Former striker Brighton can kick striker, striker backwards or public households. But the outstanding quality of Joao Pedro is to connect the balls to the ball, backing down to the attacks. Chelsea's squad currently has no such player model.
The wise transfer of the Blues
Chelsea's transfer policy in recent years has no lack of controversial deals, but recruiting Joao Pedro is a deal that is rated as reasonable and strategic.
The 23 -year -old will join coach Enzo Maresca's team for more than 50 million pounds and will join the new teammates in the US in the Club World Cup campaign, provided that medical examination.
Under the ownership of the Blueco Group, Chelsea tends to “store” the attacking talents. However, Joao Pedro is the model that Maresca is currently not in the squad – and can become a key piece in the tactical picture that the Italian strategist is building.
Joao Pedro can play as a striker, a household or attacking midfielder. But his biggest strength is not in the ability to score but in the ability to “link” the routes – coordinate, connect and create coherent attacks.
He often plays left in the attack diagram and is ready to back up to support the deployment of the ball – in the right model that Maresca's control gameplay requires, especially when midfielders are strangled in the rotation stage.
Nicolas Jackson somewhat showed the ability to coordinate, move wide and linked between – but he and Liam Delap were strikers who preferred to penetrate the defense with the running phase behind the defender's back. In contrast, Joao Pedro has a direction to move upstream – running towards the ball, opening the space and creating opportunities for the above teammates.
Skillcorner statistics show this feature: Joao Pedro only reached 20/99 on the index “running behind the defense” and 12/99 in the “Move to receive the ball in the penalty area”, but reached 70/99 about “moving to close to receive the ball” and 91/99 at the index “running support near teammates”.
A clear example comes from the Battle of Brighton to take Leicester City at the end of last season. When Carlos Baleba held the ball from the lower route, Joao Pedro took the initiative to withdraw from the Leicester defense as a point to receive the ball. He looked at his head slightly to check the space behind his back when Conor Coady pointed to his teammate. After that, Pedro received the ball, turned and launched the road to poking the sharp slot for Simon Adingra to cut the tape from the border.
The situation perfectly demonstrates the qualities that Maresca needs: A smart player about tactics, always present in the gaps between the routes, and know how to make the opponent's defense disturbed thanks to the flexible and creative gameplay.
Immediately after receiving the ball, Joao Pedro turned around, thrown straight ahead and launched the subtle slot for Simon Adingra, which was making a dangerous running phase from the border to the middle.
That situation is the perfect example of the qualities that made coach Enzo Maresca attracted by the 23 -year -old Brazilian.
Chelsea tactical pieces are missing
Although Joao Pedro can score – with an average of 0.22 goals without penalty every 90 minutes (equivalent to 1 goal after 5 matches) in two seasons in Brighton – Chelsea did not recruit him to become a key goalscorer. That role, in theory, will still belong to Nicolas Jackson or Liam Delap – two true strikers.
Instead, Joao Pedro is expected to become a bridge between midfield and striker, looking for teammates to move ahead, while stretching the opponent's defense system to create space for other explosions to exploit.
Regarding the ability to attack directly, Joao Pedro did not make a strong impression: only 38/99 in the “threatening index in the box” (Box Threat), and only 7/99 in “Frequent Frequency”. That shows that Chelsea did not invest in a “goal hunter”, but in a player.
In contrast, Pedro reaches 92/99 in the “Creative Threat), 86/99 in” passing the ball “and 79/99 in” leading the ball “. This is the player model to increase the speed of deploying the attack from the middle of the field to the last third part of the opponent.
Although Chelsea last season was most dangerous in fast -moving transition phases, Maresca was loyal to the philosophy of the ball control with long coordination chains and a strong state of defense (Rest Defence) – ready to rob the ball when losing control.
The arrival of Joao Pedro shows that Maresca wants to bring about high -tech skills players to realize the control game. As the words of Juanmar Lillo – former coach assistant at Man City – once said: “The faster the ball goes up, the faster it comes back.” Maresca also followed that philosophy.
Instead of playing fast counterattack, Joao Pedro allows Chelsea to deploy the ball from the defense to the upline in a closer and more control way, with a “number 9” capable of keeping the ball, waiting for his teammates to run and launch high damage passes – a Roberto Firmino version at the top of Klopp.
Maresca will be wise to learn how Brighton uses winger – who often have cross -to -outside phase to take advantage of the space when Joao Pedro pulls the opponent.
With intentional speed and ability to move from names such as Pedro Neto, Noni Madueke, Tyrique George or rookie Jamie Gittens – not to mention the penetration phase of the left -back Marc Cucurella – Joao Pedro can become the perfect piece to supplement the creativity that is being placed on the shoulder of Cole Palmer.
Although the Chelsea squad has redundant talent in the attack, the appearance of Joao Pedro still brings many obvious tactical meanings – and is a reasonable contract in the effort to build a controlled, technical and structural play under Enzo Maresca.
