my thoughts on pepe, a thread-
ofc we overpaid for pepe, but with his stats in ligue 1 over the two seasons, he was what 23? at the time and in this market it was justified. unfortunately a price tag like that comes with immense pressure (1/?)

- and he was obviously not in control of that price tag. at lille, pepe was used as an inverted winger in a team that thrived off of quick counter attacks, where he could utilise his pace and attack goal at an angle where we’ve seen him score from a few times (2/?)

- unfortunately, we play in a very different system. it seems that mikel wants him playing very close to the line, utilising overlapping runs of bellerin or whoever else is at RB. however, this leaves the RB position exposed and he doesn’t have the best defensive work rate (3/?)

- due to him playing so wide and his evident lack of ability on his right foot, this often leads him to pass backwards because he simply cannot cut in from that angle nor can he cross on his right foot, however when he finds the opportunity to cross on his left, it’s good (4/?)

- i think if pepe has a future here, he needs to be played on the left wing more so he can do the basics and simplify his game to suit our system. he is a good crosser on his left, and he’s simply wasted on the right (5/?)

- with saka, gabi, laca & auba playing well, it’s hard to see him get a consistent run of games when he’s simply just inconsistent. if a good offer came in the summer, i would sell him. he has undeniable talent and i think he would show lille form at another club (6/6)