Sport
Is Sandro Tonali the new Andrea Pirlo at AC Milan?
A player like Andrea Pirlo, who can dictate and control the pace of a game, comes around very infrequently. The vision that the current Juventus manager used to have for passes was incredible during his playing days. Pirlo’s ability to hit a deadly accurate long pass was second to none and he was equally remarkable in dead-ball situations, having scored 45 freekicks in his career.
Andrea Pirlo retired from professional football in 2017, after playing his two final seasons for New York City. Having struggled with injuries for most of the 2017 MLS season, the now 41-year-old announced on October 8, 2017, that he would retire at the end of the season. Since the day Andrea Pirlo retired, analysts have speculated who could follow in the footsteps of the Italian legendary football player. Who could one day be the new Andrea Pirlo? One suggestion is that Sandro Tonali could be the man.
Sandro Tonali
In November 2018, Sandro Tonali was called up to the Italian national team for the first time by manager Roberto Mancini as an 18-year-old, making his debut on October 15, 2019. In 2018, the young midfielder won the Serie B title with Brescia and achieved promotion to Serie A, featuring as a starter for the club throughout the entire season. Sandro Tonali made his Serie A debut against Cagliari in August of 2019.
Style of Play: Regista
Since his debut with Brescia, Sandro Tonali’s style of play has been compared with that of Andrea Pirlo’s. Tonali has also cited Steven Gerrard and Luka Modrić, along with Pirlo, as influences and compared his playing style to that of Gennaro Gattuso. As a 20-year-old, the central midfielder is displaying a maturity well above his age. At Brescia, Sandro Tonali was often used as the deepest midfielder, though his best role might be as a defensive midfielder.
Sandro Tonali has been dubbed ‘the new Andrea Pirlo’ as he regularly functions as a ‘regista’ ‘or a deep-lying playmaker on the pitch. Regista in Italian means ‘director.’ In other words, the regista is the one who directs and dictates the offensive play of the team.
A good regista is not the type of player who runs from one side of the pitch to the other one like a box-to-box midfielder but rather is someone who starts his attacking play by lying deep on his own half, just in front of the defense. Playing in this role, Sandro Tonali fits perfectly in a team playing to win, in a high-pressing team who like to dominate possession. He is a great passer and an outstanding distributor of the ball.
Milan transfer
Brescia finished 19th in the Serie A at the end of the 2019/20 season resulting in their relegation back to Serie B. Now they will have to battle for promotion back up to Serie A without their star player Sandro Tonali. AC Milan announced the signing of the midfielder on loan for a season with an option to make the deal permanent. The player will wear the number 8 jersey, the typical number for a regista or a deep-lying playmaker.
AC Milan were the childhood team of Sandro Tonali who said he was not interested in joining any other team when they made it clear that they wanted to sign him. Milan announced the signing of the young Italian international on loan for a fee of €10 million with an option to buy for a reported €35 million.
Sandro Tonali: the new Andrea Pirlo?
Just like Andrea Pirlo, Tonali started his career with Brescia and signed for AC Milan. But the comparison between the two players does not stop there. Both midfielders are great at dictating play with their passing range which quickly created a comparison between the pair. At Brescia and the Italy national team, the 20-year has already impressed in the same role as Pirlo but still has a long way to go to ever be considered the new Pirlo.
Pirlo has admitted that Brescia midfielder Sandro Tonali is one of the country’s brightest prospects and has even said that he believes the 20-year-old is a better player than he ever was. Pirlo was hoping to convince the young talent to join Juventus to replace the ageing Miriam Pjanic but, ultimately, he was unsuccessful. Now that Sandro Tonali is joining a top team like AC Milan, he can show the world he is worthy of being called “the new Pirlo.”
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