Keep calm and be patient with Nicolas Pepe

Keep calm and be patient with Nicolas Pepe

After breaking our record signing for the Ivorian Pepe, Arsenal supporters were expecting him to start the season off with a bang.  A signing that was kept under the radar a little more than others past, we didn’t know all what to expect from Pepe. What we did know is that he could score.  His impressive goals record with Lille saw him cap off the last campaign 22 goals and 11 assists; Pepe was one of only a few players with more than 10 goals and 10 assists in Europe’s top 5 last year, and by mid-December already had 11 and 5.

Spending more money than we thought we had has become all too familiar amongst Arsenal supporters.  In 2017 we added Laca for 47.7M and a few months later, Aubameyang for over 57M.  Both these guys have performed exceptionally well for the Arsenal (especially Auba at the start of this season), so I think this raised our expectations for Nico Pepe.  In addition, after all the excitement around the Zaha, Carrasco, etc. rumours, I think each of us got a little over-excited for the new boy Pepe.

In my opinion, it is way, way, way too early to be mentioning ‘Nicolas Pepe’ and ‘Bust’ in the same sentence.  There are too many things that have not ironed themselves out yet, but once they do, look out all premier league defenders.  For starters, adjusting to the prem is challenging, and for a boy who doesn’t speak English I’m in no way surprised that just 8 matches into the new season he’s not quite settled yet.  England is arguably the most balanced and most physical league which makes it very tough to get accustomed.  Just look at the likes of Sterling, Salah, and others.  They struggled in the prem at first, now they are carrying their respective teams to league titles, champions league titles, and much more.

And let’s not forget about the fact that Pepe’s trying to get used to new tactics under a manager who himself is having a little trouble getting the tactics right.  We’ll save that for another time, but there’s no doubt that Pepe has not had the delivery nor the freedom that he did a year ago at Lille.  Overall our lack of cohesion in the squad and attacking prowess has given Pepe a little bit of a tough go.

As Nico gets more and more familiar with the league, as he slowly gets back to full fitness, and as Emery works out the squad and the tactics, I think we will start to see him perform.  There’s no doubt Pepe has the world-class skill.  He can dribble past the best of them (@ Van Dijk) and is not afraid to go for goal.  Not to mention his blistering pace.  Just watch one of his highlight reels on YouTube, you’ll see what I mean.  SO… everyone keep calm because it’s only a matter of time before we see Pepe on full display embarrassing the opposition and putting the ball in the net.