Nicolas Pepe: Saint Nic Is Back

[lomekian]

Fans such as yourself makes me greatly look forward to his departure but makes me worried for future recruits. Not capable of a single post without some sort of put down or mulling over his deficiencies again and again and again.

He's dumb, overpriced, incapable, bad fit, not got Saka's brain, we get it man. Arteta and Saka are perfect though

Tell me where I say anyone is perfect? If Saka had Pepe's finishing ability /coolness in the box, he'd be a far better player. If Arteta knew how to make everyone feel as loved as Wenger, regardless of squad status - or was as good at playing jazz freeform combo football in the opposition 3rd, he'd be a far better manager.
This is literally a conversation about why Pepe hasn't worked out and he's leaving, and you are complaining about me pointing out why it hasn't worked out . Sorry it doesn't fit your stance on other related subjects, but if you think I'm wrong in my criticisms, tell me why rather than bleating about how its all unfair on Pepe or creating strawman arguments - as opposed to making inferences about my character which are ill-informed and ill-expressed.

 

[lomekian]

Time to draw a line under Pepe spells at Arsenal for everyone's good.

I don't see many PL clubs interested in him to be honest and the ones that may want him probably couldn't afford his wages. If there is a bit of a language issue that's probably not going to help matters either.

I'd take £15m now and let him go back to France or maybe Germany or wherever. Some people would probably balk at £15m but Pepe's probably a £25m player at the moment and we're likely to have to subsidize his wages at a new club through a lower transfer fee.

It takes two to tango. He's not been great / has been inconsistent for the most part and Arteta and the club have certainly not helped to get the best out of him / tanked his value.

I think in the right system in the right league, he could be fantastic - I reckon he would kill it at PSG or Monaco or similar - if you don't need him at full intensity every week and have a system that supports individualism, there is a very productive player there...particularly if he's somewhere he feels more comfortable and confident communicating.

 

[BIoodBrother]

I hope Everton wants him when they lose Rich.
They have a trackrecord of buying our 2nd rate wingers

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Not surprised not because he isn't good but his wages only maybe quality footballers earn than we'd hope psg with Luis Campos and his old coach at Lille can do something about it.

 

[Rasmi]

At best we can expect a loan. No one is gonna spend money on him

 

[Entropics]

The way we have mistreated him he deserves to be paid to leave tbh. We pretty much commited a crime against the joy of playing the sport after reducing Pepe to this.

 

[Monstar-Gunn4r]

Hes been poor for us, has had his share of problems like the headbutt incident, on high wages, doesnt put in the same work as his teammates tracking back etc. cant see anyone taking a chance on him despite his last season playing in France over 3 years ago now unless they can get him on a loan with massively reduced wages

 

[Rasmi]

The way we have mistreated him he deserves to be paid to leave tbh. We pretty much commited a crime against the joy of playing the sport after reducing Pepe to this.

Tbh he will be released on free. The manager made it clear he doesn’t compromise and want players he don’t like out of the club no matter what it costs the club. In reality there is little between pepe and raphina, both came from ligue 1 where pepe did better. But one went to a club that suited him and the other didn’t and here we are

 

[Kav]

I see a lot of posts in this thread but are there any actual links to other clubs? I’m not asking about any tenuous connection either something more concrete.

 

[Badger_Revenge]

I dunno. There have been times when Pepe has put in the work tracking back. He just really has no idea how to defend. It's just not in his DNA. And that is a real problem in Arteta's system.

He's also a confidence player - capable of some really amazing skills, that just fall flat when his levels drop a bit and he is facing good defenders. When that happens he crumbles in matches, and suddenly there is this abyss in the pitch -- about in the middle third on the RS -- where possession goes to die. He reminds me of Özil in some of these respects, except that when Özil was "on" he made everyone around him much better.

Pepe needs to be the main man at the point of attack for some team, where his defensive liabilities are not as much a problem. I always hoped he'd be a striker eventually but he did not convince in that role when they tried him there in the first year. He also has to come in from the flanks to be effective.

 

[Makingtrax]

Don't know where you've been, but Pepe was bad for long stretches of every season for us. Difference is at the very end of his first season he took a step forward and at the very end of 20-21 he was brilliant for about 5-6 weeks, whereas this season he didn't see much game time in the spring - but don't let the brief purple patches of brilliance make you forget how utterly awful he was in earlier parts of both those seasons. Coming up to Xmas 2020 he was so bad that it was starting to get into 'can you pick him?' territory.

Also crucial difference with Saka/Ødegaard is that even when off form, both tend to be reasonably secure in possession, capable to playing to tactical instructions and will try to do their jobs defensively. When Pepe is having a bad time of it, he is a possession black hole who wanders around aimlessly and doesn't track back. Which is the whole problem, because his best is fantastic. If he could have raised the floor of his performance levels, he would have seen a lot more game time, because we've all seen how good his ceiling is. But sometimes he looks like a super talented player who's been discovered in the jungle and has not played professionally before - so much skill, but decision making is a roulette wheel

Yeah, Pepe had a great end to the first season. Then Arteta bought Willian to take his place and since then he’s only played intermittently. Saka and Ødegaard have been regular starters and their form has been reasonably consistent. ESR has struggled to keep his place and his form also dipped markedly.

Discovered in the jungle? Is that racist?

 

[Monstar-Gunn4r]

I dunno. There have been times when Pepe has put in the work tracking back. He just really has no idea how to defend. It's just not in his DNA. And that is a real problem in Arteta's system.

He's also a confidence player - capable of some really amazing skills, that just fall flat when his levels drop a bit and he is facing good defenders. When that happens he crumbles in matches, and suddenly there is this abyss in the pitch -- about in the middle third on the RS -- where possession goes to die. He reminds me of Özil in some of these respects, except that when Özil was "on" he made everyone around him much better.

Pepe needs to be the main man at the point of attack for some team, where his defensive liabilities are not as much a problem. I always hoped he'd be a striker eventually but he did not convince in that role when they tried him there in the first year. He also has to come in from the flanks to be effective.

Yeah he has tracked back but its wildly inconsistent sometimes he does sometimes he doesnt.

Even if he was a great player when the whole team was built around him who would take a chance on building a team around a player who can be inconsistent.

 

[Gunner D]

Discovered in the jungle? Is that racist?

@lomekian thats a wild comment icl

 

[lomekian]

@lomekian thats a wild comment icl

If that's how it has been interpreted, I apologise - that was not my intention - I wasn't thinking of skin colour or ethnicity, but rather that his extraordinary skill but lack of tactical knowledge and inability to integrate was the footballing equivalent of a remote tribe in the Amazon, whose members can do the most amazing things but struggle to fit into modern urban environments.

Given that half my blood originates from west Africa, I hope you will believe that it wasn't intended as a comment on ethnicity.
Would people prefer I delete the message or keep this clarification

 

[lomekian]

Yeah, Pepe had a great end to the first season. Then Arteta bought Willian to take his place and since then he’s only played intermittently. Saka and Ødegaard have been regular starters and their form has been reasonably consistent. ESR has struggled to keep his place and his form also dipped markedly.

Discovered in the jungle? Is that racist?

A mental slip not recognising the possible association. Please see my comment above this one, and accept my apologies for unintended offence caused.
As per my message above, not only am I half black, but my mother works in race equality and against hate crime, and I have done similar work myself, so am mortified at the possible implications of my careless analogy

 

[Deleted member 102404]

The way we have mistreated him he deserves to be paid to leave tbh. We pretty much commited a crime against the joy of playing the sport after reducing Pepe to this.

Mistreated?
He has had plenty of opportunities and not lived up to his billing. It’s as simple as that. He has moments of brilliance in him, but all too rare. The claim he has not had plenty of game time is simply false. He’s played over 100 games for this club and had over 60 starts.
There is no other reason that he’s on the way out - apparently - other than he hasn’t been good enough.
It was a crazy deal. I just hope we get something back and he finds some success elsewhere away from the PL, because he seems like a decent guy.

 

[Rasmi]

Top PL clubs are in a position where they can write of any player. Chelsea after spending 100 million let lukaku leave for 8 million. Pepe has very little value to Arsenal because like lukaku his manager just don’t rate him. It’s either loan him out or release him next season on free as his value will go down even further

 

[Red London]

I'm looking forward to seeing Pepe at his next club, will be really supporting him. Would be a nightmare for all parties if he stays though, he is surplus to requirement to Arteta and Pepe just wont perform how he should here.

I just don't see who takes him on those wages. Its gonna end up being a loan.

 

[Makingtrax]

A mental slip not recognising the possible association. Please see my comment above this one, and accept my apologies for unintended offence caused.
As per my message above, not only am I half black, but my mother works in race equality and against hate crime, and I have done similar work myself, so am mortified at the possible implications of my careless analogy

Easily done. Thanks for the explanation and apologies for being quick to judge.

 

[AbouCuéllar]

Statistically speaking what you're saying makes no sense, reducing a player's game time doesn't inevitably increase their efficiency especially not to the point it'd "boost" their figures that way.

That’s not what I am saying though, is it?

Like I said, try reading the article with an open mind.