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It seems just like yesterday that he arrived — gazump! — but Barcelona legend Pedro Rodríguez is actually starting his fifth season at Chelsea ... under his fifth different manager. After Mourinho, Hiddink (interim), Conte, and Sarri, Pedro now has to listen to a certain Frank Lampard, Chelsea legend.
Despite the churn of head coaches, Pedro has managed to earn himself steady minutes throughout it all, and is now closing in on 200 appearances for the club. He played central roles for both Conte, in his title-winning season, and for Sarri last season, chipping in with 13, often quite crucial goals.
Having played for coaches of just about every style and disposition, from possession hogs in Barcelona to pragmatic masters Mourinho and Conte, Pedro’s certainly proven himself to be adaptable. Now he’s looking to be useful to Lampard, whose style looks to combine features from a few others in Pedro’s past.
“We’ve been training really hard with Frank this week. It’s very hard work, high intensity. We’re pressing a lot without the ball, when we’ve got the ball we have to move it quickly, and in transition (we have to be) very good.
”It’s very good to work under Frank. He’s a legend at this club. He’s a very good coach with very good ideas but it’s only five days working with him and for the future we have to prepare very well this month.”
-Pedro; source: Mirror
Pedro signed a contract extension last summer that is set to expire at the end of this season. This may be his final season at Stamford Bridge, but whether or not that proves to be the case, his commitment to the cause will be unquestionable, just as it’s been the last four seasons. With Hudson-Odoi and Willian nursing injuries and Pulisic arriving later than most to training camp, Pedro just might have a big role to play, too, especially early on.