Filippo Inzaghi - The Last of the Goal Poachers.
Could he pass? Nope. Could he dribble? Not really. But he could score goals.
'That lad must have been born offside' - Alex Ferguson
'Look, actually he can't play football at all.' - Johan Cruyff
Just a couple of quotes about the man this blogs about. Filippo Inzaghi.
Sure, Super Pippo couldn't do twenty stepovers, nor beat a man on the dribble, He certainly couldn't spray 60 yard passes across the park.
But you know what Pippo could do? He could score goals. Lots of them.
Goal poachers are increasingly becoming a bit of a dying breed, and that was arguably the case in the mid-90's when Inzaghi was hitting his pomp.
The likes of Totti, del Piero, Shevchenko were as as comfortable outside the penalty area as they were in it, able to link play and contribute all over the pitch. But that was never Inzaghi's domain. Nope, Inzaghi's bread and butter was playing on the shoulder, breaking the offside trap or punishing a defenders lapse in concentration. Where others relied on their physicality or athleticism, Inzaghi was all about his movement, finding space in congested areas that few forwards can truly find.
The names above were prodigiously talented, and spent their childhoods learning in famed academies of Roma, Juventus and Dynamo Kyiv. Whereas the less naturally gifted Inzaghi honed his craft further down the pyramid. Making his debut in 1991 with hometown club Piacenza at just 18 years old, and loan spells in the Serie C (with Albinoleffe) and Serie B (with Hellas Verona) before his one solitary season as the first choice at his boyhood club secured them promotion to the top-flight and a move the European stalwarts Parma.
A stuttering spell in Parma, struggling for game time behind illustrious team mates resulted in a move to Atalanta and a goal laden season that was rewarded with a first call-up to the Italian national team and a transfer to the reigning champions Juventus in 1997.
It was during his time in Turin that Inzaghi would make his debut in the competition within which he would become synoymous with for the next decade, the Champions League. 'Super Pippo' would score six goals in ten appearances as Juventus made it all the way to the final before succumbing to Real Madrid in Amsterdam.
Despite this success there were still doubts about Inzaghi's ability, his team mates at International level particularly unsure as to how someone they deemed to be lacking in technique made it to this level. Never mind the fact he was scoring regularly at home and abroad, and doing so for possibly the most demanding club in the country.
Inzaghi was forced out of the club in 2001 after failing to form a consistent partnership with club icon Del Piero over the previous four years. The next move defined his career. Inzaghi was transferred to AC Milan, and would call the San Siro his home for the remainder of his career.
Inzaghi spent the next 11 years terrorising defenders for across the continent for the Rossoneri. The numbers are incredible, and when you talk about Inzaghi you have to talk numbers. 2 Serie A's, 2 Champions Leagues, 2 Super Cups, 73 goals in 202 league appearances - at a time when the Italian league was infamous for it's reputation as a defence-first league, and perhaps the most impressive of all, 40 goals in 72 across all European competitions.
40 goals in Europe. For a man written off as not good enough to cope at the highest level. He was apparently too lightweight, a poor passer, couldn't dribble. He was too selfish and unwilling to contribute to his teams style of plays according to some. But to those who knew, his coaches, teammates and the 'Milanista' he was the man you could rely on. Need a goal - get the ball to Inzaghi in the box and he'll do the rest.
Considering his name it's almost ironic that as the game zigged towards false nines and athletic focal points capable of linking play and beating the opposition through pace and skill, Pippo zagged - compensating for his faults by utilising his movement, intelligence and an almost preternatural ability to know exactly where the ball was going to land in the box.
Despite all the naysayers who said he couldn't play football, Inzaghi scored goals, and that's what it's all about.
(Top Photo via the official Champions League twitter page)