FC Barcelona are blessed with some of the biggest talents in the world but the challenges over the past few seasons have been keeping them fit. The Catalan club has an exceptional eye for spotting talent at a young age but does not cover themselves in glory when it comes to their management.
Look at how Pep Guardiola handled Phil Foden’s formative years at Manchester City. The Stockport Iniesta is as talented a player as these La Masia wonderkids and has been a part of the first team for quite some time now but last season was truly when the Spanish tactician made him the main player in his team.
For years, Guardiola was very careful managing Foden’s minutes while ensuring that his development was on the right track. Whereas, Barcelona and Spain ran Pedri into the ground in his first season at the club and the player is still unable to recover from the persistent injury issues ever since.
The latest injury that the Barcelona #8 suffered was in the Euros quarterfinals against Germany although this was due to a tackle from Toni Kroos. Pedri though made a swift return from the injury as he was ready in time for Hansi Flick’s first-ever La Liga game against Valencia.
In the lead-up to the Valencia game, Hansi Flick spoke about the ‘special’ 21-year-old, claiming that the €80m star can ‘change the team by himself’ and that he can be of use in the second half. It’s fair to say that the talented Spaniard lived up to his manager’s prophecy with his cameo at the Mestalla.
Stepping onto the pitch in the 64th minute replacing Ferran Torres, Pedri changed the complexion of the game. As per SPORT, he was the weapon that elevated Hansi Flick’s team to a new level on the night.
Deployed as the most advanced midfielder amongst the trio on the field, Pedri played in a hybrid #8-#10 role in his half hour on the pitch. He brought an immense sense of control to the game and killed Valencia’s hopes of a comeback.
Prior to the Canary Islander’s introduction, the game had no control and had an end-to-end nature to it which is understandable as Raphinha in midfield doesn’t have the same control as Pedri does. The 21-year-old once again proved why he is a master of La Pausa and pulled strings from midfield to decide when they should attack and when they should keep hold of the ball.
Now that he is back, the hope for Flick and Barcelona is that Pedri can maintain his fitness and be a key member of this new era. The team looks so much better with the Spaniard in it and let’s hope this is the last we hear of his injury issues. Only time will tell how the 21-year-old’s season pans out but it’s exciting to see him fit and playing again and that’s all we can say!
