There’s hope for Pepe as Arsenal’s history is full of legends who endured slow starts
NICOLAS PEPE was every Arsenal fan’s dream signing.
The Ivorian winger had a tremendous campaign at Lille last season, firing them into the Cham
pions League with 23 goals and 11 assists.
As a talent, he possesses a lot of attributes Arsenal lacked out wide last season. Blistering pace, clever movement, and general air of excitement on the ball we just weren’t seeing from Iwobi.
Raul Sanhelli landing him for £72million was the biggest shock since we nabbed Sol Campbell from rabble down the road, a true marquee signing in every sense of the word.
To date, Pepe’s Arsenal career has been indifferent. He’s looked slightly lost in Unai Emery’s confused system, and he’s failed to adapt to the pace of the league. There have been grumblings from certain corners of the Arsenal fanbase, quips of ‘2019s Gervinho’ have unfairly filled Twitter streams and some are unconvinced that we’ve purchased a finished product.
This view is peddled by people that don’t understand the history of Arsenal stars and slow starts.
Dennis Bergkamp was called a waste of money by Spurs’ former chairman, Alan Sugar.
Thierry Henry was all over the place for his first 14 games before scoring a screamer and setting the world alight.
Robert Pires looked a real misfit, he hated the weather, the violence of the league, and he didn’t look comfortable in an Arsenal shirt. Wenger said he’d be a talent on par with Zidane; to Arsenal fans’ delight, this prophecy came true.
Slow starts to top stars
Freddie Ljungberg was also very raw in his first season until crafting a telepathic partnership with Bergkamp.
Simply put, not everyone hits the ground running.
There are lots of reasons for this. Players often take a while to find a permanent base. They’ll have to spend a lot of time learning the local language (Emery is still struggling).
They might not like the food, the weather, and there might be an element of homesickness. The Premier League is also the fastest, most physical league on the planet.
The most important item in the ‘settling’ equation is talent and the two free-kicks Pepe scored on Thursday night against Vitoria settled that concern.
He’s made 12 appearances, he has three goals, and three assists. Not a bad return for a so-called flop.
The winger is starting to warm into his role, the combinations between Bukayo Saka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have started to look a little cleaner. Pepe’s also finding good positions on the pitch to create and attack. We’re heading into the part of the season where hopefully, we’ll see more of his personality shine on the pitch.
Emery certainly needs to see his star signing come good as we head into a crunch part of the season.
Arsenal’s league form has been stuttery, fan sentiment has turned harshly against the manager, and the atmosphere in the ground has been stale.
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A big month from Pepe might just be what the doctor ordered.
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