Andrea Pirlo is without a doubt the most suave footballer on the planet.
He plays the game with a patience and fluidity that has given him an almost mythical status among fans, journalists, coaches and fellow players alike. Off of the football pitch Pirlo is a vineyard owner and much like a fine red wine, Pirlo the player has aged incredibly well.
This weekend, at 35, Pirlo won his sixth Serie A title, and his fourth in a row since joining Juventus in 2011. At the same time as he was winning titles with the bianconeri, Pirlo also played a vital role in Italy’s Euro 2012 campaign, which saw the Italians upset Germany on the road to a surprise appearance in the final.
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Now Pirlo and Juventus’ attention will shift towards prolonging their impressive Champions League campaign with a semifinal tie against Real Madrid.
When Pirlo left AC Milan in 2011 few would have predicted the trajectory that the Italian midfielder’s career has taken. During his last season at Milan, Pirlo saw his playing time severely limited and he was frozen out of the squad by then AC Milan manager—and current Juventus boss—Massimiliano Allegri.
Like many players of his age he was facing the downward slope of the dreaded aging curve. Most players reach their peak— depending on their position—around their mid-to-late 20s then start to decline. Some players such as Ryan Giggs or Paolo Maldini can prolong the decline throughout their 30s, but even for a player with their longevity they still see their offensive production numbers and defensive intervention numbers decline.
Incredibly Pirlo has bucked this trend by maintaining—and in some cases even improving—his performances levels.
Excluding his final season at AC Milan when he didn’t play enough minutes or make enough appearances to justify inclusion (he played just over 1000 minutes in 2010-2011 and made only 17 Serie A appearances), Pirlo’s per 90 minute production numbers have actually increased as he’s aged.
Pirlo’s goals and assists per 90 minutes have been going up since he left AC Milan. This is astonishing for a player who is clearly losing pace and fitness, but it speaks to his ability to adapt and of course to his incredible football brain.
This season with Juventus, Pirlo has averaged about 0.25 goals per and 0.3 assists per 90 minutes, which means that he contributes more than a goal every two games. These look like the numbers of a top class box-to-box player in his prime not those of a 35-year-old, deep-lying midfielder.
Throughout the years as Pirlo has been asked to operate in a deeper and deeper role to make up for his lack of pace he’s also been shouldered with more defensive responsibilities. Given his more defensive role over the last couple seasons his interceptions, tackles and clearances per 90 minutes have all gone up.
This season he’s averaging 4.4 “defensive actions” (interceptions, tackles and clearances) per 90 minutes. Pirlo is clearly playing a key defensive role in Juventus’ midfield in addition to the impressive offensive numbers. This role is even more important playing alongside explosive midfielders Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba.
So how has Pirlo managed to maintain these incredible performances even as he enters his late 30s? The biggest contributing factor is probably that his managers are using him more and more sparingly.
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With Juventus, Pirlo has played under two of Italy’s most reputable young managers in Antonio Conte and now Allegri. Both managers have clearly understood the importance of Pirlo to Juventus and how he can be used most effectively. This is evident by the fact he has played fewer minutes in each successive season with Juventus.
This year especially has seen Pirlo’s minutes limited, while still playing an influential role for the club. Given that there are four games left in the season he will probably finish with around 1700 minutes, which represents about half of the total playing minutes available.
That being said the minutes Pirlo has played have been in high leverage situations. He started both of Juventus’ quarterfinal matches against Monaco in the Champions League and will probably do so again in the semifinal against Real Madrid given the injury to Pogba.
Four years ago when Juventus took a gamble signing Pirlo—a player many believed to be in decline—it would have been impossible to predict that he would have actually improved his per 90 minute offensive production numbers, while playing in a role with more defensive responsibilities.
Now Juventus face an incredibly difficult Champions League semifinal tie against the defending champions and they will call once again on the midfield maestro and the ‘coolest’ footballer in the world.
Opta data courtesy of whoscored.com
Sam Gregory is soccer analytics writer based in Montreal. Follow him on Twitter