Think back to the last World Cup final and one image springs
immediately to mind, that of Zinedine Zidane thrusting his head
towards Marco Materazzi's chest to bring a dramatic and undignified
end to his career. In Italy, memories may be almost as vivid of
Fabio Grosso's conclusive penalty in the shootout. Yet reflect upon
the match as a whole and one player stood out: Andrea Pirlo, the
man of the match in the biggest game of his life.
If proof were ever required of Pirlo's class, it was provided
that July Sunday in Berlin. In eight years together at AC Milan,
Carlo Ancelotti has had ample opportunity to observe Pirlo's
talents. Indeed, it is partly because of Ancelotti, who converted
him from a typical Italian No. 10 to a holding midfielder, that
Pirlo has enjoyed such success.
The Chelsea manager's wish to be reunited with one of the
architects of Milan's last two Champions League triumphs is
entirely understandable. His Italian club may have twice voiced
their reluctance to sell the player but the eventual sales of
Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso have proved that no rarely means
no in football transfers. But all that does not make Pirlo a player
Chelsea need.
He is a wonderful player; that is not the issue. He passes the
ball with nonchalant ease, and if the nickname 'the metronome'
indicates the accuracy, it ignores the essential elegance of his
game. He can strike a set-piece as sweetly as any player in the
Premier League. Yet none of that means he should swap the San Siro
for Stamford Bridge.
Ancelotti, who has offered his former club Claudio Pizarro in
part-exchange, hopes he will. Yet the composition of Chelsea's
squad and the club's recent history indicates he shouldn't. For
several seasons, the central midfield positions have been the most
fiercely contested at the club.
Additions occur almost annually - Michael Essien in 2005,
Michael Ballack and John Obi Mikel the following year and Deco 12
months ago and only Essien has displayed the versatility to
flourish elsewhere on the pitch. Then, of course, there is Frank
Lampard, whose consistency and potency in front of goal demands his
selection. Cramming all the existing midfielders into the same side
has posed problems for each of Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant, Luiz
Felipe Scolari and Guus Hiddink.
Ancelotti, it seems, is eager to render his decision-making more
difficult. If he arrives, Pirlo will play. If Chelsea persist with
a diamond, it suggests Pirlo will operate at the base with Lampard
at the tip, Essien on the right and either Florent Malouda or Yuri
Zhirkov on the left. That would leave Mikel, the natural anchor man
in the current squad, and Ballack, who can also adopt that role,
joining Deco and Joe Cole, when the latter returns to fitness, on
the bench.
It amounts to an excess of options, particularly when there
appears to be a greater need for another striker, to provide an
alternative to Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, or a creative
player who would operate in the final third of the pitch.
In any case, while the current formation calls for four
midfielders and no wingers, a lesson of Chelsea's recent past is
that diamonds aren't forever. Another is that the club possess too
many players whose 30th birthday is in the past; Pirlo would join
that club.
There are parallels with the most recent addition. Deco was
Scolari's flagship signing, a man whose distribution was supposed
to indicate a shift in the style of play. The pace of the Premier
League proved too great and a first season in England ended in
failure. Intriguingly, the Portugal international operated as the
deep-lying playmaker at one point in pre-season, perhaps providing
a prototype for Pirlo in the new system.
Chelsea should hope the similarities end there as Deco came to
symbolise Scolari's unsuitability for the Premier League. For
Pirlo, too, it could provide a culture shock. Milan set their own
tempo and while an emphasis on retaining possession would be
admirable, Scolari's side found themselves struggling against
fitter, faster sides when they did not have the ball.
It is an area where, once again, Ancelotti must show he is not
overseeing an unfortunate action replay. The younger, more physical
Mikel represents Pirlo's antithesis: unlike to pierce an opposing
defence with one pass, but capable of providing his back four with
muscular protection.
Without playing more than a handful of Champions League games in
England, Pirlo has already exerted an influence. Indeed, it is not
overstating the case to say he is something of a quiet
revolutionary: without his example, would Sir Alex Ferguson have
wanted a similarly classy passer, Michael Carrick, to play such a
pivotal role in his own side? It is pertinent, too, that another
kindred spirit, Xabi Alonso, was perhaps the outstanding central
midfielder in the Premier League last season.
But both were accustomed to the pace of the Premier League and
both operated in more balanced teams than Chelsea's threatens to
be. In Italy, Andrea Pirlo ranks among the outstanding players of
his generation. In England, the danger is that he could prove the
second Deco.