirlo still is a great player and any team can make benefit out of him, while Ambrosini and Gattuso have little left.

I'm not placing all the blame on them, it was other reasons, such as Pirlo himself, which is only normal for a player to decline when he reaches the age Pirlo is at, but tactically, neither Leo, nor Allegri knew how to handle Pirlo. And with Rino and Ambro's rapid decline it was made worse since Pirlo was never a defensive player but played in a defensive position, and was left practically without any cover

Now we agree

I now I took it to the extreme saying it was solely Ambro and Rino's faults in the first post, but when you have people saying he's garbage, you have no choice but to take it to such extremes

Naah, I disregard it easily. People are overall hypercritical these days, mostly inexperienced and with no sense or respect for past times. It's actually very common these days.

Oink oink, wink wink.

You always take the extreme when it comes to those two. Really unbelievable that at the same time your a so full of Pirlo who has been worse than them the last yearssssssss (well, obviously ignoring Rino's season under Leo, but that's just 1) and is nowhere close in Milan hero status as the other two are. Enough is enough, exactly...

Talkin about extremes...you make one post and manage to stir up everything. Ambrosini never in his entire career played a better season the Pirlo. Who's been worse for the last seasons should be obvious, but in any case, is very relative. And who's a greater hero in Milan history is even more relative. You only can measure it by your very own personal bias, every single one of us. There's no definitive version or ultimate rank.

OMG! This is very untrue. Last few seasons Ambrosini was the obvious better one of the two. Ambrosini was our best midfielder in Leo's season, he and Ronaldinho were the two being the best usually, difference being Ambrosini more consistent than Ronaldinho. Ah , i will just stop, I just keep hearing people overpraising Pirlo and underrating Ambrosini. So wrong. Appreciation goes the wrong way here.

I can only LOL at your Pirlo related posts chu, not even going to bother

Pirlo groupieism is a serious and dangerous illness that causes victims to discredit everything and blame everything ELSE for his failures

I honestly can't believe that Ambro OUR CAPTAIN and Rino are now being judged by how much support and protection they give his fairry @$$! Last time I checked they were supposed to provide GENERAL COVER FOR THE MIDFIELD AND FOR THE TEAM AS A WHOLE. But again it speaks volumes about the absolutely fanatical bias he is continually showered with by his fans! The almost religious zeal with which a player who has never been our best player for any one season and has left Milan for our rivals- is utterly incredible

If you read a Pirlo groupie's post carefully any fault or bad game/season whatever can be blamed on someone else or some circumstance that poor Pirlo had no control over. The REALITY of it all is that he's simply an above average CM with good technique. Ancelotti did what all good coaches do by hiding his flaws and maximising his strengths. Lippi followed suit. But Pirlo's failure to cut it under less than ideal circumstances whereby he transforms from a valuable component to a liability, clearly indicates that he can't be rightly labelled as anything more than a good player

*sigh* Milan midfield = Pirlo, Clarence, Rino, Ambro. Subtract Rino and Ambro since they're providing cover..what do you get? Pirlo and Clarence.

And what does Ambro being our Captain have anything to do with it?

I think the fact that Pirlo couldn't fit tactically into Allegri's scheme is not being questioned here.

And Lampard and Gerrard can't play together in England, coz they're out of their tactical comfort zone. Ergo they suck.

Dude! Any player out of his tactical position where his strengths lie will look weak. Even within mid-field. But if you insist on looking at every player on the pitch one-dimensionally..then your point is valid.

Therefore according to you with skills put in perspective:

Primary striker: Scores
SS: Assists, Scores
Creative Mid: Passes, Assists, Scores
DM: Tackles, Passes to Creative Mid
CB: Defends
Fullbacks: Defends, Crosses

Unfortunately here's the thing:

PIRLO: Passes, Assists, Covers passing Lanes to cut space, Technical fouler par excellence.

Yup. Definitely not in your descriptive criteria for any position on the field. I see your point.

What exactly do you mean with that?

Your rants really make me laugh sometimes dru, so biased! Keep it up

He was trying to say that Rino and Ambro's main task was to provide cover for the mid-field. And I was trying to explain that Pirlo and Clarence were the goddamn midfield. So if they were not getting cover the problem lies elsewhere.

Look..I'm not bringing up Allegri's formation. I happily accept Allegri's formation and play does not suit the deep lying playmaker at all, so that's not my point. When Ambro and Rino had to function as mid-field runners obviously they cannot lay back and play the pure bodyguard role. So Pirlo often has to cover.

I mean, are han and I the only people who saw (during Leo's time esp) Rino up there near the D-box, while Pirlo has to take on the likes of Sanchez and Natale deep in mid-field when Udinese or some other team like that counter on the break?

My argument is solely with the "Pirlo does not fit in the formation ergo Pirlo is crap" opinion mongers. I have no problem with those who say "Pirlo did not fit in the formation, so he had to go". In fact if I weren't so sentimental, I would even agree with them.

I don't really think it was just me and you jack Ambro as well, they were made to play as box-to-box mids while Pirlo stayed in front of the defense stranded. That is not how Pirlo should ever be played since it's suicide. I don't know who was telling Ambro or Rino to gallavant up and down the field like they're f'ing Essien, or whether they suddenly thought they were good enough to do such things, but it clearly never worked, especially since those 2 are 2 of the most limited players in the modern game. Rino was great when he stuck to his role under Carlo, ie retrieving the ball quickly and giving it to Seedorf or Pirlo quickly. Ambro personally I never rated since he always did ridiculous sh!t that never came off and thought he was the second coming of Redondo

Saying Pirlo and Seedorf were the (goddamn) midfield is not only new to me, but also - in my opinion - a very disgraceful thing to say. I'm not even sure what you mean with that, but it seems to me you forgive all their flaws just because they are no DMs which results in all the blame on Ambrosini and Gattuso whenever Pirlo or Seedorf fucks up. That actually explains A LOT why I read so many anti-Ambro/Rino posts, and pro-Pirlo posts. I can't continue with this part of my sto-ry unless you tell me your definition of 'mid-field'. Though I can tell, having more than one midfielder that needs cover like that is a really bad thing. Of course you need to cover someone like Pirlo, but that doesn't mean he can do ****. When Seedorf's good side is on the pitch, at least he contributes a lot more than Pirlo. But when Seedorf is doing ****, he is the worst.


Ambrosini is a pure bodyguard? Are you for real? (He can, but he is more than that.) I expect way better from a Milan fan. Ambrosini is NOT a pure bodyguard. Do I really need to explain why he isn't? I would expect this from han, but I guess he's not alone. You really think our midfield existing/existed of two pure bodyguards?

Ambrosini does and can do more than bodyguarding. He also contributes differently, hence the disgraceful part.


No, you weren't. But Gattuso actually contributed something when he does that. Of course you prefer someone else to do that, but it really helped us. He had lots of games he was so energic: defensive strong, and also creating some danger. And yes, Pirlo as anchor is an obvious fail. He keeps 'forgetting' to defend/mark a man. And loses possession way too easily. Such a liability.

So of course there was a tactical fail here. Yet Rino did well, Pirlo didn't though.


Playing Pirlo like that is indeed suicide. From these three Ambrosini is best suited to box to box, clearly he isn't one though. Or you think Pirlo can do that well? Clearly Pirlo doesn't fit in Allegri's midfield. Seedorf is better suited for it than Pirlo is (both as anchor + as LCM, and as AM obviously too).

LOL you selectively quoted part of my argument to pigeon hole it into something you can use to tell me how I interpret the game

I DID say that the CDM/DM's role is to provide cover for the midfield and for the TEAM as a whole.

But then again I don't even need to debunk your biased portrayal of my interpretation of the game because you once more proceed to shovel the blame back on Ambro and Rino for not being the Kevin Costner to Milan's Whitney Houston

No he's not. Ambro is a very limited defensive midfielder, just because he occasionally scores a header, does not mean that he should be trying ridiculous things opr trying to run into the box when his job is to cover so we don;'t get caught on counter attacks. Do you ever see VB do sh!t like that? No. Becuase he's a disciplined DM who knows what he should and should not be doing. Ambro has no business trying to shoot from yards out, making ridiculous passes that never come off or trying to run into the box when he should be covering. Which is essentially all that he does

Personally I don't want to see either Rino or Ambro on the pitch next season unless we have a massive midfield emergency situation or it's a Coppa match. Having either of them on the pitch is a huge liability, and don't try to tell me that Ambro had a good season under Leo or that Rino was good last season compared to his previous one, because those are ridiculous statements since both have been terrible in recent history and your only defense of either of them are a couple of average performances, which compared to their recent form, look "good"

VB should be our starting DM, and Flamini is the stand-in for the RM spot if we don't get anyone else, then he should start there

Looks like a Palermo player

Why does the pink one have different text on the front?

Because that is a Palermo shirt? Really stupid club, and equally bad kit. They are really lucky they've got Buffon for all these years who has stayed loyal when he could have left anytime to any club to win anything.

I bet Pirlo was regretting the move at least for a few moments after putting on that ugly pink jersey

Confederations cup pirlo assist

what the hell is he wearing

i miss him in milan shirt (((

Sigh the juventus kits are really dissapointing. Excessive amounts of white for the first two. Honestly last seasons home for juventus with the black socks and shorts was pretty nie. but this one is too white. so hopefully a dark away kit. nope another white shirt

Is it bad for me to say i kinda like the pink top *blushes*

Buffons gk jersey is ok. but they should rid of the white background on the sponsor. it ruins it a little

Pirlo missed his calling as a professional drag queen I doubt any of the crazy pitbulls we have now would ever look so comfortable in an obvious barbie doll uniform. How would Rino, Ambro, Flams, iBra and Dorf take to wearing that crap? :l

Strange that Ronaldo is jeered for having sex with what Pirlo is now

Really Pirlo had no business wearing this color. Maybe if he was still under 20, but oh well.

Hey, let's cut it, it's only a color.

And a pretty bad one at that. Speaking as someone with a background in art and design, I'd say it's a couple of notches too intense, a slightly lighter shade of pink with black would have worked much better. Seriously though, I couldn't understand the affair with white this season, a lot of Serie A shirts have excessive use of white.

Oh well, at the end of the day it's only a kit, something which I don't particularly buy now-a-days.