Nicolas Pepe: Saint Nic Is Back

[dka1]

He wouldn’t have done worse than ESR or Martinelli at points though, keeping him involved he might have come through when he needed him most. Oh well.

Well yeah, that's all he'd really have needed to have done.

Like I get it, Pepe isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but there's two things you can count on Pepe to do if he gets consistent time;

1. Score goals

2. Produce moments of skill:

Sure, he isn't perfect and his weaknesses have already been spoken to death, but you can't convince me that he isn't useful when he's involved.

Had Arteta atleast kept him on side, gave him some starts and more minutes then maybe he'd have repaid the faith in him. Anyway it's all moot now.

 

[celestis]

He wasn’t bad when he actually played last season tbf, on both flanks too - but for some reason that bit gets deleted

5 starts this season, people want to blame him so badly but they can’t. Personally, I laughed my arse off when he came on and trolled vs Newcastle, not sure what people expected.

Who gets the blame if he starts firing for his next club anyways? Or will we completely disregard it like the end of last season which also didn’t count?

I got a feeling Palace will be an option , really interested to see who buys him ..might even be Newcastle .

 

[Macho]

Helped us win the FA Cup, dropped for Willian. Was brilliant 2nd half of 20/21 then barely played next season. Rescued us against Wolves almost entirely on his own, barely played after barring cameos. I cannot believe anyone genuinely thinks this is fair treatment.

Tbf Arsenal is Arteta's club he can do what he likes at this point I honestly don't really care.

It's more disappointing that so many people think this guy is bad because of the treatment and not his admittedly mixed body of work.

He's not Saka, but he can do some of the hardest things in football which is score and create. In a team that lacks both it's ludicrous to toss him aside like rubbish and it's quite damning on the club really. The bright side and the key is one less person to blame once he f*cks off.

 

[dka1]

I got a feeling Palace will be an option , really interested to see who buys him ..might even be Newcastle .

You know what, I'd like to see what he could do at Newcastle, and this isn't even me thinking about how we could milk them for some sweet sweet dollars, but rather I'd be genuinely interested to see him in that kind of environment.

Definitely an up and coming team (albeit it's being paid for by blood money), they'll be fighting for Europe next year and whilst Allan Saint-Maximin is a stellar player he's not really an end product guy like Pepe. I'd be interested to see both of them on opposite wings.

 

[Macho]

Think he's completely toast tbh, needs to go France and regroup. Maybe try the Prem again in his late twenties if he manages to wrestle his career back.

You have to remember he came at the same age Ben White did (23 and shortly turned 24 whilst here like Ben) and we haven't developed him he's actually gotten worse. Wherever he goes he needs to start if he's serious about salvaging his career.

 

[2Smokeyy]

Just heard Pepe, Pogba and Rashford to Marseille.

Remontada szn.

Once you go Marseille, there’s no way back.

 

[Oxeki]

 

[Pop Tart]

His other tweets seems like a ****.

 

[Mrs Bergkamp]

Useless friends didn't even manage to scare lil Tets into giving him 90 consecutive minutes. Dumped.

 

[celestis]

Even with minimal playing time

 

[MartiSaka]

Families come in all shapes and sizes bro.

 

[Maybe]

This year, he should have seen more game time really, but again bar the late sub appearance vs Wolves, did he do anything else positive in any of the time he got this year.

Ultimately, while its difficult when you are in and out of the team and don't have a rhythm, if you keep playing poorly when you do get limited chances, there's not much incentive to give you more. A poor fit for the club, this manager and frankly the every week intensity of the Premier League

I would never disagree with any of this, he was poor this season and I'm not here to make excuses and this is his transfer thread so will keep things related rather than going into details.
What I wanted to say is, that others were poor as well and probably much worse than he was, players who were at the end of their contracts, younger players who weren't good enough and even some lineups that were forced just for him not to play. All that considered, Arteta was fully aware his value will drop and he was happy with it (something Wenger wouldn't), and he was fully aware that players who were playing weren't any better than Pepe. For me, we've moved into an era where there is no responsibility from the managers, money is being wasted and everyone just expects that whoever the owner is, he's gonna waste money like others.

 

[lomekian]

He's not as good as Pepe, but don't think Walcott was as bad a dribbler as being made out.

Some of the dribbles I have seen Theo do over the years for us, he was pretty decent.

Theo's technique was limited but he always attempted to do what he did with clear purpose, and was quick and agile enough to be a regular threat, particularly the period 2010-2014. Pepe so much more technique, but you don't know if he's going to beat a player, power to the box and bang one in from 20 yards, or try to beat the same guy 6 times, get tackled by the corner flag and set up a counter with all his mates upfield.

If Pepe had Saka's brain he'd be a top 5 right winger globally as he has so much in the way of tools

 

[lomekian]

He cited language barrier issues when describing his relationship with Arteta and when I watched the training vids from the end of last season, Laca was still speaking in French explaining stuff to him mid drills. Who's now gone.

I think he needs to leave the league personally, if he hasn't learned the language now he's not learning it up north or Wolves.

Yeah - not really the players fault, but he seems a bit of a relative introvert, has struggled with the language, and for whatever reason despite seeming to be a nice guy, just hasn't really successfully integrated. It happens - footballers are all humans.
Its telling that despite his struggles to connect with team-mates on the pitch, and widely varying performance levels, you barely hear a bad word about him. Also telling that Arteta went from slightly questioning his 'desire' to just praising his attitude despite playing him less. Suggests that Arteta thinking that Pepe wouldn't do what he wanted to thinking Pepe couldn't.

Players with Pepe's skill, athleticism and occasional brilliance don't achieve that by being lazy etc, but for a number of reasons he's never really been a good fit and never found consistency here.

The only person I blame is Raul for spunking so much dosh with a clear absence of due diligence - whilst overriding his head coach's wishes

 

[lomekian]

I would never disagree with any of this, he was poor this season and I'm not here to make excuses and this is his transfer thread so will keep things related rather than going into details.
What I wanted to say is, that others were poor as well and probably much worse than he was, players who were at the end of their contracts, younger players who weren't good enough and even some lineups that were forced just for him not to play. All that considered, Arteta was fully aware his value will drop and he was happy with it (something Wenger wouldn't), and he was fully aware that players who were playing weren't any better than Pepe. For me, we've moved into an era where there is no responsibility from the managers, money is being wasted and everyone just expects that whoever the owner is, he's gonna waste money like others.

Arteta isn't like Wenger. Wenger was simultaneously a monomaniac and a polymath, who ran every aspect of the club and treated the club's finances like they were his own child's. Arteta is stone cold interested in long-term on pitch performance and what needs to happen for that - he's not interested in protecting a players value. His priority was chasing top 4. One more win (or maybe 1 less dodgy Sp**s penalty...) would have recouped far more for the club than any money we were ever going to get for Pepe, so he was absolutely right to prioritise that.

Bottom line is, if Pepe had looked like he might help us win games, he would have played, but he was mostly dreadful when he got minutes. Not just rusty, dreadful. Pretty clear he checked out mentally to some degree too

 

[Macho]

Yeah - not really the players fault, but he seems a bit of a relative introvert, has struggled with the language, and for whatever reason despite seeming to be a nice guy, just hasn't really successfully integrated. It happens - footballers are all humans.
Its telling that despite his struggles to connect with team-mates on the pitch, and widely varying performance levels, you barely hear a bad word about him. Also telling that Arteta went from slightly questioning his 'desire' to just praising his attitude despite playing him less. Suggests that Arteta thinking that Pepe wouldn't do what he wanted to thinking Pepe couldn't.

Players with Pepe's skill, athleticism and occasional brilliance don't achieve that by being lazy etc, but for a number of reasons he's never really been a good fit and never found consistency here.

The only person I blame is Raul for spunking so much dosh with a clear absence of due diligence - whilst overriding his head coach's wishes

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

 

[Blood on the Tracks]

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.

 

[Nunowoolmez]

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.

PSG or Monaco could take a punt on him. Will likely get loaned somewhere tho.

We could loan him to Barca after we get Raphinha haha

 

[Macho]

lol we will see.

 

[TornadoTed]

He cited language barrier issues when describing his relationship with Arteta and when I watched the training vids from the end of last season, Laca was still speaking in French explaining stuff to him mid drills. Who's now gone.

I think he needs to leave the league personally, if he hasn't learned the language now he's not learning it up north or Wolves.

I think he needs to leave the league too but the problem is apart from a very small handful of clubs who already have better most clubs outside of the UK are skint. I think the only was we get a decent fee is if a mid level Premiership club comes in for him so it's more hope than anything!