Nicolas Pepe: 2019/20 Performances

[avalonhse]

I always liked Sarr. I'm sure I recall him getting slaughtered on here when we played Rennes. Couldn't understand it. But of course, he does well today and we should have got him instead of Pepe

Could have had Sarr for less than half the price.

FFS

People want Sarr show how short-sight you are. He would end up like Pepe under Emery management and who will stop Liv today?

His selection is fateful, the rest is history. Blimey.

 

[Macho]

Me: *State opinion on Pepe, nothing controversial*

You: *OMG STOP CRYING, YOU SUPPORT A DIFFERENT CLUB AND IT'S **** LOL THIS THREAD IS *****

Learn to ****ing behave like a normal person.

Learn to not talk about what you have no clue about. Nobody typed in caps I’m just pointing out you don’t know what you’re talking about.

About behave stfu man

 

[truth_hurts]

Was 72m too much? Yes. Pepe was an opportunistic panic buy. I think he's going to become one of the leagues best forwards though as his talent is clear. Him and Martinelli are the only two players we have who excite me. Every time they get the ball it feels like something can happen.

Pepe has walked into a mess of a team. No excuses next year though - he has to be a difference maker.

 

[The_Playmaker]

The price tag is odd. What is a 70 million pound player these days?

Zaha is rated more expensive than that and has questionable end product. To the point where you would be spending it and not sure whether he would put up the numbers in a better team.

Personally I think Pepe will come good. Players who have all the tools but are a bit too eccentric and try too much are easier to turn into the real deal. You don't need to coach this guy to beat a man or bend it into the top corner. You just need to coach him what you want him to do when he beats a man and that also relies on having people around him who allow him to flourish.

Pepe is doing everything on his own at the moment. He has no overlapping fullback, he is aiming for a centre forward who needs to be 3 yards from the Goal to actually score, he has Özil taking up his space and bringing players towards him. I genuinely don't know anyone in the league who could handle the constant 3 V 1 scenario he has and still retain possession and be as dangerous as him apart from the top players in the league.

Just need to be patient. Arteta knows what he has, you'd have to be blind not to see it. We just need to build a team that allows him freedom to move into central spaces and get him shooting.

 

[bandaid]

is pepe costing us more than Özil every year?

 

[Ceballinhos]

People tend to forget how much context matters to the success of any player.

It's way too easy to say on hindsight that we should have bought sarr or even kept gnabry.
Do you really think that these 2 would have been any better than Pepe if they played in the worst arsenal team in 25 years? If they played in a toxic environment for most of the season? With a group of players whose confidence was shot right from the start of the season?
We have no functioning back 4, a midfield that can't create anything to save their life, and on the offensive end, Aubameyang is the only bright side this season.


Those same people would have been all over the place if Pepe has been signed by another team, and would have been a success, because their team just work better than ours right now.

I don't understand some of you, blaming the fact we payed £70M for Pepe. Those same fans moans when we're linked with a £20M player calling him a "Europa League bum".
We went for one of the hottest winger in Europe last season, who wasn't playing in a top club yet. And that's what we have to do if we want to have any chance to improve.
He's the same kind of player Liverpool has been signing in order to come back to the top: getting the best players from Europe, who aren't playing for a top club yet. And they payed big money in order to achieve this. Salah was one of the best winger in Italy who wasn't playing for Juventus, Mané was also the best winger in the league who wasn't playing for a top 4 club, and so on.

Maybe he'll turn out to be a flop, who knows. But it doesn't really matter, nor change the fact that it was a good idea to get him. On paper, he had all the tools and abilities we were looking for.
And £70M is just the price you have to pay for these kind of players nowadays. That's just the state of the market.

Also don't forget the fact that Pepe is a late boomer. He's only discovered la ligue 1 3 years ago, in 2 of these years he's been playing for a relegation side.
He's not a Cesc who's been playing in the PL since he was 16 and got to his peak by the age of 19/20.
So he still has a lot to learn about the top level.

His first season at Lille was hard for him, he arrived in a similar context that we are currently in. Bielsa has been a huge flop at Lille, the team wasn't working, they were in the bottom of the table, the confidence of the squad was shot and Pepe started the season badly, scoring only 3 goals and 1 assist when Bielsa was still the coach.
When the team got better by the end of the season, and started winning games, he scored 10 goals and gave 3 assists, which is a good performance considering the fact that his team was fighting against relegation.
Then he had his breakthrough season where he was unstoppable.

So let's just wait and see. It's really unfair to judge a new signing when he arrives into a mess.

 

[celestis]

I always liked Sarr. I'm sure I recall him getting slaughtered on here when we played Rennes. Couldn't understand it. But of course, he does well today and we should have got him instead of Pepe

Same thing happened with Mane , even comparisons between his forehead and Gervinho's

 

[Eaststander74]

Same thing happened with Mane , even comparisons between his forehead and Gervinho's

Can’t beat AM for that sort of depth of analysis.

 

[sammy89]

There's still only 10 players that have cost above 100m, and 5 of those were basically the Neymar money sloshing around. 72m should still be buying you a proven talisman. This recent trend of spending mega money on players with only one good season under their belt is lunacy

 

[scytheavatar]

Personally I think Pepe will come good. Players who have all the tools but are a bit too eccentric and try too much are easier to turn into the real deal.

Pepe doesn't have "all the tools" though...... fans are way overestimating Pepe's potential. He can dribble but his touch is dreadful and he takes forever to get the cross or shot away. That is why his end product is dreadful, he doesn't have the skill and vision to be a Hazard tier winger. This is different from someone like Sterling who always had elite skill and vision, just always made dumb decisions in the past.

 

[<<reed>>]

There's still only 10 players that have cost above 100m, and 5 of those were basically the Neymar money sloshing around. 72m should still be buying you a proven talisman. This recent trend of spending mega money on players with only one good season under their belt is lunacy

But AM told me that in today's market 72m buys you nothing though.

 

[DanDare]

He's been pretty effective in 2020. You'd expect a signing to start to kick on in second half of the season and that's what he's doing.

He can still become way better as well if he starts making better decisions

 

[UpTheGunnerz]

Judge him in may 2021

 

[Moah]

First of, he can't be put as a 72m player as that is paid through a long period and not paid upfront. We have paid 20m now and the rest is to be paid in FIVE YEARS.

And those who think he is crap, please tell me our best 3 players this season?

 

[A_G]

Interesting comparison being made with Son (who everyone thinks is amazing) wrt their first seasons in English football:

amazing he's being written off so soon

 

[UpTheGunnerz]

First of, he can't be put as a 72m player as that is paid through a long period and not paid upfront. We have paid 20m now and the rest is to be paid in FIVE YEARS.

And those who think he is crap, please tell me our best 3 players this season?

Easy. Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, Bend Leno and Buakyo Saka.

 

[GDeep™]

amazing he's being written off so soon

Only by a small minority, majority of this place has faith in him continuing his development and becoming a big player here.

 

[UpTheGunnerz]

Only by a small minority, majority of this place has faith in him continuing his development and becoming a big player here.

Man like Gary Deep spitting some truths this blessed monday

 

[Camus]

The price tag is odd. What is a 70 million pound player these days?

Zaha is rated more expensive than that and has questionable end product. To the point where you would be spending it and not sure whether he would put up the numbers in a better team.

There's a reason Zaha is still at Palace, because whilst they may rate him at +70million no one else does so he's not really worth that amount is he. I have no problem with Lille rating Pepe at 70million, I have a problem with us paying it given what we've gotten.

Just need to be patient. Arteta knows what he has, you'd have to be blind not to see it. We just need to build a team that allows him freedom to move into central spaces and get him shooting.

Get me a white cane then mate because I must be Stevie Wonder levels of visually impaired since so far I've seen little to nothing to suggest if he keeps going the way he's going that he'll come even close to living up to the expectations. I look at players like Saka and Martinelli who are further behind in their footballing development and yet I see more encouraging signs of future improvement from them than from him.

 

[Macho]

He just needs to release the ball quicker that’s my main and probably only problem with him (he’s a bit casual about tracking back when we’re in imminent danger as well).

Once he starts shooting/passing earlier and incorporating one/two touch plays more often, I think we’d have a hell of a player on our hands. Reliably providing double digit goals and assists this is what I expect from him.

He lacks the composure that the truly elite have, I am unsure if that can ever be learned or gained naturally over time.

He’s clearly one of the best dribblers and strikers of the ball at the club, that’s something atleast.