Player Review

I decided to complete Pedro for use in future Chelsea PnP squads, because he fit my team perfectly, and because I thought he fit certain aspects of the early game meta (which I'll get into further). He plays LCAM in the 4222 for me with a hunter chem style. Only instructions on him are get into box for cross. He is much better than I expected, lets get into why! To me, he's a cross between Insigne, Mertens and Mkhitaryan, 3 cards I have really enjoyed so far in the early game, and combines the OP things about them to make a great card.

Pace: His acceleration is fantastic (it's 99, with a hunter). His sprint speed is only 77 (87 with a hunter), which might be off-putting to some but it's fake news. He's definitely quick. He's not going to destroy people with his pace but he's still fast enough when you get away from a defender that he can stay away.

Dribbling: one thing I find very OP early on is good left stick dribbling and Pedro definitely provides this (probably due to his great body type). I find people sit very deep this year with a lot of men in their box so having someone with good left stick dribbling is pretty crucial to opening up chances. You can sit down immobile defenders and create a shot on either foot with left foot dribbling (more on that later as well). Pedro's left stick dribbling is on level with Mertens and Insigne, 2 very little guys. He also has 4 star skills, which is sufficient at this point (I dont find skill moves are as essential as last year, 5 star skillers are a luxury, not a necessity at this point). With those 4 star skills, you can pull off a very nasty la croqueta. Pedro has an animation where if you do a La Croqueta close to an opponent and it is partially blocked when you go around him, he'll nutmeg them and you can keep on going. His dribbling overall seems very sticky and tackle resistant.

Shooting: An area where this card truly shines. He's got a ton of shot power, he honestly fires rockets. And this is important given how much better GKs are this year. If you fire a shot with Pedro, there's a pretty good chance it's going in even if the goalie gets a hand on it. He just blows it right by them. A hint: fire it near post. His finesse shots are also great, which is to be expected with the finesse shot trait. He also has the outside foot shot trait which is useful. But, most importantly, he has a 5* WF like Mkhitaryan which in combination with the left stick dribbling makes him lethal in this year's game. You can just dribble around in the box until you create an opening or receive a pass and spin off a defender either way and bang it in on either foot.

Passing: Good passing is crucial in this game. Good, patient, build up play followed by devastating final passes create goals this year so you can't be having guys who misplace passes all the time. Pedro will make the passes you need him to from the CAM position.

Defending: not much to say here, he will intercept the ball and can make a few tackles.

Physical: He's a little guy but he's way more solid than Mertens and Insigne. A big defender will push him off easily but he can hold off most full backs. 84 Stamina on an attacker is really nice at this stage of the game.

Work rates/Positioning: I usually don't like M/M but they don't bother me much on this card because he will drop into the midfield to pick up the ball and help you in the build up, and the "get into box for cross" instructions will lead to some unreal runs into the box where you can find him for an easy goal.

Final advice: Use him as a central or wide CAM. He's probably just a bit too slow to be broken as a winger.