Nicholas Pepe admits problems but asks for patience from Arsenal fans

When Nicholas Pepe arrived at Arsenal from Lille this summer, he was hailed as the prolific goalscoring winger that Emery’s tactics were crying out for. But he taken much longer to adapt than we expected and after scoring 35 goals in 74 appearances for Lile, he has only managed one in his first 7 games for Arsenal, and that was because Aubameyang passed up the chance to take a penalty so the Frenchman could finally get on the scoresheet.

He was particularly unimpressive against Manchester United where he gave the ball away 17 times, according to the stats, and he had to be asked about it at some time. “It’s not been easy, we must tell the truth,” he told RMC, as quoted on TalkSport.

“I’m not good enough in my stats or my usual form, it’s not the same as in Lille or during the Liverpool match early in the season.

“The confidence must come back. I am not very worried. People may be worried about statistics, but I’m not.

“I have to keep working because the level is different, so is the language.

“It’s a new championship for me. I have to adapt quickly but it will not be long.”

To be fair, new players are usually given a settling in period before being thrown into every game, and even Thierry Henry took a while before finding his scoring boots after arriving in North London. Maybe Pepe will be fine once he gets a grasp of the language and knows his way around his new home, but we hope he doesn’t take too long about it. He has a big reputation to live up to…

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58 Comments

  1. Wenger would’ve slowly integrated him into the team. I’m not saying Emery did wrong for playing him, I’m just pointing out what I’ve noticed both managers to do. As we saw with Lacazette, Wenger had to keep using him from the bench at first, even though his first game against Leceister he got a goal.

    Both managers handle situations differently, maybe really we should’ve taken it slowly on Pepe. We all wanted to see him perform and play, will you blame the fans? He’s our record signing and he’s meant to deliver something big. I think it’s obvious he needs time, that’s why I said during the United game that he needs to sit out the next match. Get him to the bench, let Martinelli have his own run, Push Saka to the right wing. (The boy has all the abilities inverted wingers are required to have, and he could be our own Pepe or Salah) and play Martinelli on the LW.
    Pepe should slowly build his confidence, because if it keeps going on like this, expectations will be too high, the moment he starts every game, the exact moment, fans are expecting him to turn up and that’s a lot of pressure.
    I think he’ll come good, he’ll take much time just like Henry, but he should take a breather and work this all over again from the bench

    1. Eddie, it would have been wise for a creative player to be in the pitch to service him, for he doesn’t look comfortable fetching the ball in our own half and run at the opposition with it. Agreed he can do better even taking into consideration that EPL is a new league for him.
      My take would be, that he should play in all Europa League games as he is from that area, in addition to some Carabao Cup & FA Cup games, to understand his teammates more than anything else. This will help him settle down and ease himself into form. Right now he is putting a lot of pressure on himself which he thinks he can release by scoring a goal and hence some wild misses.

  2. Give the guy time. He should be given one season to adapt. Not all foreign players adapt quickly and many never really succeed. That’s why Zaha was the lower risk option.

    1. No difference to Robert Pires when he first came.If Pepe ends up half the player Pires was for us we will have a great player on our hands.
      What he needs is Ozil in the team but that’s obviously asking too much from Emery.He wouldn’t have thought of that.Hes more likely to play Mustafi as a midfield creator than MO10

  3. A few years ago I was calling for Pep or Klopp, now I would even fancy giving Brendan Rogers a chance.

  4. Not many players take to new surrounding the way Auba does, most need a good bit of time. He’s probably trying too hard, thinking about it too much instead of just trying to enjoy his game more. He still has good take on success but he needs to pick his moments better and try to improve his passing and link up game, right now fans want to see chemistry between himself and the other forwards. Think about helping them more, I’d like to see him do that because then they’ll find him and the goals will start to flow.

    1. Pepe is distancing him away from the other players.the ball find him standing,fails to control the ball,takes on opponents with his super fast pace on the wings,coaching staff sleeping on the job call the player and relay the message,on what u want him to do(like Sterling at City)runs the deffenders like a hot knife through butter.
      20 minutes you would tell Man City is going to win,with big margin.

      1. You are right about the distance Pepe has between him & his teammates. He also seems to go down too easy.

  5. Of a truth, Pepe is a talented player with requesting skills for wing attacking display but lets face it the EPL is in a class of its own, apparently, Pepe has realised the EPL may be some levels higher than the Ligue 1 and that he would need to step up about some levels above his current level. He may definitely even have to acquire more skill and all to be on the EPL level. This takes time and time appears to be what we are not willing to afford him if we have. IMO he needs to be urged appropriately to up his level to ur and be given time to learn particular nuances of our game, our pattern and the EPL too, possibly even starting more games on the bench at times, methunks.

      1. @Viju Jacob
        He said he wanted to. That’s was his boyhood wish. They weren’t interested in him though… Ooops

  6. He will do well against teams that leave space behind, his main strength is speed in behind cutting from the right.

    I looked at Bayern’s perfection yesterday, they dint play with a nature DM and rather midfielders comfortable on the ball and good in tight spaces. The balls over the top were a thing of beauty catching out Spurs several times. A player like Pepe would do well in that set up. Xhaka and Luiz have the capacity for that through ball over the top but they dont do it enough and sometimes the quality of the ball is below standard.

    I cant wait for Lacca to get back because if Auba dont score no one will currently. Pepe better pull up his socks, even Iwobi would have done better than he is at the moment.

  7. Pepe is talking to some deaf ears. The same ears in the Emery Out Brigade

    We need to give him time to adapt

    I think he will improve if Ceballos plays every match in CAM position
    Ozil is completely useless now so we need Ceballos as creative force in midfield

    1. Even though he’s hardly played this season, you still find a way to involve him and call him names..
      Mate calm down.. Ozil is the least of problems this club have right now.
      Geez!! Do you guys just spew stuffs anyhow?

        1. What do you expect from them? Somehow, I have this expectation that Ozil insists on staying and you know what kind of headache Emery and the haters would have.

  8. i remember when a young Thierry Henry came to Arsenal the pundits never rated him……….do i have to say more?

  9. Pepe needs a transition period……what he needs now is support from we the fans. He could have gone elsewhere for bigger money.
    Off topic……I think Martinez is a better goalie than Leno…. and he is hungrier too……probably cos Leno is still getting used to Arsenal..,,, we are happy to have two good goalies……

    1. Just like Ozil’s wage, Pepe’s record signing will always be the issue for pundits and the fans. I personally agree that he should be given time to adapt, and it means he may have to start from the bench until he shows his worth. But again, with that record I don’t think they could wait that long. On the other hand, correct me if I’m wrong, Emery doesn’t seem to be in favor of creative midfielders like Ozil or Ceballos. Last week, no Ozil, and even Ceballos started from the bench. I’m afraid that he might start to consider Ceballos doesn’t really fit his system. If he considers Ceballos that important would he do that against probably the worst Manchester United ever?
      It’ll become more interesting when Laca is available or, say, Martinelli, performs well in Europa league as I guess he and Saka would be given chance there. Will the fans be patient enough for Pepe?

      1. We have to be patient with Pepe, all things considered. You are right about his need for a creative player to provide him the service

      2. Coach, I believe the ommision is only against Top 6 opponents. Emery adopted the tactics of bottom-half team. Sit deep and counter, direct the ball to opponent’s touchline, deliver crosses and pray for the best. There’s no need for a number 10 in that tactic.
        My goodness, in the first half that’s the only attacking play and Maguire won every headers.

  10. OT.. Maureen is the bookies’ favourite to succeed Pochettino…
    Imagine that.. can’t stand them, can’t stand him, urgh!

    1. Sue, when I read your comment I sang Molina by CCR to myself…just replaced it with Maureena😁

      1. Had to look it up on YouTube.. Maureena is a perfect replacement, Viju 🤣🤣👍 (i hope that’s not going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the day 😂!!)

  11. Özil is past his sell-by date. I’m afraid even an extended run in the team will not improve him. His demeanour says it all. He already knows he will be jerked before the game even starts. We can NOT afford a player in the team that strolls around and never covers in defence in the hope that someday he will give a brilliant pass that leads to a goal. That hope is why Wenger kept him in the team and where did that bring us? Rather have someone in the team that is actually seen to be trying his best.

  12. I’d like to focus on a bigger picture, because honestly Emery’s tactic doesn’t provide a platform for Pepe:
    1. We couldn’t bring and keep the ball in opponents’ third, also very slow in transition. It’s really difficult for him to perform when we were rarely in posession and allowed opponents to keep their defensive shape.
    2. Too much space between the front three and the midfielders, so when he got the ball, he was isolated and often had to face two opponents. Ideally the midfielders should be in close proximity to confuse the markers and/or ready to collect any loose balls.

  13. For player who well know for dazzling speed and dribling, he so slow.
    I read intervew with his coach before he joined lille, he said pepe is lazy person in his youth.
    I hope his old lazy habit dont come back….

      1. If he’s the creative midfielder at the same level Ozil used to be, what to be honest we don’t see in Ozil now whatever the reason is, maybe it doesn’t really matter if Ceballos doesn’t have the speed. I think you still remember how deadly Real Madrid under Mourinho and I guess also there was time we saw it with Arsenal, when it came to counter attack with Ozil as the architect. Fine, let’s not argue whether Ozil’s still needed or not. The point is we have speedy full backs in Tierney and Bellerin, and combined with Saka and Pepe, they could be deadly too in counter attack. But without creativity, the pottential threat could become so predictable, I think. The question will go back to Emery. What style actually he has in mind for Arsenal. Do you see it?

        1. I see no style, form or shape in our game under Emery, and I’m worried we are losing a lot of fans across the globe.

  14. Pepe wants to resume from where he finished in France.So when ever he receives the ball, he directly runs towards the opponent deffence which require to be fitted physically and mentally as well.I  guest it’s very difficult in a very tough league such as epl.
    Pepe could have started concentrating on  good centerlisation, safe passing and accurate reception which could have strengthened his mental aspect. The way he plays now is very predictable, the ful back puts him under high pressure and he easilly disposesses the ball. Normally when you lack physical and mental fitness you tend to play easy football to gain confidence which will pave the way for recovery.This way, he can follow differnt options play on and off the ball, dribble and run on opponent when it’s unpredictable. I think soon or later he w’ll mak it

  15. How about how well Pepe was defended in the 2 games he didn’t perform well? Liverpool & ManU matches. Pepe will deliver, he needs more time to adjust. Getting more ball will also help.

    1. Agreed to that. Only that will Emery keep giving him time to adjust by playing him as a starter or from the bench? Will it be fair?

  16. Pepe needs to take it easy when ever he has the ball, the defenders he is facing in the EPL are totally different, let me just say they are an upgraded version of players and remember these are two different leagues, lets give Pepe some time.

    Compare Eden’s performance at Real Madrid (chelsea). Eden is slowly becoming a hazard at Real Madrid. Only time will tell.

  17. As you say Thierry Henry took a while to get going. Still I have no problem with Pepe he’s got great talent. I have a major problem with the style of football Emery plays. It is dull, dull, dull. If this is his what he believes in I’m not his follower any more. I no longer believe he can take us very far. It looks like the players don’t believe in him one bit either.

  18. How much did he cost us to buy? Should start to score straight away. Not mourning. If not, someone have been cheated then.

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