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Zac Lee Rigg: In a transfer window about keeping it small, David Pizarro fits the bill for Manchester City
You know it's a quiet transfer window when the most frivolously spending club only brings in one player on loan, but the diminutive Pizarro could fill a hole at Man City.
Feb 2, 2012 7:07:00 AM
By Zac Lee Rigg
The looming Financial Fair Play restrictions, a global recession and the snake-bite nature of hurried January buys all conspired for a slumbering transfer window, even affecting the world's richest club. Manchester City fans rubbed their eyes and wiped the drool of sleep off their chins on Feb. 1 to notice only the arrival of David Pizarro.
This is the opposite of a mega-purchase. The Chilean midfielder will cost a nominal 1 or 2 million pounds, depending on which British tabloid is guessing, at the end of his six-month loan. Man City's official website spelled his name incorrectly as Pizzaro. Sky Sports flashed a picture of Werder Bremen striker Claudio Pizarro (no relation) in a news clip about the purchase.
Pizarro is a literally small purchase. At 5-foot-6, his nickname is Pek, a diminutive of “pequeño” which means small in Spanish.
The move reunites Pizarro with Roberto Mancini, with whom he won a scudetto at Internazionale in 2006. Back then Mancini said, "I believe in him blindly," but he didn't. Despite investing 10 million euros and half of the rights to Goran Pandev in Pizarro, Mancini preferred Juan Sebastian Veron (24 league starts) in an orchestrating role in the middle, limiting Pizarro to 15 league starts.
So why did Mancini add the 32-year-old to the most expensively assembled team in soccer history?
For one, the price fit. Abu Dhabi United Group, which owns Man City, spends freely on high-profile attackers like Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Samir Nasri and plenty others. Transfer fees alone have cost Sheikh Mansour over half a billion pounds in the two and a half years he's owned the team.
But Mancini has found it significantly tougher to convince any superiors to invest in a central midfielder. Last summer, after frequent unintentionally humorous public complaints about a lack of funds, he settled for the free acquisition of the perpetually injured Owen Hargreaves.
Pizarro's unique situation at Roma led to a bargain. Luis Enrique brought in his own central midfielders – Fernando Gago and Miralem Pjanic – and stationed them either side of vice captain Daniele De Rossi. Pizarro has always performed better in a two-man midfield base. Also, knee injuries persisted from last season when Claudio Ranieri rushed him back, causing a repeat injury and a subsequent unauthorized rehab trip to Chile.
Undervalued by the current coach, quibbles with remaining club hierarchy and with a contract set to expire June 2013, Pizarro's transfer value didn't match his ability.
That ability is considerable. Pizarro's records on either side of his year in Milan have turned him into a cult favorite of pundits. Plenty swear breathlessly that only Andrea Pirlo and Xavi Hernandez better function as a regista.
"Some players run after the ball," former AC Milan and Roma coach Nils Liedholm said. "With Pizarro, the ball runs after him."
His 26 assists between 2007-08 and 2009-10 led Serie A.
Even in this sub-par season, in which injuries have limited him to seven appearances, he made over 40 passes per game at better than 90 percent accuracy, with nearly two passes a game leading to goal-scoring opportunities. At Manchester City, only David Silva and Samir Nasri have better passing percentages or more key passes per game.
Pek also won over a tackle a game, along with one interception per match. It's that marriage of tenacity and artistry which offers City's midfield something new. Mancini can count on plenty of physicality (Yaya Toure, Nigel de Jong, Hargreaves when fit) and has two of the most sublime creators on the planet (Silva and Nasri), but no one combines traits as completely as Pizarro.
The man nominally playing the role Pizarro will is Gareth Barry. He's easily the weakest link on a team with title aspirations, lacking the mobility or physique to compensate for lapses like his failure to track Darron Gibson for Everton's goal in a 1-0 City loss Tuesday.
That match underscored what a deep playmaker like Pizarro could offer. The Chilean excels in controlling match tempo, playing quick short balls interspersed with pinging long diagonal passes to the wings.
A danger like that, deployed deep in the midfield, demands that opposition defenses step forward to mark him. Everton held only 33 percent of possession, perfectly content to hit on the break. Pizarro would have made the Toffees edge slightly forward while in a defensive pose, which opens space behind. Tellingly, Man City's best chance came from a long-range Nasri shot, a specialty of Pizarro.
Twice the maestro has cracked double-digit assists in a year: posting 13 in 2007-08 and 11 in 2009-10. Both years Roma finished second, impressive for a mismanaged club that hasn't won the title since 2001, suggesting that when Pizarro plays well, the team around him excels.
Of course, it's naïve to think a man who has only played seven times this year will instantly become indispensable in a frequently-rotated Manchester midfield. South American soccer expert Tim Vickery suggested Pizarro will be a "bit-part player." Mancini seemed to agree.
"I think that he can help us in the next three months because now we're starting to play every three days," the Italian coach said, "and maybe sometimes we can rest the other players who have played all year."
Even if his role is limited, Pek could fill a hole for Man City.
Follow ZAC LEE RIGG on
or shoot him an email.
This is the opposite of a mega-purchase. The Chilean midfielder will cost a nominal 1 or 2 million pounds, depending on which British tabloid is guessing, at the end of his six-month loan. Man City's official website spelled his name incorrectly as Pizzaro. Sky Sports flashed a picture of Werder Bremen striker Claudio Pizarro (no relation) in a news clip about the purchase.
Pizarro is a literally small purchase. At 5-foot-6, his nickname is Pek, a diminutive of “pequeño” which means small in Spanish.
The move reunites Pizarro with Roberto Mancini, with whom he won a scudetto at Internazionale in 2006. Back then Mancini said, "I believe in him blindly," but he didn't. Despite investing 10 million euros and half of the rights to Goran Pandev in Pizarro, Mancini preferred Juan Sebastian Veron (24 league starts) in an orchestrating role in the middle, limiting Pizarro to 15 league starts.
So why did Mancini add the 32-year-old to the most expensively assembled team in soccer history? For one, the price fit. Abu Dhabi United Group, which owns Man City, spends freely on high-profile attackers like Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Samir Nasri and plenty others. Transfer fees alone have cost Sheikh Mansour over half a billion pounds in the two and a half years he's owned the team.
But Mancini has found it significantly tougher to convince any superiors to invest in a central midfielder. Last summer, after frequent unintentionally humorous public complaints about a lack of funds, he settled for the free acquisition of the perpetually injured Owen Hargreaves.
Pizarro's unique situation at Roma led to a bargain. Luis Enrique brought in his own central midfielders – Fernando Gago and Miralem Pjanic – and stationed them either side of vice captain Daniele De Rossi. Pizarro has always performed better in a two-man midfield base. Also, knee injuries persisted from last season when Claudio Ranieri rushed him back, causing a repeat injury and a subsequent unauthorized rehab trip to Chile.
Undervalued by the current coach, quibbles with remaining club hierarchy and with a contract set to expire June 2013, Pizarro's transfer value didn't match his ability.
That ability is considerable. Pizarro's records on either side of his year in Milan have turned him into a cult favorite of pundits. Plenty swear breathlessly that only Andrea Pirlo and Xavi Hernandez better function as a regista.
"Some players run after the ball," former AC Milan and Roma coach Nils Liedholm said. "With Pizarro, the ball runs after him."
His 26 assists between 2007-08 and 2009-10 led Serie A.
Even in this sub-par season, in which injuries have limited him to seven appearances, he made over 40 passes per game at better than 90 percent accuracy, with nearly two passes a game leading to goal-scoring opportunities. At Manchester City, only David Silva and Samir Nasri have better passing percentages or more key passes per game.
Pek also won over a tackle a game, along with one interception per match. It's that marriage of tenacity and artistry which offers City's midfield something new. Mancini can count on plenty of physicality (Yaya Toure, Nigel de Jong, Hargreaves when fit) and has two of the most sublime creators on the planet (Silva and Nasri), but no one combines traits as completely as Pizarro. The man nominally playing the role Pizarro will is Gareth Barry. He's easily the weakest link on a team with title aspirations, lacking the mobility or physique to compensate for lapses like his failure to track Darron Gibson for Everton's goal in a 1-0 City loss Tuesday.
That match underscored what a deep playmaker like Pizarro could offer. The Chilean excels in controlling match tempo, playing quick short balls interspersed with pinging long diagonal passes to the wings.
A danger like that, deployed deep in the midfield, demands that opposition defenses step forward to mark him. Everton held only 33 percent of possession, perfectly content to hit on the break. Pizarro would have made the Toffees edge slightly forward while in a defensive pose, which opens space behind. Tellingly, Man City's best chance came from a long-range Nasri shot, a specialty of Pizarro.
Twice the maestro has cracked double-digit assists in a year: posting 13 in 2007-08 and 11 in 2009-10. Both years Roma finished second, impressive for a mismanaged club that hasn't won the title since 2001, suggesting that when Pizarro plays well, the team around him excels.
Of course, it's naïve to think a man who has only played seven times this year will instantly become indispensable in a frequently-rotated Manchester midfield. South American soccer expert Tim Vickery suggested Pizarro will be a "bit-part player." Mancini seemed to agree.
"I think that he can help us in the next three months because now we're starting to play every three days," the Italian coach said, "and maybe sometimes we can rest the other players who have played all year."
Even if his role is limited, Pek could fill a hole for Man City.
Follow ZAC LEE RIGG on
or shoot him an email.
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