Pescara, Paris and Pirlo - Marco Verratti's tryst with destiny

The Dream Begins

It was the summer of 2011 when the dream began. While a young man from Pescara, still only 18 years old, was beginning to demand a regular berth in his hometown club’s first team, a wealthy group by the name of Qatari Investment Authority was agreeing to set aside some of its spare change to take over the French capital’s biggest club. The player and the club were to be united only a season later, both thrust into European limelight from the depths of obscurity. And within the space of only a couple of seasons, both Paris Saint-Germain and Marco Verratti have become commodities that all of Europe is talking about.

Buoyed by their second place finish in the league in the 2011-12 season, PSG‘s new owners made a huge splash in the transfer market in the 2012 summer window to assert their supremacy over their league rivals, spending a mammoth £125 million in sales in order to land some of the world’s best talent. In came the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Thiago Silva, Lucas Moura and Gregory Van der Wiel, to join Javier Pastore, who had been signed for £36 million the previous year, to form the crux of a team which was a far shadow of the one that had finished in a lowly 13th in Ligue 1 in the 2010-11 season.

Expectedly then, did a deal for the relative unknown Verratti go unnoticed, as the midfielder, still wet behind the ears and fresh from having guided his Serie B side to promotion, slipped in through the back door of the club in a muted affair despite the Parisian club spending a sizeable £8 million for his services. After all, who was to notice this stockily-built 5’5″ midfielder among the glittering array of stars that the side boasted of, against the grain of the high-profile names that were filtering into the club?

Yet, when the Italian national team’s coach Cesare Prandelli said, “I find it outrageous that a talent like Verratti has been allowed to go abroad. We knew about him and let him go. This is a scandal,” it was obvious that the few who had followed the youngster’s progress knew that there was special something about that man from Pescara.

Living The Dream

Upon his arrival, not many would have expected Verratti to make an instant impact, as experts from around the country viewed the youngster’s signature as a prudent acquisition with a view to the future. However, with the club missing a host of players that had turned out for the European Championships, Verratti was thrust into the starting eleven in PSG’s first league encounter, and has not looked back ever since, forcing PSG manager Carlo Ancelotti to bench the likes of Thiago Motta and Momo Sissoko to incorporate him in the team.

An attacking midfielder at the start of his career, Verratti was pushed into a deep-lying playmaker’s role by former Pescara manager Zdenek Zeman in the 2011-12 season, and excelled in that position, helping his side finish in second in Serie B and thereby gain promotion to Italy’s top tier for only the sixth season in the club’s long history. Evidently too good for his company, Verratti was eyed by Italy’s finest sides through the 2012 summer window. However, with the cash-strapped Pescara looking to make the most of Verratti’s prodigious talents, along with the presence of Italian legend Carlo Ancelotti at the Parisian club, the choice, it seems, was easy to make for both club and player.

“He is very young but already very professional and mature. He’s going to be very strong. He’ll gain experience in Paris, playing with great champions and being trained by Carlo Ancelotti, a very experienced coach. He will be important for this club.”

- Franco Baresi

And it is easy to see why he has forced his manager’s hand into making him a mainstay in the team, with a sample of Verratti’s passing structure exemplifying his importance to the team, as well as his astute understanding of the game. The image below displays Verratti’s positioning and passing in a league game against Bastia, in which he completed a mammoth 105 passes out of 113, with a 93% pass success rate, slightly higher than his astoundingly high season average of 90%.

Evident by those numbers is the fact that most of PSG’s play goes through the midfielder – a Xavi-esque feat that defies his tender years – while another revealing statistic is the low number of passes out of the 105 which went backwards – clear indication of his learnings as an attacking midfielder before he was transformed into a regista.

Excelling in ball-protection while possessing a peripheral vision, Verratti has failed to get overawed by his teammates, and has helped PSG dominate and outpass their opponents on a regular basis, while his purposeful passing, again a result of his time further up the field, has sped up PSG’s transitions from defence to offence. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, arguably the biggest name in PSG’s packed roster, in a recent interview both reiterated Verratti’s importance to the side, while also throwing light on his steep claim to fame by saying:

“Marco is the guy who has surprised me the most. Though I played in Italy last season, I did not know anything about him because he played in the second division. I am in agreement with all the positive things being said about him. I would say he is even better than you think.”

On what would have been Verratti’s biggest night yet, Ancelotti picked experience over exuberance when David Beckham was included in PSG’s lineup against Barcelona in the first leg of the two sides’ Champions League quarterfinal tie, but instead of sulking on the sidelines, Verratti showed what he would be able to offer the club during his cameo appearance, completing 91% of his passes and forcing the play into Barcelona’s half faster. With him in the side, the French league leaders looked a much more potent outfit in attack, and scored both their goals while Verratti was on the field.

With Blaise Matuidi suspended for the second leg against Barcelona, Verratti is sure to occupy one of PSG’s midfield spots, and will face a team full of players that mirror and excel in his ball-retention abilities. Having conceded two at home already, Verratti will really need to step up to the plate to deny the Catalans the near 70% possession that they were afforded in the first leg as well as a win, but the task, while tough, is surely not impossible for the midfielder.

Comparisons with Pirlo

As soon as Verratti started to catch the eye with his performances, comparisons with star midfielder Andrea Pirlo were as much inevitable as undeniable. Pirlo, like his protege, started his career off as an attacking midfielder at Brescia before being groomed into a deep-lying playmaker by none other than Carlo Ancelotti, at AC Milan. Verratti has followed a similar trajectory, and shows a talent and composure in central midfield that not many after the bearded Juventus midfielder have displayed over the last decade or so.

Pirlo himself was in agreement over the same, and went as far as calling Verratti the heir to his throne:

“He (Verratti) has similar characteristics to me and he’s really good, but give him time to grow and make mistakes in peace. I consider him to be the continuation of myself.”

Looking to the Future

Regardless of PSG’s result against Barcelona, the club have shown that they have arrived on the European scene, and are here to stay. With the club’s deep coffers, one can expect the Parisians to plug their gaps over the summer and become stronger contenders for the European crown next season, while a Ligue 1 triumph this season, which looks more likely every passing day, would be a stepping stone to further success. PSG’s influx of wealth could come as a double-edged sword for Verratti, who could find a big name challenging for the place that he has quickly made his own in the centre of the midfield. Yet, with the youngster’s unquestionable talent, more competition for places is only expected to further his drive to perform better at the Parc des Princes.

On the international front, Verratti has already made a squad place his own in La Squadra Azzurra, and with age on his side as well as the luxury of learning from the world’s best at club and international level, is expected to iron out the flaws of inexperience in the coming years. The 20-year old is expected to play as an understudy to Andrea Pirlo in next summer’s World Cup, and therefore could see minimal action in Brazil, but by the admission of Italy coach Prandelli, has been earmarked to replace l’architetto after the veteran’s impending retirement.

Verratti is in no hurry, however, and in recent interviews has shown the same level head and calm demeanour that shines through on the football field. Asked whether the presence of Pirlo was hindering his development in the national side, Verratti insisted that he was not yet playing at a level to usurp the man who he sees as his greatest idol, and suggested that with his career only having begun, there was more to learn from watching the 33-year old midfield maestro from the sidelines.

From the Serie B a couple of years back, Marco Verratti has seen a metamorphic rise, which now enables him to rub shoulders with the world’s best. Soaring great heights and with the world seemingly at his feet at 20 years of age, it is only left to wonder how far this fledgling career can go.

Statistics courtesy the ever-excellent Squawka.com