Nicolas Pepe: The Nutmeg Express!

[drippin]

Great to see that Pepe is finding his true self now in Arsenal. He seems like such a shy guy, no wonder it takes a while to adjust.

People of course wanted instant effect with that transfer fee, and I can totally understand that. But he was a goalie when young, and now a forward. He is a late bloomer.

He will come very good imo, that's how I have always seen him. But of course I had some doubts like anyone when the adjusting was so long. Good to see Arteta to push him more for consistency.

Take a look at Ndombele's adjustment period and umm, I'm speechless. He was worthless at that period basically and even now not so sure he can do it, although much better. Pepe has never been worthless like Ndombele was.

 

[Macho]

It's a bit odd I must say. There's a level of paranoia around Pepe that you don't really see with any other Arsenal player.

The manager, fans and media are out to get him and if any of them say anything positive about Pepe it must be a covertly back handed put down

Pepe's playing well, maybe his best spell since he's been here. If they don't want to give the manager any credit for his more consistent form, I don't agree, but fair enough. But Arteta's clearly not having a negative impact on Pepe based on his form.

I don't see why we can't just be happy that Pepe's playing well instead of using him as a pawn in a proxy war over whether Arteta is a good manager or not.

It's not paranoia, it's just an observation of mine that can be backed up by the guys quotes. He could just say "he played well hopefully he keeps it up" like he does with Saka, Auba, Xhaka etc but there's always a mentality or consistency jab thrown in every time. Not a big deal, but I notice it and think it's unnecessary.

What does he mean "no excuses"? If excuses were £'s the club wouldn't even need to pay Arteta would they? a bit rich coming from him cause he'd be rolling in it.

 

[LG10]

If you’re happy with pepe this season you don’t rate him highly. He’s been beating on europa league farmers and had a few good games in the league (Leicester in particular) but he’s come up short most of the time.
With his ability he should be doing more but he hasn’t improved his decision making or movement enough. His latitude is too lax, you can see he’s fine being on the bench. Why arteta is rightly tough with him, he needs the motivation

 

[Riou]

Maybe @Blood on the Tracks has a point, maybe Pepe responds better to a demanding approach than an arm around the shoulder approach.

Nico has been kept on his toes ever since Mikel took over, sometimes playing and sometimes not playing...but when he has played in that time, he is still putting up numbers for us...maybe it's because of this approach.

The last few months, he has been quality here...maybe Mikel knows if Nico gets too relaxed in the team, his form will drop, not like Pepe seems annoyed when he's not in the team, maybe this system is motivating him...they have been working together a while now and there havn't been any issues really.

Even last season, Arteta still picked Pepe in the 2 biggest games, City and Chelsea in the cup (picked him over Saka too) and he played well in those games under Mikel...all players are different, maybe this is what Pepe needs.

 

[Jury]

It's not paranoia, it's just an observation of mine that can be backed up by the guys quotes. He could just say "he played well hopefully he keeps it up" like he does with Saka, Auba, Xhaka etc but there's always a mentality or consistency jab thrown in every time. Not a big deal, but I notice it and think it's unnecessary.

What does he mean "no excuses"? If excuses were £'s the club wouldn't even need to pay Arteta would they? a bit rich coming from him cause he'd be rolling in it.

If Pepe himself cared as much as you or others appear to, he'd probably be stinking the place out every time instead of impressing every time. Don't you think it's better to see that way? He's happy, playing great and Arteta clearly sees him as a big part of the team. Do you not think getting the best out of a previously failing £72m investment is a good look for Mikel, or do you think his great form has merely thrown a spanner in the works of his dastardly plan to make him look like ****?

 

[Jury]

Maybe @Blood on the Tracks has a point, maybe Pepe responds better to a demanding approach than an arm around the shoulder approach.

Nico has been kept on his toes ever since Mikel took over, sometimes playing and sometimes not playing...but when he has played in that time, he is still putting up numbers for us...maybe it's because of this approach.

The last few months, he has been quality here...maybe Mikel knows if Nico gets too relaxed in the team, his form will drop, not like Pepe seems annoyed when he's not in the team, maybe this system is motivating him...they have been working together a while now and there havn't been any issues really.

Even last season, Arteta still picked Pepe in the 2 biggest games, City and Chelsea in the cup (picked him over Saka too) and he played well in those games under Mikel...all players are different, maybe this is what Pepe needs.

Imagine that, eh?... A manager discovering what makes a player tick... A most un-manager like practice. I guess you have to be a manager for longer before you're allowed to start speaking and acting like one...

 

[Blood on the Tracks]

It's not paranoia, it's just an observation of mine that can be backed up by the guys quotes. He could just say "he played well hopefully he keeps it up" like he does with Saka, Auba, Xhaka etc but there's always a mentality or consistency jab thrown in every time. Not a big deal, but I notice it and think it's unnecessary.

What does he mean "no excuses"? If excuses were £'s the club wouldn't even need to pay Arteta would they? a bit rich coming from him cause he'd be rolling in it.

Maybe just maybe though the way Arteta talks to and about Pepe is intentional and done with the best of intentions in terms of getting the best performances out of him.

Someone like Auba I feel is the sort who responds best to having an arm put around him and being told how great he is. Özil was definitely like that was too.

Pepe could just be the opposite personality type that thrives when he's being pushed hard by the manager. His current form would indicate whatever is going on is working, or at least not having a negative impact on Pepe, in fact he seems pretty happy with Arteta.

I'm just not really seeing what the issue is.

 

[Riou]

Imagine that, eh?... A manager discovering what makes a player tick... A most un-manager like practice. I guess you have to be a manager for longer before you're allowed to start speaking and acting like one...

Pepe playing well for Arteta...

Certain people will never admit it, but they are fuming about this imo.

 

[Jury]

Pepe playing well for Arteta...

Certain people will never admit it, but they are fuming about this imo.

Clearly, imo. You heard more noise about Pepe and his form when he was playing like an u15 player. "Needs a better manager", they said. Now he's balling, same bods are not interested in his form and have turned their attentions to... the manager!

 

[Macho]

If Pepe himself cared as much as you or others appear to, he'd probably be stinking the place out every time instead of impressing every time. Don't you think it's better to see that way? He's happy, playing great and Arteta clearly sees him as a big part of the team. Do you not think getting the best out of a previously failing £72m investment is a good look for Mikel, or do you think his great form has merely thrown a spanner in the works of his dastardly plan to make him look like ****?

Defo the latter imo.

Im partially on the wind up, I’ve acknowledged that Arteta’s coaching has helped Pepe for the better (in terms of discipline and efficiency).

However it’s not by force I have to like Mikel’s interviews and I can question his man management. Not that Mikel did anything wrong here, his quotes just irked me a bit. Maybe Pepe likes this like @Blood on the Tracks said? Who really knows.

 

[dka1]

Pepe playing well for Arteta...

Certain people will never admit it, but they are fuming about this imo.

I think that's a lot of hyperbole at the very least, especially from someone with takes like this:

We paid over £70 million for a Gervinho, with 1999 The Rock sideburns

Or even this:

I wonder if Arteta somehow blamed Pepe for the Pieters handball not being given last weekend?

But you were joking there amirite?

To greatly over simplify I can see four different overarching opinions running on Pepe recently:

1. Those who thought he should've been given more chances and are happy he's getting minutes. You could probably break this down further to those who wanted him to be our starter at the beginning of the season over Willian.

2. Those who thought he should've been given more chances, are happy he's getting minutes but aren't really happy about the reasoning behind some of his inconsistent opportunities.

This is probably the group you're trying to take a shot at but I don't see anything implying they are unhappy Pepe is doing well (and doing well under Arteta).

But if you see it then point it out to me.

3. Those that weren't particularly impressed with Pepe given his on pitch performances but have been impressed by what he's producing recently.

4. Those that supported the manager's reasoning in regards to other players in comparison to Pepe (*cough* Willian) but are now onboard with Pepe.

This could break down to those that tend to think that Arteta is big part of his improvement (though Pepe was already showing a lot of promise towards the end of last season that may have been squashed by us bringing in Willian and starting him unnecessarily, but I'll stop there as I sound salty).

 

[Maybe]

I think that's a lot of hyperbole at the very least, especially from someone with takes like this:



Or even this:



But you were joking there amirite?

To greatly over simplify I can see four different overarching opinions running on Pepe recently:

1. Those who thought he should've been given more chances and are happy he's getting minutes. You could probably break this down further to those who wanted him to be our starter at the beginning of the season over Willian.

2. Those who thought he should've been given more chances, are happy he's getting minutes but aren't really happy about the reasoning behind some of his inconsistent opportunities.

This is probably the group you're trying to take a shot at but I don't see anything implying they are unhappy Pepe is doing well (and doing well under Arteta).

But if you see it then point it out to me.

3. Those that weren't particularly impressed with Pepe given his on pitch performances but have been impressed by what he's producing recently.

4. Those that supported the manager's reasoning in regards to other players in comparison to Pepe (*cough* Willian) but are now onboard with Pepe.

This could break down to those that tend to think that Arteta is big part of his improvement (though Pepe was already showing a lot of promise towards the end of last season that may have been squashed by us bringing in Willian and starting him unnecessarily, but I'll stop there as I sound salty).

There were 2 groups last season (maybe early this season):
1. Those who thought Pepe should be our backup goalkeeper
2. Those who thought Pepe is a great player

And there are 2 groups at this moment:
1. Those who want to eat their words from the past, but instead will rather take the easy route and write rubbish like how Pepe improved under Arteta, and they are the same people who will turn against Pepe as soon as he has a "bad" game. That group will usually hide under posts like "he improved under Arteta and it makes complete sense to play him now"
2. Those who knew all along that we have a great player and we are enjoying looking at other posters trying to make excuses for their lack of understanding who Pepe is because it took them more than they would like to admit to realize that Pepe is a great player.

There's also 2 stages of Arteta when it comes to Pepe:
1. The guy who wouldn't want to admit that don Raul got it right (probably together with Edu who basically got his job) and gave his all to sabotage the player
2. The guy who is now in the corner, turning to Pepe to save his job (and our season) because there's no other option and all of his ideas so far were a total disaster

 

[The_Playmaker]

It's not paranoia, it's just an observation of mine that can be backed up by the guys quotes. He could just say "he played well hopefully he keeps it up" like he does with Saka, Auba, Xhaka etc but there's always a mentality or consistency jab thrown in every time. Not a big deal, but I notice it and think it's unnecessary.

What does he mean "no excuses"? If excuses were £'s the club wouldn't even need to pay Arteta would they? a bit rich coming from him cause he'd be rolling in it.

I see what you are saying, but when it comes to Pepe, I have come around to the fact that he is someone who needs to be managed.

Originally I thought it was systemic. The way Pepe always ended up on the touchline with 3 players to beat, but does Saka have that problem? I think it is as simple as Pepe has all of the talent in the world, but lacks some of the basics. Similar to Martinelli. Saka and ESR are intelligent footballers with the technique to match. I think Pepe is a very skillful player who thrives on instinct and motivation. Not necessarily tactical positioning. Pepe on a good day looks world class. Pepe on a bad day looks like he hasn't played at this level before. He is a player who has been left to his own devices and for him to just contribute in numbers. Similar to Ousmane Dembele. The same could be said for Zaha. If he came to Arsenal under Arteta, I feel he would be in and out of the team also. As he has basically done what he wanted for years at Palace.

So the basics of where to be when he doesn't have the ball, how to press. When to fill in. Recovering. When to dribble and when not to. Where to be when certain players have the ball and movement to make himself available. Arteta has improved all of this. It is clear to see. Pepe is very good defensively now. He works very hard. He is combative. He releases it quicker and his combination play is much better.

Now in terms of personality. He is an introvert by nature, but he is a very arrogant footballer. So he definitely needs tough love. I always remarked that we hadn't see the Pepe at Lille. The arrogant salute celebration. He always seemed to feel sorry for himself after he contributed, like it's not going to lead to anything. We can't look at the games where he has intrinsic motivation. Vs Slavia he was always going to play well. He had the racial motivation. In cup finals and semi finals he will always play well as he genuinely gets pumped up and wants to show what he has got. It is all the other games. The games where there is no glamour. That's where he needs to be motivated. That's when Arteta looks at him in training and thinks, you are not on it. So you are not playing.

The press conference is a message to Pepe. I dont think it's a case of, if you don't score or assist you don't play. I think it's a case of if you dont show that drive, and you dont do the basics to that level, irrespective of if you score or not. You will not play.

I do not believe that Willian is better than Pepe. However I genuinely believe that Willian is a better trainer than Pepe. That is the only way Pepe would tolerate the way he is in and out of the team.

I think Arteta is right. The adaptation is over. He is surrounded by more technical players in Saka and ESR. There is no excuse for him to drop his level, to not show the basics each game.

 

[Blood on the Tracks]

Defo the latter imo.

Im partially on the wind up, I’ve acknowledged that Arteta’s coaching has helped Pepe for the better (in terms of discipline and efficiency).

However it’s not by force I have to like Mikel’s interviews and I can question his man management. Not that Mikel did anything wrong here, his quotes just irked me a bit. Maybe Pepe likes this like @Blood on the Tracks said? Who really knows.

Well, I can see your point with it. If Pepe is one of your favourite players seeing him be treated differently to other players must be a bit annoying.

But I guess if it works, it works. Let's hope Pepe keeps performing at this level and maybe even pushes on a level. I don't think he's playing at his ceiling by any means, so that's good news. I think there's more to come

 

[Macho]

Well, I can see your point with it. If Pepe is one of your favourite players seeing him be treated differently to other players must be a bit annoying.

All I was saying tbh.

I didn’t even say Arteta is rubbish or whatever before @Jury and other Arteta guys got their knickers in a twist - I saw the quotes and I didn’t like them. I don’t have to.

 

[Macho]

His latitude is too lax, you can see he’s fine being on the bench. Why arteta is rightly tough with him, he needs the motivation

A lot of assumption here. Last time Pepe complained about his bench role, he started and got sent off. He probably learned not to do that again.

You Arteta guys are so quick to credit everything good Pepe does to the manager.

How do we know a lot of his motivation could be professional pride being dented due to teenagers upstaging him for periods of the season?
Pires coming out and saying he’s not suited to the league?

But no, let’s immediately credit his uptick in form on Arteta’s amateur Jedi mind tricks.

This forum man.

 

[Blood on the Tracks]

A lot of assumption here. Last time Pepe complained about his bench role, he started and got sent off. He probably learned not to do that again.

You Arteta guys are so quick to credit everything good Pepe does to the manager.

How do we know a lot of his motivation could be professional pride being dented due to teenagers upstaging him for periods of the season?
Pires coming out and saying he’s not suited to the league?

But no, let’s immediately credit his uptick in form on Arteta’s amateur Jedi mind tricks.

This forum man.

It works both ways though.

Plenty of Pepe supporters were blaming Arteta almost totally for his lack of form earlier in the season.

If blame is laid almost wholly at the managers door when a player is underperforming it only seems fair that he gets some of the credit for the turnaround.

 

[Rex Stone]

Can’t we just all agree that Pepe is a baller and Mikel is a bum?

No need to argue guys.

 

[Blood on the Tracks]

I see what you are saying, but when it comes to Pepe, I have come around to the fact that he is someone who needs to be managed.

Originally I thought it was systemic. The way Pepe always ended up on the touchline with 3 players to beat, but does Saka have that problem? I think it is as simple as Pepe has all of the talent in the world, but lacks some of the basics. Similar to Martinelli. Saka and ESR are intelligent footballers with the technique to match. I think Pepe is a very skillful player who thrives on instinct and motivation. Not necessarily tactical positioning. Pepe on a good day looks world class. Pepe on a bad day looks like he hasn't played at this level before. He is a player who has been left to his own devices and for him to just contribute in numbers. Similar to Ousmane Dembele. The same could be said for Zaha. If he came to Arsenal under Arteta, I feel he would be in and out of the team also. As he has basically done what he wanted for years at Palace.

So the basics of where to be when he doesn't have the ball, how to press. When to fill in. Recovering. When to dribble and when not to. Where to be when certain players have the ball and movement to make himself available. Arteta has improved all of this. It is clear to see. Pepe is very good defensively now. He works very hard. He is combative. He releases it quicker and his combination play is much better.

Now in terms of personality. He is an introvert by nature, but he is a very arrogant footballer. So he definitely needs tough love. I always remarked that we hadn't see the Pepe at Lille. The arrogant salute celebration. He always seemed to feel sorry for himself after he contributed, like it's not going to lead to anything. We can't look at the games where he has intrinsic motivation. Vs Slavia he was always going to play well. He had the racial motivation. In cup finals and semi finals he will always play well as he genuinely gets pumped up and wants to show what he has got. It is all the other games. The games where there is no glamour. That's where he needs to be motivated. That's when Arteta looks at him in training and thinks, you are not on it. So you are not playing.

The press conference is a message to Pepe. I dont think it's a case of, if you don't score or assist you don't play. I think it's a case of if you dont show that drive, and you dont do the basics to that level, irrespective of if you score or not. You will not play.

I do not believe that Willian is better than Pepe. However I genuinely believe that Willian is a better trainer than Pepe. That is the only way Pepe would tolerate the way he is in and out of the team.

I think Arteta is right. The adaptation is over. He is surrounded by more technical players in Saka and ESR. There is no excuse for him to drop his level, to not show the basics each game.

Best post in this thread

 

[Jury]

It works both ways though.

Plenty of Pepe supporters were blaming Arteta almost totally for his lack of form earlier in the season.

If blame is laid almost wholly at the managers door when a player is underperforming it only seems fair that he gets some of the credit for the turnaround.

It’s not worth it. He’s too far gone to recognise anything positive that might be the managers doing. Not happy when Pepe is struggling and not happy when he’s flying. Gives the impression something else is the problem... @Riou nailed it earlier.