Nicolas Pepe: 2019/20 Performances

[Corbulo]

Nicolas Pépé is a nice kid. The type of guy who rides a horse with both legs on one side.

There's a lot more wrong in his game than a couple of poor crosses and a few failed dribbles. He's a player that relies on dribbling, more than passing and moving. It gets your panties wet but doesn't make the final move and once again you end up by yourself in the bathroom.

He's not getting the very basics right, and that's usually down to a lack of competence than a lack of confidence. He does look a long way from being an effective player for us. It's a little worrying for me. He hasn't come in at the best time to help him settle so that is a tough environment, unplanned pregnancy while working at McDonald's.

 

[Red London]

Nicolas Pépé is a nice kid. The type of guy who rides a horse with both legs on one side.

Best poster on the forum

 

[MutableEarth]

Think Pepe's being done a bit harshly here - he's been pretty good but needs a couple of kinks to iron out in his game, and he should be fine.

I'm glad we didn't sign Zaha to be honest - I like Zaha but his lack of end product is a problem even if he's at Palace. He regularly doesn't get enough assists or goals so I doubt he would have had much more impact than Pepe has considering end product was a need going into this season and Pepe had come off of high scoring season. Perhaps if we were able to get both of them we would have fared better but maybe Zaha should have been smarter about negotiating his Palace deal.

 

[Red London]

maybe Zaha should have been smarter about negotiating his Palace deal.

He subsequently parted ways with his agent, who clearly had no idea what he was doing. Why are you putting in a transfer request when theres like 2 days left of the window? Why are you agreeing to a lengthy contract renewal which will take you well into your peak, only for a small rise in salary? Comical.

Anyway Pepe is only 24 and we signed him knowing that his ceiling is much higher than Zaha's, while with Zaha we knew what we will be getting. £60m for a good 27 year old doesnt seem as value for money than £72m for someone who can be really special in a few years time.

Of course its easy to use hindsight now, but Pepe was an ambitious signing. We need to support him and squad plan with him in mind so that we can get the best out of him.

 

[Big Poppa]

He subsequently parted ways with his agent, who clearly had no idea what he was doing. Why are you putting in a transfer request when theres like 2 days left of the window? Why are you agreeing to a lengthy contract renewal which will take you well into your peak, only for a small rise in salary? Comical.

Anyway Pepe is only 24 and we signed him knowing that his ceiling is much higher than Zaha's, while with Zaha we knew what we will be getting. £60m for a good 27 year old doesnt seem as value for money than £72m for someone who can be really special in a few years time.

Of course its easy to use hindsight now, but Pepe was an ambitious signing. We need to support him and squad plan with him in mind so that we can get the best out of him.

Debateable if you saw Zaha at a younger age. Pépé can still reach heights here though with the right mindset and work ethic.

 

[Red London]

Debateable if you saw Zaha at a younger age. Pépé can still reach heights here though with the right mindset and work ethic.

What do you mean? Zaha is already at his peak years, so how he looked when he was younger doent say too much anymore. He has established himself as a premier league player now. And in my opinion he wasnt necessarily expected to become that amazing from a young age. He went to united too early and then slowly built himself up at Palace, he's had a good career so far but he was never going to be an elite bracket player for me. Imo Pepe can be that, but he can also totally flop. Its hard to say just yet.

 

[Big Poppa]

What do you mean? Zaha is already at his peak years, so how he looked when he was younger doent say too much anymore. He has established himself as a premier league player now. And in my opinion he wasnt necessarily expected to become that amazing from a young age. He went to united too early and then slowly built himself up at Palace, he's had a good career so far but he was never going to be an elite bracket player for me. Imo Pepe can be that, but he can also totally flop. Its hard to say just yet.

What I mean is if we’re using the “high ceiling” because Pepe’s young argument, Zaha had a comparably high ceiling at a young age too. He played for England twice before he was 20 and was being courted by Barca.

The fact that he’s 27 and hasn’t reached certain heights has more to do with the club he’s playing for and David Moyes than him as an individual.

24 is not actually that young and Pépé’s completely unproven outside of a very average league. My general point is youth/potential guarantees nothing, it’s the attitude and effort of the player (and a large slice of luck) that means all we can do is wait and hope he finds his groove.

A good place to start is by learning English and stop skipping leg day

 

[Red London]

What I mean is if we’re using the “high ceiling” because Pepe’s young argument, Zaha had a comparably high ceiling at a young age too. He played for England twice before he was 20 and was being courted by Barca.

The fact that he’s 27 and hasn’t reached certain heights has more to do with the club he’s playing for and David Moyes than him as an individual.

24 is not actually that young and Pépé’s completely unproven outside of a very average league. My general point is youth/potential guarantees nothing, it’s the attitude and effort of the player (and a large slice of luck) that means all we can do is wait and hope he finds his groove.

A good place to start is by learning English and stop skipping leg day

Some players bloom late and that’s certainly been the case with Pepe. In a way your argument supports the point that Pepe can still be great, you don’t grow in a linear fashion like in Fifa Career Mode. Sometimes players have a burst of brilliance and become something special. Pepe just burst onto the scene last season while we have seen what Zaha has to offer.

I’d say the difference between Pepe and Zaha is that Pepe lit up the French League last season. He got a lot of goals, won a lot of pens and got a lot of assists. I know it’s no PL but he showed so much promise. You can’t be that gifted on the ball in terms of dribbling and striking a ball but be a one season wonder.

He’s got the talent, he needs to meet that talent by training hard and being relentless. He needs some help from our recruitment and Mikel too of course. Of course he was a more risky signing because he was an unknown entity compared to Zaha, but it could pay off long term.

 

[scytheavatar]

Some players bloom late and that’s certainly been the case with Pepe. In a way your argument supports the point that Pepe can still be great, you don’t grow in a linear fashion like in Fifa Career Mode. Sometimes players have a burst of brilliance and become something special. Pepe just burst onto the scene last season while we have seen what Zaha has to offer.

I’d say the difference between Pepe and Zaha is that Pepe lit up the French League last season. He got a lot of goals, won a lot of pens and got a lot of assists. I know it’s no PL but he showed so much promise. You can’t be that gifted on the ball in terms of dribbling and striking a ball but be a one season wonder.

He’s got the talent, he needs to meet that talent by training hard and being relentless. He needs some help from our recruitment and Mikel too of course. Of course he was a more risky signing because he was an unknown entity compared to Zaha, but it could pay off long term.

Uh............. Pepe isn't gifted in striking the ball at all. Already time and again he dribbles himself into good positions only to give the ball away because he takes too long to get the shot away. There are good reasons why people were comparing him to Gervinho. Gervinho was a god when it comes to dribbling too, problem is everything else in his game was subpar.

 

[Macho]

Lol he’s one of the best strikers of the ball in the team..

Which isn’t saying a lot, but yeah couldn’t be more incorrect - nothing like Gervinho, just both French african who can dribble and certain kind of people put 2 and 2.. it’s a very lazy comparison tbh.


We’ve not seen Gervinho or the majority of the Arsenal squad do this in their entire career.

 

[OnlyOne]

Lol he’s one of the best strikers of the ball in the team..

Which isn’t saying a lot, but yeah couldn’t be more incorrect - nothing like Gervinho, just both French african who can dribble and certain kind of people put 2 and 2.. it’s a very lazy comparison tbh.


We’ve not seen Gervinho or the majority of the Arsenal squad do this in their entire career.

Bare jokes how Guendouzi was lined up as if he was going to take it.

 

[Red London]

Lol he’s one of the best strikers of the ball in the team..

Which isn’t saying a lot, but yeah couldn’t be more incorrect - nothing like Gervinho, just both French african who can dribble and certain kind of people put 2 and 2.. it’s a very lazy comparison tbh.


We’ve not seen Gervinho or the majority of the Arsenal squad do this in their entire career.

Its not even just this, he takes extremely dangerous corners too. He looks like he can really develop into a dead ball specialist.

In terms of open play, his composure has been shot due to his low confidence but you have to be an idiot to not see he can really wrap his left foot around the ball. How many times this season has he finessed the ball from 16-20 yards and it has whistled past the post or hit the woodwork. Countless times.

He would have won us the game with a lovely finish vs Palace where he got the shot off with 0 backlift but Guiata pulled off probably the save of the season to push it onto the post.

Its been fine margins for Pepe this season in terms of goals. He has hit the post/bar 3-4 times and has almost scored even more. I think thats an important factor here as he was low in confidence and you could tell he wants to show people what he can do.

When he scored those free kicks in the EL he didnt even properly celebrate, because he wasnt playing well in the PL. We only saw Pepe happy once he scored and assisted vs West Ham. He was slowly growing in confidence as the season went on, I hope he has been training hard and is ready for the return.

 

[dashsnow17]

He's a good player, I don't get the fuss. Before he came, everyone complained that we didn't have anyone who could dribble. Well, now we do. Just give him time.

 

[Big Poppa]

He's a good player, I don't get the fuss. Before he came, everyone complained that we didn't have anyone who could dribble. Well, now we do. Just give him time.

Serious question, do you think he’s a better dribbler than Iwobi?

 

[Oxeki]

Serious question, do you think he’s a better dribbler than Iwobi?

What?

No one was scared of Iwobi. Only one defender used to mark Iwobi.

But opponents are scared of Pepe. The minimum number of defender that normally marks him per match two.

It's pity that we don't take advantage of this.

 

[scytheavatar]

Lol he’s one of the best strikers of the ball in the team..

Which isn’t saying a lot, but yeah couldn’t be more incorrect - nothing like Gervinho, just both French african who can dribble and certain kind of people put 2 and 2.. it’s a very lazy comparison tbh.


We’ve not seen Gervinho or the majority of the Arsenal squad do this in their entire career.

Free kicks. What about in open play where he has missed numerous chances?

He's a good player, I don't get the fuss. Before he came, everyone complained that we didn't have anyone who could dribble. Well, now we do. Just give him time.

Problem is for what we paid is it enough for him to be a good player? Cause we already have plenty of "good" players in our squad particularly the front 3, what we need are more "great" players...... if we sell Auba can Pepe fill the void?

 

[Big Poppa]

What?

No one was scared of Iwobi. Only one defender used to mark Iwobi.

But opponents are scared of Pepe. The minimum number of defender that normally marks him per match two.

It's pity that we don't take advantage of this.

Hmm my question wasn’t whether opponents are more scared (he arrived with a big reputation and a huge fee so it makes sense), but whether he’s technically a better dribbler.

It’s not a loaded question & I was interested in his view.

 

[Moah]

Its not even just this, he takes extremely dangerous corners too. He looks like he can really develop into a dead ball specialist.

In terms of open play, his composure has been shot due to his low confidence but you have to be an idiot to not see he can really wrap his left foot around the ball. How many times this season has he finessed the ball from 16-20 yards and it has whistled past the post or hit the woodwork. Countless times.

He would have won us the game with a lovely finish vs Palace where he got the shot off with 0 backlift but Guiata pulled off probably the save of the season to push it onto the post.

Its been fine margins for Pepe this season in terms of goals. He has hit the post/bar 3-4 times and has almost scored even more. I think thats an important factor here as he was low in confidence and you could tell he wants to show people what he can do.

When he scored those free kicks in the EL he didnt even properly celebrate, because he wasnt playing well in the PL. We only saw Pepe happy once he scored and assisted vs West Ham. He was slowly growing in confidence as the season went on, I hope he has been training hard and is ready for the return.

You missed the curler that hit the post against United. I enjoyed that shot more than 50% of our goals this season.

Not one of those players would strike that ball like that.

 

[DasBootist]

Free kicks. What about in open play where he has missed numerous chances?

Aubameyang has missed numerous chances. He's also scored the most goals in England since he arrived here.

Problem is for what we paid is it enough for him to be a good player? Cause we already have plenty of "good" players in our squad particularly the front 3, what we need are more "great" players...... if we sell Auba can Pepe fill the void?

For the umpteenth time, the player does not dictate the transfer fee so it shouldn't factor into how we judge him. Is Neymar the best player to have graced the game?

Is Kepa better than Buffon?

 

[Moah]

Free kicks. What about in open play where he has missed numerous chances?



Problem is for what we paid is it enough for him to be a good player? Cause we already have plenty of "good" players in our squad particularly the front 3, what we need are more "great" players...... if we sell Auba can Pepe fill the void?

The entire team couldn't create a chance for 60% percent of the season, let alone a single player missing numerous.