Andrea Pirlo announces retirement from football

Not a surprise, but nice that it is official so that we can do it right. With him coming off the bench, it may not be clear when his final appearance will be. It would be nice if we clinch second this weekend so that he can start and get a proper sendoff.

It's an amazing career, and he deserves all the credit for taking his intelligence and demeanor and turning it into something so valuable on the field. Even if his skill set was not always a great fit for us, and he began a decline a year ago, it's been so much fun to watch him on the field.
 

If we're not doing sensible thing and going for older players, I'd like Le Cut Inside man.

He's 33 and the best defenders in the world cannot stop him when he decides to cut inside. Can you imagine the nightmare MLS defenders will have trying to stop Robben from cutting inside.
 
Should of retired last year . Pirlo was a great player but not with NYCFC he was terrible here, as a player it was a failed signing for NYC but from a marketing perspective he was able to sell jerseys and season tickets as well awareness to the team.

Enjoy retirement and wish Pirlo the best in future endeavors.
 
http://www.football-italia.net/110993/pirlo-retire-end-mls-season This article has a lot more detail to the announcement .
With his comments about helping the coach and giving younger players a chance to play, I wonder if we'll even get to see him on the field again. Surely?

I'm sad to see him go and ecstatic that I got to see him play in the flesh. Even though his legs were gone, particularly this season, he still gave us some moments of magic and I'm sure his influence was felt on the training field and in the development of his team mates. He also gave us the opportunity to have some pretty epic debates and what I hope were ultimately informative differences of opinion :)
 
With his comments about helping the coach and giving younger players a chance to play, I wonder if we'll even get to see him on the field again. Surely?

I'm sad to see him go and ecstatic that I got to see him play in the flesh. Even though his legs were gone, particularly this season, he still gave us some moments of magic and I'm sure his influence was felt on the training field and in the development of his team mates. He also gave us the opportunity to have some pretty epic debates and what I hope were ultimately informative differences of opinion :)

Lamps, mix, Pirlo, & tmac. Keeping the forums churning since 2015.
 
With his comments about helping the coach and giving younger players a chance to play, I wonder if we'll even get to see him on the field again. Surely?

I'm sad to see him go and ecstatic that I got to see him play in the flesh. Even though his legs were gone, particularly this season, he still gave us some moments of magic and I'm sure his influence was felt on the training field and in the development of his team mates. He also gave us the opportunity to have some pretty epic debates and what I hope were ultimately informative differences of opinion :)
THANK YOU ! Christopher Jee Christopher Jee !!!!! Your a Thousand Percent Right !! The one thing Everyone has said from AC MILAN / JUVENTUS / ITALIA has always said is how much his presence Means in training and the locker room ! They won't know this here till it's gone . This is where My Baby made his mark on this team !! People will be arguing The Pitch for years . There was only So Much he could do with his style of play in the MLS !

As far as My Long Awaited Retirement Announcement from This Team and The Forum ....I'm keeping ya'll on well Deserved Pins and Needles !!!
 
Hopefully we can get 2nd place locked up so we can give him a proper send off on the last home game of the regular season. He deserves it.

I don’t want him playing in the playoffs.

This. I wouldn't mind a Pirlo 85th minute sub against CLB if they are up by a couple goals. For all the teeth gnashing about his play this year, he deserves some type of sendoff.
 
Sentiment is for uncapped leagues. Fuck off and good riddance; on balance he cost $15 million and hurt more than helped.
His best game was his first game, and it all went downhill from there.

CFG should really just have a Legends Tour during the off-season where they invite players they’d love to have wear the jersey play in a friendly, and they get a ton of merchandise one-off sales for one-time guest players. Doing that would have kept us from wasting a DP spot on Pirlo. Totti could be next. Who else is out of contract and near retirement or already retired and could play a one-off friendly? Rooney might as well be. Their jerseys could be collectors items like the USMNT denim kit.
 

Appreciate all the screenshots, but let's keep this to discuss Pirlo only. Our next DP can be discussed in Player's Wanted.

He was a signing that wasn't supposed to happen. Jason Kreis wanted someone younger but Lampard still hadn't arrived and the front office wanted to make a big move. I still remember him and Lampard in a suite together for the RB derby. It was the best is yet to come. Except it wasn't. Pirlo went through two systems where he just didn't fit. First, we didn't have the defensive midfielders to shield Pirlo. Then, we signed Maxi and Herrera turned out to be a gem. There were low moments and moments of brilliance. Mistakes and beauty. Times when you had your head in your face and others when you could cry at what you were seeing. For better or for worse, we got/get to see Pirlo, one of the greatest players in the game.

But we still have two more games left and the playoffs. Let's end his career on a high note.
 
I noticed a pretty sharp downturn after he got passed up for the Euros last season. He was still pretty impactful up to that point, even though he didn't really fit our system. After that, the decline was rapid.
 
Appreciate all the screenshots, but let's keep this to discuss Pirlo only. Our next DP can be discussed in Player's Wanted.

He was a signing that wasn't supposed to happen. Jason Kreis wanted someone younger but Lampard still hadn't arrived and the front office wanted to make a big move. I still remember him and Lampard in a suite together for the RB derby. It was the best is yet to come. Except it wasn't. Pirlo went through two systems where he just didn't fit. First, we didn't have the defensive midfielders to shield Pirlo. Then, we signed Maxi and Herrera turned out to be a gem. There were low moments and moments of brilliance. Mistakes and beauty. Times when you had your head in your face and others when you could cry at what you were seeing. For better or for worse, we got/get to see Pirlo, one of the greatest players in the game.

But we still have two more games left and the playoffs. Let's end his career on a high note.

Sorry to be sour grapes, but I honestly don't remember many moments of brilliance. Maxi's assist last game after his costly and Pirlo-esque mistake, was better than any I remember Pirlo making in a NYCFC jersey. I remember the endless head scratchers, the wasted corner kicks and free kicks, the slowing down of the transition for no good reason, and the interesting-looking but ultimately overhit long balls to the flanks. Hundreds of them. I won't miss a minute of it, and honestly I don't remember ever seeing Andrea Pirlo in a NYCFC jersey. The bearded guy who washed ashore here was a different guy.
 
Sorry to be sour grapes, but I honestly don't remember many moments of brilliance. Maxi's assist last game after his costly and Pirlo-esque mistake, was better than any I remember Pirlo making in a NYCFC jersey. I remember the endless head scratchers, the wasted corner kicks and free kicks, the slowing down of the transition for no good reason, and the interesting-looking but ultimately overhit long balls to the flanks. Hundreds of them. I won't miss a minute of it, and honestly I don't remember ever seeing Andrea Pirlo in a NYCFC jersey. The bearded guy who washed ashore here was a different guy.
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