Better Call Pedri.

Pedri celebrating his goal against Girona.

At the tender age of 20, hardly any can say they shoulder the responsibility of carrying a club like FC Barcelona on their backs. Well, except of course, Pedri. A sole Pedri goal at the hour mark yet again saw the Blaugrana glide through against Girona on Saturday night & keep them on top of the table, closely followed by Real Madrid. 

The goal has once more flashed light on Pedri's importance to the Blaugrana and got people chattering. The poster boy of Barcelona since his arrival in 2020 has been proclaimed as the savior, but recently he has started justifying the echoes by being more involved in goals. So, what seems to have changed?

A CHANGE IN ROLE:

A firm believer in attacking football, Xavi has focused on imposing his attacking methodology on Barcelona's play style. This shift in tactics has seen Pedri being pushed higher up in the final third, creating more chances for the midfielder to score. Having been afforded more freedom to join the attack, after progressing the play, Pedri is typically seen in and around zone 14, identifying spaces to attack. After moving into the space or occupying zone 14, Pedri is often seen waiting to receive the ball & then shoot or pass the ball into dangerous zones to the wide men to keep the play flowing. 

A student of football who understands the importance of 'Pausa', Pedri has also been entrusted with controlling the flow of play. Many times he is seen occupying more central positions in the middle of the park to keep possession & doesn't participate further up. A result of this is the game slowing down. Since most of the play flows through Pedri, it naturally also has seen him be more central to the creation & scoring of goals when the team launches attacks and pushes forward. 

      

Pedri heatmap 22/23 LaLiga (via Sofascore.)

                           

EMPHASIS ON SHOOTING: 

An issue which plagued Barcelona for years was the lack of shots taken by the midfield & the focus on passing the ball to Leo Messi. This constantly created a problem for the Blaugrana since they predominantly only attacked through one channel (Messi), rendering them predictable and easier to defend against. On Leo's off day, of course. Well, that's no longer the case, for multiple reasons. 

Since Xavi's arrival, the ex Barcelona captain has continually emphasized on the importance of his midfield getting involved in scoring goals to increase the teams' goal tally. He has enabled his midfielders to get into the box via runs in behind or surprise runs to get on the end of long balls or crosses to score. His central midfielders are also always close to the opposition's box to win the ball back quickly and shoot if possible. 

A direct result of this has been Pedri taking more shots. Whenever the midfielder has found himself in space outside the box or inside to score, the midfielder hasn't hesitated in taking shots and converting them. In the league, the number 8 has managed to score 5 goals this season in 18 games from  2.72xG. Further evidence of Pedri's positioning and confidence during shooting.

BETTER CALL PEDRI:

Even a cursory glance at this team is enough to reveal Pedri's importance to Xavi's side. Rested for the game against Girona, Pedri was quickly thrown into the fold due to an injury sustained by Dembele in the 25th minute. After his introduction in play, there was a visible improvement in proceedings with Barcelona managing to impose more control. Like Saul to Walter White, last night, Barcelona couldn't have done anything without Pedri.