Hansi Flick’s Barcelona are off to the perfect start with two wins from two games in the La Liga so far. A hard-fought win at the Mestalla was followed by an impressive display of football at the Montjuic against Athletic Bilbao.
Against Valencia, Barcelona did not start off well but the game drastically changed with the introduction of one player. It was the same player who started against Athletic and pulled the strings for the entire 90 minutes.
The player in this above instance is Pedri. Hansi Flick labeled him a ‘special‘ player who could change the game by himself and the 21-year-old has lived true to this prophecy in the German’s first two games.
As per Mundo Deportivo, speaking to DAZN, Hansi Flick described Pedri in the best way possible by using just three words. Here is what he had to say: “Pedri is passion and calm.”
It’s very rare to see this combination in a player with most having either one of the two. For example, Gavi is all ‘passion’ on the football pitch but one wouldn’t necessarily associate the tag of ‘calm’ with him.
What Pedri does on a football pitch is understated. He controls the tempo of the game. He knows exactly when to speed up the play to initiate an attack and slow down a play to keep hold of the ball.
His performance against Athletic Bilbao from a deep-lying playmaker role was almost Xavi Hernandez-esque. Against Rayo Vallencano, the €80m-rated midfielder will be hoping to continue on a similar note and continue helping the team.
When fit and in form, Pedri makes the team so much better. He improves the game of everyone around him. He is a blessing for Barcelona and they need to ensure they can keep him on the pitch for the entire season.
