8 - Pedri

Messi983

Senior Member
FKHIBVzXEAEt6Mf


:rockon:
 

Bobo32

Senior Member
Zidane won one league for that stacked Madrid team over five seasons and three leagues in total, being able to play for any team he wanted, with complete freedom and both Juve and Madrid were clearly the best teams of their leagues at that time. Maybe if he could control games more regularly they would've won a bit more...

Pedri needs to be a lot more constructive, helpful and sharp in his movements, I didn't see any improvement in his movements, decisions or involvement under Xavi yet compared to last spring. He still looks too much like a very tired hockey player just standing on his skates and maybe taking a skate once in a while just to keep gliding. He is moving all the time like that, almost always towards the ball in a slow pace, just like when you hold that button when you play FIFA. Most of his passes are just unnecessary movement of the ball, because he arrives too late.

His trajectory towards a world leading player isn't going to be straight I am pretty sure, he needs to change things in his style quite a bit to become a truly dominant midfielder. He does have a lot of tools to become a player like that though, he often surprises me in making some of that stuff I described above work somehow. He has a very nice eye for the final ball, can dribble and hold on to the ball well, often see a trick or unexpected way out of situations, and he also has "long legs" to win some loose balls here and there. I always thought he'd be a good finisher too, I think we'll see him score +10 goals some seasons, depending too on the position he'll play.
 

Zidane82

Well-known member
Just notice:

Pedri last season in Laliga: 62.7 passes per 90
Zidane in 2001/02 Laliga: 55.7 passes per 90

:pedri:
I do not think anyone is comparing Pedri to Zidane ( best player ever..)

I do think that Pedri is a special talent though ... his awareness is remarkable at so young an age .. he does remind me a little of Xavi and Iniesta and even Busqs at times
 

Bobo32

Senior Member
Bobo definitely succeeds in triggering me. Well played. I am doing the best that I can to ignore him.

What is triggering you?
I am a bit disappointed to read that you try to ignore me, as I think you are one of the more sane posters here (and one who I also agree with more often than most). I am here to write honestly and maybe discuss about this football team which I have followed very closely for 20 years while also playing and working in football. I am not here to play someone or trigger them, I think this is on you and others that are triggered.
 

ajnotkeith

Senior Member
Pedri is a real 'director'. A player who can control the tempo, and I'm sure if he was instructed to slow down play more and make more shorter passes he also could.
 

Bobo32

Senior Member
Pedri is a real 'director'. A player who can control the tempo, and I'm sure if he was instructed to slow down play more and make more shorter passes he also could.

This "control the tempo" thing seems like a buzzword to me, I feel it is used by people who don't understand the concept really.

Pedri is so rarely able to decide between options, he often only sees one or two options. I just wrote something about how I see his style, and shouldn't repeat myself too much, but he is close to as far from someone controlling a game as it gets for me. He moves about and plays simple passes until he spots a good opportunity for a final pass and then he attempts one. I don't think he really looks manically for numerical superiorities and decides when to go for either flank, and I don't think he is able to influence games a lot, he is sometimes on 30 touches in an entire game.

At Barcelona, he averages 54,7 passes per game so far. That is roughly half of Xavis numbers. He is on 87,3% pass completion, I think it is significantly lower than someone like Xavi, but still OK for me. I think he makes too many alibi passes though, I don't see him thinking two steps ahead as we could clearly see Xavi do. Maybe he can develop these things, I wouldn't be surprised, but so far he is not showing any "director" qualities to me, he is a good supporting actor who could be a great lead actor with the right guidance.
 

ajnotkeith

Senior Member
This "control the tempo" thing seems like a buzzword to me, I feel it is used by people who don't understand the concept really.

Pedri is so rarely able to decide between options, he often only sees one or two options. I just wrote something about how I see his style, and shouldn't repeat myself too much, but he is close to as far from someone controlling a game as it gets for me. He moves about and plays simple passes until he spots a good opportunity for a final pass and then he attempts one. I don't think he really looks manically for numerical superiorities and decides when to go for either flank, and I don't think he is able to influence games a lot, he is sometimes on 30 touches in an entire game.

At Barcelona, he averages 54,7 passes per game so far. That is roughly half of Xavis numbers. He is on 87,3% pass completion, I think it is significantly lower than someone like Xavi, but still OK for me. I think he makes too many alibi passes though, I don't see him thinking two steps ahead as we could clearly see Xavi do. Maybe he can develop these things, I wouldn't be surprised, but so far he is not showing any "director" qualities to me, he is a good supporting actor who could be a great lead actor with the right guidance.
He has always had flair, and a little attacking fire, but Koeman tried to build his midfielder tendencies a little more and I think we are slowly seeing the results.

He is still very young and his coaching from now will likely determine if he's still more risky as a player,but I very strongly feel if he was instructed to take less risks and slow down the game that he's well capable of it.

At the Euros I think he showed this well. Although not the finished article he can be brilliant at dictating play and its good to be a bit more forward minded as well instead of racking up pass completion stats with side passes.
 
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