EXTRA-TIME with Vusumuzi Mourinho Ndlovu - THE ANDREA PIRLO ROLE

With two exceptional talents vying for a single spot on the team sheet, Ancelotti was bound to have selection problems on his arrival at AC Milan. At that time Rui Costa was arguably the world’s best ball passer. He had established himself at Fiorentina and the case that he was the most expensive player signed by Milan added to the fact that he was not going to be relegated to the bench easily. Rui Costa had to contend with a young Italian rough diamond which had just joined from arch-rivals Inter Milan. Ancelotti did the unthinkable, he chose both.

Playing with two playmakers in an era when catenaccio was much revered in Italian football was never going to be easy. Ancelotti gave Rui Costa the playmaker’s role and fielded Pirlo deeper alongside Gattuso, the anchorman. Ancelotti gradually transformed Pirlo into a world class player that went on to fire AC Milan and Italy to glory.

With much freedom, Pirlo’s dynamism, creativity, and vision enabled him to dictate the pace which ensured Milan was back in European football sooner. Blessed with a great first touch, his ability to spread play with his cross-field passes to wingers is second to none. He uses his deeper role to play long balls which exploits openings and creates opportunities to build up play.

Pirlo was instrumental in the Rossoneri’s resurrection as Milan went on to dominate Europe again as they went on to win two UEFA Champions League trophies. His inspiration knew no boundaries, as national team coach Marcelo Lippi built his World Cup winning team around the AC Milan pair of Gattuso and Pirlo. ‘The architect’ scooped the bronze ball at the Azzuri’s last World Cup triumph after he had scored Italy’s opening goal. He further had four assists including the all important one in the final where he was voted man of the match. Prior to that, he had captained the Olympic team to bronze medal in 2004 where he became the third best player.

During Ancelotti’s era at the San Siro, Milan were said to be the custodians of the 1-4-4-2 narrow diamond formation until the departure of Andriy Shevchenko to Chelsea. After winning the UEFA Champions League in 2003, Ancelotti kept the formation and the team setup intact until the sale of Shevchenko. However, if you closely look at AC Milan lineups in 2003 and 2005 UEFA Champions League finals you will observe why I have always thought that Milan’s formation was more of an advanced centralised ‘magic rectangle’.

In those three Champions League finals that Milan reached under Ancelotti, Milan had four defenders, two centre backs and two wingbacks. He didn’t change Gattuso and Pirlo in defensive midfield. Kaka replaced Rui Costa to partner Seerdorf in central midfield in 2005 with Shevchenko and Inzaghi being returned upfront. Pirlo wasn’t going to be called a deep lying playmaker if he was a central midfielder like Seerdorf or a plymaker like Rui Costa. I emphasise that Milan’s formation was more of a1- 4-2-2-2 instead of a 1-4-1-2-1-2 a narrow diamond. Though both formations use wingbacks for width, the diamond uses a single player at the base and at the tip.

Above all, Milan continued to use Pirlo as a deep lying playmaker even after switching Kaka to a second striker role in a 4-4-1-1, he never ceased to inspire. Pirlo’s displays best define the deep lying playmaker’s role.