On Nicolas Pépé.

4 league starts this season. 40 minutes per game average. (65 mins per game last season)

Dribbles per game —> from 2.3 last season to 0.8.

Ground duels won —> from 4.5 to 1.8.

It’s so glaring.

You’ve told him he’s dribbling too much. “Just pass”. He’s doing exactly that now. Problem is, you need him to take those risks in order to make something happen because attacking plan is dire. Saka takes risks. That’s why things happen.

I noted all the times he received the ball last night. Almost every time, the only way he could do anything of note was if he dribbled through people into the more dangerous areas.

What did he do? He passed back. Because he’s not going to take risks anymore.

I also noted how many times he had his marker blind-sided & had acres of space. But the ball never moved quickly. And he was never spotted until his marker had seen him & decided to stick close.

You’re not getting out of that without dribbling. Well, he doesn’t dribble anymore.