Pedro Rodriguez

[BBZ8800]

And you come to neymar thread everytime he does something wrong, just to hype pedro

Ok, Pedro is poor, he had only one awesome Season, and the rest of his career has been just average.
But that is still not an excuse for Neymar.

He is still playing like shit in the last 10 matches.
We are on top of La Liga and have around 19 wins in the last 20 matches (or whatever the current number is), *in spite" of Neymar's crappy displays.

So, ok, we have only 4 attackers and Pedro is a crap.
But what then, "The brand/120 Millions (or whatever the number is) guy" has to play all the time?

What if "The brand's" form continues? If he will slow down the game all the time, make stupid tricks and miss sitters like in the last few weeks?

If the excuse for "The brand" will always be: Pedro is a crap, Neymar is a youtube king, then please, the board, we need to sell Pedro and buy a world class 4th attacker who will play whenever someone from Msn trio plays crappy, as Ney currently play.

I don't want to read the same excuses for the next 3, 5 or 8 years: "Neymar is awesome, he will play forever in the first team because he is The Ney, and reserve players are much weaker than him"

Neyboy, if you will play like a crap, you will sit on the bench, son. And you should think about your displays for a while.
The current unlimited credit is not the way how we should deal with similar problems in the future.

We will become "slaves" of some players, if they will play no matter how good/bad they will play. Especially when their ego/brand/youtube/twitter reputation will grow even further and gain even more followers in the future.

The question is: Neymar is currently playing badly, but is scoring a lot of goals to compensate those mistakes.
What if he stops scoring goals, and if he will still slow down the game and our build up play?
Who will play then instead of him? Nobody?
Or he will have a guaranteed spot no matter what, until like 2024?

We don't have any competition in the attack currently.
We have 3 guaranteed spots.
And ok, currently we are awesome, but what when the results will suffer and when our superstars will play even weaker (Like Ronaldinho, Deco and similar players in the past?)

 

[BerkeleyBernie]

Just watch another sport, moving ball doesnt win games

Again, you miss the point. I'm not you. I'm more entertained by how the game is played than the result. That's why I started watching Barcelona- not because they won games, but because of how they play. You may feel entirely differently. Vive la difference.

 

[footyfan]

Berkeley stop pretending you just dislike aspects of Neymar's game and like aspects of Pedro's game. I've seen you vote Pedro in the MOTM top 3 when he's come on as a sub and done absolutely zilch. That's irrational bias and selection no matter how many out-of-context screenshots you post and paragraphs you write.

Sorry for coming off so strong. But if you're watching expecting Xavi and Pedro to play starring roles with their utilitarian styles like it's still waka-waka time then you're sadly mistaken. That Barca is gone, now we're back to the individualistic Barca of the late 90's and mid 00's.

 

[matheusemp]

Ok, Pedro is poor, he had only one awesome Season, and the rest of his career has been just average.
But that is still not an excuse for Neymar.

He is still playing like shit in the last 10 matches.
We are on top of La Liga and have around 19 wins in the last 20 matches (or whatever the current number is), *in spite" of Neymar's crappy displays.

So, ok, we have only 4 attackers and Pedro is a crap.
But what then, "The brand/120 Millions (or whatever the number is) guy" has to play all the time?

What if "The brand's" form continues? If he will slow down the game all the time, make stupid tricks and miss sitters like in the last few weeks?

If the excuse for "The brand" will always be: Pedro is a crap, Neymar is a youtube king, then please, the board, we need to sell Pedro and buy a world class 4th attacker who will play whenever someone from Msn trio plays crappy, as Ney currently play.

I don't want to read the same excuses for the next 3, 5 or 8 years: "Neymar is awesome, he will play forever in the first team because he is The Ney, and reserve players are much weaker than him"

Neyboy, if you will play like a crap, you will sit on the bench, son. And you should think about your displays for a while.
The current unlimited credit is not the way how we should deal with similar problems in the future.

We will become "slaves" of some players, if they will play no matter how good/bad they will play. Especially when their ego/brand/youtube/twitter reputation will grow even further and gain even more followers in the future.

The question is: Neymar is currently playing badly, but is scoring a lot of goals to compensate those mistakes.
What if he stops scoring goals, and if he will still slow down the game and our build up play?
Who will play then instead of him? Nobody?
Or he will have a guaranteed spot no matter what, until like 2024?

We don't have any competition in the attack currently.
We have 3 guaranteed spots.
And ok, currently we are awesome, but what when the results will suffer and when our superstars will play even weaker (Like Ronaldinho, Deco and similar players in the past?)

Is there any player in the world who plays well every match except messi? Most of time when i watched big clubs playing,i got disapointed , ribery,robben and gotze for bayern, or chelsea with hazard vanishing in big matches ,or Ibra doing nothing for psg , sanchez with arsenal ,penaldo for madrid , Di maria and manchester , aguero and city .

All of these, most of the time , plays well in one match then sucks in others 2, no one out there is consistently in the way you are asking for.

That is the point of having many top class players, when one fail, the other one step up, just like when suarez couldnt finish and neymar had the best conversion rate in spain

And just take a look in others forums, everybody is praising our front 3 or calling the best in the world , and here people are asking for pedro

Maybe barca fans are demanding too much?

 

[BerkeleyBernie]

I've seen you vote Pedro in the MOTM top 3 when he's come on as a sub and done absolutely zilch. That's irrational bias and selection no matter how many out-of-context screenshots you post and paragraphs you write.

Mmm, yeah, once, and if you recall the game, the entire team sucked. It was a symbolic vote, not for realz.

Sorry for coming off so strong. But if you're watching expecting Xavi and Pedro to play starring roles with their utilitarian styles like it's still waka-waka time then you're sadly mistaken. That Barca is gone, now we're back to the individualistic Barca of the late 90's and mid 00's.

Hardly. Barça's foundation is still one of technical superiority. Excellent first half in the first tie against Manchester is evidence enough; it's simply a more pragmatic Barça that adapts to a more direct style when necessary. And Barça continues to work the ball out of the back (if anything, more so this year than last, when Valdes was apparently instructed by Tata to hoof the ball, something he'd rarely done in the past).

 

[BBZ8800]

Is there any player in the world who plays well every match except messi? Most of time when i watched big clubs playing,i got disapointed , ribery,robben and gotze for bayern, or chelsea with hazard vanishing in big matches ,or Ibra doing nothing for psg , sanchez with arsenal ,penaldo for madrid , Di maria and manchester , aguero and city .

All of these, most of the time , plays well in one match then sucks in others 2, no one out there is consistently in the way you are asking for.

That is the point of having many top class players, when one fail, the other one step up, just like when suarez couldnt finish and neymar had the best conversion rate in spain

And just take a look in others forums, everybody is praising our front 3 or calling the best in the world , and here people are asking for pedro

Maybe barca fans are demanding too much?

Ok, everyone plays badly sometimes.
But some play 1 bad match and some play 10 bad matches in a row.

But you know that periods when someone constantly plays like a crap?
Like Fabregas, in the 2nd part of every Season?
Or when Pique was thinking only about Shakira?
Or when Ronaldinho started partying?
Or when Deco had a divorce and played like a crap for 2 Seasons in a row?

Let's say that we will win La Liga, Cup and who knows, maybe even CL this Season, inspite of Neymar's displays.
And then, imagine that in the next Season (as it often happens) our team starts to play weaker, we think that we are too good, we lack motivation etc.
And what then?
Currently we have wins, probably trophies, so we can get away with Ney's current plays.

But you know how Bravo needs to play awesome every week in order to keep his place infront of Mats?
Or how Mats has to play awesome every week in order to take Bravo's place?

Now, Neymar, we don't have this scenario.
If he plays awesome=he is a god.
If he plays horrible one match=that is only one off match
If he plays horrible for 5 or 10 matches in a row=we don't have any other options, because when on form, nobody is as good as him. Plus, altarnatives like Pedro are not good enough, as you can read on this forum.

I am just saying: we need alternatives, I don't want to watch any of Barca's players playing like a crap for 10 matches in a row and that he is still getting unlimited credits.
I don't care if his name is Messi, Neymar or Lord Douglas.
If you are playing like a crap, well, sit down on the bench son, and earn your spot with better plays and better attitude.

I am partly afraid of Pogba for the same reason.
He is the brand, in the same way as Neymar.
And what, we will become a team full of handsome players who are selling 100s of random products and they need to play, no matter what, because they sell shampoos, parfumes, shoes, Tvs, just name the random product.

That's crap.
If Ney is horrible, bring on Pedro, Munir, even Deulofeu.
Ok, now it is the end of the Season, and he needs to play no matter what, because currently it is not the moment for experiments.
But I am talking about the future. If any player will play in that way, he needs to get slapped and benched for a few games.
No player is bigger than Barca.

 

[Vlom]

Here goes BBZ and his 100 lines long posts

I actually taught Neymar was decent after watching the extended highlights, he wasn't lucky on the finish and a couple bad decision either to shoot or pass, but there's no way in hell pedro would have done any better (you can check the neymar thread, i'm not really a fan of his lately).

Also, Ney has already been subbed a few times lately, it's not like Lucho wasn't doing anything about it, but the Gala XI is with neymar, just get used to it already.

 

[BBZ8800]

Here goes BBZ and his 100 lines long posts

I actually taught Neymar was decent after watching the extended highlights, he wasn't lucky on the finish and a couple bad decision either to shoot or pass, but there's no way in hell pedro would have done any better (you can check the neymar thread, i'm not really a fan of his lately).

Also, Ney has already been subbed a few times lately, it's not like Lucho wasn't doing anything about it, but the Gala XI is with neymar, just get used to it already.

It is not about Man. City match. He plays poorly to average at best for the last 7-8 matches.
And I don't have anything against Neymar in starting 11, when he is playing good.

I have a problem with Neymar, or any other player, if he plays poorly, but needs to play all the time=because he is Neymar.
That is just wrong, and we will eventually pay the price for that.

 

[footyfan]

Mmm, yeah, once, and if you recall the game, the entire team sucked. It was a symbolic vote, not for realz.



Hardly. Barça's foundation is still one of technical superiority. Excellent first half in the first tie against Manchester is evidence enough; it's simply a more pragmatic Barça that adapts to a more direct style when necessary. And Barça continues to work the ball out of the back (if anything, more so this year than last, when Valdes was apparently instructed by Tata to hoof the ball, something he'd rarely done in the past).

It's a more pragmatic Barca, there's no doubt about that. But the attacking creation is all largely dependent on individual brilliance, typically from a certain individual.

 

[Zangash]

It is not about Man. City match. He plays poorly to average at best for the last 7-8 matches.
And I don't have anything against Neymar in starting 11, when he is playing good.

I have a problem with Neymar, or any other player, if he plays poorly, but needs to play all the time=because he is Neymar.
That is just wrong, and we will eventually pay the price for that.

But once again, what are our options? You yourself just said you'd rather play Munir, Pedro, or even Deulofeu. That sums it up completely. Not a one of those players would provide any improvement in any area over Neymar, with the possible exception of Munir, who has a decent football I.Q and would possibly finish some of his chances, hypothetically.

He doesn't start just "because he is Neymar", he starts because we have nobody else that even comes close to his quality even on poor form. Put any of those players you mentioned out there and we'll back right back in the same situation, except then you'll be on your soapbox about forcing younger players in the shoes of players with more experience. Iniesta has been poor damn near all season in a terrible way but you'd pop a blood vessel if someone suggested benching him long-term for Rafinha.

If we end up having to pay the price for anything, it will be our piss poor transfer policy. Not purchasing a RB and buying a CB who will need to be replaced in 2 seasons and another who won't be able to debut until his 2nd season will be what comes back to bite us in the ass, and any failings of a member of our front line causing us to lose trophies would signify the poor nature of Lucho's tactics and that focusing on giving the front three opportunities without involving the midfield is not working.

 

[BBZ8800]

But once again, what are our options? You yourself just said you'd rather play Munir, Pedro, or even Deulofeu. That sums it up completely. Not a one of those players would provide any improvement in any area over Neymar, with the possible exception of Munir, who has a decent football I.Q and would possibly finish some of his chances, hypothetically.

He doesn't start just "because he is Neymar", he starts because we have nobody else that even comes close to his quality even on poor form. Put any of those players you mentioned out there and we'll back right back in the same situation, except then you'll be on your soapbox about forcing younger players in the shoes of players with more experience. Iniesta has been poor damn near all season in a terrible way but you'd pop a blood vessel if someone suggested benching him long-term for Rafinha.

If we end up having to pay the price for anything, it will be our piss poor transfer policy. Not purchasing a RB and buying a CB who will need to be replaced in 2 seasons and another who won't be able to debut until his 2nd season will be what comes back to bite us in the ass, and any failings of a member of our front line causing us to lose trophies would signify the poor nature of Lucho's tactics and that focusing on giving the front three opportunities without involving the midfield is not working.

I wasn't talking about this Season.
This season we don't have any alternatives.
We have Pedro, but now it seems that Pedro:
1. is not an alternative in terms of tactical improvement or any tactical option
2. Pedro only plays when others are injured/suspended or when we need to rest someone for a bigger game
-- so, more or less, Pedro isn't any competition, but just a guy who jumps in when we need to rest big boys
-- he is only a puppet
-- on the other hand, only other options in attack are Munir, Sandro and similar youngsters who are again nowhere near Msn trio

And that is the whole problem.
It means, in this case for Neymar:
"I can do whatever I want. If I will play good=I will be hailed.
If I will be the biggest crap on the field=I will still play because other alternatives are just horrible."
And again, that is wrong, very wrong.

Again, times and eras are changing very fast. 3 Months ago, 90% of people on this forum (me also) where laughing and cursing on Lucho, asking for him to be sacked, asking for us to lose the game against Atletico in order to get him sacked as soon as possible.
3 Months later, we are the best team in the world again, and that can slightly "mask" some of our problems with Msn trio and no real alternatives.

If you don't have any alternatives for a player=and if a player always plays 100% good and acts like a true professional in every match, then fine
But if you don't have any alternatives for a player=and if he plays in the way how Neymar plays in the last 7-8 matches, then we will have problems in the future, surely

My point was: If Pedro is that bad, and if we can't bench Neymar when he plays like he currently is playing, then we should find some player better than Pedro (who is willing to sit on the bench, that is the problem) who will play and rotate with Msn trio whenever some of them is injured or plays like a crap (like Ney currently).

The current Ney's position=you will play no matter what, isn't too good for a 23 year old player.
He also needs to earn his place with his displays, and not only with his "brand" and with his good matches from 2 or 6 Months ago.
Again, if he will play no matter what only because he is Neymar, we can easily expect his displays equally as poor as Pique's displays from his worst periods.
What we will do then?
Bench him like we did with Pique? Or we will just play Ney again and again and again, and hope that he will "fix" his play by himself?

Also, imagine the next Season:
Messi gets injured for 2-3 Months, and we have only Ney and Suarez. And imagine Ney playing as against City or even worse, for 5-10-20 matches in a row.
And we play 0:0 or 1:1 all the time, but you can't bench him both because we don't have anyone else to play, plus because he is Ney, and never can be benched.

Poor games from a single player can easily be masked and forgotten if other players are playing well and if results don't suffer.
But when some other players also play weaker, then 10 poor matches in a row by a key player will become a much bigger problem.
This is why we will need some alternatives when we will have new episodes like Pique's in the past, Ronaldinho's, Deco's, current Neymar's etc.

 

[Zangash]

I wasn't talking about this Season.
This season we don't have any alternatives.
We have Pedro, but now it seems that Pedro:
1. is not an alternative in terms of tactical improvement or any tactical option
2. Pedro only plays when others are injured/suspended or when we need to rest someone for a bigger game
-- so, more or less, Pedro isn't any competition, but just a guy who jumps in when we need to rest big boys
-- he is only a puppet
-- on the other hand, only other options in attack are Munir, Sandro and similar youngsters who are again nowhere near Msn trio

And that is the whole problem.
It means, in this case for Neymar:
"I can do whatever I want. If I will play good=I will be hailed.
If I will be the biggest crap on the field=I will still play because other alternatives are just horrible."
And again, that is wrong, very wrong.

Again, times and eras are changing very fast. 3 Months ago, 90% of people on this forum (me also) where laughing and cursing on Lucho, asking for him to be sacked, asking for us to lose the game against Atletico in order to get him sacked as soon as possible.
3 Months later, we are the best team in the world again, and that can slightly "mask" some of our problems with Msn trio and no real alternatives.

If you don't have any alternatives for a player=and if a player always plays 100% good and acts like a true professional in every match, then fine
But if you don't have any alternatives for a player=and if he plays in the way how Neymar plays in the last 7-8 matches, then we will have problems in the future, surely

My point was: If Pedro is that bad, and if we can't bench Neymar when he plays like he currently is playing, then we should find some player better than Pedro (who is willing to sit on the bench, that is the problem) who will play and rotate with Msn trio whenever some of them is injured or plays like a crap (like Ney currently).

The current Ney's position=you will play no matter what, isn't too good for a 23 year old player.
He also needs to earn his place with his displays, and not only with his "brand" and with his good matches from 2 or 6 Months ago.
Again, if he will play no matter what only because he is Neymar, we can easily expect his displays equally as poor as Pique's displays from his worst periods.
What we will do then?
Bench him like we did with Pique? Or we will just play Ney again and again and again, and hope that he will "fix" his play by himself?

Also, imagine the next Season:
Messi gets injured for 2-3 Months, and we have only Ney and Suarez. And imagine Ney playing as against City or even worse, for 5-10-20 matches in a row.
And we play 0:0 or 1:1 all the time, but you can't bench him both because we don't have anyone else to play, plus because he is Ney, and never can be benched.

Poor games from a single player can easily be masked and forgotten if other players are playing well and if results don't suffer.
But when some other players also play weaker, then 10 poor matches in a row by a key player will become a much bigger problem.
This is why we will need some alternatives when we will have new episodes like Pique's in the past, Ronaldinho's, Deco's, current Neymar's etc.

Your points are all solid. However, this is, more or less, the bed we made for ourselves when we signed Suarez. When I saw his signing and saw Deulofeu get loaned I instantly knew we were going to be screwed if something like this were to happen.

Not one of Messi, Neymar, and Suarez can ever be benched. All things considered, neither Neymar or Suarez are good enough players to warrant such treatment, but with the massive risk the club went through to get them on top of the money spent, they are as nailed in as starters as Lucho is our coach. The result is our front line doesn't have any rotation whatsoever. We won't be able to find a player better than Pedro willing to ride the bench because any player better than Pedro will see our front line and know they will practically never play.

If we had just one nailed on forward, or even two, this wouldn't be a problem. We could bring in one or two or even three forwards of quality much higher than Pedro but lower than Suarez/Neymar who could rotate for the open spot(s), and when one of the starters found himself injured or in poor form we'd be able to realistically say one of the backups would be able to do a decent job if they filled in.

Look at our midfield. We have Mascherano, Busquets, Roberto, Rafinha, Xavi, Iniesta, and Rakatic, all vying for a single trio of midfield positions. This is also taking into consideration that Sergi Samper is first team ready and is just waiting for promotion late-June. If a combination of Rakatic and Iniesta aren't working for any given game, you can take one off for Xavi to control the game, or Rafinha to bring more forward play. Our front line is not the same way. If Neymar is playing poorly, our only option is to bring in Pedro, who even on his best day wouldn't put in the performance Neymar does on his worst.

I'm inclined to say MSN is actually bad for the team as a whole no matter how well they are playing specifically for this reason, but that comment would come off as blasphemous to the people of this forum. I know what you're likely to say to this, but this is a large part of the reason why I feel we should be finding ways to give young players a chance in the first team. Opinions vary on players like Adama and Deulofeu who honestly wouldn't work at Barca unless we reverted back to our pre-Lucho/Tata system but if given time and minutes players like Munir and Sandro could have actually become quite helpful to the overall well being of the team. If Munir got all the charity minutes given to Pedro, for example, we'd probably be in much less of a sticky situation right now with Neymar.

 

[BBZ8800]

I'm inclined to say MSN is actually bad for the team as a whole no matter how well they are playing specifically for this reason, but that comment would come off as blasphemous to the people of this forum. I know what you're likely to say to this, but this is a large part of the reason why I feel we should be finding ways to give young players a chance in the first team. Opinions vary on players like Adama and Deulofeu who honestly wouldn't work at Barca unless we reverted back to our pre-Lucho/Tata system but if given time and minutes players like Munir and Sandro could have actually become quite helpful to the overall well being of the team. If Munir got all the charity minutes given to Pedro, for example, we'd probably be in much less of a sticky situation right now with Neymar.

Ok. Also, I don't hate young players in general. I just think that our current youngsters are all very average.
But, now, I would rather give chances even to Deulofeu, whom I don't like than to watch Neymar or anyone doing whatever they want and never be punished/benched.

The current situation is extremely risky. And while the results are good, there are no problems.
But in the next Season, when first problems will occur, if the coach will want to bench Messi or Neymar, we will have the new scandal, the same as before Sociedad's game.

I am maybe too romantic about Rijkaard's/Laporta's era, but I somehow think that we weren't the same Barca as today.
We were buying less expensive and yet very good players (like Rakitic today), and we were more like a cheaper, smarter and a hardworking team, the total opposite to Galactico's model.

But in the last few years, we have became the worst version of Galacticos.
We paid God knows how many Millions for the brand Neymar, then 80M for Suarez, and I am more and more afraid that the stories about 100m Pogba are true.
In the first Laporta's era, we had a bunch of Edmilson's, Deco's, Marquez's and similar players for 10-20 Millions.
I remember stories in those days when Perez and Madrid papers were saying how they would never buy Ronaldinho because he was too ugly for Galacticos.

And then you look at our current transfers, and 100 or 120 Millions Neymar and 100 Millions Pogba are nothing but new Beckham's, aren't they?

From a club where we were buying smart and cheaper, and where we had a team of players who were the total opposite of spoiled Galacticos stars, Rossel has lately turned us into Galacticos No2.
We are just buying a bunch of superstars who can never be benched
And results are currently good, but every generation of Galacticos paid the huge price in the end for the team, and left the huge debts.

So, our results are awesome currently, but some things are horribly rotten in Rossel's system.
And again, I am hoping that Laporta will win and that he will return to Barca's roots and move away from this current Galacticos-system.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

I'm glad Lucho agrees with 99% of this forum and plays Pedro only when he has to or when games are already won. Pedro is nice enough and has a great attitude but football wise he stinks up the place these days. It's embarrassing that people actually believe he is anything remotely close to an asset at this point. And the excuses!!

 

[mark1nhu]

It's embarrassing to see some folks here spending hundreds of words to defend such a poor player like Pedro.

He is certainly a great character and we must be grateful for all he has done for us, but this is not enough to argue against the obvious.

Neymar is better than him. Not little better, but a lot better.

Even when playing bad, taking wrong decisions, finishing clumsy and breaking "Barca dynamics flow", he is a bigger asset to the team than our poor Pedrito.

And luckily Lucho knows that, because he is a coach moved by his brain, not by his fanboy heart, unlike some folks here.