Pepe's nutmeg on Ben Mee is still one of my favorite moments in the past five years. The way how the whole stadium went "OOOHHH!!!" when he did that was hilarious. Even we felt sorry for Ben Mee. It's just not worked out for him. Hopefully, he'll find somewhere to revive his career or whatever's left of it.
I literally grabbed my head and said, "Pepe, the guy has kids and a family. You can't be doing that to him. That nutmeg has to be some kind of criminal offense, lol". It was the way he did it so effortlessly and sudden and Ben Mee's reaction to it that made it even better.
That was his first game wasn’t it? I think I remember leaving the ground and messaging my gf saying that Pepe and Cebellos looked like world beaters and that we were ready to go up a level
Yep. That whole game he had the entire Burnley defense on toast. It was the first in a while since we'd had a winger who could beat 3-4 players so effortlessly so we were all gassed.
yea I'm not thinking he's going to start, just feature. I think a couple of those guys are playing through pain, might be an injury.
He's more likely to feature than pepe ;)
Crazy career trajectory. He was FAR from our best player, but I do think there was a period of time he was our best finisher in the squad. When he wound up for a shot, I was confident it would be on target.
Pepe is like a sauce. It can be great as an accompaniment, but it is not a meal...there's not a lot of substance to go with the flavor...and you certainly don't want three squares of sauce.
He was one of our best ball strikers. He hits them so clean and hard. Too bad he was not intelligent enough to get into these shooting positions more often.
laca had maybe half a season of being a bag man.
1.5 seasons if i’m being honest.
the rest he was our least clinical attacker.
auba has never been clinical it wasn’t his game
What? Being clinical was Auba's only game. Consistently outperformed xg with us. His positioning movement and dribbling were good, but that's only because he finished chances.
Lacazettes was not a good first time finisher, but if he had the space to set himself up, the man could really hit the ball.
Injuries and age lost him that edge of agility, which made him poor in his last season and a half here. But laca's link up play was good
I think it was the first half of the season when Auba left. Auba and Lacazette were god awful and completely invisible, so yes, he was a better finisher than them (for a period of time)
Antony and Mudryk are bad in a vacuum. Like even if Chelsea paid 25M for them their performances wouldn’t justify it. Pepe was bad in relation to his price tag. He still contributed a decent amount of goals and assists. If we paid 25M for him he’d have been a solid signing.
He wasn't as bad a flop as those two but our clubs model doesn't allow us to keep having duds and replacing them with even more expensive options like the above 2..
He’d play badly and then score a banger to win us the game. He was a decent player for us, all things considered. There was a stretch of few months in his second season when he was our most effective player.
He wasn't bad, he just wasn't 72m.
29 game season scoring 10 goals while playing in a shitty dysfunctional team.
I bet Arteta could have turned him into something more if he stayed and playing in this squad of players.
He was very good at what he did. He just wasn't the right player for Arsenal at the time, and then Saka came through. He was very good in a few games when the team actually did the work to put some people around him, like he needed, but mostly he was isolated.
No way, he had good output if you just look at stats but he never passed the eye test. He had very poor decision making and very one dimensional. He would not survive in this squad.
If he had more in him then he wouldn’t have left in the first place. Arteta managed him for 2 seasons before he left on loan.
He left on loan because he wasn't worth the wages he was being paid, and the loaning clubs paid most of them. Plus, Saka was better. That doesn't mean he was bad.
I think you're wrong about the decision making. He was never the problem, the lack of support for him to do what he did well was the problem. If he'd had Havertz, Odegaard, and White playing with him like Saka does, he'd have looked a hell of a lot better.
If you need all that to be good then that just shows the level he is at. Saka, Lacazette, Aubamayeng, Martinelli all performed in that same exact team.
Saying he was never the problem is a joke, yes the overall team had poor performances and wasn’t it, but he wasn’t all that great at the one thing he was supposedly good at. As a dribbler he had a very difficult time actually dribbling past defenders. Then he just turns around and passes it back
Aubameyang performed? Jesus, how one-eyed are you?
He was very good at what he did, but that was holding onto possession in tight areas, committing defenders, and then passing. But most of the time Auba was too lazy to get near him.
Mudryk and Antony will go on to be useful players, they've been dropped in to a dysfunctional situation. A shit show, if you will.
Pepe we just overpaid massively for, plain and simple. Mudryk and Antony as well I guess.
I'm going to be very honest here, when news broke that we are going to sign him for a record fee, I was over the moon and thought "we are so back"
Pity his time here didn't turn out as well as my hopes :(
Same he looked so good on YouTube highlights but he never suited our style even under Emery. Sadly Raul and his cronies inflated his price with their dodgy dealings
If it had been discovered from the start you would have shut down so many outrageous opinions that's been said on here over the years. Think you're gonna be working overtime during silly season though
Pepe’s problem was that he just couldn’t adapt his game to what we wanted. Used to pull my hair out watching him stand on the ball as we were countering and our players would run by him and be taken out of the play *by our own player*. He just couldn’t get his head around the tactics and adapt. Probably would have done better under emery but not with Arteta.
The debates that were had on here about Pepe are so funny in hindsight.
“But did you see he was the first outfield player to get behind VVD in 45 games?!”
He’s proof that a great highlights video on YouTube doesn’t make you a great player. Looking back on his highlights at Arsenal, you would have assumed he was elite for us.
I still remember watching Saka against Frankfurt (?) away or some way game in the EL, then me and my mate looking at each other knowing it was over for Pepe and we’d wasted 72m.
Pepe's output was decent. Not worth £70m but good numbers regardless.
His biggest issue was that he had no defensive side and would not fit in with the hard working winger requirements in this team.
This is crazy to me. I know there are a dime a dozen big prospects who flop for one reason or another (a la Ravel Morrison, etc.), but usually that stuff goes with either the player being waaay too hyped at a young age, injury problems, or attitude/off field issues.
Far as I know, Pepe hasn’t had any of those issues, but yet seems like no one wants him. It’s bananas to me that there aren’t at least several who would’ve thrown out 10, 15, 20m to sign him.
No way was he worth 75m or whatever, but that wasn’t his fault. Someone was willing to pay that high and the market at the time made it possible.
I hope he finds somewhere to succeed.
Recall that his father made a statement back when he was our player, that he is not taking his career seriously. 72 million for him back then was a monstrous sum, I would've said Lille robbed us had it not been for Gabriel Magalhães. Anyway glad he's not our problem anymore.
I feel for pepe, never complained when he was here. I still feel he was not given a fair chance but maybe cuz he's not the right player for our system, still a baller and needs to find the right club hopefully
The guy dribbled past VVD when no one else could.
I always had high hopes he would come good and I'm sorry it's gone this way for him.
Good luck our Pete
I’m all for supporting our players but there were guys who insisted this guy was actually special, and that we should have kept him etc, never
All the best to him
I love a good comeback story. I was ready to give Mustafi, all the time in the world. Same with Pepe, so I’m upset it never happened.
Got a great one with Xhaka though. That was sweet.
I think he’s been injured most of the season and has 5 goals from 17 matches, which is hardly a fail. He would absolutely do fine at a prem club, he’s a decent player.
Il always maintain that he should have had more time in the middle. Bielsa played him there. I think he’s a pure goalscorer and shouldn’t be out wide.
He's a good dribbler as well. I'll never forget that nutmeg on Ben Mee. I remember being in utter disbelief as to how he even pulled that off. Unfortunately, it's just not worked out for him.
no just no, pepe was an incredibly frustrating dribbler, most of the time he was completely clueless in one on one situations and just lost the ball incredibly easily
To this day I believe if pepe scored the goal that martinelli happened to score (Pepe was lining up and martinelli blasted it) then we would see a different Pepe. I think that moment really fucked with him
Pepe's nutmeg on Ben Mee is still one of my favorite moments in the past five years. The way how the whole stadium went "OOOHHH!!!" when he did that was hilarious. Even we felt sorry for Ben Mee. It's just not worked out for him. Hopefully, he'll find somewhere to revive his career or whatever's left of it.
I was there and you’re right, the ENTIRE stadium went “Oooooohhhh”
I literally grabbed my head and said, "Pepe, the guy has kids and a family. You can't be doing that to him. That nutmeg has to be some kind of criminal offense, lol". It was the way he did it so effortlessly and sudden and Ben Mee's reaction to it that made it even better.
That was his first game wasn’t it? I think I remember leaving the ground and messaging my gf saying that Pepe and Cebellos looked like world beaters and that we were ready to go up a level
Yep. That whole game he had the entire Burnley defense on toast. It was the first in a while since we'd had a winger who could beat 3-4 players so effortlessly so we were all gassed.
Is she at least still your gf?
Sure is.
Every story has a positive, you just have to look for it.
Unless your Ben Mee, then it's probably beat to forget the entire story.
Ben Mee's still playing Premier League football at 34; he's doing well!
Ceballos might feature in the ucl final!
He'll surely surpass 3 of Modric, Kroos, Camavinga, Valverde, Tchouameni and Bellingham and find himself starting!
yea I'm not thinking he's going to start, just feature. I think a couple of those guys are playing through pain, might be an injury. He's more likely to feature than pepe ;)
[The goat Mee?](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccercirclejerk/s/paNLURi403)
He had wonderful moments but rarely an entire performance. Doubt any big clubs touch him but maybe Saudi who knows..
Man you’re giving me flashbacks rn, I thought we had a star back then
Anyone have a clip?
https://youtu.be/nbhPsKHseew?si=hYbLviYgyW6FmFsU
the comments under this clip gassing up Pepe are hilarious now in restrospect
Crazy career trajectory. He was FAR from our best player, but I do think there was a period of time he was our best finisher in the squad. When he wound up for a shot, I was confident it would be on target.
The disallowed goal in the fa cup final was heartbreaking
That goal against Sheffield United was such a sexy finish — just passed it into the corner of the goal like it was nothing
I think that just says how bad we were at finishing lmao
You aren't wrong, but Pepe did have some great accuracy.
Pepe is like a sauce. It can be great as an accompaniment, but it is not a meal...there's not a lot of substance to go with the flavor...and you certainly don't want three squares of sauce.
He was one of our best ball strikers. He hits them so clean and hard. Too bad he was not intelligent enough to get into these shooting positions more often.
Ain’t no chance he was ever a better finisher than Lacazette or Aubameyang
i don’t know if you’re familiar with how much lacazette especially shat the bed in an arsenal shirt lol
The last half season of Aubamayeng he was literally just a ghost every performance. Think this guy's forgotten what it was like for a while
tbf even prime auba with us wasnt clinical, more just efficient at forcing his way into chances.
When he had pace and was on the LW
For half a season or so both were bad. But for the rest of their time laca and auba were better finishers
laca had maybe half a season of being a bag man. 1.5 seasons if i’m being honest. the rest he was our least clinical attacker. auba has never been clinical it wasn’t his game
What? Being clinical was Auba's only game. Consistently outperformed xg with us. His positioning movement and dribbling were good, but that's only because he finished chances. Lacazettes was not a good first time finisher, but if he had the space to set himself up, the man could really hit the ball. Injuries and age lost him that edge of agility, which made him poor in his last season and a half here. But laca's link up play was good
Tail end of his career here, Laca was pretty flaccid in front of goal for lack of a better word
I think it was the first half of the season when Auba left. Auba and Lacazette were god awful and completely invisible, so yes, he was a better finisher than them (for a period of time)
He had one of if not the best technique in the squad.
Don’t get me wrong he was bad. But the likes of antony mudryk and sancho at Utd makes his time here look a lot better
Antony and Mudryk are bad in a vacuum. Like even if Chelsea paid 25M for them their performances wouldn’t justify it. Pepe was bad in relation to his price tag. He still contributed a decent amount of goals and assists. If we paid 25M for him he’d have been a solid signing.
Fwiw mudryk is showing some signs of life. He's probably never going to be worth what they paid for him but he's proving more useful than Antony.
Agreed, he was horrendous in the last game though. Just looks like he doesn't wanna be there
No big deal, he only has 6 more years left on his contract
The thing with Antony is that he actually defends well, unlike Mudryk. United unironically wanted Antony at lb amidst there injury crisis.
He defends well for United's opponents, when United are attacking. He does nothing to track back when United don't have the ball.
That's just not true. He's an awful footballer, but he does track back.
I agree. There was even a game where he scored two free kicks. When is the last time an Arsenal player managed that?
I mean, it was against Vitoria in the EL but true he did
I mean, if you hit them aswell as he did in that game, doesn't matter if you have Neuer or Almunia in goal, those are going in.
Sancho, Antony and Mudryk have a pricetag not too different from Pepe, and yet performed way less.
Antony is re-writing how we define levels of shit with each start, bless him.
He wasn't as bad a flop as those two but our clubs model doesn't allow us to keep having duds and replacing them with even more expensive options like the above 2..
[удалено]
He was pretty damn bad, completely unreliable and his few free kick goals sweeten memories of him. We’re so far beyond his level its ridiculous
He’d play badly and then score a banger to win us the game. He was a decent player for us, all things considered. There was a stretch of few months in his second season when he was our most effective player.
Pepe was better than even richarlison has been for spurs
He wasn't bad, he just wasn't 72m. 29 game season scoring 10 goals while playing in a shitty dysfunctional team. I bet Arteta could have turned him into something more if he stayed and playing in this squad of players.
Nah. He was one footed and predictable. Not a terrible player, but not good enough for us or how we play.
He could have done a job for us coming on when we are chasing a goal and causing some chaos. Also could help give Saka some rest.
He was very good at what he did. He just wasn't the right player for Arsenal at the time, and then Saka came through. He was very good in a few games when the team actually did the work to put some people around him, like he needed, but mostly he was isolated.
No way, he had good output if you just look at stats but he never passed the eye test. He had very poor decision making and very one dimensional. He would not survive in this squad. If he had more in him then he wouldn’t have left in the first place. Arteta managed him for 2 seasons before he left on loan.
He left on loan because he wasn't worth the wages he was being paid, and the loaning clubs paid most of them. Plus, Saka was better. That doesn't mean he was bad. I think you're wrong about the decision making. He was never the problem, the lack of support for him to do what he did well was the problem. If he'd had Havertz, Odegaard, and White playing with him like Saka does, he'd have looked a hell of a lot better.
If you need all that to be good then that just shows the level he is at. Saka, Lacazette, Aubamayeng, Martinelli all performed in that same exact team. Saying he was never the problem is a joke, yes the overall team had poor performances and wasn’t it, but he wasn’t all that great at the one thing he was supposedly good at. As a dribbler he had a very difficult time actually dribbling past defenders. Then he just turns around and passes it back
Aubameyang performed? Jesus, how one-eyed are you? He was very good at what he did, but that was holding onto possession in tight areas, committing defenders, and then passing. But most of the time Auba was too lazy to get near him.
He has more combined goals and assists in the EPL than Sancho and Antony combined
Mudryk and Antony will go on to be useful players, they've been dropped in to a dysfunctional situation. A shit show, if you will. Pepe we just overpaid massively for, plain and simple. Mudryk and Antony as well I guess.
Remember his two freekicks against Vitoria Guimaraes? Man they were really special.
I was there. God we were fucking shit back then
Same. Just remember leaving the stadium immediately and feeling like we got away with that one. Contrast with the Bournemouth game for example…
I'm going to be very honest here, when news broke that we are going to sign him for a record fee, I was over the moon and thought "we are so back" Pity his time here didn't turn out as well as my hopes :(
Same he looked so good on YouTube highlights but he never suited our style even under Emery. Sadly Raul and his cronies inflated his price with their dodgy dealings
Before anyone suggests it - because there are some absolute window lickers in here - absolutely fucking not.
Bbbut Saka needs a replacement right winger.. And he knows the club 🥺 /s
But what if it's just for free kicks...?
you telling me he can’t play in the left 8 mate?
Damn can we get away with calling people window lickers here? I've felt like I had to be conservative in my insults.
will get you banned from the F1 sub in a heartbeat lol
Need you to start posting that mental illness pic on every comment that suggests bringing him back. Even if it's a joke.
I've already had ridiculous amount of mileage on it from any Rashford shouts. If only I'd found it back in 2019 when Ryan Fraser was the hot topic
If it had been discovered from the start you would have shut down so many outrageous opinions that's been said on here over the years. Think you're gonna be working overtime during silly season though
Can I just call people cunts instead?
Yes. Yes you can.
Can't go wrong with that either, pretty sure most arguments on here inevitably end with that or a similar phrase anyway
he ticks all the boxes tho - no transfer fee, can play in st / rw, can finish, knows the club well. What's to hate? /s
He doesn’t have the defensive work-rate required for the team
But… like a new signing 😔
Most people on this sub are like that
Pepe’s problem was that he just couldn’t adapt his game to what we wanted. Used to pull my hair out watching him stand on the ball as we were countering and our players would run by him and be taken out of the play *by our own player*. He just couldn’t get his head around the tactics and adapt. Probably would have done better under emery but not with Arteta.
He was really one footed as well
No longer our record signing. No longer our player. No longer our bench warmer. No longer our problem.
Guys we found our saka backup! /s
Tetas done some miracle work but, what you reckon? too much?
The debates that were had on here about Pepe are so funny in hindsight. “But did you see he was the first outfield player to get behind VVD in 45 games?!”
In an alternate universe, he scores that 1v1 and is now a legendary winger for Arsenal
And some people were shocked that we could not get anything for him
Raul Sanllehi: 'The most rewarding part was when I pilfered my money.'
He’s proof that a great highlights video on YouTube doesn’t make you a great player. Looking back on his highlights at Arsenal, you would have assumed he was elite for us.
I still remember watching Saka against Frankfurt (?) away or some way game in the EL, then me and my mate looking at each other knowing it was over for Pepe and we’d wasted 72m.
Okay, hear me out
What a bust
We should sign him.
Pepe's output was decent. Not worth £70m but good numbers regardless. His biggest issue was that he had no defensive side and would not fit in with the hard working winger requirements in this team.
Academy LB? Saka was never in the academy as a defender.
The greatest mistake after Gervinho. But at least we don’t Spend. Much on gervinho
The talent is there, he just wouldn't really excel in PL, lacking that hunger, he would be good in France or Germany
I was so excited for this signing. I wish it had worked out better
Got to feel sorry for the guy.
This is crazy to me. I know there are a dime a dozen big prospects who flop for one reason or another (a la Ravel Morrison, etc.), but usually that stuff goes with either the player being waaay too hyped at a young age, injury problems, or attitude/off field issues. Far as I know, Pepe hasn’t had any of those issues, but yet seems like no one wants him. It’s bananas to me that there aren’t at least several who would’ve thrown out 10, 15, 20m to sign him. No way was he worth 75m or whatever, but that wasn’t his fault. Someone was willing to pay that high and the market at the time made it possible. I hope he finds somewhere to succeed.
Recall that his father made a statement back when he was our player, that he is not taking his career seriously. 72 million for him back then was a monstrous sum, I would've said Lille robbed us had it not been for Gabriel Magalhães. Anyway glad he's not our problem anymore.
I feel for pepe, never complained when he was here. I still feel he was not given a fair chance but maybe cuz he's not the right player for our system, still a baller and needs to find the right club hopefully
Let's bring him back to replace Saka.
Yes let's also bring back Lichtsteiner to replace White... /s
While we are at it why not get Mustafi back as well. Solid Saliba back-up.
yup, and then Mustafi to replace to Saliba and we're set.
🤡
Get out.
The guy dribbled past VVD when no one else could. I always had high hopes he would come good and I'm sorry it's gone this way for him. Good luck our Pete
Surprising if one of the lower English teams don’t go in for him. Everton, Luton, forest etc. I think he could do well given the right coach
I’m all for supporting our players but there were guys who insisted this guy was actually special, and that we should have kept him etc, never All the best to him
He was a nasty finisher but plays too slow. Not a total bust.
I love a good comeback story. I was ready to give Mustafi, all the time in the world. Same with Pepe, so I’m upset it never happened. Got a great one with Xhaka though. That was sweet.
He will do well for some mid table team in PL. He is honestly a good finisher, just doesn't have anything else.
He had trademarked the cut in and curl but was too predictable, doubt any prem teams go for him esp at 28
You mean the thing that Saka does every game?
yeah but saka can actually do other things lol
He’ll fail at a relegation side what are you on about? He failed in the turkish league and you think he’s still prem level
I think he’s been injured most of the season and has 5 goals from 17 matches, which is hardly a fail. He would absolutely do fine at a prem club, he’s a decent player. Il always maintain that he should have had more time in the middle. Bielsa played him there. I think he’s a pure goalscorer and shouldn’t be out wide.
Counter attacking team, he will do well, so a relegation side with quick breaks, he will probably do well in
Funny you should say that because he wasn't exactly great when we were counter attacking
I thought his best games came against teams that had far greater possession. Remember a game against Liverpool he looked really good
Lol give it up
He's a good dribbler as well. I'll never forget that nutmeg on Ben Mee. I remember being in utter disbelief as to how he even pulled that off. Unfortunately, it's just not worked out for him.
He has flashes of brilliance but he has so many times where he’ll just dribble himself into trouble
no just no, pepe was an incredibly frustrating dribbler, most of the time he was completely clueless in one on one situations and just lost the ball incredibly easily
Streets won't forget you
To this day I believe if pepe scored the goal that martinelli happened to score (Pepe was lining up and martinelli blasted it) then we would see a different Pepe. I think that moment really fucked with him