Barcelona have two untouchable players at the moment, and that’s Pedri and Lamine Yamal.
It’s already been suggested that perhaps Lamine should move to the middle, where he can be more involved and impactful in the game. Perhaps this idea came from seeing Ousmane Dembele transform PSG, and lead them to a Champions League final after becoming their center forward.
We know that wherever you put these players, they will excel. But with Pedri in particular, one wonders if Barcelona would be better off putting him back in the ten where he surely belongs.
The logic is simple. That’s where you put your best playmaker because that’s where the biggest impact on the field can be made. To continue on with him in a defensive midfield role is, perhaps, a waste of his prodigious talent.
That being said, Pedri was magisterial in the double pivot, and the team never looked the same without him there. They, in fact, relied on his ability to pick up the ball deep, and to use his vision and creativity to manufacture a path forward to build an attack.
1 - Pedri finished LaLiga 2024/25 as the player with the most:
Passes - 2672
Passes in the opp half - 1958
Passes into the final third - 414
Passes received - 2306
Touches - 3191
Touches in the opp half - 2224
Recoveries - 254
Recoveries in the opp half - 109
Carries - 826
MVP. pic.twitter.com/uPF2HVoUur
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) May 26, 2025
From the beginning of the last campaign, however, Flick had it decided that this would be Pedri’s role.
At first, the plan looked to be partnering him with the young Marc Bernal. Once he went down a few games in, it turned to Marc Casadó. When Frenkie de Jong came back from injury, he was the next man to take over as Pedri’s pivot partner. At times, Gavi was experimented with. But the one constant was Pedri.
If it’s not broken, don’t fix it, you might say. I tend to subscribe to this philosophy.
The question ultimately would be if any of the four other options, mentioned above, can find a way to perform effectively as a tandem unit, so that Pedri could be considered, once again, as an attacking midfielder at FC Barcelona. That is a big unknown, but it’s a question that Flick must ask himself.
What worked so well in the past isn’t guaranteed to repeat. A contingency plan is always needed in case the system is found out by savvy opponents who will be more prepared with knowledge of the team this time around.
Pedri is capable of scoring and assisting more than he did last season. He never complained about the role he was given. Winning trophies was a worthy reward for the sacrifice.
For all the talk about how to make Barcelona better, could we be overlooking one of the most obvious variables?
Yes, depth matters. And Joan Laporta and Deco seem to be cooking up something significant on the market to help in this area.
But so does maximizing the potential of the great players you already have.
Pedri stayed healthy and found his magic again. The success of the team followed suit. Mission accomplished in Flick’s first year.
If Flick stays with the same formula in year two, and it works again, no one will question anything of course. Keep on keeping on.
But if they run into resistance, one of the first questions that will be raised is if he’s doing enough to get the most out of the best midfielder of this generation.
It won’t be an easy call. But if Flick makes it, he’ll have to demand and expect more out of the supporting case.
Pedri, after all, is just one man, no matter how good he is.