Mikel Arteta is usually quite calm and collected on the side-line, so you would expect him to be pretty happy tonight with Arsenal cruising to a simple victory over Rapid Vienna.
There’s an ongoing situation with club record signing Nicolas Pepe where it does feel like he’s on his last chance after the red card against Leeds, so it was interesting to see Arteta’s reaction when he passed up a good chance tonight:
Just look at Arteta and co’s reaction, Pepe really isn’t doing himself any favours. BE SANE! pic.twitter.com/I88Jt8q11n
— B3RLIN (@B3RLlN) December 3, 2020
Pictures from BT Sport
There’s every chance that he sees Pepe as a senior player in a fairly youthful line up so he’s holding him to a higher standard, but it doesn’t do much to boost the idea that Pepe could have a long term future with the club.
Pepe overplays. Can be brilliant but is too keen on beating his man – which is often uneccesary.
That is a very very poor reaction from the manager who appears to have little or no idea how to control himself and therefore will not be able to control his players. we have seen it with Guendouzi and now Pepe
Curious that he doesn’t behave in the same manner towards certain players when they make costly mistakes, like Bellerin, Ceballos or Xhaka all of whom the fans screwup many times, jeezas he even keeps bringing Mustafi and Willian back without publicly disparaging them the way he has Pepe
Arteta should stop that kind of reaction, I am not too sure if he is aware that some players are not just ball kickers and not ball players. At the moment and regardless of what he thinks, most of his players especially midfield players can’t dribble through any defense other than crossing the ball into a fully parked eighteen area. NO player upfront is Giroud, a worst of crosses. Pepe is able to dribble through not even your Willian. “Leave Pepe alone” and start thinking or look for brain its lost.
This Arteta has lost his mind, he has no intelligent players who can harass defenders may be the same Pepe can try.