The one thing I think I know is that it's more difficult to create goals than to defend them. There are loads of defensive players and we'll all have plenty of great ones. But are there enough great offensive players to overcome the stud defenses? That's tough.
With Eusebio and my trequartista Baggio, I've got some serious punch and creativity up top. Eusebio is a handfull for any defenders of any era. Baggio at his height was an offensive genius.
My pick is a guy that will be able to get the ball to these two, because if they are isolated at the top, what good will that do them?
3.13 Andrea Pirlo - New York City FC
Pirlo is the quintessential regista. Basically he comes back to get the ball at all times, and the entire offense runs through him. Pirlo is so important that you almost have to build a team around him and change the way you play. But his ability to lock down the middle of the field offensively and control the game, and then slice open defenses with precise long balls is just what we need.
The downside to a true regista is defense, so I'll need to surround him with some serious steel in the mid-field.
A couple cool things about Pirlo:
1. His boyhood idol was Roberto Baggio. He spent much of his formative years studying Baggio's free kicks. Also, the duo got to play together briefly and this happened:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48uSYZP23Ws
2. Pirlo is one of the best free kickers in history, so with Baggio/Pirlo I should be good there.
3. He was on an amazing AC Milan team that gave away a 3 goal lead to LFC and Pirlo actually missed a penalty kick to help clinch it for Liverpool.
I don't know if Pirlo was ever the type of player to be known as the "best in the world", but he was quite important to his team. He won 6 Serie A titles, a World Cup and 2 Champions League Titles.
@Lehigh98
