Pepe signs for Arsenal.: Page 18 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

Pepe signs for Arsenal.

Clrnc

I thought he was finally half decent for us. Agree that this was his best performance since Pool although the bar is set abit low.

He still have alot of time afforded due to his price tag and big reputation unlike Gervinho who ironically despite his reputation started his career really well with us. All is lacking in Pepe game now is his end product. Noticed he used alot more on his right foot this game which is promising to see

Claudius

Pepe will be fine. Just dump this dumpster fire manager before the last international break. As noted, he’s our most proactive player, even with his frustrations

goon

Temo wrote:
Mirth wrote:
I thought tonight was his best performance since the Liverpool game.

Both games we set up to counter in.

We set up to counter in every game. That being said, we probably had more to the ball tonight than most other games.

Qwiss

Klaus wrote:
I think he would have gotten a goal or an assist if we had left him on the pitch today. He was the only one driving the ball up to the attack and seemed to edge closer with his shots. Maybe he was running empty, but when he went off we resorted to letting Chambers cross the ball at every opportunity again.

Yeah I thought the other 2 subs were great, especially going with 4 forwards when he brought on Laca but in other games Pepe had faded and it made sense to take him off. He was still very involved last night and should have stayed on instead of Saka.

Mirth

Claudius wrote:
Pepe will be fine. Just dump this dumpster fire manager before the last international break. As noted, he’s our most proactive player, even with his frustrations

Exactly - how is any attacking player supposed to thrive in this ridiculous system? Even Auba barely gets enough of the ball to impress, he's just been supremely clinical so far.

jones

The players have to carry some of the responsibility themselves too to be fair. Yesterday was the worst we've looked all season, there was absolutely no movement anywhere and nobody picked a pass other than to Sokratis or Luiz.

The latter especially has been a big disappointment, he should be our main outlet from the back and he's mostly passing it to Leno and Sokratis

Mirth

I view that as another reason to drop Xhaka, force Luiz to step into midfield and push the team forward.

JazzG

Still not where he needs to be but a much improved performance, looked a lot more quicker and fitter. With a bit more confidence he takes the shot with his right foot rather than his left, he really has to score there.

Qwiss

Mirth wrote:
I view that as another reason to drop Xhaka, force Luiz to step into midfield and push the team forward.

Luiz is a worse passer than Xhaka though, he'd have to do a lot of defending to make it a worth while trade off.

Personally I'd drop them both and play 4-4-2, just go gung ho with Laca and Auba up front, Pepe and Saka/Martinelli/Nelson on the wings. Douzi and Torreira in midfield. What have we got to lose?

flobaba

Xhaka must go. I’d have dropped him before I dropped Mustafi.

goon

jones wrote:
The players have to carry some of the responsibility themselves too to be fair. Yesterday was the worst we've looked all season, there was absolutely no movement anywhere and nobody picked a pass other than to Sokratis or Luiz.

The latter especially has been a big disappointment, he should be our main outlet from the back and he's mostly passing it to Leno and Sokratis

This drove me mad yesterday. I could have smashed something each time I saw a player pass it back to Sok or Luiz and then point to them to pass it to the full back... how about take some fucking responsibility and make yourself available? Or at least make space for others.

There was one point that had me screaming, Kola finally passed up the chance to pass back and instead played a nice reverse pass to find Xhaka in acres of space in the middle of the pitch. Could have driven with it, could have looked up to play a pass forward.. what does he do? Pass it wide and back towards Chambers who had no space to drive into. I can't even fathom how he came to that decision.

flobaba

Xhaka is Xhaka.

I can’t believe Emery decided to make him captain. To me it encapsulates what the coaching and playing philosophy is about. For that alone Emery deserves the axe

Mirth

*made him captain while holding a vote on the matter

Someone said it elsewhere, Emery's probably a great coach behind the scenes and tactically astute but he can't communicate his vision to the players or motivate them.

mdgoonah41

Qwiss! wrote:
Mirth wrote:
I view that as another reason to drop Xhaka, force Luiz to step into midfield and push the team forward.

Luiz is a worse passer than Xhaka though, he'd have to do a lot of defending to make it a worth while trade off.

Personally I'd drop them both and play 4-4-2, just go gung ho with Laca and Auba up front, Pepe and Saka/Martinelli/Nelson on the wings. Douzi and Torreira in midfield. What have we got to lose?

im fine with this. but i think maybe id go with willock and douzi. willock's size and athleticism would be important if we are only playing a 2 man midfield. he might be too attacking an option there though.

but whatever the case, we definitely need to try something new

Clrnc

goon wrote:
jones wrote:
The players have to carry some of the responsibility themselves too to be fair. Yesterday was the worst we've looked all season, there was absolutely no movement anywhere and nobody picked a pass other than to Sokratis or Luiz.

The latter especially has been a big disappointment, he should be our main outlet from the back and he's mostly passing it to Leno and Sokratis

This drove me mad yesterday. I could have smashed something each time I saw a player pass it back to Sok or Luiz and then point to them to pass it to the full back... how about take some fucking responsibility and make yourself available? Or at least make space for others.

There was one point that had me screaming, Kola finally passed up the chance to pass back and instead played a nice reverse pass to find Xhaka in acres of space in the middle of the pitch. Could have driven with it, could have looked up to play a pass forward.. what does he do? Pass it wide and back towards Chambers who had no space to drive into. I can't even fathom how he came to that decision.

Have a look at this guys. I swear we did this like 20 times in every away game and most went out for either a throw in or a long ball back into opponent's half when our fullbacks got pressured with nowhere to go.

Watching random Dinamo Zagreb in UCL now and they play much better football than us, passing out from the back with style and precision. Watching us is like watching some training robot programmed to pass with no consideration for opponents.

Gazza M

xhaka is the worst metronome. you can't really play quick pass and move football with him, because he can't pass while moving. when the play speeds up, he ends up slashing a pass straight to the opponent.

things also keep breaking down with the fullbacks. not sure what the coach expects to happen when you circulate the ball at a leisurely pace among players who aren't comfortable on the ball, and they end up getting hemmed in on the touchline

and then there's no-one in the hole that can be picked out between the lines aka the ozil/ramsey zone. there's been a cavern of space between the strikers and midfield that only ever gets filled when one of our wingers cuts in. to me, this is the source of one of our biggest problems - chance creation

goon

The worst thing about that clip is that the pressure from SU is so basic and not particularly intense. Part of it looks like a severe lack of confidence, but it's not normal that we've been so poor at it for so long now.

I can't quite understand why Emery, who clearly wants to play out from the back, keeps picking Xhaka who plainly isn't capable of doing it. It's a contradiction. It's like when he kept picking Cech despite the fact that he nearly passed the ball back into his own net once.

Anzac

goon wrote:
The worst thing about that clip is that the pressure from SU is so basic and not particularly intense. Part of it looks like a severe lack of confidence, but it's not normal that we've been so poor at it for so long now.

I can't quite understand why Emery, who clearly wants to play out from the back, keeps picking Xhaka who plainly isn't capable of doing it. It's a contradiction. It's like when he kept picking Cech despite the fact that he nearly passed the ball back into his own net once.

I'd bet dollars to donuts it's to do with Xhaka's stats re 'packing' - the ability to beat/cut out players via passing - usually between the lines.
Xhaka had the highest numbers in terms of those making the pass, and Ozil had the highest numbers in terms of those receiving the pass.

USArsenal

How did this thread turn into Xhaka, Luiz and our inability to play out from the back? Lol.

Shady

Shady wrote:
Been watching the scoutnation vid of Pepe over the last fortnight, and I'm convinced he's going to explode into life for us at some point this season.

Right on cue.

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