Mikel Arteta was quizzed on Nicolas Pepe’s recent improvement for Arsenal, and the manager insists that he has the mentality and the ability to be a hit in North London.
The Ivory Coast international was previously hailed as an expensive flop, but with 37 goals and assists since joining the club two summers ago the slander has certainly dumbed down in recent months.
The manager now insists that he has the right mixture of ability and mentality to become key for the club moving forward.
'It's in his mindset' 👀👀👀
Arteta praises Arsenal's Nicolas Pepe who has shown him that he has the mentality and ability to become a key player at the club 🔴⚪️🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/lBPyxQ0dUy
— Just Arsenal News (@JustArsenal) May 20, 2021
Do some fans still grimace when seeing his name in the starting line-up?
Patrick
With right tactics and coach im sure he will succeed, but not with Arteta here.
Absolutely 💯 right.
Nicholas Pepe was superb yesterday but following his antecedents, will be average in d next 2 or 3 games..
He showed he has some quality but overall, he has to work on his speed, dribbling and shooting!!
He should to be tricky like Salah, Mahrez, or Saka..
He is not a European, so he has d whole of June/July to improve on his abilities!!
With him, Am still not convinced, honestly..
No people on this site still favour Zaha to Pepe or wish we had bought Zaha instead?
Do people*
Zaha is grossly over rated, compare him to Pepe this year and what did he do in game compared to Pepe. Pepe MOM for me. Zaha is a palace player only.
The guy has plenty of natural talent,a wand of a left foot, and he has the ability to skin defenders in one on one situations .He needs to improve his defensive responsibilities which were probably not required of him in the French League and he rarely wins any fifty fifty balls.Personally I would use him as a conventional left winger where he can cross on the run with his good foot, whereas on the right he invariably cuts in and becomes predictable.He is tall, quick and a good finisher,so why not give him a chance as a central striker?
He is a quality player who can easily develop into a world class player if he plays under a coach who can refine his raw qualities, get the best out of him and genuinely loves and support him. His 14 goals and 5 assists so far this season is a very good output for a player who rarely starts games. He has even done better than most our regular starters, including the much hyped and excellent Saka. It is always difficult to do well for a coach who does not appreciate your positive qualities.