Arsenal: The Nicolas Pepe problem has nothing to do with Nicolas Pepe

Arsenal have a Nicolas Pepe problem, but the entirety of the problem has nothing to do with Nicolas Pepe himself. And that’s why it’s a problem.

Arsenal‘s attack needs help, and they were needing help last year too. The answer to that call for help was spending a record amount of money to secure Nicolas Pepe for a long time. Five years, £72m, and the entire Gooner fan base gave a collective cheer. We’d found our man.

Since then, Pepe has been on and off the bench, he’s shown some acclimation, he’s shown improvement, he’s one of our top goal producers and every time he plays he gets better. But let me say again, he’s been on and off the bench, no matter who the manager, and there’s no real rhyme or reason why.

In tandem with the managerial hullabaloo, there are some fans out there that claim he was a waste of money, that he’s bang average, that we’ve made a huge mistake signing him. And most opposing fans would concur.

There’s no way around it. Arsenal have a massive Nicolas Pepe problem. But that’s the thing. The Nicolas Pepe problem has nothing at all to do with the quality of Nicolas Pepe. Which is why this problem is so problematic. Because it’s not a usual kind of problem.

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Pepe has done exactly what he should be doing. He’s acclimating from moving from Ligue 1. His goal and assist tallies are increasing the more he plays. He’s creating more. He’s our best dribbler. He’s one of the only guys on this team who can create something for himself, out of nothing.

The problem is entirely down to impossible-to-please fans and managers who can’t seem to figure out how good he really is. But in case you haven’t noticed, between the manager and the fans, that’s the people who get the most headlines. That’s the people who are the loudest. So if there’s a problem they’re talking about, it gets blown up.

That’s unfortunately Nicolas Pepe.

I have complete and total faith in the Ivorian winger. I look forward to seeing what he’s going to do every match because anything can turn into a goal. So when matches like Burnley come and pass, goalless, and Pepe isn’t even seen on the pitch, I have to wonder.

I have to wonder why this problem has to exist when the solutions are so obvious and so abundant.