Premier League Hangover: Pedro Shows Chelsea (and Man United) What He's About

Rare it is that a player’s debut says as much about the club that didn’t sign him as the one that did, but then Pedro Rodriguez is a rare type of player.

Within half an hour of his Chelsea bow at West Brom, it was impossible not to think—albeit only briefly, such was the entertainment on offer at the Hawthorns—of what had transpired a day earlier at Old Trafford. If the rolling of one’s eyes elicited sound, the noise coming out of the red side of Manchester on Sunday afternoon would have drowned out anything in the Midlands and west London combined.

There is an element of risk attached to all transfers; it’s what makes any new signing an intriguing proposition. But in terms of a calculated gamble, Chelsea’s acquisition of Pedro is like betting black on a roulette wheel with no red slots. A £21.4 million price tag, per Sky Sports, for a player whose eight seasons at Barcelona made him one of the most decorated players in the modern game, represents the type of value that usually has even the most penurious of chief executives reaching for the chequebook with haste.

Pedro’s agent, Antonio Sanz, claims United “fell asleep” in negotiations for his client, whilst Louis van Gaal remains steadfast in his stance that the Spaniard was never a serious target, according to the Daily Mail. United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has spent a lot of time in Barcelona of late, so unless he’s a huge fan of Gaudi, his whereabouts seem a little at odds with Van Gaal’s versions of events.

The latest talk is of a purported move for Neymar, per Jamie Jackson of the Guardian. Such is Woodward’s predilection to string out negotiations for fanciful transfer targets, there is the possibility he’s still haggling over the possibility of signing Johan Cruyff for the No. 10 role at Old Trafford.

Jose Mourinho claims it took a solitary minute to convince Pedro to swap Catalonia for Chelsea. Chris Brunt afforded him just over twice as long to settle into his new surrounds before sending him spiraling onto rain-sodden turf. Welcome to England, Pedro.

From inauspicious beginnings was born a Premier League debut that was perhaps not quite Fabrizio Ravanelli against Liverpool or Jurgen Klinsmann at Sheffield Wednesday, but one that nonetheless fully merited the rapturous reception it received when curtailed six minutes from time. When a player can marry industry with invention—Pedro made as many tackles as any Chelsea player, and only Nemanja Matic made more interceptions, per WhoScored.com—even Mourinho’s stony heart will flutter.&

It took him 839 minutes less than the wait Wayne Rooney has endured since his last goal to open his account. Moving infield from the right, he took, demanded even—when you’ve played water-carrier to Lionel Messi, you don’t stand on ceremony—possession from Cesc Fabregas, before playing a cute one-two with Eden Hazard on the edge of the area. Boaz Myhill had not yet set himself when, via a slightly fortuitous nick off Jonas Olsson, the ball was nestled in the corner of his goal.

There’s a lovely economy to the way Pedro plays. The simple things, like taking a pass in a confined space, are done with the ease of accepting a letter from a postman. He has that rare luxurious quality of being industrious without ever looking hurried, his gifts extravagant but as understated as a haircut that belongs to a ’50s army boot camp.

By the time half an hour had elapsed, he had added an assist to his afternoon’s work. With a counter-attack that was almost violent, such was its punch and purpose, Chelsea broke from a corner with the cocksure swagger of champions that has otherwise been conspicuously absent so far this season. Willian’s driving run from deep, off a diagonal from right to left, saw the Brazilian switch the ball to Pedro, and from his cross-cum-shot Diego Costa, who managed to contain his anger to just one playful nod of the head in the direction of Claudio Yacob all afternoon, stabbed in his first goal of the season. For a striker, Pedro is the gift that keeps on giving.

“There is always a question mark because how many top players come to England and don’t perform immediately?” said Mourinho, per Dominic Fifield of the Guardian.

“And then people wonder if he’s the right player, if he can adapt, was he a good or bad buy? There are examples in our club, and in lots of others too. But I expected this. He’s a very good player. That was a very good performance.”

While Mourinho was happy with Pedro, he otherwise cut a simmering presence post-match. After presiding over Chelsea’s worst start to a Premier League season in 17 years, all that ultimately mattered at the Hawthorns was the collection of three points. Job done, yet Mourinho will be acutely aware that serious questions remain regarding a number of his most important players.

It’s to Chelsea’s credit that they held on for a 3-2 victory after John Terry’s dismissal left them a man light for 37 minutes when he got caught the wrong side of Salomon Rondon. The sight of his lieutenant removing his shin pads before he exited the field, with the dazed look of an old man who has left his shopping on the bus, will not have gone unnoticed.

With Chelsea now having conceded seven goals in their opening three matches, it can only be a matter of time before the world stops spinning. Before the afternoon was out, John Stones, linked with a transfer to Chelsea, per George Bellshaw of Metro, had put in another largely immaculate performance for Everton, albeit in defeat to Manchester City.

At the base of the midfield, both Matic and Cesc Fabregas look badly out of sorts, too. Immaculate last season, the pair have started the current campaign with a leggy indifference. Neither has been able to dictate proceedings as is their usual wont. If they get any more lackadaisical, they may as well take to the field in bermuda shorts and flip-flops.

Mourinho, who said last week he hit the gym every day, such was his dissatisfaction with his own performance, which conjures images of him pounding hung meat to the strains of Rocky, will point to the adage of form being temporary and class permanent. Only time will tell whether there are more underlying issues afoot.

Same old, same old for United

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If, like water, Chelsea’s second goal at West Brom followed the path of least resistance, Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United are somewhat less organic. Once a high-speed bullet train under Sir Alex Ferguson, they now more resemble a Sunday steam train, happy to meander, the end goal seemingly of less importance than the journey itself.

Such are the fine margins in football had Chris Smalling’s late header rendered Newcastle’s stalwart defensive effort at Old Trafford redundant, or had Wayne Rooney’s disallowed goal stood, a third successive 1-0 victory would likely have been filed under “work in progress.” With dropped points, though, come bolder voices, and there is a growing contingent who feel Van Gaal’s methodical possession football, played almost exclusively in front of the opposition, cuts against the grain of the club’s very essence.

In the opening 20 minutes or so, Manchester United looked back to their buccaneering best, with Luke Shaw in particular now starting to show his Southampton form. But once Steve McClaren had addressed the issue of a non-existent Newcastle midfield to get banks of four and five respectively behind the ball, the home side reverted to type.

Tempo used to be everything for United, but when “attack, attack, attack” is sounded in unison these days, it’s less a war cry and more a cry for help. There’s now a solidity to both United’s midfield and back four that allows them to fulfill Van Gaal’s primary concern of bossing possession, for which the Dutchman deserves genuine credit, as he remains the master of eking out performances from players who cite discipline as a core quality.

However, the way they shift the ball is laborious to the point of inertia at times. Taking too many touches has become endemic, with United’s attacking talent seemingly wearing a collective straight jacket.

On BT Sport, Paul Scholes’ withered assessment of Van Gaal’s use of “fantastic” to describe his team’s performance was spoken as much as a fan as a pundit. Scholes has taken to punditry with all the enthusiasm one usually reserves for queuing in a post office, yet behind the monotone delivery is a sharp football mind that bypasses eloquence to say what the rest of us pontificate about: United are a bit boring under Van Gaal.

“He said ’fantastic’ a few times. I didn’t really think there was anything fantastic about it at all,” said Scholes, per BT Sport, whilst wearing the wearied look of a man who’s just been asked to sit in a Winnebago with Jake Humphrey and Andy Cole. The new season of Breaking Bad is going to be grim.

“You are at home to Newcastle, you are expected to win the game. The visiting keeper has one save to make. Fantastic? No, not for me.”

No man is an island, but Rooney is starting to resemble Hawaii. He’ll invariably be slated for again not troubling the score sheet, but the issue of goalscoring cuts deeper than United’s incumbent front man. With none of Rooney’s supporting cast willing to run beyond him, more often than not he’s forced to go toe-to-toe with a pair of centre-halves.

In the case of the Newcastle game, both Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor were outstanding. Only at the start and close the end of the game did United look threatening, when they mixed up the play by getting the ball into the box, as opposed to passing it into submission.

Memphis Depay and Adnan Januzaj are extravagantly gifted, but given their tender years, both will frustrate as often as they beguile. Neither showed a willingness to get close to Rooney; instead, they repeatedly dropped deep to receive the ball to feet, perpetually indulging in running at the opposition rather than beyond them. Memphis, who played with all the stardust of Elvis against Brugge, but looked more like an impersonator booked for a turn at a working men’s club in Salford on Saturday, lost the ball an eye-watering 35 times.

As United struggle to add an injection of urgency to their prosaic promptings in the middle of the field, the absence of Ander Herrera, who gives and goes as opposed to gives and admires, is baffling. As is the continued employment of Juan Mata wide right as Januzaj toils centrally behind Rooney.

All of which brings us back to Pedro and the mystery of the season so far: Why didn’t Manchester United go cap in hand to Barcelona to bring him to Old Trafford?

Rooney will have watched how closely Pedro played to Costa, counted the number of times he went beyond him, mused over how many devilish deliveries he put into the box, conjectured on how he took the pressure off Eden Hazard on the opposite flank, admired his ceaseless work rate, and then likely wept salty tears on Sunday evening. As a man who’s missed his fair share of opportunities of late, Rooney more than most will appreciate when an executive vice-chairman has clambered inside the mouth of a gift horse.

Ominous signs from Manchester City

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Regardless of the respective form (or lack thereof) of their rivals, Manchester City have the look of champions elect. Just three games in is no time to book the open-top bus, but the start Manuel Pellegrini’s side has made to the new campaign is as fierce as last season’s title defence was feeble. A third clean sheet in a row, when coupled with sublime goals from Aleksandar Kolarov and Samir Nasri, gave City a 2-0 victory at Everton that leaves them as the only top-flight side with a 100 per cent record. Nine consecutive league wins also equals a record set in 1912.

With Vincent Kompany now seemingly back to his imperious best, Yaya Toure rampaging in a manner that suggests no one will forget his birthday this time around, Kolarov playing the best football of his career and even Eliaquim Mangala and Jesus Navas earning high praise from the club’s supporters, the wrongs of last year have been firmly righted. Throw into the mix the seamless manner in which Raheem Sterling has started his City career—he was outstanding in Sunday’s win at Goodison Park, which in turn has allowed David Silva to move inside to devastating effect—and it’s hard to see how this juggernaut will be stopped.

With arguably La Liga’s finest defender, Nicolas Otamendi, already secured and Kevin De Bruyne all set to follow, per Sky Sports, even Pellegrini—sport’s most circumspect coach since Charlie Brown—must be starting to believe the title is City’s to lose if they can maintain anything like the standards they have set thus far.

And finally...

A quick nod of appreciation in the direction of Bournemouth front-man Callum Wilson, before the word count starts to hit the type of numbers last seen in the column marked “square Manchester United passes.” Making the step up from the Championship to the Premier League is not easy for any player, but it’s doubly difficult for strikers. Bournemouth’s opener against Aston Villa proved to be a rueful day for the man whose goals propelled them to the Promised Land, as last season’s top goalscorer missed several opportunities.

A bright showing at Anfield will have buoyed his confidence, as Saturday’s opponents West Ham will testify, as Wilson plundered a treble of assured finishes at Upton Park. His first, a hooked volley, was a stunning searing finish, the second a clever lifted effort after he had robbed the hapless Aaron Cresswell with the ease of a pickpocket rolling a drunk on a busy pier, and the third a well-placed penalty.

Half the Premier League will be weighing up a bid for Wilson before the transfer window slams shut. It’s time for Bournemouth’s Russian billionaire owner to match Eddie Howe’s ambition and send any suitors away with a flea in their ear.