Carlo Mazzone has underlined that he was the first Coach to use Andrea Pirlo as a deep-lying playmaker.
Carlo Mazzone has underlined that he was the first Coach to use Andrea Pirlo as a deep-lying playmaker.
The Juventus midfielder shined in the role while at Milan after being used in that position by Carlo Ancelotti, but only after veteran Mazzone saw the possibility first.
“Pirlo is a great player,” he told Tuttosport when asked about the 32-year-old. “He suffered when he was fielded as an attacking midfielder behind the strikers.
“As a result, I decided to change his role, I placed him as a playmaker in front of the defence,” continued the Roman.
“We were at Brescia and the squad laughed with what I had found. But I forced the team to always give him the ball and told him to take the ball off his teammates.
“As a deep-lying playmaker he has become what he is and has won everything.”
Pirlo started his career at Brescia, but it wasn’t until a loan move back to the club in 2001 that he was transformed into the player he is today.
Once his temporary spell with the Stadio Rigamonti outfit ended, he left Inter for Milan on a permanent basis.