Pedro is the early-season winner of the Most Benefit from Maurizio Sarri award. Chelsea should ride the wave of the winger’s rebirth, but not get too complacent about their future on the wing.
The first four games of the season have shown that Pedro’s preseason was not a fluke. Against varying levels of competition in competitions of varying levels of interest, and with Eden Hazard in Russia, Pedro had an easy romp through Australia and Europe. He was already the presumptive starter for the opening of the Premier League season due to Hazard’s absence and Callum Hudson-Odoi’s youth. But once Hazard returned, the Pedro-Willian duel would resume for the right side.
As it turned out, it wasn’t much of a duel. Pedro continued his form scoring two goals in the first three games as Chelsea’s starting right wing. Maurizio Sarri took a walk on the pointless side by starting Willian against Bournemouth. The Brazilian did little in 65 minutes, while Pedro needed just seven to put Chelsea ahead 1-0.
In addition to his team-leading three goals, Pedro is second on the team in shots (11) and dribbles (7) and has the highest pass completion percentage among the forwards. His direct style of play and willingness to shoot rather than run at defensive lines over and over again (looking at you, Willian) suits Sarrismo perfectly. Despite being 31 years old he is not showing signs of slowing down on the attack or in the press. Granted, he has not had to cover much ground given the compactness of Chelsea’s lines and their dominance of possession. But so far he has many of the workman attributes necessary for Sarrismo to succeed by balancing the talent of Hazard on the other side.
Pedro’s place in the starting XI looks secure, but Chelsea cannot let it become too secure. Pedro is into one-year contract territory with the Blues. This means they need to be considering the line of succession, even if his performance could earn him one or two more seasons.
Callum Hudson-Odoi and Lucas Piazon must have opportunities to play on the wing, as they will for years after Pedro leaves. They need to start in the domestic cups and, in Hudson-Odoi’s case, Europa League. From there, Sarri and Chelsea must take the long view.
As the season rolls along, Hudson-Odoi and Piazon should not need to play better than Pedro to garner some minutes. As long as the Blues are on pace for a top-four finish the Premier League, the young wingers need to have more than short substitute appearances. They need the top-tier playing time now because Chelsea will need them to have that experience in the near future.
Based on the first two months under Maurizio Sarri, Pedro should be the starter with minimal debate. He should be able to maintain his position without any immediate threat because he has the experience, footballing intelligence and work-rate that all young players must learn from him before they can challenge him.
And he should not be competing with Willian for the starting job at right-wing, for the obvious reason that Willian should not be at the club anymore. Be that as it may. The difference in attitude and off-pitch behavior between the two senior wingers tilts the scales even more dramatically towards the Spaniard.
These happy times are when it is important to look beyond the present satisfactions and take steps to ensure they continued uninterrupted. If Chelsea become complacent because all is well amongst their wingers, they will end up caught off-guard when they no longer have a suitable experienced player nor an experienced younger player. They then turn to the transfer market in their usual poor negotiating position, and we all know how that goes.
Pedro’s value to the club extends well beyond his resurgent production. He could still have several more years at Stamford Bridge ahead of him in a variety of roles. But Chelsea should not sacrifice their future for the present by using Pedro to the detriment of the younger wingers. They probably will, because that’s what they do. But they shouldn’t.