Incredibly harsh on Pepe. If the forwards weren’t 12 miles apart from the midfield, he’d have made more of an impact already. Look at the Liverpool game, not a single ball I can remember was played into a position where he could control it easily and do something. All of them were super long and placed where the defender had an advantage over Pepe. And still caused lots of trouble. Sure, he missed some shots but give him time.
I mean sure, but he hasn’t had other cleaner opportunities. And the 1v1 he had showed the shooting technique of Gervinho. We bought Pepe to score goals. When Pepe doesn’t take his chances, the natives should be restless.
I think both of you have a point. Pepe looks good dribbling, but passing seems suspect. Too small of a sample to gauge anything else imo
I'm sure the goals will come. I for one am glad to have a forward who ball carries. Auba is a lot of things a goal scorer being one of them, but at 30 he's not running the pitch multiple times a match.
And we paid all of what, £72 million? I am not writing homie off or even criticizing him, but I understand why people aren’t the happiest with him so far.
I'm getting the Gervinho vibe too, although it's early days. What is alarming to me is that he hasn't been able to get himself in good positions to shoot yet.
OMG I hope your analogy is NOT correct. Gervinho was tearing it up in Ligue 1, like a goal every 2 matches, then he came to Arsenal and basically sucked. (although some blamed Wenger for not knowing how to play him) Anyway it was painful to watch. Now Pepe comes from Ligue 1 where he was tearing it up, like a goal every 2 matches. Then he comes to Arsenal and... And I just looked it up and they both played for Lille just before joining Arsenal. Lightning better not strike twice!
Gervinho played the wrong wing imo He was a rw at Lille and hazard was on the left We used him as an inside forward when for like, he seemingly did what we saw Theo do when he had his prolific seasons
Unpopular take: Gervinho's (admittedly bad) miss against Bradford unfairly skewed most supporters' perception of him. He wasn't great but he wasn't horrible.
Pepe probably looks better on a team that's possession focused, and with a better fullback alongside him. Emery doesn't have a defined playing style, and that's probably anathema to a player like Pepe.
Most of the team looks like they don't know what they're supposed to be doing. Imagine being new to a league and new to a team on top of that issue.
Nine goals and nine assists in 46 Prem appearances as a wide forward. As I said above not great, not horrible.
Meh, I think that’s pretty bad. It’s about the same as Mkhitaryan’s production, which I also thought was pretty bad while he was here.
I wouldn’t call it an argument. I usually look for forwards to get into the double digits in scoring per season. I just thought Gervinho fell short of what we needed.
Yeah, just voicing a difference of opinion. Thanks for making me have to look up donnybrook. I learned a new word today.