Is Nicolas Pepe done for at Arsenal? by Shenel
After Willian transferred from Chelsea over this transfer window, although he has experience playing in the Premier League, I was very surprised at how he performed against Fulham only because it was his first game at a different club, clearly, he wasn’t affected one bit by his transfer over to North London.
Having now seemed to have cemented his place in the team, giving us pace and creativity over on the wings, something which was pretty much lacking for a while, could it be said that Pepe will struggle even more to get into the first team? If Willian can produce week in week out, then I fail to actually see when Pepe will get his chance to play up front alongside Aubameyang and Lacazette. We know he is capable of being able to slot in to the team but will Arteta switch something that seems to have worked well?.
Yes, Arteta isn’t afraid of making changes, but we also know he prefers to keep the team relatively the same if he sees that it is working. I would myself like to see Pepe come through as a star player this season because I want him to be able to justify the price that we have paid for him. Of course it takes time for a player to settle once transferring but given that Willian took no time to produce what we know he is capable of, especially against Fulham, in a team full of talent and experience. If you are a talent yourself then in all honesty it shouldn’t be very hard to be able to show what you are capable of doing.
It remains to be seen how long it will take for Pepe to gain a starting spot in the first team, but he really does need to prove himself this season, otherwise come this time next season he will probably be sold for lack of game time and goals.
Gooners?
Shenel Osman