Arsenal: Nicolas Pepe has every right to be angry, and it worked

Arsenal have transitioned into a new era, but it wasn’t with thunderous effect. Unless you count Nicolas Pepe, who was a thunder cloud all in himself.

Arsenal looked different under Mikel Arteta. As opposed to previous matches, they fired off 17 shots. Only two were on target, but it’s a start. They also created 12 chances, which is a beautiful change in and of itself as well. But they did most of it without Nicolas Pepe.

Reiss Nelson was given the start over Nicolas Pepe, and while Nelson did quite well at the start, it’s as if all the confidence was sucked out of him as soon as Dan Gosling scored on the other end. The sharpness was gone and we were left wondering when Nicolas Pepe would come on.

That didn’t happen until the final ten minutes. Pepe was introduced for a then-injured Reiss Nelson and from the moment he touched the pitch, he was a thunder cloud, a whirling dervish. He looked angry to have only been given that amount of time and he looked determined to do something about it.

Pepe touched the ball fifteen times in ten minutes. In those ten minutes he completed more dribbles than any other player on the pitch. He completed every single pass. He looked like a top, round up and left to spin across the table.

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There was remarkable precision in his play as well. He wasn’t unbound or reckless. He looked like he had funneled all of that anger at being left out into a precise foot, which was fantastic to see, since he can get a bit loose at times.

It was a questionable decision to leave off Pepe for Nelson, and you can bet that Pepe was less than enchanted that the new boss favored the kid over him, the record signing who has been one of our most dangerous attackers lately.

Also important—Pepe was unselfish. There were questions asked by the commentators about Pepe’s ability to play unselfish football. I didn’t quite get it, but I guess, in the absence of a better explanation, that may be why Arteta made the decision he did.

Or maybe Arteta wanted to wind up Pepe. It’s a tactic that’s far too often under-utilized.

Whatever the case, it worked. Pepe is wound up and with Chelsea at the weekend, I think we can all see where this is going. Pepe for the brace on Sunday.