If anything, for a player like Pepe, the Europa should really be used as a precursor to week-in-week-out performances in the PL; getting him up to speed so to speak. I’m not sure his inclusion last night is that though, and we’ll see a twilight version Willian poke ahead of him in the pecking order.
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Took his goal well. If we are to improve our goals output we need more players to chip in. Think he is the most likely to help with this.
Has to be introduced and involved more now.
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Yep. Pepe and Willock are goalscorers. Both need to be in the team along with Saka and Auba.
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Yeah it’s farcical the way he’s in and out of the team.
I think there’s a method behind Arteta madness because he presses better, his movement off the ball is better. I just worry about his confidence levels.
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Which of course means they’ll be riding the bench for the foreseeable.
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Pepe has so much talent he oozes productivity even when he’s playing crap. He just can’t help it but to score and assist
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I back Pepe’s talent and he scored another good goal yesterday.
He’s too hot and cold during a match still, and in the first half he lost the ball more times than anyone (alongside Willian) which tended to be a result of slow, incorrect decision making and failure to beat his man.
He has the skills to advance past players, but he is very timid now, likely a confidence thing.
In the box he has shown to be lethal so we need to find a way to get him more involved in there and less on the touchline in our current setup.
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Yeah I think he has contributed the most goals after Auba. Something like that.
If we insist on playing Auba wide I’d play Pepe centrally
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His goal really hid his horrible game prior to it.
We should play Pepe as much as we can, not because he is some amazing talent waiting to prosper but because we have spent 72m on him and we should make sure he hits form one way or another to get some value back.
I think Pepe is not bad centrally, we’ve seen him drift in a few times. He’s scored a couple of goals from there but also has put some really good through balls in from there. The pass to eddy and the assist for joe.
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Mad that Willian, with the Fulham game aside, hasn’t really ‘clicked’ yet in this Arsenal team but he’s preferred to Nico.
I would say I’d like to see some honesty from Arteta, to play those in form or worthy of starts/places in the squad but he has recently started (hopefully) the cycle of shifting Xhaka into the B team.
We know Pepe wasn’t an Arteta signing but he’s certainly knocking on the door in terms of scoring goals and assisting, his form will surely follow given minutes too.
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I actually think all our wingers-Saka, Willian, Pepe - are doing a pretty decent job in quite an unbalanced and disjointed attacking side.
We are still missing that spark where we can just completely control a game at home and fill our boots but once I think that comes the wide players we have on paper will start to look as formidable on the pitch. Especially with Gabriel coming back we’re finally starting to look like we have a little depth in quality in these positions. I do think it will all click sooner than later.
I feel like Villa would be the perfect game to try a front three of Willian - Auba - Pepe, with perhaps Saka in a central, free role. That’s a lot for any defence to cope with.
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We have good players upfront, enough to cause most teams problems and nick results from the better teams but it’s just so structured and lacks “simpatico” because there isn’t any real consistency in selection.
Pepe got the talent but it seems he’s confused and lacks confidence. I think it’s good that our defensive shape is so structured and the defenders and midfielders stick to that plan, but we have to let our attackers do their thing up front, same way Chelsea is going about it. No reason that Pepe can’t do what Ziyech does.
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Drag him Nico
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This club is being mismanaged pretty much in every way shape and form in all facets. I’d love to say it’s a surprise but the Özil and Guendo situations this summer were massive red flags. But y’all thought Arteta was such a hard man building some sort of elite culture lmaoooooo 
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Glad to hear he’s disappointed about it, it’d be very concerning if he wasn’t unhappy about it.
Sort it out Mikel ffs, some of us are trying our best to defend you and not become fully paid up members of the MOB but you aren’t making it easy.
I didn’t even want him in the first place so feels weird I’ve ended up in this position lol
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The MOB sounds fucking elite
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Yeah, coining the phrase made me want to join even more lol. Definitely couldn’t fully class myself as an AKB right now that’s for sure
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You need to copyright that shit mate