Nicolas Pepe is encouraged by Arsenal’s performances under new coach Mikel Arteta and revealed the Spaniard has been helping him with his on-field positioning.
After a slow start to life in England under Unai Emery, the Ivorian is now getting consistent game time (he’s started four consecutive matches) and there are signs that the penny may have dropped when it comes to helping his teammates defend from the front.
There is definitely room for improvement – collectively we’re still creating far fewer chances than we should be – but Pepe thinks the relationship he’s striking up with Alex Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil is strengthening and that he’s benefiting from one-to-one time with Arteta.
Speaking to Arsenal.com about life under the Spaniard, he said: “Things have been going positively so far, we’ve got some good results and have been playing good football.
“There has certainly been some encouraging signs and we know that we do have quality and we have what it takes to do well on the pitch.
“Mikel Arteta has explained to me what he would like me to do on the pitch and he has shown me videos that have stressed the importance of my positioning. He has told me exactly what he would like me to do to help me progress as a player.”
He added: “We want to do well as an attacking force. We want to perform well on the pitch, score goals and get assists. As a team, it doesn’t matter who’s getting the goals and who’s getting assists, but the important thing is we are playing well together and getting results.
“It’s great to play with such players [like Lacazette, Aubameyang and Ozil] and it’s been working rather well. We are good with linking up with each other and we’re capable of playing good football.
“We support one another on the pitch and as an attacking player it’s always great to have someone like Mesut Ozil feeding passes into you so it’s enjoyable.”
While we take onboard Pepe’s assessment that it doesn’t matter who gets the goals, it would be nice if we got more and spread them out a bit.
So far this season Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been doing the heavy lifting. He’s scored 14 Premier League goals compared to the combined total of eight achieved by Pepe (3), Lacazette (5) and Ozil (0).
Dominik Szoboszlai
Jeff Ross
this is not FM 2020
agree he should be bought and will replace Ozil finely in time and he’s a free kick taker
Very frustrating ?. If he truly is a team player, he would just move on, provided the new teams wages match his current wages. Instead he’s just biding his time.
I’m sure Arsenal will be happy to top up his wages wherever he moves to.
You did a Mustafi and write in the wrong link…
I’m sure you would have been asking for Robert Pires to go after his first half season in 2001-2002, he only scored very few in the first half of the season and only 4 league goals in the whole of the season. And he was under Wenger, not Emery for most of the first half of the season.
Players need to settle into this far more physical league. If he hasn’t progressed in a year’s time under Arteta I’ll agree with you.
I think there have been done signs of progress recently. Interesting to read him saying that it doesn’t matter where goals come from, I think one of my biggest issues with him recently is that he doesn’t make the pass at the right time, often squandering chances while going all alone. Maybe a little immaturity and desperation to get a goal for himself?
Overall though there has been enough to see there is a pretty great player in there once he sorts himself out.
In addition to that he’s abit too relax on the ball in our half. Holding on to it too long where as a simple pass and move just to get the team further forward would be more effective.
Just as he is starting to look like the world class player that he is. Are you people blind not to see how he is progressing?
Arsenal FC is supported by alot of delusional fools….so such statements shouldn’t be shocking
Who are you talking about? Gallas?
I think the comment was meant for the Mustafi’s father article. That’s the only logical conclusion I could make out of it.
I think Lego Hair might be commenting on the wrong article, guys. Appears to be referring to a certain World Cup winning centre half.
Um that comment was about Mustafi, not Pepe ?.
I just read the Mustafi article.
For shame
You know, don’t you, your error is the blog-commenting equivalent of a short back-pass that leads to a red card for your teammate and a penalty shot?
Exactly, perhaps Mustafi will come on this site, call you shit and tell you to take your incomprehensible comments elsewhere.
Maybe you can leave together?
I thought as much.???
Maybe Mustafi’s dad will come to the site, read your comment, and say it doesn’t matter he’s comfortable in London and won’t move unless the right offer comes along.
Not to mention Martinelli 10 conveniently left out in this comparison. And pound for pound, considering price paid on Martinelli, Pepe has been poor. I don’t see what others prefer to. He has had flashes of game changing brilliance but on the whole mediocre return for 72m outlay (which is 16m each transfer window year back loaded with significance to our future purchases) Chiefly, he takes on players but not enough and when he does, most of them are unsuccessful. But that’s not the problem. The problem is when he loses a take on, he tends to gesticulate his hands… Read more »
Lacazette was lightweight for the majority of his first season, he was getting knocked off the ball far too easily.
Pepe’s been here just over 5 months, had no pre-season, and there are small signs of improvement.
Adebayor said he put on a stone in muscle in under 6 months when he joined Arsenal.
If Pepe hasn’t made strides forward by this time next season?
Then I’ll be worried, but it’s not time for panic stations yet.
First time i agreed on Santori comment. When Pepe gets on the ball, the following happen:
50% – Try to dribble past opppsition player but failed and being intercepted.
40% – try to dribble pass player but eventually fouled by the opposition
10% – managed to dribble pass but the passing is woeful
100% of the time he slowed down arsenal pace of play.
Lille has sent us his doppelganger.. we want the real Pepe ASAP!
We are starting to see him if you have been watching
He is ousmane dembele 2.0
So arguably our best player against Sheff Utd is a failure
“…it’s always great to have someone like Mesut Ozil feeding passes into you so it’s enjoyable.”
i might be wrong but have you seen ozil passing to pepe at all?? he alwyas plays the ball to the left, whether it is auba, saka or kola there… pepe usually needs to work harder than anyone to win the ball for himself
I think it is a little bit misleading accentuating the difference between the number of goals/assists of Aubameyang and Laca/Pepe. The letter 2 spent about 40% less minutes on the pitch than Auba. So taking into account that difference (and the fact that Pepe has just arrived in the EPL in this season) the 3 performed very similarly to each other in my view.
(accordingly: statistically they are our best 3 players in the season…) https://www.whoscored.com/Teams/13/Show/England-Arsenal
Injuries aside, the fact they’ve played less increases the “importance” gap, the opposite of what you’re implying.
Not necessarily. The fact that Auba played much more at Laca’s expense only shows that Emery (as he mentioned it a couple of times) thought that our best 11 can’t tolerate both of them in the starting line-up.
I guess we probably agree that Emery’s ideas didn’t really worked-out; so attaching a given level of importance to a player based mainly on his decisions hardly can be seen as an objective perspective.
Pepe is so talented, and once the goals start coming he will elevate his game to another level. There are very few wingers who have the feet and trickery of Pepe. I’m more impressed by that, and I know that the goals will come if he continues to cause defenders to fall on their arse. ( Luke Shaw 🙂 )
Hopefully he is a Frenchman . If Arsenal get more African or South American
born players,the problem will arise when they are needed for the SA football or ANC.
Its best to not put all eggs in one basket.
If our biggest problem is that our players are so good that they keep on being called up for national team duty, that’s a problem I look forward to having.