Tag: pepe

I’ll never give up on Nicolas Pépé

Nicolas Pépé just completed a season-long loan move to Nice for the 2022/2023 season, which likely ends his career at Arsenal. I don’t know how I feel about it. Objectively, if you look at it, it can not be labeled anything but a failure. Joining Arsenal in 2019 as the club transfer record fee of €79 million, anything but player-of-the-year type performances would be the only standard. Nicolas Pépé bagged 27 goals and 21 assists in 3 seasons at Arsenal (112 apps). Not terrible but nothing remotely close to what he should have produced with that transfer fee. Is it his fault that we went out and spent that money on him? Absolutely not. Should we have expected more from him after his last season at Lille? Absolutely.

Why did it not work for Pépé at Arsenal? He absolutely had moments where you recognized his immense talent and potential. He had a wand of a left foot. He had deceptive quickness and an uncanny ability to thrive in uncertain situations, especially when trying to go past defenders. However, there was such a lack of consistency with it that was so frustrating. Unai and Mikel never seemed to be able to get the best out of him but it also seemed pretty obvious that neither really gave him the fairest chance. Unai has stated publicly that Wilfried Zaha was his preferred winger to get in 2019 and Mikel from the start has shown favoritism to every other winger at Arsenal before Pépé.

Pépé isn’t the type of player you want in a possession-oriented team against teams that defend in low-blocks. His style very much resembles an old-fashioned winger where his first instinct is to go at players directly as opposed to looking to combine with teammates firsthand which goes against the fluid possession that Arteta craves. Pépé thrives in chaos and counter-attacks. His best moments at Arsenal came from us countering City in the FA Cup SF or his majestic goal against Wolves shown below.

Nico did well to win the ball off Semedo and then he got the ball from Lacazette and from there, just absolutely emasculated Semedo and Neves before curling it to the far post with his weaker foot. Just frustrating that moments like this came few and far between.

Arsenal had an 18-pass move against City in the FA Cup SF in 2020 where Pépé’s final ball to Auba completed the goal. Here you can see the wand of a left foot that Pépé had whether it be for crossing or shooting. Here the cross to Auba came against a City side not set in its defensive shape where Pépé’s quality was able to shine through a vulnerable defense.

Southampton also just gave up the ball carelessly and 3 passes later Pépé maneuvered his body between himself and the goal which gave Valery no chance to stop him before he put the ball past the keeper.

Just absolutely annoying we couldn’t get this week in and week out.

CONCLUSION: People forget Pépé had 10 PL goals in the 20/21 season and was absolutely left out of the squad in 21/22. Arteta clearly didn’t favor him. Pépé is a player who thrives on confidence and form and Arteta provided and assisted in none of that. To be fair to everybody involved, Pépé was not brought in by the Arteta/Edu regime which left Pépé vulnerable to being an outcast once Arteta arrived. I never fully disliked Pépé because of the fact that I never felt like he got the fairest chance. from Arteta. Even when Pépé when played well and provided goals/assists, he never was able to fully get into the squad. Not saying Pépé is absolved of all blame, but not sure if there was more he could do at times. Price tag wasn’t his fault. The managers never believed in him. He had glimpses which made you believe but was never consistent. It just wasn’t a right fit for all involved which sucks. Just because we are Arsenal, it is almost a certainty Pépé will thrive at Nice cause that is how like works. Nothing but the best for Pépé and absolutely hopes he proves Mikel wrong. I’ll never give up on him.

Featured image credit: AFP

Twitter credits: NBCSports

MARQUINHOSSSSSS

After a disappointing end to last season, Arsenal has gone out and made the first signing to start the summer transfer window! Arsenal has agreed to sign 19-year-old Brazilian forward Marquinhos from Sao Paolo to a long-term contract. Have I heard of him before? No. Does he fill a particular need? Maybe? After watching a 10 minute Youtube compilation of him, am I ready to delcare his stardom in the Premier League? Hell fucking yeah. Where Arsenal are in our rebuild and with the Europa League next year, I believe it does make sense for us to invest in young talent across Europe and South America if available at the right price and it looks like this is where Marquinhos fills with a reported £3m transfer fee.

Image credits

PLAYER PROFILE: Marquinhos profiles as a left-footed winger who seems to be most comfortable coming in off the right just like the two left-footed RWs we have in the squad now: Pépé and Saka. He is reported to be around 5’7″ which is much shorter than I prefer but he has a stocky and stout build that more than makes up for what he lacks in natural height.

Here you can see him comfortably fighting off defenders by using his body and footwork to escape their grasp. Everytime Marquinhos receives the ball with space to run at defenders, he seems to relish those opportunities to take them to the cleaners which is an attribute that was lacking massively for Arsenal last season. Martinelli and Saka took players on but it came rarely and only if they had momentum on their side to get past players. Marquinhos in the very little I have seen has the acceleration or let’s say desire to get past defenders at a stand-still position which is a skill I admire very much as shown below:

As is common with most successful left-footed RWs, is the ability to wrap their foot around the ball to score goals and the jury is still out there on that to his game. All in all, there is a flair that pops out from the screen when watching him play. He does seem to enjoy luring defenders in for a tackle and poking the ball with his left-boot around defenders. Whether he can get away with that in the Premier League and Europa League, we will see. I haven’t seen much of Marquinhos combining with teammates which is a requirement in a possession-laden Arteta side but I don’t see that being an issue with the technical ability he possesses. The natural fluidity he has allows him to be aware with not only the defenders he is going up against but also his teammates in the flicks and touches he makes to them which is something Ødegaard and Saka enjoyed doing at times.

SQUAD OUTLOOK WITH MARQUINHOS: I will come out and say this before the season starts if Arsenal fails like they always do, IT WILL NOT BE BECAUSE OF MARQUINHOS. Marquinhos is no doubt an investment that Arsenal was willing to take a chance on for the reported £3m fee. There is a very good chance that he even goes off on loan if Arteta does not see space for him in the squad. As someone who loves to loaning off Arsenal players that we could more than use (William Saliba) who knows if Arteta would make the right decision with Marquinhos. Marquinhos is so clearly an Edu signing which means there is going to be a lack of inherent loyalty that Arteta will have towards Marquinhos which will be interesting to see how it plays out. Unfortunately for Marquinhos, his best position at RW is filled with Saka who has that position locked up which means playing time in the league games will come at a premium for the young Brazilian. Pépé is still at the club which is another obstacle that Marquinhos would have to overcome if he can’t play through the middle or off the left flank. I have no expectations for Marquinhos, if he succeeds at the club, great, if not, then our investment in the player makes it to where we aren’t hindered by his lack of production (Nico Pépé). Marquinhos should get enough playing time with the Europa League group stage games as well as the cup games if Arteta lets him stay with the squad.