serghei
Senior Member
Defensive instincts are usually the last one to develop.
Xavi started his career as DM, and yet defense was his biggest weakness as CM till he was 28, he lost his concentration and didn't know when to track back most of the time. There was even multiple rumours that Rijkaard was fed up by this several times.
And then, this doesn't make him an AM either, that is making his position by eliminating the other one due to one deficiency.
Pedri lacks both skills and instincts for AM, again in most of his contribution he has been the guy to make a pass to open things rather than the one to make direct assist, frankly which was Xavi role himself before Pep too over.
He doesn't excel that much either playing up front, he lack basic instincts in when to attack space and when to switch places with attackers, he lacks willingness to take risks, his dribbling and ability to break defense also leaves a lot to be desired.
Take a look of available data on fbref for example.
When you compare him to CM/DM midfielders, he is in 95 to 99 percentile in most attacking numbers, you put him against wingers and attacking midfielders, and some of his numbers are as low as 1 percentile (taken shots) or 17 percentile (non-penalty goals) and if you keep digging, non of his numbers are elite.
And I am not sure why bringing Gundogan, who is almost universally considered CM himself
I understand this argument, but I don't agree to it.
For me, it doesn't matter that much if Pedri has good attacking attributes for a CM, because a CM position has considerably more defensive elements to it, much more compared with playing higher up.
If you are to judge his abilities for CM/DM, you'd need to look at the defensive parameters of the team. Does the team concede more goals when Pedri plays deeper in a CM position? Are CBs more exposed?
You can play him CM in some cases. If you have a very dominating DM, and a very physical fullback. Like City have in Walker and Rodri. But in normal circumstances, without very physical players surrounding Pedri, he is not gonna deliver the goods at CM for me.