Thread on why Nico Pepe hasn’t been a flop this season:

First of all G/A, Pepe has had 8 goals this season (2 being penalties) and 9
Assist in 2,525 minutes.

This equals out to a G/A every 148 minutes, so basically a G/A every game and a half, which isn’t bad for a winger at all.

Pepe’s involvement in big games, (games against the traditional top six.)
1https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🅰️" title="Invertierter quadratischer lateinischer Buchstabe A" aria-label="Emoji: Invertierter quadratischer lateinischer Buchstabe A"> vs Spurs in 2 games.
1https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🅰️" title="Invertierter quadratischer lateinischer Buchstabe A" aria-label="Emoji: Invertierter quadratischer lateinischer Buchstabe A"> vs Manchester City in 1 game.
1https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="⚽️" title="Fußball" aria-label="Emoji: Fußball"> vs Manchester United in 2 games.
No G/A against Chelsea and Liverpool in 3 starts.

Although this can be improved, he has been dropped for a lot of games against the big six this season, and has often played in games that weaken his strength for example not having a lot of the ball and having to sit back.

Not working well with our full backs, the first heat map is Pepe vs Southampton. This game he played with bellerin and you can see little involvement, in this game he didn’t do much and was subbed of early.

In another game he played with AMN and had more of an impact in the game, scoring a pen and having one of his best games in an Arsenal shirt, this showing that some games he is poor is down to service not ability.

He has done all this while playing under 3 different managers while learning a new language, I don’t want to make excuses but playing in a negative system under Emery than trying to adapt to a new system under Arteta is difficult for any player, especially a new one to the club.

Finally he has never had a consistent place in the starting 11, obviously atm it is hard cause of the amount of games happening but being played 1
Week and dropped the next is damaging to any players confidence and to get 17 G/A while doing this is pretty impressive.

All information from https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/nicolas-pepe/leistungsdaten/spieler/343052,">https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/nicolas-p... I’m think Pepe will turn into a top player soon enough, after having a very decent first season. Likes and RT appreciated.

End of Thread.