I’d say it’s down to the individual and the leagues they grew up in. South Americans tend to have dirty leagues so they are used to the hustle. Alexis hit the ground running for us.
Also another factor is the position of the players. CAM’s have it easy. They can just float around in space and pop off passes. Wingers have a fullback wanting to kick them 10 feet in their air upon arrival.
Ozil needed no time to climatise at all either.
‘He’s not a striker’ - Alan Hanson.
Adapting to a new team and the way that team plays football is one thing, but what does adapting to a new league even mean?
Nice to hear a manager finally say this
The physical demands and standard?
Still doing this, in 2020?
anything to suggest that other leagues are played at walking pace?
You seemed to suggest there is no such thing as adapting to a league and I told you two reasons why you would need to adapt.
You could just watch any Bundesliga match between two average clubs and compare it with a PL match between two average clubs and you can see the difference.
Let’s not pretend there is no difference.
If you say so.
Yes listen to me
If the player is a good player with experience in a top league he should alot right in, like Allan like James.
Pepe played in a very open league, his goals most came from counters where he had the whole pitch to run into and not have someone Brexit him out of nowhere. Or teams sitting deep and he has to be clever with the ball.
Players like Pepe will need time to settle.
Alexis had 6 seasons of experience with Barcelona and Udinese. I think it’s more about experience than the Premier League being so difficult. Pepe is a late bloomer and 18/19 was kind of his break through season. A younger player like Sane was brought with more patience in his first season, but still 5 goals and 5 assists.
Pepe has too adjust his game. Extremely dependent on his left leg. The fact that he isn’t the penalty taker at Arsenal doesn’t help him either.
As others have mentioned there are many things to take into account for a player to succeed.
Btw, let’s not consider James and Allan as successes. They’re not the first players to have a good match and then fade out.
A recent example, Ndombele had a better debut than both and now he can barely get a game.
Carlo shot himself with that comment.
people seem to forget what pepe came into also, he came into a club with no stability a coach that supposedly couldn’t even communicate what he wanted to the players. He was in and out of the squad then another manager with other set backroom staff came in and with differing tactics and ideas and between all of this crap going on he still produced reasonable numbers and don’t forget he won us a game single handedly with those 2 superb free kicks etc. I think he will be great once settled and knows what is required of him and isnt being pissed about with every other week.
The competition that Willian provides only serves in our favour. Laca, Pepe, Willian, Saka and Nelson all have to grind to get on the pitch.
It’s absolute bollocks to think Allan and James are basically job done and fully settled after 90 minutes. It’s one game.
Probably easier to settle when playing for a world class manager with whom you already have a strong relationship than when playing for Unai Fucking Emery.
Also pretty crucial that Carlo would know both players from his previous jobs. I was a pretty big Pepe doubter last season, but let’s not pretend Emery knew how to use him (or even wanted him in the first place).
Not sure he has a future here.
He’s a player perfect for a fast-paced counter-attacking set-up which we just aren’t and never will be.
The fact that we brought in 32 year old Willian to replace him says everything lol
It’s pretty clear based on all evidence that Pepe needs to build up a head of steam. That might not be popular and people might expect more but we can either deal with that and let him do it or continue to suffer half performances when we do decide to play him.
He was good at the end of last season and hugely important in us winning the cup, but he’ll never be that 70 million winger we required on a performance level.