He just seems like an pretty intelligent person.... who happens to be playing football, which I think is pretty rare, that's not meant as some insult though it may come across as so
. But I don't really know how to explain it. It would also explain why it seems, on occasion, he overthinks the game, especially when he's playing up against a very smart system partially built to stop him... he's not as instinctive as others, he's always thinking, so his game is kind of calculated, and a lot of tactical battles are won instinctively.
Pep thrives on these intelligent players though - he's had most of them in recent years under him, I'd say the only one that's got away was Modric, not that I think he was ever in for him. He saw it in Lahm and decided to throw in the middle instead....