At Barcelona, home-grown players have a status. If you come through La Masia and make it to the first teamwhether via another club or direct progressionthere is an expectation on behaviour as much as performance, of commitment as much as standing within the club.
The home-grown players will be defended to the hilt by the club and the fans, backed for international honours and awards, applauded for moments of majesty beyond the normal or even appropriate levels of acclaim...and, at the other end of the scale, vilified intensely, called out for underperformance and blamed for poor results.
Whether merited or not, the home-grown players attract the most attention because they are the ones fans are quickest to identify with.
For Barcelona forward Pedro Rodriguez, the last two seasons have seen him swing more frequently into the latter category. Shorn of regular game time as well, he looks to be on the way out to Manchester United this summer, according to Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Jamie Sanderson ofMetro).
From the club"s point of view, though, a two-week absence for Neymar has sounded a few alarms that perhaps Pedro"s departure couldn"t be worse timed.
MSN
Once part of Barcelona"s unchanging front line, Pedro has seen his spot eroded away by big South American signings and great team success that has come with them.
Regardless of a changing role, Lionel Messi"s place in the team will never be under threat. Neymar"s arrival two years ago saw the wide left forward"s spot disappear from Pedro"s reach, while Luis Suarez signing a year ago meant Barcelona"s No. 7 was on borrowed time until Suarez"s suspension was lifted.
Between them, the so-called MSN front line hit 81 league goals last season, while Pedro managed just six from 15 starts and 20 sub appearances.
In those terms, it"s easy to see why the club are willing to let him leave for a big sum of moneybut after Neymar was diagnosed with mumps by his club, the team immediately looks a little short of options to replace him in the front line once Pedro is taken out of the equation.
Pedro"s Role
Marca report (in Spanish)that Pedro is likely to take his place in the Barcelona side for the UEFA Super Cup on Tuesday night, replacing Neymar as the Catalan club look to make it four trophies out of the six they want to hold at once. The Spanish Supercopa and the FIFA Club World Cup are the others they will gun for this term.
And that is exactly Pedro"s place in the current setup: first reserve, for whichever of the three starters are rested, rotated, injured or suspended.
Playing from either flank, Pedro"s direct runs in behind defences will ensure Barcelona have that through-pass option, inevitably ending in the forward sliding one of his patented square passes into the six-yard box, but the days of him contributing double figures in goals are gone.
Munir and Sandro, youthful options now classed as part of the first-team squad by manager Luis Enrique, are not on the same level. Sandro has the build and the technique to make an impact centrally, but Munir still appears to have a way to go. Pedro might be a step down from any of Messi-Suarez-Neymar, but the youngsters are another step below that.
Does Pedro want to hang around for another 1,500 minutes of Liga actionif he"s lucky? He played that amount last season and that was with Suarez absent for three months. Almost certainly not.
But do Barcelona want to entrust a significantly large amount of game time to the two youngsters who still have much to prove?
January
It"s not an entire season that Barcelona need to get through, though, with or without Pedro. It"s only until Januarythen two more wide-attacking options become available to them.
Aleix Vidal can play anywhere down he right side, while Arda Turan can cover both wide-forward positions as well as one of the advanced central-midfield roles if necessary.By that time, though, Pedro will have featured in the Champions League and will be far less attractive to United and other prospective buyers.
A move now makes sense for Pedro as he knows he won"t be in the team as soon as Neymar returns. But for Barcelona, their hopes of retaining their three trophies and adding three more to that list could certainly be impacted by not having a reliable, senior forward available to take up the slack on a regular basis.
The UEFA Super Cup could be a reminder of that to supporters who have been unhappy that his performances don"t match those of the players ahead of himbut it will come too late.
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2544921-neymar-super-cup-absence-shows-barcelona-should-think-twice-before-selling-pedro
No comments:
Post a Comment