Video: Mikel Arteta hails Pepe’s performances after switch in position

Nicolas Pepe has been playing on the left side of the attack in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s absence of late, and Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been impressed by him.

The Ivory Coast international has struggled to hold down a regular first-team role so far this season, with a number of his teammates outperforming him on a regular basis, but he has shown much improvement of late.

While he may struggle to hold onto his role when PEA returns after some personal problems, Arteta may well have to find room for Pepe elsewhere should his form continue.

Is playing on the left the key to Pepe’s resurgence? Should he continue to impress, would Aubameyang be more likely to fight for a role at CF or would he just retake his spot from our record signing?

Patrick

17 Comments

  1. OT. Chelsea drew, manutd and lischester loosing currently….
    Top 4 is alive if we keep our head up

      1. Yeah Declan, I said realistically with all the games in hand around us we are currently 9/10 on the table actually.

        Lots of improvement and reasons to be positive looking up the table. A win against Man U will secure our climb to top 6.

  2. Cedric and Pepe were the two surprises from the Southampton game.

    If I’m Arteta, I’ll leave the lineup unchanged for the Utd game. Let’s see if Cedric and Pepe can prove that their performances were no fluke

    1. Hadn’t it been utd i would have agreed but with their forwards space Soares will get exposed by it but I’d definitely stick with Pépé on the left for now!

    2. I disagree if KT is “really”fit to play then he should because due to their fowards players pace i fear that with Cedric our left side will be constantly targeted and he’ll be exposed but i wiuld stick with Pépé as a LW and could give Bissaka a torrid time!

  3. He played well I think. I just wish MA would impletent defensive side on him as well, he was caught sleeping onthe first goal (great goal nevertheless).

    As a winger you don’t always have to score or assists. Just put on a defensive shift also helps the team.

    1. Pepe is very poor defensively, and the. He also does not pass the ball quick enough.
      Yes he scored, what else did he do against Southampton to be mentioned. We should not be carried away with one performance.

      If Auba and Tierney are back, play them.

  4. OMG where are these comments coming from? Pepe was a joy to watch against Southampton. He defended well and he was constantly a terror to Southampton’s defense. Lastly, i fell in love with his partnership with Smith Rowe as they both switched positions sometimes. That was Class performance and he (Pepe) is the best for that position. (Not Auba14 who practically does nothing for 90 minutes) I will gun for a Pepe left wing choice any time any day

  5. Pepe is clearly better suited to play on the left where his natural left footedness becomes easier for him For my money he still does not work hard enough though, even though he was better at Saints than before when on the right.

    All true greats work ferociously hard and that fact seems never to have reached the brains of talented but lazy players. TALENT WITHOUT ENORMOUS WORK RATE IS NEVER ENOUGH AND NEVER WILL BE.

    This is the whole difference between Ozil realists and his daft fan club who excused or did not admit his idleness, so foolishly!

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