Arsenal: Nicolas Pepe no longer worried about acclimating

Nicolas Pep has gotten a really bum rap this year, but the new Arsenal man has a very clear and obvious progression this year and don’t you forget it.

Leave it to Arsenal fans to get the signing they’ve always dreamed of and subsequently harsh on him throughout the year, downplaying what he’s done and criticizing the club for spending so wantonly on a product that isn’t paying dividends. Such has been year one of the Nicolas Pepe project.

Pepe, in defiance of all the haters, went on to say that there are no Premier League defenders that he has struggled against (more or less) and subsequently earned even more hatred from opposing fans.

But the more I think about why he said what he did, and how factual it is, the more I start to realize just how impressive (and underrated) Pepe’s improvements have been this year. If you haven’t notice them, then just go watch him at the start of the season compared to what we see now.

Here’s the thing—he’s acclimated. I have no problem saying that. No doubts. For the first several months, I kept writing that we need to be patient. We need to give him time to acclimate. And we did.

But here we are with the season winding down and it’s all silent on the acclimation front. To which I have the answer—because it’s done. Pepe isn’t still trying to figure out the Premier League. He has figured it out. And what we see now is what we’re largely going to get, with the obvious room for improvements as he continues to grow and develop.

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This is a good thing. He has kicked his scoring productivity into motion, he is our second top goal producer across major competitions and if it weren’t for his fluctuating play time, I have no doubts that those totals would be ever increasing. Because the more he plays, the more frequent his goals become.

Statistically, Pepe stacks up against some of the best in the league. But for me, the big difference between then and now is ball security. Early in the season he was a loose cannon. He tried to change the world with every touch and it let to severe bouts of possession loss.

He doesn’t have that anymore. He still has some, as is a byproduct of his style, but again, it ranks among the best in the league and no more. He’s not a liability.

All that remains to be done is getting him regularly into the starting XI. Which should have already been happening so…