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Nicolas Pepe: The Nutmeg Express!

What would you do with Pepe?

  • Keep him for the foreseeable future

  • Give him one more season to prove himself

  • Sell if you can get a significant fee, keep otherwise

  • Sell at any price


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Maybe

You're wrong, no?
He needs to do much more, impose himself on games. This was avaerage opposition, he should have torn them to shreds. His right foot is really useless, I wish we'd play him on the left.
To do what? To put crosses in for Laca? He plays where he is at his best, but our tactic is completely focused on attacking from the left side, which gives you the wrong impression of his impact.
The only benefit for him to play on the left is that he would see more of the ball, but for me, that's not the solution
 

GunnerShy

Well-Known Member
Didn't really play that well, was poor until the last 30 or so minutes.
Agree. Felt like he took 60 minutes to warm up and find the intensity he needs to play 90 with.

That said I'm noticing an improvement in his body language and fight. But he won't be the player we need unless he can be at it all game.
 

Mo Britain

Doom Monger
To do what? To put crosses in for Laca? He plays where he is at his best, but our tactic is completely focused on attacking from the left side, which gives you the wrong impression of his impact.
The only benefit for him to play on the left is that he would see more of the ball, but for me, that's not the solution
To do whatever he is doing on the right... but better. His game on the right is predictable and any opponent knows that his speed, which is considerable, is eventually checked as he has to turn to use his left.
 

blaze_of_glory

Moderator
Moderator

Country: Canada
Missed the bulk of the second half but sounds like he improved a bit? Wasn't very impressed with him in the first half but the whole team was pretty bad tbh.
 

tcahill

Well-Known Member
I'm a Pepe fan but I don't understand why people are saying he was good today. Looked very average until late in the game. However, like the rest of our forward line, he was getting almost no service.

His talent is clearly there though. He has good end product, excellent dribbling ability and is lightning quick. He just needs a better system and to get out of his own head.
 

Red London

Anti-Simp Culture
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I'm a Pepe fan but I don't understand why people are saying he was good today. Looked very average until late in the game. However, like the rest of our forward line, he was getting almost no service.

His talent is clearly there though. He has good end product, excellent dribbling ability and is lightning quick. He just needs a better system and to get out of his own head.
The thing is you can argue that he changed the game to an extent, similar to the Sheffield game. I'm not saying he did anything particularly brilliant but he shone towards the end and was a key contributor. In both games we clawed back the win from his right side, whether it be him or others overlapping.

He still has a lot to prove but we have been relegation standard in terms of chance creation since he came :lol: he's been working off scraps to an extent. He should be better at this stage but he certainly hasnt been helped one bit by Arteta's system or our general ****ty play since he arrived.
 

Macho

In search of Pure Profit 💸
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Country: England
He still has a lot to prove but we have been relegation standard in terms of chance creation since he came :lol: he's been working off scraps to an extent. He should be better at this stage but he certainly hasnt been helped one bit by Arteta's system or our general ****ty play since he arrived.
I was gonna explain this to a poster who called him crap today but I deleted it cause I couldn’t be bothered.

He’s a good player, it’s just a shame about the price tag. I wish we had a marauding rb/rwb to offer support when going forward. Our attack just looks disjointed and off key.
 

Makavelii

Active Member
I thought he was good today. Nice set piece for his assist and made a few killer passes and take ons especially in the second half.

Agree with the above that he needs more service. He's not perfect and will always be compared with his price tag, but has a lot to offer.
 

Aussie_gunner123

Established Member

Country: Australia
Pepe is a good player & I rate him but yes unfortunately he was a bit poor tonight as were most players though. Also his natural game doesn't play to Artetas slow dull boring game plan atm which obviously won't help, made a good break down the right in the 1st before he got taken out though. What is Luiz doing taking our main close free kicks though? As soon as Pepe takes one we score of a good Luiz header ironically.
 

Makavelii

Active Member
Pepe is a good player & I rate him but yes unfortunately he was a bit poor tonight as were most players though. Also his natural game doesn't play to Artetas slow dull boring game plan atm which obviously won't help, made a good break down the right in the 1st before he got taken out though. What is Luiz doing taking our main close free kicks though? As soon as Pepe takes one we score of a good Luiz header ironically.
How was he poor tonight?
Just looking at his stats from the game now. He had a solid all round game + obviously made the difference with his assist and was involved in the other goal too.
 

Aussie_gunner123

Established Member

Country: Australia
How was he poor tonight?
Just looking at his stats from the game now. He had a solid all round game + obviously made the difference with his assist and was involved in the other goal too.
Certainly is capable of playing better is more on the line of what I meant. He probably was a bit more solid then a few of the players though & yes that was a top free kick by him perfectly weighted.
 

Finesse

Well-Known Member
I am still to fully understand Pepe at Arsenal. Watching Pepe for Ligue 1 , I kept dreaming how much damage would this boy do in the PL playing for Arsenal. Just like when I watched Partey for Atletico.

This is his second season and watching closely he seems to be playing like he wants to prove himself. He gets this electric ⚡️ static look when he gets hold of the ball and just wants to dribble and run at anyone close to him. He only passes when he has no option. He does not disguise his move and his body language shows his intentions even before he receives the ball. Compare that with the kid Saka and you see a more mature footballer , who misses it to pass short and has some planning into when he takes a player on or not. The potential is there but can we take it out. Like Zaha for United. Can we be that patient anymore ? His biggest cushion is his price tag and we desperately defend him and hope he plays to his price tag. Can Arteta get him to play with combination and explode only when the time is right?
 

SingmeasongSong

Right Sometimes
The thing is you can argue that he changed the game to an extent, similar to the Sheffield game. I'm not saying he did anything particularly brilliant but he shone towards the end and was a key contributor. In both games we clawed back the win from his right side, whether it be him or others overlapping.

He still has a lot to prove but we have been relegation standard in terms of chance creation since he came :lol: he's been working off scraps to an extent. He should be better at this stage but he certainly hasnt been helped one bit by Arteta's system or our general ****ty play since he arrived.

It's a bit of both worlds I guess, it's not as easy as black and white, but that's sadly all 99% of people like to get for every debate there is.

He's massively talented, he's been extremely exciting at the earlier stages of Arteta's reign like against ManU and some games around.
It's probably a bit unfair to include the Emery drama in his evaluation also.

On the other hand he clearly lacked intensity, still hasn't that really clever positioning and hides for good parts of the game.

When it comes to influence to our overall play, I gotta say he's a lot better than Auba though and people have been losing it about his goal output which made it hard for people to actually criticize him for the lack of anything else.
Auba is a pretty pretty bad LW for all but his goal and it costs a lot to play him there just to get another CF put into the lineup.

If we judge Pepe for his first season on just goals and assists as it seems to happen with Auba, he's done quite okay for now given that our club was in chaos and we haven't had creativity in midfield for 2 years.
 

Oxeki

Match Day Thread Merchant
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Country: Nigeria

Player:Saliba
I think I'll give him one more season TBH.
Our system is not helping. The talent is there. He just needs to have players in Midfield that move the ball forward quickly. When he gets the ball, it's mostly in non-threatening areas and he's crowded out and passes backwards. It's no coincidence that none of our forwards are playing well currently.
It's unfair to expect him to carry our attack.
I feel sorry for him. Last season we were overloading his side of the pitch so as to give saka more room to operate on the left. Now we're building most of our attack down the left.

Our CMs are still too conservative. They don't move the ball forward quickly enough, giving the opponents time to get into shape. They risk-averse. Penetrative passing from them has been very rare this season. You don't expect him to make much of an impact when he spends most of the time facing his own goal.

Pepe himself is not exempted from blame either. Some of his decision making when he's gotten the ball in dangerous areas has been a bit suspect.
 

truth_hurts

but Holding’s hair transplant was painless
There has to be a level of accountability from Pepe at some stage though. He's a prisoner of the moment too much rather than seizing the moment.

If he's only getting 25 touches a game, but he's wreaking havoc, you blame the system for his lack of involvement.

If he's getting 25 touches, doing meaningless feints and either playing the ball backwards or out of play - it is right to expect more.

Pepe in the FA cup final, Pepe vs United or the Pepe who smashed two late goals in the Europa League last season, where are you? We need you!
 
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