Nicolas Pepe: The Nutmeg Express!

[Hleb's Sirush]

If it would stop the essays and complaining I’d be all for selling him for sure.
Arteta can’t be bothered so there’s not much he can do to change his situation, we just have to recruit better.

The complaining wouldn't stop. It would move on to the next player. There is no patience for a player to ever have a sticky patch. Look at Auba. Was a king, our saviour, 'where would we be without Auba'...goes 5 games without a goal (and not entirely his fault even). And the knives are out for him.

 

[Macho]

It’s true.

I like Pepe but from when the manager is saying bullocks like “every action needs to make a difference in the final third”, it’s safe to say he’s done here anyways.

What do you even do with that as a player?
I can’t see him here too much longer.

 

[14Henry]

If we keep selecting the safer option than no wonder we are struggling to score goals.



It would be too risky to have those kind of players in central midfield or on defence but surely a player in Pepe's position can take a bit of risk. There is usually 7 players behind him if we do end up losing the ball. In forward position you have to take some risk. The reward are big if they come off.

It is actually something most attackers do anyway. Bruno Fernandes lost the ball 34 times the other night. Salah, Mane, Sterling, Grealish, Rashford are all near the top of most possession lost this season (Zaha is at the top). Which shows the best players take players on and it doesn't always come off.

I rather have someone who lost possession 3 or 4 times but maybe scores with the 5th than someone who keeps it safe and has zero turnovers.

Attacking players will always lose the ball more. It's part of the nature of the position. But go and look at Brunos or Salah contributions and you will see that theres consistency. With Pepe there isnt. Salah and Bruno have elevated their teams. They make them more dangerous and not just because the stats say so but you can see that by watching the matches. A touch and drop of the shoulder knowing when to pass and when to hold. Things that dont show on pure stats.

Bruno has had more good games than bad for United. His worst game he was probably a 5/10. His best 10/10 and he probably floats around 8/10.

Salah similar.

Pepe just isnt that good. People think he is but he isnt. After what you have seen from Pepe in 18 months overall. Not glimpse. Not potential. As a 25 year old winger he isnt good enough and I'm sure if offered the chance you would swap him for at least 10 other wide attackers in the league.

Of top of my head (not counting Salah and Mane as obvious) I would swap him for Mahrez, Pulisic, Rashford, Richarlson, Grealish, Bernardo Silva, Martial, Barnes, Son, Zaha, Traore. Some of them are different types of players but they can play a wide forward role. That is without thinking too much and being genuine. I'm not putting names in for the fun of it. I honestly believe each of those players I listed would offer more than Pepe.

 

[Manberg]

It wasn't long ago when everyone agreed attack was our strongest part. So many teams would kill to have our attacking players at their disposal.

I was never of that opinion. I can’t see other top clubs admiring Pepe and Lacazette.

 

[Macho]

Attacking players will always lose the ball more. It's part of the nature of the position. But go and look at Brunos or Salah contributions and you will see that theres consistency. With Pepe there isnt.

There’s so many holes in this. After Auba Pepe is actually 2nd in goal involvement since he’s been at the club.

You may not like what you see, but his productivity in ratio to his minutes is very good - his numbers is not an issue at all.

Fernandes has been crap so far this season, he and Salah have tucked away penalties but they haven’t been anywhere near the form they showed last season - yet.

If you saw Fernandes today he definitely won Man U the match but he lost the ball plenty it times and took all sorts of wild pot shots and wasted set pieces. He doesn’t have a micro manager Arteta screaming around his every move though, he’s allowed to do that.

Some of you just bash players for the sake of it. Furthermore a lot of the players you would rather are sidemen not saying that much.

 

[Football Manager]

I think end of the day, Pepe needs to do a lot more but so does Arteta really.

Our creative/flair players he hasn’t bothered with at all. Despite me liking the results the non negotiable football brings, it’s disappointing and a tad draining.

He needs to figure it out and not say stupid sh*t then start Willian every week.

I think what we need is not a question of Willian or Pepe. We need both on the pitch because we need more creative players.

————————Martinelli—————————
———Willian————————Pepe—————
—Saka——Partey——Ceballos——Bellerin—
———Tierney——Gabriel———Luiz————
——————————Leno——————————

Stop playing players who are bad on the ball/can’t dribble past players/not involving enough in the general play.

We need players who always wanted the ball, wanted to play patient possession football. Player who could keep the ball in tight space and like to make combination passes with their teammates.

We have to work the ball into the box through the middle. Not rushing to play counter attack, or rushing crosses into the box.

 

[14Henry]

There’s so many holes in this. After Auba Pepe is actually 2nd in goal involvement since he’s been at the club.

You may not like what you see, but his productivity in ratio to his minutes is very good - his numbers is not an issue at all.

Fernandes has been crap so far this season, he and Salah have tucked away penalties but they haven’t been anywhere near the form they showed last season - yet.

If you saw Fernandes today he definitely won Man U the match but he lost the ball plenty it times and took all sorts of wild pot shots and wasted set pieces. He doesn’t have a micro manager Arteta screaming around his every move though, he’s allowed to do that.

Some of you just bash players for the sake of it. Furthermore a lot of the players you would rather are sidemen not saying that much.

Answer me this. Since Brunos arrival at United and Salahs arrival at Liverpool have they contributed to the team performing better?

Are they first names on the team sheet every week? Yes.

Are you saying that Pepe has done enough every time he has had the opportunity to stake his claim as a regular starter?

If you want to put Pepes Premier League stats up against Brunos and Salahs be my guest.

Games played, goals scored, assists, maybe win percentage etc.

Edit: theres a quick shot at the impacts of both players. Bruno also picked up player of the month. He single handedly transformed Uniteds season last season. That's the impact of a top player. A 60-70m player. A creater. A difference maker. United win % is higher with Bruno than without it.

Pepe 37 appearance 6 goals 6 assists
Bruno 21 appearances 13 goals 10 assists

You can talk about penalties but Man United have won more penalties because of him directly or indirectly.

 

[Trilly]

Not his fault that management and predecessors have failed. He needs to be able to sign the forwards of his own choice.

If he can’t make a world class striker work then I’m not sure how much of a right he has to sign other attackers.

We’ve played 7 league games and our most valuable asset is sitting on an xG of less than two?

 

[Manberg]

If he can’t make a world class striker work then I’m not sure how much of a right he has to sign other attackers.

We’ve played 7 league games and our most valuable asset is sitting on an xG of less than two?

Pepe is a world class striker??

 

[Trilly]

Pepe is a world class striker??

Number 14!

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

If he can’t make a world class striker work then I’m not sure how much of a right he has to sign other attackers.

We’ve played 7 league games and our most valuable asset is sitting on an xG of less than two?

I think that is unfair on Arteta. You look at managers coming in and they almost always get to sign their type of attackers. Pep and Klopp for example.

I look at our attackers and while they all have their merits I think they also are lacking and struggling individually even if Arteta has managed to create a decent system where they are all getting decent chances to score goals in every game.

 

[Football Manager]

Number 14!

World class finisher/poacher, shxt striker.

 

[Macho]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Auba. If Auba was that bad and not Arteta’s type we would have let him walk instead of extending him on a colossal contract, so some common sense please.

Auba is also a massive reason why the squad buys into Arteta for now.

For all of Emery’s faults, he had the exact same attack minus Pepe firing. Same with Wenger. Arteta has to do more in this regard it’s just the truth.

 

[Multipass]

Attacking players will always lose the ball more. It's part of the nature of the position. But go and look at Brunos or Salah contributions and you will see that theres consistency. With Pepe there isnt. Salah and Bruno have elevated their teams. They make them more dangerous and not just because the stats say so but you can see that by watching the matches. A touch and drop of the shoulder knowing when to pass and when to hold. Things that dont show on pure stats.

Bruno has had more good games than bad for United. His worst game he was probably a 5/10. His best 10/10 and he probably floats around 8/10.

Salah similar.

Pepe just isnt that good. People think he is but he isnt. After what you have seen from Pepe in 18 months overall. Not glimpse. Not potential. As a 25 year old winger he isnt good enough and I'm sure if offered the chance you would swap him for at least 10 other wide attackers in the league.

Of top of my head (not counting Salah and Mane as obvious) I would swap him for Mahrez, Pulisic, Rashford, Richarlson, Grealish, Bernardo Silva, Martial, Barnes, Son, Zaha, Traore. Some of them are different types of players but they can play a wide forward role. That is without thinking too much and being genuine. I'm not putting names in for the fun of it. I honestly believe each of those players I listed would offer more than Pepe.

I was respectfully disagreeing with your opinion up until the point you mentioned Barnes, and I lost all respect, and no longer considered it an opinion.

 

[HairSprayGooners]

No one in the PL is touching him. Barcelona Madrid etc neither.

It appears his level is below us. So we need to find a team that is worse than us in whatever league to sign him. And most of those teams wouldnt have more than 25-30m to spend on a player.

Hes either gonna sit around and be a squad player for us over the next few years or hes gonna end up on loans and us having to pay some of his wages or take a ridiculously low figure(which will probably be an accurate figure). Another huge mistake in the transfer market that we will pay for for a number of years.

Wow, so in your opinion there's no way he becomes a good player for us considering he's extremely talented?

Doesn't that seem a bit nonsensical?

 

[HairSprayGooners]

Man put Barnes

@14Henry do you need a lay down? Did you slip and fall in an accident at work?

Harvey Barnes can't even do it for Leicester ffs.

Pepe is actually better than Traore in terms of end product as well. And hes also a better winger than Martial, who hasn't even had a shot on target in the league this season.

Whilst you make a gnats handful of fair comments i think its harsh to bash a player who has stepped up to the plate almost every time he's been called upon this season.

Amazingly you don't give the same treatment to Auba. Who will do nothing for a whole game then score and you'll say he's man of the match.

Most bizarre poster on here.

 

[DanDare]

World class finisher/poacher, shxt striker.

Auba a sh*t striker, one of the worst takes ever

 

[14Henry]

Wow, so in your opinion there's no way he becomes a good player for us considering he's extremely talented?

Doesn't that seem a bit nonsensical?

If he was extremely talented we wouldnt even be having this conversation

 

[KrissKringle]

I can’t see other top clubs admiring Pepe and Lacazette.

I can, if you play them correctly and have creative players that can supply them.

 

[Maybe]

Are you saying that Pepe has done enough every time he has had the opportunity to stake his claim as a regular starter?

If you want to put Pepes Premier League stats up against Brunos and Salahs be my guest.

Hold on a sec, Bruno and Salah are not Arsenal players, so Pepe should be compared to Willian and Nelson, his direct competition for the right wing.

If you wanna say that Willian is better and he's done enough to be a regular starter, fine, but don't put Pepe down because a player from some other club is better than him, that's simply ridiculous. We can only play our own players, and for you, Willian should be a regular starter