I have always wanted to ask you: How did you go from admiring one of Barca's greatest MF ever to ...becoming a Pedro disciple?
As for the on-going discussion, I refuse to choose. Xaviesta for me, is one entity. And I've always perceived them that way.
Yeah, I absolutely love that GIF.
As to the other question: I'm not a "Pedro disciple." I just found the Neymar Fanboyism/Pedro Hate annoying. Most of the hate directed at Pedro failed to take into account the large majority of the game when Barça was in possession and Pedro wasn't directly involved. You can fault Pedro for some finishes where he should have done better, but not for his executing what was asked of him, and generally being where he was asked to be, and playing smart in the Barça's risk-averse style in which he had been trained. In a way, I like Xavi for the same reason I like Pedro- both are entirely committed to playing as a Barça "group mind," which is what attracted me to Barça in the first place- not focused on individuals, but building goals as a team, supporting each other. Though a good dribbler (as we can still see in how well he advances the ball up the field, losing markers on the counterattack), Pedro rarely tries to take on players in the final third, because it really wasn't necessary in the Pep system. Pedro Hate is similar to Xavi Hate- Xavi's "he always passes it sideways" emerged when opponents adapted to Pep's Barça, and we tried to wedge Cesc (and then Neymar) into a system that was neither the old one, nor something different. Pedro's "decline," like Xavi's, is in large part due to the fact that opponents don't play Barça the way they used to- and Barça doesn't play the way it used to, either.
The flip side is I always felt Barça's flow came to a standstill any time Cesc and Neymar touched the ball- capable of producing individual moments, but more like a screaming guitar solo rather than improvisational jazz. In retrospect, it (along with the static Messi) was the beginning of the end of Pep's Barça. Pedro is still the better connective player around the box than Neymar/Munir/Sandro (though Neymar has improved his touch a *lot* in his close wall pass play), but, unless Barça is playing with the kind of fluid team movement we saw in the Granada game (for the first time this season), that skill, like Xavi's distribution, is a dinosaur.
I'm coming to think Lucho's idea with playing the three attackers more centrally together is actually to abandon the midfield game that has been Barça's staple during the Pep era. He wants a 3v4 situation, and figures that those three (Neymar, Suarez, Messi) should be able to break down four defenders; midfield not necessary except to supply. Pedro's been more of stand-in for Suarez than playing his game (I actually think Sandro makes a better #9, from what I've seen); there isn't really a fit for a short connective forward in that system. But given the game against Granada, we may see more than one strategy in Lucho's playbook, and times he will decide to play "Pep Barça" against certain opponents. In that system, I think Pedro still has plenty to offer.
