Pedro breaks nose at home: A reflection of his debut season with Chelsea?

Pedro breaks nose at home
Pedro fighting for the ball against Zabaleta

Chelsea players in masks have become a common sight in the last couple of years. Accepted, that The Blues’ performances this year warrant a punch in every players’ faces, but what Pedro has been up to recently is really amusing. He has broken his nose in a mysterious injury which did not happen in training but in his home. You read it right folks, his home!

On Wednesday, he joined Torres, Matic, Fabregas, Azpilicueta and the numerous others on the list who have donned the Zorro mask for the Blues in recent times as he wore one against Liverpool on Wednesday.

"I don't know what happened. He had a little accident on his own. His wife was not involved, she was there and I asked her. He very unfortunately fell and broke his nose,” Guus Hiddink, Chelsea’s interim manager, said on Tuesday.

Pedro’s injury is in many ways symbolic of the season he has had with Chelsea. From being Chelsea’s star signing of the summer to the most frustrating player in the squad. As the season is about to wind up, the broken nose might well be a result of the frustrating year Pedro has endured away from Catalonia.

Pedro’s season has been much like the incident at his home - awkward and one to forget. A broken nose in a match or in training is an injury one would embrace, a wound symbolic of fight and character, but his injury at home is anything but. Though his performances have improved under Hiddink, he hasn’t reproduced the quality he had displayed for so many years playing for Barcelona.

The Spaniard came to Chelsea with great expectations and promise. Having won everything for Barcelona in his time there, it seemed a real coup when Jose Mourinho signed him right from under Manchester United’s nose. It was a dream debut for him as he scored in Chelsea’s 3-2 win over West Bromwich Albion in August. The journey since has been a nightmare.

‘One of the best attackers in the world’, as Mourinho said when Pedro came to the Premier League, failed to score in the 922 minutes he played since his debut goal. In the five months under the Portuguese, it was soon realized that his play just didn’t suit Jose’s style.

Added to that was Chelsea’s dismal show as they lay in the bottom of the table for much of the first half of the season, culminating in Mourinho’s sacking in December. With a shot accuracy of 25% and a conversion rate of 3% which would put even Marouane Chamakh to shame, it seemed that he wished that he had gone anywhere but Chelsea.

After the arrival of Hiddink, though, and the added motivation to do well under the new manager, saw him improve. Pedro took full advantage of Eden Hazard’s hazardous season and picked up pace, notching up 5 goals under the Dutchman since. He has grown in confidence and has often been picked ahead of Hazard and Oscar in the wings. The more attacking style of play has obviously improved Pedro’s performances; however, he is yet to replicate all that he did for the Catalans in the past.

Pedro likes to attack the wings and put in crosses from the right. He is not as good in hold-up play, his physique being a big disadvantage. Mourinho played him on the right wing for most of the first half of the season, often asked to hold the ball, while others arrived in the box, resulting in him often getting dispossessed.

With Hiddink, however, he was given more freedom, allowed to interchange with the other wingers he has managed to get more shots on goal. Though his 1.8 shots-per-game isn’t flattering, the low score is mostly because of the first half of the season where he was given very little freedom.

Antonio Conte’s arrival looks like a bright opportunity for Pedro to show his true class, with Guus Hiddink emphasizing that none of the Blues stars should fail the audition. It is left to be seen how Pedro adapts to the rigid defensive and counter attacking football that the Italian brings with him.

The season Pedro has had might well see him miss out on Vicente Del Bosque’s squad for this year’s Euro Cup. The incident at his home has only summed up his whole season. He would surely hope to have a good pre-season and impress Conte and wish that he fits into the Italians plans next season. Here’s wishing Pedro a speedy recovery.

(Stats via WhoScored.com)

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