Essential Pedri

Indestructible despite his fragile appearance, Pedri is the only player on the Barça squad to have played all 28 league games played so far. He adds 1,826 minutes, has scored two goals and has given three assists. It exceeds a thousand passes, with more than 40 deliveries per game, with almost an 88% success rate. But Pedri's football goes far beyond numbers. The canary weighs on the game and on the general functioning of the team. Koeman didn't take long to notice.

Pedri started the season as a substitute. It was already an achievement, because he always thought it would be yielded. Pedri himself has acknowledged that he met Koeman in a restaurant on the day they presented him. The Dutchman confessed that he did not know him and did not know his characteristics. “That motivated me,” admitted the player.

To begin with, Koeman placed him as a starter in the first preseason friendly against Nàstic. I had already been observing him with training. Between that game and that of Girona, at the beginning of September, he decided that Pedri was not going anywhere. The former Las Palmas player was a substitute for the first three days (Villarreal, Celta and Sevilla). By then, Koeman relied on a line of midfielders with Messi, Coutinho and Griezmann; and Ansu ahead. But in the fourth league game, Pedri was already a starter.

In Turin he fell in love with everyone with his match against Juventus, but the Clásico passed him by. Koeman turned it over to the right wing and there it was difficult for him to generate play. Far from doubting him, Koeman maintained his confidence and only two days later scored his first LaLiga goal against Betis. It was also the first game he played in full.

Pedri arrived at Barça with 60 kilos, but he has already gained more than three more thanks to a gym work that has strengthened him. He is a featherweight, but he is brave and does well to the dispute. He recovers almost four balls per game, wins 48% of the duels and is resistant. Despite a slight decline in recent games, they hold up well to the intensity of the elite. It is his first year in the First Division.

Pedri has good figures, but surely his best virtue are intangibles. He always looks out for his teammates. Occupy uninhabited spaces in defense to reach coverage (The goal he saved against Real is one of the moments of the year). He gives more than one ‘key pass’ per game, those that start goal plays. He knows how to be brilliant, as in his little stomping in San Mamés, but also to wear the gray suit and be one of the best from anonymity. It has become essential.