Andrea Pirlo

For those of you who don't know Andrea Pirlo, he is a creative midfield player for AC Milan and Italy. His passing and vision is the catalyst of many goal scoring opportunities for both club and country. The most unique quality about Pirlo that makes him stand out is the fact that he does all his creating from a deep midfield role!
Most creative midfielders play right behind the strikers in a withdrawn position. Pirlo sits right in front of the central defenders and controls the tempo for his team. While he plays he calmly jogs around the pitch and just picks out these incredible long range passes. It looks effortless, like a walk in the park. Some games it looks like he's barely even breaking a sweat!
His ability to strike a dead ball (free kick, pk, corner kick) is uncanny as well. He's one of the best free kick specialists in the world, accounting for majority of his goals. Take the time to check out a Milan or Italian National team game and watch this artist perform his craft. He's perfect proof that 90% of the game of soccer is played with your mind, and athleticism makes up the other 10%.

Why Soccer Specific Stadiums Don't Have Tracks!

I never understood the purpose of having teams run around the track. Most training sessions are only an hour and a half long. Why take a portion of that time and use it on running which players can do by themselves? All fitness should be done with a ball. Soccer is not a sport where you can go long periods of time running at one pace. It's constant bursts of speed, constant changes of direction. Track running can be very useful in the offseason to develop power and strength in your legs. But when you have a group of 15-18 players together, you have to make use of the numbers. Do a circuit with the ball, even better, play short sided games where the loser has some sort of punishment. Compare the way you feel after running a 6 minute mile on the track to how you feel after playing 6 straight minutes of intense 5v5 in a moderate space. Not only are you increasing your VO2 max, you're also becoming more comfortable on the ball.