Here is Pedri, again, illuminating the parish of Spain. The same elegance and vision of the game, the same ability to play between the lines and to associate with his teammates. There is something new: his unprecedented relationship with the goal. Against Northern Ireland, on the last stop before debuting in the Euro Cup against Croatia next Saturday, the Canarian signed his first net with the Reds. He did it in duplicate. It is to get excited, yes. But it’s about Pedri.
“Pedri has met Pedri,” De la Fuente stressed. And he highlighted: “We celebrate Pedri’s level. Expectations have been met. I’m the one who thanks Pedri. He is an example of improvement and effort.” To understand the contagious joy in Spain’s expedition about the Canary’s performance, you have to rewind to 2021. It is necessary to remember his explosion with Barça, of course, but also his hype with Spain, as decisive in the last Euro Cup as in the Tokyo Games. A total of 73 games in his first campaign in the elite. “He reminds me of Iniesta.” The statement did not have just any signature. Xavi Hernández said it, who, a few months after the Olympics, was already the coach of Barcelona.
The problem is that Xavi never found continuity in Pedri’s game, as also happened to Luis Enrique and his heir in the senior team: De la Fuente. The reason? His repeated injuries, nine in the last three years, eight muscular. He missed a total of 85 games. At Barcelona they couldn’t find the formula. “The problem is not Pedri. The problem is the permanent chaos of Barça. The injury management has been very bad, several times they made him play early,” recalls a source from the Barça sports management. In the same club, however, there were people who pointed out the player: “He doesn’t take care of himself.”
And the shoulds began. I should train more, I should train less, I should not train. He should be distracted, he should focus, he should not go out. And ghosts were jumping in Pedri’s head, the fear of becoming a fragile footballer, avoiding forcing himself in training and matches. In fact, he practically didn’t even use his right leg, as explained in the staff Barcelona coach. “I should think that it is his last injury,” said Xavi after his final fall in the infirmary last March. De la Fuente, meanwhile, did not lose patience: There are footballers who are worth betting on. “We have to wait for it.”
With Barcelona playing its last cards in the season, Xavi used Pedri against PSG and in the classic. Barça came out of the Champions League and the League and the Canary Islander returned to the treatment room. After recovering from his last injury, on April 7, the midfielder played 10 games, started four and only completed one. He already had the Euro Cup on his mind. And for that he kept the telephone line between Sant Joan Despí and Las Rozas open continuously. Pedri spoke continuously with De la Fuente to explain how he was feeling. “We are calm about his situation,” they maintained from the training center in Spain. “He doesn’t have to prove anything,” De la Fuente repeated.
Doubts, however, hovered over Pedri’s physical condition. “I have always tried to be there, injuries are the worst thing about football and sometimes they don’t let you enjoy it, I am feeling better than before,” remembers the Canarian. The locker room, then, came out to pamper him. Few footballers with more authority on the field than Rodri. “He has to be aware that he has to pick up that competitive rhythm to reach the level he had,” the Manchester City pivot encouraged him.
De la Fuente’s drawing
While the locker room encouraged him, De la Fuente devised a new plan for Pedri. Or in other words, he had an old plan for his selection. From the outset, in his first games at the head of La Roja, the coach had tried his preferred system: 4-2-3-1. However, he changed it to recover the 4-3-3. In the last two rehearsals, the team has alternated drawings, with Pedri closer to Morata. “With us he has another responsibility than in his club. We want him closer to the area, playing between the lines, taking advantage of the last pass and the shot. We know the potential he has and we want to take advantage of it,” revealed the Spain coach.
The Spanish expedition landed yesterday in Germany with the best news: Pedri purged his football. Of course, first he had to use the broom to sweep all the fears out of his head. And it seems that he was clean, if he even dared to shoot with his right foot. “With the goal we saw that the injury was behind us. Physically I feel very good, looking forward to the Euros starting and happy to be here,” concluded the Canarian after his double against Northern Ireland.
Pedri’s enthusiasm translates into that of Spain. The canary is already touching it. Again.
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