8 - Pedro Gonzalez "Pedri"

[Flavius]

After Iniesta went away, I said there will take some years to someone even play similar, but here we are with this gem...what a player, just stay injury free and this guy will blow some minds.

 

[Devils]

The goat.

 

[Skalman]

Well if we start him every game we will soon find ourselves in the same situation as last year. Lets hope he gets a break after el classico because now he is playing non stop.

 

[Gnidrologist]

His tippy-toe dribbling is really something else. Not really Iniesta style, something his very own and unique. Reminds me of old videos of Garrincha and some other small players, who simply squeezed out of any tight spot with little wiggly moves and pauses even without any pace or extreme faints. He will have brand of his own.
Before the goal he had at least one similar dribble, where he didn't do anything spectacular at any given moment. The spectacle was that he slalomed through several players in very tight area, while changing directions and basically being constantly overcrowded and sill got the shot through (which sucked).

Both Pedri and Gavi remind of tiny little flies that buzz around incessantly and you can't smash them no matter how hard you try, because they are always quicker, see you before you see them. This is working in their pressing too, especially Gavi. When they both got on the field i felt sorry for Gala players at some point. They were eating them alive like swarm of piranhas.

 

[xXKonan]

ARA has an article talking about Pedri, even though he got a new contract until 2026 and a good raise, the club expects to get offers for him from other big teams and if he keeps on progressing as he has we will have to keep on top of it.

One of the best things we did was renew him until 2026 with a 1 Billion euro release clause, which give us time to reject said offers and work with Pedri down the line.

 

[BusiTheKing]

The sloppy and reckless dribbles in the centre is expected now and then of a 19 y/o. Going missing for the first 30 minutes of the game was more worrying perhaps. Otherwise good, sensible, direct distribution and a nice goal.

 

[behindbrowneyes]

 

[Horatio]

lol

 

[delancey]

The sloppy and reckless dribbles in the centre is expected now and then of a 19 y/o. Going missing for the first 30 minutes of the game was more worrying perhaps. Otherwise good, sensible, direct distribution and a nice goal.

You hit the nail on the head! He?s 19 yo and is already outperforming and at times humiliating veteran star players in the Europa league. My man! 😎

He humiliated 3-4 PSG players last season too in a wonderful dribble leaving their star players totally lost in a corner of the field.

What is baffling to me is how long he went unrecognized before we snapped him up for peanuts. Ferran was targeted 3-4 times by Real Madrid and eventually acquired by MCFC before making the move to us, for example.

How did Pedri go unnoticed for so many years?

 

[Porque]

You hit the nail on the head! He?s 19 yo and is already outperforming and at times humiliating veteran star players in the Europa league. My man! ��

He humiliated 3-4 PSG players last season too in a wonderful dribble leaving their star players totally lost in a corner of the field.

What is baffling to me is how long he went unrecognized before we snapped him up for peanuts. Ferran was targeted 3-4 times by Real Madrid and eventually acquired by MCFC before making the move to us, for example.

How did Pedri go unnoticed for so many years?

Agreed. Surprised that Vinny Samways didn't tip off the Brits about the kids talents.

 

[Bobo32]

His tippy-toe dribbling is really something else. Not really Iniesta style, something his very own and unique. Reminds me of old videos of Garrincha and some other small players, who simply squeezed out of any tight spot with little wiggly moves and pauses even without any pace or extreme faints. He will have brand of his own.
Before the goal he had at least one similar dribble, where he didn't do anything spectacular at any given moment. The spectacle was that he slalomed through several players in very tight area, while changing directions and basically being constantly overcrowded and sill got the shot through (which sucked).

The key to Pedris dribbling I think is his awareness combined with a great feel for the tempo. He so often waits one ms before taking his touch, or gets to the ball one ms earlier than expected, making the defender unable to follow since they expected the touch to come one tempo earlier or later and wasn't prepared. Both Messi and Maradona had that same feeling (but were even better dribblers since they also had the physique). But Pedri is also a fundamentally very tricky player, even though he shows it less lately, unlike Messi. Garrincha was very tricky too but also famously relied on his "awkward" style to confuse the defenders, this is not something I see in Pedri at all.

Both Pedri and Gavi remind of tiny little flies that buzz around incessantly and you can't smash them no matter how hard you try, because they are always quicker, see you before you see them. This is working in their pressing too, especially Gavi. When they both got on the field i felt sorry for Gala players at some point. They were eating them alive like swarm of piranhas.

This was the case under the best years, and this is how I want a great team to defend, like a swarm of bees, all with that different time frame like flies who see everything before it happens.
I think that Pedris pressing is a lot less like you describe it though but more like a good ring cutter in boxing, patiently strangling the movement options of the opponent. I have previously said that Pedri mostly won balls because of his fast legs combined with him covering a lot of ground and following the ball instead of keeping his position, but I have to credit him for being pretty smart in his pressing - this has improved. I still see him so many times be a bit too late into the press only to be overplayed.

 

[Porque]

The key to Pedris dribbling I think is his awareness combined with a great feel for the tempo. He so often waits one ms before taking his touch, or gets to the ball one ms earlier than expected, making the defender unable to follow since they expected the touch to come one tempo earlier or later and wasn't prepared. Both Messi and Maradona had that same feeling (but were even better dribblers since they also had the physique). But Pedri is also a fundamentally very tricky player, even though he shows it less lately, unlike Messi. Garrincha was very tricky too but also famously relied on his "awkward" style to confuse the defenders, this is not something I see in Pedri at all.



This was the case under the best years, and this is how I want a great team to defend, like a swarm of bees, all with that different time frame like flies who see everything before it happens.
I think that Pedris pressing is a lot less like you describe it though but more like a good ring cutter in boxing, patiently strangling the movement options of the opponent. I have previously said that Pedri mostly won balls because of his fast legs combined with him covering a lot of ground and following the ball instead of keeping his position, but I have to credit him for being pretty smart in his pressing - this has improved. I still see him so many times be a bit too late into the press only to be overplayed.

Great post. What Pedri is doing works so well because he is selective in it's usage. Put him on the wing where the expectation is to either cut back or create on every possession and the allure will drop.

As for the boxer reference. How about Canelo Alvarez. Just complete generalship of the playing field (ring), with the most minimal of movement.

 

[Gnidrologist]

The key to Pedris dribbling I think is his awareness combined with a great feel for the tempo. He so often waits one ms before taking his touch, or gets to the ball one ms earlier than expected, making the defender unable to follow since they expected the touch to come one tempo earlier or later and wasn't prepared. Both Messi and Maradona had that same feeling (but were even better dribblers since they also had the physique). But Pedri is also a fundamentally very tricky player, even though he shows it less lately, unlike Messi. Garrincha was very tricky too but also famously relied on his "awkward" style to confuse the defenders, this is not something I see in Pedri at all.



This was the case under the best years, and this is how I want a great team to defend, like a swarm of bees, all with that different time frame like flies who see everything before it happens.
I think that Pedris pressing is a lot less like you describe it though but more like a good ring cutter in boxing, patiently strangling the movement options of the opponent. I have previously said that Pedri mostly won balls because of his fast legs combined with him covering a lot of ground and following the ball instead of keeping his position, but I have to credit him for being pretty smart in his pressing - this has improved. I still see him so many times be a bit too late into the press only to be overplayed.

You talk so much, but say so little. You could have some native indian name tailored after this feat.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Great post. What Pedri is doing works so well because he is selective in it's usage. Put him on the wing where the expectation is to either cut back or create on every possession and the allure will drop.

Complete nonsense. Put Ferran in his place and he would be more of a disaster than he is now (partially, because i still believe in him improving alot under Xavis tenure). Pedri does things you couldn't fucking imagine could be done. Only likes of Xavin and Inesta did that from the midfield perspective. And on top of that he actually contributes to our wins regularly.

 

[Porque]

Complete nonsense. Put Ferran in his place and he would be more of a disaster than he is now (partially, because i still believe in him improving alot under Xavis tenure). Pedri does things you couldn't fucking imagine could be done. Only likes of Xavin and Inesta did that from the midfield perspective. And on top of that he actually contributes to our wins regularly.

Well, Ferran is dollar store Ronaldo. So not sure how or why we should compare him with what Pedri does on the ball.

I am saying that if you put Pedri (or Gavi for that matter) on the wing then their dribbles and sways would be more exposed and less successful. Like Iniesta there.

The beauty of what Pedri does is because his game is so well rounded and expanded that from midfield, the opposition can't read what he is going to do. He can go long, short, dribble, turn, anything. And with that he plays on and off rythm as Bobo said, reading the movement and timing of the opponent. Gavi does the same, in a different way (and more closer to Messi while Pedri to Zidane if we want to make references) in timing that extra half a second to escape a tackle.

So when he does pull off the dribble, it is magical in both functionality and appearance.