8 - Pedri

[vegitot]

Who is a DM in our current formation?

Busi. Who else??? He may reach the end of his career now but there is no better option so he still plays.

 

[Messi983]

Busi. Who else??? He may reach the end of his career now but there is no better option so he still plays.

That was my point. We are basically playing without a DM for years already.

 

[vegitot]

That was my point. We are basically playing without a DM for years already.

Better than nothing.

 

[Messi983]

Better than nothing.

Nah.

Would prefer playing three workhorse midfielders like FDJ, Pedri and Kessie (or similar profile) over playing a former DM whose legs have gone years ago.

 

[Andresito]

Returned earlier from his holiday. Was supposed to rest until Wednesday.

Will be interesting to see how he'll perform after some rest. The pressure will certainly be higher than before. Subpar performances could be swept under the rug because he was overplayed before.

 

[te amo barca]

 

[vegitot]

BBZ will like him now. Look at his skin

 

[Messi983]

Imagine people thinking he's not creative enough and can only make back/sideways passes.

 

[Laplacian]

A compilation from 3 different teams over the course of two years isn't exactly the smack down you think it is. But yes I agree, Pedri's overcritized and he's fine the way he is atm.

 

[BBZ8800]

Imagine people thinking he's not creative enough and can only make back/sideways passes.

I know that he is young.
But there is something in his game/DNA that annoys me as fck.

Especially when you guys dream about him being a key central CM like Xavi.
Xavi was Xavi and no one can be compared to him.
But even guys like prime Pjanic were way more imposing.
Pedri is just getting rid of the ball too soon for a controller type of a CM, as if he is playing futsal.
But also, another problem is: I always have a feeling that he he plays as a secondary CM, like someone's younger, scared brother.
As in: you take your younger brother to play football with your older friends. And your brother plays well, but he is scared and he is passing every single ball to you, he is afraid to take the reigns and do something by himself.

Problem no3: in Xavi's game, his brain worked in central areas of the pitch and his passes went centrally where "something was happening".
Also, when Xavi led actions, sometimes he would play a pass after 1 seconds and sometimes he would dwell on the ball for 10 seconds to wait for a perfect opportunity until his teammates get into better positions in attack.
On ther other hand, Arthur didn't have those passes after 1 second and passes after 10 seconds. Arthur's passes were mostly those too slow passes where he dwelled on the ball too long plus his passes were safe passes on top of waiting for too long.
With Pedri, it's the opposite from Arthur. He doesn't dwell on the ball BUT he does release it way too soon which leads to losing better opportunity if he waited slightly longer (until a player makes a smart deep run). And it adds to impression that we aren't controlling the midfield too well with Pedri due to his releasing the ball too fast.
Look, releaing the ball fast is good if you have Xavi-Iniesta-Busi. But they released the ball fast WITH PURPOSE and their passes made sense and had patterns and they led the ball into a dangerous area.
While Pedri's first touch passes are often (in my eyes) just random stupid shiny passes which leads to nothing and which are often sidepasses or released too early which puts the burden on SOMEONE ELSE to make a better pass (aka: his older brother from the beginning of my post).
Also, with players like Xavi, you always had a feeling that when he takes the ball, he will start the action in such a way that something dangerous will happen later in the action either directly by his pass or indirectly (pre-assist type of a pass) where he plays a perfect smart pass to someone else in a good position who will then have an easy job to make the perfect final pass.
Aka: Xavi was able to see 2-3-4 moves in advance.
And if he passed the ball to a fullback, he knew what will happen and how will a fullback play a pass to a CF who will be alone 1 vs 1 with a GK.
While with Pedri's passes, I never get that impression that he is predicting 4 moves in advance.
He just plays a random backheel or a backpass and what happens = happens.

I often say that Frenkie is an awkward fit for us, but for me, Pedri is even a weirder fit.
For me, he is like some sort of Fabregas.

To get a better view what I am trying to say, maybe you guys should watch videos from specific matches and NOT compilations with best passes.
Now, if you look at a specific match, try to look at how he:
1. releases the ball too soon
2. too often passes the ball AWAY from the danger (the middle) to fullbacks or a backpass
3. he is not imposing himself with off the ball movement (like Xavi or even freaking Arthur) and how he is hiding in general too often for a controller-CM
4. also, it feels as if off the ball movement is not natural and instintctive. For example, when Xavi or even Arthur release the ball, they immidiately follow the action and make their movement accordingly and make themeselves avaiable for the enxt pass.
While with Pedri, you can always see how he makes the first touch pass, then stops and freezes for 2 seconds and THEN he remembers: oh yes, I have to follow the action and make some movement.
Or he makes the pass to a teammate, and then UNLIKE Xavi (or even Arthur), he hides in between 2-3 opponents and doesn't make himself available to a teammate, which leads to = it looks as if we don't have pasing options and all players are marked well.
Or: he makes a pass and instead of offer himself like Xavi, he makes a pass and rushes towards the box like a CAM, which leaves Busi/Frenkie with only 1 passing option in midfield.
So, BOTH his passes and his off the ball movement are not imposing nowhere near enough for a Xavi's type of a central midfielder.

For example:

 

[mc_lovin]

The gloves are off

 

[Bobo32]

I skimmed this BBZ post, and I only found minor stuff to maybe argue about, I agree with the overall picture.

The most annoying thing about him is his lack of change of speed/direction (worse the more the season progressed), he just constantly jogs in circles in the same tempo, like a very poor player would do. He makes it work somehow though, but still annoying to see.

I also think that this "4 moves ahead" about Xavi is a misunderstanding, the same as what is said about the best chess players. It's not how it works, but I think the point still gets across, Xavi had a much higher understanding of the strategy as opposed to the tactics, to talk in chess language. Pedri is more tactical and less strategic.

 

[Messigician]

I agree with BBZ but it's impossible to replace Xavi, it won't happen no one can

 

[JamDav1982]

Irrelevant to compare Pedri to Xavi when he is 18 not being asked to play the same role as Xavi.

Again BBZ with the 'tiki taka is dead' argument then uses Xavi in tiki taka to make some essay on taking aim at Pedri.

Flips argument daily to fit.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Not sure who is comparing him to Xavi. He isn't the guy who will make the key pass. He is the guy who will keep control etc. I see him as more of an Iniesta than Xavi. Without the key scoring ability or as high dribbling ability.

Pedri has a long way to go before reaching the top players of the world. He has the potential though and seems to have the mentality. You can already see his progress to gym workouts etc.

Who knows what other areas he can still improve. Insanely young still.