Thought he was one of our better players today up until the incident. Am I the only one though that thought the red card seemed harsh? I mean, was that really a headbutt at all? It looked more like he stepped into him face-to-face to me then actually jolting his neck/head forward. Not to mention the shocking Championship quality cameras at Elland Road, the quality of the visuals was horrendous today and I was watching in 4K. It reminded me of when I've occasionally watched the Football League Show and recordings from lower-league sides. To cut a long story short, from the poor quality visuals and the sheer distance of the footage because of the $hitty tech in that stadium it certainly looked debateable to me how much of a headbutt that really was, yet there was of course no hesitation from the ref or even a second look before he pulled out the red and I've seen many a yellow given for worse than what Pepe did there.
It doesn't excuse Pepe, what he did was stupid. Arsenal players should know that 99% of the referees are looking for every opportunity to screw us and we just can't give them a chance to do it if we want to win games. No surprise the penalty shout was virtually ignored either and Leeds got away with countless fouls throughout the match before yellows started coming out and at times they still didn't come out when they should have.
I will cut Pepe a bit of slack though, he has been totally messed around by Emery & Arteta. He started to find some form under Emery then was dropped without explanation. He started to find some form under Arteta and was arguably our best player in the FA Cup final then he was basically dropped to the Europa League team for the start of this season when we were all expecting him to be kicking on from the end of the last one. Obviously he's had some indifferent (and a few poor) games but it's no surprise he's frustrated with how things are going and the piss-poor management of him clearly hasn't helped.
Side-note: Leno was our MOTM by a landslide.
Pepe
posted on 22/11/20
comment by ItsAboutTheBackFour (U9916)
posted 37 seconds ago
comment by You Can't Buy Class - IDHT2EU (U12019)
posted 41 seconds ago
He hasn't really been allowed to put together a run of good form though, the managers have messed him around too much, as soon as he started to find a little he has been mysteriously dropped twice.
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I can't agree with any of that, you have to force yourself into the starting line-up and he hasn't come even close to doing that, because when he is bad he is absolutely abysmal, anyway he dropped himself today...
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You say you have to force yourself into the starting line-up, but apparently not in the case of Willian. He's had one ok game against Fulham where he was a little fortunate with those assists to be brutally honest and hasn't been dropped since despite one horrendous performance after another, Pepe has not been that bad, at least he has stuck the ball in the net at times and tried to make something happen, he was also tracking back and working harder in the majority of those games than Willian has.
Pepe has around 11 goals in 50 odd Arsenal appearances and when he had a decent game he has almost always been dropped for the next one.
The point is, there has not been, nor has there been anyone playing better than him in that position, even if he has not always fulfilled expectations, anyone else we've played there has been worse, yet he still gets dropped.
Because of that, I can understand his frustration. Still not saying he's been great but he has been messed around by the managers non-stop. Should have been starting in the Premier League this season after he finished last season strongly, not fakkin Willian.
posted on 22/11/20
*there has not been, nor is there anyone
posted on 22/11/20
comment by £350k Förtnite Skin (U18355)
posted 14 minutes ago
And he wasn’t one of our best players in the FA Cup, nor has he ever put together a run of good form.
At £72M he has to go down as the biggest PL flop ever
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He has been MOTM a number of times. He tore the Man Utd defence to shreds in our 2-0 win. But when a player gets a stupid red card it's easy to forget his positives, which is typical of some fans anyway. Biggest flop in the PL? That is either the dumbest or the most emotional comment I have read, unless you started watching the PL this year. Believe me, there have been plenty worse.
posted on 22/11/20
Would rather Nelson started every game.
posted on 22/11/20
No it wasn’t harsh, regardless of alioskis reaction you can’t put your head towards any player like that. He gave Alioski what he wanted, badly let us dwn.
posted on 22/11/20
comment by Grand Cannon (U18697)
posted 53 minutes ago
comment by £350k Förtnite Skin (U18355)
posted 14 minutes ago
And he wasn’t one of our best players in the FA Cup, nor has he ever put together a run of good form.
At £72M he has to go down as the biggest PL flop ever
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He has been MOTM a number of times. He tore the Man Utd defence to shreds in our 2-0 win. But when a player gets a stupid red card it's easy to forget his positives, which is typical of some fans anyway. Biggest flop in the PL? That is either the dumbest or the most emotional comment I have read, unless you started watching the PL this year. Believe me, there have been plenty worse.
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Name me a bigger flop than Pepe at £72M?
posted on 22/11/20
You think that my comment is knee jerk and reactionary to his red card? As if I haven’t called him out for being garbage since his debut against Liverpool
posted on 23/11/20
comment by £350k Förtnite Skin (U18355)
posted 2 hours, 58 minutes ago
You think that my comment is knee jerk and reactionary to his red card? As if I haven’t called him out for being garbage since his debut against Liverpool
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I agree, he’s got a wand of a left foot on a stationary ball approaching the right side of the penalty area, but apart from that and the very occasional glimmer elsewhere he’s got very little. His vision and end product in the final third are poor and his defensive capabilities when we haven’t got the ball are just plain bad. In some games he gives the ball away so often it becomes monotonous...
posted on 23/11/20
Comment Deleted by Article Creator
posted on 23/11/20
Pepe couldn't handle being man marked all game. It's as simple as that, Alioski followed him absolutely everywhere and generally had the beating of him (which surprised me).
I don't think you can have an honest conversation about Alioski's reaction while omitting Ceballos' theatrics.
As for the cameras, we buy them second hand off ebay and refuse to let Sky bring their own equipment.