Arteta sets out plan to bring the real Pepe out of the shadows

Nicolas Pepe joined Arsenal in a club-record deal last summer for a fee in excess of £70 Milion, but has so far failed to live up to the price-tag.

The Ivory Coast international hasn’t been a complete failure however, scoring six goals so far and showing glimpses of his brilliance in a number of games.

The consistency is certainly not there yet, nor has he earned the right to start every game for our star-studded team, but some players just need that little extra time to adjust to the Premier League.

Mikel Arteta is now set on giving Pepe all the tools he needs to make his mark in our famous red shirt.

“First of all he needs the right structure behind him to be able to provide the moments of quality and winning games, whether it’s assists, goals, dribbles or whatever it is,” Arteta stated.

“Afterwards he needs to have a much clearer picture of the things that are happening on the pitch, why they are happening and how he can solve them. I think he’s in the process of doing that.

“He hasn’t played 12 or 15 games in a row, which is a massive thing for a player in those positions which are more difficult on the pitch to make an impact in games, he needs to earn that with his performances.

“He was in France and was one of the biggest stars in the league. He made an incredible year. He comes here and a lot of people didn’t even know him and you paid that price tag. So for him to put his brain into this picture and solve all this is not easy. And he’s a really young player.”

Arteta has been using the 24 year-old much more regularly in recent matches, and the whole team seems to be growing in confidence, with results to show, and I’m quite looking forward to seeing him come out of his shell next season, with Arteta likely to relish having had a full pre-season to work together.

Does anyone doubt that Pepe has the tools to become a top Premier League player? Does he deserve to be a regular starter on his current performances.

Patrick

Tags Arteta Nicolas Pepe

4 Comments

  1. If you look at the French league PSG are the only team who would challenge the top 6 here. The others would be 1 or 2 mid-table clubs, the rest would be relegation battlers or Championship clubs.
    It was a big leap for Pepe to come here and step up to the premier league standard and he’s finding it difficult to adapt. He seems to be a sort of limbo player who was to good for the French league but not up to the standard of the premier league.
    He did so well in France because the opposition weren’t as organised and drilled which played to his strength of using his speed to make runs behind the defence and using his trickery to wrong foot average players.
    He’s now up against solid teams who are organised, fitter, faster, more physical and read the game better. His speed, quick feet and trickery are smothered out.
    He needs to change his game to be quicker in his decision making, finding space, releasing the ball quicker and making more intelligent runs.

  2. Coming from the French league is not the problem imho. The likes of Kante, Hazard, etc came from there too.

    1. I did say “he’s finding it difficult to adapt. He seems to be a sort of limbo player who was to good for the French league but not up to the standard of the premier league.”

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