VIDEO: Juve Legend Pirlo Creates a Storm on Twitter After Latest Example of His Dwindling Abilities

After one of the finest careers in European football history, the man sometimes known as 'the architect', but more commonly known as Andrea Pirlo, is now very much in the twilight of his playing days.

Plying his trade in Major League Soccer for the past two years now, the former AC Milan and Juventus great has - and this is difficult to type - perhaps become a bit of a liability for New York City FC.

Image by Sal Sayles

To be fair, the shaggy-haired 38-year-old World Cup winner was never one for a tackle or getting too involved in the rough and tumble side of the beautiful game, but still, the footage below shows why fans of his current club are becoming a tad exasperated:  

If this lame attempt to...well, who knows WHAT that is...wasn't bad enough, Pirlo was responsible for the only goal of the game - but not in the way we've become accustomed, such as via a piercing through ball or a deadly free kick:

After being dispossessed by Darren Mattocks, Pirlo span around towards the referee and demanded a free kick; waving play on, the ref and everyone else watched on as Mattocks subsequently squared the ball to Diego Valeri, who stroked the ball past the hosts’ goalkeeper Sean Johnson.

City's head coach, Premier League legend Patrick Vieira, ultimately subbed Pirlo off for Sean Okoli but his side were unable to find the equalising goal. Still, Vieira refused to blame Italian Pirlo for the loss:

“I think it happened that he lost the ball. It just so happened that this time it was Andrea," Vieira was quoted as saying by Goal.com after the match.

EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ/GettyImages

"A lot of players have lost the ball in a really difficult area, but it happened that we conceded the goal. That’s part of the game. You make a mistake and you get punished right away.''

Fans on Twitter were far less forgiving, and called for Pirlo to finally call it a day: 

Whether Pirlo actually retires at the end of the campaign remains to be seen but when he does, his stint in American will largely be forgotten...hopefully.