Atlanta Postmatch
- Thread starter NYCFC_Dan
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And the flip side of this, is it also ultimately leads to our back line having more space and time when we do want to play it out of the back.
yess.....i kept noticing he was dropping way too much behind half line to get the ball or get something started and Herrera was on him....young kid has notthing to fear at his age so kept going at him.
Final nail in Pirlo's coffin is that we have more and better chances this year on offense without him. He bypasses Maxi and every time its a diagonal ball to the wings. He didn't do sprints with the unused subs last night. He just doesn't care this year.
I can almost guarantee that Marsch was watching yesterday and brushed up on his profanity as he saw us break the press with ease. Seeing Herrera & Ring boss the midfield is going to make him rue the day he traded Dax.
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However, Herrera is now gone and the team is going on an insane three games in eight days road trip in 3 different cities. (Wtf MLS scheduling?). Pirlo will need to play during that stretch, question now is do you push him higher and keep Ring at the 6. But at least one of those three games next week will have no Pirlo and no Herrera. And Ring is one yellow card away from a suspension. We'll be seeing Chanot as the 6 before we know it.
I t seemed as the game went on that they dropped Almiron back into midfield from the left where he started. I wonder how much their team will be different next month with their injured and suspended guys back
Ring is two yellows away from suspension. But your point still holds true, especially with as physical as he plays.
He could, but then we're back to not having any transition from back to front other than long balls. And we lose the ability to pressure higher up the pitch. It's no coincidence that even with Matarrita out, our fullbacks can get further forward.
To me, there are two big arguments against Pirlo after seeing how we play without him:
1) We can't press the other team, either high or in the final third.
2) We play really slowly most of the time when he's on, so even if he drops a dime to a winger or Villa, there's no one around because everyone is back trying to help keep possession.
We've never played quickly through the midfield the way we did last night.
As for other complaints on Pirlo, I guess I can only speak for me, but I don't remember much complaining beyond his physical limitations and horrendous set pieces. The first you agree with, and the second I don't know how you couldn't if you are watching the past 2 years. It's been mostly the sort of stuff that would be laughed at and meme'ed all over r/soccer if it weren't being served up by Pirlo. Basically, if you make the sacrifice in so many areas to have him on the pitch, he's got to be absolutely outstanding in the things he does.
I'm not sure he's capable anymore. I'm a Pirlo fan. He's a transcendent, generational talent who played the game on his terms. I don't want to see him out there hobbling around and struggling and being (rightfully, a lot of times) a punchline. He still has a role to play at various points if he stays around. It just shouldn't be as a lock starter. He's a situational use only guy at this point - maybe against a bunker or something when we go 3 ATB.
Smart money would say Pirlo will get a start with Herrera gone. But what if PV has finally come to his senses, and instead of playing Pirlo, he tries to go for the most like-for-like replacement in either Stertzer or Camargo??? Stertzer is a very vanilla player that plays very conservatively but also has timely runs into the box. Camargo is more offensive than defensive but could do just enough with Ring at 6.
If either of these happen, it'll confirm Pirlo is headed out. It'll also confirm that PV has learned that spraying balls to the wings, while skipping Maxi, is detrimental to our chances of winning.
I just watched a bunch of Awuah highlight videos from Conn. Based upon where he often seemed to roam, he could pass for a like-for-like replacement. I have no idea where his development is at this point, but his inclusion in the 18 could mean that PV is at least considering his usefulness. It would obviously be a step down (and Pirlo seems like a better bet), but PV is always full of surprises (both the good and bad) so just throwing it out there.
ETA: his size is a concern in that spot, but he plays grittier than I suspected.
I had thought about Awuah, and wondered if his cameo was to get the jitters out. Still think Stertzer or Camargo is more likely but playing the card nobody expects typically bears more fruit. I just hope that if PV is considering this route, he does it next game rather than potentially wasting a game testing if Pirlo is the answer - pull the trigger and make the switch.... Ben Sweat was so much better and calmer in his second game than in his first - just needed some minutes.
Hard to say, but in my unwavering & highly biased opinion, his toes are over the line. I'd red card the guy for even attempting the subterfuge.
Seriously though, I've seen refs all too often miss the trailing foot raised off the ground, so to miss his toes is easier to accept. Just sucks that it led to a ridiculous laser of a shot/goal. Kinda feel like that event lit a fire under the team's ass, or at least got PV to give a passionate French pep talk in the locker room of viva Le France, errr, viva Le NYCFC
They showed an even better shot looking down the line later in the broadcast that clearly showed half his foot over the line. I'm interested to see if it comes up in the MLS weekly ref review thing that Simon Borg guy does.
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