Crooks: Will We See Andrea Pirlo This Weekend? Stay Tuned

By Glenn Crooks
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"We're all hopeful there will be a role for him Sunday."

That's New York City FC head coach Jason Kreis, speaking to the media on Thursday. He was not talking about Frank Lampard, who has yet to be cleared for Sunday's home match against Orlando City. The subject at the Trump SoHo on this day was Andrea Pirlo, one of five new players to join the expansion side over the last two weeks – and the third major international Designated Player signing for NYC, joining Lampard and David Villa.

After a crisp training session at SUNY Purchase, just his second since arriving from Turin late Tuesday, Pirlo offered a hopeful hint regarding his potential debut at Yankee Stadium this weekend.

"I hope to be able to play Sunday," said Pirlo, who has guided Juventus to four consecutive Serie A titles.

"It's a day-to-day process," said Kreis. "It takes any player time to transition, and that transition period will come from playing matches."

I am hopeful it will play out for the 30,000-plus expected in The Bronx on Sunday like this:

Lampard is deemed fit and makes his debut in the starting XI.  With a nagging calf injury since his arrival, Kreis will not risk Lampard for the full match. Enter Pirlo for Lampard in the 70th minute, and two primary figures of their soccer generation are unveiled.  Of course, if Lampard remains on the injured list, then my plan disintegrates.

I have heard one pundit suggest that it will not be possible to achieve success with both Lampard and Pirlo in the midfield for New York City. These are the type of challenges that Kreis savors, and I'm certain he has long pondered the shape and system with Pirlo, Lampard and Villa together.

I have a lineup in mind, but sought suggestions from my followers on Twitter. This is the shape and personnel that Ice Car Jin would like, and I concur.

That is a very good first team.

Kreis will have to scrap the favored midfield diamond to accommodate Lampard -- who turned 37 on June 20 -- and the 36-year-old Pirlo ("I don't feel like I'm old), who can prosper in a 4-2-3-1 shape.  Andrew Jacobson, perhaps the most consistent outfield player for NYCFC this season, can sit in front of the back four and allow Pirlo the freedom to move the ball and create.

"Our goal and objective since the beginning has been to play a style that favors Andrea," said Kreis. "We've always wanted to dictate the tempo of a match, so that's why we felt he would be a perfect fit."

As for Lampard, he becomes the central attacking midfielder who will complement and -- in all probability -- free up Villa, who far too often is trying to escape from two or three defenders.

Lampard is the all-time leading scorer for Chelsea FC – all from the midfield.

Throw-Ins

-While introducing Pirlo at the Donald Trump property on Spring Street, I was half expecting media relations manager Sam Cooke to hold up a big card revealing Pirlo's personal cell phone number to the audience.

-With a victory over Orlando City on Sunday, New York City would be in a virtual tie with their expansion mates. Each would have 24 points in 20 matches, placing either at or near playoff position in the Eastern Conference.

-Orlando City coach Adrian Heath will not be on the bench for this one.  In a 4-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls last weekend, Heath approached the officials at halftime and was subsequently served a red card for his dissent. Heath was also fined an undisclosed amount of money by Major League Soccer in June when he violated the league's tampering rules, suggesting on a radio program that Sporting KC forward Dom Dwyer wanted a move.

"There is no secret Dom wants to be here," said Heath. "We have tried to bring him here."

-August 1 in Chester, Pennsylvania could present a Philadelphia-New Jersey corridor of chippy soccer. The Union will host the New York (N.J.) Red Bulls at PPL Park. On Tuesday, the Union advanced in the U.S. Open Cup on penalties at Red Bull Arena, playing a man down for over 80 minutes of the match.  Adding to the frustration for Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch was his claim that the Union was inflexible with the date for the match.  RBNY had Chelsea the following night in the International Champions Cup, and three days earlier had defeated New England, 4-1.

"We gave them five, six or seven options to look at," said an annoyed Marsch. "They were not willing to work with us."

"They can be upset. We've known this date since February and they scheduled the Chelsea match," remarked Union coach Jim Curtin. "That was their choice."

Philadelphia is now 2-0 this season against the Red Bulls.

-For those who wish to crucify American referee Matt Geiger for his late penalty call in the Mexico-Panama match, I want to present an angle that you may not have previously viewed – and was the probable perspective for Geiger, who did not hesitate for a moment on the call.
https://vine.co/v/e6Y7FMZnPLq
The culprit was Roman Torres, who scored the initial goal of the match to give the Panamanians -- playing with 10 men -- the advantage.  In my opinion, Torres felt he was fouled and started to hand the ball, as we so often see when players are falling after an apparent foul.

Clearly, he plays the ball with his right hand. Geiger determined that this handling could have impacted the final outcome of the play. There is massive inconsistency on hand-ball violations, which by FIFA legislation are only to be called if done with purpose – even though most officials will make the call if it gives the accused an advantage, despite lack of intent.

Glenn Crooks is the color commentator for New York City FC on WFAN and the former head soccer coach at Rutgers University. You can follow him on Twitter @GlennCrooks and glenncrooks.sportsblog.com.