Nicolas Pepe earned a red card when Arsenal played Leeds United yesterday. The Ivorian let his struggling team down as they had to fight with ten men in a game that they needed to win.
His dismissal didn’t impress Mikel Arteta, who had been leaving him on the bench before the international break.
The Spaniard said after the match that it was unacceptable, Pepe has now apologised for letting his teammates down.
Arsenal had been struggling in the game during the first half and they came back for the second half with renewed energy to get something from the game.
But just a few minutes into the half, Pepe got himself sent off for a silly and unnecessary headbutt on Leeds ace, Ezgjan Alioski.
Arsenal had to defend for their lives for the rest of the game and they eventually ended the match with a clean sheet.
Pepe took to his official Instagram account to apologise, he wrote: “Yesterday I have let my team down at a crucial time of the game and there is no excuses for my behaviour.
“I’m deeply sorry and would like to apologise to the fans, my team-mates, my coach and everyone else at the club.”
That gesture means absolutely nothing…this sort of generic apology would likely be supplied by the club’s PR department…the fact that someone who has been so underwhelming since his arrival would consciously choose to make matters worse by conducting himself in such an utterly selfish manner, raises some important questions…either Pepe has some serious growing up to do, which suggests we didn’t do our due diligence before shelling out a record fee for him, or Arteta has failed to provide the necessary mentoring to a young player who has frankly looked out of sorts since arriving at the Emirates…this comes as no surprise considering the glaring lack of leadership that has plagued this club ever since Wenger only wanted yes men in the room…based on our previous experiences either Pepe is going to start hanging out with Ozil or be summarily shipped out to Hertha…the saddest part of this whole situation is that this is the least of our concerns
wow chill dude. He had a great game today. May not be a top tier team we beat but it’s a step in the right direction. Sounds like your seriously angry at the club for a number of reasons. I mean give wenger a break poor blokes long gone and your still shanking him in the back.
OK it was a mistake and the guy has apologised and thats the end of it. The main thing is he should not repeat such a silly act again. We should look forward now and focus on the upcoming matches.
👍
gunnerlife NO! IT IS NOT THE “END OF IT”. An immature player as he is , is likely to repeat this sort of immature act UNLESS he grows up fast. HOW, WHEN and IF he grows up is what actually matters.
I for one very much doubt that he will grow up quickly enough to convince this determined manager that he can be a long term asset to our club.
MISTAKES HAVE CONSEQUENCES and merely issuing a trite apology(IF it even was done by him personally, which I doubt) is by itself nowhere near enough to wipe the slate clean. We are talking about a big business football club here, not an infant being naughty at playschool!
give the lad a break…
im 40 years old and sometimes i feel like picking a fight when in driving / traffic rage
Do we kill him or sell him for making a mistake like this? For the record this is his first red card in his carrier and he’s such a disciplined lad. Come of it unless you are not a gunners probably. He had apologized so let by gone be bygone. Let’s focus on the next match. Mistakes like this make some to be stronger and more determined we hope his will be like that. Pepe is a great player from Lille and I bet he will come good. It took Henry a season at arsenal and no one believed anymore in viera and bergkamp before they came to arsenal. The guy will come good.
You never know who has actual control of a footballer’s social media handle. It’s possible his agent or whoever knows how to speak English (I doubt Pepe does) wrote the statement, and all that Pepe has control of is the timing of the post.
Apology accepted but it means an untimely suspension with several players still out through injury or Covid and with pressure on Arteta mounting
He still gets paid 170,000 quid for his 55 minutes played that’s 3,000 quid a minute. He will still get paid 240,000 quid during his holiday. Now if they docked him 3 months salary ie 2.2 million quid he would be sorry. But all he had to do is get someone to write an apology and post online. If he scores 30 league goals before May I will forgive him.