Arsenal: 3 improvements Nicolas Pepe must make

Arsenal fans are somehow still not sold on Nicolas Pepe, but in the spirit of getting better, here are three things he could definitely improve on.

In typical fashion, the media and Arsenal fans alike have been doubting the abilities of Nicolas Pepe all year. Despite the fact that he literally contributes to as many goals per minute as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, some think he wasn’t worth the price.

Most recently, he was said to be worth half of what the Gunners paid for him, which is just asinine to think about. The guy has contributed so many goals in his first year, despite the acclimation period and the rough going early on.

That said, there is always room to improve, and in the spirit of highlighting the improvements that numerous players could make, I now turn my attention to Nicolas Pepe, the woefully unappreciated attacker who is everything that Arsenal needed when they broke the bank on him.

Nicolas Pepe’s 3 necessary improvements at Arsenal

Nicolas Pepe has already shown vast improvements in a lot of these areas throughout the year, but again, there is always room to improve. So let’s talk about the three things Pepe most needs to up his game with.

We start with No. 3.

3. Ball security

This is such a finicky thing to ask for, because generally speaking there is no such thing as a winger who doesn’t forfeit possession. But you can always do better, and Pepe has struggled at times with retaining possession. He’s losing the ball about four time a match which, again, is not that bad by any means.

But it has also significantly dropped since his earlier season struggles, so the numbers we see now are already mid-improvements. Which is a good thing. It’s why ball security is so low on this list and about to fall off entirely because it looks like he’s figuring it all out already.

And again, this is a tough one. Wingers need to have the freedom to innovate and dribble and if you ask them to secure the ball more and not lose possession, you may also lose some of that innovation.

Anyway, on to No. 2.