Shoot more, think less - how Liam Rosenior perfected Joao Pedro the striker for Chelsea, as stats show new focus ahead of Paris Saint-Germain clash

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Joao Pedro started his Chelsea career with a sensational FIFA Club World Cup, including scoring against Paris Saint-Germain in the final. However, for most of the first half of the season, Pedro struggled. That is until the arrival of Liam Rosenior to replace Enzo Maresca as head coach. Pedro is now considered one of The Blues' key players again. But how exactly did this change end up happening?

Highlights: Pedro hits treble as Chelsea inflict more pain on Villa

Video credit: TNT Sports

Liam Rosenior made headlines before Chelsea's Emirates FA Cup win at Wrexham when he said that he thinks striker Joao Pedro should be considered as one of best in the world.

It is perhaps an easy thing from the outside to roll your eyes at, but those who have been watching Pedro in the past few weeks can perhaps see where Rosenior is coming from.

Pedro had an electric summer after joining from Brighton & Hove Albion, notably dinking the ball over Gianluigi Donnarumma as Chelsea stunned European champions Paris Saint-Germain to win the FIFA Club World Cup, and he had a relatively hot start when the Premier League got underway.

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However, in the autumn, the goals dried up and Pedro struggled for rhythm, leading many to wonder exactly what role the Brazilian should be serving at Chelsea.

But since the appointment of Rosenior in February, there have been few players who have benefited more from the Englishman’s arrival.

In the 26 games across all competitions that Pedro played under Enzo Maresca and Callum McFarlane, Pedro scored seven goals and notched four assists.

In the 13 games that Rosenior has been in the dugout, he has 11 goals and two assists. That is a huge jump from 0.42 G+A per game to 1 G+A per game. So, what gives?

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No positional shift

Well, the first thing to point out is that, despite some concerns over the summer, Pedro’s positioning has been very consistent.

With fellow summer signing Liam Delap unable to stay healthy and Marc Guiu a clear third-choice, Pedro has played almost exclusively as the team’s outright striker.

It is an interesting shift from before his signing, when many wondered if he would become the new No. 10 – with Palmer out on the right-hand side more often – or even a left-winger cutting inside. That has happened occasionally, but Pedro has played mainly as a striker under both Maresca and Rosenior.

What the numbers say

So if it's not his position, what else can we look at? Well, when we dig into the stats for Pedro for the periods pre- and post-Rosenior’s appointment, something interesting emerges.

Joao Pedro (per 90)	Pre-Liam Rosenior	Under Liam Rosenior
Goals	0.35	1.26
Shots	1.7	3.56
Shots on target	0.8	1.72
Dribbles attempted	3.6	2.07
Dribbles completed	1.2	1.38

*Stats for Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup

First, if you look at the above, you can see that Pedro is scoring more, taking more shots and getting more shots on target. Now, this could be explained away simply by arguing that he is a player in good form who is benefiting from a change in manager.

But the dribbles suggest there has been a change and when we look at the creative numbers, we actually see a near-total decrease across the board.

Joao Pedro (per 90)	Pre-Liam Rosenior	Under Liam Rosenior
Assists	0.15	0.23
Chances created	1.2	0.8
Passes into the box	1.96	1.84
Passes	25.87	23.07
Successful passes	20.46	17.68
Touches	44.07	42.87
Touches in opponent box	4.31	5.85

*Stats for Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup

What does this tell us? Those final two stats give you your answer. Pedro is touching the ball slightly less but he is touching the ball noticeably more in the opponent's box.

The data gives us a clear indicator that Rosenior has asked Pedro to play more as a traditional No. 9, to worry less about bringing his team-mates into play – as is his instinct – and focus purely on taking shots and scoring goals.

Below is a touch map comparison. The first at the top is from Chelsea's game against Aston Villa on March 4, a 4-1 win in which Pedro played 84 minutes from the start and scored three times.

Compare this to the second image from the 2-2 draw against Newcastle United in December. Pedro scored once after playing the full 90.

Joao Pedro touchmap (v Aston Villa)
Image credit: Opta

Joao Pedro touchmap (v Newcastle)
Image credit: Opta

You can see that just 6% of Pedro's touches against Newcastle came in the opposition box. He had more touches in his own box than Newcastle's.

Contrast that with the game against Villa where he had 19% of his touches in the opposition box, over three times the rate against Newcastle.

What the eye test says

And the film backs this up. Some of Pedro’s goals remain unlike a traditional striker – see his incredible strike against Napoli – but more often than not they are.

His hat-trick against Villa shows perfectly how this side of his game is changing.

For the first goal, Pedro is not on the shoulder of the last defender when Enzo Fernandez clips a ball in behind to Malo Gusto, but straight away, his intelligence and reaction speed shows.

Pedro immediately turns and starts sprinting, finding the perfect space between the two Villa defenders to get on the end of Gusto’s cross and score.

Pedro equalises against Villa as Chelsea make pressure pay

Video credit: TNT Sports

When it comes to the second goal, this time Pedro is right on the shoulder. Fernandez finds him directly this time and Pedro instinctively finishes with another trademark dink.

But in a condensed space, this goal is only possible because Pedro was right on the line, a toe to be precise, not deep as he was for the first goal.

'Gorgeous, deft' Pedro chip gives Chelsea lead at Villa

Video credit: TNT Sports

For the hat-trick goal, Pedro actually breaks into an offside position as Palmer plays in Alejandro Garnacho with another ball over the top.

But he holds his run with the play and is again in the perfect position to tap home when the ball is squared across goal.

Pedro taps in from Garnacho pass to complete hat-trick

Video credit: TNT Sports

To be clear, Pedro has scored goals like this before, both for Chelsea pre-Rosenior and for Brighton, and as the old adage goes, once a player shows you they can do something once, they can do it many times, but it is up to you to get them to do it many times.

Speaking ahead of the upcoming UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg against Paris Saint-Germain, Rosenior told TNT Sports about trying to get Pedro into positions to score more goals.

"I think Joao is now in areas where he is in a position to score goals. That’s been a brilliant adaptation for him, and it needs to continue. He’s unbelievable," the Blues boss said.

"It’s not just me. He has an appreciation of the players around him. If he’s a striker, he wants Cole Palmer to find him, or Enzo [Fernandez], or Moises [Caicedo], or a cross – he scored a great goal from a Pedro Neto cross against Burnley.

"He needs to be in a position to score goals and he’s done it great so far."

Rosenior and Pedro both deserve credit for making this part of his game more consistent, and perhaps now he truly can be a 20-goal a season striker in the Premier League - a player Chelsea have spent some considerable time searching for.

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