Player Focus: Can Pirlo and Verratti Play Together?
On Saturday afternoon, Andrea Pirlo appeared on Radio Deejay Football Club. The presenters, Ivan Zazzaroni, Guerin Sportivo’s former editor, and Fabio Caressa, Italy’s foremost commentator, touched upon many subjects in their interview. They covered his free-kick taking technique, why he seems to find it easier to score them than penalties and the latest on his contract negotiations at Juventus. There was also a question about Marco Verratti.
His performance in the first leg of Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Chelsea had offered yet another reminder of what a talent he is. So Zazzaroni and Caressa put the following to Pirlo: Could you possibly play together? Or do you only consider Verratti an alternative to yourself? “No,” Pirlo replied. “I think Verratti and I can play together. Like he does with Thiago Motta at Paris Saint-Germain. He can also play well with me. The more good players you have [on the pitch at the same time] the better.”
So far Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has used them simultaneously on only one occasion. He introduced both in the second half of a friendly with the Netherlands just over a year ago. Configured in a midfield diamond with Riccardo Montolivo and Verratti either side of Pirlo and Alessandro Diamanti at the tip, they got half an hour or so together in Amsterdam. For what it’s worth Verratti scored his first senior goal for his country, combining with Alberto Gilardino in the 91st minute to clinch a 1-1 draw.
It’s an experiment Prandelli hasn’t tried since. Verratti played instead of Pirlo against Argentina in Rome at the beginning of this season, a 2-1 defeat. He didn’t impress. That was his last appearance for Italy. Many were surprised Prandelli didn’t start him in their friendly with Spain last month, particularly when Pirlo also began the game on the bench. Unable to get hold of or keep the ball in the first half, the expectation was that one if not both would be sent on after the interval. Only Pirlo was as it happened.
It felt like a missed opportunity for two reasons. First, because it was the last friendly before the end of the club season. And second, because it’s not as though Prandelli doesn’t know what the other midfielders used on the night - Motta, Montolivo and Claudio Marchisio - are capable of. The impression that he thinks of Pirlo and Verratti in terms of either/or and not in concert was consolidated. That of course may change in the build up to and at the World Cup, but the display Verratti gave in last night’s second leg against Chelsea is perhaps indicative of why Prandelli is a touch reluctant.
A backpass put his goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu in trouble. A foul for which he was booked presented Chelsea with a free-kick just outside the box from which they nearly scored. The concern also began to take hold that Verratti would put himself in a situation where he might get sent off. A challenge on André Schürrle in the area provoked a penalty shout that was correctly disregarded. He also gave the ball away before the German struck the bar and was substituted minutes later.
The criticism of him has always been that he takes unnecessary risks. Too many touches around his own penalty area for instance when a no nonsense clearance would be more advisable. “I have played like that since I was little so it’s difficult to change,” Verratti explained to L’Equipe. “Perhaps I should understand better when to do it or not. I don’t like releasing the ball without knowing where it will end up. I prefer to play it out properly. Even when I’m defending, I immediately try to start a move and so give it to a teammate, even if I am pressed by two or three opponents.”
There’s an admirable bravery to his game. Verratti sure has nerve. When it comes off, he takes out several players with one pass. When it doesn’t he can instead appear foolish as the areas in which he gets caught in possession are often dangerous and lead to a goal-scoring opportunity. That was the case at Stamford Bridge last night. It was a chastening experience. But he will learn from it and be better for it. No other Italian player is playing at that level at Verratti’s age and he doesn’t appear fazed by it. He shows no fear.
Contrary to his [lack of] game-time for Italy, Prandelli has shown faith in him. Remember he called Verratti up to his preliminary Euro 2012 squad when he was still only a teenager with no top flight experience and was furious that no Italian club fought harder to keep him in Italy. Perhaps he’s waiting for him to mature. Pirlo is expected to retire at the end of the World Cup. Then Verratti’s time will come or so the thinking goes. But why not at least try them together again in the pre-tournament warm-ups against the Republic of Ireland and Luxembourg?
Could it be because they are too alike? And is that really the case? “Marco’s a little different,” insists Carlo Ancelotti. “He’s less of a launcher of the ball (6.7 long balls per game compared with Pirlo's 9.3) but you should see him in tight spaces: fantastic!” He’s that bit more dynamic too. So let’s play fantasy football for a moment. Why can’t Verratti play with Pirlo like Andres Iniesta does with Xavi? Daniele De Rossi has performed the Sergi Busquets role for club and country before. He could do it again.
Imagine the scenario. When opponents approach Italy they often think about shackling Pirlo. Restrict him and you stop the Azzurri is one reductive analysis. Over the years, Pirlo and his teams have come up with strategies to counter that tactic. He comes wide to find space. Teammates make runs to take players out of zones that he can then occupy and impose himself from. And when man-marked, Juventus and Italy have made more of their centre-backs’ ability to step out and make the play themselves.
But what if you had two Pirlos on the pitch? Master and heir. How would you force the opponent to think then? Rush Verratti and you leave Pirlo free. Concentrate on Pirlo and you leave Verratti open. The concern of course is what happens when they’re out of possession. Typically Pirlo has a tackling team-mate or teammates either side. Think Massimo Ambrosini and Rino Gattuso at Milan and Arturo Vidal at Juventus. The suspicion is Italy would perhaps be too light in the middle. But it’s an option worth exploring.
Like Pirlo said: if Verratti and Motta can play together at PSG, why can’t they? Many won’t see the comparison. Motta is one of football’s most underappreciated players. More often than not, he’s the one who sets the tempo for PSG. He averages 85.6 passes per game to Verratti’s 81.3 and Pirlo’s 69.2. His completion rate is 92.6% to Verratti’s 91.3% and Pirlo’s 88.7%. The principal difference though is in his tackling. He makes 2.6 per game to Verratti’s 2.3 and Pirlo’s 1.5.
Ever wondered why Inter’s midfield no longer works like it did before the treble? To an extent it’s because Motta is no longer in it. And there’s a reason why when Pirlo has been unavailable or on the bench for Italy, he’s been the one Prandelli has called upon to play as a regista like against Spain for example. It’s precisely because of Motta’s ability to do both phases that he is more likely to start with Pirlo than Verratti at the World Cup.
Verratti should still be on the plane if anything to act as an insurance policy against a repeat of 2010. Remember Pirlo got injured in the build up to that tournament and Italy had no one to replicate the impact he had on the team. Were that to happen again at least by taking Verratti, Prandelli could play him with Motta like Ancelotti and Blanc have done at PSG. In the event we don’t see him play with Pirlo in Brazil, there remains the possibility that they could turn out together at Juventus next season. Should PSG bid for Pogba in the summer expect the Old Lady to inquire about the prospect of including Verratti in any deal.
“If PSG were to tell me tomorrow that I’m leaving I would be upset because I feel at home,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport last week, “but we’re talking about Juventus. Even if I have no intention of leaving Paris, we’re talking about one of the most ambitious projects in Europe. This counts. Not the how, nor the why, which is the stuff of journalists.” Studying under or beside Pirlo as he approaches his retirement sure would be some education.
Do you think Pirlo and Verratti can play together for Italy? Let us know in the comments below
