8 - Pedri

[vegitot]

He's a good passer but doesn't have the best final ball or killer instinct. His natural instinct is to play safer passes and preserve and recycle possession instead of attempting(and pulling off) inventive, killer low percentage final balls like a KDB or Ozil.


He's much better deeper where he gets a bit more time and space to bring out his actual qualities. He's not a bonafide goal threat like Olmo or KDB either so I don't see him as a proper 10 at all.


Ideally, Pedri is an 8 in a 433. Similar profile to Iniesta - although Iniesta's natural swiftness and acceleration allowed him to be more versatile and even fill in as a false LW in a 433 when needed. Pedri doesn't have that swiftness. In Flick's system Pedri can play in the pivot or slightly ahead based on the players available. But he's not a proper 10 like Olmo is. Proper 10s need that naturally inventive, risk taking instinct and have a certain X Factor about them.


The higher you're up the pitch(closer to the opponent's goal), the less amount of time and touches you are allowed on the ball. Pedri is at his best when he has that little extra time on the ball to do his thing. For instance, Pirlo used to be a 10 but Ancelotti moved him deeper and that unlocked a whole new Pirlo where he had more time on the ball to dictate play. Not saying that Pirlo and Pedri have a similar player profile. They don't. Just an example to illustrate my point.


@Birdy @Fati_Future_BallonDor @Maradona37 do you agree? 🧐

It's not fair to compare Pedri to Olmo or KDB. He will never be that kind of player when he plays as a 10 like them.

My point is that if he wants to play and excel as a 10 permanently, he must learn the Xavi way. Xavi used to play that role with Spain under Del Bosque and he was brilliant. He always dropped deep and moved all around the pitch to dominate the play while being creative in the final third (usually created most chances in his team).

Pedri isn't type of player who can create attack or score with limited time on the ball. He must involve the most.

Prime Iniesta would be the most press resistant player in this team. But I'm not sure about Iniesta's ability to play at Xavi's position. He never actually did regularly.

After Xavi left the natural move would be to play Iniesta there and get a new offensively oriented midfielder because those are arguably more common than the Xavi clones unless you get total ass versions like Seri and Arthur.

Btw, I think Pedri has received more instructions to play killer passes even from Xavi. I can’t remember a single situation this season where he has avoided the killer pass for the safer option. Those moments were far more common a year ago.

Last season i remember Xavi said something like he wanted Pedri to have more than 100 touches/passes per game. He wanted Pedri to involve more while usually played him in an advanced role. Perharps he expected Pedri would play the same way Xavi himself used to play.