Pedro Rodriguez

[Zangash]

His assist erased how he played for the majority of the game, really. Decent enough from him though.

 

[Gasgas]

In all honesty Neymar would have gone for the shot and in his current form miss it

 

[Ursegor]

I don't get this sudden group dynamic against Neymar. Neymar assisted Pedro in similar fashion against Elche while he was on a hattrick. Why are people talking as if Neymar is the most selfish player in the world all of a sudden? There is no selfishness problem in this team. I wish Neymar would pass less to Messi actually.

 

[Kohe321]

I don't get this sudden group dynamic against Neymar. Neymar assisted Pedro in similar fashion against Elche while he was on a hattrick. Why are people talking as if Neymar is the most selfish player in the world all of a sudden? There is no selfishness problem in this team. I wish Neymar would pass less to Messi actually.

Agreed.

...

Some quotes from Pedro after the match:

Pedro: "Exit rumours? I'm in a difficult situation, but we'll see later..." #fcblive

Pedro: "Assist to Suarez? My pleasure. I saw Luis coming, he was completely alone, so it was normal I gave the pass." #fcblive

 

[Mitchell1978]

I don't get this sudden group dynamic against Neymar. Neymar assisted Pedro in similar fashion against Elche while he was on a hattrick. Why are people talking as if Neymar is the most selfish player in the world all of a sudden? There is no selfishness problem in this team.

Good points, apart from the assist at the end Pedro was poor, worked hard but thats about it.

 

[linetty]

I liked the fact that he was releasing the ball very quickly, that's what I prefer in him over Neymar... but he was pretty underwhelming overall... Noted a great assist though

 

[BerkeleyBernie]

I liked the fact that he was releasing the ball very quickly, that's what I prefer in him over Neymar

Exactly. The whole team was doing so, in part because Xavi was there to tie it together; it's also in Roberto's nature. A fairly typical Barça performance against a deep-defending team, nothing really special apart from the excellence of the first three goals and some nice key passes. For myself, I prefer watching this fluid Barça over the scrambling hectic mess that results when team play is abandoned in favor of forcing the ball forward. Most rhythmically appealing Barça game since...1st half vs Man City, perhaps?

This is style of play that suits Pedro/Xavi/Iniesta and all the Pep/La Masia boys-it's part of their football nature. This was a typically conservative Pedro performance- only attack when the numbers add up; otherwise, keep moving, and keep moving the ball. There was one time Pedro back passed on the left wing, and two seconds later Messi had the ball and was attacking on the right wing. You can call that "underwhelming" or you can call it smart.

To be sure, this personnel and style is not going to work in all situations; for the sake of winning, it's clear that *also* having a more vertical game is useful against some opponents. But I'll always enjoy watching the hypermodern Barça fluid siege-by-movement style far more than the scrambling direct attacks.

 

[mark1nhu]

Let's not forget he was CONSEQUENCE of fluent Barca, not CAUSE.

Opponent style + Xavi + Sergi were the real factors.

He was fine, though.

 

[BerkeleyBernie]

Let's not forget he was CONSEQUENCE of fluent Barca, not CAUSE.

Opponent style + Xavi + Sergi were the real factors.

He was fine, though.

Please. Fluent Barça is everyone schooled by La Masia/Pep. It's a group thing, and Pedro is as much a part of that as anyone else, and it's the environment in which he fits best. You had a La Masia/Pep team on the pitch except for Rakitic and Suarez. Xavi is the magic ingredient, of course, but Pedro kept the left side fluid. Neymar, playing as he usually does, would have killed the ball circulation, and the team would have been back to chasing to kill counterattacks.

 

[mark1nhu]

Please. Fluent Barça is everyone schooled by La Masia/Pep. It's a group thing, and Pedro is as much a part of that as anyone else, and it's the environment in which he fits best. You had a La Masia/Pep team on the pitch except for Rakitic and Suarez. Xavi is the magic ingredient, of course, but Pedro kept the left side fluid. Neymar, playing as he usually does, would have killed the ball circulation, and the team would have been back to chasing to kill counterattacks.

I think he benefited more the fluency than fluency benefited his presence.

I don't think Neymar cannot play in a environment like that. In fact we could have Suarez or any strange player there and the fluency would be similar.

But again: he was fine, pretty solid. Good for him, for his confidence and, ultimately, for us.

 

[iceon]

That assist really hid the rest of his performance. Did absolutely nothing of note, and until Messi scored a great goal to take the lead I thought it was one of the worst team performances in a while. Created absolutely nothing until two great goals by Messi and Suarez and then obviously the game opened up a bit more.

 

[BBZ8800]

I think he benefited more the fluency than fluency benefited his presence.

I don't think Neymar cannot play in a environment like that. In fact we could have Suarez or any strange player there and the fluency would be similar.

But again: he was fine, pretty solid. Good for him, for his confidence and, ultimately, for us.

I have said on Roberto's topic that against weaker teams at Camp Nou Roberto is a much better Dmc than Masch.
Because against weaker teams, we attack 80% of time, and defend only 20% of time (roughly).
So, Dmc like Roberto (if there is no Busi) is a much better option for controlling the game and dominating then Mascherano.

But also, some similar patterns are happening with Neymar and Pedro.
For example, our last matches at Camp Nou were:
-- when Pedro was in the starting 11:
-- Barca:Cordoba 5:0 Bravo - Montoya, Pique, Masch, Alba - Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta - Messi, Suarez, Pedro
-- Barca:Levante 5:0 Bravo; Montoya, Mascherano, Bartra, Adriano; Busquets, Xavi, Rakitic; Neymar Messi Pedro
-- Barca:Rayo 6:1 Bravo - Alves Pique Mathieu Alba - Xavi Mascherano Iniesta - Messi Suarez Pedro
-- Barca:Almeria 4:0 Bravo, Alves, Bartra, Mascherano, Adriano, Sergi Roberto, Xavi, Rakitic, Pedro, Messi y Suarez

-- when Pedro wasn't playing:
-- Barca:Atletico 3:1
-- Barca:Villareal 3:2
-- Barca:Malaga 0:1
-- Barca:Real 2:1

Ok, Pedro played against much easier opponents.

On the other hand, our 2 home defeats and our lineups:
Barca:Malaga 0:1 Bravo - Alves Pique Mathieu Alba - Rafinha Busquets Iniesta - Messi Suarez Neymar
Barca:Celta 0:1 Bravo - Alves Mascherano Mathieu Alba - Rakitic Busquets Rafinha - Suarez Messi Neymar

Our only two defeats on Camp Nou came with Rafinha, who is weak in holding his position and is too often "all over the place".
In both defeats we had Rafinha+Neymar on the field.
On the other hand, in 3 out 4 high scoring wins at Camp Nou we had both Xavi+Pedro on the field, Xavi played 3 times, Pedro 4 times.

I am not trying to say that Pedro is better than Neymar.
But, some patterns are visible in some matches.

For example, if we are playing at home, against midtable/lowtable team:
1. Xavi+Pedro or some other Busi/Roberto/Xavi/Iniesta+Pedro formation will usually bring a lot of automatism and control.
2. if you put Rafinha instead of Xavi, we are losing automatism and control
3. if you out Mascherano+Rafinha, we don't have any domination in midfield
3. if you put Rafinha+Neymar in the same time, we will also have much less control than with Xavi+Pedro

Again, Neymar is much better than Pedro, but Bernie is not talking a total nonsense.
With each of them on the field, the team is playing differently.

 

[Antimadridista1]

Corriere Dello Sport announce that Inter Milan is in advanced talks with Pedro pedrito pedro.

 

[mark1nhu]

But also, some similar patterns are happening with Neymar and Pedro.

"Correlation does not imply causation".

Here in Brazil we have a player called "Dagoberto". He won the Brazilian League 5 times, with 3 different clubs.

Should I seriously argue about the identified ~pattern~ like you?

Ok, Pedro played against much easier opponents.

Pheeew. I almost think I was crazy!

Our only two defeats on Camp Nou came with Rafinha, who is weak in holding his position and is too often "all over the place".
In both defeats we had Rafinha+Neymar on the field.

Man... Unbelievable.

Against Málaga:

Dani made a horrible mistake early on the game and then Málaga parked the bus, playing all match in counterattack.

A Málaga player blocked Rafinha's goal right above the line.

Aaaaaaand Pedro lost a GREAT opportunity created by... Neymar.

Against Celta:

Álvarez and his posts saved them at least in 6 opportunities, half from Messi. And then Nolito made an incredible and one of a kind backheel assist, fooling Dani, Mathieu and Sergio.

How your ~pattern~ explain our defeats?

I have a much better ~pattern~: we should never play Dani, Mathieu, Sergio and Bravo with home kit at Camp Nou when daylight is on.

On the other hand, in 3 out 4 high scoring wins at Camp Nou we had both Xavi+Pedro on the field, Xavi played 3 times, Pedro 4 times.

As previous comment: unbelievable.

I am not trying to say that Pedro is better than Neymar.
But, some patterns are visible in some matches.

You are cherry-picking exactly what you want to see.

Correlation, the correct word for ~pattern~, could EASILY lead to wrong conclusions. The so-called fallacies.

BTW, "Post hoc ergo propter hoc" fallacy.

Again, Neymar is much better than Pedro, but Bernie is not talking a total nonsense.
With each of them on the field, the team is playing differently.

I never said he was talking nonsense.

I just pointed an observation exactly to avoid wrong conclusions led by the correlations.

 

[Ghostmaster]

Corriere Dello Sport announce that Inter Milan is in advanced talks with Pedro pedrito pedro.

But if he leaves we'll need to bring someone to replace him at least until January, I bet it'll be Munir because he's Lucho favorite, but I honestly don't see anything special in him, I would rather give Adama or Deulofeu a chance.