Arsenal: Nicolas Pepe the ideal Mesut Ozil replacement

Mesut Ozil has excelled under Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta at an inside-right attacking midfield role, taking the lion’s share of creative duties and emphasizing his left foot. Once the German moves on, Nicolas Pepe might just be the man to replace him.

Mesut Ozil has found second wind under Mikel Arteta. His newfound inside-right attacking midfield position allows him to dictate counter-attacks while operating as a second striker, and pressing high without much workload near his own box, shifting almost into a 4-4-1-1 defensively. But there is a time when Ozil will be no more at Arsenal.

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For one, despite all the improvement Ozil has shown, he still lacks some things. He disappeared completely after the 30th minute against Crystal Palace and was eventually subbed for the much more vibrant Gabriel Martinelli, who made an immediate improvement.

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He no longer has the top-end speed to burst past a player and his movement is painfully limited as a result. He relies on passing alone, instead of the individual skill on the ball that he expressed earlier in his Arsenal career. He is also too reliant on his teammates to create around him, and he has lost the ability to efficiently cut inside.

For another, the role of a number 10, whether central or inside-right, is incredibly taxing. They are responsible for most of the creative output and transition play and must assist every player on the pitch during the attacking phases of the game. This is a duty Ozil simply is not capable of. So when it comes to replacing him, Arsenal must look for a player who can conduct, just as the German has done, but also provide an injection and ingenuity that has been noticeably missing from his game. And in looking for the Ozil replacement, Arteta and co. might not have to search that hard.

Nicolas Pepe is capable of everything Ozil is and more. That inside-right role is perfect for the Ivorian. He can occasionally become isolated out wide, with large stretches of play passing without a single touch. We saw against Palace that he is effective off both flanks, especially when he drifts into central pockets. So why not start him in those areas of the pitch?

Playing through the centre, Pepe would have access to more of the ball. We have already seen his prodigious skill in creating chances, so by getting him on the ball more frequently, Arsenal would only enhance their attacking threat. Pepe would be an excellent fulcrum for the counter-attack, and his absence on the right-wing would provide an opening for Reiss Nelson or Martinelli to start more regularly, which is never a bad thing.

In addition, his ability to both pass and dribble would be incredibly useful centrally. He is far quicker, both off the mark and at a sprint, than Ozil. He has terrific guile which allows him to separate from defenders with the slightest of touches or to draw them in and spin around. He plays, in fact, very much as Ozil used to, if a bit more direct.

What’s more, Pepe has a move he favours when playing wide on the right: cutting inside on his left foot. He has shown more in his locker, but in a very Arjen Robben-esque fashion, he keeps cutting inside whenever he can. Playing more centrally would eliminate that dependency, allowing him to unlock more of his potential and become less predictable.

Pepe has the capacity to carry the team. Much of his mercurial play has come from a lack of chances. Under Unai Emery, he was triple-marked and told to change the game. Not a recipe for success. Now under Arteta, he is finally spreading his wings, and he looks better with every game he plays, but he still slows down the play too much and is overly dependent on specific moves, leaving him isolated on the right flank.

It is always beneficial when Arsenal can solve problems internally. Many of their problems in the past few seasons have come because their have tried to solve their internal problems by working externally. But in this instance, to replace Ozil and finding an heir to the creative throne, they need not search far. Pepe can be his successor. Arteta just needs to unleash it.