An international tournament like the Euros is the best place for a youngster to announce himself to the world. No matter how good you have been throughout the entirety of the season. It’s on the big stage that everyone will take notice. For all the fans that rarely watched Barcelona during the past campaign, Pedri González has been a genuine revelation in this tournament.
As Barça supporters we know him well. Being the standout youngster of the 20/21 season, there’s no questioning Pedri’s talent and quality. He joined the azulgrana from the second division. That generated uncertainty over whether he was ready for a step up that significant. Coming into a team of that calibre at 17 years of age. It was always going to be difficult to settle in with all the star players around him. Many youngsters have crumbled in that situation, but Pedri is built a different way.
His capacity to get onto the pitch and display the entire rich repertoire that he boasts from the get-go should not be underestimated. As soon as he received his first start against Getafe, there was no pushing Pedri out of the starting XI. Regardless of whether your surname was Coutinho or Griezmann. Koeman immediately realised he was the perfect midfielder for Barcelona: his positioning, technique, vision and passing combined with his work rate made him an undisputed starter and one of the team’s most important players.
The Rest Did Good to Pedri
Due to the fact that he was blatantly overused, the latter part of the season proved quite bleak, and got many people wondering whether Pedri was fully burnt out. Yet with a bit of rest, the Canarian is now back to his best. In the national team, his role is, albeit quite similar, a bit more complicated compared to that at Barça. Luis Enrique has implemented him as a more associative player, operating in the half-space or behind the defensive structure. His performances were already quite convincing, but it was Busquets’ addition that unleashed Pedri, as he delivered a masterful 90 minutes against Slovakia.
Now displaying his virtues on the big stage, fans are finally beginning to appreciate and admire Pedri González’s brilliance. 3 games gone by, and the Canarian has been almost flawless in all of them. What a player we have in our disposal.
