Paul Scholes has a new column on Paddy Power this week and in it he highlights the threat Andrea Pirlo poses to England in Brazil and is adamant Roy Hodgson will have to come with a plan to man-mark him.
Speaking about the 35-year-old Italian, Scholes said:
Pirlo is the world’s greatest playmaker – the complete footballer. Give him time and space and he will destroy you. He’s such a clever player and is so composed. If surrounded he’ll lay it off. If he’s got room he’s devastating.
He makes a point of noting that Pirlo ran more (11.58km) than any other England player when they met in the Euro 2012 quarter final, and completed more passes, with 131. Although the passes stat is hardly surprising.
Scholes feels that Hodgson can learn from Alex Ferguson and his tactics against AC Milan in 2010, which saw Park Ji Sung tasked with man-marking duties in an attempt to stifle Pirlo. The result: United won 7-2 on aggregate and Pirlo hardly got a kick of it.
You can read the full column here.
