Had the pleasure today of meeting and spending quality minutes with a Manc, two Belgians and two Italians. They all provided interesting insight to an American soccer watcher.
1) I started the day at the Dugout. Highly recommend pre-gaming at the Dugout. Spent 45 minutes with a City fan visiting our stadium and team for the first time. I asked him about Lampard and he couldn't speaker more highly about him. Said, for what we do, he will fit in perfectly. With the way Villa can hold the ball up and create chances, Lampard will be the perfect foil to defenses. I asked him if he would be concernced about playing 3 CMs at once (Lampard, Mix and Pirlo) and he raised an interesting point. I also asked him where Lampard played at City. He said that the way Pellegrini liked to play, the midfield mostly floats. Thought that was interesting considering that's something Kreis has noted - he wants midfielders who can play multiple positions. Maybe having all these midfielders will be OK.
2) Behind me, two Belgians sat and enjoyed the game. They loved Poku. Thought he was a man amongst boys. They didn't understand why we didn't play through Poku in the middle in the first half. I didn't have an aswer. And the one guy couldn't stop taking pictures of Pirlo everytime he touched the ball. He's a season ticketholder at Anderlecht.
3) After the game, I met a friend and his Italian father and uncle. They came to see Pirlo. And they will be back to see Pirlo. They are Milanese and still support AC Milan. They thought our defense was shit (they are Italian after all) but will be back next weekend. Don't underestimate what having Pirlo here does for interest and tickets.
1) I started the day at the Dugout. Highly recommend pre-gaming at the Dugout. Spent 45 minutes with a City fan visiting our stadium and team for the first time. I asked him about Lampard and he couldn't speaker more highly about him. Said, for what we do, he will fit in perfectly. With the way Villa can hold the ball up and create chances, Lampard will be the perfect foil to defenses. I asked him if he would be concernced about playing 3 CMs at once (Lampard, Mix and Pirlo) and he raised an interesting point. I also asked him where Lampard played at City. He said that the way Pellegrini liked to play, the midfield mostly floats. Thought that was interesting considering that's something Kreis has noted - he wants midfielders who can play multiple positions. Maybe having all these midfielders will be OK.
2) Behind me, two Belgians sat and enjoyed the game. They loved Poku. Thought he was a man amongst boys. They didn't understand why we didn't play through Poku in the middle in the first half. I didn't have an aswer. And the one guy couldn't stop taking pictures of Pirlo everytime he touched the ball. He's a season ticketholder at Anderlecht.
3) After the game, I met a friend and his Italian father and uncle. They came to see Pirlo. And they will be back to see Pirlo. They are Milanese and still support AC Milan. They thought our defense was shit (they are Italian after all) but will be back next weekend. Don't underestimate what having Pirlo here does for interest and tickets.
