Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez has made no secret about his deep fondness for his wispy midfielder Pedri.
During the club's title-winning campaign last term, Xavi gushed: "Pedri gives us a lot of tranquillity. He makes every ball that goes through his feet better. I'm just calmer when he has the ball, it's that simple."
However, the 20-year-old's ease in possession has been honed by the tutelage of Barcelona's coach and former captain, as Pedri revealed in an exclusive interview with Men's Health.
"From Xavi Hernandez I have learned something that I didn't do so much and now I do a lot: look before receiving," he explained.
Pedri is describing what coaches call 'scanning'; the flurry of glances that the best players take to create a picture of their surroundings while out of possession. During 17 years in Barcelona's first team, rising from the academy to captain while piling up a mountain of silverware, Xavi became regarded as the best in the world at scanning.
After leaving Arsenal to take up a role at FIFA, world football's governing body, Arsene Wenger spearheaded a research project investigating the importance of scanning. "It is about getting as much information as possible before I get the ball," Wenger outlined. "I try to see what happens to a player in the ten seconds before he gets the ball, how many times does he take information and the quality of information he takes."
According to Wenger's findings, elite players scan "six to eight times in the last ten seconds before they receive the ball, and the normal players three to four". At his peak, Xavi averaged 8.3 scans in the ten seconds before collecting the ball.
While he was still a player, Xavi vocalised the inner dialogue rattling around his head during a match. "Think quickly, look for spaces," he told The Guardian in 2011. "That is what I do: look for spaces. Here? No. There? No. Space, space, space. The defender's here, play it there."
Xavi was schooled in scanning - effectively the equivalent of keeping your head up - in Barcelona's Masia academy. Pedri grew up as a Barcelona fan but was plucked out of Las Palmas' midfield in 2020, forcing Xavi to impart his wisdom once he arrived as manager the following year.
Despite a glut of injuries, Pedri has also emerged as a pillar of the Spanish national team, dictating the tempo of the side that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2020 under the watchful eye of Luis Enrique. While Pedri's main takeaway from Xavi had been technical, Enrique taught the youngster the more intangible ability "to compete and know how to transmit what you want".
Pedri has also sought advice from beyond the world of football, revealing that he has been in touch with tennis superstar Carlos Alcaraz. The Spanish grand slam champion is a famous Real Madrid fan but Pedri told Men's Health: "I have spoken with him from time to time and I hope to meet him soon in person. Carlitos is an athlete whom I follow a lot."
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This article was originally published on 90min as Pedri reveals skill that Xavi has taught him at Barcelona.
