• ! ! ! IMPORTANT MESSAGE ! ! !

    Discussions about police investigations

    In light of recent developments about a player from Premier League being arrested and until there is an official announcement, ALL users should refrain from discussing or speculating about situations around personal off-pitch matters related to any Arsenal player. This is to protect you and the forum.

    Users who disregard this reminder will be issued warnings and their posts will get deleted from public.

Nicolas Pepe: 2019/20 Performances

Status
Not open for further replies.

gamechannel

Active Member
Yeah I would have no problem if he would pick up the ball, go head down and try to beat his man. If he loses the ball or his cross/shot gets blocked then fair enough. At the end of the day even the best dribblers in the world only complete about half of their take-ons.

If you're not going to do anything with the ball then its best to just pass it on quickly and try to make an off the ball run to create space. Easily coachable though so it makes me wonder what we do in training.

Also the price argument really needs to be dropped. Market is inflated and 60M or however much he cost doesn't buy you a WC winger, Pulisic cost Chelsea 60M as well and he hadn't even had a season half as good as Pepe's in France and wasn't even a starter for Dortmund. Sterling looked like a waste of money to some until Pep coached him into the player he is.

I agree with you on your comment about moving the ball and moving without it.

I do however disagree with you on the price argument. Its absolutely justified to talk about the price when discussing his merits because at 72mil, you expect a ready article at the age of 25. Your comparisons are not apt because both - Pulisic and Sterling were 20 years old. They were not finished articles yet had shown incredible potential. Pepe, on the other hand, is 25 and only has had one good season in a far interior league. Sterling is British - sold within the league to a competitor which also inflated his price. Even in that case, to discuss their first seasons with the cost as a factor would have been justified.

Also, Pulisic and Sterling went to Sugar Daddy clubs. For them, their respective fees is not a big deal as they'd spend even more to correct their mistakes had these 2 players flopped. Us on the other hand are tight fisted by Koronke so for us, 72 mil is a big ****ing deal - failure of this investment would tie us down even more when it comes to future transfers.
 

The_Playmaker

Established Member
Trusted ⭐
We cannot afford for Pepe not to work out. We have to get him firing. He needs to be closer to goal and he needs players around him to combine with. He also needs players who can actually play a pass between the lines and in behind. He needs to feel involved and he needs to be on the ball all the time, or he just gets disheartened. We are not looking after the career of our forwards. We spend too much time accommodating defenders.
 

Monstar-Gunn4r

Established Member
I'm not aware of any of our youth players who have a similar skillset to him who aren't getting game time.

Who you referring to?

I didn't say any of our players had a similar skillset wtf are you on about?

Any way having a skillset of not being able to pass the ball, losing the ball and being unable to take on a full back 1 on 1 is not a desirable skillset to put on the field in an any attacking position.

Whats funny is players like Pepe are the reason I'm ready to throw the tv out the window. He rarely delivers anything, slows our attacks down, constantly makes bad decisions, constantly loses the ball, and the excuses for him are never ending, no matter where hes played or given the ball, asking him to do something basic like beat someone 1 on 1 is too much to ask. His normal thing is to receive the ball, take a touch, then start running infield and either pass the ball or lose it. Yesterday from a free kick he hit the first man in the wall, then the ball came back to him, he tried to run away from moura back towards our own goal, lost the ball and gave away a free kick.

You can give all the excuses you want but he has been pretty rubbish so far and really does seem out of his depth and offers zero creativity, "but hey he gets goals or assists" yeah thats meaningless if he fks up the attack 10-15 times in a match.

I dont think hes gonna make it here, I hope I'm wrong and I'll be more than happy to admit if he turns it around, but I've seen really nothing from him that suggests he can, yeah he has a good left foot but at this level, in this team it isnt enough.
 

Monstar-Gunn4r

Established Member
We cannot afford for Pepe not to work out. We have to get him firing. He needs to be closer to goal and he needs players around him to combine with. He also needs players who can actually play a pass between the lines and in behind. He needs to feel involved and he needs to be on the ball all the time, or he just gets disheartened. We are not looking after the career of our forwards. We spend too much time accommodating defenders.

How can a player who takes two touches when given the ball in the box in space to change to his better foot so he can put in a terrible lob/cross/mess be expected to combine with anyone. Its always someone elses fault at Arsenal when it comes to some players, seen it with Özil, seen it with Mustafi, seeing it with Pepe now.
 

Trilly

Hates A-M, Saka, Arteta and You
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
I do however disagree with you on the price argument. Its absolutely justified to talk about the price when discussing his merits because at 72mil, you expect a ready article at the age of 25. Your comparisons are not apt because both - Pulisic and Sterling were 20 years old. They were not finished articles yet had shown incredible potential. Pepe, on the other hand, is 25 and only has had one good season in a far interior league. Sterling is British - sold within the league to a competitor which also inflated his price. Even in that case, to discuss their first seasons with the cost as a factor would have been justified.

Also, Pulisic and Sterling went to Sugar Daddy clubs. For them, their respective fees is not a big deal as they'd spend even more to correct their mistakes had these 2 players flopped. Us on the other hand are tight fisted by Koronke so for us, 72 mil is a big ****ing deal - failure of this investment would tie us down even more when it comes to future transfers.
But price only loosely correlates to actual playing ability and you've even said it depends more on other factors such as nationality, age and the financial power of the buying club.

That just further supports my point. I agree that from 70M upwards you do want more but I has an established world class player moved for less than 80M in recent years? I don't think so.
 

Trilly

Hates A-M, Saka, Arteta and You
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
Its always someone elses fault at Arsenal when it comes to some players, seen it with Özil, seen it with Mustafi, seeing it with Pepe now.
Sometimes in football you do actually have to create a team you know?

You strike me as the type that would have laughed at people who said "we need a playmaking centre forward to create chances for Salah as he is more of a widestriker than a traditional winger".

There was definitely a time where we didn't make the most of Özil I think every Arsenal fan can agree with that, as for Mustafi you know he's simply crap, not sure why you chucked him in there.
 

The_Playmaker

Established Member
Trusted ⭐
How can a player who takes two touches when given the ball in the box in space to change to his better foot so he can put in a terrible lob/cross/mess be expected to combine with anyone. Its always someone elses fault at Arsenal when it comes to some players, seen it with Özil, seen it with Mustafi, seeing it with Pepe now.

What has his one footedness got to do with anything? The same Pepe who puts in terrible crosses also has racked up assists this season. This is the same Pepe that can step inside and whip goals into the top corner. He doesn't have an overlap as a diversion, he doesn't have a player to pass the ball and move off. He played a game and received the ball 4 times off the right back for the entire match. Yet we expect him to win us the game because he cost 72 million.
 

Tir Na Nog

Changes Opinion Every 5 Minutes

Country: Ireland
It almost seems like we're gonna have to set up a certain and play a certain way to get the best of him. The question is, is Pepe good enough for us to go out of our way to accommodate him. I mean we've tried a host of different systems, 3 different coaches yet he remains incredibly inconsistent no matter what we do.

We also beat Wolves without him so you kinda question just how vital is he? But as been said we've invested too much in him so it looks like we're gonna have to do something. He's looking increasingly like a luxury player tho.
 

14Henry

Looking for receipts 👀
He hasnt worked out and has yet again proved to be another example of poor business and poor buying.

Hes in the box with Xhaka and Mustafi. People saying we were we are because of the Kronkes not throwing away money for fun. We actually spend money but we havent got a clue how to scout, identity and buy a solid player.

Time to start recruiting better. We are 9th. Time to start recruiting like Leciester looking for young or up and coming talents.

One huge thing I dont understand is why can Pepe not switch over to the left hand side sometimes? It's incredible how one dimensional we are. Pepe on the right always means hes cutting in. It's so predictable. Easy to defend.
 

DanDare

Emoji Merchant and Believer-In-Chief
Trusted ⭐

Player:Saliba
I didn't say any of our players had a similar skillset wtf are you on about?

Any way having a skillset of not being able to pass the ball, losing the ball and being unable to take on a full back 1 on 1 is not a desirable skillset to put on the field in an any attacking position.

Whats funny is players like Pepe are the reason I'm ready to throw the tv out the window. He rarely delivers anything, slows our attacks down, constantly makes bad decisions, constantly loses the ball, and the excuses for him are never ending, no matter where hes played or given the ball, asking him to do something basic like beat someone 1 on 1 is too much to ask. His normal thing is to receive the ball, take a touch, then start running infield and either pass the ball or lose it. Yesterday from a free kick he hit the first man in the wall, then the ball came back to him, he tried to run away from moura back towards our own goal, lost the ball and gave away a free kick.

You can give all the excuses you want but he has been pretty rubbish so far and really does seem out of his depth and offers zero creativity, "but hey he gets goals or assists" yeah thats meaningless if he fks up the attack 10-15 times in a match.

I dont think hes gonna make it here, I hope I'm wrong and I'll be more than happy to admit if he turns it around, but I've seen really nothing from him that suggests he can, yeah he has a good left foot but at this level, in this team it isnt enough.

You said it would be better spending time on our youth players than on Pepe. So I'm asking which youth wingers should we be giving his minutes to?
 

Maybe

You're wrong, no?
Pepe on the right always means hes cutting in. It's so predictable. Easy to defend.
Seen this a couple of times already and I can't explain how wrong this is. The guy is making fun of PL defenders and he does the same with bottom-half teams and top teams. Every time Pepe gets the ball 20-25 yards out, opposition defence is already in a panic mode and 99% of the time they will mark him with 2 players, often committing fouls just to stop his runs with the ball.
It's obvious that PL managers and defenders respect his abilities and they are making sure he doesn't get that much space since he is the only Arsenal player that can do stuff individually.
I'm not sure why forum experts on AM can't have the same respect for him as they do.
Playing him on the left is possibly the worst idea I've seen since Eboue on the right wing

I honestly can't believe that we were crying for a player like him for ages and now people complain :D
 

14Henry

Looking for receipts 👀
Seen this a couple of times already and I can't explain how wrong this is. The guy is making fun of PL defenders and he does the same with bottom-half teams and top teams. Every time Pepe gets the ball 20-25 yards out, opposition defence is already in a panic mode and 99% of the time they will mark him with 2 players, often committing fouls just to stop his runs with the ball.
It's obvious that PL managers and defenders respect his abilities and they are making sure he doesn't get that much space since he is the only Arsenal player that can do stuff individually.
I'm not sure why forum experts on AM can't have the same respect for him as they do.
Playing him on the left is possibly the worst idea I've seen since Eboue on the right wing

I honestly can't believe that we were crying for a player like him for ages and now people complain :D

Why is switching him for 10-15 mins during a game to the left such a bad idea? It provides the ability for him to instead of cutting in standing the defender up and going on the outside for a change.

I'm not saying to play him always. I'm saying about mixing it up abit as it is predictable.

Also if he is so good why does he constantly slow down. We clear a corner give him the ball and he almost walks with it. It's like he hasnt got the ability to beat a man for pace.
 

Maybe

You're wrong, no?
One more thing, shouldn't it be obvious to people that by sacrificing attacking midfielder for a CB will result with problems in our attack and Pepe will have to do more stuff on his own because there is no support? Even Bellerin is not helping him.
Even if Pepe does dribble past players, there is nobody arriving in the box from midfield which would give him more options, something Ramsey did in the past.
 

14Henry

Looking for receipts 👀
One more thing, shouldn't it be obvious to people that by sacrificing attacking midfielder for a CB will result with problems in our attack and Pepe will have to do more stuff on his own because there is no support? Even Bellerin is not helping him.
Even if Pepe does dribble past players, there is nobody arriving in the box from midfield which would give him more options, something Ramsey did in the past.

For 72m we need more from him as an individual. Theres no 2 ways about it.
 

OnlyOne

‘Donkeys don’t have a peak, they remain useless’
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
One thing Pepe hasn't has this season which I find so frustrating is a decent run of games, and whenever he has he started finding some form. He should really start every game until the season ends imo.
 

Country: Iceland
You said it would be better spending time on our youth players than on Pepe. So I'm asking which youth wingers should we be giving his minutes to?

Aren't we giving it to Saka?

Who in my opinion hasn't maybe looked 100% comfortable there but still has looked a lot more involved and demanding in that position. Seems to have a much better idea of what is expected from him there than Pepe.
 

Macho

In search of Pure Profit 💸
Dusted 🔻

Country: England
Daddy duties got him out the team and rhythm this time, I remember Vardy suffering from the same when he had his little one.

Only player in the team capable of individual brilliance other than Özil really. Great buy, can’t wait to see how on kicks on next season.
 

dashsnow17

Doesn’t Rate Any Of Our Attackers
Trusted ⭐
We cannot afford for Pepe not to work out. We have to get him firing. He needs to be closer to goal and he needs players around him to combine with. He also needs players who can actually play a pass between the lines and in behind. He needs to feel involved and he needs to be on the ball all the time, or he just gets disheartened. We are not looking after the career of our forwards. We spend too much time accommodating defenders.

Spot on. Our attack is dead. He's not prime Maradona, he can't just dribble past an entire defence. Pepe is way down on our list of problems right now.
 

Maybe

You're wrong, no?
For 72m we need more from him as an individual. Theres no 2 ways about it.
Sorry, even Messi needed Iniesta, Xavi and Busq next to him, something that was clear every time he played for Argentina.
You constantly isolate him from the team to make your arguments. It's not a one-man team, we need a proper RB on the overlap, AMC to combine with him and possibly someone who would pass the ball to him more often from deeper areas. It's an obvious team failure and we can't do much about it, but complaining about Pepe is probably the last thing we should do
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts+

Top Bottom