You guys need to learn to spot player's DNA/natural skills in his play.
I have talked about this a lot in the past.
The thing is: each of us and each player has his footballing traits/DNA and instincts.
Those traits make him who he is and those are very hard to change with years.
I will write some examples of player's DNA/natural traits:
Mats = saving shots with feet, bending his knees down during shots, saving shots with feet and body instead with hands (like a handball GK).
-- now look at the age: was Mats different aged 22?
No. His DNA was the same.
-- did he change over years?
No. His DNA remained the same.
Another example: Arthur.
People always replied: he is young, he will learn how to make forward passes, blah blah.
My opinion was always: that is his DNA. He can't change.
His first instinct when he recieves the ball is = NOT to pass it forward but to make a turn and avoid a player running at him.
So, his natural instintcs aren't to look forward but NOT to lose the ball.
And what is happening in his brain when he gets the ball?
= his natural instincts come first and in the first moment he will ALWAYS AUTOMATICALLY make that little turn and slow down, and only a few seconds after that, he will turn on his LOGICAL brain and realize: oh wait, a coach told me to pass the ball forward and then he will "MANUALLY" pass the ball forward.
Now, look at Arthur from Gremio and Arthur aged 25.
Has his game changed even a bit?
No.
Has he improved in forward passing?
No.
Why?
= because that is his footballing DNA, he can't kill his natural instincts.
Another example about whom I used to write is Neymar.
The same.
What are his natural instincts?
= to dribble, play like a clown, please the fans, showboating, fighting with everyone.
He played like that at Santos and at Barca and Psg.
The only time when a coach forced him to play faster was in 2015 when he was very good.
But, what happened?
His change of a behavior didn't last long.
Why?
= because you can't kill your natural instincts for too long. You will usually return to your basics and to who you are.
And Neymar lately again plays like a good, old clown Neymar: slowing down the play, dribbling too much, showboating instead of playing simple and efficient.
He is 29. Has his natural game changed since the age of 20 and Santios days?
No.
So, that is a story about player's footballing personality and his natural instincts and skills.
Yet, people on internet too often give too much credits to players and think that everything can be changed and learned.
With Arthur:
1. he had a poor stamina. People would reply: he is young, he will improve.
2. he couldn't make a forward pass. People would reply: he is young, he will improve.
3. he was shit at defending. People would reply: he is young, he will improve.
The thing is: majority of things will be improved only a little bit.
Also, there are some additional rules with young players.
1. it is easier to turn the attacking player who is bad at defending into a midfielder who has learned how to defend, than: turning a defensive player into an attacking player.
So, for example, Rakitic or KDB, who were CAMs or attackers in early days CAN be transformed into midfielders who can defend.
On the other hand, it is way harder to transform Arthur into an attacking player.
My point: it is easier to learn defending and tactics during 20s than to improve your attacking skills and creativity.
2. the same, it is easier to teach a player who dribbles too much = into a player who dribbles less.
Than to teach a player who never dribbles/or who can't dribble = into a player who dribbles.
3. the same is with shooting. If a player is shooting too often, he can be tuned down to some extent.
But if a player never shoots or if he is horrible at shooting = you can't do too much about it.
Now, let's go to Pedri.
He never shots, and when he does shoot, his shots are atrocious.
He could work on his shooting accuracy to some extent, but he will never change his DNA where he doesn't want to shoot.
Or if he'll shoot, those will never be natural shots (in a split of a second), but forced shots because a coach told him so.
Also, another thing that annoys me lately in Pedri's game = are those tiny tricks which lead to nothing.
Example: he gets the ball on the left, near Alba.
And Pedri gets surrounded by 3 opponents.
In that situation, someone like Rakitic would have lost the ball, true.
Pedri often finds a way with dribbling through 3 guys, or he makes a nutmeg or he somehow finds a way out of that situation, BUT then he does absolutely nothing.
Instead of taking the advantage of leaving 3 players behind his back which could open a space for a shot or a counter, he often: gets rid of three players ONLY to make a backpass/sidepass to Busi.
So, literally: he makes an awesome move with getting rid of 2-3 opponents and then spoils everything with passing the ball back and letting those 2 opponents to return on their positions.
So, on the eye test, Pedri looks way better than he really is.
If you are watching him: he is good at press resistance, he is doing lots of tiny flicks, silky passes, nutmegs, chips and similar.
But when you put it on a paper: ok, has he actually created something or scored some goals? You get meh stats.
So, for now:
-- a lot of fancy flicks and passes
-- not too much is happening after those passes
-- can't shoot
To some extent, similar when Isco is running in circles with the ball: it looks fancy, you can't take the ball from him but on the other hand: absolutely nothing is happening attacking wise for your team.
