Nicolas Pepe: The Nutmeg Express!

[Maybe]

PL 19/20: P:31 G:5 A:6
PL 20/21: P:19 G:5 A:0

£72m for 16 G/A in 50 games.

And he started in like half of those 50

 

[Pop Tart]

Nope, the club and the fans fully deserve to finish 10th or wherever and they fully deserve Willian in my honest opinion.

The younger players who can’t get into this side despite our poor season or questionable personnel if they are smart, they would bounce.

Looking forward to a last 16 exit in the europa conference in future seasons.

 

[Hunta]

And he started in like half of those 50

...because a 19 year old kid pisses all over him and he’s had to change position.

 

[Maybe]

...because a 19 year old kid pisses all over him and he’s had to change position.

not really, he was replaced by Willian at the start of the season, something that many of us can't understand to this day. But keep it up mate, you're doing great

 

[Hunta]

not really, he was replaced by Willian at the start of the season, something that many of us can't understand to this day. But keep it up mate, you're doing great

Don’t need to keep anything up, £72m down the ****ter!

 

[Trilly]

He hasn't learned but as long as people continue to draw up diagrams and write defence pieces to defend him what can you do

 

[Trilly]

Don’t need to keep anything up, £72m down the ****ter!

If it’s down the ****ter then stop talking about it!!

 

[Hunta]

If it’s down the ****ter then stop talking about it!!

Stop giving me yellow cards, Uriah Rennie.

 

[Hunta]

3 yellow cards he’s given me, ****ing AM Graham Poll.

 

[Iceman10]

So if we to back to the Chelsea game which is the turning point, Pepe started the two fa cup games and the United game and was basically average offensively but was evidently working harder off the ball.

The turning point came against Southampton where he scored and looked very good from the left. He played the whole United game and was okay, but then scored a stunner vs wolves. So 2 out of 3 were really good games. He then played vs Villa and didn't score, got dropped for Leeds and we won, and everyone thought he was being rested. Not the case. He didn't play in either of the Benfica matches but played in the City loss. He then starred vs Leiciester and was motm in my opinion and got dropped for Burnley.

Now as it stands he has been dropped. If he plays on Thursday you can say he was rested. However, the last time we thought he was rested vs Leeds, he was in fact dropped. When you add that Willian playing simple passes for assists will have Arteta looking at data and trying to justify him starting in comparison to Pepes miss then I can see Pepe being on the bench Thursday.

Pepe seems really popular. If he doesn't start Thursday it begs the question, what does he have to do to get regular game time? The bar seems lower for certain players.

I am not a statistical expert, but in order for Pepe to get 2 games in a row, he needs to basically be motm in one of them. It's like he has to play 3 times better in order to get consecutive starts. Willian came on vs Benfica and got an assist. He then got two starts in a row vs Leicester and Burnley. A good game for Willian is providing a simple pass that results in an assist. Pepe is a match winner.

I am keeping a close eye on Thursdays line up.

Here is your answer, and this preference for Willian over Pepe is increasing my doubts regarding Mikel long term. Results will matter more for him than selections but I don’t think he can ever be a top manager with underlying tendencies I think are unlikely to change.

 

[Trilly]

Here is your answer, and this preference for Willian over Pepe is increasing my doubts regarding Mikel long term. Results will matter more for him than selections but I don’t think he can ever be a top manager with underlying tendencies I think are unlikely to change.

It’s behaviour like this that makes it hard to have any kind of sympathy for Arteta. He talks about needing more quality but doesn’t even know his best team.

 

[mirrorstare]

Feel bad for his fans

 

[Moah]

Some of us have been here for months saying he should leave. If he doesn't try to move this summer then I'll question his ambition.

 

[Iceman10]

Some of us have been here for months saying he should leave. If he doesn't try to move this summer then I'll question his ambition.

Many Arsenal fans will never advocate for a player to leave that they still like because they are naturally Arsenal first. As such what you are staying is not a valid vindication or “I told ya so”.

 

[Macho]

Some of us have been here for months saying he should leave. If he doesn't try to move this summer then I'll question his ambition.

Pretty much has gotten to this point yeah.

Arteta is here for the next few seasons regardless, so you are either fine with the impact role off the bench or you're not really.

 

[GDeep™]

Stop giving me yellow cards, Uriah Rennie.

@Trilly

 

[Moah]

Many Arsenal fans will never advocate for a player to leave that they still like because they are naturally Arsenal first. As such what you are staying is not a valid vindication or “I told ya so”.

At this point I prefer him over the club, tbh.

Dead football with **** management isn't the Arsenal I loved. Like the big man said, football is an art and I prefer watching players with natural flair, not stat padders who suck the life out of the beautiful game.

 

[Iceman10]

At this point I prefer him over the club, tbh.

Dead football with **** management isn't the Arsenal I loved. Like the big man said, football is an art and I prefer watching players with natural flair, not stat padders who suck the life out of the beautiful game.

Fair play, we are all different. I can’t go there, and not for ANN either. If the club makes a decision by itself that is a different matter, as they might well do for AMN this summer.

 

[Macho]

In all fairness this happens in football all the time, the manager can't get past a preference issue and prefers a less popular player for reasons we can't see but are probably valid.

It's just a bit annoying when people or the media think that Pepe is a bad player/a flop. Clearly he's not a bad player but if the manager doesn't rate him there's nothing you can do, Arteta needs to win matches at the end of the day.

If Pepe seriously sits on this contract in the prime of his career, you have to look at him more than Mikel.

 

[Dutch D]

@Macho @freeglennhelder2 @The_Playmaker I guess we have our answer.