‘Maestro’ hits centre stage
MLS NOTEBOOK: Pirlo signing a coup for New York, but we’ll see if he makes it here
The Whitecaps were quick to post a cheeky tweet Monday as news of Andrea Pirlo’s signing with New York City FC was made official.
“Rich, full-bodied, well aged,” it read. “And that’s just the wine (Pirlo) can enjoy when he visits B.C. this September.” Let’s hope he visits. As the Caps and their fans learned after all the Thierry Henry hype, no MLS salary figure guarantees an aging European legend will travel coast to coast to play on the B.C. Place turf.
According to ESPN, Pirlo, 36, will be the league’s highest-paid player at $8 million US.
He’ll join another World Cup winner in Spain’s David Villa and inbound English star Frank Lampard on what will likely be the league’s most expensive team.
Lampard is 37, so we’re conditioned to be skeptical about his desire to play here on Sept. 26, too.
New York City is home the week before and at D.C. United the week after.
There’ll be a contingent of Caps fans who are pleased to see any weakened opponent arrive at B.C. Place — the three points mattering more than the spectacle or TV ratings — but if soccer’s going to grow in North America and Vancouver, it still needs the Pirlos to show.
Given his age, he’ll have fewer years in MLS than David Beckham, but the longtime Juventus ‘Maestro’ is the league’s biggest signing since Golden Balls — that rare combination of talent, class and charisma.
Caps president Bobby Lenarduzzi is optimistic about Pirlo’s presence here.
“There’s no reason to believe that he wouldn’t” show, said Lenarduzzi, whose team finally returns home this weekend to host Kansas City.
“Having followed him, he strikes me as being a solid person. Forget the turf. When I look at Beckham and Henry, one came to help grow the sport and the other essentially did nothing.
“Beckham is an anomaly. I don’t think Pirlo needs to be Beckham. But if he understands he needs to do some things he wasn’t used to doing in Italy, that’s great.”
Lenarduzzi called the signing “fantastic.”
“It just heightens the profile of MLS and it’s good for the game,” he said.
Carlo Corazzin, the longtime Canadian international and current Whitecaps analyst for TSN Radio, was raised a Juve fan by his dad. He thinks the signing is a coup for MLS.
“People are going to say he’s older, but he’s still doing it at an elite, elite level,” said Corazzin. “Is he going to dazzle people? No. But the true football guy is going to see so much from him. I think it’s huge.”
And now we wait and see. Will Vancouver soccer fans have to settle for highlights? Or will we get the real thing?
Galaxy richer
Speaking of signings, the L.A. Galaxy appear poised to add more than Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard this summer.
The Galaxy, according to ESPN and others, are set to sign Mexican international Giovani Dos Santos, too. The rich get richer.
How can L.A. add more designated players, given they also have Robbie Keane and Omar Gonzalez on big contracts? As is now filtering out, MLS has tweaked its roster rules to include a “core player” category, which will cover players earning more than the league maximum of $436,000 but less than $750,000.
L.A., it would appear, can buy down Gonzalez’s deal enough — using allocation money — to get him into that core player category and free up a DP spot.
What this means for Vancouver will be interesting to follow. Both Matias Laba and Octavio Rivero could fall into that core player range, meaning the Caps could add another DP if they want to keep up in the Western Conference arms race.