Pedri’s off-field work seemed invisible. The canary had long ago decided to change his eating and training routines and, however, the results did not appear. Last season, for example, he suffered three injuries, all muscular, which added to the canary’s ordeal: he missed 87 games in the last four seasons. Not even the trust of Luis de la Fuente healed his wounds. “Pedri had to meet Pedri. His best version, we don’t know where he is… He’s so good…”, highlighted the coach before traveling to Germany.
In the Euro Cup, bad luck caught up with him. After a very tough tackle from Toni Kroos, Pedri returned to the infirmary. He stayed with his teammates in the concentration, lifted the Euro and focused on Barcelona. Pedri wants to be Pedri, that footballer who remembers Iniesta — “Andrés is the greatest talent I have seen in Spanish football and Pedri is similar to him,” said Xavi —, a reference in Barcelona and the national team, the most applauded in the return of La Roja to Tenerife after 28 years. Today, Spain faces Switzerland at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López Stadium (8:45 p.m., La1), a no-nonsense duel for the senior team, after securing first place in the Nations League group.
The fans’ enthusiasm for Pedri’s football collides, in any case, with a tactical dilemma for De la Fuente: the position of the playmaker. Pedri is incompatible with Dani Olmo. At least, that’s how the coach understands it: in De la Fuente’s 23 games at the head of La Roja, the Canarian and the Catalan have only spent six minutes on the field. “It is very easy to combine them. Don’t get obsessed with those issues. They play with Fabián, Merino, Oyarzabal… We are fortunate to have them. They can play together or with their partners. “I don’t see it as a debate,” said De la Fuente. Pedri doesn’t want controversy either. However, the Canarian remembers his role at Barcelona: “With Olmo I can play for Barça and I understand myself with him. “It’s the coach’s decision and I don’t have much to do.”
When Barcelona signed Hansi Flick, the sports management knew of the German coach’s intention to modify the classic 4-3-3. Flick had a similar idea to De la Fuente and wanted to start playing with two midfielders. What they did not expect at the Barça Sports City was that Flick’s bet was to place Pedri in the double pivot. “He won’t have many defensive responsibilities. He has to be released,” they justified, at the beginning of the season, from the Barcelona coaching staff. Pedri accepted the challenge. There was a new Pedri in Barcelona, willing to forget the muscular problems. “I have found something that is good for me physically and that allows me regularity,” explained the canary.
“After so many years of suffering a lot with many games and injuries, Pedri has understood that there is a job behind the footballers that he had to do. He understood it and saw that he had to work in a different way,” says Deco, sports director. This new Pedri, physically stronger, just as talented with the ball, gave Flick’s Barcelona air in the midfield. “He has all the great qualities of a player. It has a lot of quality and ambition. Makes everything look so easy. It is a real pleasure to see him play,” the German coach praises him. That is to say, if Pedri is well he always plays for Barcelona. He plays as a midfielder when Dani Olmo is not there and delays his position when the Catalan is on the field.
For Flick, Pedri is a wild card; On the other hand, De la Fuente wants him close to the 9. “We want him to play closer to the area, between the lines, to take advantage of his last pass. In that position we believe that we can get all of its potential out of it,” says De la Fuente. Pedri, in any case, does not mind the change of role: “I feel comfortable at Barça and in the national team.” A comfort that Deco matches. “Pedri wants to make history at the club. He feels comfortable here, he is happy, he wants to win titles and he is back at his best level after working hard,” highlighted the Barcelona sports director, who is already working on renewing the Canary Islander’s contract.
“We are focused on winning important things this season, but also on guaranteeing the future of important players and Pedri is one. Its renovation will be done,” Deco closed. Near or far from the area, in Barcelona or in the national team, Pedri is Pedri again and challenges De la Fuente. The Tenerife fans celebrate it.
