Seen enough now. Most of his games he is happy to only circulate the ball in midfield. There is very little desire to actively effect the game. The difference in motivation and attitude between him and others he is compared against ( De Bruyne, Bellingham, etc ) is stark. Those guys want to leave an imprint on the game. Pedro is happy for the game to pass him by.
How many games have you walked away from thinking, " Wow what a player " or " Pedri took the game of the scruff of the neck there ". How many memorable performances have we seen from him?
I have warned about that several years ago.
Pedri is similar to Arthur and have some similar issues.
My opinion is that as kids, they grew up as Barca's fans and they grew up watching Pep's football and Spanish NT from 2008-2012.
Before Pep's era, midfielders were different.
Majority of teams had two types of midfielder:
1. either a 10 like Totti, Rui Costa, Zidane
2. or a more defensive minded midfielder
With emergence of Pep, Barca, Xavi and Iniesta, suddenly a no10 disappeared and this new gen of MCs combined the traits of an old no10 (creative skills) and of a defensive midfielder (defending, pressing, dropping deep to get the ball).
And then, even though Xavi and Iniesta did score a lot of goals, but their main duty of the field was to keep the ball as long as possible, to circulate it around, to keep possession, to play rondos eternally.
Someone will now say: not true.
Xavi and Iniesta had tons of assists etc.
True.
But my general point is that football has changed around 2008.
Before that, it was way more direct and with less possession in midfield.
Juventus and Milan from the 90s were way more direct than Pep's Barca or Spanish NT.
Galacticos were more direct.
Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea (remember Mou's Chelsea around 2004-2006 when Lampard was skipping the midfield and just hoofing balls upfield to Drogba, Cole, Duff, Robben).
Or even Rijkaard's Barca from 2006 was way more direct and less possession based than Pep's Barca or Spanish NT under Del Bosque.
And then when Pep's Barca came, it was a revolution in terms of holding the ball, keeping the possession and keeping the ball for 1-2 minutes in some matches with 50-100 passes in a row.
So, in the 90s or early 2000s, when the AMC would see the an open space, he would make a risky forward pass or shoot whenever possible (Totti, Lampard etc).
But when Pep, Xavi and Iniesta came, in those days Pep killed risky behavior and introdeuced a new idea: play safe, make a risky pass only if there is a high chance for a success. Or: don't shoot from long range, pass to a teammate in a better position. Or: don't cross the ball at corners, it's a low reward type of chance, so rather play short corners and wait for a perfect chance.
In that sense, someone who was a 5 or 10 year old kid back then and who was a fan of Barca, grew up with the idea that the most important role for a midfielder is to dominate as much as Xavi and Iniesta in terms of rondos, first time passes, keeping possession, playing it safe, don't risk and wait for a better opportunity, don't shoot from distance because one of your teammates is ALWAYS in a better position, so you should rather pass to him.
** I agree, Pep's football has evolved since then and it is more direct and more riskier lately.
But around 2010, it was some sort of mathematical football without too much risks and always looking for a solution which has the highest chance for keeping the possession and not losing the ball.
I have wrote this post lots of times in Arthur's thread when he came and when people believed that he will dominate the world because he had some of Xavi's skills.
But Arthur, the same as Pedri, had only one portion of Xavi's skills like: press resistance, recycling possession, nice passes.
And ok, Pedri has a better eye for forward passes than Arthur, but they both lack in some other areas like physique, defending, shooting on goal, dominating the game in the final 3rd.
And the same as with Arthur, I don't think that Pedri can improve in that part.
The same as how every Barca fan on this forum who grew up during Pep's Barca will forever think that it was the best football ever played and no other type of football can tickle his mind as Xavi-Iniesta era.
The same is with Arthur, Pedri, Puig and co.
Their footballing brain and instincts developed while watching Xavi and Iniesta and they have learned some things in the wrong way.
Their brains are wired to: keep the ball as much as possible, not to risk, not too shoot, to recycle possession with the idea that the goal will eventually come from somewhere.
Now, the original poster mentioned De Bruyne and Bellingham.
And people wonder why are they different.
Well, they didn't grow up on the "Planet Barca".
De Bruyne is a Belgian and they historically more connected with EPL.
So, as a kid, he has probably grew up watching Scholes, Gerard and Lampard.
And his brain is wired from the early years to the same as these 3: to run, to pass, to assist and shoot as much as possible.
The same is with Bellingham.
He has also grew up watching EPL midfielders who run, pass and shoot a lot and that is visible in his game.
Or:
Why do most of Brazilian players play football filled with tricks and Joga Bonita?
= because that's how they play as kids and their brains are wired that way, that football is = tricks and dribbles
Or why do Italians play a defensive minded football for the last 50 years?
= the same, because of their culture and kids are taught that way since the early age
Regarding Arthur's and Pedri's "Barca world" problem, imo, it will take a decade or two until kids in Catalonia will start to shoot more often and move away from Xavi's type of a player.
And one more time: whenever you'll hope that Arthur or Pedri will change and improve, just ask yourself: have you ever moved away from dreaming about Pep's Barca and that type of football? No.
And there's your answer regarding Pedri...